Moving from Gathered to Sent

I was with some guys the other night on my deck. I was introducing the new book we were going to do together. "Revival Starts Here" by David Clayton. So we talked a little bit about it and assigned the next reading.

We then began to talk about the effects of Covid-19 on the church. I talked to them a little bit about what I wrote in my last post. One of the guys said, "Maybe we need to look at ourselves (the church) as a sent church that gathers rather than a gathering church that is sent." What are the implications of that paradigm?

First, we would be living our lives as disciples within the context of our everyday life. We are just doing life as a follower, bringing God's Kingdom to the context of everyday life. Not preaching and teaching to everyone. But as Michael Frost says to live a questionable life in such a way it leads to kingdom conversations. When people ask you "why" you live a certain way it becomes an opportunity to share that you try to live by the values of Jesus. The Kingdom becomes visible by what you do, not what you say.

Second, the gathering becomes a celebration of what God is doing in our lives 24/7. We are not just coming together to check in, sing some songs, give an offering, take communion and hear someone give us a pep talk to get us through the next week. The Kingdom becomes real in our everyday life and we can't wait to celebrate with others living the sent life.

Third, the gathering becomes what it is meant to be, a place we find encouragement. A place we spur one another on in love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24-25). It encourages us focus on being sent into the world to make disciples.

Finally, we begin to see God moving through our life personally and the life of the church. It is God, literally building His church through us, a church in which is pushing back the gates of hell.

Instead of saying, "If someone is seeking God, they can come to the gathering."

We begin to live with God and His kingdom at the forefront of our lives.

Jesus does tell us to "Seek first His Kingdom."

Time for some Humble Pie

"I'll go out as before and shake myself free" is what Samson said when he was seized by the Philistines. God had blessed Samaon greatly and his strength came from God. God had said as long as he would not cut his hair he would retain his stength. Slowly Samson began to think his stregth came from himself. He became self-reliant until one day he revealed the secrect to his strength. Deliah cut his hair and Samson mistakingly thought he could just shake himself free as before. As the church we have become self-reliant. We see our success comes when we are able to do the right things that can make our church grow. By grow I mean in the number of people who attend. I heard a pastor rant in a video how we need to stand up to the govenrment and come back and gather like we were before. We needed to forget social distancing, masks and any kind of safety measures. While that sounds like what we should do to some and maybe the most faithful thing to do, we are also called by Jesus to be peacemakers. This pastor said something that was troubling to me. He said "the power we have comes from the gathering." The power comes from the people who are called to gather. Really? I always thought that our power came from God. I thought our power came from what Jesus did on the cross. I thought our power came from the Holy Spirit who leads our life. This is always what I had been taught growing up and in Seminary. I was always taught we should not be self-reliant, which is what Adam and Eve sought when the ate the fruit from the tree. I was never taught our power as the church comes from us and the gathering. Has the church become to prideful in the way it fucntions and conducts business? Is what we are going through right now a wake up call to begin to rely on God and not lean on our own understanding? I mean everyone I talk to is trying to figure out how to get back to the gathering. Very few are talking about what God is doing outside the gathering. You see, Samson thought he would just be able to shake himself free by his own power. That pride bound him, blinded him and and led to greater burden. It was not until he humbled himself that he regained his strength. Here is his prayer: "O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strenghten me just once more . . . (Judges 16:28). Maybe we should pray for God's power and strength rather than trying to do it on our own. It is time we humble ourselves before God and allow Him to build His church the way He wants the church to be built. It is time we call on God's power to end the virus' spread and heal everyone who currently has the virus. It is time we call on God's power to bring us together dispite our race. Let's all spend some time calling on God's power to change us and bring peace to the world. It is time to humble ourselves before God!

Don't Ger to Comfortable

I was Reading Bob Goff's new book "Dream Big." I wrote a note in the margins that says this, "One of the most powerful paragraphs I have ever read." He is talking about a time in Somalia that got a little tense to say the least. In the chaos he says "Yikes!" Here is a portion of the paragraph: "I know it doesn't sound big, deep, and theological, but it's big, deep, and theological. Here's why. I've spent my whole life becomming more and more comfortable. I have a house, a car, a boat. . . What I have discovered is that comfortable people don't need Jesus and don't chase their ambitions--desperate people do." It made me think about myself and the the church. Have we become to comfortable in our faith? This time during the pandemic has made us very uncomfortable. We don't know what the next week, month or year is going to look like. We have become desperate in a sense and long to just get back to what is comfortable. But what happens if we lean into the discomfort looking toward Jesus as our place of peace? Where will He lead us/you over the months ahead? How can He build His church to advance His Kingdom in ways we would never experience in our comfort? The only way to know is to become desperate for Him. As Michael W. Smith's song "Breathe" says: "I am desperate for you, I am lost without you."

When God Teaches

Part of my renewed desire to blog comes from a spiritual journey I am on with some guys. We are reading a book together called "Revival Starts Here" by Dave Clayton. The book is described on the front cover as "A short conversation on Prayer, Fasting, and Revival." Not only are we reading it together, but in our discussions it is leading us to actually begin to take the time to fast an pray about some things. I am not going to get into what we are specifically praying and fasting about but I am going to briefly share what God is teaching me.

1. He is teaching me revival is not about a movement in which it is measured by a number of people attending a church service regularly. Revival is about God renewing a passion for what He is passionate about. In our discussions, all of the prayer and fasting centers around people who are in our families, co-workers, people we worship with and ourselves. The old hymn "Revive Us Again" nails where revival takes place: "Revive us again, fill each heart with thy love, may each soul be rekindled, with fire from above." This includes my soul and the the souls of those around me.

2. He is teaching me where our focus needs to be as a church and as a follower. As we go through this pandemic, we can begin to see what is most in important. Jim Collins said, "Good is the enemy of great." While having worship with others every Sunday is Good. And having a small group, Sunday School class and huddle is good. What is it that would make it great? Focusing on the right things make it great. A focus on what God is teaching us and how we are going to use what He teaches us moves us from good to great. While we desire to get back to the good things we had before, what is God teaching us through this time of exile that could make us great.

3. He is teaching me that I need to trust Him. During this time of fasting an prayer while I walk at lunch, He always leads my prayer time to a place I would have never thought of on my own. These last several blog posts come right after a time of prayer and fasting. These blog post are sort of a journal of that intentional time with God. It is a way for me to remember what He is teaching me as we walk and talk together.

When we are intentional to really seek God, He is always teaching us on that journey. Are you listening?

Yesterday I left with this question: What would the church look like today if we would let Jesus build us into a disciple making movement?

I imagine there would be a sense of excitement within the church much like what is describe in Acts 2:42-47. Imagine living a life of a disciple who takes disciple making seriously in their every day life. You have a life that is truly led by the Spirit. God begins to orchestrate opportunities to have spiritual conversations with people within your circle of influence. Not forced conversations, but conversations that naturally occur.

You are connected to a group of people who you are in a discipling relationship with and you can't wait to come back to share what God is doing in your life. Not because you have to gather, but because God is blessing you as you live as a disciple.

Coming to worship would begin to take on a whole meaning and experience. The body coming together to celebrate what God is doing as He advances His Kingdom!

When Jesus builds His Church, He is building believers into true disciples who are going out into the world they live in making disciples who begin a journey to be more like Jesus tomorrow than they are today. Baptizing them and teaching them to be more like Jesus. They are not just inviting people to come to a worship service. They are leading them to be more like Jesus. Then when they come to a worship gathering they are experiencing the excitement of what God is doing through His church. They are not just having a worship experience that is put together on a Sunday morning.

I believe we have to get back to Acts 2:42-47 experience! Instead of thinking through the programs and systems to run the church like a business, we begin to experience what it looks like to be a church led by the Spirit. A Church in which Jesus is building believers into true disciples. A Church in which God's Kingdom is impacting the world.

What is Jesus doing in your life?

In Matthew 10 Jesus gathers His 12 disciples together and sent them out to help people understand that the kingdom of God is near. He gave them some specific instructions and encouragement and then sent them out. We don't know how long they were gone. Matthew does not say.

But in Matthew 11, John the Baptist hears what Jesus was doing and sends one of his disciples to find out if Jesus was the one who was to come (Matt. 11:1-3). I wonder if John the Baptist was hearing what Jesus was doing because of the 12 that were sent out. I mean, Jesus did give them the authority to do the things He sends back to John as proof that He is the one to come. Some amazing things are going on in the life of the disciples as they are taking the good news to different villages.

While it is interesting to wonder how long they were out sharing the good news, I would like to know the conversations they were having with each other when they came back. The stories they would have about how they saw God moved in the lives they were sharing the good news. Also, how many people came back with them to see the Christ? At least 72 others. In Luke 10 Jesus appointed 72 others He sent out ahead of Him to every town. He gave them specific instructions and we never know when they return.

Maybe, just maybe, we don't know when they returned because this became a part of who they were. They just did life as a follower of Jesus where ever they went. It was now their life-style.

When they gathered they came back with stories of what God was doing and with new people who accepted the message about the good news. They came back with people who decided they now wanted to be part of the community of believers who are Jesus' disciples.

When Jesus said He would build His church, He was building people to become His disciples who would go out and make disciples who make disciples. As the number of true disciples grew, His Church grew and began to push back the gates of hell. What would this look like if His church lived this way today?

Building His Church Begins with You

While many times we get caught up in the function of the church and all the programs, ministries and systems that keep it running we forget the real building that needs to take place.

While we stand in the corner counting how many people are attending, the very people we count need more than just being a number on a piece of paper. They need spiritual leaders who are investing in their lives leading them to become more like Jesus tomorrow than they were today. This helps define the "what" Jesus is building to push back the gates of hell.

As people are being to built into authentic followers of Jesus, the Church is being built into a strong spiritual force. When spiritual leaders like Jesus stayed connected to people and intentionally invest in their spiritual well being the Church is being built. We often measure our success in the church world based on how many people we see showing up on a Sunday. Jesus measures it on the number of changed lives that occur through disciple making.

It is through disciple making we begin to see Jesus build His Church. Disciple making is the strategy Jesus used most successfully and it should be to strategy we use. It is easier to stand in the corner and count than it is to get involved in messy lives that need spiritual leaders who are willing to invest in seeing them become more like Jesus.

Jesus Builds His Church

Jesus said boldly, "Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not overcome it" (Matthew 16:18).

Have you ever really thought about what Jesus means when He says "I will build my church"? Obviously He means that the church is His. He is Lord and King. He is in control and is the one that does the building. But builds into what?

What is Jesus trying to build when it comes to the church? Quickly the image that comes to mind is a large structural building with plenty of seating, a stage and maybe multiple services. People who long to "go" or "come" to church. The more you have "going" or "coming" must mean Jesus is really be pleased with you because He is building your church into something bigger and better. This is the paradigm we operate from isn't it? But is that the "what" that Jesus is trying to build? Probably not.

Jesus had something bigger and better in mind, but it is not what we perceive the church should look like. It is not in our own image, it is in the image of Jesus which should be in focus.

So, what is Jesus trying to build? Let's rephrase that, what is Jesus building, whether we are involved in the process or not?

Throughout the world Jesus is building His church and in many places the way we see the church, buildings, worship services and how many people come is not how they see The Church. Their focus is on one thing, "Making Disciples!" So much of the other stuff we focus on takes away from the mission and our involvement in Jesus building His church.

Sit and think about that for a while. In your disagreement, try to find verses that defend your paradigm. Let's walk together as we discover the "what" Jesus is building that push back the gates of hell!