Category Archives: Discipleship
I Don’t Want to Be a Drive-by Disciple
A few years ago, I was a busy pastor driving to the church 2-3 or 4, OK 5-6 nights a week for meetings, events, or to open the door and micro manage others meetings and events, when God opened my eyes to something. All of a sudden I noticed people out in their yards, coming home from work, and some even waving at me. Then I started noticing homes that were substandard and people walking on the side of the road and people living alone w/o relationships. God opened my eyes to the fact that I was DRIVING BY the needs of my neighborhood and community to get to my busy schedule of ALL GOOD and MOSTLY necessary church activities. I had essentially become the Levite and Priest in the story of the Good Samaritan, passing by the beat up guy with mega needs for the sake of my busy schedule and the opinions of others. I realized that I had become a DRIVE-BY DISCIPLE. I repented and ask God to help me live life on mission beyond my church’s calendar and property lines.
Matthew 9:36 says that Jesus “SAW the crowds.” Can you see those around you? Their needs? Their lifestyles? Their value to God? Their potential through Christ? In my area, when I looked around I saw 76-90% that are not attending church more than once per month if at all (96% not attending SBC churches). And the number that I’m driving by on my way to church is increasing every year. I see a growing number w/o hope leading to an ever increasing suicide attempt rate and people who are daily recognizing their pursuit of pleasure and ease is a facade. I began to see widows and elderly with no one to take care of their simple household issues. I began to see the multi-housing facilities and parks that takes me a few seconds to DRIVE-BY, but house 30o-500 lives in need of the Gospel.
In Matthew 10:5, Jesus responded to what he saw by SENDING his disciples on mission. He’s done the same today. WE ARE sent not to church, but into the world to give, to love, to share, to serve. Being a member of a church is an important part of life on mission, but it must not be a substitute for responding to and serving the needs around us as disciples, individually and corporately.
Every time there’s a 5th Sunday in a month, our church takes a Sunday – Faith In Action Sunday – to take care of needs we’ve been DRIVING BY for three months. It’s an intentional way for us to encourage life ON MISSION FOR OTHERS and take our message to the world beyond the church walls.
Join us for Faith in Action Sunday in 2012 – January 29th (more info and project list here), April 28th-29th, July 29th, and September 30th. Better yet, open your eyes to the needs around you. Look around as you drive to church this weekend. See the crowds, have compassion, realize that if you’re a disciple Jesus has sent you to this place for this time.
This Faith In Action Sunday we’ll be taking care of a few elderly widows needs, throwing a block party for inmate families at our local jail, painting a house in a neighborhood that’s undergoing revitalization, and more.
Here’s a great list of dozens of ways to be On Mission in your neighborhood, workplace, or community.
Spiritual Inventory and Evaluation
This month our church has been participating in 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting for Spiritual Awakening in Louisiana. We’ve tracked through a 21-Day devotional authored by Claude King as well. One of the highlights has been the Complete Spiritual Inventory that was part of day 6. The questions destroy any sense of self-righteousness and bring you face to face before God. You can download the devotional here. The Inventory is on page 50. I’m going to hang on to this and try to do it at least once per year. Here’s a few of the questions that I’m still grappling with. Take a little inventory yourself:
Was there ever a time in my life that God completely transformed my life and made me a brand new person – therefore, the following elements are lived through the message of my life:
- Old things passed away (attitudes, thoughts, desires, motivation, vocabulary, lifestyle, actions, reactions) and all things became new (new heart, new love, new purpose, etc.)? YES or NO
- I cannot sin and get away with it without conviction? YES or NO
- I do not love the things of the world (worldly lifestyles, clothes, music, crowd, philosophies…)? YES or NO
- I have a desire to do God’s will in every area of my life? YES or NO
- I cannot continually or habitually practice the same sin? YES or NO
- I love people with all my heart and demonstrate it by giving of myself to minister to their physical and spiritual needs? YES or NO.
- God answers my prayers? YES or NO
- Is it ever difficult to confess my sin to God? YES or NO
- Do I ever find it hard to ask forgiveness from my family or acquaintances when I sin against them?
- Is it ever hard for me to admit when I am wrong?
- Do I have a tendency to want credit for accomplishments?
- Do I ever desire to get ahead and get a big name and be a success for personal gratification?
- Do I desire to be recognized?
- Is it ever difficult for me to publicly display my love for Jesus?
- Is it ever hard for me to express genuine love and appreciation?
- Do I ever try to get ahead at the expense of others? Am I an opportunists?
- Am I ever willing to sacrifice my honesty and purity in order to be a success?
- Do I ever defend myself when a fault or sin is pointed out in my life?
- Is my primary drive to look out for myself rather than to serve others and help others be a success?
By example and proof of your life which is more important?
- People or Production
- Service or Success
- Ministering or “The Ministry”
- The worker or “The Work”
- Quality and depth or Quantity and size
- Prayer and Fasting or Methods and programs
Take the whole inventory by downloading the Guide.
“Life’s a Marathon Not a Sprint”
Very proud of several members of our Small Group that completed marathon’s this past weekend in Baton Rouge and Houston. What a tremendous accomplishment! One of the guys wife was sending text updates at different legs of the race on Sunday. I got a text at one point that said, “Mile 16 and 10 to go.” Having never ran a marathon before the gravity of that hit me. This guy has run 16 miles and still has to run 10 miles!!!
Life hits us like that sometimes I think. If we don’t realize the finish line is ahead, we may give up. You’re at mile 16. You’re tired. You’ve run a long way. Don’t quit, keep going, the race can be completed.
What are you considering giving up on right now? Could it be possible that you’re just at mile 16?
Core: Be Intentional w/People
One characteristic of a follower of Christ is intentionality in personal relationships. Jesus is our model of intentionality and living life on mission in three ways:
- He was responsive to the needs around him. In the Gospel of Mark a word jumps out at least 40 times – IMMEDIATELY. He responded to needs without hesitation and demonstrating great concern.
- He intentionally sought out people with needs. From Zaccheus, the wealthy, friendless, lonely man looking for a slither of hope from the fork of a tree – see Luke 19:1-10; to the woman at the well, who was hardened by broken relationship and a bad reputation – see John 4; to the man by the pool at Bethesday who had been a invalid for years – see John 5. Jesus intentionally walked into these people’s lives and sought avenues to invest and heal.
- He befriended people others wouldn’t. The religious crowds faq, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” http://bible.us/Mark2.16.ESV. Jesus was always at the parties that modern day WWJD? bracelet wearers would say he shouldn’t be at. And you get a sense that these folks loved being around Jesus, AND that he loved being around them.
So, how intentional are you? What did you do immediately this week? Who are intentionally seeking to bring hope and healing to? Who are you investing in that’s far from God and may be hard to love at times?
This month Bridge Church is talking about the 7 Core Practices of Life In Christ-On Misson-4 Others
. Check out the other 7 Core Practices and listen to Message #1 and #2 from this series here. Also, check out this great resource full of ideas about how to live with Gospel intetionality – Simple-Ways-To-Be-Missional-eBook from Verge Network.
Join Bridge Church at one of our gatherings on Sunday: 10am at the West St Tammany YMCA or 6pm at Northshore Community Fellowship in Hammond. Other gatherings: 9am at the St. Tammany Parish Jail and 6pm at Oak Villa Mobile Home Park #71.
Jesus’ 4-Step Pattern for Disciple Making
“And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.” http://bible.us/Mark3.13.ESV
- “he…called to him those whom he desired” – Who am I inviting/calling/summoning to the call of Christ?
- “they came to him” – Who is responding to my leadership, friendship, invitation to do life with you?
- “so that they might be with him” – Who am I investing time in? sharing my life with? teaching what I’ve learned to?
- “and he might send them out” – Am I willing to release them, send them, move them from dependence on me to partnership with me? Am I willing to give them authority?
Where are the next generation of church leaders? You might be surprised…
Don’t get down about the future of the church. God’s Spirit is not done yet. Loved this post from Dr. Russell Moore.
…the leaders of the next generation might not be coming from the current evangelical establishment. They are probably still pagans.
The next Jonathan Edwards might be the man driving in front of you with the Darwin Fish bumper decal. The next Charles Wesley might be a misogynist, profanity-spewing hip-hop artist right now. The next Billy Graham might be passed out drunk in a fraternity house right now. The next Charles Spurgeon might be making posters for a Gay Pride March right now. The next Mother Teresa might be managing an abortion clinic right now.
But the Spirit of God can turn all that around.
Who is it that you’re thinking will never change? Who are you shying away from talking about faith with? How about instead of seeing people as dead ends or distractions, see them as next gen leaders for God’s continued Gospel movement. Think of the possibilities…
Read the entire post here. And follow Dr. Moore on Twitter as well.
Zero
Thinking about numerical goals for 2012 & beyond. None challenges my faith more than ZERO. How about shooting for some of these?
- Zero w/o the opportunity to respond to the gospel.
- Zero homes destroyed by addiction, adultery, abuse, neglect.
- Zero kids dying of curable diseases.
- Zero elderly residents w/o life’s necessities.
- Zero kids w/o encouragement, mentoring, and opportunity to connect w/God.
- Zero suicides completed.
- Zero kids waiting for adoption.
In our quest for numbers going up, let’s not forget to think about the ones that should be going down and add them to our stat sheets every now and then. Someone asked, “What difference does it make if our churches grow but the community continues to deteriorate?” If we’re really making disciples who respond to God’s call of engagement (Matthew 28:19-20), some things should be moving toward zero.
Recognizing Pride
Pride is easy to recognize in others, but tough to recognize in ourselves. It’s a matter of what’s in your heart. That can be determined most often by what’s coming out your mouth (Luke 6:45). Even that is hard to diagnose by yourself sometimes. Ask a friend. As someone said, “Pride is the only disease in the world that makes everyone sick except the person who has it.”
How can I judge if pride is in my own heart? C.S Lewis said, “the more pride we have, the more other peoples pride irritates us.”
A few questions to help recognize pride:
1) What happens in you when someone does something good?
2) What happens in you when someone does something bad?
3) What happens in you when someone encourages you?
4) What happens in you when someone corrects you?
5) What happens when someone successful walks in?
6) What happens when someone unsuccessful walks in?
7) What happens in you when you do something good?
8) What happens in you when you do something bad?
Being a Christian is an IDENTITY, not just an ACTIVITY…
a LIFESTYLE, not just a wknd EVENT. Don’t check it off the TO DO list, LIVE IT!
Christianity is first and formost about being, not doing. These are closely related b/c who we are is going to determine what we do, how we spend, where we go, etc. Our being impacts everything. But to get these reversed, making it about what I do is a tragic mistake. If we define ourselves by what we do security and significance may come and go with success or failure, people may be judged by their value to us instead of their innate worth as God’s creation, the tyranny of legalism can set in causing frustration at our own or others inability to measure up to a standard, busyness/adding God as one more thing on my schedule can lead to regret and guilt and frustration and and inconsistency that will lead to just giving up.
The real work of Christianity has already been done by Christ. His work was to provide a solution for man’s separation from God b/c of sin. It’s done! We can’t add to it or take away from it. Religion says DO, Christianity says DONE. Because of his work we can BE something different. Jesus said to the fishermen, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men” Matthew 4:19. It was a call to a new identity and to have Christ MAKE them something they weren’t.
Do you approach Christianity from a DO mentality or as an IDENTITY? Can you be defined by WHO YOU ARE in Christ? or are you striving to do enough? Has your checklist produced joy, peace, transformation? Let go of the list and allow Christ to make you into a new creation. You can then live and become and act from the overflow of who you are.
Serving on Sunday, part two
A trend in church life is congregations taking a Sunday and scattering throughout the community to serve. Most are doing it once a year. A few, like the church I’m part of, are doing it once per quarter. I’ve heard of at least one church doing it once a month. This week I saw an article about Rick Warren’s southern California mega-church Saddleback, taking a weekend called Good Neighbor day. I don’t think this is for every congregation and I don’t know that the congregation I lead will do it forever, but I think that a Faith in Action Sunday can be a powerful tool of cultivation in church and community.
A few weeks back I mentioned three reasons why to do it from the book Barefoot Church: Serving the Least in A Consumer Culture by Brandon Hatmaker. Here is a bit of the reasoning and strategy behind Bridge Church’s quarterly FIA Sunday’s.
- The end goal of faith-filled disciples and missionaries. The Great Commission’s call is to make disciples. As a second journey church planter I begin to ask myself and others: “If I really wanted to make a disciple what would I do?” and “What was the greatest tool for spiritual growth in your life?” The answer was most often, ” Relationships and serving.” I was often disappointed when people didn’t recall my beautifully illiterated sermon as causing a spiritual growth spirt, but pointed to relationships with other Christians and ministry/mission opportunities as the greatest catalyst for growth. So, we begin to pray about how we could structure for relationships and mission, which led us to the idea of taking four Sunday’s a year for Faith in Action. Let me say: this is not a church growth gimic and definitely NOT a good strategy for church growth. If you’re goal is more attenders, DON’T do it, but the goal of producing faith-filled disciples who see themselves as missionaries caused us to rethink strategy and structure for serving a bit radically and non-traditionally.
- The other 60%. Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson write in their book On the Verge, that around 60% of the population is outside of the church’s reach. That the majority of churches are fishing out of the same pond which includes about 40% of the population. I’ve found this to be a trend in the area where I live and serve. A segment of our population is not attracted by or will most likely not be influenced by our current forms of church. What can we do to reach these people? One answer: Go to them. And as one part of an incarnational strategy of engagement in the hardest to reach areas, we seek to take church to them four Sunday’s per year. Somebody once said that to reach people nobody is reaching you need to do things nobody is doing. In our community we have some amazing churches offering professional worship music, incredible preaching by some unbelievable communicators and men of God, and a full service ministry menu for every day of the week. So we’ve got that covered. Our niche is to be the ground troops moving into difficult areas, bringing the gospel and making disciples/missionaries as we go. Faith in action Sunday serves as a great tool in this regard.
I’ve written about some reason NOT to do this here. In the next two posts on this subject, I’ll take on some of the frequently asked questions and criticisms for Serving on Sunday, like:
- It subverts the importance of preaching the Word of God.
- It hurts church growth by making things awkward and uncomfortable for newcomers, visitors, and the disconnected.
- “We can’t go a Sunday w/o taking an offering.”
- It promotes a liberal agenda of social action.
- “I can’t imagine how we would find enough for everyone to do around our community.”
- Some good ones offered here by Kevin DeYoung.
Then lay out a plan for putting together a Faith in Action Weekend, whether it’s on Sunday or not.
Lane Corley 