Common Interests

If the WHAT and the WHY are Common Mission - the catalyst, growth engine, and reason behind community - then there has to be an initial HOW. How do we propel this into action? How does the Lord lead us to others with a common heartbeat for the mission? This is not concrete. It doesn't always happen this way. But often, it's as simple as finding people around you with common interests. 

Look at your life - your everyday, weekly, gym-work-home, homeowners association, ball practice, weekend, church services, rhythms in your life. There are people in that rhythm with you. There are individuals - couples - families that if you just took notice are one step away from you "doing life together". (You may even already be doing it, and just haven't realized it.) As a Christian, the key then boils down to a simple question: Are the rhythms of your life centered in the mission of the Gospel? And remember, it's not about trying to figure out how to shove Christ into your busyness and your schedule. It's the realization that EVERYTHING in my life revolves around Him, His mission, and His calling on my life. For instance....

These ladies that I run with every Tuesday morning: Could we be reaching other ladies who need to know Christ simply by inviting them to begin running with us?

These guys at church that I go fishing with one Saturday a month: Are there other guys we know that need to know Christ who could be part of this with us?

That couple from your church that lives in your neighborhood: Could you be getting together and cooking out every other week, inviting other neighbors, praying for them, carrying their burdens with them, loving them, sharing the Gospel with them? 

Sometimes, finding the people the Lord has placed in our lives to carry out this "common mission" with can be as easy as realizing who He's already placed in your life with "common interests". Some common interests include: kids, sports, gaming, gardening, college football, where you're from, the neighborhood where you live, what you like to eat, surfing, music, scrapbooking, photography, running, stage of life.... You get the point.

So, HOW do we help people better make these connections, find others around them with common interests, and allow the relationships to be centered in and focused on the common mission of the Gospel?

One conclusion we've come to as a church family is that we have to begin providing more environments and opportunities for people to simply connect on a social level, like a picnic, bunco night, or service project. You can find a vast resource of ideas for connecting points and missional community from Verge Network. What are your thoughts on making these simple connections? Would love to hear your input.

Common Mission

Community - A group of interacting people, living in some proximity (i.e., in space, time, or relationship). Community usually refers to a social unit larger than a household that shares common values and shares social cohesion.

We all need community. We need interaction with people who share our values and convictions. We need to know we're not alone. In fact, we are wired with an innate need of doing life together. You can see it throughout history. You can see it in your own life. And you can see it exemplified in Acts 2 with the account of the first New Testament church. It says that "all who believed were together and had all things in common." If one person or family had a need, other people would give them what they needed - even sell off some stuff to make sure everyone else had enough. (NOTE: This wasn't enforced or regulated by the government. It was propelled by the Holy Spirit!) They prayed together, ate together, went to the temple together. They were doing life together. And at face value this sure seems like the prime example of community. That's because it was. But it didn't get this way because everyone set out to "cultivate community". Community wasn't their aim. There was something of much greater importance that fostered, cultivated, and grew that community: MISSION.

The verses beforehand (Acts 2:41-43) tell us that the first "Christians" were "devoted to the apostles teaching, the fellowship, and prayer. And awe came over everyone, and wonders and signs were being done..." The driving force of life for these first followers of Christ - the first recipients of the Holy Spirit - was mission. The thing that brought them together - the thing that fostered, cultivated, and grew their "community" - was the all-consuming power of the Holy Spirit and the mission that Christ had set before them: "Go and make disciples".

That mission He gave them is still our mission today.
The Great Commission is what draws us and binds us together.

Yet, we still so often set out from square one trying to build community. This is completely redefining "putting the cart before the horse". This is staring at your cart that has NO horse attached it, wondering why it won't go anywhere. As Reggie McNeal pointed out in his book Missional Communities: The Rise of the Post-Congregational Church, "When we (the church) aimed for community we got neither mission nor community. But when we started to aim for mission - community that is centered around the Gospel - we got both mission and community."

When we talk about common mission, most certainly this may manifest itself in some tangible way: building wheelchair ramps together, feeding the poor, tutoring at-risk kids after school. We may all come together in some way to serve others. But this is not THE mission. The mission is the Gospel - that Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection has brought us from death to life and that He longs to do the same in others lives. When you read Matthew 28, Acts 2, and Romans 10 you get this distinct idea that the mission isn't something that we figure out where to squeeze in after the fact. Everything else has to conform to it. The mission isn't a slave to our extra-curricular activities and hobbies and busyness, they are slaves to the mission. At least they're supposed to be. And this is for a very good reason:

The mission is JESUS!

Thinking in terms of community - your need for it, your pursuit of it - are you aiming at and focusing on community, or are you beginning to understand that it all begins with the mission? Common mission. The Gospel. 

What does this look like in your life?

The Method & The Message

In my lifetime, it seems the church has almost always been at war with the culture over something. In the 70's it was sexual promiscuity. Then came the 80's: divorce. In the 90's it migrated to abortion. And as we entered a new millennium, the target moved to homosexuality. Don't misunderstand me; these are all things we should be opposed to because God is opposed to them. Where the problem lies is in the "war". Paul makes it clear that we are at "war" with "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places". PEOPLE are NOT the enemy. SIN is the enemy! And while we are called to preach (and live) repentance of sin, if our message is preached through (what sounds and looks like) venom, it won't be heard. I have a friend who will argue that it's not our method that matters, but that the Word is preached so that the Spirit of God has the opportunity to be heard and do it's work. But if that's the case - that the method doesn't matter - and Paul has stated that "the greatest of these is love" - then why not preach, speak, write, and communicate in love? Why not err on the side of love rather than loathing?

I watch ideologies and bad theology being shot down on Facebook and Twitter all the time. I not only watch it, I take part in it. I'm called to "...reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching". But the problem I'm seeing is that the method - the HOW - with which the message is being communicated is often not attacking the ideology or the bad theology; it's attacking the person holding the misguided idea or believing the twisted scripture. If we step back for a moment, I think many of us would realize it's as if we've drifted into this thinking that every person who's misguided woke up that day and wanted to be. And sometimes it's not even misguided; it's just that they hold a different opinion than we do. We take it personally. We don't write blogposts or Facebook posts attacking Liberalism - we attack Liberals. We speak as if every person who's taken scripture out of context did it because they wanted to be deceived or to deceive others. Could it be possible that they've just misunderstood?

When's the last time you put yourself in the position of the person with whom you disagree? I mean, isn't the point of your argument, your preaching, your blogpost that you want to show them the truth? Because if it is, it might work wonders to start attempting to communicate in love, blowing holes in the misguided idea, rather than communicating in (what appears to be) anger, blowing holes in the person.

Do you think someone struggling with homosexuality is going to repent because of your blogpost, rant, or sermon? In reality, God may choose to use those things as a tool. But at the end of the day, they're only a tool. It will ONLY be because the Holy Spirit and the Word of God have come in power (as Hebrews 4:12 tells us they can) and pierces the heart, revealing the sin. And if by chance God chooses to use you (or your message) as a tool, keep in mind: "God's kindness is meant to lead to repentance". And yes - for those who want to jump on the next verses from Romans 2, Paul is addressing the demand for repentance of sin. But as he does, he reminds us that God's approach in leading us to repentance is the fact that His kindness, mercy, grace, and love are overwhelming! So the question is: Why aren't ours?

Are we just looking for an excuse to be pissed off or vitriolic?
Do we just need someone to debate, argue with, and attack?
If so, the harsh reality is that there is sin in our own life that (at this point) we're still too prideful to confront, admit, confess, and leave behind.

Or maybe for some of us, we just don't even realize how we sound. Maybe you've been yelling so long it sounds like whispering to you now. One thought: Stop yelling for a few minutes. Is God speaking to your heart about this? Really? Or are you so busy yelling, posting, debating, and hating that you've stopped listening? Are you even listening now?

Do you see this? Is the METHOD totally clouding the MESSAGE?
Because the most important message we have to communicate - that the God of the Universe has saved us from sin and offers us new life ONLY in Jesus Christ - needs to be heard.

Dig Deeper:
James 1:19
Romans 10:14-17

Switch to INPUT

It's Monday. How's it going for you so far?
What is it with Mondays? It's just a day, right?
Normally - as a pastor who preaches twice on Sunday - I drag a bit on Monday. Sort of like I'm imitating a turtle. An excited turtle, anyway. 
But today.....forget about it! It's like Monday on Loritab!

OUTPUT = ZERO!

You're going to have these days when it seems like your brain, your sense, your decision-making are all in the tank. You keep trying to write, craft, plan, create - trying to muster an ounce of productivity OUT of yourself - and it's like you're that rolled up tube of toothpaste that's been squeezed for the last and final time. NOTHING! So here's my theory:

When OUTPUT = ZERO, stop trying to produce. Switch to INPUT!

Read. Listen. Watch. Meditate on scripture. Maybe the Lord is trying to tell you something. Heck, maybe it's just your own brain saying, "I need a break! I need a refill!" Stop trying to FORCE something OUT and ALLOW something IN! When the tank is on EMPTY, you've pretty much got one sensible and realistic choice. INPUT. It just might send your productivity to a new place. Your Nowhere Monday just might lead to a Somewhere Tuesday. Been there?

A Different Kind of King

If we were called to live like kings so that we could shout orders, dictate, and rule the land, we'd all be fighting over who got to wear the crown. We would fully, wholly, and quickly embrace our new majestic mantle. But as Christians, as "a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, His very own possession", we are called to something entirely different. 

Peter spelled this out for us in plain terms:
"And now God is building you, as living stones, into His spiritual temple. What's more, you are God's holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please Him because of Jesus Christ.... You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, His very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:5, 9)

YES, we are children of the King! But we follow a king who chose not to have people fall at His feet, but to get on His knees and wash theirs. He has claimed us, bought us with the price of His own body, and called us "so that" we can show others the goodness, mercy, kindness, and love of the God of the Universe. That's the mission. And any Christian that says, "I just don't know what my purpose is in life" - you need not look any further! SHOW OTHERS JESUS!

Think about it. 
What are some simple ways that you can carry out this calling today? 
How can you show the world a different kind of king?

"If you love me..."

"If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, your will find true life." Matthew 10:37-39

This morning in My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers writes, "People do not want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the cause He started. Jesus Christ is a source of deep offense to the educated mind of today that does not want Him in any other way than as a comrade." This is hard. And when I say "hard", I mean that living this way - being wholly devoted first to Jesus Himself - means my own death. Physical death would probably be easier; there's no choice involved. This death means being willfully emptied of my pride, my ambition, my need for vengeance and restitution, my gravitation toward the harsh reaction, and even my devotion to anything or anyone of this world. The willful death of self. This is why Jesus said, "No one comes to me unless the Father first draws him." The only road we can place our feet on that leads to Jesus is narrow and hard; and no one ever even moves forward down this path without the Holy Spirit consuming him - his thoughts, his heart, his decisions - his whole life. We cannot and will not inherently ever WANT this. Only the Spirit of God can bring us to this place.

This morning I'm newly reminded of that question: Am I following Jesus...or am I just following my tainted version of His cause? Am I pursuing the offensive, selfless, demanding Savior...or the 21st Century, Western Civilization, contextualized brand of religiosity that's provided me with a safe road to walk? One way to know is to ask myself: Can I navigate this on my own? If so, it's definitely not the way of the Christ-follower. Am I following Jesus's cause...or am I following Jesus Christ? 

If you want to serve people, it will only happen by being emptied of yourself.
If you want to love people - truly love them - it will only happen as you hand your own life over to death so that the life of Jesus Christ is birthed within you.

"We count as service what we do in the way of Christian work; Jesus Christ calls service what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. Discipleship is based on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on adherence to a belief or creed." -Oswald Chambers

What are we truly devoted to? 
Maybe the right question is "WHO are we truly devoted to?"

OVERDO IT!

In most cases, especially in relationship to leading, I think it's a safe bet to make your default to OVERDO IT! Think through this with me.

Over-appreciate.
Over-communicate
Give more than expected.
Overestimate peoples potential.
Overcompensate those you pay.
Work harder than anyone expects.
In almost all cases, the right thing to do is OVERDO IT. 
But WHY?

Simple. Because there are pretty much 2 alternatives:

1. You'll aim for "just right" or "just enough", and most of the time you won't hit it. About 90% of the time I think I've over-communicated, most people are just starting to either listen, absorb, or comprehend. Essentially, what we think is over-communication is probably just beginning to look like actual communication. When we think we've over-appreciated, that's rarely the case. Because most people aren't going to let us know they even want or need our appreciation. "Just enough" is hardly ever going to actually be enough.

2. And of course the other alternative is unthinkable - at least "You wouldn't dare say that out loud" unthinkable. Maybe that's unspeakable. Maybe it's both! Unthinkable, unspeakable, unacceptable - call it what you will. To under-communicate, under-appreciate, under-compensate, or underestimate those we are leading is just plain criminal. Isn't it? Didn't Jesus take teenage fishermen, thieves, and social drinkers and say, "Come, follow me"? Yes. I believe He did. And they went on to change the world through the power of the Holy Spirit! (Isn't that same calling, power, and presence still available to us today? Yes. I believe it is.)

When you think it's at the top, take it up a notch.
If you think you're love is cranked to 10, turn it up to 11!

What are some ways that we could begin (or continue) to OVERDO IT?