Entertaining Angels

I was visited by Jesus today. His name was Bill. He looked a little different though; no robe, beard or long hair. He was unkempt with dirty hands. He smelled. He had a tattoo and his teeth were rotting. He just showed up without an appointment! Ugh! I am extra busy now that it's Christmas. I am busy doing the real ministry of answering phone calls, writing letters and emails. Oh, and blogging too! Now that's some real ministry! Actually, I was heading into the sanctuary to pray when He arrived. Really, I mean it. I am not making this up for dramatic effect. It was really inconvenient for Jesus to show up when I was about to pray. What was He thinking? The more I think about it, the more upset I get that Jesus would interrupt my ministry like that. Damn it! It wasn't on my google calendar for today to waste an hour and half helping Jesus with gas and food. I kept looking at my watch. After that, I only had six hours to get 8 hours of real ministry done. I mean I had some filing to do! I had to clean off my desk. It was a real mess. It's clean now. At least I got that done! I hope Jesus doesn't show up again anytime soon, especially without an appointment. If He does, I'll be really ticked.

Get Your Shovel

Chances are, if you're like me, you sell yourself short. The truth is, though, we all have a great purpose because we have a great God. How great? Well, our God made Canis Majoris. This is the largest star ever discovered. Apparently, I've never measured, but you could fit 7 quadrillion earths inside this star. To give you an idea of how big that is you could only fit 1 million earths inside our sun. I haven't tried this, but I heard you could do it from a good source. It's kind of a science and math thing. Anyway, the same God who made Canis Majoris, the sun, Mt. Everest and a beautiful lily flower also made you and me. I am pretty sure He did it all for a reason.

As Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ showed us and told us that reason. The reason is to move mountains. It's to love God and neighbor. Like Abraham, it is to be a blessing. According to Jesus Himself, the reason is to do even greater things than He did. Don't believe me? He said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. They will do even greater things than these" (John 14:12). So, think you have been selling yourself short yet?

You might wonder, like I did, how to get started doing "even greater things" than Jesus? When you think about that, it kind of feels like a lightening bolt is coming, doesn't it? DUCK! Actually, it's okay. Jesus said that so we're safe. How do you do it? The answer is pray. The John 14 context is prayer. John 14:13-14 says, "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it."

Prayer is the mountain mover of our faith. Jesus also said, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea', and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer" (Matthew 21:21-22).

It sounds to me like prayer is a great tool. Actually, it's the greatest and most powerful tool ever invented. Yes, it's even better than the Swiss Army Knife. If you have a mountain to move though, better not leave this tool in the barn. Prayer is a tool God wants us to use. Jesus told us to us it. He used Himself many times. Prayer takes persistence though. It takes faith. It takes effort day in and day out. Jesus didn't say how long it would take for the mountain to move, but He did say it will move. So get your shovel out of the barn and get to work. Just imagine what could happen if we all did just that!

The Real Meaning of "Go!"

Jesus did say, "go", didn't He? If I remember correctly, that was the word. He didn't say "Wait for them to come!" I'm pretty sure about that. He didn't say, "Do the best you can, wait, and then complain about the empty seats!" I know he didn't say that. Ahhhh! Yes! I have it right here in front of me. It is all coming back to me now. Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations..." Yep, that's what Jesus said. He simply said, "go".

The word "go" here really does mean "go". The Holy Spirit chose this word with the traveler in mind. It is a word with intent behind it and also a destination. There is not one shred of "the wait and see" approach woven into this word. You can dig, but you'll never find wait in this word for "go". The kind of action in mind is urgent action. The word is used to describe Paul who was ""compelled by the Spirit". It says, "I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there... I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me, the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace" (Acts 20:22-24). Paul's intention, his destination, his urgent action was all aimed at finishing "the race" and completing "the task the Lord Jesus has given me, the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace". To accomplish this task, he did not wait, he did not hope, he did not complain about empty seats. Instead, he just went, and guess what? God worked.

The BIG problem today is that churches are waiting for people to come to a place where more and more people aren't coming. They just aren't. No matter how many bells and whistles we have, or even really good coffee, all the trends are saying that it is just not working. If we do fill the empty seats, it is usually someone hopping from church to church. Those folks will fill some other church's seat temporarily as well. The unbelievers and "unchurched" of the world are not waking up on Sunday morning today and saying, "I have nothing else to do today so I guess I'll go to church". It is just not happening despite the coffee, even if it's Starbucks.

I believe Jesus knew this when he made his very last statement to the disciples. The word "go" was intended for them and it was intended for us today. When you are a goer you understand, as Reggie McNeal writes, "if they aren't going to come to us, then we've got to go to them. This is the crux of the issue. Churches that understand the realities of the present future are shifting the target of ministry efforts from church activity to community transformation. This is turning the church inside out."

It is high time to turn the church inside out. The fellowship in the church is still powerful. People still need an invitation in to experience it, but only to get recharged and refocused on "go"ing. It is the task the Lord Jesus has given us. It is the only way to "finish the race". It is the only way to "complete the task". So, let's get going. If we do, guess what? God will work.

The Steeple OR Starbucks?

I'm reading a book by Reggie McNeal right now and I love it! It is a scathing indictment of how we "do church" today. I don't love that we are indicted, but I do love that someone is pointing out that "doing" church and "being" the church have become two very different things. For example, in his book "The Present Future", McNeal writes, "The death of the church culture will not be the death of the church. The church Jesus founded is good; it is right. The church established by Jesus will survive until he returns. The imminent demise under discussion is the collapse of the unique culture in North America that has come to be called "church." This church culture has become confused with biblical Christianity, both inside the church and out. In reality, the church culture in North America is a vestige of the original movement, an institutional expression of religion that is in part a civil religion and in part a club where religious people can hang out with other people whose politics, worldview, and lifestyle match theirs. As he hung on the cross Jesus probably never thought the impact of his sacrifice would be reduced to an invitation for people to join and support an institution."

I love this stuff. I don't love it because I always agree. I love it because of the challenge. These words, McNeal's book and others like it are challenging the church today to be the church Jesus truly did envision as he hung on the cross. In so many ways, we are falling short and we need to hear the critique of those pushing us all to be more missional or outward focused. We will only be better off by praying and applying our way through the missional zingers being zung at the institutional church today.

On the other hand, it does seem like the missional movement would like nothing more than to tear down the walls of the "institutional" church. I could not agree more that some walls need to be torn down, but I strongly believe that there is still plenty of room for "church as we know it" today too. There is room for the "attractional model" in balance with the missional. We absolutely need both. The reason for this is the power of the fellowship.

There is real power (dunamis) in the fellowship. Yes, there is power in the fellowship at Starbucks as the missional movement rightly points out. Believers need to infiltrate the Starbucks' of the world for Jesus. It is God's Will! But we also need to be in our church buildings for Jesus as well. Yes, we even need to invite people there. The reason for this is that God is within those walls! Okay, okay, I know God is not ONLY there. He is in Starbucks too, of course. He was especially in that Vanilla Creme Frappachino I just slurped down last night! Praise God! Make no mistake though, when believers come together to worship, and praise, and rightly preach and teach the Word, God is in that fellowship in a powerful way. Guess what? If you invite someone into that fellowship, the one we're not supposed to give up (Heb. 10:25) even if it happens to be inside a brick building with a cross on top, something powerful will happen. Praise God for that too!

Paul had confidence in the power of the fellowship. I like to call it his ministry of presence. Paul knew there was power (dunamis) in the gospel (Rom. 1:16-17), but he also knew there was power in just his presence. Romans 1:11 says, "I long to see you that I may impart some spiritual gift to make you strong, that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." For Paul, it was powerful for him to just show up. He knew God's power was at work in the presence of believers meeting together. Sooooooo, it is our responsibility to invite the lost, the lonely, the afraid, fellow believers, seekers, and unbelievers into the fellowship of God. If we do, trust God, something powerful will happen there. I am pretty sure the bible says something about that.

It is my humble opinion that the death knell of the institutional church was rung a bit prematurely by the missional movement today (of which I am part of by the way). This church has been around for thousands of years. Rightly or wrongly, we humans built those walls to meet in. It is okay though. Whether it is the walls of the church or the walls of Starbucks, God is there, and He can handle it.