Today, I launch a new podcast series on #LoveWell called, “A Faithful Presence." I will be walking through David Fitch’s Faithful Presence: Seven Disciplines That Shape the Church for Mission and discussing how we are living these disciplines out in our Missional Communities.
Before I dive in though, I wanted to talk about what I mean by Missional Community. I riffed off a nice little article by Brad Brisco where he defines “Missional Community."
There are few passages in the Scriptures that have impacted me more than 2 Corinthians 5. The whole chapter is amazing as it centers on the reality of the one who seeks to follow Jesus is a “new creation.” The ultimate result of this new reality is that the follower of Jesus is called an “ambassador” and is entrusted with the “ministry of reconciliation.”
As you might imagine a pastor is connected with a lot of people and accounts online about religion. My feeds are filled with other religious people and with people critical of religious people. If there is one particular kind of thread that I see often it goes like this:
>Christians only care about getting folks “saved.” The rampant hypocrisy of >the Christian is overwhelming. I love Christ but despise Christians.
To be clear, the particulars of this thread change, but that’s the heart of it. I see it from Christians and non-Christians. I see it from theists and atheists.
One of my favorite lines in any comic book or movie is the one from Uncle Ben, Peter Parker’s uncle in Spiderman. He said to his nephew, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
That line is memorable because I think we know that it is inherently true. We live in a world where so often we see the opposite. People with great power in our culture tend to abuse it. The powerful, with many exceptions, often use their power to amass more power. The wealthy, with many exceptions, use their wealth to amass more wealth.
There’s a line in a prayer that I reflected on this morning that says,
>Let us bless thee at all times and forget not how thou hast >forgiven our iniquities, >healed our diseases, >redeemed our lives from destruction, >crowned us with lovingkindness and tender mercies, >satisfied our mouths with good things, >renewed our youth like the eagles. (Valley of Vision, 382)
There are two responses this that run through my heart and mind to this and they are intertwined. I think that they feed into one another.
In the long history of Christianity there have been many “rules.” These treatises of living have had profound impact in the life and ministry of the faith. From Benedict to Francis to the modern day, the “Rule” has been a means by which to order one’s life.
Over the past number of months I have been thinking a great deal about my social media and how I use it. I have listened to and taken in the reactions of people in my life to how I use social media. Their responses and perceptions have helped to shape this rule.
Beyond that I took some time to read through my “activity” on Facebook, approximately 13 years of social media usage. What I saw there has also significantly shaped this rule.
Finally, I hope by writing this out and publishing it publicly, I will learn to live by it. My desire is to live life to the full and to #LoveWell.
Update: On May 17th Coach McGoy was officially reinstated as the head coach of the Varsity baseball program. This was almost completely due to the overwhelming outpouring of support from the community.
This week I grew frustrated with the “my faith is ridiculed” crowd. The “persecution complex” of the American Christian has gotten to a point where I felt like it needed to be addressed.
For those of you who don’t or can’t listen to podcasts, I am working on finding a transcription solution.
Anytime I watch live TV I’m struck by the vast numbers of retirement commercials. They run constantly. It is non-stop. It seems like every other commercial is trying to make sure you will live comfortably in your retirement. The amassing of personal wealth for retirement seems to be the goal of every American.
I remember when it hit me. That moment in time when I knew I was going to marry Amy. Something had switched from being in love with the idea of love to knowing that she was the one. There is no other that shines so bright in my universe.
I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As a kid, I watched the cartoons on Saturdays and after school, I bought comic books, I even collected (and played with) action figures. Yup, I dig the whole thing. The movies are enjoyable and very entertaining. Do you know what else? They ask some really hard questions.
There’s the famous story about the boy walking the beach covered in starfish. He was stopping and throwing them back into the water. An old man walked up to him and said, “Son, there are thousands of starfish. You can’t possibly save them all.” The little boy replied, “But sir, I can save this one and that matters.”
It’s a story that we hear and often roll our eyes at. It sounds so nice. But we all know that the boy is just being silly. I mean, seriously, what a waste of time. Right?
I’m a pastor. I invite people to follow Jesus. It’s my vocation, calling, and passion. Before becoming a pastor, I was a missionary on the college campus. I invited people to follow Jesus. There is nothing I want more than people to follow Jesus.
I’m a pastor. I invite people to follow Jesus. It’s my vocation, calling, and passion. Before becoming a pastor, I was a missionary on the college campus. I invited people to follow Jesus. There is nothing I want more than people to follow Jesus.
Over the last few years there is something that has significantly changed in the way I think about this calling and vocation. Not so long ago I would have said that I’m primarily concerned about people believing in Jesus. Getting folks to believe was the key step. I spent countless hours trying to convince people to place their faith in Jesus.
Belief and faith were the primary and central requirements that I was completely focused on.
Get folks saved, this was the key. There was nothing more important than that. Sure, I wanted people to grow in their faith and all the like, but seeing folks get saved was what mattered most.
I am someone who holds to what is known as “Reformed Theology.” One of the key beliefs we hold is that God is sovereign. Those of us who hold this theological system are what’s known as “monergists.” That’s a fancy way of saying that we believe that God is the one who does the saving of people.
It’s confession time: For most of my life in ministry I didn’t really believe any of that.
I would have said that I believed it. Often, I would argue for that position as being “biblical.” However, the way that I carried out ministry proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that I believed that I was absolutely responsible for getting people saved. I didn’t trust that God could do it without me. God needed me.
Something has significantly shifted in me over the last few years. I believe more deeply than ever in the mystery, magnitude, and greatness of God. I am more convinced than ever that God is more gracious, merciful, and good than we can even imagine. I am also convinced that I am not responsible for saving anyone. God indeed does that. He saves people. He changes people. In his radical grace and mercy he moves in people’s lives.
So, if I don’t have the responsibility to save people, what is my job as pastor? It is to help people follow Jesus. It is to make disciples.
To follow Jesus is exactly what it sounds like. We are to live like him. His life marked by grace, kindness, truth-telling, sacrifice, suffering, and joy is to be the life that we live. In his wisdom he commissioned his first disciples to make other disciples. In his wisdom he gifted some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. The responsibility of us all working together is to bring his people to maturity. What is a mature faith? It is a person who looks like Jesus.
Could you imagine a world where all the Christians lived like Jesus? Engaged the world like Jesus? What if people were living lives that were different enough from the rest of the world that people knew we were Christians by our love?
What if those of us who are pastors focused all of our attention on helping people actually live like Jesus? If that’s the case, where do we turn for help in doing this? I think we can look to Jesus and what he’s recorded as saying in the gospels.
I write all of this as an introduction and invitation to a new series of blogs on the parables. I have been spending quite a bit of time in them recently because they are fascinating and they are life giving.
The parables almost always seek to answer one question: What is the kingdom of God/heaven like? I’m beginning to see that they are also almost always pointing to how one is to live into the narrow way. I have been surprised to see an emphasis on living and acting in the parables as opposed to faith and belief. So often I expect Jesus to say, “Believe…” but he instead calls people to a lived a life. (This is not to devalue the need for faith. Jesus often says, “Your faith has healed/saved you.”)
What is the kingdom of God like? It is like a narrow way that leads to life.
Over the next few weeks we will explore that narrow way in the parables.
Originally published at danielmrose.com on April 4, 2019.
We live in a time where everyone talks about “community.”
“Community” this. “Community” that. “Community” “Community” “Community”
I have a secret to tell you.
A lot of people who are throwing around this word, “community,” have zero idea what it means or how it is supposed to work itself out in real life.
True community requires a few things.
Just like Vizzini from the Princess Bride, I have a feeling people don’t really know what community means.
