Connecting through serving

Over the past 3 weeks we have conducted a 30,000 ft fly over on Spiritual Gifts. Sadly, it seems ignorance about spiritual gifts persists in our day. That is why our Pastors felt it was so important to clarify the roles of the spiritual gifts in our lives. My prayer as we re-enter the book of Colossians, is that you not only discover your giftedness but find creative ways of utilize them in whatever local church you find yourself.

One way to connect with Christ-centered community for you to be empowered with the gospel to serve God and others. Serving is one of the greatest things that we can do as disciples. We should be committed to growing as disciples by using our gifts and talents for God in a way that will bless others and make the community a better place. The Bible tells us that God gave each of us the ability to do certain things well (Romans 12:6‐8). The Holy Spirit gives gifts to believers to be used for the building up of the body of Christ. As a church, we need to help people find and use these gifts for God. Serving is a powerful connection point that many believers ignore or simply overlook. Serving others is certainly not encouraged in our individualistic society, to be a servant means that we must look after the interests of others. It means selflessness as opposed to selfishness. A servant asks, “What can I do for others” instead of “what can they do for me?”

Additionally, Christians must strive to be like Jesus, our perfect example. Jesus set the example of being a servant by saying, “For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). This scripture beautifully embodies the task of Christian ministry. Disciples are to serve and give their lives for others. Serving is the example that Jesus gave, and his followers should follow it. Jesus met both the physical and spiritual needs of the people he ministered to in the Gospels. As the Body of Christ, we become his representatives to a lost world.

Finally, a servant revolution in our churches will reach our community and show the love of Christ. Each week and month, our church provides dozens of different opportunities for people to make a difference through service projects that touch peoples’ lives in the community. These pathways of service help people connect to their community with their God-given ability to serve. Serving is one of the major connection points in our church. The church should be an army of servants who are making a positive difference in their families, their community, and the world. Help find creative pathways for people to connect to your church through serving.

For more information on Spiritual Gifts from a [trusted] Pastor’s perspective please check out this series of blog post. Click here…

HT: Winfield Bevins’

Do You REALLY Want To Be Like Jesus?

One of the most overused phrases among Christians today is, “I just want to be more and more like Jesus.” I am not saying that is something bad, it’s just that I don’t think that some people have a clue what they are talking about when they say those words. I don’t think I have a clue sometimes when I say this phrase. People from a churched culture grow up with a “safe” picture of Jesus, he had feathered hair, wore a white robe with a purple “Miss America sash, was a constant giver of hugs and carried a lamb where ever He went (there are some paintings in churches that would prove this). However, in reading Scripture that is not the only aspect of Jesus that I am seeing. I am discovering that if I want to become more and more like Jesus that I am going to have to drop my Sunday school perceptions and embrace the following:
#1 – Jesus Is A Warrior King!

Check out Revelation 19:11-16. I have never seen a picture of that guy in a Christian bookstore. One of my favorite stories is found in Matthew 21:12-16 where His passion is demonstrated by the fact that He whipped some tail in the temple. I am sick and tired of people saying that a Christian is always nice, a Christian is someone who is passionate for the things of God, which requires some table turning from time to time.

#2 – Jesus Purposefully Offended The Religious!

Keep something in mind, it wasn’t the atheists, agnostics or even the devil worshipers that murdered Jesus, but rather the most religious people in that time period. Why? Because He was such a nice guy? No not really it was because He…

Healed on Sunday, which in their mind was sinful! These people (who aren’t much different from us) missed a miracle because it did not fit into their formula and they considered Jesus “wrong” for doing what He did!
He hung out, even touched lepers which was a HUGE no-no in that time period.
He went to a tax collectors house for a meal, which was a social declaration!
He went off in Matthew 23 calling the Pharisees “whitewashed tombs, sons of hell and snakes!”

Jesus was not concerned with making the religious happy,He was dangerous, on the edge that’s who Jesus was!!!

#3 – Jesus Did Not Get Inward Focused!

Like it or not Jesus didn’t go to a bookstore, get a theology book by a dead guy, get a group of guys together that were just like Him and give the world the middle finger because He was obsessed with “going deep”.

If I meet one more group of guys who think they are becoming more like Jesus because they are theological superior to people but do not know a lost/ unchurched person by name or refuse to exercise their spiritual gift, yet claim to be godly, fisticuffs may occur. (For everyone who just got mad about that–please refer to #2 😉

#4 – Jesus Offered Forgiveness

The people Jesus was nice to were the broken, the poor, the outcasts, the prostitutes…those whom society had thrown away! He didn’t yell at them, He didn’t look down His nose at them, He didn’t sit in a church pew and wonder, “Why are they here?” He offered them forgiveness. We’ve all seen it someone goes through a painful divorce and they are pushed to the margins if not out. A teenage girl gets pregnant and the other people in the church forbid their children to hang out with her. I’ve seen it and so have you. Jesus NEVER told them their behavior was ok, in fact, He preached repentance. Jesus did not shoot the wounded amongst us.

# 5 – Jesus Was Passionate About Obeying His Father!

Jesus had a passionate desire to obey God. He recognized His Father as the absolute authority in the universe and He went to the cross and gave His life as an act of obedience and worship. If we are going to be like Christ–obedience, not prostitution (being paid to perform a service) is required.

#6 – Jesus Had A Vision To Reach People!

Jesus had a desire to reach the NATIONS (Matthew 28:18-20 and in Acts 1:8)!
Now I am not the smartest man on the planet, but that’s a lot of people. Jesus told three parables in Luke 15 about something lost being found, and then said the angels in heaven rejoice when people cross over the line of faith. though we must grow we must also be about the outsider coming in.

#7 – Jesus Was Not Normal!

Jesus, in His teaching and mentoring tactics, was just simply different! He taught with authority, He told stories, He didn’t go line by line, verse by verse through the Old Testament, He used modern illustrations, He connected with the hearts of the people and they got it! He was not normal in who He surrounded Himself with, He didn’t go for the religious professionals but rather men who were crazy enough to believe and follow Him. He didn’t fit in with the religious system of the day and they killed Him for it (though He did have the last laugh!).

These are just my thoughts/rants I wonder what you think…

Is this true???

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I am a nerd in many different ways and one of my absolute favorite is reading research, journals, and studies. On December 13, 2010 The Barna Group (which includes its research division, the Barna Research Group) published research that was not a surprise to me, but the extent and depth of the opinion was. The Barna Group is a private, non-partisan, for-profit organization that conducts primary research pertaining to spiritual development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families and Christian ministries. In other words this is right within my wheelhouse. I would love for you to read this and give me your opinion below:

Change usually happens slowly in the Church. But a review of the past year’s research conducted by the Barna Group provides a time-lapse portrayal of how the religious environment in the U.S. is morphing into something new.

Analyzing insights drawn from more than 5,000 non-proprietary interviews conducted over the past 11 months, George Barna indicated that the following patterns were evident in the survey findings.

1. The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate.
What used to be basic, universally-known truths about Christianity are now unknown mysteries to a large and growing share of Americans–especially young adults. For instance, Barna Group studies in 2010 showed that while most people regard Easter as a religious holiday, only a minority of adults associate Easter with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Other examples include the finding that few adults believe that their faith is meant to be the focal point of their life or to be integrated into every aspect of their existence. Further, a growing majority believe the Holy Spirit is a symbol of God’s presence or power, but not a living entity. As the two younger generations (Busters and Mosaics) ascend to numerical and positional supremacy in churches across the nation, the data suggest that biblical literacy is likely to decline significantly. The theological free-for-all that is encroaching in Protestant churches nationwide suggests the coming decade will be a time of unparalleled theological diversity and inconsistency.

2. Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented.
Despite technological advances that make communications instant and far-reaching, Christians are becoming more spiritually isolated from non-Christians than was true a decade ago. Examples of this tendency include the fact that less than one-third of born again Christians planned to invite anyone to join them at a church event during the Easter season; teenagers are less inclined to discuss Christianity with their friends than was true in the past; most of the people who become Christians these days do so in response to a personal crisis or the fear of death (particularly among older Americans); and most Americans are unimpressed with the contributions Christians and churches have made to society over the past few years. As young adults have children, the prospect of them seeking a Christian church is diminishing–especially given the absence of faith talk in their conversations with the people they most trust. With atheists becoming more strategic in championing their godless worldview, as well as the increased religious plurality driven by education and immigration, the increasing reticence of Christians to engage in faith-oriented conversations assumes heightened significance.

3. Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life.
When asked what matters most, teenagers prioritize education, career development, friendships, and travel. Faith is significant to them, but it takes a back seat to life accomplishments and is not necessarily perceived to affect their ability to achieve their dreams. Among adults the areas of growing importance are lifestyle comfort, success, and personal achievements. Those dimensions have risen at the expense of investment in both faith and family. The turbo-charged pace of society leaves people with little time for reflection. The deeper thinking that occurs typically relates to economic concerns or relational pressures. Spiritual practices like contemplation, solitude, silence, and simplicity are rare. (It is ironic that more than four out of five adults claim to live a simple life.) Practical to a fault, Americans consider survival in the present to be much more significant than eternal security and spiritual possibilities. Because we continue to separate our spirituality from other dimensions of life through compartmentalization, a relatively superficial approach to faith has become a central means of optimizing our life experience.

4. Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating.
Largely driven by the passion and energy of young adults, Christians are more open to and more involved in community service activities than has been true in the recent past. While we remain more self-indulgent than self-sacrificing, the expanded focus on justice and service has struck a chord with many. However, despite the increased emphasis, churches run the risk of watching congregants’ engagement wane unless they embrace a strong spiritual basis for such service. Simply doing good works because it’s the socially esteemed choice of the moment will not produce much staying power.

To facilitate service as a long-term way of living and to provide people with the intrinsic joy of blessing others, churches have a window of opportunity to support such action with biblical perspective. And the more that churches and believers can be recognized as people doing good deeds out of genuine love and compassion, the more appealing the Christian life will be to those who are on the sidelines watching. Showing that community action as a viable alternative to government programs is another means of introducing the value of the Christian faith in society.

5. The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church.
Our biblical illiteracy and lack of spiritual confidence has caused Americans to avoid making discerning choices for fear of being labeled judgmental. The result is a Church that has become tolerant of a vast array of morally and spiritually dubious behaviors and philosophies. This increased leniency is made possible by the very limited accountability that occurs within the body of Christ. There are fewer and fewer issues that Christians believe churches should be dogmatic about. The idea of love has been redefined to mean the absence of conflict and confrontation, as if there are no moral absolutes that are worth fighting for. That may not be surprising in a Church in which a minority believes there are moral absolutes dictated by the scriptures.

The challenge today is for Christian leaders to achieve the delicate balance between representing truth and acting in love. The challenge for every Christian in the U.S. is to know his/her faith well enough to understand which fights are worth fighting, and which stands are non-negotiable. There is a place for tolerance in Christianity; knowing when and where to draw the line appears to perplex a growing proportion of Christians in this age of tolerance.

6. The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.
Christianity has arguably added more value to American culture than any other religion, philosophy, ideology or community. Yet, contemporary Americans are hard pressed to identify any specific value added. Partly due to the nature of today’s media, they have no problem identifying the faults of the churches and Christian people.

In a period of history where image is reality, and life-changing decisions are made on the basis of such images, the Christian Church is in desperate need of a more positive and accessible image. The primary obstacle is not the substance of the principles on which Christianity is based, and therefore the solution is not solely providing an increase in preaching or public relations. The most influential aspect of Christianity in America is how believers do–or do not–implement their faith in public and private. American culture is driven by the snap judgments and decisions that people make amidst busy schedules and incomplete information. With little time or energy available for or devoted to research and reflection, it is people’s observations of the integration of a believer’s faith into how he/she responds to life’s opportunities and challenges that most substantially shape people’s impressions of and interest in Christianity. Jesus frequently spoke about the importance of the fruit that emerges from a Christian life; these days the pace of life and avalanche of competing ideas underscores the significance of visible spiritual fruit as a source of cultural influence.

With the likelihood of an accelerating pace of life and increasingly incomplete cues being given to the population, Christian leaders would do well to revisit their criteria for “success” and the measures used to assess it. In a society in which choice is king, there are no absolutes, every individual is a free agent, we are taught to be self-reliant and independent, and Christianity is no longer the automatic, default faith of young adults, new ways of relating to Americans and exposing the heart and soul of the Christian faith are required.

A few quick questions:

Do you believe that this research is true and accurate?
Do you agree with all six themes or is there something different?
What do you think about them?
Does this reflect your church?
What can [Christ-followers] do?

Christians and Tipping Part 2

This post is a continuation from Part 1 of this conversation. Click here to read Part 1

Even though many of my Christian friends are generous in tipping when they go out most of the times, no matter how generous you just were in church to the family whose house burned down, the typical Christian still seen as downright stingy. Don’t believe me? Ask any server’s honest opinion (when they’re not waiting on you of course).   

I can vividly remember one night; a Christian couple had a problem with their food taking much longer than it should have (remember, they were on their way to the concert). Management was diligent to attempt to rectify the problem by giving the couple half off their meal. Guess what they left the server? $0.30 and then they rushed out the door to go worship God! Of course they let us know about that!

As someone whom I’ve had many conversations about the gospel with, and a genuinely open person ordinarily, he could only rant, and ask me, “Do unto others, huh? Turn the other cheek, huh? What about forgiveness?! Or patience??? And these are the people that dress up every Sunday and give their ten percent, and think that earns them the right to go to heaven?” (I’m not exaggerating – that is exactly what he said, except for the parts not suitable for this forum). If only that were an isolated incident! We fail to realize that because we [Christians] tend to appear all at once, in large groups, and giving good service becomes extremely difficult. Servers frequently wind up penalized rather than blessed by our presence, and then we “judge” them under extreme conditions. The server mentioned earlier? He was upset because his customers not only left her a poor tip; to make matters immeasurably worse, they also left her a gospel tract. Seriously, This is too common an occurrence and it has to stop. As if you think that’s going to make up for not paying someone for services rendered, much less show her God’s “abundant” love? Believe me, your 10-cent tract – AND Christ’s reputation – is going to wind up shredded in the trashcan. I know; I was once a non-Christian server.

Most of us take great pains to study the cultural norms of a foreign land before taking a missions trip, to ensure that we do not unknowingly offend someone, but I’m afraid that we have dropped the ball on the home front. We are told to be wise in the way we treat “outsiders” (Col 4:5) and to be generous on every occasion (1 Corinthians 9:8). Tipping well only for top performance implies a “works based” mentality and not a grace based mentality like the gospel. The sad fact is, Christians are known for being 10% tippers even for good service, which hurts your server to the heart. So please, especially if your server will know you’re a Christian, consider your tip a missions offering, and try representing your Father’s lavishly giving nature. Tip 20% (take the total tab, double it, and move the decimal – $42 tab = $8.40 tip). Got a social outing as a group? Why not conspire to leave $20 beyond what you would have? I know a (very) few people who regularly drop an extra $5-$20 when no one is looking, just to make up for how badly they know the rest of their group tipped. God uses that act too! However, if you finally decide that you cannot practice the simple cultural norm of tipping adequately (if not extravagantly) – in the future, when you’re going to a Christian event that fills up our local restaurants, for the sake of the gospel… could you at least practice the discipline of fasting?

What do you think?

Could you practice fasting?

Christians and Tipping Part 1

Another night at the restaurant that I work at and I try to get myself ready for the divine appointments/ conversations that God has setup for me once again. I begin to setup my section and greet my fellow coworkers with messages that are meant to point them towards our Father and then the manager calls us over to the line up. Roll call…check! Now for housekeeping to let us know what they expect, and gives us the parties that are in town or joining us that shift; and then it comes. The manager announces that there is a Christian convention in town, local Church, or ___________ Christian event coming to the restaurant and the groans begin. This time was a little different though after the meeting a young lady that I worked with asks an honest and long-deserved question,

“Why are Christian people the worst tippers?” OUCH!

It’s so true. As a whole, Christians are thought of by restaurant workers to be among the absolute worst tippers of any single identifiable group. Sundays after church, and during events like the one mentioned, Christians go out in large numbers, perhaps unaware of how poorly they are representing the gospel to a very specific and largely “un-reached” and hurting people group, their servers. This is not a letter from a server complaining about how some people tip, I do well at my job. This is a post from one brother in Christ to other Christians, to inform them of the horrendous damage we do to the Gospel on a regular basis. Probably the best answer to why we are often the worst tippers is very likely, “ignorance.” Living such vastly different lifestyles than many servers and bartenders, my belief (or honest hope) is that the average Christian is simply unaware that 20% of one’s total bill is the expected minimum gratuity one should ever leave in a full-service restaurant. Anything less is personally offensive to the person who served you. Many family-oriented, frugality-minded Christians eat out infrequently it seems, and it is sometimes a large indulgence for them to even go to a restaurant (I understand that, but your non-Christian servers don’t). Especially after giving at church on Sundays, the tip is an easy place to begin to cut back. I have even heard more than a few professing Christians say, “I gave God 10%, why should you get more?” Others may get away with leaving less, but for the Christian it comes down to the fact that personally offending a person all but destroys your chance of them being open to the Gospel (Pr 18:19). For the Christian, it must never be an issue of whether the server even deserved a good tip or not – do you deserve heaven? No! We are called to reflect this in our dealings with the world, by being both merciful and generous to those who may not always be deserving of it either.

What do you think?

Have you seen this?

Are you a bad tipper?

“Missional…….is that a tire or something?”

This one hits me personally since I am in seminary and we speak “Christianeeze” everyday. Christianeze or Christianeeze is a completely made up word just like many of those that we use within Christendom. Usually we define words as we introduce them into culture but lately we have been becoming lazy. Let me give you an example. A few years back, I was sitting in a local coffee shop amongst friends discussing how we can help improve discipleship within our context (darn-it I did it again, stupid buzz words) area at church. We were talking about a piece that will help us to communicate how strategy for spiritual growth in our church (mainly because every church is different). As we sat there 3 words seemed to emerge as the focus on conversation, which centered around the clarity of the piece.
The 3 words were:

Missional
Relational
Transformational

I assumed that we each understood what was being communicated but objected because I realize (not all of the time) that the language that I speak isn’t always palatable to most people. So we were discussing and the question came, “Missional….. is that a tire or something?” At that very moment I realized something, I realized how absolutely, completely, ridiculous, I sound when I use terms that are not used in common vernacular and also not defined.
The word “Missional” or the term “Missional living” are Christian terms that describe

“a missionary lifestyle; adopting the posture, thinking, behaviors, and practices of a missionary in order to engage others with the gospel message”.

The use of this term has gained recent popularity due to the Emerging church movement to contrast the concept of a select group of “professional” missionaries, with the understanding that all Christians should be involved in the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. If you don’t like that definition then try this one,

“Missional” is an adjective describing all of the activities of the church body as they are brought under the mission of God (Missio Dei) to proclaim the good news of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.

See what I mean this is silly, but this is the language of the modern Church…I think. So here is what I would like for you to do, when you are finished reading this help me out. I know that there are so many Christianeze words out there let me know what some of them are and provide a definition. Please don’t get me wrong, when the Apostles in the New Testament introduced a word within the common language they defined it, there is not an instance where a new word is given without an explicit definition. I want so badly for Christians to engage culture and affect it in a way that we all joyfully submit to Christ, but if the culture that we are engaging does not understand the words coming from our mouths then they may never come to understand the truth of Jesus Christ. Just think about it.