Making Disciples

Why is it so important to make disciples? Disciples of who? And whose job is it really?

We hear a lot of talk these days about making disciples. As a matter of fact, we are hearing so much from so many places that we might begin to wonder if this is really a movement of God’s Spirit on His people or if it is merely a fad and another church growth method to make our churches appear “successful”. If it is such a Biblical concept and so central to the identity of the church, why did the church of the 20th century not spend so much time and attention on it? Is discipleship in the 21st century just another name for something done regularly by the previous generations?

We certainly are aware that Jesus told His disciples to “Go and make disciples” and of course they had an understanding of what that meant because they has just been following Jesus around for three years and receiving instruction from Him on what it was to be a part of the kingdom of God and a disciple of Christ. For us, it seems a little more difficult to comprehend what discipleship looks like in the 21st century especially without a physical Jesus to follow around.

The disciples of Jesus in the 1st century A.D. followed Him around learning from Him about the kingdom of God and how to live on this earth. They watched Him bring healing to the lame, blind, demon-possessed, epileptic, hopeless, hungry and hurting. The disciples did what Jesus told them to do and went on ahead of Him to the villages He was about to go and they prepared the way by preaching the gospel and by healing people in the name and power of Jesus.

Making disciples today really is no different. We follow Jesus around. We sit at His feet and listen. We go out and prepare the way for Him to come and bring His salvation to all who will believe and receive it. Making disciples is going and getting our brother and saying “We have found Him the Messiah” – Andrew (John 1:41).

And so making disciples is not a new fad or phenomenon but rather one of the oldest components of the Christian church. Many programs and methods have been used across the centuries to make disciples, and sometimes the efforts were because of false motives but that does not release us from our responsibility to make disciples. And the disciples that we are making are not of us but of Jesus. We are to point people to His power, to His message, to His love and to His kingdom. They are not to look more like us but more like Him.

So who should be making these disciples? And when? And how?

We could make a long drawn out discussion of this. We could put together committees and task-forces and think-tanks or we could each just go and find our brothers and sisters, friends and enemies and strangers and tell them “We have found the Messiah”. Really that is the only really honest, faithful and true approach. If we have to have a mission statement, or a training seminar or a boost of self-confidence before we are able to tell people about Jesus then we are not relying on His Spirit, strength and salvation but on our own. We must make disciples today! Now! Before it is too late! Making disciples is not about a church program, church service, about success, popularity or acceptance. It is about loving people enough to tell them about the love of God that can truly save them for now and forevermore.

Consider this your re-commissioning: “Go and make disciples”!

More lessons learned from marathon training

If you have ever (or never) run before the likelihood that you have at some point thought that running was ‘stupid’. People ask runners “why would you punish yourself like that?” and “how can running be ‘fun’?”. I myself have been that person. And yet now that I am running I feel completely different about it. It’s one of those things that you can’t “knock it, ’till you’ve tried it”. But even so I recently found myself thinking again “this is dumb”, “whoever thought this up?”. It was on my first 5k run ever. And it wasn’t the distance or the speed that bothered me. Two things bothered me: running alone and running in circles (literally). Whoever thought that running around a track was a great thing to do was crazy: you don’t get anywhere and you don’t see anything (except the next bit of pavement). Furthermore, why would anyone want to run alone? It’s lonely, easy to quit and feels a lot more like exercise than fun. I run because it is fun. I run because I get the privilege of being with my wife and my friends. I run because of the goals to achieve and the benefits to my body, soul and spirit. I don’t run for exercise. And so that brings me now to a few more ministry lessons I have learned from running:

  • Don’t run alone, grab a group of people who are passionate about running the course with you to the end.
  • Don’t run in circles, find a destination, a goal, a worthy cause and set your sights on that finish line.
  • Find joy in the journey, notice God’s creation, see new sights, hear new sounds, smell new smells. Let the joy of the Lord be your strength for running.
  • Don’t settle, there is always something to be discovered as you run a little faster and little farther. There are new lessons and new destinations that God has in store for you.

I am sure to share more lessons later, but that is it for now. Now, GO, run the course God has set for you!

Jesus’ Ministry of Words (and Healing)

I have been preaching a sermon series entitled “Jesus in my shoes” and have looked at numerous aspects of Jesus’ life on earth. Just last Sunday I completed a sermon entitled “Jesus in my words” and shared a number of things that defined Jesus’ words and should therefore be descriptive of our words as well.

As I have continued to think about this topic and read up on Jesus’ words in the gospels I have come to the conclusion that Jesus’ ministry was a ministry of words and of healing. Those appear to be the key facets of His ministry. Granted, His ministry was all about people, and restoring the love relationship between His Father and humanity, but the way that He went about it revolved around the words that He spoke and the healing that He offered.

I am beginning to realize that the ministry of words that God has called me to is very important. I have often thought that my words were the least important aspect of my ministry and yet what better calling than to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and be referred to as ‘teacher’.

And so I am reconsidering the power and value of my words and the importance of study and preparation and prayer so that I speak the right words and refrain from the wrong words. As Jesus’ words inaugurated the arriving kingdom of God on earth, even so our words can advance the kingdom of God into enemy territory, reclaim what belongs to God and give God the glory for bringing it all about. Wow! The power of words.

Marathon Training and Ministry, part 2

So I am really digging this running thing. I have been reading up on what to wear and how to train and what to eat, and it is really fun! (And the physical benefits aren’t bad either). But perhaps even more interesting is what marathon training has to say to us about ministry (and really about all of life and spiritual development).

I mentioned in my previous post that in order to run a marathon in 6 months I have to do certain things on a regular basis leading up to the day of the race. The same is therefore true about life and spiritual development. If I want to be a man of prayer, I need to practice praying, if my church wants to be alive and impactful on its community we must serve and make disciples. In order to be ready for a race we have to train. And training often takes the form of small doses spread out over a long period of time that look almost insignificant by themselves and perhaps minuscule in their progress over the previous dose and yet collectively the results can be quite impressive!

So what things should we be doing as disciples and disciple-makers in order to achieve a synergy that far surpasses the simple collective of all of the individual parts? Am I doing the things in prayer, spiritual conversations, personal invitations, gospel presentations, one-on-one discipleship, Bible reading, accountability and service that really will make me the man of God I want to be in 6 months, 5 years, or a lifetime? Am I stepping up the intensity of my ‘workouts’? Am I making sure not to ‘run’ alone? Am I pacing myself? Am I hydrating and nourishing myself so that I can have the health and stamina to finish the race? Am I actually running the right race?

All of these are questions I have been asking myself and lessons I have been learning from running. Perhaps I will begin to change my spiritual and ministry training regimen and maybe even the way I ‘run’. Perhaps we all need to examine our health, our training and our progress. Let’s be careful to finish the race God has called us to!

Acts 20:24 NIV

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

Marathon Training and Ministry

I was recently bit by the runner’s bug. And so here I am at 33 years old training for a marathon. I am enjoying the training, the newness and adventure of it all and of course the physical benefits. But one thing I am also learning is how much marathon training has to teach us about ministry.

As I have been running I have been amazed at how easy it has been. Granted, my longest run/walk so far has been 2 miles (other than a 4 mile hike/run/walk over the weekend) but even so I have been impressed with the ease with which I have slipped into this new role as runner. I believe a lot of that has to do with the pace with which my wife and I are taking our training. The training regimen we are on is gradual. And each day as we finish our run I want to run more. I have the energy and excitement to run more. But I remind myself of what will happen if I run further and harder and longer than I should at this stage of my training. First I know that I might feel good now, but tomorrow I am going to really be hurting if I don’t stick to the gradual nature of my training. Second I also know that if I am really in pain or weak after my run I might not/probably won’t want to continue training on my next training day. Third,I know that if I push too hard and too fast I might actually cause damage to my body instead of helping my body. And so when the end of my run comes and I want to go on, I remind myself that baby steps work wonders. I remind myself that what seems like slow training now will actually look quite fast in six months when I finish my first half marathon. At the end of my run I remind myself that the compounded effort of training four days a week stretching just a bit farther and bit harder each time will be so much more beneficial than trying to do it all today.

The implications for ministry here are astounding! Not only does this speak to the tendency of some pastors/leaders (myself included) to work too many hours and too many days and suffer burnout, but it also speaks to the need of having each part of ministry assume it rightful time and place. Trying to save the whole city today will never happen. But reaching one person with the gospel, encouraging one person, serving one person today is a very real possibility. And the compounded effect of daily ministry to others over a significant period of time can bring amazing results!

And so when I want to try just a bit harder and stay just a bit longer I think: “Maybe I can’t do as much today as I think I can, and maybe I can do a lot more over a period of time than I ever really thought possible”. After all ministry isn’t a moment,it is a marathon and we only reach the finish line when we enter glory.

What to do with others’ expectations, part 3

Let us examine a little more closely what we should do with other people’s expectations and our judgments of others. I want to in particular examine some of the negative consequences of our judgments on other people.

As a pastor I have often been on the receiving end of living in a ‘fishbowl’ where nearly everything is my life seems to be on display. Quarterbacks are quite aware of living in this place of constant scrutiny. Their critics are called ‘Monday morning quarterbacks’. And the reality is the higher profile your role or responsibility or the larger your ‘audience’ the greater the likelihood of receiving much ‘constructive criticism’.

I have said numerous times before that if a president of the United States (or of some fortune 500 company) spent all his or her time responding to criticisms they would not have time to actually do anything helpful for society or their organization. The truth is that this is exactly the scenario faced by many leaders. People want to know why we do certain things, why we don’t do other things, why we didn’t ask them for advice, why we said things a certain way and not another way and so on and so forth. The frequency and on-going presence of these expectations from other people can actually cripple a person’s leadership (whether a pastor, business person, teacher or some other role).

When people are constantly berated and judged they begin to second guess every decision:

     “What if this isn’t the right or best way?”
     “How will so and so respond to this decision?”
     “I wonder if this is the smartest, wisest use of my time, resources, energy etc?”
     “If I do this this way, what will the response be? What about fall-out?”
     “I wonder if I am even capable of doing this job?”
     “Maybe this organization would be better off with someone else leading?”

As someone has once said “Over-analysis can bring paralysis” and often times this is exactly happens to people who are incessantly critiqued. There is a place of health and growth that people living in a glass house must reach for so as to be aware (as necessary) of criticism and yet not allow such words to cripple their effectiveness and mission. On the other hand what would it be like if we each made it our goal not to state “This is how it should have been done…” and instead ask “How might I pray for,  encourage and help them to find and live out God’s perfect will for their life?”

What to do with others’ expectations, part 2

So we each think we know what others should do. We are each convinced that if people would listen to us we could straighten people out, iron out the wrinkles in church, government, dining  establishments, retail, city services etc. We mostly think our judgments are harmless, but what if they aren’t? What if our “private” judgments about what is wrong with the world and our solutions to fix everyone else’s problems are actually making things worse? What if our judgments are only hardening our own hearts, inflating our own egos and tearing down others intellect, emotional health and God-calling?

I would like to briefly talk the pride and fallacy of appointing ourselves judge and jury of all that is.

First, it would seem that it is the height of hubris to think that we know exactly what we would do if were in someone else’s shoes. The truth of the matter is that no two circumstances are exactly equal. Even if we have been in similar situations and understand the types of emotions, choices and actions that need to be made, we cannot say for sure what we would do if we were in the exact situation that we see another in.

Second, there is no doubt that however we have handled situations in our own lives and no matter how ‘good’ the outcome appeared to be, we can be certain that we did not handle every aspect of our own situation perfectly and there is something that we could learn if we examined our own experiences more closely. We would likely realize our mistakes and see places where we could have done things better or even completely different.

Third, we need to consider the fact that it is not our place to decide when, where, what, how or why other people do things…it is God’s responsibility. Even in the case where we are leading others, at most all we can say is what the end result probably needs to be and what principles should be honored in the process but the rest of it still needs to be determined by the person who ultimately is answerable for their actions.

Fourth, we all know in our own lives the difficulty of knowing if we have done the correct things in the correct ways, with the correct motives and a the correct time. We would be wise to observe others’ decision-making skills in action and ask God for wisdom to discern what we might learn and how we might encourage others in the often overwhelming task of seeking to do all things well.

I will share more on this later. In my next post I will examine more  the consequences and the destructive nature of our judgments.

What to do with other people’s expectations

There is not a day that goes by in your life or mine that we don’t encounter a situation where someone expects something of us. Our kids expect us to feed them and love them, our bosses expect us to show up and accomplish the work, our spouses expect us to be loving and available and so on and so forth. Though many difficulties in life arise from these on-going personal and professional expectations, often the expectations that can be the most devastating and entangling are those that are passed on to us from people around us (friends, acquaintances, co-workers, etc).

I know you know this, because you have done it yourself, but did you realize that people watch people? And as they watch, they make judgments: “I would never do that”, “They should know better”, “If I were in their situation I would…”, “I am too smart to ever let myself get into that situation”. You know what I am talking about. You have said those things about others and guess what? They have said those same things about you!

And then we each come to a place in life where we want to please the people around us. We want them to be happy with us as persons and impressed by our performance and achievements. And so we attempt to discern (guess?) what their unspoken judgments and expectations are about us. And then we try to shape our responses and our lives in order to gain the approval of men.

There often is much to be learned from other people. Proverbs is full of admonition to heed the words of the wise and avoid the folly of self-sufficiency. And yet the reality is that if we were to do all that everyone else thinks we could or should be doing it would not only be foolish but actually deadly to a person’s relational, emotional and spiritual life. We may need to come to a point of growth and maturity where we are aware of what others think/say about us (even Jesus asked “Who do they say that I am”) but then move on to a place where we value the input of certain godly and wise people (Jesus asked his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?”) but ultimately put all of our faith and trust in God (“Jesus did not entrust himself to men because he knew what was in a man”).

I am not sure how on a daily basis to

  • learn from constructive criticism,
  • discern and reject other people’s judgments who don’t know God’s call and direction in our lives, and finally
  • live to please the Lord and not men,

but that is something I am working on, studying the Word on and praying about. I pray that God would give me His wisdom regarding expectations and obedient living.

As unto the Lord or unto men?

I have been thinking a lot about why we do what we do.

And if we are honest with ourselves there is an inordinate amount of time, energy, worrying, guessing and second-guessing that takes place in many of our lives about what other people think about us. We pick our clothes, our words, our philosophies, our churches, our foods and so much more based on what we think others will think!

What a dangerous preoccupation it is to think that somehow what I think you think about me should affect so much of my life.

A famous philosopher once said: “Know thyself” and if we take the time to do exactly that, would we notice and admit that even our attitude and at times our thoughts are predicated upon what we think others expect us to say, do or be?

Scripture reminds us that we are to live our lives as unto the Lord and not unto men and Paul spent some time referencing what he would have to do differently if he were seeking to please men (see Galatians 1). Many of us on the other hand can think of a list of things right off the bat that we would have to do differently if we were seeking only to please God.

Some of the immediate results of seeking to please God might be that we would pray more and look at cultural trends a bit less. We might also begin to live based on the Word of God and God’s revelations to us instead of cowering in fear based on how others might respond.

I believe that Jesus was so confident in who He was, what He was called to do, what His Father had spoken to Him and His trust in God to work it all out, that He was really free to live. He was free to speak and laugh and make decisions and plan His ministry and give an answer or respond to a circumstance without having to wonder what the ‘fall-out’ might be or how it might look on His resume’ or what people might say about Him behind His back (because they did say a number of things both behind His back and to His face).

How would you live your life different if your only care was to do the will of God? What things would you start doing and what things would you stop if it didn’t matter what anyone else thought? Are you really living as unto the Lord or unto men?

 

Forceful Advancement of the Kingdom

Scripture tells us that the kingdom of God is advancing forcefully and that forceful men grab a hold of it.

The Word also tells us that the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

These two verses speak to me.

But they speak to me that there is more to the kingdom of God than what I have seen first hand in the institutional church.

They actually speak to me also though that there is more to the kingdom of God than I have even allowed God to do in and through me.

When I read these verses i begin to think that there is more to this walk of faith than I have ever experienced. I read these verses and think about another verse- “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has concieved what God has in store for those who love Him.”

I want to be a part of that which God is doing. I want to get on board with a wave of righteousness, redemption and transformation!!

But I am beginning to realize that what I always thought about how the kingdom of God grows and advances is not remotely close.

It’s not about amazing good planning, excellent marketing, great locations and greeters. It’s about a personal relationship. It’s about trusting. It is about obedience.

I heard a message recently about Christianity in North America. The comment was made that Christians are over-educated and under-obedient: we know more about God’s Word than we currently obey and put into practice in our lives. I hope and pray that this week I will obey to the fullest God’s recent commands and revelations in my life.

I believe forceful advancement comes with simple faith, complete obedience and humbly giving God the glory!