Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus
There’s a wise adage that says, “What has your attention has you”. So the question is really obvious; what has your attention today? If our focus is anywhere other than on Jesus Christ, we are captured by something other than Him. Satan is a master of distraction. Since the dawn of time he has been parading a feast of temptation before our eyes (Genesis 3:1-6). He doesn’t care if you ever go his way; he’s content to just keep your eyes off of Jesus. We make it too easy for him.
Two simple statements that should mark the lives of every follower of Christ are “live simply” and “give generously”. In the Western world where we find ourselves the wealthiest people in history, it can be difficult to remember the way in which we have been called to live. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Proverbs 30:7-9 which says “Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need. Otherwise, I might have too much and deny You, saying, “Who is the Lord?” or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God.” What an amazing way to live – relying on God for daily provision, finding no pride or identity in our possessions, but rather simply trusting in God to provide.
Those who identify themselves as Christians no doubt would readily say that they trust in God. The American pledge of allegiance says, “In God we trust”. But I wonder how much most of us truly trust Him. I think more often than not, we hope that He is in control and that He will take care of us, but do we live our lives in a way that demonstrates our reliance on Him? If you’re like me, it seems we spend most of our time trying to control the circumstances around us and calling out to God when things start to get a little too deep. The truth is we are in over our heads every day that we live. We are out of control in a half-mad world, and we desperately need Him every moment of our lives.
I want to start with a disclaimer: I currently attend a large church (4,000+ attendees each week). Perhaps it is because of this that I have recently been pondering if perhaps the so-called megachurches of our day are hindering the spread of the Gospel. Hang with me here, because I’m only stopping to consider some questions that have been troubling me.
This is not an indictment of any church based solely on their size. I know of many good things being done by large churches across the world. As I study the New Testament model for churches however, I am struck by how far we have deviated from that original design. [Read more…] about How Big is Too Big?