What is God Teaching You?

 One of the key take aways from the book is to experience God by asking this question, "What is God teaching you today?" This is a question I have used for years when I have led short term missions trips and even in studies I have done with other groups of people. 

This is a question we use in our huddles which meet after worship on Sunday morning. The huddles are set up to be with other believers who are striving to be more like Jesus in every area of their life. It is a time to debrief what God may be teaching you through the week or even during worship on that morning. Then within a relational context you have people to encourage you to live out your faith. 

In the excerpt I am going to post today, there was a moment I began to see God teaching me something. While through the book I am critical of the attractional model of church growth I am trying to be careful not to bash the church. I love the church and think it can be a force in the world once again if we humble ourselves and get back to what Jesus asks us to become. We need to become disciples who make disciples who make disciples. 

Writing the section below reaffirmed for me the church can be a catalyst for disciple making. Sometimes it happens by chance with people who are already believers that go to church. The question is, what would happen if we were more intentional about disciple making within the context of the church? I believe, real life change can happen with those who already believe and those who are on the edge of belief. 

Todays excerpt:

When they walk out of the worship center, they see Miguel sitting at a table with a cup of coffee talking to a couple guys from the church. When they approach the table Miguel says, “Hey, these guys were fishing yesterday with us Captain Doug. They recognized me. They came up to me thinking I went to this church. I told them this is my first time. Look, we even get a gift bag for being here today! Fill out this card and take it to that booth.” 

Captain Doug grabs his gift bag and they all head to the Irish pub to eat lunch together. After they get seated and order their food Simon gets to the question he has been wanting to ask all morning to Captain Doug, “So what did God teach you guys today?”

Miguel jumps right in, too Simon’s surprise, “There are some very nice people at First Church.”

Simon responds, “Yes, there are good people who are at every church. People who really love God and other people. What about you Doug?”

Doug leans back thinking about how he is going explain his experience. As he sits back up, he puts his elbows on the table beginning to explain what God taught him, “I had a really good experience. Now that I am trusting and following Jesus, the songs really had a deeper meaning. The words really connected with me.”

Kay says, “Really? That is nice to hear. Where Simon was a pastor before we moved here there were quite a few long time Christians who would leave early or come late. They never listened to the words. They just didn’t like the music. It was not their style.”

“Yeah, I figured that was the case as I watched some people not paying a lot of attention,” Doug said. 

“That is a good observation,” Simon says. “What about Pastor Steve? Did anything he say bother you?”

“Actually, yes.” Doug said. Simon thought he was now going to talk about how there was a subtle plea for giving to the church. Doug continued, “I have been very blessed. I am doing something I love to do every day. I live at the beach which is a lot of people’s dream. I was challenged today to think about how to take what I am blessed with and bless others.”

“What is bothering you about that?” Sue asks. “That sounds great!”

“What is bothering me is there is no direction in what I am thinking about,” Doug says. “The only direction that was given this morning was to give an offering. I mean, I could do that but then I would just be giving money. I want to be more involved in being generous than just giving money. So, I am trying to figure out how to be more generous in my everyday life. Giving an offering just seems too easy and out of touch.”

Now Simon sits back trying to think about what to say. Captain Doug seems somewhat bothered by the plea for more giving to the church, but he looked past that ask and saw something deeper, something more life changing. He is not mad for the ask; he even seems like he would be alright to give something. He is just struggling with where God is leading him in everyday life. 

Bruce notices Simon is in deep thought. “Hey, what are you thinking about?” he asks. “Can you give us any direction here?” 

Simon looks at Bruce and says, “Us?”

“Yeah, us,” Bruce says as he motions with his hand around the table including everybody. “We all could understand better how to become more generous in everyday life.” 

Kay looks at Simon with a smile saying, “What is God teaching you today, Simon?”