Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

the church

How (Not) To Grow a Church

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My Dad was a pastor so I grew up very aware of the inner workings of churches in America. I was privy to the strategies and techniques used to grow a church and the plans to attract more people each Sunday. It is both interesting and sad that church growth has traditionally been about the number of bodies in the pews rather than the actual development of the individual; but I digress. As an avid reader I have consumed many books on the subject of the Western church, megachurches, emerging churches, evangelism, church growth, etc. With that in mind, I believe I have discovered the one sure fire way to impede church growth (as defined by adding members): preach the Gospel. Most Christians I have talked to in my life attend their particular church because they preach the Gospel, or they leave a church because it does not. It makes me wonder exactly what Gospel they are talking about. Let’s take a quick look at a few teachings of Jesus to determine whether or not your church is actually preaching the Gospel.

In Luke 18:18-23, Jesus told the young man that if he wanted to follow Him, he would have to sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor. When was the last time your preacher told the congregation they needed to start liquidating their material possessions and donate that money to care for the less fortunate in their town and around the world? How well do you think that sermon might go over? This isn’t some vague notion or the opinion of a learned scholar, these words came directly from the mouth of Jesus. How convenient that we have chosen to either ignore or explain away this teaching. This is part of the Gospel of Jesus. The good news is that He has come to bring life and justice, and sometimes justice means selling what we have in order to give to those who are hungry or homeless.

In the book of Matthew (chapter 8, verses 21 and 22), a man says he will follow Jesus, but first needs to go bury his father. Jesus rebuked him and told the man that if he wanted to be His follower, he would need to forget about his family. In fact, Jesus went so far as to say we must hate our mother, father, brothers and sisters if we would follow Him (Luke 14:25-27). I have heard more sermons preached on taking care of one’s own family than I have on hating them. The point is we must be so consumed with Jesus that everything we do in life is with Him in mind. All other obligations and responsibilities must be set aside when it competes with following Jesus. If a scheduling conflict forces you to choose between a kid’s soccer game and feeding the hungry at a soup kitchen, it has to be the soup kitchen every time. This is not going to be a popular message on Sunday morning, and I can only imagine the email the pastor would receive after preaching it. But this too is the Gospel. Our mission is to tell the world about Christ, to make disciples of all people. Everything we do must revolve around this purpose.

Finally, Jesus told another man who wished to follow Him that He had no home (Matthew 8:19-20). The implication is that if we would follow Christ, we too will be homeless; so much for the American dream. In the era of the “prosperity gospel”, this is not a popular topic. Western Christianity has come to be taught as some sort of slick panacea, a comfortable existence lived with a dose of compassion. The modern church has planted itself in the suburbs and consumed itself with programs to entertain and cocoon its members. Many churches have become nothing more than large social clubs where one must maintain a certain look and lifestyle in order to gain admittance; the homeless are often not welcome. Yet, the Gospel of Jesus, the true Gospel, states that if we would follow Him, we will have no place to lay our head at night.

Do you really want to attend a church that preaches the Gospel? The Gospel is amazing news indeed; it is the story of God’s love for His creation. It is the story of His redemption of our fallen and wicked world. It is the story of Jesus giving up His own life so that we might gain eternal life. There is more than this, however. The Gospel is also about our responsibility to spread the message to all nations. We are called to give up everything we own or hold dear for the purpose of furthering the Kingdom of God. We are called to sell our possessions, to renounce our earthly relationships and to live a life of utter dependence on Jesus. Not all will be faced with these trials, but all must be willing. If God chooses to bless us with even more than we give up, then it is for His glory. If He chooses to not return abundance to us in this life, it is also for His glory and we will be lavishly rewarded in the life to come. Are you willing to live your life in total surrender to Jesus? Are you willing to live out the whole Gospel, not just the comfortable parts? Your answers to these questions will determine whether or not you are a true follower of Jesus. Don’t get left behind.

Kicking the Christians Out

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What are you concerned with in your life? What drives you to get up each day? Who are you becoming? These questions shape our character, the essence of who we are. Over the past couple of weeks I have found myself among Christians, yet I’ve never been so frustrated or heartbroken. Call me naïve, but I used to think that Christians and followers of Jesus were one in the same. That illusion was shattered several years ago, but it has become magnified of late for me. Let me explain what I see as the difference.

A follower of Jesus is one who is passionately in love with Christ, the Son of God. They will go anywhere and do anything for Him. Their hearts are broken by the dependency of the widows and elderly, by the desperation of the single mother and by the hollow eyes of the homeless. Followers of Jesus show compassion and love to everyone they meet, doing so in the name of Jesus. They share the good news of Jesus whenever they have opportunity to do so. A true follower of Jesus is humble, thinks of others first and possesses impeccable integrity. People are drawn to them because of the light that shines from them, a light that is the very reflection of God. This is what a follower of Jesus looks like, because this is what Jesus looks like.

In contrast, a Christian appears to be one who prayed a magic prayer at some point in their life, probably went forward in a church service to proclaim their faith, and more than likely got baptized in some water. If they are a really good Christian, they then become involved in a ministry or two at their church and eventually teach a Sunday school class or become an usher. The really super Christians may even become deacons or elders in their church. Their speech, dress and attitude are always wonderful for an hour or two each Sunday. Catch them during the week, however, and you’ll find a different story. These types of people compartmentalize their life. One compartment is neatly packed with their Sunday life, while another compartment is stuffed and bursting at the seams with their lives outside of church. Even at church you will hear conversations of negativity, jealousy, rumor spreading and disenfranchisement. Ephesians 4:29 states that, “No rotten talk should come from your mouth, but only what is good for the building up of someone in need.” In verse 31 of the same chapter we see that “All bitterness, anger and wrath, insult and slander must be removed from you, along with all wickedness.” Does this sound like the folks at your church? My guess is that it does not because our Western churches are filled with Christians instead of followers of Jesus.

When I was younger, churches and towns had “revival meetings” every so often. For the uninitiated, these were generally week long meetings held in churches or tents where an out of town speaker would visit and bring a message of repentance. I must be honest, as a youngster I dreaded being dragged along to these meetings. The purpose of the meetings was to shake the local Christians awake, to remind them of their true calling, and I think, to scare the daylights out of those in attendance. Perhaps we need to start having these meetings again. Christians in our churches are in such a malaise that it’s about time that they were shaken awake and scared back to the reality of the seriousness of their choices. We need to rekindle the flame of passion for loving God and telling others about His love. We need to repent of the religion of Christianity and turn to a life of following Jesus.

Let’s kick the Christians out of our churches. Let’s not be afraid to see our numbers drop until all that’s left are true followers of Jesus. Just as He stated in Matthew 12:30, we are either for Him or against Him. A religious life of platitudes and bickering is not a life that is for Jesus. It’s not why He came, and it is not a life to which we’ve been called. These are the salt that has lost its savor; these are the lukewarm. Do everything you can to never fall into that lifestyle. Instead, renew your commitment to Jesus today; determine from this moment forward that you will follow Him wherever He goes, and that you will imitate whatever He does. God has no use for meaningless religion and neither should we. Repent, follow Jesus, love God and serve people. Surrender all that you are and become a true follower of Jesus.

World Wide Neighborhood

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At 42 years of age, I have seen many amazing technical innovations in my time. None can compare, in my view, to the piece of technology you are utilizing right now to read this blog: the World Wide Web. Never in history has the world been so small, so connected. There are nearly seven billion people on this planet, yet we can be almost instantly connected with a great many of them at any time of the day or night. The internet provides the medium for novice on-site reporters to broadcast images of what is truly happening around them. We are no longer beholden to the filtered and slanted view of the news we have historically gotten from our own media. This isn’t a political statement, but rather one of nationalism. It is quite obvious and common that every country tells its history from its own self-serving angle. This is why early American history will sound quite different when reading Anglo-American, British or Native American writings. All of this is to say that it is now extremely difficult to hide the truths and atrocities that occur around the world every single day.

The ultimate result of this brave new world that is laid bare before us is that we, as followers of Christ, can no longer feign ignorance to what is happening to our brothers and sisters on our watch. In countries all around the planet, Christians are brutally slaughtered and mercilessly tortured simply for professing to the same faith that we do. In a great number of countries, churches are illegal and not tolerated. Christians gather in homes, in secret shelters and hiding places to worship the Lord together. They risk being beaten, raped and murdered all for the sake of Jesus. Families are torn apart; loved ones who are sent to far off prisons are never heard from again. They are forced into 18 hour days of hard labor and given little food, clothing or shelter. Yet, still they endure; still they gather together to praise and worship Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile, followers of Christ in the Western world leave the church and even walk away from their faith because of disagreements over the color of the new carpeting in the sanctuary or the style of music played in the morning service. We put in our hour every Sunday morning and forget about our commitment to God until the next week. We spend the days in between griping about the fact that there’s nothing to eat while our cupboards are full. We complain that we have nothing to wear while our closets resemble the inventory of a small boutique. We grumble that life is unfair and difficult while depositing a six figure income into the bank.

I am humbled and sickened when I reflect on our greed, self-centeredness and apathy. I am heartbroken when I recall the parable of the Good Samaritan and the command to love my neighbor as myself. We’re not getting it done; we are not obeying the simple command of Jesus. I’m not worthy to call Him Lord. When will we begin to understand and own up to the fact that our petty annoyances are repulsive to God? Much like the Israelites who wandered in the desert, we are a stubborn and whining people, unable or unwilling to see God for who He is. The blood of a billion neighbors cries out to us, and we walk by on the other side. God forgive us; God help us to repent and seek Your face and to live lives worthy of our calling.

This isn’t a feel good post. To be perfectly honest, I never really know where the topic is going to end up when I begin to write. Many will read this and be offended. That’s okay; I’m offended as well. I’m offended that I could be so blind and uncaring. I’m offended that I profess to be a follower of Jesus yet do so little to help my neighbor in need. The world has become smaller; our neighborhood now extends the breadth of the globe. Our brothers and sisters lay bleeding in the ditch. We are the called; we are the chosen. We are the ones who must reach out as the hands of Jesus and care for their needs. The command to love our neighbor as ourselves is simple, but it is not easy. We know what the problems are. We know what our response must be. Are we willing to serve Jesus and carry out the mission He entrusted to us? There are only two choices: follow or walk away. Our choice has eternal and incredible consequences. Which path will you choose?

Holy Dissatisfied

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The call of Jesus is simple. Love God with all that you are and love everyone else in the same manner. Feed the hungry, care for the sick, the widows and the orphans. Live a life of service; reflect God’s love to everyone you meet. This was and is the mission of Jesus Christ.

If you failed to recognize modern Christianity in the paragraph above, you are not alone. Christians have become known as an intolerant bunch of self-righteous homophobiacs who build big comfortable buildings with high walls in an apparent attempt to keep others out. Our building project budgets dwarf our missions giving and our internal activities far outpace our outreach ministries. How did this happen, and more importantly, how do we fix it?

The answer begins with you and me. We must repent; we must change. If Christ has been removed from the church, then it is our responsibility to seek Him outside of those comfortable walls, to find Him in the eyes of the people He came to save. We must go to the alleys, to the suburbs and to the ghettos. We will find Him in the poor, the sick and the abandoned. Jesus is near, but we have become blind.

It is time that we who claim to know Jesus begin to live a life that looks like His. We must walk where He walked and touch those whom He touched. The time has come to shed our Western trappings and live a life marked by simplicity and grace. Our closets are packed with clothing we never wear while half the globe walks around in rags and without shoes. Our cupboards and refrigerators burst with food in quantities unfathomable to the three billion people in the world who somehow exist on only $2 per day. Jesus said to give all that we have, but we quarrel about the proper amount to tithe, and whether that amount is before or after taxes. Although we are the most blessed generation of people in history, are charity pales in comparison to our earnings.

While some will give of their money, they will withhold their time. Other will give their time, but hold on to their vices. Following Jesus is all or nothing. You can’t do it half-way; you’ll simply get left behind. Following Jesus requires an intense faith a passion to do the works we were both created and commanded to do. Now is the time for this generation to rise up and rebel against the religious traditions we have been taught. Almost everything you’ve learned is wrong because it suffers from years of man-made additions to what is at its heart a very simple mission. True followers of Jesus will reject the pharisaical teachings of the past and return to a life spent in relentless pursuit of the Savior.

Let us begin that journey; let us learn to strip away all that is not of Jesus and begin again to walk in His footsteps. Along the way we will learn what it means to truly identify with the poor and the sick. We will discover renewed passion for life and a compassion for others that is unquenchable. When it comes to Jesus, it is essential that we yearn for more and more; we must never be satisfied. Our longing for Him must leave us aching for more and more. He is our Creator, the One who is madly and passionately in love with us. He longs to be known by you. Will you seek Him? Come with me and let’s learn to pursue Him at any cost. Let us learn together what it means to be a true follower of Jesus.

Are You an Observer or a Participant?

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Are you an observer or a participant in life? How about in your local church? Most importantly, which term best describes your walk with Christ? Often we simply float through life, unconcerned or even unaware of what’s going on around us. As long as our needs are being met and we are relatively happy, it can be easy to coast and lose track of the events unfolding right in front of us. We observe without seeing and we hear without listening. We were called to a life that is so much more than this. We were created for action and created for passionately pursuing God and the goals and dreams He gives to each one of us. We were created to donate our unique gifts towards the building of His Kingdom.

Following Christ is not a passive activity, yet Western Christianity has almost encouraged it to become so. We gather in ever growing buildings and are entertained in ever more sophisticated and professional ways. The argument goes that we need these things to compete with the rest of the world. Since when did following Jesus become a competition? Since when did loving others and caring for their needs become something reflected as an accomplishment for our churches? I have nothing against large churches; I attend a fairly big one myself. I do however have a problem with the mentality that says the number of people attending a weekend service is in any way relevant to the “success” of a church. I can safely attest from experience that the number in attendance has no relation to the spiritual health of the church. In fact, I have often seen smaller churches with bigger hearts and a better sense of mission than their larger counterparts. In a large church I believe it is much easier to become complacent and to simply be an observer. We can sit in comfort and be entertained by professional musicians and speakers, then leave feeling satisfied. This continues week after week with our only involvement being to perhaps drop a few dollars in the offering plate. It’s easy to hide in any size church but harder to do so in a small church. In a small church almost everyone is involved in the ministry due to a simple matter of mathematics: there are more positions to be filled than there are attendees. Still, having grown up in small churches I know it’s possible to simply observe in these settings as well. The bottom line is this: the modern church should not exist to entertain us. If they offer opportunities to carry out the mission of Christ (feed the hungry, care for the orphans and widows, and seek justice for those in need), then we should be participating in those activities. If your church isn’t doing those things, you need to be actively engaging them in discussions about creating those opportunities. Without enabling you to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ with other like-minded individuals, there is no point to the church. Neither is there any point in you attending if all you will be doing is playing the part of the casual observer. Get involved, lend a hand, and seek out ways to better minister to those around you with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

The church should simply be a magnification of what’s going on in your own life. We should be striving every day to become actively involved in following Jesus. Seek out His footprints on the path before you. Walk in His way. Don’t watch Him walk by, run out to greet Him and then walk along side of Him. Stay by His side; follow Him everywhere. Touch the sick as He does; shelter those without any place to go. Look after widows, single moms, and orphans. Seek out those in need and care for them in any way in which you are able. This is love, this is being actively engaged; this is following Jesus. We can learn much from studying Jesus and visualizing the life He led on earth, but in the end you’ll be measured by the actions you took, by the ways in which you contributed. You’ll never be measured by the depth of your beliefs, but rather by what you did because of those beliefs. You can fall in love with Jesus by observing Him but you stay in love with Him by participating in the works He gives you to do and discovering more about Him in the process. By working to make the Kingdom of God a reality here on earth you will fall deeper and deeper in love with Jesus. This is the beauty of participation.

Simply observing life, church or Jesus is not good enough. We must be willing to put our hearts into everything we do; we must live in a participatory manner. This is how we were created; this is how we stay on mission. How are you living your life, doing church, and following Jesus? Are you living each moment with passion, determined to jump in with both feet? Do you live life as a whisper or a shout? Jesus didn’t call observers; He invited participants. Which one will you be?