Community for the sake of what?

Many churches nowadays are emphasizing the need for Christians to be in community with each others; to walk in community and to experience community. Why is “community” such a big deal and where is it in the Bible.   Well, it’s a big deal because it appears that it’s all over the Bible (and the New Testament commands in particular).   Jesus said,

John 13:34

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (ESV)

Well, how can we love people if we’re not spending time around them.  Paul said,

Romans 12:10

10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (ESV)

How do I show brotherly affection and honor without being with people?  Paul also said,

Romans 12:15

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. (ESV)

How can I celebrate the joyous events of people’s lives and their dark and hurtful experiences if I’m not deeply involved in their lives?  This is what the New Testament “community” looks like.  One of the best examples of this is a snapshot from Acts 2:

Acts 2:42-47

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (ESV)

While there are obvious benefits to living in community like this, if we’re not careful to ask why we’re doing it, it can morph into a really inwardly focused deal, a holy huddle, and miss the point altogether.

Jeff Vanderstelt, an Acts 29 Network member, said people try to make their churches “Acts 2 [vs. 42-47] churches, but they don’t have an Acts 1 [vs. 8] mission.” The purpose of community is mission!  Just think about that verse from John 13:34 where Jesus talks about loving each other.  One verse later he says,

John 13:35

35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (ESV)

Because Jesus loved us, we love one another.  As we love one another, the world sees it.  There’s a goal, a mission:  be a light to the world, show the world, tell the world!

Matthew 28:19-20

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV)

So the question we need to ask ourselves about the small groups at our churches (if you’re part of one) is, “What’s the purpose of our group?” If it’s not a shared mission -Our group exists to grow as disciples and make disciples in this place and our lives are being arranged around that mission- then perhaps it’s falling far short of what it should be.

A Powerful Reminder from Proverbs 11

Proverbs 11:24-25

24 One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;

another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

25 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,

and one who waters will himself be watered. (ESV)

What an insane thought! This defies everything we inherently believe in the flesh. Our line of thought is, “If I give it away, then I’ll have less. That’s less for me and what I want.” God’s plan, however, is “If you hoard it, you’ll lose it.” It’s the one who gives freely that is blessed by the Lord, so he can continue to be a blessing.

While we should never give as a means to get what we want or to get more stuff, God’s Word promises His blessing to those with a giver’s heart so they can continue to grow as givers and honor Him as faithful managers of what already belongs to Him.

A stewardship of our loved ones

Last night my wife and I had a date night and went to see a movie.  I generally prefer action flicks, my wife generally prefers chick flicks, but we usually settle for a comedy.  In the absence of a good comedy, and to demonstrate to my wife that I care about her and her enjoyment, we chose what would classify as a chick flick.  The movie was called Love Happens (click here to watch the trailer) and starred Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart.  Without giving away too much of the movie, Aaron Eckhart’s character is basically a self-help guru who helps people overcome the grief of losing a loved one to get on with living life.  Supposedly, his character is an expert at this because his wife died in a car accident which led him to becoming an author, speaker, etc…  It’s a pretty decent movie that I’d probably recommend.

Now, I don’t think a lot about death.  I’d probably be pretty morbid if I did.  But I particularly choose not to think about the death of my wife or sons (or being separated from them).  However, movies like the one I watched last night force me to consider losing one of my family members and to admit to myself that someday they, like the rest of us, will indeed die.  And as I was watching the movie and thinking about it, I gotta be honest,  I started to cry.

This morning I was  getting ready for work and the movie last night was a distant memory.  While in the shower I began to thank God for everything he’d blessed me with and just to acknowledge that everything I had belonged to him; he’s the real owner and I’m just a steward (manager).  Then it clicked:

if everything I have belongs to God, if everything I enjoy is actually God’s and he simply allows me to enjoy it for a season; if everything that exists, including myself, belongs to God, then my family members belong to God as well.  My family members, my wife and my sons, are not mine, they’re God’s.  I’m simply enjoying them for a season and have the responsibility to be a good steward, a good manager of them, during that time.

I don’t fear the loss of other things in my life that God’s made me a steward of, or at least I shouldn’t, because they’re not mine.  God gave it, God can take it away, and it never really belonged to me to begin with.  So why do I hold on to my wife and sons in such a way that I fear God taking them from me?  Perhaps it’s because I’ve become confused about who’s the owner and who’s the steward?

Upon the death of her husband, one of the greatest theologians in American history, Sarah Edwards wrote the following to her daugher:

O my very Dear Child, What shall I say. A holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud. O that we may all kiss the rod and lay our hands on our mouths. The Lord has done it. He has made me adore his goodness that we had him so long. But my God lives and he has my heart. O what a legacy my husband and your father has left us. We are all given to God and there I am and love to be.

(In Burr, Journal, 301. as quoted by Moore in Good Christians, Good Husbands?, p.126)

May we love our loved ones, truly enjoying them, and not taking them for granted.  Let us thank God for them!  But may we never hold them so tightly as to think that they are ours, that they belong to us, and therefore blame God when he takes them.  May we echo the words from the Bible in Job 1:21,

“…The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Encouragement for those in ministry

Because of our culture’s drive for success, acquiring more and desire for bigger and better, many churches have adopted these same goals and values.  It often sounds very good, “The church is an organism, healthy organisms grow, therefore healthy churches should grow numerically.”    While the goal of this post is not a slam on big churches or numerical growth, it’s just important for us to see how many times our goals have just become a baptized version of the idols of power, achievement, influence, and success.  In light of that, here’s some truths that I’ve been trying to remind myself of lately.  If you’re in ministry, I hope they’ll serve as encouragement for you too.

I cannot save anyone. I can only tell them how to be saved.

Romans 10 ESV

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

People won’t come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ unless someone tells them about their need and Christ’s sufficiency to meet their need, but they must call on the name of the Lord, they must believe.  I can’t do this for them and I cannot make them do this.  On top of that, unless God draws them (John 6:44)  it doesn’t matter how much I share -they won’t believe and they won’t call on the name of the Lord.  So I can pray and I can share, but I can save anyone.

Jesus is building the church

Matthew 16:18b ESV

…I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

This one is pretty obvious.  Jesus is building the church.  Unless he builds his church and unless the church where I’m pastor is his church, built by him, then all is in vain (Psalm 127:1).

God is sovereign over church membership.

I Corinthians 12:18 ESV

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

If someone visits our church and decides to stay, it’s because God is sovereign and arranges the members in the body as he chooses.  If someone leaves our church, there may be reason to ask some hard questions about the way we’re doing some things, but even if we’ve dropped the ball somewhere God is still sovereign and arranging the members in the body just as he chooses.  God puts people where he wants him.  Rest in his arrangement.

God uses his ministers as a means, but he brings about the end.

I Corinthians 2 ESV

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

God uses our efforts to effect real change, but it’s him and not our efforts that secure the results.  Do your best, by his grace, and rely on him for it to shake out the way he desires.

Jesus is busy loving his bride, so I should be busy loving mine.

Ephesians 5:25 ESV

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

All Christians should possess a love for the local church, but the church is Christ’s bride, not mine.  If I love the local church as my bride and lay my life down for her than I’m committing adultery in a sense.  Jesus is lays down his life for his bride and I should lay down my life for mine.

1. I cannot save anyone.  I can only tell them how to be saved.

Romans 10 ESV

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

2. Jesus is a friend of sinners.

Luke 7 ESV

34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”

3. Jesus is building the church

Matthew 16:18b ESV

…I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

4. God is sovereign over church membership.

I Corinthians 12:18 ESV

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

5. God uses his ministers as a means, but he brings about the end.

I Corinthians 2 ESV

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

Loving Hannibal

My family lives in Hannibal, MO.  We’ve lived here two years now and we live here in Hannibal because, of all the cities in the world, we felt like we could honor God best by moving here.  Let me say that another way:  we wanted to move to Hannibal and felt like God was okay with that.

We own a home here in town.  We have a membership at the local YMCA.  We’re involved in the Parents as Teachers program through the local school district, often attend the football games at Hannibal High School, and plan on sending our kids there someday.  Part of loving Hannibal is loving the people who live here.  But to really love the people who live here, I have to love the good things in the culture that is Hannibal which shapes those who live here and makes them who they are.  As a matter of fact, the good things in every culture are an expression of the good Creator God who loves His creation and is sustaining it.  They’re also reminders of the risen Lord who died and rose again to redeem His creation for Himself and will one day make all things new.

So for Christians, part of the ministry of reconciliation that we’ve been called to involves loving the cities and cultures in which we live.  Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan, NY, says that for a church to truly be missional (to be about the mission of God, carrying out the Gospel message in it’s community and to the ends of the earth) it’s members have to have a positive view of their neighborhood and their city.  So…how do you learn to love your city?

In a blog post entitled “8 Ways to Easily be Missional” church planter Jonathan Dodson says,

Instead of playing X-Box, watching TV, or surfing the net, participate in city events. Go to fundraisers, festivals, clean-ups, summer shows, and concerts. Participate missionally. Strike up conversation. Study the culture. Reflect on what you see and hear. Pray for the city. Love the city. Participate with the city.

So, in Hannibal, that means going to Tom Sawyer Days, Folk Life Festival, Twain on Main, walking on Main Street during car shows or other exhibits set up on Friday evenings or Saturday mornings, going to “Big Truck Night” (if you have kids -if you don’t, you might look like a creepo!), and scores of other local events.  Will going to these events automatically lead to you sharing the Gospel?  No.  Will you naturally have opportunities to share the Gospel at every one of these events?  No.  Will you meet new people at all these events?  Not necessarily.  Will just going to these events and more help you to be missional?  Yes.  You’ll take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the city in which you  live.  You’ll see people that you don’t network with and that you might not see during your regular trips to Wal-Mart.  You might actually have a good time.  And in the process you’ll learn to value people God has made in His image that are likely much different from.  You’ll also observe the various gifts, abilities, and ways to be creative that He has given to them to reflect His greatness and glory.

I love living in Hannibal, MO.  I love Hannibal, MO.  And because God is sustaining my city, I know He loves it too.

Church and Marriage

Ray Ortlund, not your stereotypical Acts 29 Network church planter (see his reasoning for joining A29 here), has a great post over at his blog on the local church and marriage.  Check it out here.  And here’s a taste:

Suppose I said, “My passion isn’t to build up my marriage. My passion is for Marriage. I want the institution of Marriage to be revered again. I’ll work for that. I’ll pray for that. I’ll sacrifice for that. But don’t expect me to hunker down in the humble daily realities of building a great marriage with my wife Jani. I’m aiming at something grander.”

If I said that, would you think, “Wow, Ray is so committed”? Or would you wonder if I had lost my mind?