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Tag: Faith (Page 7 of 15)

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.

A Place More Religious Than Church

July 31, 2023 / / 0 Comments

I love audiobooks. I probably like them so much because I spend a lot of time driving to the gym, church, on visits, and back home. I spend well over an hour in my truck daily. So needless to say I get to listen to a lot of books. A couple of years ago I was able to consume nearly 70 books in a year all due to using audiobooks. Another key reason for audio books is that I’m a slow reader and I can change the speed of an audio book whereas I cannot change the speed of my reading.

One of the books I read (listened to) recently had a concept in it that has been rattling around in my head. I cannot for the life of me remember which book it actually was but know this is not my own original content. I’m fairly certain this was from a book by Eugene Peterson however.

The idea is this the most religious places in the world are not churches, but battlefields and mental hospitals.

Wow that one hit me. Not sure why that stuck with me so tightly but I was hurt in my heart to hear that reality. And even more saddened to think it was probably a correct assessment of reality!

But why are mental hospitals and battlefields more religious than churches?

I think it has a lot to do with despair, desperation, and destruction. You see when we live in a world of despair and desperation it’s easy to realize that there’s really only one place to turn. When we’re face with life altering destruction, there’s really only one place that can change our perception of reality.

I really think that the church has it too easy. We have our well decorated buildings and our set structures. We have some nice tax benefits. We have the ability to do much more than we let on. We aren’t forced to do things that go against conscience or faith. It’s actually a pretty nice set up.

But what do you hear when you talk to Christians today? We hear about the trouble and hardships and struggles in the world. We hear people complaining about how challenging life is but what we’re not on a battlefield or in a mental hospital so it’s easy to complain instead of doing something about it.

Perhaps the church needs a few more battlefield moments. We need to come to grips with the challenges we face in moments of despair. The more we have the more comfortable we grow and the more we tend to take the things of God for granted.

We’ve heard the analogy that the church is the hospital for sinners but that’s just not enough. It’s not enough to admit that we need Jesus and that he saved us. Yes it’s essential but when it comes to the driving forward of our faith into real life, it just isn’t enough unfortunately.

It’s not until we’re met with disaster and devastation that we actually buckle our knees in prayer. It’s not until our loved one dies or our marriage is on the rocks that we really see the power of God in our lives. It’s not until our job is ended and our life hits a low point that God becomes God again.

I hate how true the statement is, but the church really could use a life altering moment or two in order for us to realize just how much we need God again.

What are we to do?

March 24, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Yesterday we dealt with the uncomfortable question of what’s going on in the world. The trouble we face in the world is not a change in God’s plan rather it’s stuff that happens while God is doing his main work. That work is the work of building his church.

Today we’re going to get to the issue of what then is the church supposed to be doing during these crazy and, for many, challenging times. The short answer is doing what Jesus would do. But what does that look like?

The Bible clearly states that the church, assembly of God’s people, is known as the body of Christ. So if we, when we function together, are actually the body of Christ, then shouldn’t we be functioning like the body of Christ?

What this does not mean…

Let’s set the stage here a little. Functioning as the body of Christ does not mean that we all have to look and act the same. We don’t have to have the same vocabulary and posture either. We do, however, have to possess the same focus and intent. We must be about the same purpose as Jesus.

We do not have to do it the same way in every context. This might be hard for some to hear, but different cultures have different values and ways of expressing themselves. When we function as the body of Christ, we must take into account the cultural makeup of the group we’re reaching. Neither Jesus nor his disciples made the people all adhere to the same rituals and customs. The matter of circumcision is one that comes to mind here. They didn’t force the people of other cultures go through the rite of circumcision in order for them to be saved.

What then should we do?

Look at what Jesus actually did. He got to know the people around him. Before throwing forgiveness bombs into the crowd, he often healed and fed them and provided for their felt needs. What would happen if the church became known for the types of things Jesus was known for in the community in his day?

We spend a lot of time as churchy people acting anything but like Jesus. We become so adamant on the who, what, where, when and how of the things we do that we often neglect the why. Instead of asking who are the people in our churches, we should be asking who are the people not in our churches?

Take an honest look at your community. Do a quick needs assessment. What are the needs that are present in your community? Where are people hurting? Where are they struggling? What are the things they’re trying to accomplish that they just can’t seem to get done?

Then match that up with your passions, skills, resources and people. Where these overlap, you’ll see how you have been uniquely placed in your region as the church Jesus is building.

There is a bit of an art to this process and can be overwhelming at times because it’s not our natural way to look at life. If you’re struggling with this process and would like some help with focusing your efforts, reach out. I’m part of a team that has this process nailed down pretty tight. We’d love to help you to focus your efforts to do the work of the church that Jesus is building in your midst.

Goodness of God

March 6, 2023 / / 0 Comments

This week we bring back another familiar song. It’s been around for a while but it’s a much needed song some days. We need to take time to just stop every once in a while to see how true this really is. Perhaps your day to pause is today.

Have you ever considered where God has shown up in your life? I don’t mean in the lottery winning, job promotion earning, kids always behaving, marriage filled with all five love languages kind of showing up. I mean in the nasty, dark, cold, lonely, depressing moments of life. This is when we really can see the goodness of God the best, if we only look.

For most of my life, I’ve been pretty blind to the goodness of God. If I’m being honest, it never really was a second thought for me. My life has been filled with many blessings and tons of wonderful memories that I reflect on frequently. This is largely why it is so easy to overlook the goodness of God. When things go well, we don’t really need to think about it. We just live in it to the point we don’t even see His hand moving all around us. Kind of like the whole can’t see the forest through the trees way of thinking.

This week I’d encourage you to just pause. Maybe it’s a few minutes at lunch time or sitting on the front porch or maybe a quick walk around the block. Just stop and listen. No AirPods. No mind filling worries. No stress can come with you in this moment. Just disconnect and listen. Hear the birds chirping. Listen to the wind blow through the trees. Or hear the busyness of the cars flying down the interstate. Just pause and hear the world move around you.

Then think about the goodness of God in that moment. Think about the time he sent that special friend when you were lonely to just check in on you. Think about the unexpected gift when you were stressed about your money. Think about the kind gesture from a neighbor when you just felt down. These are goodness of God moments.

Take a few minutes this week, and every week ideally, and ponder how great – how good – how amazing God’s goodness has been toward you.

Obstacles To Faith

February 14, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Some people won’t read this simply because of the title. Others will read it just for that reason. My hope is that we read this not for the title but for what’s inside.

I have to be totally honest. I’m a pastor. I’ve been one for nearly 21 years. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. But a little known secret that most every follower of Jesus tries to hide…I sometimes struggle with my faith.

Now let me be totally transparent. I’m not saying that I doubt who Jesus was or what he did or any of that. I do believe all of that and am truly grateful for all of the people who have poured into me to get me to where I am today. The issue is that I struggle with my personal understanding of and need for faith.

Let me put it a different way. The biggest obstacle to a life of faith is pride. It’s easy to put the wrong mindset on and go through life thinking we don’t need God or we didn’t do anything wrong in that area. It’s all too tempting to kind of sideline our faith because our lives are really going well.

If you look around and honestly reflect on your life, you probably have moments when things were just cruising on autopilot. Your marriage was fine. Bills were being paid. Kids aren’t in jail. No major illness in your family. Haven’t lost anyone in recent years. Your vacations are wonderful until they end. All the things in life just click along.

It’s in these moments that we don’t really feel the need for God. It’s all too easy in these days when our cup is overflowing to look past our God to all of the things that we have amassed for ourselves. This, not sin, is the greatest obstacle to our faith.

Yes sin, all of it, is wrong and needs to be repented. That’s not what I said. So quit hearing what you want to hear and hear what I actually said. Sin isn’t the greatest obstacle we face when it comes to faith.

The greatest obstacle to saving faith in Jesus is our pride. When we seem to have everything we think we need, then we don’t need Jesus. That’s pride. That’s the greatest obstacle to faith.

What’s worse than this? I’m glad you asked! It’s often in these moments of self righteous pride that we hold our magnifying glass over the apparent failures of others. In our pride we try to magnify someone else’s struggle to make ourselves even bigger. And that’s the pride slide.

No where in the Bible is pride a good thing. Nowhere in the Bible is focusing on my accomplishments over Christ’s sufficiency acceptable. Nowhere is it remotely approved of to highlight someone else’s sins while keep our closet locked securely so that no one, even ourselves, can see what’s inside.

If the church, Christians, pastors want to find a way to reach the people around them, we better start by dealing with our own selfish pride. When we get that part right, the rest will start to make a lot more sense. We can’t love one another if we think we’re better than everyone else. We can’t live God’s story if we think we’re God’s gift to the world.

Remove the obstacle of pride with repentance. Honest admission of where we’ve wronged others followed by changing your lifestyle is what fixes this pride slide. True you can’t change how others see you. Some people will just hold onto the one thing you said or the one thing you did. That’s not what this is about. This is about you.

You, nope not her or him but you! You take time to deal with your pride and you’ll see how much it has hindered your faith. When pride is gone, you’ll see just how effective sharing the gospel story can be because it will line up with life.

A Thousand Hallelujahs

January 31, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Some people have asked why I do what I do. Maybe they’ve asked you similar things about going to church on Sunday or doing this whole thing called worship or following Jesus? If they have, then you know there is something about it that you just can’t describe.

One of the Bible verses that I love says the rocks would cry out. The reference is that if we didn’t worship then the rocks would worship God. Have you thought of that? The rocks? I mean they’re hard, cold, inanimate. They can’t talk or move. They’re not even alive. But here the Bible says that they would cry out in worship if we didn’t do it.

Now who would be worthy of that kind of praise. Who would be able to cause a rock to cry out? This week’s song tells us that only one is worthy of that kind of action. Jesus is his name.

This is why I do what I do. This is why we get up and worship on a Sunday morning. Jesus is his name.

Just take a minute and listen to the lyrics of this song. He died and rose. He gave himself freely for us. He traded places with us not because we asked him to but because he loved us that much.

He’s worthy of our praise. He’s worthy of even the praise of the rocks and trees. He’s worthy of a thousand hallelujahs to say the very least!

Build A Boat

January 23, 2023 / / 0 Comments

This week is about faith. When everything around you seems to be going in one direction, but you see God moving. God calls you to have faith. It’s like building a boat when it’s not even raining.

Can you imagine being Noah from the Bible? Think about it for a minute. No rain. No large body of water near by. No real prediction of a storm in the meteorological forecast. But you’re supposed to build a boat. What do you do?

The passers by all laugh and point and call you names. Your friends look at you like you’re crazy. What in the world is this man doing? What do you do?

When the world is spiraling in fear and hatred seems to be all the world cares about. But you know there’s a different message. You know there’s a message of love and hope and peace. What do you do?

Today’s Music Monday song says that you build a boat! When the sun is shining and everything looks great, build the darn boat already.

I don’t know what God has laid on your heart or the things holding you back from making the first cut on that board. But I want to encourage you to build the boat. The rain will come. The promise will be fulfilled. You have what it takes. And just like Noah, you’re not building alone. You might have to look a little but you’re not alone.

So grab the tools and get your supplies, it’s time to build a boat.

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