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8 Things You’ll Never Hear an On Mission Christian Say
There’s a marked difference between living the Christian life ON MISSION, & just going to church on Sunday’s. You can tell which side of this equation you’re living on by what comes out of your mouth (Matthew 12:34). Here’s some things I’ve said & heard others say when NOT on mission for God as a Christian:
1. “Christianity is boring.” Anybody that says Christianity is boring has never done a backyard bible club in a dangerous neighborhood, gave away food to someone in desperate need, watched a disabled person use a handicap ramp you just built for the first time, led someone to put their faith in Christ, ate something they weren’t sure of b/c to not do so would offend their foreign host, prayed with a coworker experiencing a storm in their life, etc., etc., etc. Life on mission is an adventure.
2. “I don’t know my spiritual gifts.” The On Mission Christian has either through trial & error or careful study & prayer discovered what God has gifted & called them to do. They do this b/c they understand that God has gifted & empowered every believer to do something. And to do nothing is not an option when we see the needs of the world & the great sacrifice of Christ.
3. “I would love to help, but nobody invited me.” Not that we shouldn’t make sure that everyone feels invited, but On Mission Christians tend to find a way to get in the middle of meeting needs for the good of others & glory of God. They’re not waiting around for an invitation.
4. “I would love to help, but I don’t know any people in need.” Being On Mission is a way of seeing the world. An On Mission Christian lives with a constant awareness of the needs around him/her. Wherever they are, they will find needs to be concerned about or met. The harder thing may be saying no to needs because it’s physically impossible to meet every one.
5. “I don’t feel like I’m being stretched in my faith.” If you live life on mission, you will regularly come to the end of yourself. That’s why Jesus promised His presence (Matthew 28:19-20) & power (Acts 1:8-10) to those who will take up his mission. Being on mission will take you out of your comfort zone & out of the limitations of your own ability. Hello FAITH, hello HOLY SPIRIT, hello SUPERNATURAL LIFE.
6. “You didn’t hear me say this but…” Gossip is one thing that threatens the mission of the church. The On Mission Christian is usually both too concerned about others & the unity of their church to engage in it, or just too busy to waste time with it. As one person said, “Those rowing the boat, do not have time to rock it.”
7. “The carpet/chairs/coffee/preacher/singing is too…” Little time or energy for criticism when you’re on mission either. The On Mission Christian will struggle to be concerned about small issues of esthetics around the building when there are people in need.
8. “My church isn’t meeting my needs.” The assumption here is that church & Christianity is about “my needs.” We do receive so much personal reward & benefit from being a Christian & the church should certainly consider the needs of people as it strategizes & plans its ministries. But the On Mission Christian does not live with these assumptions at the forefront of their lives. Paul was clear in Philippians 2:3-8. The Christian life, patterned after Jesus, is about the needs of others & sacrificing ourselves for the need of others.
If your Christian life is boring, faithless, about you, filled with criticism of others, etc. Let me challenge you to get involved in the next ministry or mission opportunity you hear about & get to know true Christianity which is about life on mission with God in the world.
What else would you add to this list?
The Recipe for On Mission Living
Heart + Eyes + Imagination + Action
Heart – Desire for God & Others
We are on mission for something. Often it’s for ourselves. Getting our heart set on God’s purposes is always the first step in life on mission. Get started with 1 Peter 3:10-12.
What issues of the heart are keeping you from being on mission for God & others?
Eyes – Awareness of the Needs Around Us
The Bible says Jesus “saw the crowds” & then “felt compassion” Matthew 9:36. Are you aware of the many needs around you? If you think you have to travel to a distant place to find human need, then your eyes are not open. Look around.
Imagination – Ideas to Engage the Needs Around Us
Many of our failures in mission as churches are failures of imagination. We can’t imagine ourselves being a solution for our communities. I pray for the innovation & courage of the men who so wanted their crippled friend to see Jesus, that they climbed on top of the roof, ripped a hole in the roof, & lowered him down at Jesus’ feet. Mark 2:1-12.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” May we not be bound by weak excuses & lack of imagination in reaching our communities.
Action – Implement & Execute Outreach Strategies
Many have a heart for God, are aware of the needs, even have the ideas, but never launch & take action to reach out. Take out your calendar & write down the next date you intend on inviting a neighbor for dinner or coffee. When is your church’s next outreach event? When is your unchurched friend having surgery? Who is in transition that you can bless? Mission needs a calendar & a plan of action!
Write down these symbols in a prominent place & use them to pursue life on mission, for others.
On Evangelism – Research says, A Personal Approach Works Best
Great article on evangelism from Facts & Trends Mag – Go + Tell: Taking a Personal Approach to the Gospel:
“If you know how to pray, if you know how to be a friend, if you know how to help people experience God, and if you have learned how to tell the story of the gospel, you can do evangelism,” he (John Teter) says.
When it comes to evangelism, that kind of personal approach works best, according to a 2009 report from LifeWay Research. Most Americans are open to hearing about faith from a friend or neighbor (56 percent), or from a family member (63 percent).
Other approaches seem to turn off most Americans. Three out of four (76 percent) say they are unwilling to hear about matters of faith from people going door to door. Americans are also unwilling to receive spiritual information from door-hangers (66 percent), a letter in their mailbox (55 percent) or social media (66 percent).
Less than half are interested in a TV ad (40 percent) or radio spot (41 percent) on faith.
A personal approach is also a better way to invite people to church. Nearly two out of three (63 percent) Americans surveyed say a personal invitation from a friend or neighbor was an effective way to be asked to visit a church. An invitation from a family member was rated as effective by 67 percent of those surveyed.
Less than a third (31 percent) say a door-to-door invitation would be effective. Radio (33 percent) and TV (34 percent) also received low ratings. So did email (30 percent) and social media (30 percent).
About half (52 percent) say they might visit a church after receiving a postcard on a topic that interested them.
Time of year and current events also impact Americans’ openness to spiritual conversations. Americans were most open to matters of faith at Christmas (47 percent), Easter (38 percent) or after a natural disaster (34 percent). They were least open in summer (11 percent) or fall (11 percent).
You Might Be A Church Planter if… part two
Yesterday I shared five observations that are likely true of someone who’s a fit for church planting. Here’s five more simple observations that say, “You might be a church planter.”
6. You get a kick out of calluses on your hands. Church planting is hard work. Gathering & motivating people can seem like pushing a rock up hill. Setting up church in non-traditional locations is not easy. If you are afraid of physical & emotional calluses & soreness then run the other way. Some go into church planting to avoid what they perceive as hard things in church leadership, but you’ll find many of the same things plus some in church planting. Make sure its a calling.
7. You’ve shared the gospel more times than you can remember. Sharing the gospel must be a natural part of the church planters life & vocabulary. A church is a church because of the Gospel & the Gospel must be shared. The church planter must lead the way.
8. Friends call you with spiritual questions. Leadership is innate & merely recognized by others. Do people see in you something that they want & need? Do people seek you out when there are questions about life & God? As a church planter you’ll probably be without title, position, & respect. Your character & ability to earn the respect of people because of leadership ability will be important.
9. You usually travel with a group. You are more comfortable in a group & with a team, a posse. You will not be able to do this alone. Church planters must love people & believe that everyone is better off sticking together. Lone Ranger Church Planter is an oxymoron.
10. You daydream about solving big problems in the world. North Korea, the crime ridden multi-housing complex down the street, the high school dropout problem, etc. These issues may cause you to stare off into the future & make list in your mind about how you would go about reaching people & changing the places with the greatest problems.
If this list still doesn’t talk you out of it, find out a little more about next steps here. And feel free to hit me up (lanecorley@gmail.com). I’d love to help you get started on the church planting journey.
You Might Be a Church Planter if…
Church planters are seen as a rare breed in the body of Christ, but I don’t think they’re as rare as we think. God calls & empowers people for this important role. Many times they’re just not discovered or mobilized because we’re not looking to discover or mobilize them. Knowing church planters & being one, here’s an observational list that you may find true of yourself if you’re thinking you may be a fit for church planting. Not saying all of these have to be true, but they may be true.
1. You made a lot of visits to the ER growing up. Church planters are risk takers at heart & this probably started early. The desire to jump off of, over, or go through any obstacle to the detriment of personal health is often a characteristic of pioneering church planters.
2. You can’t concentrate in church because of the kids you saw playing in the street on the way. You’re heart will be with those who are NOT in church on Sunday’s. At times it may consume you to the point that you seem at odds with church leaders. God may put that discontent there if he’s leading you to those outside the camp. (See my post on Sending the apostles).
3. You think Chic-Fil-A would be a good place for a church. If you find yourselves in different environments & believe that spiritual life could happen there you might be a church planter. The imagination of the church planter is usually full of ideas about creating environments to share the gospel. The new churches I have been involved in have met in apartment complex offices, a fire station, a former bar, a local gym, & a museum. Doesn’t make sense? Made perfect sense to me! And worshipping in Chic-Fil-A on Sunday is a dream of mine!
4. You hang out with the wrong kind of people for the right kind of reasons. In college, I didn’t play intramural ball with my collegiate ministries intramural teams. I had a desire to use the skills I had to build relationships with non-Christians. The church planter will often be energized more by these relationships than relationships in Sunday School. But get ready…
5. Your Christian friends think your weird for that. You may even be labeled by religious friends for hanging around sinners & disreputable characters. But seems like I saw someone in the Bible that had the same thing happen. Mark 2:13-17.
Five more later this week… If you’re seeing these patterns in your life. Contact me (lanecorley@gmail.com) about how to get started on the Church Planting journey.
Being On Mission Stinks, Why is Local Outreach So Hard? and other top posts for 2013
My blogging & reading has been sporadic since baby Kate came along. But now she’s almost two & sleeping better, so looking forward to getting back to a regular reading & writing rhythm. Did eak out a few decent posts this year though. Here’s the top 13:
1. A Weird Sunday
about our churches Faith in Action Sunday’s
normal Christianity is not working for many in our world. And many times, Biblical Christianity seems weird to us, because we’ve created a normal that depends upon our disobedience.
2. Church Revitalization Resources
delved into the Church Revitalization waters this year. Still have lots to learn. Developed a few good resources for the front end though:
- Do We Need A Church Revitalization Plan?
- Tools for Revitalization: Church Systems Analysis
- Scenarios for Church Revitalization: Diagnosis
- Scenarios for Church Revitalization: Restructure or Restart
- Scenarios for Church Revitalization: Refocus and Re-Energize
- The Solution for Church Health and Revitalization
3. Got our Redneck Wedding On This Weekend
Yep, did a wedding in a barn with groomsmen in rubber boots. Love it!
4. Being On Mission Stinks
If you want to pursue God’s mission & produce fruit for His kingdom, give up on having a clean, neat, smell good life all of the time.
5. Why is Local Outreach So Hard? 20 Reasons:
As church attendance declines, we must look at our communities as a mission field. Why don’t we? Here’s some reasons, assumptions, & excuses I’ve heard, said, felt as a church leader…
6. The Bible on Partying
Our church developed a great resource for Block Partying:
The world parties to FORGET and ESCAPE reality. Christ followers party to REMEMBER and CELEBRATE present and future reality.
7. 3 Keys to Breaking Growth Barriers
One Church’s Journey from 25-400.
8. 7 Reasons to Make Ramp Building a Part of Your Local Ministry
I love ramp building projects more every year!
9. Commitment, Honor, & Transfer Growth
Not all transfer growth is bad or bad for the kingdom. But my desire is for commitment, honor, evangelism, kingdom growth, community transformation to take precedence over a bigger crowd at my church next Sunday
Also, check out: The Great Transfer Growth Boogie Monster, Part One
10. Creating Sending Capacity Resources
One of my fave new topics: SENDING CAPACITY
- Creating More Sending Capacity
- Creating More Sending Capacity: How?
- How Does a Pastor Create Sending Capacity?
- Creating Sending Capacity: Make Room for the Apostles (with a little “a”)
“The greatness of a church is not in her seating capacity, but in her sending capacity” ~Rick Warren.
11. When it Comes to Character, Make No Exceptions
An “EXCEPT” in relation to your character could change the course of history for your family.
12. Community Impact AND Church Growth = Success
“What difference does it make if your church grows but the community stays the same?”
13. Normal Christianity is Weird
normal and weird change over time and what is normal to us would probably look weird to a New Testament Christian church
Dealing with Enemy #1: PRIDE
“At every stage of our Christian development and in every sphere of our Christian discipleship, pride is our greatest enemy and humility is our greatest friend.”
-John Stott
Pride is the #1 Enemy of Spiritual Growth, Relational Growth, Personal Growth & the biggest obstacle to people experiencing God. And Pride is often 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).
What does pride sound like?
- “It’s all about me.” Pride needs to feel better than others and call attention to itself. It needs to be in control and on top. Pride makes us too vulnerable not to be.
- “I don’t need you.” To need God and others is a vulnerable place to be. A prideful heart is set on avoiding vulnerability. So pride will keep us from intimacy with God and others.
- “I know that already.” A prideful heart can’t listen, can’t learn, can’t admit weakness, therefore a prideful person can’t grow.
- “I don’t care.” A prideful heart can’t care too much about something that doesn’t promote self interest. So pride causes us to struggle to celebrate others success. A prideful heart will struggle to find solutions. Other peoples problems helps keep them on top, looking down on all the people that can’t figure it out. Pride gives us a sense that other people’s mistakes & weaknesses can be an opportunity and an occasion to promote self.
We can overcome pride by humbling ourselves before God and others. What does humility sound like?
- “It’s all about God and others.” God’s will and the needs of others are why I’m here. Philippians 2:3-8.
- “I need you.” Humility helps us realize that we’re nothing apart from God (John 15:5) and we need others to grow (Ephesians 4:15-16; Proverbs 17:17).
- “Can you help me know God?” Humility helps us realize how much we don’t know and sees the rich value in relationships. “Walk with the wise & grow wiser still” (Proverbs 14:30).
- “Your suffering is not good for me.” With humility we realize that my success doesn’t depend on the weakness of others, but on a sovereign God that gives grace to those who need Him.
“…serve each other in humility, for God opposes the proud but favors the humble. So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.”1 Peter 5:5-6
Diagnosing and repenting of a prideful heart can be a first step to growth and maturity and fruitfulness for you as a believer. Get honest about your attitude toward God and others using these filter and see what kind of grace God showers on you.
14 Years Later!
Yesterday was our 14th Anniversary! And I’m getting old enough to do some of my own time lapsed photography. Yikes! Visited one of our favorite spots on Southwestern Seminary’s campus this week with our now expanded families. No camera phone’s back then. Kodak all the way! Lot’s of great memories & hard learning between these two shots. Would I do it all over again? Indeed!
“Fatigue is the price of leadership. Mediocrity is the result of never getting tired.”
Tired from another great week of Faith in Action. Being tired is something culture teaches us that we need to avoid or escape. But without exertion of energy their can be know real fruit or growth. Paul told Timothy, “…endure hardship… fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). And God gives His servants His energy for the task. Colossians 1:29, “That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.”
Making a difference in the lives of people is costly and exhausting. That’s the price we pay. Almost every Monday, I think about this quote from Oswald Sanders: “Fatigue is the price of leadership. Mediocrity is the result of never getting tired.”
And Jesus promises rest to the weary (Matthew 11:28). And heaven is described as rest in the book of Hebrews. So heaven can be seen as a place for those who pay the price for the mission of God and are rewarded with rest.
The Bible on Partying
“These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the official days for holy assembly that are to be celebrated at their proper times each year” ~ Leviticus 23:4.
It’s unfortunate that Christianity is often seen as an un-Party. Christians often leave their party lifestyles and join churches where we do socials instead of celebrations. Unfortunate because God used Celebration and Festivals and Parties to reveal much about Himself and His Messiah throughout scripture. While some of these festivals were somber occasions for soul searching and repentance, there were also occasions where God called his people to elaborate celebration of His work on their behalf.
There is one BIG DIFFERENCE in a real Christian celebration than the world’s parties:
The world parties to FORGET and ESCAPE reality. Christ followers party to REMEMBER and CELEBRATE present and future reality.
Here’s a brief overview of the Old Testament Festivals, what they celebrated, and why they were important:
- The Sabbath – Lev 23:1-3. One day each week. A time of rest from work celebrating God’s rest at the end of creation week.
- The New Moon – Numb 28:11-15. One day each month. Celebration that included special offerings and blowing of trumpets.
- Passover – Lev 23:5. One Day. Celebrated when God spared the lives of Israel’s firstborn children in Egypt and freed the Hebrews from slavery. Reminded the people of God’s deliverance.
- Unleavened Bread – Lev 23:6-8. Seven Days. Celebrated the Exodus from Egypt. Reminded the people the were leaving the old life behind and entering a new way of life.
- First Harvest – Lev 23:9-14. One Day. Celebrated the first crops of the barley harvest. Reminded the people how God provided for them.
- Harvest or Pentecost – Lev 23:15-22. One Day. Celebrated the end of the barley harvest and beginning of the wheat harvest. Gave the people an opportunity to thank God and throw a party over the harvest.
- Trumpets – Lev. 23:23-25. One Day. Celebrated the beginning of the civil new year. Expressed joy and thanksgiving to God for the past year.
- Day of Atonement – Lev 23:26-32 One day. Celebrated the removal of sin from the people and the nation. Provided restored fellowship with God.
- Shelters – Lev 23:33-43. Seven Days. Celebrated God’s protection and guidance in the wilderness. Served as a time for people to renew their commitment to God and their trust in His guidance and protection.
These celebrations formed the story of the peoples lives, led them in celebrating God’s character and revelation, and provided a foretaste of what was to come in Christ.
Jesus often used these festivals and times of celebration to reveal Himself. It was the Festival of Shelters or Booths that Jesus used as the backdrop of several big reveals about Himself. This was a 7-day party, which celebrated God’s protection and guidance of the Israelites during their flight to the wilderness. And by all accounts this was an awesome celebration. The Roman Historian Josephus referred to this festival as the greatest of the Hebrew celebrations.
Living Water. The event climaxed with a water event at the pool of Siloam. The people would parade, with loud music, from the Temple to the pool where the priest would fill up a pitcher with water. They would then parade back to the Temple, approach the altar and pour the water along with a pitcher of wine into two basins as a thank offering to the Lord for his provision. An ancient Rabbi wrote that “Anyone who has not seen this water ceremony has never seen rejoicing in his life.” It was either at the pool or at the temple pouring ceremony that John 7:37-38 tells us, “Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, ‘Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of Living Water will flow from his heart.’”
The Light of the World. On the first day of the Festival, the Temple was illuminated with a huge candelabras that stood 75 feet tall, with 16 large blazes that burned throughout the week. This was to celebrate the Pillar of Light that God provided for the people during the wilderness wanderings. Since the Temple was on a hill, everyone could see the light from miles around. During the lighting there would have been loud music, dancing, and parades. It was this setting that most likely played backdrop to Jesus‘ statement in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
Matthew’s Table. But maybe most instructive for us as Christians, is Jesus’ unscripted parties. The New Testament tells us that after and encounter with Jesus, Matthew, a wealthy Tax Collector turned disciple, threw a party and invited all his friends to meet Jesus (see Matthew 9:9-13, Mark 2:13-17, Luke 5:27-32). And evidently this group would not have been invited to today’s church social. The religious leader actually called them “scum” (Mark 2:16) and Matthew himself calls them “disreputable sinners” (Matthew 9:10). It seems that part of Jesus‘ plan for reaching people was to go where they were, meet them as they are, and be Himself. To practice “active proximity” to those who needed to hear His Good News the most.
Alan Hirsch in his great book Untamed: Reactivating a Missional Form of Discipleship quips, “not only did the social outcasts and sinners want to be around Jesus, but Jesus wanted to be around them.” When we’re seeking to be like Jesus, we’ll be looking for opportunities to reveal Him to the world. Celebration is still one great way. In our day there are still many opportunities. Here’s a few ideas:
- Invite friends to a community celebration around a holiday. Take time to share with individuals or the group how this holiday helps you worship or makes you grateful to God.
- Organize a team to volunteer at a community festival and be available to the non-profit or municipality putting it on. Intentionally build relationships.
- Throw a party in your front yard or back yard and invite neighbors who you don’t know.
- Have people over to dinner. Begin a Matthew’s Table night where you share your home and your table with people that you know who need a second chance or could never hang out at the church socials.
God wants to reveal Himself. He wants to use you. He used celebration in the past and he can today. And who knows how many of those “disreputable sinners” around Matthew’s table became followers of Christ and Church Planters that gathered at festivals and around tables and continued the Jesus story for the rest of their lives. Imagine the possibilities…
Check out the Bridge Church How to guide on Block Parties and begin using celebration to glorify God and reach out to friends and neighbors.
Lane Corley 