Author: Frank

If…

Frank

In the business of the Christmas season, I’ll be reposting some of my favorite posts and scaling back my original content. Reading Multiply by Francis Chan and gearing up for a Multiply Movement study in the New Year, I’m going to select posts on evangelism this week and Christmas next. This particular post was first published in October 2010.

***
“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said,
‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.’“ (John 8:31)

There were times when I was reading Mere Churchianity that I wished Michael Spencer was right there so I could rush up to him and give him a big hug and thank him for saying what needs to be said. Better yet, I wish he was still alive to preach this message that is lost on so many churches in the tapestry of American Christianity. There are many to whom I want to give this book once I’m done. If they’re not interested in the book, I’ll just point them to this chapter. If this book even mildly interests you, read this chapter if nothing else.

Chapter 8: Accepting the Real Jesus draws a line in the sand and I’m sure that line will make many uncomfortable. But we have to remember, this book isn’t written for the Church, though it can learn from it, but is instead written to those who have left- physically or spiritually. The established church won’t like what Michael has to say, and maybe many who have left looking for Jesus won’t either, but Michael has to point towards the Jesus we all need to find. This Jesus, the complete Jesus, is not the pretty picture from Sunday school, nor is he a radical marketing ploy used by evangelical churches. We are not called to follow a church. We’re not even called to be Christians. Instead we are called to be disciples of Jesus. What does that mean?

That means being Kingdom-minded. That means associating with the lowly. That means making disciples (not Christians, not pew-fillers). That means “Jesus Saves”, not the church. That means changing the world.

A brother was sharing recently how he was reaching out at our local mall. He met a man who was attending seminary and was at that moment studying Greek. The conversation was started, “what is the difference between a Christian and a disciple?” The young scholar could not turn to his Greek lexicon or any of his former courses for an answer. He couldn’t rely on any ministerial training. So he couldn’t come up with an answer. I love my friend’s response, “I’m not out here looking for people to go to church with me, I’m looking for people who want to be disciples of Jesus.”

The Scripture above gives us an outline: Believe, hold, disciple. But there’s an important word that makes us uncomfortable, that turns religiosity on its head: IF. Jesus didn’t die so that there could be hundreds of churches all proclaiming his name but look nothing like one another. Jesus didn’t die to produce generation after generation of Christians. Jesus died to usher in His Kingdom, occupied by His disciples. IF…

The Conclusion of the Matter

Frank

I’m not a very good closer. Whenever I write reports for work I always get stuck at the conclusion. Even my blog posts will often ramble on for one or two paragraphs too many because I don’t know how to finish my thoughts. I can’t even imagine trying to conclude and summarize the themes of a book.

This is the last week we’re discussing A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God and concluding with his chapter, The Sacrament of Living. It is a lofty goal to even begin to describe the holiness of God and then to follow up with practical application to pursue that holiness in our own unique spiritual walks. So I have to admit I was expecting this last chapter to summarize the rest of the book and leave me, the reader, with marching orders to go forward in my own pursuit of God.

Just looking at the chapter titles, you can tell Tozer is building his case: Following Hard After God, The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing, Removing the Veil, Apprehending God, The Universal Presence, The Speaking Voice, The Gaze of the Soul, Restoring the Creator-creature Relation, Meekness and Rest, and finally The Sacrament of Living.

I often state that Romans 12 gives most comprehensive description of Christian living in the Bible- talking about sanctification, humility, applying our spiritual gifts, generosity, and forgiveness. But that chapter doesn’t just come out of nowhere. It begins “Therefore…” The lifestyle Paul describes in Romans 12 requires Romans chapters 1-11. “Therefore, in view of God’s mercy…” There it is, our Christianity needs to be motivated by God’s character and what he has done on our behalf. “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1) Paul could have stopped there.

So how does Tozer conclude his premise of the pursuit of God? What does he write after his “therefore”?

“the sacramental quality of every day living.” (pg 90)

Like I said, I was expecting some lofty conclusion, some kind of new wisdom that I could apply to my own spirituality. Yet I should not have been surprised that Tozer came to the same conclusion as Paul (and Solomon for that matter): that our lives, our everyday lives, should be lived for the glory of God. That is how you pursue God, by seeking to glorify him in all things no matter how big or small, how routine or extraordinary, how mundane or exciting. A fitting end for this blog as well, whose overall theme is that of living out our faith in the day-to-day.

“We must practice living to the glory of God, actually and determinedly.” (pg 87)

Tozer closes with this prayer:


Lord, I would trust thee completely; I would be altogether Thine; I would exalt Thee above all. I desire that I may feel no sense of possessing anything outside of Thee. I want constantly to be aware of Thy overshadowing Presence and to hear Thy speaking Voice. I long to live in restful sincerity of heart. I want to live so fully in the Spirit that all my thought may be as sweet incense ascending to Thee and every act of my life may be an act of worship. Therefore I pray in the words of Thy great servant of old, ‘I beseech Thee so far to cleanse the intent of mine heart with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace, that I may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee.’ And all this I confidently believe Thou wilt grant me through the merits of Jesus Christ Thy Son. Amen.

This blog is part of a book club reading The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. Please join the discussion here and at our hosts, Jason Stasyszen and Sarah Salter. Need a copy of the book? You can get it for free on Kindle.

Six Degrees of Jesus

Frank

In the business of the Christmas season, I’ll be reposting some of my favorite posts and scaling back my original content. Reading Multiply by Francis Chan and gearing up for a Multiply Movement study in the New Year, I’m going to select posts on evangelism this week and Christmas next. This particular post was first published in September 2009.

***

You’ve probably heard of and likely played the six degrees of Kevin Bacon where the theory goes, you can link any actor to Kevin Bacon in six moves or less. For example try Marilyn Monroe. She was in Some Like it Hot with Jack Lemmon. Jack Lemmon was with Kevin Pollack in Grumpy Old Men. Kevin Pollack was with Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects and Kevin Spacey was in 21 with Laurence Fishburne who was with Kevin Bacon in Mystic River. Fun, isn’t it?

This is based on the theory of the Six Degrees of Separation that holds we’re all separated by everyone else in this world by six people or less. With 8 billion people living on Earth, that seems daunting and may not be practical considering those living in poverty in the Third World. But on the surface, it is a sound theory. Throw in Facebook, Twitter, and the like you might even be able to reduce those six degrees to only three.

Now, apply this theory to the spread of the Gospel and you can easily see how the Early Church was able to spread throughout the entire known world within a generation of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Today, we can apply this theory to the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-21 (go and make disciples of all nations) and we can have hope that “the gospel… be preached to all nations.” (Mark 13:10)

Looking at it numerically, compare a minister who is the only one preaching the Gospel in his church and converts a person a day through his preaching with a disciple of Jesus who only converts one person a year. But that person then goes on and converts one person and so on. Maybe you’ve seen these numbers before. After ten years, the minister has brought 3650 people to Christ while the church that started with one has only grown to 1024. But after twenty years, the first church has grown to 7300 and the second has over 500,000 disciples! Within a generation (say, 30 years) this second church will have converted a billion people.

Now consider the six degrees theory and there’s no reason to not believe that the Gospel cannot be preached to the entire world in our generation. When you pass a stranger on the street, you don’t know who might be connected to him or her within these six degrees. For example he may be within six degrees of a former president (2 or 4 depending on whether you’re considering friends or acquaintances), a movie star (3), a Playboy Playmate (2), a TV star (4), a rock star (4), John F. Kennedy (5) and a former major league baseball player (2). That’s celebrity, but looking at your average joes, this person could also be within six degrees of a kidnap victim (1), a missing person (3), a victim of a school shooting (3), a cancer victim (1), a cancer survivor (2), a victim of spousal abuse (1), a murderer (2), a gunshot victim (1), and a gang member (2). Spiritually, this person could be within six degrees of a minister (1, obviously), a Christian author (1), a Christian recording artist (2), a foreign missionary (1), a renowned Biblical historian (3), and a Christian apologist (3).

If you haven’t guessed, in the numbers I’m talking about myself. I don’t run these out to boast. In fact, I’m pretty convicted because I know for a fact that my Christian influence does not reach as far as most of who I describe above.

Think about your sphere of influence. You never know who you may be linked to. More importantly, you never know who that stranger in the checkout line may be linked to. What’s stopping the Gospel from being spread? Our closed mouths. I rant and rave on this blog that a lack of authentic Christianity hurts the Gospel message and I strive to call us higher to a public authentic Christian life. But it doesn’t matter how we live if our mouths are still closed.

Despite the unlimited reach of the internet, this blog isn’t enough either. Besides the overall lack of traffic, I’m not necessarily sharing the Gospel with anyone. This blog isn’t geared towards unbelievers, but believers. Yet I rely on this blog as an evangelistic crutch. It’s one thing to put these thoughts to paper (or computer screen) but it’s a whole other to share my faith with a stranger, a neighbor, or a co-worker. So this blog is a cop-out for not sharing my own faith. But I’m convicted to change.

How though? I recently heard a series at Living On The Edge titled “Going Public With Your Faith”. Unfortunately by the time I got around to writing this post, those lessons are no longer archived but you can get the lesson on CD or MP3 by going here.  Some practical advice: write out and practice reciting a short five-minute testimony. Sharing our faith is more than an invite to church, it’s sharing what God has done in our lives. Next, memorize the basic scriptures on salvation. John 3:16 is an easy one, but overused. Revelation 3:20 sounds good, but is out of context and doesn’t apply to non-believers. Romans 3:23 is key for our need of a savior. But if you really want to cut right to it, why not turn to the first sermon ever preached? Everything anyone needs to know is right there.

My church follows a similar outline: establish the Bible as the trustworthy, reliable word of God, define what a disciple of Jesus is versus what the world defines as a Christian, define sin and its consequences and then define grace through Jesus, describe the sacrifice of Jesus and our redemption, and finally what our response should be to the Gospel: “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.'” (Acts 2:37-39)

You can trim that down and share it with someone in one sitting. Who knows what that seed may produce and who knows who may hear the same message six connections away?

Flashback Friday: Converter (again)

Frank

***I’ve reposted this before, but I’m on an evangelism kick, so here it is again. Interestingly, since this was first posted in 2010 the couple I mention below have left the church. My wife and I have been in several Bible studies with others since- but that has been a lot of seed planting and not much harvesting. The lack of seeing tangible “fruit” has caused me to become cynical and faithless (which I talk about here) something I’m working on leading into the New Year.***

My wife and I have been fortunate in the last couple of weeks to baptize a couple of our friends into Christ. Leading up to the first baptism, I was telling someone I was with that I needed to leave for a Bible study. When asked what about, I stumbled for an answer and said, “conversion.” (wrongly thinking that the arbitrary titles given to our studies are meaningless unless you’re in them) Naturally, that answer raised an eyebrow. The word conversion has negative connotations bringing images of the Crusades, cliches like converting the heathens, and highlights one of the most common negative images of Christianity in our culture- that we’re right and everyone else is wrong.

The book unChristian uses several surveys, many by Barna Research, to identify preconceptions and misconceptions of “outsiders” and Christians, respectively. (I share the author’s hesitancy in using the term “outsiders” because it is a loaded term, but is most illustrative of the purpose behind the study) A chapter titled, Get Saved!, brings the attitudes towards conversion to light. A telling number, emblematic of the disconnect between Christianity and our culture, is that “only one-third of young outsiders believe that Christians genuinely care about them.” While, “64 percent of Christians… believe that outsiders would perceive their efforts as genuine.”

Love-bombing visitors then dropping them like bad habits once they become full-fledged members of the church is all too common and only adds to this stereotype. The attitude of “I’m right and you’re wrong, so therefore you’re going to Hell” that is portrayed when we try and share our faith doesn’t help this image any either. Add to that the infighting and competition for numbers within and between churches and you begin to see why outsiders would have a polar opposite opinion of our intentions.

While the word conversion may sound holier-than-thou, it shouldn’t. Think of the word. Conversion means change. You need a power converter when traveling overseas so that you can use your hair-dryer (120 V) in foreign wall sockets (220 V). You need to convert electricity from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) to use most electronics. In both of these cases, the electricity is changed into something useful. It is still electricity, but is put in a form that we can use.

Religious conversion is really the same thing. It’s not about “I’m right, you’re wrong.” It is about being changed into something useful to God. Jesus told Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (John 3:3) Being born again implies a new creation, i.e. change. Ironically, Barna defines a “born-again Christian” as one who has only “accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior.” The term “Evangelical” narrows down this definition by adding the conditions of “1) saying their faith is very important in their life today; 2)believing they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians; 3) believing that Satan exists; 4) believing their eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not works; 5) believing that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; 6)asserting that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches; 7) describing God as the all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today.” Neither of these definitions say anything about change, even though Jesus said, “unless…”

Paul instructs us to “be transformed” (Romans 12:2) and reminds us that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). That is conversion. That’s why I so appreciate the ministry of Paul Washer. His emphasis is that simply praying the Sinner’s Prayer doesn’t convert you. Without evidence of change brought about by the Holy Spirit, can you really argue that you’ve been converted? [Ed: and since this was first written, David Platt has taken up the same argument within the SBC] I always joke that praying Jesus into your heart works. It’s just that once Jesus is there, he’s hanging out asking “now what?”

So when I share my faith, of course I want to convert them. But that doesn’t mean I want them to conform to my way of thinking, or my personal theology/doctrine/denominationalism. It means I want to see the Holy Spirit come into their lives and change them. Maybe that is still judgemental, thinking that they even need change. But I see addiction, abuse, selfishness, and pride on a daily basis. Our media drowns us with greed and lust. I see no evidence in the world-at-large to make me believe that others don’t need change. I can’t do it. I can only offer it. I’m nothing special. But Jesus Christ is.

The Glory of God in Secular Work

Frank

“Nor will that old serpent the devil take all this lying down. He will be there in the cab or at the desk or in the field to remind the Christian that he giving the better part of his day to the things of this world and allotting to his religious duties only a trifling portion of his time.” -A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Do you ever feel like you’re wasting your time? Do you sit at your desk at work watching the clock tick by until you can call it a day and go home? Do you ever go home with the weight of the world on your shoulders wondering if it is all worth it?

I calculated not too long ago that I’ve spent more than 20,000 hours at my job and have commuted 200,000 miles in the past ten years at my job. Meanwhile, at best I’ve spent 3650 hours in prayer and 1040 hours sitting in church.

We can read about missionary heroes, or bold preachers, or successful authors and then ask ourselves, “why can’t I do that?” Then we look at our jobs and the responsibilities of life and answer back, “oh yeah, that’s why.”

But that is only Satan talking. God created this world and called it good. Before the fall, Adam and Eve tended to the garden- worked, if you will- together with God. And it was a good thing. After the fall, God promised that mankind would toil in labor- yet God’s creation and God’s design is still good.

My evangelist here once preached (paraphrasing), “of course work is hard- it’s called work! If it was easy and pleasant they’d call it something else. Like, I don’t know, Disneyland!”

Work is hard. It is tedious. It is toil. But that does not mean it is not good. And the best part is, we don’t have to work alone.

A friend of mine related it to apple orchards: if you allow an apple tree to grow up all on its own, it will bear fruit but it will likely be sour. But when you take the branches of another tree, even for another kind of apple, and graft it in with the tree then the fruit will be sweet. This is an example of God and man working together to gain a better result. God’s creation plus man’s innovation leads to the delicious fruit I pack in my lunch bag.

Maybe you view your work as too secular, that there’s no way for you and God to work together in that environment. Going back to the illustration of sweet fruit, you can exhibit the fruits of the spirit in your workplace: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Of course, you cannot bear those fruits without the Holy Spirit- so there are the two of you working together.

“Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

This isn’t impossible. Don’t listen to Satan’s lies trying to convince you that your labor is in vain. Smile. Be generous. Work honestly. Pray. And your work will be a fragrant offering to God.

This blog is part of a book club reading The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. Please join the discussion here and at our hosts, Jason Stasyszen and Sarah Salter. Need a copy of the book? You can get it for free on Kindle.

Three Prongs of Evangelism

Frank

The Great Commission can be divided into two parts: “make disciples” and “teaching everything [Jesus] commanded.” In other words, sharing your faith and discipling– the two pillars on which my fellowship of churches are built. Most definitions of evangelism can be summed up by these two acts of faith. However, focusing only on these two parts of the Great Commission leave out what I believe to be a third “prong” of evangelism.

In John 13 Jesus instructs his disciples, “A new command I give you, love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (v 34-35) If our “great” commission is to make disciples, shouldn’t we be living consistent with the primary calling card of discipleship? You could extend this thought to argue that sharing your faith and discipling another are acting out in love. Of course, concern for the eternal destiny of another should be rooted in love. And discipling without love is at best legalism, at worst abuse. But love goes beyond this as John (same author, mind you) argues later: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with action and in truth.” (1 John 3:16-18) Later in the same letter John continues, “This is love for God: to obey his commands.” (v 5:3a)

Which takes us right back to the second half of the Great Commission, to teach everything Jesus commanded. But I fear when we do so, we often restrict ourselves to Jesus’ words, unintentionally neglecting his actions. In Matthew 4, setting up the famous Sermon on the Mount, Matthew introduces Jesus’ ministry writing, “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” (Matthew 4:23) We are familiar with the call to evangelism that comes later in Matthew 9: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.’” (v 36-37) Yet we easily overlook the “bridge” verse that precedes it. “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.” (v 35) Between these identical verses in chapters 4 and 9 is a sampling of “the day in the life…” showing Jesus doing just that- teaching, preaching, healing; the “three prongs” of evangelism.

Preaching and teaching are explicit in the Great Commission, but healing is not. Yet it is clear in the ministry of Jesus and in the example of the earliest accounts of the Church in Acts. Extending the definition of healing to include meeting material needs, we see the Peter preaching the first sermon, the fellowship of believers being “devoted… to the apostles’ teaching” and “[giving] to anyone as he had need.” The result? “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (vs 14-36, 42, 45, 47) implying that these actions were, in fact, forms of evangelism even if it doesn’t follow our traditional view.

Preaching, teaching, healing- three prongs of evangelism. If we focus solely on preaching, we may grow in number but not in spiritual maturity. If we over emphasize teaching then we create a culture of academic and religious snobbery that does not grow. If all we concern ourselves with is the poor, then we are nothing more than a charity devoid of the Gospel. All three ingredients are crucial to the spiritual health and growth of the Church.

How has your approach to evangelism reflected either of these three prongs?

You Want Me to Do What Now?

Frank

I was raised Catholic so evangelism was never a priority. I believed in “lifestyle evangelism” where I was taught to live life in such a way that reflected Jesus to others. When I started to really get serious about living out what the Bible taught, I was challenged by Jesus’ last command to his followers: go and make disciples. That was an active command, not passive where I could just live my life as I pleased and leave it to others to choose to follow Jesus. It meant I actually had to reach out to strangers and share the Gospel.

In my mind that was no different than the crazy street preacher predicting the end of the world, or the annoying door knockers interrupting my Saturday morning. And I wanted no part of that.

I remember walking across campus with my friend Jim talking about this challenge and my opposition to it. We stopped at a table set up to the side of one of the major thoroughfares between classroom buildings. There, his campus ministry was handing out hot chocolate (it was the middle of winter) and offering a friendly invitation to come to church on Sunday.

That’s it? That’s all it meant to evangelize? (Well at the time, yes, that was all it meant.) So I eagerly  went- most of the time- around the dorms knocking on doors and stopping people coming to and from class to strike up conversations. I wasn’t very good at it. I seldom met anyone who said, “why yes, I have been looking for a church!” Yet every so often someone would sheepishly sneak in to the back of our Sunday morning service and when asked who they knew they’d answer “some guy named Frank invited me.” I didn’t bear much “fruit” (our codeword for our legalistic approach to filling seats on Sunday) however and I slowly became cynical about this idea of making disciples.

As I continued to soak in the Bible like a sponge, some convictions began to gnaw at me. I grew to the conviction that evangelism was not the same as inviting someone to church, and that “sharing my faith” was literally sharing my faith. (“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have.” 1 Peter 3:15) I also became convicted that the Great Commission said more than just to go and make disciples. Matthew 28:20 continues the command with Jesus saying, “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” I looked around and I didn’t see that. Then I read Sticky Church by Larry Osborne in which he talked about the danger of focusing on bringing people in through the front door while ignoring the many who were leaving out the back. So I made teaching a crusade, so to speak.

Yet instead of these growing convictions producing a godly sorrow (earnestness, eagerness, indignation, alarm, longing, concern, readiness- 2 Corinthians 7:10-11) it produced cynicism and a hard heart. I would have flashes of eagerness, sharing my faith with a coworker here or there or talking to another parent at the park, but nothing in my heart that would ever last. But then my wife and I started our Crazy Love group, opening up our home to anyone who wanted to come and grow together in Christ. It didn’t matter what church you went to- I prayed God would sort that out (and over time he did!).

I was struck by something one of the brothers at church shared one midweek right around the same time. He was out “sharing his faith”and he ran into a theology student studying Hebrew in the food court at the mall. He said to him, “I’m not looking for someone to come to church with me Sunday morning. I’m looking for someone who wants to be a disciple of Jesus.”

That approach, simple and straightforward, tore down the walls of division that pitted my church against yours and brought us together for the same cause- to be disciples of Jesus. I was inspired, encouraged, and my faith was renewed. I was studying the Bible with others like never before (and it wasn’t that much, which says a lot). I was joyful. My wife and I were inviting people into our home, we were serving the poor, I want to believe we were actually making an impact.

Then life happened. Long story made real short- kids, family, work- every facet of our lives took a hit. And everything came to a screeching halt. You could say that Satan was actively opposing our new found faith and conviction. I’d argue instead that we were due to reap what our lives have been sowing.

After a year of taking blow after blow, I have grown restless; knowing what God has asked me to do but feeling unable to do it. Then I read that Francis Chan and David Platt were collaborating on a book. I couldn’t imagine a better pairing and waited eagerly for the book to come out. I soon found out it wasn’t just a book, but “movement“, hmmm, that caught my attention, and the book wouldn’t be a convicting challenge to my heart like Crazy Love or Radical, but would instead be an almost catechism with an emphasis on evangelism and discipling.

Well, sign me up. Book after book have been written on evangelism- how to, where to, what to- but really all we need is a renewed commitment to what Jesus commanded. Yeah, I’m going to study this to death, that’s my nature. But I’m not going to wait until I finish a book or have the perfect study written up. I am pledging to go and make disciples in 2013. Who’s with me?

The Burden of Worth

Frank

I keep all my books. I’m know it drives my wife crazy as the bookshelves overflow and every other nook and cranny is filled. But I like being able to go back and reference what I’ve read. Often circumstances, mood, or even just a different attention span will bring new insights to light.

So it was with this chapter of The Pursuit of God by A.W, Tozer. Had I reviewed it any other day, at any other time, this post would likely be completely different. You see yesterday I had a rough day at work. And as I was struggling to identify just what it was that put me into my funk I read:

“Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal there will be those who will delight to offer affront to your idol. How then can you hope to have inward peace? The heart’s fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of a friend and enemy, will never let the mid have rest. Continue this fight through the years and the burden will become intolerable.” (pg 79, emphasis added)

Looking back, I realize that I have taken some circumstances at work, that really have nothing at all to do with me, personally. And this is a burden I’ve been carrying for far too long. I’ve let the atmosphere of funding cuts, budget slashes, and future uncertainty cloud my heart with insecurity. I’ve allowed what others think, or at least what I think others think, to define my worth.

My wife and I were talking about this not too long ago: the difference between value and worth. If you put something up for bid on ebay, that something is worth whatever someone else is willing to pay for it. But if you hold a reserve, it has a different value to you. Another way to look at it is if you have a precious jewel. It may be worth millions if you were to sell it. But it is more valuable to you so you do not. Worth depends on another’s opinion, but value is inherent to what it is. So when it comes to insecurities, we allow others to define our worth and forget our intrinsic value. Ironically, as we were talking, I was concerned with my wife’s self-esteem, and completely missed the opportunity to take this lesson for myself.

Tozer puts it this way: “He rests perfectly content to allow God to place His own values. He will be patient to wait for the day when everything will get its own price tag and real worth will come into its own.” (pg 80) The “he” Tozer describes is him who understands what it means to be “meek” by allowing Jesus to take on his burdens and that his value is as a new creation in Christ.

I like this description best: “He knows well that the world will never see him as God sees him and he has stopped caring.” (pg 80)

I will finish this week at work. Then the month. And soon the year. In that time I will come to terms with the fact that no one is out to get me. Prayerfully, my heart will lower its defenses and allow Jesus to define my value- not my job, not my successes (and failures), not my coworkers or colleagues. I pray that I will come to grips that the world will never see me as God sees me, and pray that I will stop caring. That simple quote may be the most important thing I’ve read in a long time.

This blog is part of a book club reading The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. Please join the discussion here and at our hosts, Jason Stasyszen and Sarah Salter. Need a copy of the book? You can get it for free on Kindle.

Reproduce Yourself

Frank

How did you get to where you are? Chances are, you have someone to thank for it. Maybe it was a favorite teacher or someone who took you under their wing. If you are successful at anything, it is unlikely you figured it all out yourself.

Somewhere along the line, participating in countless clubs and organizations through school, I learned that to propagate the values, skills, or ideals you bring to that organization, you need to replicate those in others. And if you leave an organization, you should replace yourself if you want to leave a legacy.

That is all well and good for organizational philosophies. But shouldn’t the same be true for our spirituality? You can’t come to know Jesus by yourself- “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14) When it comes to discipleship the goal shouldn’t be to replicate ourselves, instead shouldn’t we be trying to reproduce Jesus? “One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:12-13) and later in the same letter Paul writes, “follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (11:1)

When you read the Bible and something new jumps out at you from the page, don’t you want to share it with someone? Or if you read an inspiring story or practical how-to on a blog, don’t you want to share it? (That’s what is behind the increasingly popular social media site Pintrest) Or maybe a better question would apply the Golden Rule- wouldn’t you want someone to share those things with you?

This is not a new idea. I quote Paul above, but the principle goes all the way back to the time of the Israelites wandering the desert, building monuments to God to remind them to share their stories with their children and their children’s children. More importantly, this instruction comes straight from Jesus’ own mouth: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (most of us know the Great Commission up to this point, but it continues) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Churches get in the bad habit of focusing only on the first part, emphasising growth in numbers, to the neglect of the second part. When that culture dominates a church’s membership, the result is a congregation full of immature Christians, many of whom will eventually leave much like a seed planted on rocky ground that may germinate, but will die for lack of deep roots. (Mark 4:5-6)

To get around this some churches have programs, others have anointed teachers, still others organize themselves into small/family/prayer/discipleship groups. In each of these, the responsibility of passing along spiritual knowledge is delegated to one or a select few individuals. Yet Jesus’ command above is for us all. It is each of our responsibilities to raise up and teach others to be like Jesus.

Does that sound intimidating? You are responsible for teaching someone else to be Christ-like. Where do you begin? What do you do? How do you do this? This may be a foreign idea, a ‘hard teaching’, a new concept to many of you. The truth is, a majority in the American Church are ill-equipped to take on such an important role.

So in comes Francis Chan and Mark Beuving with their book, Multiply: disciples making disciples. This isn’t a book review (yet), but an introduction. Chan has partnered with David Platt to form Crazy Radical. Just kidding. To start what they call the Multiply Movement, an effort to encourage the Church to get back to discipleship as Jesus defined it, to plant seeds of the Gospel around the world, and to pass on those teachings and experiences to others to go and do the same.

If the idea of leading another to Christ, or to raise someone up to be Christ-like, is intimidating or if you don’t know where to start. I encourage you to pick up this book, check out their online materials, watch their videos. More importantly, I encourage you to do this with someone else.

This is a theme you’re going to see more and more on this blog in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Later this week I’m going to talk more about evangelism and later write my own book review (I have a few chapters left!). In the meantime, I pray you take these words from Paul to heart:

It was [Jesus] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.(Ephesians 4:11-16, emphasis added)

Jesus the Philosopher

Frank

That Jesus, he’s such a nice guy!

He sure taught a lot of wise things.

Jesus was a great teacher and philosopher, the world would be a better place if we lived out what he taught.

Do any of these sound familiar? I’ve heard those responses, or variations thereof, countless times when talking about the deity of Jesus Christ. My favorite is when someone responds that we should follow his teachings, like to love your neighbor or to turn the other cheek, but that doesn’t mean he’s the Son of God. My response is usually to turn it right back on them- do you love your neighbor? How about your enemies? Do you really turn your cheek when someone is mean to you?

It is easy to pick and choose favorite one-liners from Jesus’ teachings and turn those into a philosophy of how we should live. But no matter how many may say so, few really do. Even among the ranks of Christians are few who can honestly say they are living out every one of Jesus’ commands. I haven’t sold everything I have and then gave it all to the poor, have you? If we take out the hard teachings (eat Jesus’ flesh?) we are usually left with something that looks an awful lot like the Sermon on the Mount.

I guess if we cling to something from the life of Jesus, it might as well be this, right? But even these instructions are hard to keep (cut off my hand?). So Jesus’ teachings are usually boiled down even further to the Beatitudes. Even before I took the Bible seriously, I could recite every one of these. But to live them out? A.W. Tozer writes in A Pursuit of God:

“In the world of men we find nothing approaching the virtues of which Jesus spoke in the opening words of the famous Sermon on the Mount. Instead of poverty of spirit we find the rankest kind of pride; instead of mourners we find pleasure seekers; instead of meekness, arrogance; instead of hunger after righteousness we hear men saying, ‘I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing’; instead of mercy we find cruelty; instead of purity of heart, corrupt imaginings; instead of rejoicing in mistreatment we find them fighting back with every weapon at their command.” (pgs 77-78)

Let’s check our attitudes against the beatitudes: poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted because of righteousness. If I were to measure myself against these I could confidently lay claim to two; on my best days. I’m not going to go into detail defining each of these and writing up a mini-sermon supporting it. Instead I encourage you to check your heart. Do Jesus’ descriptions of a blessed heart match yours, or do you more closely resemble what Tozer describes above?

Do not be discouraged by your conclusion. Instead be inspired by the rewards, the blessings, Jesus promises: the kingdom of heaven, receive comfort, inherit the earth, be filled, be shown mercy, see God, and be called sons of God.

Now can a mere philosopher promise such blessings or can these only come from the Son of God himself?

This blog is part of a book club reading The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. Please join the discussion here and at our hosts, Jason Stasyszen and Sarah Salter. Need a copy of the book? You can get it for free on Kindle.