Create A New Culture

"The only way to truly transform culture is to create culture." -Andy Couch

I have had two significant impacts this past week that led me to think about culture, the gospel, and our impact as believers in Jesus. The first is reading the memoir of hip-hop artist Lecrae. His book was gritty, challenging, transparent, and thought provoking. The second was a Vision Tour of the city of Denver through the North American Mission Board in search of a place to begin a new mission opportunity. While on this tour we met several church planters and heard their stories of mission for the gospel. Both the book and the trip impacted me separately, but also worked in tandem to reveal a fresh look at cultural engagement as believers.

The Book
Lecrae has been a culture changer since his career as a hip-hop artist began. He revolutionized the Christian hip-hop world and made incredible impact by packing theology driven lyrics to music that started to sound more like hip-hop heard on the radio. Eventually, Lecrae found himself in a place caught between two world, two cultures-  the "Christian" and the "secular". The result was a gospel-centered artist who began to take the message to the world. As he has put it before, he started making music for the church, now he is making music from the church. His sound and lyrics have changed, but the message is still clear. He explains that the change happened when he started engaging the world differently. He states in his book, "...being a Christian is not just about being saved from something but also being saved to something. Following Jesus doesn't just save us from a less fulfilling life or eternal separation from God. It also saves us to a life that can radically transform the world around us through the power of God." This quote was the key to opening my mind a little more. I've known what he says for a long time, but something rang even more true now.

The Trip
While on the Vision Tour we met pastors who were trying desperately to engage a culture that cared very little for ideas of church, gospel, salvation, etc. Over all, the people they were engaging were in the city for fun, escape, and fulfillment most which could be found in the activities the city offers. However, the one thing that was looked for and could not be fully found was community. Each pastor stated the majority of people they come across would leave Denver after a few years because they were lonely. They may know people, but rarely on a deeper level. So, these pastors began to create community, true biblical community, built on love, care, sacrifice, and connection. One particular story stuck with me. The pastor made a connection with a person in the community and this person and his wife were expecting their first child. After a relationship was built and the couple was nearing their delivery date the pastor asked if he could get some people to bring them meals to help out. The man was astounded that someone would even do that. He even said I've never experienced something like that before! Even more incredible was the church (just a handful of people) committed to providing three meals a week for three months!! In many churches I've been a part of, we are lucky to get a full week filled.

What does all this mean?
For some of you this may mean little. You may be looking for the next controversial blog about something that can cause a stir. Or you may already know what I am describing and perhaps are living it out. For most, I bet we haven't thought much about our culture and how the gospel engages it. Well, we have likely thought about telling the most people we can about Jesus (which is right and good) or we complain about how the world is going to hell in a hand basket(weird analogy thinking about hell as a place of fire; that hand basket would get burned up...). That's just it though! We do a great job complaining about culture, being absorbed into the culture, or copying it. What happens if we actually create it! Christians were some of the first to care for orphans, widows, and the ill. We were once a people at the forefront of building orphanages, hospitals, places of care for the outcast. Christians were once at the forefront of art; depicting the gospel through music, paintings, sculptures, literature, etc. Some are still doing this, but I fear we have stopped being culture makers and are culture complainers, copiers, or wrapped up in the culture. We are not to be separated from culture, we are not to create just a sub-culture, we are to be culture makers! We should be creating a culture that is dynamic in love, justice, grace, service, fellowship, meekness, and ultimately Christ. Practically, I think this dynamic culture making happens when families adopt or foster children (even the hard ones) as they show the value of life is more than just a baby in the womb. We see it when we live financially at a particular means and give away the rest to those who need it. Dynamic culture making happens when we are willing to tell our children they can go to the farthest places of the world, even dangerous places, to reach others for Christ.

The biggest issue of creating a new culture is starting. For most of us, it will involve getting out of our comfort zones, it will involve sacrifice, it will involve the unknown. However, it is our calls as believers to be culture makers as we are called into the mission of Christ to reconcile all things to Him. (2 Cor. 5:17-21) We have to start somewhere, the question is where are you going to start?

Love the Assembly, Hate the Sinner?

So, I'm not the best at blogging regularly, but when God wakes me up in the morning with ideas and thoughts I tend to listen and write.

Perhaps part of my thoughts come from various books I have been reading and my consistent time in Scripture as God speaks. In the Christ Centered Exposition Commentary on 1 Timothy, the author reveals that "Out of the seven billion people in the world, only one-third claim to be Christian. That leaves us with 4.7 billion people in the world today who are on a road that leads to an eternal hell. And two billion of those 4.7 billion unbelievers have no access to the gospel." (111) I suppose this reality stuck with me because I was left to ask why. The commentary was focused on how affluence can negatively affect our view of sharing Christ. I, however, wonder if we actually love our church community (The Assembly) more than we do the unbeliever(The Sinner)?

Thom Rainer, who has authored many books and created a program to help churches revitalize states that once a church becomes inwardly focused it loses it's mission. His blog post states the following,

"But churches can lose their outward focus and become preoccupied with the perceived needs and desires of the members. The dollars spent and the time expended can quickly become focused on the demands of those inside the congregation. When that takes place the church has become inwardly obsessed. It is no longer a Great Commission congregation."

Of course and inward focus is vital to the flourishing of the church too, but how does too much inward focus happen and what are the results?

Program trumps Spirit
Evangelistic efforts of a church must be programed in many ways. Churches must focus their efforts in a particular mission field- community, state, nation, and world- that would require planning and effort of program. In addition, learning ways to share the gospel with people that follow a particular program carries great benefit as well. However, I fear in our culture that loves to compartmentalize we miss the fact that we are called to be on mission at all times. Our Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20 reveals that Jesus tells His disciples to "go". The idea is better understood, "as you go" meaning continuously practicing. Have we in the church programmed so well, that we have taught our people that you can only "go" when you go on a particular mission trip or "outreach" event of the church? In addition to program we must teach that we develop a spirit, a mindset, of "as you go." Each and every opportunity in the workplace, at school, in our neighborhoods, in the store, etc. should be embraced with a spirit of reaching others for Christ.

We've Been Hurt By People
All of us experience hurt by other people both believer's and non-believers in Jesus, but I wonder if that leads to a hardened heart against those who don't know Jesus. I once knew a teenager who experienced hurt from a person at his school. He knew that the other student was not a believer and was destined for a place separated from God eternally. Because of the hurt received he decided in his mind not to share the gospel with the student because the other student, "deserved to go to hell."Whoa!! Thankfully, by God's grace, the Spirit convicted this young man and I was able to walk him through that. But, can we indirectly do the same as we either get hurt from others or when we attempt to share the gospel and are ridiculed we step back? We may step back in fear, but maybe secretly we simply write someone off and just accept they will go to hell. Even in rejection we should still pray for those who hurt us, we are called to love those who persecute us for the means of that person possibly coming to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

We've Grown Spiritually Fat
Inward focused churches and people love discipleship and fellowship. I know, cause I can get that way. Discipleship and fellowship in many ways are for the church to encourage and lift up one another in Christ, but in their full purpose is to actually bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Acts 2:42-47 reveals church life of the inward focus. Prior to these verse Peter has preached and reached out to people through his message. At the end of the chapter, the apostles and disciples have devoted themselves to one another in discipleship, fellowship, and service. It was sacrificial, counter-cultural, and full of life. The result, "And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." Discipleship was intended to train believers for the purpose of reaching out. Fellowship and service in the church should be something so different from the rest of the culture it is reaching out. In fact, we should be finding ways to invite "outsiders" into our fellowship to experience the life and Spirit of Christ in our relationships with one another. The acts/processes of discipleship, fellowship, and service were never an end in of themselves. They are a means to reach in and out. Instead, many in the American church simply consume in these acts/processes and continue to grow spiritually fat never exercising their faith in Jesus to reach others.

We've Starved Ourselves Spiritually
As a believer we are in a continual state of growth (2 Pet. 3:18; Eph. 3:17-19; 1 Pet. 2:2; 1 Tim. 4:15; Eph. 2:10) or at least we should be. However, when we fail to grow in Christ (which is an oxymoron) it effects how we view others, our world, the mission of the church, and our ability to share Christ. Study in the Word, theology, perhaps sociology, our culture, and from Christian leaders all aid in our growth. The Word is first and foremost in the growth of the believer and the others simply help. If we are not learning what Jesus has called us to, how to put it into practice, and take the next steps in growth we starve spiritually. The result is a shallow believer (maybe even not a believer at all) who has no understanding of how to share Christ. Even more, we can starve ourselves by not practicing our faith too. No matter where we are in our growth-infantile or mature- we are called to practice it because it brings more growth too. When we are challenged by someone, we should study and search for answers to give. When we are challenged we should love the other person no matter how their challenged was presented and how much we disagree. Thus, we grow instead of staying starved, plus we fulfill the commission we were given.

You may be asking, how does all this really equal hating someone? Several years ago a video surfaced of the comedian and atheist Penn Gillette who was touched by someone giving him a Bible. His words resonate still today as he equates a lack of sharing to hatred toward another. The fact remains that we show the greatest act of love by introducing them to the One who can save them, bring them new life, and change their heart. Even more, to believe that someone is destined to a place that separates them from God eternally, a place that is for punishment of sin, then our hearts must be inclined to share. Please note I said share, not save. Salvation belongs to Jesus as He works in the person's heart, but our call is to share the good news. 

Restoring Leadership pt. 1

 

I've taken quite a hiatus from blogging. I needed to focus on ministry and simply spending time with God without thinking, "How could I blog about this?" Through that time, I've been reading a "church leadership" book and studying through Nehemiah. With so many books on being a leader, I wanted to see from Scripture what characteristics a leader or how one should lead looks like. I think I found myself needing to restore my own leadership as a minister. Nehemiah is where I found myself. So, I will be giving my insights on leadership that I have discovered in the book of Nehemiah. Nothing groundbreaking, earth shattering, do these 5 steps and you will have the perfect ministry type of insights. I simply think we can get caught up in the hundreds of books about leadership or try to find the quick steps to building the best ministry and miss it all together. Or we simply get in a rut and do not even see we are simply maintaining something and not actually leading.

Restoring Leadership Begins By Seeking God Before the Work
I cannot count the number of times I have crafted an "awesome" message for teenagers or planned the best event ever expecting to see the greatest responses by students since the Billy Graham days only to find that it was just another thing. I remember once planning to be a speaker for a youth "revival" for a mission trip I was a part of. I was hearing that we should see a couple hundred students and it will be great. I was pumped and I took so much time crafting my message that seeking God was an afterthought. So the time came and besides my handful of students on the trip with me, we had about five youth show up. I was devastated, angry at God for the work I put into this and only to find my work was in vain. How arrogant of me! God used that to teach me a valuable lesson in humility as a leader and to know who truly is the Leader.

Our story begins with a man who faces a problem. His people have been taken from their homeland for years. Their city is is ruins and it seems God has left them. Nehemiah is struck at the heart by the situation and desires for change. The people of God have likely become a little complacent and comfortable with their lives. So, Nehemiah in his distress and desire to see things made right jumps right into a plan, reads some books about leading a nation back, and gets some people to help along the way. No! Nehemiah 1:4 says, "When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven."

When is the last time you (I include myself) actually wept and mourned for our people we lead? In the SBC we are "concerned" for declining and plateauing churches, missionaries being brought home from the field because money is no longer available, and students losing faith after high school. I put concerned in quotations because I wonder how concerned we are. I see new books, programs, and blogs about how to fix the problem; yet the problem remains. Where is the call to weep, mourn, fast, and pray for our state of affairs? If we are called by our leaders, how much to we really heed the call? Leaders, how are we giving the call to our people? First, it begins with us being broken by reality and the Spirit of God. I'm guilty as many who feel bad for a day about something then move on. Its almost like we have spiritual ADD and the next "fix" grabs our attention, but does not actually provide a solution. Nehemiah wept and mourned for days...days! Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:1). Mostly we prescribed this Beatitude to being spiritually broken for the sake of salvation. Yet, brokenness is a characteristic of the believer because it's foundation is in humility. Humility is a great reminder of how little we really know, how strong we really are, and how much we entirely rely on a God greater than us. In leadership, we can forget about God and unintentionally (sometime intentionally) "dethrone" Him and place ourselves on a throne of our kingdom. So, no matter what we face as leaders- change in the church, backlash from the community or culture, spiritual attack, etc. we must first remember that God is ultimately leading us and the people under our care.

In the midst of his mourning and weeping, Nehemiah also prays and fasts, again for days. Tied greatly to humility, the act of prayer and fasting as a leader is critical. It first places us under God and should remind us who He is and who we are. Also, seeking God first through prayer and fasting keeps us from being tossed to and fro by the next big way to lead. It keeps us from trying to find the church that is doing it "right" and imitating them or deciding what we think is best for our churches. Prayer and fasting means we seek God's vision, plan, heart, and strength for the tasks at hand. For example, Doug Fields is one of the best Student Minister's in the field. He's written books, spoken at conferences, and led many younger Student Minister's along the way. There is nothing wrong with that, but what was successful for him may not be at my church or yours. Seeking godly council is important, but seeking the God who knows our churches, communities, and the future is by far greater! Leader, what is the vision of your church? What is the plan to achieve that vision? Is it Tim Keller's? Andy Stanley's? Mark Dever's? Thom Rainer's? Missional guy with thick rimmed glasses, skinny jeans, a beard, and rocks a flannel shirt from the Catalyst Conference? They all offer great help and insight into church leadership, but they are not the source of ultimate truth for our leadership!! I encourage us to start anything we are leading our people in to pray and fast. Not for a few hours, not for even a day. Follow Nehemiah's example that is found in the source of all truth-Scripture- and take days to seek God.

The result of Nehemiah's faithfulness to seek God was a vision, plan, and the means to accomplish the goal. It was not easy and required incredible amounts of hard work, but blessing was received. In addition, a people were led to do incredible things-life changing things that impacted who they were and those around them. This is what I want to see happen!! So, I am determined to take more concerted time and effort to prayer and fasting in my leadership as a minister, husband, father, friend, etc. Will you?

Something's Missing

I attended a concert last night where we heard things like- I'm Turn't Up, Why y'all scared to be different, I'm unashamed, etc. Lecrae is notorious for his passion for Jesus, music, family, and the gospel being reached to people. His energy is seen on stage and is always felt in the audience...well usually. I've been to roughly 6 or 7 of his shows now and typically end up leaving in sweat from the jumping around/dancing (I mean rhythmic movement) as we enjoy the music and message being displayed. Last night, there were pockets of this happening, but overall it was rather dull. It looked like most worship services I attend on Sunday. Standing, watching someone perform as we halfheartedly participate. I suspect that venue, culture, and audience had much to do with the atmosphere of the night. But, what if it didn't? What if what I saw were people who have lost the joy of salvation;  the undignified aspects of worship that can come about? The pictures above are of David dancing undignified before the Lord as He is overjoyed by God and His work. Jeremiah 31:3-4 it states,

"Long ago the Lord said to Israel:
“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.
    With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. 
 I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel.
    You will again be happy
    and dance merrily with your tambourines.

The people of God are a people known of joy in the salvation of God and sometimes that manifests in praise even praise through dancing. I am not saying that worship services should become something undignifed and look like that scene from the Blues Brothers:

What I am thinking is what if our young people now cannot even express incredible joy of salvation in an environment where it is typically expected? What does that mean for our worship services? I understand that the Spirit moves people to worship and that we don't actually create it for people. I know that we can make environments places where this type of expression can take place. But more so, do we teach our people how to show the joy of our salvation? Do we regulate it to what we deem "appropriate"? 

I know everyone expresses their passion for the Lord differently. I typically do not raise my hands or jump around in a worship service. But if you sit next to me close enough you probably hear me. I sing loud as an expression of my worship. Not sure why, but that's how I express my passion in worship. I encourage you to be expressive in your worship of God. Who He is and what He has done is incredibly powerful and amazing; why suppress ourselves to show anything less than joy?

Maybe what I see is nothing, maybe there is something there. I just know that I am becoming increasingly tired of passive, disengaged, joyless expression of our Lord and the salvation He brings in all manners of life specifically in worship. This is not happening everywhere, but I feel like I sense it more and more.

Disturbed or Convicted?

 

"And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment..." -John 16:8

"...I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple...Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King,  the Lord of hosts." -Isa. 6:1, 3-5

I remember the day I first felt the Spirit convict me. I grew up hearing the Bible and the gospel, but one day I actually heard it. It was an evening I was laying down to sleep and I couldn't get settled. I was in the 5th grade and my spirit was wrestling with God. I was feeling the heart wrenching truth that I was not right. Despite having a father for a pastor, growing up in church, and living relatively good it was not enough. Eventually, in that wrestling match God broke the sinew of my heart. I began crying and prayed to God to save me. I recognized that I was a sinner in need of Christ to make my heart and life right with Him. I knew the very basics of the gospel as it finally penetrated my heart, but it was enough. The next day I followed up with dad at a youth service and we talked more about salvation.

I tell my story because I was confronted in my quiet time with this quote from my devotional by Oswald Chambers, "Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin; we know the experience of being disturbed because of having done wrong things..." I was struck by this statement because I believe my initial interaction with God in my salvation was conviction. The weight of heaviness on my heart and the immediate recognition of needing Him reveals conviction. However, what has happened since then at times of confrontation with God and my sin nature that likes to make an appearance in my life? Do I still face conviction or am I simply disturbed? What about many believers today in the Church?

Disturbed vs Conviction  

To be disturbed by sin is to simply be troubled by it. It is nagging, sometimes weighing, and stays with us. Conviction can be the same, however, the key is our response to it. Our response to being disturbed in America leads to disregard. We are great at it! Why? We are trained to do it? When we are disturbed by something we might think about for a bit, feel a little bad, fleetingly speak about change, and then forget about it. Or we do not like it and find a way to escape it by watching TV, eat "comfort food", play video games, buy something to make us feel better, etc. To be disturbed might move us from our comfort for a bit, but we quickly find a way to get back to comfort.

Conviction, however, cannot let you move away from it. Conviction breaks down your very core emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally, to a complete recognition of who God is and who you are. The passage I reference in Isaiah shows this well. Isaiah is confronted by God and immediately is broken. Not just emotionally breaks down, but cannot do anything but lay down before Him. Conviction removes comfort and leaves us uncomfortable. Why? Change is required! So, how does conviction take place based on Isaiah 6?

1. We are confronted in the presence of God
This is a place believers visit much anymore because it is uncomfortable...at first. To enter into His presence requires our spirits to be checked against a holy God. This means the discomfort of removing the sin before Him. What follows-- peace, comfort, grace, mercy, love, hope, purpose, etc brings us to a place of rightness. I see very few people, myself included, so deep in the presence of God that conviction permeates the believers life. Instead we like to stay on the fringe of His presence to get the feeling of disturbed to easily disregard it and think we've made things right with Him.

2. Recognize God as King
Isaiah describes God as a King which gives us a picture of what he is thinking, feeling, seeing; and then he eventually calls Him the King. Conviction shows us who we are in light of God. We are unworthy. I think about movies that feature amazing kings and how his knights are willing to die for him and when they enter his presence bow in reverence. That should be our response to God as our King. The problem is sin creates other kings the compete with the King or make Him just another king in our hearts and minds. Again, another reason being simply disturbed is easy to work through. God is just another king vying for my heart. Conviction reveals the true nature of God and how He is the King.

3. Conviction leads to humbleness
Isaiah says "Woe is me..." revealing a heart of humbleness. He is surrendered to the King and confesses before Him who Isaiah is. To be disturbed rarely leads to humbleness. It leads to discomfort and a look for a quick fix to remove the discomfort we feel. Conviction leads us to say we need You, Christ the King, to make the proper change in us. To our dismay, the changes necessary may require discomfort for a little while to dethrone the said little kings in our life. Our culture has taught us that discomfort is unnecessary and to be avoided. I think about the recent college president who had students complain because they felt "victimized" by a chapel sermon on 1 Corinthians 13. They were faced with a chance of conviction and respond accordingly. Instead they were simply disturbed and took up residency with pride.

We must not be scared of conviction, but embrace it like a spiritual discipline. We cannot bring it upon ourselves, but when the Spirit convicts do we follow through or let it disturb us? To make it a practice is to consistently be in the presence of God, allow His presence to reveal who He is, and humbly accept our position before Him. Thankfully, His grace, mercy, love, salvation, and life change follows conviction. Simply being disturbed by the Spirit's working in our lives leads to shallowness of faith, and less of the abundant life Christ talks about.

Suffering As a Troublesome Meddler

The newest shot heard around the Christian world: Starbucks infamous red holiday cups. I usually don't jump on the bandwagon of the next thing to blog about, but my morning quiet time and devotion led me to a response in all the madness happening. For the most part, many who are like-minded are appalled at the negative response and the claim of supposed persecution taking place on Christians. Then there are others who are in support of "taking a stand" over some cardboard for Jesus. Some, like social media personality Joshua Feuerstein who tell his followers to tell baristas their names are "Merry Christmas" forcing baristas to write Merry Christmas on the cups and even say it. So, is this really something a believer should be concerned about?

1 Peter 4:12-16 speak of suffering/persecution and how our response should be:
 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;  but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.

Suffering will happen, but it is shared in Christ's suffering
Suffering and persecution are common in the life of a believer of Jesus. However, suffering as Christ suffered is more than just daily life trials or certain traditions and comforts are threatened. Suffering comes because Christ is boldly being proclaimed that suffering/persecution would look like His. How did Christ suffer? He was verbally assaulted, abandoned by family and friends, beaten, plotted against toward death, wrongfully arrested, cast out of society, was not believed as God's Son, and ultimately killed. Maybe...maybe one could make the case that something like this cup incident is a casting out of society, but it is more over tradition than the name of Jesus. I fear as a group, American Christians have forgotten it is about the person of Jesus and not traditions we stand firm upon. Even more, how does a coffee cup really impact one's life for the gospel? Instead, buy a cup of coffee for someone and share about God's love and redemption through Jesus. If that person throws hot coffee in your face or begin berating you for crazy beliefs then you can claim suffering/persecution. If this happens, rejoice that you have joined Christ in the mission and work of redemption and that God's Spirit rests upon you. If they reject your offer of coffee or of Jesus, then move on...its not suffering.

Stupid mistakes or sin does not equal suffering
 Peter states that you should not suffer as a murder or thief or evildoer. Why? Cause its contrary to the gospel and it is not suffering. You have sinned and suffer either consequences for your actions. Interestingly, Peter also says not to suffer as a "troublesome meddler". Here is the great sin of many Christians today involved in the unnecessary debates and public outcry. The word Peter uses is unique and not seen much in Greek. Scholars understand this to mean someone who involves themselves in the business of others. One scholar I looked into even said implications could be an over zealous denouncing of pagan habits. To be a troublesome meddler is to essentially be one stirring up controversy for the sake of generating "suffering" that is not really suffering at all. What if the supposed "war on Christians" that runs through social media is nothing more than believers being troublesome meddlers and many have fallen prey to it? We know that Scripture speaks of a spiritual war taking place that influences our physical world. But, have we actually fallen into a trap that brings more upon us than we really should experience?

We are to not be ashamed of suffering as a Christian
When we truly face suffering for Christ, we should not be ashamed. What does this look like? How about the hundreds of Christians in Iraq who were demanded to renounce Christ or face death? To be ashamed is to deny the person of Jesus. The apostle Peter knows something about that...3 times in fact he was ashamed. Thankfully, grace extends even in those moments of weakness. How about those moments we must speak truth to others about the gospel and risk life, security, employment, housing, slander, the loss of a friend or family member? If we cannot speak God's truth then are we not ashamed? Whether a cup represents Christmas right, from a business that could care less about whether you believe in Christ or not, is not suffering. In fact, it makes our faith look petty, foolish (not as Paul speaks of it), and built on traditions and not a Person.

Last Thoughts
Recently a Facebook post from a church member of a former church I attended stated that a young woman from the Middle East was baptized in the church. The pastor who baptized her spoke in her native tongue and was asked several question. Two of them were: 1) You are aware you will suffer persecution as a Christian? and 2) Are you willing to die for Christ?. Wow! Not, if your coffee cup carries no Christmas message will you "die" for that? Our God is big enough to make His name famous, He doesn't need us to do it for Him. What He wants is for us to submit to His kingship, deny ourselves, our "rights", and be open to His work through us! Finally, remember that as believers we are to love one another and correct one another in love. This "debate" should not lead to further division or fighting. It should lead to a laying down of self and loving one another as Christ loves us.         

 

Some Truth of Student Ministry

Confession: God smacked me right in the head today with some truth about ministry that I had either forgotten or taken for granted.

For the last several weeks our Student Ministry has been doing flag football with the guys. For the most part we have had great turnout every week. Today, however, 3 guys showed up. Why? I don't know. More than likely many others just had a busy week and weekend and needed the rest today. Others maybe didn't want to be there. Regardless 3 showed up. At first it was just 2 and a 3rd showed up 30 minutes past our start time. I was ready to "close up shop" for the activity, but decided I would run the track for a mile and let the guys throw the ball around. Why run? I needed to clear my head and talk to God. In the time it took me to run I watched these three simply have fun. They didn't care that we didn't have a huge game. I did and I was not happy. Again, God gave clarity in just moments. I was witnessing an older youth take time to teach and play football with 2 younger ones. I was missing the picture that 3 youth and I were connecting, building relationship that is more important than any flag football game. The four of us eventually sat down and just talked about life. Simple and complex things. Life was shared.

Here me out any youth minister who might read this, especially those serving in small towns.

Ministry has right moments, not just events
Ecclesiastes 3 speaks of a time for everything. Essentially, the writer says that all things serve a specific purpose in the right time. For today, it was the right time to get to know these 3 youth better. It was a chance to invest quality time that may not always present itself. Jesus invested into 12 men who did incredible things for the kingdom. What if these 3 are to be like the "12" for me? What if I had simply just let the moment pass and not invested? What opportunities would I have missed? When things to do not go as planned, the numbers we look for as ministers is smaller than anticipated, or what we have accomplished seems like failure; perhaps we are missing the "right moments" that God has planned. We must moved passed ourselves and see His work instead.

Our response can reveal our value or lack thereof of each student
I'm sure there is a better way to word this point, but to clarify let me ask a question. If I had canceled my plans of the game at 3:30 and missed the opportunity, what do I say about the significance of the boys that showed up? They aren't worth my time because more guys didn't show? Yet, Christ tells us to seek out all people to share the gospel with, to share life and joy with. My original thoughts were anti-Christ's teaching when examined deep enough. Graciously God spoke and helped me realize this truth and instead I hope these guys saw that I cared for them despite my plans not coming to fruition. Who knows how that will impact them or how that investment might come back into the ministry.

So, check yourself and your thoughts when you are in the position I was. Remember, that we are called to bring Christ to all people and all size of groups. Your response can possibly make or break a student in how they understand your view of them. I think we are all guilty of this at some point. Let's help students remember that they all matter.

It's okay to "remove" yourself from the situation for clarity
As ministers I wonder if we sometimes feel like we are supposed to be Superman to our students? When we get frustrated, tired, sad, etc. we shouldn't reveal those emotions because they aren't strong. However, it shows we are human and sometimes need a break. Even more, those emotions come to us when we are most self-centered. This was especially true in my case. I needed to "de-center," and be re-centered upon Christ and His mission. I believe that is a more important lesson to be caught by our students than we give credit for. So, in the middle of activity or events, if necessary, pull yourself away to be re-centered when plans do not go our way. Even if it is for a couple of minutes, the clarity the Spirit can bring could the the catalyst for something incredible.


So, for many of you this may be a "duh!" blog post. For some it may be a time to reflect. I believe that all of us need these reminders from time to time. It doesn't matter how much of a veteran or rookie of a ministry you are. For me this day has been a little of both. I know what I have written about, but reflection was needed to be a better minister down the road.