The “EASY” Button May 18, 2007

The Staples ad campaign says getting what you need at their stores is “EASY.” Just hit the button. They even sell the buttons at the stores (in multiple languages). Steve, my ministry partner at Milestone, bought one early in our process of planning to plant the church. It’s funny because I don’t remember us ever using it. I think in the process of wanting to be a simple church and putting things in place, we hoped that at least occasionally we would think something would be “easy.”

So far, nothing has been easy. Why? Because, and it has been said often, ministry is dirty work. Relationships are messy. Ministry takes time, and money, and resources (did I mention time and money?). So I started to pray and wonder why it’s so complicated. What have we done (I mean the church as a whole) to make ministry so often overwhelming?

So I went here: Matthew 22:38-39

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

So I’m wondering, have we really learned what it means to “love” yet. Sure, loving God seems to be automatic as a Christ-follower. If you don’t love God, well, you’re not a Christ-follower. But it’s the loving others thing that seems so far out of reach. I don’t think we’ve got it yet.

Let’s keep this simple and really ground-level. How many of us know our neighbors? I mean like our next-door, right-across-the-street, walk-past-their-house-every-day neighbors. If you don’t know them, it’s hard to love them, especially in practical ways.

Then, when it comes to the people we do know, do welove them? Do we know what that means?! How do we feel when we don’t feel loved? Yucky! That’s how I feel. To love someone means so much, and I do believe it is something that other person can experience. We know what it feels like to be un-loved, so there’s no doubt there’s a feeling of what it is to be loved. Jesus told us to love one another.

As a church, how do we love others? What’s your church’s reputation when it comes to loving the people in your community? Is your church as least known for loving God and loving others? These are the fundamentals of what God desires of us.

Ironically, I think that part is EASY.

No Invitation Necessary January 13, 2007

Sometimes you just have revelations that God places on your heart about the things we do, words we say, how we create context, and it’s all wrong or done for no apparent reason. I’m guilty; many of us are. We grow up in a culture or society that might behave in a certain manner, and we no idea why, but we still do it anyway.Recently, one thing came to mind regarding how we pray. I have probably said this, and I’m sure others have as well. When you’ve been in a gathering of fellow believers, have you ever prayed and “invited” Jesus there into your presence? You want him there, right?! That’s why you’ve gathered…in his name. I wonder why we invite him.This scripture passage came to mind from Matthew 18:

15“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Pay attention to verse 20. I know this passage is in the context of church discipline (that’s another blog entry–many entries). However, Jesus did not make his statement exclusive of dealing with an errant brother. He said where there is agreement among brothers and where they gather in his name, HE IS THERE.

As I meditated on this, I thought of the Queen of England or that of the President of the United States. The Queen comes into mind because when she shows up it has a tendency to be a bit more majestic than our own president. When the Queen comes, the Guard ushers her in. With grandure and formality she enters, and all along the way she maintains her stature.

What is the response of her people? AWE! It’s the Queen! Seldom must they see her, so it’s awesome when they do. Regardless of the frequency, they gather to experience the Queen.

Because we don’t need to invite Jesus into our presence, when we come into an encounter with him, isn’t it something in which we should marvel?! I can’t help but think of the word “worship.” Worship is dicussed constantly in the church. New definitions, descriptions, illustrations and catch-phrases are surfacing regularly. Shouldn’t this be the picture of true worship? We should fall to our face because the King is HERE…in all of his majesty…in all of his glory…in his uniqueness, perfection, righteousness…he is in our presence!
 

20/20 Church Vision January 2, 2007

I’m convinced that if you asked the typical church leader today what their vision for the local church is, most of them could not give you a clear, concise answer.

As a church planter, the first thing I (and my church-planting partner) experienced was a God-given vision for a church. Neither one of us even knew the other had a similar vision. We didn’t know the perfect location (it took months for us to figure that out). We didn’t know how (we had never planted a church before). We did not choose the purpose/mission (that’s given to use through scripture).

The first thing we did was document the vision and committed that everything we would do as a church, as the Spirit would lead, would adhere to that vision. Very few churches, especially older, more established churches, have such a document or means of communicating the vision. As a result, few people can communicate to others, when asked, what their church is all about.

And thus the problem…the church tries to be everything to everyone. As the old saying goes, “If you try to be everything to everybody, you’ll be nothing to no one.” Ministry schitzophrenia sets in, and…

Well, that’s the purpose of this blog–to help churches grasp a 20/20 vision of what God is leading them to do.