icoc lessons learned

Flashback Friday: The Three Prongs of Evangelism

Frank

Originally posted last December, I’m reposting now inspired by recent posts over at The High Calling discussing David Platt’s new book ‘Follow Me‘ and thoughts on teaching vs grace by both James Nored at the Missional Outreach Network and K Rex Butts at Kingdom Seeking. I encourage you to check out those posts and let me know what you think as they relate to what I write about below.

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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?

Judging the Author by the Book

Frank

A while back I was blogging through a book and someone took offense because of the author’s lifestyle. The argument was that his call to discipleship was hypocritical because of the size of his house. I can’t cast any stones because I don’t personally know either the author nor the commenter. But it points out a fundamental challenge for any author- you become known by the words committed to the page even though there is much more to you than those words. That’s one reason why blogs are so great, because you are able to catch the author in the moment, not limited to a specific subject or committed to the title of a book.

If you follow the advice to not judge a book by its cover, then do not judge the author by the book.

I humbly and regrettably admit, I’m not going to get around to reviewing either Francis Chan’s Multiply or David Platt’s Follow Me (which are intentionally complimentary works). There are many great reviews out there already (BibleDude for Multiply and Tim Challies for Follow Me for just a couple). But there is one review, actually a couple reviews by a single reviewer, that I want to address.

I am a big fan of Frank Viola; his teaching on the Organic Church and the Centrality of Jesus I believe are must-reads to break out of the Americanized Church. So I don’t blame him for the stances he takes on both of these books. His review of Multiply is followed by a series of questions directed at Fancis Chan, warning against the legalism of the shepherding movement that is read between the lines. His review of Follow Me sounds some of the same alarms adding that the book misses the Eternal Purpose of God.

I’m not intending this to debate Frank, only to emphasize the point made above- a single book is only a limited snapshot of who the author is and just a sliver of his or her doctrine and theology.

If you read Multiply without reading Crazy Love, then you won’t get an accurate measure of Chan’s overwhelming love of the Almighty God. If you read Follow Me (or Radical for that matter) without listening to David Platt’s sermons online, then you miss how much he is motivated by his love of the resurrected Jesus.

I just spent the last two hours listening to both Platt and Chan at the Verge Conference. Platt spent most of his time on the centrality of Jesus, and I believe Chan’s Crazy Love addresses God’s eternal purpose to reconcile his creation back to him. (Chan’s talk expanded on Jesus’ command “by this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another”- John 13:34, by noting that they saw firsthand a resurrected Jesus and how could they not have been changed by such an experience.)

If you listen to a song that you really like, you will likely check out the artist’s other work- maybe log onto iTunes to listen to other songs on that album. If you like enough of them, you might buy it. If you really like the album, you might go watch them live or buy another album. You might follow them on Twitter and sign up for their fanclub.

Why should we treat the books we read any differently? Just as there’s more to a band than a single song or album, there is more to an author than a single book.

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?

Bromancing the Stone

Frank

This week I won’t be posting a regularly (6:00 AM PST at least a couple times a week) because I’ll be attending the 2012 World Discipleship Summit to fellowship and learn from 18,000 brothers and sisters in Christ from all over the world. I’m actually leaving in about an hour to road trip out with three other brothers. Leaving the wives and girlfriends behind, I’m calling this roadtrip “Bromancing the Stone”.

My plan while I’m at the conference is to live-blog from the classes and worship services as time and wi-fi access allows. So stop by periodically during the week to see pictures and updates from the event.

I’d also appreciate if you’d pray for safe travel. We’re caravaning, but I know of many others who are driving or flying out today and tomorrow.

Eyes and Hands

Frank

Playing catchup on our Mere Churchianity discussion group with Glynn Young and Nancy Rosback. I’m a week behind and hope to catch up with another post either this evening or tomorrow. For the discussion on Chapter 15, “The Good and Bad of Being Alone,” be sure to visit (or re-visit) Faith, Fiction, Friends and NancieMarie. Meanwhile you can check out their thoughts on the latest chapter here and here (but don’t spoil it for me!),  Melissa at In Silence, Humming Softly has also joined the discussion so be sure to check out her thoughts as well.

“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!'” (1 Corinthians 12:21)

Unity but not uniformity. Community but not conformity. Sounds nice, but sadly is rarely seen. Authentic Christian community offers an uncomfortable paradox: one one hand, we are all parts of one body commanded through dozens of ‘one another’ passages in the Bible; on the other hand, we are all given unique gifts and talents to be used to advance the Church. We are expected in Christ to be part of a collective while forging our own path of faith. Oftentimes, churches do not know how to handle this delicate balance, so they err to the side of homogeneity. And free-thinkers, as Michael Spencer describes, are often forced out.

I don’t agree with Michael’s depiction of Jesus in this chapter, but I do see his point. I don’t believe Jesus was a solitary man. Yes, he often sought solace, but that was for recharging himself spiritually. He poured himself into those closest to him, yet he intentionally kept that number small. A theme I continue to oppose in this book is the notion of Christianity without community. I just don’t think you can survive spiritually that way and I think the instructions to the Church we read in the Bible bare that out.

But, we also cannot fall into the temptation to be a conformist or a yes-man and identify our spirituality by our fellowship rather than our own faith. The Body of Christ is not made of only feet or hands as 1 Corinthians 12 describes. We need our own faith, our own relationship with Christ, our own struggles with God in prayer. And sometimes that might mean walking away from the structure, the system.

It’s a delicate balance, as I said, and I’m sure we all have stories of how we’ve had to “fight the power” so to speak. I won’t belabor this point, but do encourage you to read Glynn Young’s post on this subject linked above. His story is too close to mine for it to be worth sharing again.

The Uncomfortable Jesus

Frank

The premise behind Philip Yancey’s The Jesus I Never Knew is that the Jesus we know is so familiar he’s become routine. We know the stories. We know how it all ends. Nothing surprises us or makes us uncomfortable.

Michael Spencer approaches the third chapter of Mere Churchianity the same way. Imagine being a disciple of Jesus and having your world rocked with his unconventional take on the Jewish religion. Been praying all your life? Jesus will teach you how to really pray. Judgemental of that Samaritan woman? Jesus will go to her and strike up a conversation. It’s no wonder some of Jesus’ disciples responded to him saying, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” and later turned away and left him (John 6:60-66).

I admit I’m young and naive and maybe too idealistic for my own good. Regrettably, I’ve taken the destruction I’ve seen in my fellowship of churches and combined that with the media stereotype of the Evangelical Megachurch to paint a broad brush over all of American Christianity (TM). But I look at the Christian blogosphere and twitterverse and I see brothers and sisters doing it; making things happen in the name of Jesus to God’s glory. And I realize I’m wrong. I need to “tear up my notes” as Michael puts it.

I’m wrong about my church, too. Last week I may have been overly harsh sharing a single anecdote in a sea of experiences. Not to say the criticism isn’t fair, but there’s more to the story. You see, there are some things my church gets right. Recognizing Jesus’ teachings as uncomfortable is one of them. Growing up religious, when I opened up the Bible with brothers who cared about teaching me what it really says, not just what I’ve always heard, it blew my mind. It resonated in my heart because I knew this is what I was missing in my relationship with God. Jesus was uncomfortable and that made following him challenging and exciting.

Yesterday I wrote about the Transformational Loop. Each of the seven properties listed are uncomfortable.

  • Missionary mentality, where you see your community as a mission field and serve it that way? Uncomfortable!
  • Vibrant Leadership where it’s not a cult of personality but of inspiring example? Uncomfortable!
  • Relational Intensity where you genuinely care about your brothers and sisters’ spiritual and physical well-being and “make every effort” to deliberately be involved in one another’s lives? Uncomfortable!
  • Prayerful dependence where going to God in prayer is natural and asking for help via prayer is common? Uncomfortable!
  • Worship that continues beyond Sunday mornings (Romans 12)? Raising your hands in praise? Uncomfortable!
  • Community that is intentionally built around the purpose and mission of the Church? Uncomfortable!
  • Mission, seeking and saving the lost, being a central part of your life, the focus of your conversations and relationships? Uncomfortable!

Of course, that’s just one of many similar books. You could add tithing, serving inside and outside your church’s walls, forgiving (ooh, that’s a toughie), fasting, eschewing the world, calling out sin, confessing sin, and I could go on and on.

Squirming in your chair yet? Well there’s nothing comfortable about being a disciple of Jesus. And you know what, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

(I also encourage you to visit Bend the Page, Faith Fiction and Friends, and A Simple Country Girl for more discussion of this challenging book)

Jesus-colored Glasses

Frank

This post joins the discussion being carried on at Bend the Page on Michael Spencer’s book, Mere Churchianity. The second chapter, titled the Jesus Disconnect, discusses how the Evangelical church has lost sight of Jesus among all the programs, seeker-sensitive trappings, and relevant topics. Glynn Young offers a perspective of “the worship wars” while Nancy Rosback reflects on how she personally loses sight of Jesus.

I want to approach this from yet another perspective, that of ministering to those thrown under the fast-moving, sold-out, evangelical bus. A quote I especially like from this chapter reads, “Evangelical Christians… believe their ship is listing to one side because it gives them a more interesting look at the iceberg.” This is the Jesus-colored glasses I refer to. Michael continues, “Evangelicals believe that people who distance themselves from the church are not disenchanted but ‘under conviction of the Holy Spirit.’ Christians are convinced that the generally low opinion people have of them… is because people can’t deal with the uncomfortable truth about Jesus.”

Ministering to addicts, I have learned that not everyone struggles because they aren’t committed enough, don’t pray enough, or don’t have deep enough convictions. Real people face real demons in their past, their character, and their habits that cannot be overcome just by showing up every Sunday with a smile on their face. We too easily forget that Jesus came for the sick, not the well. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Matthew 9:12)

Sadly, we are quick to abandon the slow-moving for the sake of moving the church “forward” full-steam. Sold-out was our buzzword, but was code for legalism. You didn’t have time to deal with your marriage, your addiction, or your purity. If you weren’t 100% committed to the “purpose” then you weren’t really a disciple of Jesus. This is a battle I continue to fight when our calendar gets filled with evangelistic activities with no room to insert any solid food (Hebrews 5:11-14). As a small-group leader, when I recently questioned the schedule I was challenged to choose between the addiction ministry I help lead and my small group. Well that was a no-brainer (and thank God it didn’t have to come to that).

We say we are being Christ-like by “seeking and saving the lost” (Luke 19:10). We justify sacrificing our own health, spiritual and physical, because we “take up our cross daily” (Luke 9:23). And instead of “not putting out the Spirit’s fire” (1 Thessalonians 5:19) we instead get burned out. And the bus keeps rolling on while we are left behind.

Now I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer. It’s not always like this, and it’s not everybody who feels this way. But this attitude is contagious. We believe the hype. We are more inspired by a rah-rah pep-rally sermon than the life of Jesus. We are human. And the most important point I’ve taken from this book so far is that so are my brothers and sisters in Christ. The church is not a machine, but a living, breathing, body of believers. Real people with real struggles.

Love Must be Sincere

Frank

To continue from this morning’s post to the blog carnival, let’s look inside our church walls. Here is where the theme for this week, kindness, is most evident. We can fake our way with strangers, but it’s much harder to fake with brothers and sisters in Christ that we see on a regular basis.

Or is it? I would challenge any of you to walk into a church that’s not your own and not come away saying something like, “that congregation was so kind.” Now return to your spiritual comfort zone. Isn’t the same true? Isn’t the Ned Flanders cliche Christian nice? Kind? Sometimes overwhelmingly so! But just like how we treat those outside our church walls, we fake our way with our spiritual peers. I’m sure you’ve had this conversation:

“Hey bro, how are things at home?”

“Oh, you know, alright. The same ole, same ole.”

“Yeah, I hear you. Same with me. Well, I’ll pray for you.”

That sounds kind. But is the love behind it sincere? Remember the literal translation from Romans 12:9 is “without hypocrisy”. When we think of hypocrisy, we often think of outright, obvious sins. But we can also be hypocrites with our lack of openness and transparency, our lip-service concern for one another, and our boastings of our own spiritual maturity.

That’s just one case. Another, more painful, example is how we treat those with whom we disagree with spiritually, or worse those who have left our spiritual family. My fellowship of churches has a bad, but deserved, reputation for how we treat other Christians outside our spiritual clique. I was reminded of this again when my wife was spending quality time with an old friend from campus ministry. She left my church years ago and has been looked down upon ever since. It has been hard for my wife to rebuild that friendship because there was doubt about the sincerity of her love, of her kindness. What was my wife’s motive? Was she trying to goad her friend into returning to church? Or is she herself struggling so much as to spend time with one such as her? Last weekend these questions and more came out and I admire my wife’s maturity in addressing them. She does sincerely love her friend. She has no motive other than to be a friend, though she does have genuine concern for her spiritual health. She was kind.

Another sad example is how we are tempted to “love bomb” new visitors to church, but forget them once they become regulars. Again, this is not sincere and makes our demonstrated love at the beginning nothing but hypocrisy. Are you as excited to see someone new on Sunday morning as you are to see the same faces you have for years? I think about this often as I roam the fellowship on Sundays. I make every effort to greet everyone I know with a sincere “how are you? Great to see you!” And those I don’t know I make sure to greet with a warm smile. I don’t always remember the prayers I say I’m going to pray, but I always remember them as people, not as nameless faces that crowd the pews.

To be honest, I’m not always kind. I have a biting sarcasm that I’m tempted to use to passive-aggressively hurt others. I can be impatient and short tempered. And when that character comes out, the first thing I think of is how I’m not being kind. This is true not just at church, or with non-believers as these posts have been about, but also with my family at home. But no matter what, I always strive to love sincerely, without hypocrisy.

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2)

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13)

Love Must be Sincere

Frank

To continue from this morning’s post to the blog carnival, let’s look inside our church walls. Here is where the theme for this week, kindness, is most evident. We can fake our way with strangers, but it’s much harder to fake with brothers and sisters in Christ that we see on a regular basis.

Or is it? I would challenge any of you to walk into a church that’s not your own and not come away saying something like, “that congregation was so kind.” Now return to your spiritual comfort zone. Isn’t the same true? Isn’t the Ned Flanders cliche Christian nice? Kind? Sometimes overwhelmingly so! But just like how we treat those outside our church walls, we fake our way with our spiritual peers. I’m sure you’ve had this conversation:

“Hey bro, how are things at home?”

“Oh, you know, alright. The same ole, same ole.”

“Yeah, I hear you. Same with me. Well, I’ll pray for you.”

That sounds kind. But is the love behind it sincere? Remember the literal translation from Romans 12:9 is “without hypocrisy”. When we think of hypocrisy, we often think of outright, obvious sins. But we can also be hypocrites with our lack of openness and transparency, our lip-service concern for one another, and our boastings of our own spiritual maturity.

That’s just one case. Another, more painful, example is how we treat those with whom we disagree with spiritually, or worse those who have left our spiritual family. My fellowship of churches has a bad, but deserved, reputation for how we treat other Christians outside our spiritual clique. I was reminded of this again when my wife was spending quality time with an old friend from campus ministry. She left my church years ago and has been looked down upon ever since. It has been hard for my wife to rebuild that friendship because there was doubt about the sincerity of her love, of her kindness. What was my wife’s motive? Was she trying to goad her friend into returning to church? Or is she herself struggling so much as to spend time with one such as her? Last weekend these questions and more came out and I admire my wife’s maturity in addressing them. She does sincerely love her friend. She has no motive other than to be a friend, though she does have genuine concern for her spiritual health. She was kind.

Another sad example is how we are tempted to “love bomb” new visitors to church, but forget them once they become regulars. Again, this is not sincere and makes our demonstrated love at the beginning nothing but hypocrisy. Are you as excited to see someone new on Sunday morning as you are to see the same faces you have for years? I think about this often as I roam the fellowship on Sundays. I make every effort to greet everyone I know with a sincere “how are you? Great to see you!” And those I don’t know I make sure to greet with a warm smile. I don’t always remember the prayers I say I’m going to pray, but I always remember them as people, not as nameless faces that crowd the pews.

To be honest, I’m not always kind. I have a biting sarcasm that I’m tempted to use to passive-aggressively hurt others. I can be impatient and short tempered. And when that character comes out, the first thing I think of is how I’m not being kind. This is true not just at church, or with non-believers as these posts have been about, but also with my family at home. But no matter what, I always strive to love sincerely, without hypocrisy.

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2)

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13)

Making Jesus Popular

Frank

That was on a sign at a construction site for a new megachurch being built. Really. But popularity was never Jesus’ goal on earth. Just a sample (I love Biblegateway!):

All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. -Matthew 10:22

Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. -Luke 6:22

The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. -John 7:7

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’ -John 15:18-25

Yet we try so hard to be “seeker sensitive” or to be “relatable” or “relevant” instead of being radical. We dress a certain way, we incorporate multimedia into sermons, we have bands playing contemporary worship music (or cheesy pop music) instead of letting the Gospel of Jesus stand on its own.

Many flock to Saddleback Church because of Rick Warren. Thousands fill the old Alamo Dome to hear Joel Osteen. Celebrity also draws people. The fastest growing church in America is that of American Idol winner Kris Allen. Coincidence?

Once upon a time in my church, growth was used as a “sign” of God’s blessing and that if the church wasn’t growing at an incredible pace then there was something wrong. Spirituality soon began to be measured with numbers. If you weren’t constantly bringing visitors, you were chastised. So begins the pressure to be popular.

But it is not supposed to be this way. Not to say a church that’s growing old and withering on the vine is ok, but we need to check our motivations and ask if we’re compromising the message of Jesus for the sake of attendance. We need to remind ourselves of what was prophesied about Jesus:

“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:2b-3)