"Gratitude in Six Words"

Since 2006, Larry Smith, a magazine editor, has been challenging people to describe their lives in six words. He calls them “Six-Word Memoirs.” (Apparently this is a twist on a challenge issued to Ernest Hemmingway back in the day.) Here’s an example of six-word memoirs printed in the NY Times earlier this year: https://nyti.ms/3k8qSvi

So, during this Thanksgiving week, I invite you to try it. In a year of pandemic, cancelled plans, racial reckoning, ugly politics, economic uncertainty, social distancing and more… describe what makes you grateful… using just six words.

Once you craft your response, then share it over Thanksgiving dinner or on your Thanksgiving Zoom and invite the others to do the same.

Why just six words? Smith says, “The constraint of the six-word form helps us get to the essence of what matters most.” When I attempted this, I found it to be true.

What makes me grateful… using just six words? Here are a few examples:

• God is trustworthy EVERY SINGLE TIME.

• Susan is a perfect pandemic partner.

• Blue skies, fun people, delicious food.

• Joining Jesus in 2020: NOT BORING.

• Susan, Amanda, Emilie, Ellen, Kevin, Tyler

• Becoming a Grandpa in February 2021

Now it’s your turn. What are your six words of gratitude?

Finally, here is a segment I saw on CBS news last night that really put having an attitude of gratitude into perspective for our 2020 Thanksgiving: https://twitter.com/CBSEveningNews/status/1329937023268950018?s=19

Enjoy!

"Why Is Your Congregation Not Growing?"

If, like most congregations in the U.S., yours is not growing, why is that?

Simple. You’re not yet doing what Jesus actually told you to do. But he stands ready to help you change that. Most congregations have their focus on worship services, teaching doctrine and maintaining budgets. In the gospels, Jesus has his focus on his Father’s mission, discipleship and multiplication.

Do you see the problem here? There’s your way.  And then there’s his way. How is your way working out for you?

The good news is that Jesus’ invitation remains extended, “When you are ready, come, follow me. Let me disciple you in my ways.”

What does it mean to be discipled to be a follower of Jesus?

We don’t have to look far and we don’t have to make anything up because, in the gospels, Jesus himself shows us.

When Jesus said, “Come, follow me,” to his original followers, he was inviting them to begin a training process with him. In other words, discipleship = a training process with Jesus. 

And what was Jesus’ stated goal for his training process? “Come, follow me and I will make you to become fishers of men,” (Matthew 4:19). In other words, Jesus is saying, “Come with me and let me give you on-the-job-training so you gain experience, skill and confidence in joining me on my Father’s mission as a daily lifestyle.”

This “daily lifestyle” of following Jesus is what I unpack in my book, "Joining Jesus on His Mission" and sum up with the 5 Mission Practices:

1. Seeking the Kingdom

2. Hearing from Jesus in the Gospels

3. Talking with People

4. Doing Good

5. Ministering through Prayer

In the gospels, we also see that Jesus’ training process includes three parts. I like to summarize the three parts this way – proclamation, imitation, replication:

1. Proclamation = hearing Jesus’ teachings (Mark 1:14-15)

2. Imitation = imitating Jesus’ lifestyle, i.e., imitating the way Jesus lived out his teachings for the good of others as he pursued his Father’s mission (John 13:15)

3. Replication = training others to do the same (Matthew 28:19-20)

I unpack Jesus’ training process in my second book, "Joining Jesus - Show Me How".

It is important to note that Jesus’ training process isn’t accomplished with proclamation alone. Proclamation is clearly first. It is absolutely central to his training process. “How can they know unless they hear?” But it is not all.

To hearing his proclamation, Jesus adds imitation. “Come, follow me.” In order to be trained by Jesus, one needs to get up off his… pew and start imitating the way Jesus lives out his teachings for the good of others. 

Why would Jesus require that of his trainees?  Two reasons:

1. So that the trainee gains experience, skill and confidence in living out the teachings of Jesus for the good of others. That’s why Jesus says, “Come, follow Me.” We need his information, but we also need the experience which only comes through putting his information into action.

2. When we put God’s Word into action, we turn God’s Word into God’s Action in the lives of others. Our neighbors need to actually experience the redemptive good that comes from Jesus-followers putting his teaching into practice.  My neighbor is not benefitted by me learning the teachings of Jesus. I benefit from that, but my neighbor does not. The only way my neighbor benefits is if I put the teachings of Jesus I have learned into practice for his or her good.

And here’s the coolest part: Jesus wants this happening in every nation through every follower all over the world. Can you imagine what our world would be like if we actually did this? Wow!

How is such a missional lifestyle multiplied among Jesus-followers and out into the world?

In a word, the answer to that question is, “Intentionally.”

Intentionality was key to what Jesus was launching in Matthew 28:16-20. When the disciples came to the end of their training, Jesus sends them out to start intentionally training more people to intentionally participate in his Father’s mission. “Go, make disciples of all nations.” He is saying that they should intentionally use the experience, skill and confidence they had gained during their training with him to intentionally train more people who would then intentionally train more people who would then intentionally train more people until the nations are intentionally trained to intentionally participate in the Father’s redemptive mission. (Pretty cool, huh?)

Unfortunately, multiplying the lifestyle of intentionally participating in mission and discipleship doesn’t “just happen.” It doesn’t “just happen” because we gather around Word and Sacrament in worship services week after week. It doesn’t “just happen” because we talk about it, pray about it, sing about it and make strategic plans about it. The way such a lifestyle is prompted and multiplied throughout a congregation and out into the local community is by congregational leaders intentionally facilitating it through what is CONSISTENTLY BEING DONE throughout the congregation.

To put it another way, there is a simple reason most congregations are not seeing their people live missionally, disciple intentionally and multiply regularly.  It’s not what they do.

Think about it this way: your congregation is already perfectly calibrated for the results you are currently getting.  Whatever is being done intentionally and consistently by leaders is guaranteeing those same results over and over again.

So, what is the most consistent thing your congregation is intentionally doing week after month after year? What does your congregational leadership value and prioritize the most? What gets scrutinized the most? What do you want your people participating in the most? What gets the most energy and the most money? The mission of God? The training process of Jesus? The multiplication of the same?

Nope.

Your church services. Not the mission of God nor the training process of Jesus.

Thus, the mission of God in the community around your congregation remains largely unaccomplished and your people remain woefully untrained to participate with Jesus on that mission.

Church services are important.  They are where Proclamation (the teaching of Jesus) is unleashed.  But they are not all. Jesus also says, “Come, follow me.”  And until we (congregation members and leaders) start to intentionally and consistently participate in the training process of Jesus, the way Jesus showed us how to do it, we cannot expect any different results than what we have been getting.

So, are you ready to get up off your… pew and get started?  Let Dwelling 1:14 help. We offer simple, practical training processes that reflect what Jesus already has shown us in the gospels. We work with congregations throughout the U.S. and around the world. We’d love to work with you, too.

Give me a call or send me an email and let’s start a conversation about how you and your congregation can start living missionally, discipling family and friends intentionally and multiplying regularly.

Let the adventures begin!

"From Indignant to Compassionate"

About a year ago, my millennial daughter (31 years old) asked me a question, “Dad, do you think you have benefited from white privilege?”

I reacted the way I have heard many of you react. Emotionally.

I was indignant.  Not at my daughter.  Hers was an honest question.  I was indignant with the idea of “privilege.”

I come from poor church-worker stock.  My parents raised four children on a very small Lutheran teacher salary.  I paid my way through college working 12-hour days on offshore drilling rigs.  Together my wife and I worked hard to pay our way through seminary.  We scrimped and went without but we did it ourselves. 

Nope.  No privilege for me!

And, that’s how many of my White friends feel.  We recoil at phrases like, “white privilege,” “systemic racism” and “Black lives matter.”  We feel indignant.  We push back.  We defend ourselves.  We refuse to concede that we are in anyway complicit – even unknowingly – with racism in America.

But for me, what a difference a year makes.  That was then and this is now.  Somehow my indignancy has been transformed into compassion.  What happened?

For me it was three things:

1. Learning history I had not known

2. Hearing stories from Black friends I had not heard

3. The Holy Spirit chose now to have the scales of my eyes fall away

The following resources have been helpful to my transformation:

Learning history I had not known.

• For an amazingly packed, 17-minute history lesson, check out this video by Veggie Tale creator, Phil Vischer: Click HERE

• For an insightful overview from LCMS Pastor William Cwirla: Click HERE

Hearing stories from Black friends I had not heard.

• To watch a video interview with Dr. John Nunes, President of Concordia College New York: Click HERE

• I am especially thankful for the transparency of people like Rev. Warren Lattimore, Rev. Keith Haney, A.J. Vega, Rev. Gerry Coleman, Rev. Gregory Manning and Dr. John Nunes who have been willing to patiently tell and re-tell their stories

• To familiarize yourself with resources recommended by our friends in the LCMS Black Clergy Caucus: Click HERE

• I shared a little of my story HERE.

The Holy Spirit chose now to have the scales of my eyes fall away.

Yes, God had to mess with me to make me sit up, take notice and finally see what had always been right in front of me but unrecognized by me.

• For a powerful example of honest, Law/Gospel preaching concerning personal racism from a LCMS pastor, watch Pastor Michael Saylor’s courageous message from June 7 in Convoy, Ohio. Go to the 30-minute mark in the video to view the sermon: Click HERE

Take Note of What the Lord is Doing

I also want to highlight a new and important development in the LCMS.  A growing number of young clergy, church workers and laity are taking the initiative and providing the leadership to lead us into more honest, redemptive conversations and actions regarding racial justice and racial healing in our church body.  Click HERE to go to their website: “Lutherans for Racial Justice.” 

In my opinion, these young LCMS leaders are to be trusted and heeded.  Go to this same website if you want to make a donation to the new “Institute of Black Lutheran Studies and Center for Social Justice.” I made a donation.  I invite you to do the same.

Some have asked me, “Greg, what does all this have to do with your goal of helping people join Jesus on His mission?”  In a word: everything.

Friends, at some point, we have to face that we are perfectly calibrated for the results we are currently getting in the LCMS.  If we want to finally, really be the Church for our neighbors and communities, we have to face some facts.  For instance:

• I was shocked when I learned the LCMS is the second whitest denomination in the U.S., right behind the ELCA.  That’s right, taken together, Lutherans are the whitest of all.  For the data, Click HERE.  Why are our congregations so remarkably unable to reflect the racial make-up of their local communities?  What are we not facing?

• On top of that, I learned the average age of people in the LCMS is among the oldest of U.S. denominations. Only 1 of 10 adults in the LCMS are under age 30. Wow. For the data, Click HERE.  Why is our average age relevant to how we are or are not dealing with our racism? As Tom Couser recently noted, an annual poll conducted by Youth-Pulse “asks young people ages 13-37 to tell them the biggest problems their generation faces right now. Racism topped the list.” What is significant is that this year’s poll was taken BEFORE the killing of George Floyd.

There are concrete reasons the LCMS is overwhelmingly white and old.  People of color and young people are wondering why we can’t understand what’s wrong.

Learn the history.  Hear the stories.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to open your eyes and your heart.

Our community is watching.  Our young adults are watching.  What are we telling them with our attitudes and actions?

Will we remain the indignant ones or start our transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit?

"Discrimination is Sin-Deep"

We’ve all felt it.

We see a certain kind of person approaching.  Or during a conversation we discover a person holds a certain kind of opinion.  What happens?  We feel a slight hardening of our heart.  We begin blanketing them with presumptions about who they must be. Finally, we feel a lessening of the value we hold for the person.

After all, they are a _____________________. (fill in the blank)

It’s called discrimination.  Jesus calls it sin.

In Jesus day, the people of Galilee and Jerusalem discriminated against Samaritans, Romans and Gentiles in general.  They discriminated against lepers, beggars, tax collectors and whoever they thought were inferior.

And they felt justified – even righteous – for feeling such things.

Not much has changed.

We feel it when we see a homeless person approaching.

We feel it when we see a person in tight clothes, piercings and dyed hair approaching.

We feel it when we see a fellow church member approaching who disagrees with us about the future of our congregation.

Republicans and Democrats feel it for each other.

Liberals and Conservatives feel it for each other.

Fox News fans and CNN fans feel it for each other.

Biden supporters and Trump supporters feel it for each other.

In Dr. Seuss’ “The Butter Battle Book,” the Yooks (who eat their bread with the butter-side up) and the Zooks (who eat their bread with the butter-side down) feel it for each other and it leads to war.

And what about skin color? It simply gives us a faster way to trigger all our feelings of discrimination. “All I have to do is see a person like that and I know what they’re about.”

There it is – the familiar hardening of the heart, the blanketing of presumptions, the lessening of value we hold for them.

Congregation members even afflict each other with their discrimination and injustice. It reveals itself in the way we treat the parents who don’t control their kids the way we’d like, the way we treat the emotionally “different” person, the people who like a different style of worship than we prefer, those unwilling to conform to our set of rules, the unwed mother, the chronically unemployed, the “broken” family, the unkempt man who has a tattoo and doesn’t tuck in his shirt, the young couple who are of a different ethnicity...

James 2:8-9, “If you really keep the royal law, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as a lawbreaker.”

Since the fall of Adam and Eve, discrimination has been a normal but destructive force in the human heart and human race.   Because the human heart is ruined by sin and governed by it, every one of us has discrimination dwelling there.  Where does discrimination in our society come from?  You and me, and we spread it wherever we go like a coronavirus.  And the sad part is, we, like the Galileans and Judeans before us, feel justified and even righteous for doing it.

That’s why when someone (like our millennial or Gen Z children) works up the courage to suggest to us that we ALL have discrimination in our hearts, we do what any sinner caught red-handed would do: we deny, deflect, defend, blame others and minimize our guilt.

But Jesus will have none of it.

Matthew 7:1-2, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Wow.  Blunt words.  Serious words.  But we better listen closely.  Jesus isn’t messing around.  He died on a freaking cross to undo the mess we’ve made.  And He didn’t free us from that mess so we could go back and contribute to it again.

We only have one hope of deliverance – Jesus.  And Jesus says we only have one choice – confession.

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives,” (1 John 1:8-10).

Jesus says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven,” Luke 6:37.  This is both the gift He gives us and the ongoing work He requires us to engage in.

Discrimination isn’t just skin-deep, it’s sin-deep.  So, don’t deny it.  Confess it.  Recognize its symptoms in your heart and mind so that the love and forgiveness of Jesus can take its place in you and go to work through you.  Otherwise, your discrimination will continue to lead you into sin and you will blindly feel justified – and even righteous – for embracing it.

Where Do We Go from Here?

Jesus calls us to intentionally look for ways that we can come alongside our neighbors who are routinely suffering under discriminations and injustices of every kind.  That’s what He means by, “I have come to preach good news to the poor… to release the oppressed.” That’s what He means by, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s what He means by, “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.”  (For an excellent six-minute video explaining the biblical definitions of “righteousness” and “justice,” watch this.)

By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, what do we do once we confess our discrimination and receive His purification?  James 1:19-20 gives us our template, “Take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”

Who were you discriminating against?  A fellow church-member? A neighbor? A co-worker? Someone from a different ethnicity? It’s one thing to stop judging them, now it’s time to start gracing them, getting to know them, valuing them and advocating alongside them.

Here’s a simple plan to move in that direction: memorize James 1:19-20, drink often from Jesus’ cup of grace, then ask the person you have subjected to your discrimination if you might have the honor of sitting with them and talking (with proper social distancing, of course).  Come to the conversation ready to do the following:

• Be Humble – “I don’t know their story and I need to be aware that I have major blind spots in my perception. I refuse to defend, deflect or rationalize my previous perceptions.”

• Listen – “I will ask questions because I have a lot to learn and they have stories I need to hear.”

• Learn – “I will work to understand rather than work to be understood.”

(FYI: Regarding racism specifically, seek to get better informed by reading books like “White Fragility” or watching movies and documentaries like “Just Mercy,” “13th,” and “I Am Not Your Negro.”  Ask friends to recommend books and articles to you that they have found enlightening.  Don’t be afraid.  You don’t have to agree with everything to learn something.)

• Finally, Team Up and Serve - Dr. Tony Evans, a prominent Black pastor from Dallas, gave this suggestion, “Team up with someone different than you and together serve someone worse off than you.”

Simple.  Practical.  Biblical.

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.  Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.  Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.  If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen!” 1 Peter 4:8-11.

What’s your first step?

"I Am Not Black"

I grew up in a Black neighborhood in Houston, Texas beginning in 1968.

My father was instrumental in opening up our all-White Lutheran elementary school to Black families after he became principal in the 1970’s.

My sister married a Black man.

Over the last 50+ years, I have had many friends who are Black.

However, here’s the thing… even though my neighbors and classmates were Black and my brother-in-law and friends are Black, I am not Black.

So even though I lived side-by-side with Black neighbors who were friends, went to school side-by-side with Black classmates who were friends and have had many other Black friends over the years, I am just now realizing that the daily experiences of my Black friends in the wider world have been completely different than my own. 

How could I NOT know this?  

Simple.  It never even occurred to me to ask.

My skin is white and because I never experienced the injustices and slurs my Black friends have had to endure, I never even thought to ask them about their experiences. I thought we were the same.  I was oblivious to what my friends were enduring on a regular basis in my city and even in my church body simply because of skin color. (I am so, so very sorry, my friends.)

Because I have so much to learn, I have been reading and listening to a number of narratives about the daily experience of Black people in America. I am embarrassed to say that many of these resources have been available for years.  It’s humbling to realize how little I was paying attention.  Collectively, the stories being shared have helped me realize that there are many layers of racism at play in most communities, from the brutal to the subtle.  White people, like me, briefly note the brutal, but have no idea about the subtle.  But brutal and subtle both are painful and have a lasting impact on our friends.

And, because I have a lifetime of very different experiences, I didn’t have a clue.

If you’re White and are starting to have some of the same realizations, what can we do?  One of the first things we can do is humble ourselves and realize our Black neighbors, coworkers, friends, schoolmates and church members have more stories to tell than we have heard.  We can ask their permission to have a different conversation than we usually have.  “If you are willing, I would like to hear what it is like to be Black in our neighborhood or in our city (or in our company or in our school or in our church).”

By asking the questions and hearing the stories, we will gain two very helpful things: insight and indignation.  With insight and indignation, we will be more motivated to keep watch and take action when we can.  We will become more attentive and less naïve about what is happening to people around us in our community, neighborhood, workplace, school and church. We will be more vigilant about what our elected and appointed officials are and are not doing to actually change the system and make it fair for all citizens no matter what their skin color.  We will become more committed friends who stand by and advocate with our Black brothers and sisters for what is fair, just and right for all Americans.

It’s pretty clear in the gospels that Jesus is all-in for all races.

• John 3:16, “For God so loved the WORLD that He gave His one and only Son.”

• Revelation 7:9, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.”

Jesus is all-in.  How about us?

Pray, yes.  But sit down and start a conversation with your Black friend, neighbor, coworker, family member, classmate or church member.

I want to listen and learn because I am not Black but we are all human.

**The following are just a few of the many excellent resources I have found to help us listen and learn from our Black brothers and sisters:

• From Lori Lakin Hutcherson, this was a very helpful article which helped some light bulbs come on for me: https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2017/09/08/my-white-friend-asked-me-on-facebook-to-explain-white-privilege-i-decided-to-be-honest/

• Likewise, from Peggy McIntosh: https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mcintosh.pdf

• From the Black Clergy Caucus of the LCMS, a hugely important perspective for our church body: https://www.theunbrokencord.com/writings/black-clergy-caucus-statement-on-george-floyd?fbclid=IwAR2f04oLm5njU-Jjfcrclq1XU0nijVN-jGaddKLHjnHE8V2nTweHB7JjoQI

• On AJ Vega’s Facebook page, there is a series of excellent video conversations helping Christ-followers grapple with the reality of racism in our communities: https://www.facebook.com/aj.vega.37

• An article illuminating about how systemic change is necessary and how Minnesota government is starting to approach it: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/state-minnesota-files-civil-rights-charge-against-minneapolis-police-department-n1222476

"Meanwhile, In Other News..."

COVID-19 may have dominated our attention for most of the last three months, but Jesus is still on the move!

The following Jesus-on-the-move-story involves Dwelling 1:14, Eastern Europe and a furloughed young woman named Katja in Ukraine.

Only Jesus could pull this off!

The Backdrop

Dwelling 1:14 has started working with Spiritual Orphans Network (formerly known as East European Mission Network) to bring the insights and training of missional discipleship to pastors and church leaders in former communist and Soviet bloc countries – places like Albania, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia and more.  In March, just before travel restrictions were put into place, Pastor David Breidenbach and Mike Wind of Spiritual Orphans Network chose a conference in Ukraine as the place to begin introducing leaders to the training.

The goal was to give an overview of my two books, “Joining Jesus on His Mission” and “Show Me How,” gage the leaders’ response, and, if the response was favorable, move forward with translating the books into Russian and eventually German and Slovak, as well.

The Story

(I will let Mike Wind, Director of Global Development, tell the story in his own words.)

Pastor David Breidenbach and I were blessed to lead a conference in Ukraine in the beginning of March. There were many amazing moments, but here is one that really stood out:

One of the many things that Greg Finke has taught us is that we should pay attention to what God is doing around us… to what He is preparing in advance for us to do with Him (Ephesians 2:10).  This can be challenging to me, especially when I am in “Conference planning and execution mode.”  The event in Ukraine was no exception.  At the end of our opening evening session, our translator told me he would not be able to translate for the rest of the conference. So, after I picked my heart up off the floor, I happened to glance down at the material I had prepared for the next day.  I also heard Greg’s phrase ringing in my ears, “Get over yourself!” The next day’s topic was “Seek, Recognize and Respond” to what Jesus is already doing.  There it was! Was I going to apply this to myself, or was I going to panic?  

Just at that moment, our host Pastor Alexander Gross informed me that the Bishop’s Secretary would be coming and would translate for the rest of the conference.  I had never met Katja before and knew nothing about her, but Pastor Alexander assured me not to worry.  

Okay Jesus, what are you up to here?

The next morning, Katja arrived after a 20-hour train ride, and jumped right in without any hesitation – and no rest!  Needless to say, Katja was a fantastic translator and the conference went better than we could have hoped for.  

One of the interesting things about doing conferences in other countries is how we interact with and through our translators.  The translators don’t just repeat what we say, word for word.  They have to grasp and interpret the meaning and then put it into the native language in a way that makes sense to the participants.  This gives the translators an extremely deep connection to the material we are presenting.  The conference in Ukraine was no exception and the material from Greg Finke’s two books touched Katja profoundly.

As the conference ended and we all said our good-byes, I casually mentioned to Katja that I was looking to have Greg’s books translated into Russian, and would she be interested in the job.  She politely declined, citing the crazy schedule she was working under.  

Pastor David and I then headed back to the USA, just as the Covid-19 restrictions were being put in place.  As we were beginning to get used to our “new normal,” I was thinking that the translation project would be on hold for a while. 

However, a few weeks later an email arrived from Pastor Alexander in Ukraine.  Buried in the middle of his note was a reference to our Translator, Katja, and mentioned that the shut-down had affected her work severely. Hmmm. Ok, Jesus, what are you up to here? An excellent translator, who knows the material just happens to have an open schedule and is in need of income.  Could it be that simple?  You bet!  It was if Jesus was saying, “I’ve got this covered.  Just watch and respond!”

So, what’s Jesus been up to around you?

What’s He showing you?

How’s He messing with you?

Who’s He bringing across your path?

And how will you respond?

“Neighboring in the Season of Social Distancing”

“The fields are ripe.” John 4:35

As spring spreads across our land but the pandemic lingers, one of the main questions I am asked is, “How do we find ways to hang out with people and build friendships when social distancing may last for many months?”

Good question.

Here in St. Paul, while the governor is following a plan for opening up the state, people still have a high motivation for remaining safe.  And I, for one, am a fan of not catching the virus either.  I know of too many people who have gotten seriously ill and have even died to not remain diligent.  Having said that, it is spring and people are out and about, albeit while remaining 6+ feet about. 

Here are three things to know about neighboring in this season of social distancing:

1.       Ripeness is accelerating.  Don’t delay your neighboring.

2.       How to get started with neighboring and still respect social distancing.

3.       How to take relationships to the next level and still respect social distancing.

Ripeness is Accelerating

You’ve probably already noticed, but being housebound and practicing social distancing have actually accelerated people’s ripeness for connecting with neighbors.  I’ve had more conversations with neighbors over the last four weeks (from six feet apart, of course) than I have had over the last eight months combined.  People are ready to connect.  There’s an openness that wasn’t there before.  They want to wave, smile, see how you are and tell a little of their story.  They care.

Usually the toughest part of living missionally is getting to the point where you can have open, unhurried conversations with your neighbors.  In the U.S., we have been successfully ignoring each other for so long that it can take months of BBQ’s and other intentional gatherings to just break the ice.  Now that process has been wonderfully accelerated.  Unhurried conversations that previously would have taken months to earn are now happening in an encounter or two.  People are ripe.

Don’t Delay Your Neighboring

Because the season of social distancing has produced a season of ripeness, don’t delay your neighboring.  It may not last long.  People are notorious for “getting back to normal” as soon as a crisis has passed.

If you haven’t been doing much neighboring yet, here’s how to get started and still respect social distancing:

1.       Take daily walks around your neighborhood looking for the people who are out, as well.  Be intentional about looking people in the eye, waving and saying “hi.”  On each walk, watch for people you have seen before.  If they are in their yard, find something to compliment.  Ask how they are hanging in there.  If they live nearby, introduce yourself.  

2.       As you take your walks, pray for each household you pass.

3.       In our new neighborhood, my wife uses sidewalk chalk to write encouraging words and Bible passages along the sidewalk in front of our house.  She includes messages like, “Do a little dance,” “Sing a little song,” “Give a little cheer,” “What are you thankful for?”  People enjoy the messages and even whip out their phones to take pictures.

4.       Then we sit out front most evenings, about 30 feet away, with a glass of wine and chat with whoever God brings by. We've had some pretty cool conversations with complete strangers as well as deepened connections with neighbors who are regularly out for a walk that time of day.

5.       Another strategy many are using is a good old fashioned note through the mail. Decide how many households around your home you would like to meet.  Then write them a note and send it in the U.S. mail.  Include your name, address, email address, phone number and your picture (so they will recognize you when they see you in your front yard).  You could include a few details of your story.  Then encourage them.  “We’re in this together.”  “Let us know how we can help you.” “We pray for you every day.  Let us know if you would like us to pray for anything specific.”  Then invite them to email you, call or text… or just stop by the next time they are out for a walk and see you in your front yard.

If you already have been getting to know your neighbors, here’s how to take relationships to the next level and still respect social distancing.  Having a nice meal together and lingering around the dinner table isn’t recommended anytime soon.  But you can still hang out with neighbors and enjoy unhurried conversations from a safe distance.  Here’s what you can do:

1.       Driveway Parties are a great choice. Neighbors enjoy unhurried conversations while sipping on a beverage in their separate driveways. Some prefer sitting in a wide circle around a fire. I have a buddy in my old neighborhood who texted me that every Wednesday evening, six families hangout together in their separate driveways. He said, "It's the best 2-3 hours of the week right now."

2.       My wife and I have enjoyed a number of get togethers with other couples while still respecting social distancing.  We watch the weather forecast and invite them to come over with their own snacks, etc. to sit outdoors, about ten feet apart, and catch up.  It is a wonderful time of connection. The conversations quickly become transparent.  People are ripe for care, Good News and unhurried conversation.

3.       My wife and I are in a neighborhood wine club. We now meet via Zoom and the conversations continue to happen and deepen.

4.       On our block some have enjoyed “brewery hopping” via Zoom while staying in their own homes. They get beers from different breweries, jump on Zoom and talk about the beers and life.

5.       I'm having a cup of coffee with a young leader from another state on Zoom next week. He's mailing me his favorite coffee blend so we can share it as we connect and talk.

Here’s the point: God has positioned you for such a time as this.  The fields are ripe.  If we open our eyes and our hearts to what God has prepared in our neighbors, we will see an acceleration of grace and truth in our neighborhoods.  Jesus is on the move!  Woohoo and alleluia!

“Home Communion: Train, Trust, Oversee”

1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

Lately, I have had a lot of conversations with clergy about whether its “okay” to have their members celebrate the Lord’s Supper in their homes.

As is the case with every other theological question, ask five theologians and you’ll get ten answers.

Some clergy are for it, some are dead-set against it and several are uncertain.  And that’s okay.  It’s to be expected.  And along with the various levels of comfort are the warnings about potential dangers that could be unleashed if the Church entrusted the Lord’s Supper to the people of God.  The warnings are sincere and the potential dangers are certainly real.

For instance, I hear warnings about “individualism” breaking out.  The fear is people will begin to think, “All I need is Jesus. I don’t need the Church.” Or I hear warnings about people throwing off proper oversight and wantonly exposing the Sacrament to abuse. And people could, indeed, fall into those errors. 

However, what often gets lost in all the theological philosophizing is what the actual people of God are experiencing when their congregations have trained them and entrusted them with celebrating the Lord’s Supper in their homes.

The stories are often surprising and beautiful.

For instance, turns out those who are actually participating in home communion aren’t becoming wild individualists.  Instead, they are telling beautiful stories of discovering a deeper sense of community with their family and a deeper personal connection to the Lord’s Supper.  They are reporting a newfound sense of appreciation for their congregation and even for the wider Christian Church (in heaven and on earth).  Those who are living alone report the joy of feeling connected again as they participate in the community the Lord’s Supper offers them.

Likewise, turns out those who are actually participating in home communion are not throwing off oversight or becoming wanton abusers of the Sacrament.  Instead, they are telling beautiful stories of what it means to take responsibility for properly preparing their families for the Supper. And the pastors are noting a beautiful acceleration in their members’ spiritual growth as they embrace their responsibility for reading the Scriptures with their family, praying, confessing, forgiving, blessing and communing.

So, why are congregations seeing such positive outcomes?  As I talk with pastors, elders and members, a common pattern is emerging: Train, Trust, Oversee.

The pastors are training their members in what to do and how to do it.  They are providing online teaching, written materials and ongoing opportunities for Q and A.  Then they are trusting their members to faithfully put the teachings and preparations into practice resulting in accelerated spiritual growth.  Finally, these pastors understand that their calling is to oversee the people of the congregation not take over for them. So, after training and trusting their members, they oversee them by addressing questions and pastoral care issues as they arise. Many pastors are including the elders in helping to provide this oversight.  As a result, the pastors and elders are actually reporting MORE interaction with members and therefore MORE personal oversight of households than ever before.

Either/Or?

The question of home communion doesn’t have to be an either/or for your congregation.  It could be a powerful both/and.  As the pandemic passes (eventually), congregations will be able to gather in larger numbers again and celebrate the Word and the Supper together, in person, as a large group.  Powerful!  AND they could be able to continue enjoying the more intimate setting of home communion with family and friends like Jesus intended.  Also powerful!

But, what do I mean by, “Like Jesus intended?”

More Food for Thought

Perhaps another reason for these positive outcomes is that we are inching our way back to what Jesus actually instituted when He gave the Supper: families participating in and celebrating the communal meal of Jesus’ new covenant in their homes.

Let me explain: Matthew, Mark and Luke clearly describe how the Lord instituted His Supper. The context, as you may remember, was the family meal of the Passover. A family meal in the home led by the head of household. In Acts, the first Jewish Christians maintained this practice in Jerusalem (Acts 2:42 and 46).  And, of course they would.  They had been celebrating communal, covenant means in this way since the Exodus.

By the way, these Jewish roots may also be why Jewish Christians were comfortable with infant baptism. Applying covenant promises to infants had been happening since Abraham and Isaac were given circumcision in Genesis 17.

So, it makes sense that today we would also see the blessings of the Lord’s Supper greatly impact people in the more personal setting of their home. As family, extended family and even neighboring households prepare and participate together in the Lord’s Supper, they are experiencing the deeper relational connection that Jewish Christians enjoyed in Acts 2.

This begs the question: Have we inadvertently been robbing families of a level of engagement and blessing Jesus intended to be experienced in the home – as it had been since the Exodus?

Some point to 1 Corinthians 10-11 to establish the doctrine that the Lord’s Supper is only properly celebrated in the context of a “Church” service with the whole congregation present.  However, does a more careful reading of the context of Paul’s teaching reveal something different? 

Before There is Corinth there is Jerusalem

We can all agree that before the Lord’s Supper was celebrated in Corinth, it was being celebrated in Jerusalem. Therefore, it is wise to interpret what was happening in Corinth through Jerusalem.  

For Jerusalem, their context for understanding communal meals was the Passover. Therefore, their attitudes and training were well suited to embrace the new communal meal Jesus gave. The context was also familiar – at home with family and perhaps one or two other households. So, home-based communal meals had been deeply rooted in the Jerusalem Christians since the days of the Exodus.  Corinth did not have such roots.  They needed to be corrected.  However, Corinth’s abuses of the home-based communal meal do not cancel Jerusalem’s home-based practices.  Jerusalem corrects Corinth’s home-based practices.

For Corinth, their context for understanding communal meals was the idol feast. The error of Corinth was that they were falling back into these old attitudes and bad habits when they gathered in someone’s home to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  Their previous experiences with idol feasts – including gluttony, drunkenness and personal pleasure – is the context for what Paul is addressing throughout 1 Corinthians 10-11.  It is important to note that Paul corrects the Corinthian’s not by producing more rules but by again proclaiming Jesus’ words.  Having done that, Paul also points out the consequences they are suffering because they have not remembered the words of Jesus or the purpose of the communal meal. 

Paul doesn’t change what Jesus instituted in Jerusalem. Paul uses Jerusalem to correct Corinth.  In essence Paul is saying, “When you gather for a communal meal in your homes, remember what Jesus said…”

One Last Question for Consideration: What is the Proper Role of the Clergy?

It is also significant that in 1 Corinthians 10-11 Paul does not set himself up as the gatekeeper to the Lord’s Supper for the Corinthians.  He does not put himself or anyone else in the position of judging the faith of the other Corinthians or deciding who should participate and who shouldn’t.  Paul proclaims the Lord’s Words, invites participants to believe those Words and honor the pattern of Jewish communal meals. Paul also warns them of the consequences of disregarding Jesus’ Words. As one reads through 1 Corinthians 10-11 with this context in mind, it becomes clear that the actual responsibility for what is believed and how one participates, for better or worse, is left with the hearer.

The pastoral office is established in Scripture in order to oversee the people of God, not take over for the people of God. I believe, over the centuries, the clergy have strayed WAY into "taking over." If, instead, pastors trained and trusted their members to participate in Jesus’ communal meal in their homes, the way He originally instituted it, and then provided oversight, it could be a powerful accelerant to their spiritual engagement, growth and vitality.  

Again, celebrating the Lord’s Supper doesn’t have to be either in the homes as families or in the church building as a congregation.  It could be a powerful both/and.

Conclusion

I submit that distrusting the people of God to be able to properly administer the Lord’s Supper comes from the clergies’ failure to train the people of God to properly administer the Lord’s Supper. Then, because the people of God are untrained and untrustworthy, the clergy step in to take over.  The original and only biblical context for celebrating the Lord’s Supper was families gathered in homes to participate in the communal meal of Jesus’ new covenant (see Matthew, Mark, Luke and 1 Corinthians).  If the people of God cannot be trusted to properly administer the Lord’s Supper in their homes because of a lack of training, the solution is not to take the Lord’s Supper out of their hands and homes.  The solution is training.  Train, trust, oversee.  The fruit will quickly be seen.

"A Word for Leaders as You Plan to Re-Open"

It only took God a week to do it.  It has taken me about six weeks to notice what He did.

But, look at what the Lord has done!

Six weeks ago, there were very few house churches in the LCMS.  Now there are tens of thousands.  What will we do with that?

Six weeks ago, children and youth ministers longed for parents to be more hands-on with their child's spiritual formation.  Now it's happening.  What will we do with that?

Six weeks ago, "the Church has left the building" was only a slogan. Now it's happened. What will we do with that?

500 years ago, Luther pointed out that every home is a church and every head of household is a pastor. Now it’s finally happening.  What will we do with that?

Look what God has done!  In only a week, He accelerated and began multiplying what the U.S. church has been unable or unwilling to do for decades.  This is the multiplication action that has eluded our multiplication dreaming.  And now, after six weeks, it’s impossible to miss.

Without meaning to, your congregation has now seeded your community with dozens or even hundreds of church plants.

Without meaning to, your congregation has shifted discipleship from the church building back to the home.

Without meaning to, your congregation is seeing what happens when the church leaves the building and starts being Church in a sustained way in homes and neighborhoods where they are needed most.

Look what God has done!  Now, as your church plans to “re-open” what will you do?

Ignore what He has done and go back to normal? Or…

“Have You Ever Been an Angel?” (and didn’t know it?)

Did you know you may have already been an angel of the Lord and didn’t know it?  I don’t mean an angel like God sent to Isaiah or Daniel or Mary – a mighty spiritual being with wings and the glory of the Lord shining about them.

I mean an angel like the Lord sent to my friend, Scott, when he landed in the hospital with COVID-19 in Michigan.

You see, somehow, Scott had caught the coronavirus and had become so dangerously sick that he was hospitalized and placed in the isolation unit.  For their own safety, neither family nor friends could be with him.  Scott was alone and very weak.  He knew he was in danger.  His breathing was labored.  Would he eventually need a ventilator?  Would he be able to recover?

And that’s when the Lord sent His angel.  Not one with wings and glory shining but with flesh and bone and plenty of disinfectant. The Lord sent Scott a cleaner. A humble human being with a bucket, but an angel of the Lord, nonetheless.

On the second day of Scott’s isolation at the hospital, a cleaner came into his room.  As the cleaner did his work, wiping down the knobs, emptying the trash can and moping the floor, he spoke words of blessing and encouragement and hope to Scott.  “God is with you.  God is blessing you and helping you to heal.” He was praying for Scott, that the Lord would help him get stronger every hour of every day. The next day, the cleaner returned and followed the same routine both for cleaning the room and for delivering a message of encouragement and hope.

After that second visit, Scott did not see the cleaner again.

This all happened several weeks ago, but Scott still gets emotional telling the story.  By God’s grace, he recovered from COVID-19 and was released from the hospital.  He is thankful to God, both for restoring his health but also for sending his angel.

Why call the humble cleaner an “angel”?  Because the word “angel” literally means “messenger”, that is, someone sent with a message.  That’s what angels do.

You can be an angel of the Lord, too.  Think of yourself as a humble little delivery boy or delivery girl.  “I have a message for you.” 

Wherever you go, practice social distancing but also practice this: look around to see who God has placed nearby.  Ask yourself, “Who needs a blessing?  Who needs to know God is for them not against them?  Who needs encouragement, hope, or a smile today?”  You can be an angel, just like the cleaner was.

Likewise, as you start your day with prayer, announce to the Lord that you are once again available for delivering His messages.  Invite Him to bring to mind family, friends, neighbors or acquaintances who need a message of encouragement.  Invite Him to bring across your path those who need a message from Him.

That’s what angels do.  We get sent to deliver messages to people who need them.

Have your ever been an angel?  Do you want to be one today?

"Get Used to Different"

Five Sundays and counting.

Depending on where you live, that’s how many Sundays your congregation has been prevented from gathering together for its worship and programming.  And, depending on where you live, this may only be the beginning.  It’s a disruption to say the least.  We don’t like it.  We will be so thankful when it’s finally over and we can go back to normal.

But here’s a question.  Are we supposed to?

Are we supposed to go back to normal?  Or does the Father have something else He is up to?  Is there something He wants us to recognize and respond to?  Is the disruption simply a disruption or an opportunity the Father is redeeming for ongoing reformation?

Only time will tell, of course.  But in the meantime, as leaders of our congregations, it is our job to pray, reflect and plan for our congregation’s future. 

So, what’s your plan?

• To wait this thing out and hope we survive so we can go back to normal.

• To start working on a plan that takes advantage of what we are being forced to learn, and prepare to launch into a new season of mission effectiveness and Kingdom expansion going forward.

No matter what you believe about the source and purpose of the pandemic or the appropriateness of the government’s response, we can all agree that God is redeeming this moment for His purposes (Romans 8:28) and inviting us to join Him in fulfilling His purposes in this moment (2 Corinthians 6:1).  So, what is the Father giving you and your congregation the opportunity to learn?  What is He giving you to review, re-think and reform?

In this article, we will look at three things leaders are learning so far. 

1. Online Worship: a month ago, providing online worship was an afterthought for most of us.  Now it could be a key part of our strategy going forward.  But what part should it have?

2. Christian Community: What is it really? What is the pandemic exposing and, moving forward, how do we do a better job of fostering authentic Christian Community among our members?

3. Christian Care: What have we learned about the importance of intentionality in caring for each other as a congregation and for our neighbors as individual Christ-followers?

Online Worship

A month ago, providing online worship was an afterthought. Having an online presence was something only millennial church planters fussed with.  Not anymore.  The pandemic has caused a majority of congregations to become much more familiar and even comfortable with online technology and worship.

And what are leaders finding out?

1. For many congregations, they are surprised to find that the number of people viewing their online services on Sunday morning is 2x to 5x greater than their average on-campus attendance was pre-pandemic.  Amazing!  Then, once the recording is posted online and members start sharing it on their social media, the total number of people viewing throughout the rest of the week skyrockets even more.  Wow!

2. On the other hand, who are these people tuning-in?  And what good is their tuning-in if we can’t follow up?  Are we simply fostering another version of attractional ministry?  People tune-in and tune-out at will, with no commitment to the local congregation.  How can we responsibly disciple a person if we don’t even know their name or what they look like?

3. This is a legitimate concern IF we confuse attending a worship service for Jesus’ full discipling process. However, according to Jesus in the gospels, while hearing His Word is first, hearing His Word is not all there is to discipling a person. (see Matthew 7:24-27)

4. Understanding this important distinction helps leaders to place online worship into its proper place in their mission and discipleship strategy. Here’s what I mean…

5. In the gospels, Jesus shows us that His discipling process starts with proclamation to whoever has ears to hear but then moves on to inviting those who are ready into a personal relationship with Him so He can personally train them.

6. In the same way, leaders are now seeing how online worship can be a key part of their ongoing strategy for proclaiming Jesus’ Words far and wide to whoever has ears to hear.  They realize that their congregation’s “proclamation-footprint” can now be so much bigger than when they only offered services in their building on Sunday mornings. They also understand that this is not an either/or choice but a both/and opportunity.  When the stay-at-home orders are eased, we can BOTH proclaim Jesus’ Words in the building AND online.

7. Next, the strategy moves on to inviting those who are ready to come into a personal relationship with someone who will train the person in the ways of Jesus. Here’s how:  Both at the beginning and ending of every message, an invitation is extended to the people who are watching that, if they are ready to take their next step, they are invited to contact the congregation so they can be introduced to a discipling mentor.  How many online viewers will take advantage of this opportunity?  Many more than if we did not offer it at all.  Eventually, the same invitation can be consistently offered when we are gathering again for worship in our buildings.

8. If this strategy is followed, many more people will hear Jesus’ Words throughout the week and many more people will be invited to come into a discipling relationship, as well.

Christian Community

The U.S. church has long confused worship attendance for Christian Community. 

While certainly being together in worship is part of what we mean by the “communion of saints,” authentic Christian Community is most deeply experienced when we regularly connect with friends who are fellow believers.

The rub, of course, is that if we are not able to participate in our congregation’s programming – at the church building – on the day or night it is offered – we have no context for forming friendships with fellow members.  That is why so few people in our congregations have experienced meaningful Christian Community.  Before the pandemic, most LCMS congregations had approximately 30% of their membership showing up for weekly worship.  Therefore, an optimistic estimate for the percentage of members previously experiencing meaningful Christian Community in your congregation is probably less than 10%.  Not great.  But normal in America.

Perhaps surprisingly, because of online tools like Zoom, in many congregations we are now seeing Christian Community significantly INCREASE even though we are not able to meet physically.

And what are leaders finding out?

1. We are being reminded, especially by our young adults, that authentic Christian Community is about being connected in relationship, not just physical proximity.  Ask anyone who is using a video conferencing platform like Zoom to enjoy reconnecting with their family or college friends or fellow employees or small groups from church and you will hear stories of much-needed community.  (By the way, the claim of some of our theologians that there can be no real community where we are not able to meet together physically, falls apart in the clear light of these experiences.)

2. We are being reminded that authentic Christian Community is created between us by having a common baptism, a common Savior, and a common Spirit within us (Ephesians 4:4-6) AND by being able to share our stories and experiences with each other in unhurried conversations.  We certainly experience this when we are together physically, but we don’t lose it when we are not together because we don’t lose Jesus or our friends.

3. For many congregations, the number of people benefiting from Christian Community is actually increasing because tools like Zoom make it easier for their people to connect. 

4. For example, it is much less stressful for a mom and dad to click on a link at 7:00 p.m. and join a gathering of their friends online, than it is for them to grab dinner, change their clothes, find a sitter and then drive 40-50 minutes round trip to their friend’s home. 

5. Leaders are reporting that because of this improvement, their small groups have more of their members participating more consistently and that many groups are meeting more frequently than when they gathered in person.

6. When the stay-at-home orders ease, there will certainly be a happy return to our face-to-face gatherings, but many are planning to maintain the online options, too. For instance, leaders envision groups where some are able to attend in person and others join the gathering online.

7. Because members have become much more familiar with online meeting tools, and have discovered the advantages of it, congregational leaders are planning to continue using such tools for personal discipleship, Bible Studies and various administrative meetings wherever it makes sense.  

Christian Care 

What are leaders learning about the importance of “intentionality” in caring for each other as a congregation and for their neighbors as individual Christ-followers?

1. A little intentionality goes a long way.

2. More members, especially those who are at-risk, are getting more care because leaders are intentionally asking their membership to help.  Using simple tools like a phone call, a hand written note, and regular visits (following local rules for social-distancing, of course), leaders are reporting that their members are caring for other members in much larger numbers than before the pandemic.  Relationships are deepening and care is expanding.  The leaders believe that with a little intentionality after the pandemic passes, these caring relationships will continue to build.

3. Congregations who have been through Dwelling 1:14’s training process, report that their Missional Community leaders have started regularly checking in with all the other members who are living in their zones.  They ask how the person is doing, if they need any help, and then offer to pray with them.  Conversations are becoming more comfortable between people who used to be strangers even though they belong to the same congregation.  As conversations become more comfortable, Christian Care is flowing more naturally.  When I ask leaders if they would have ever guessed their congregation would come out on the other side of a stay-at-home order being MORE relationally connected, the unanimous answer is, “No way.”

4. Leaders also report an INCREASE in their members’ intentionality for reaching out to neighbors during the pandemic.  They report that their members are finding their neighbors more open than ever to conversation, prayer and encouragement from God’s Word.

5. Ideas include writing notes to neighbors introducing yourself, giving your address, email address and phone number, as well as an invitation to contact you if the neighbor needs anything or just would like to talk.  Some even offer to accept prayer requests.  Another simple but effective idea is to use sidewalk chalk to write encouraging Bible passages.   

6. Many congregations are doing a great job of providing programs that help and serve the local community.  However, these same congregations are also intentional about reminding their people to continue looking out for their personal neighbors.  Like one leader said, “I don’t want our people to sit back and let our programs do their serving.  Our programs may not be able to reach their neighbors with Jesus’ love and service, but they can. It’s a both/and.”

Conclusion

There is a new television series that recently debuted during the pandemic.  It is about the life of Jesus called “The Chosen.”  I highly recommend it.

There is a fascinating scene in episode #8 where Peter is complaining to Jesus about having called Matthew the Tax Collector to become part of His band of disciples.  As Peter is protesting, Jesus reminds Peter that he wasn’t an obvious choice to be a disciple either. Peter responds, “But that’s different.  Matthew is a tax collector.”  To which Jesus turns to Peter and says, “Get used to different.”

Dear friends, we better get used to different, too.  What’s your plan?

So, Easter Happened After All... Now What?

Everyone had been asking the same question, “How will we celebrate Easter 2020?”

Turns out… it was… unusual. Right?

But Easter 2020 still happened. And it was good, friends.

Social distancing couldn’t keep the people of God from calling out to each other, “Jesus is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!” It was via social media, Zoom, Facetime, texting and in the comments section during online worship. But it happened.

We were separated but still connected.

We were barred from our buildings but still enjoying Christian community.

Christian community.

Not how we’re used to it, but in the way the Father gave it to be done for Easter 2020. Thanks be to Him!

Some say this kind of “community” doesn’t count. But their reasoning sounds more like an ad hoc philosophy, made up as they go along, rather than anything from Scripture.

We didn’t have our buildings but we had each other. We didn’t have our gatherings, but we had Jesus. Some experienced this Christian community online, some via drive-in, some in their homes and others with their neighbors… practicing social distancing, of course. How? Jesus.

From Oregon, I got this report: “I take your message to heart, doing neighborhood ministry… I gathered my nerve and went for it. I invited the neighbors to gather for Easter church across the fence. We sang, read the Bible, had a children’s message, prayed and sang some more. When we were done the neighbors said, ‘This is the perfect Easter.’ They decided we should do church across the fence every Sunday until our churches open again. What a blessing! This is how neighbors do church in Oregon.”

From Indianapolis: “We decided to organize a neighborhood morning service - keeping an appropriate social distance, of course. We prayed, sang a few songs, shared communion and celebrated Jesus. As one neighbor mentioned, there were no denominations, no labels, no positions, no political parties - only children of God celebrating Jesus! It was simple and sweet and just what we needed this morning. Thankful for this sweet, sweet time.”

You get the idea. Jesus was on the loose. Christian community was happening. And the grace of Jesus S-P-R-E-A-D!

So, here’s the next question: Now, what? Easter 2020 happened. We celebrated. We received. We connected. Now, what? Do we call it a day and pack it in until 2021 (when we can, hopefully, go back to normal)?

Or do we learn what the Father was giving us the opportunity to learn?

Ephesians 1:18-20 gives us the answer, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which [the Father] has called you… and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead…”

Whether your knew it or not, you have within you the incomparably great power at work, which the Father exerted to raise Jesus from the dead… to raise Jesus from the dead… the power the Father exerted to raise Jesus from the dead.

What will you do with it? Now that the Father has used 2020 to force us to think outside the box, what have you learned about His power and what’s your next step? How will you release the power of the resurrection which has come to you through faith? How will you offer the simple power of His love to others? Don’t think BIG, think simple, think small. This incomparably great power is already in you. From the Father, to you, through you, to the people around you who need it so badly.

It is a real power. It is really released to others through love. And it is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

What will you DO?

No fooling. Easter 2020 has happened. Now, what?

A Counter Opinion: Why We Can Celebrate Online Communion with Confidence

The following is my response to a theological opinion issued by the CTCR on March 20, 2020 regarding the question of whether the Lord’s Supper, offered online, is efficacious or not. The CTCR is known for offering helpful opinions to theological questions of the day. In my opinion, this is not one of them.

To be clear, I really didn't have a dog in this fight until a District President came after my friend Pastor Eric (who has about a month to live because of cancer) because he was offering online communion to his congregation during this horrific pandemic. Then when I read the CTCR opinion which was used as a club on Eric, I felt I needed to respond.  (I've always had more courage than sense.)

My response is not meant to address all concerns.  This is a narrowly focused response to a narrowly focused CTCR opinion. The CTCR opinion is discouraging many pastors and congregations from offering the Lord's Supper online, even though the pastors and congregations had thought it through theologically and deemed it appropriate according to the clear words of Jesus and Luther's simple explanation.  

My goal with this response is not to suggest that every congregation SHOULD offer online communion, but to encourage those who are considering it, especially during Holy Week, by outlining why online communion can be a faithful way to celebrate the Lord's Supper, honoring both Christ's words as well as Luther's explanation.

A Counter Opinion to the CTCR Opinion of March 20, 2020 Concerning the Efficacy of the Lord’s Supper If Instituted While Using Online Technology

Rev. Greg Finke, St. Paul, MN | Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020

Introduction

Since late February, congregations and pastors have faced unprecedented challenges because of the coronavirus pandemic.  For the sake of the vulnerable among us, we have rightly and wisely chosen to practice social distancing. Already there are too many heartbreaking stories of well-meaning parishioners gathering for worship only to see the virus spread among the congregation and members getting sick and dying. Therefore, we have wisely and lovingly chosen not to gather in our buildings around Word and Sacraments with our brothers and sisters. In centuries past, because we would have been physically separated, we would have been utterly separated, indeed.  There were no other alternatives.

Of course, now there are.  In spite of not being able to safely gather in our buildings around Word and Sacrament, we can still gather around Word and Sacrament via computer.  Because of technology, even though we are physically separated, we are not utterly separated.  We can still hear the gospel.  We can still hear our pastors speak the Words of Jesus for instituting the Lord’s Supper. And we can still have the bread and wine in our homes consecrated by those Words of Jesus.

By God’s grace, technology has enabled us to extend the reach of the Word and the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper beyond the walls and acoustics of a church building into our members’ homes.

Any little child raised in the Lutheran Church knows that the Words of Jesus are the Words of Jesus no matter how they may be conveyed.  If dad and mom read these words from a book, they are the Words of Jesus.  If she hears them on the radio, they are the Words of Jesus.  And if you were to ask her after hearing her pastor speak the Words of Jesus in the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper online, “Were those the Words of Jesus you just heard?” she would of course say, “Yes!”  Why?  Because they ARE the Words of Jesus.  As Lutherans we believe and confess the efficacy of God’s Word.  Whether coming via print, radio waves or the internet does not take away any of His Word’s power and effectiveness. 

However, on March 20, 2020, the CTCR (Commission on Theology and Church Relations), came out with an opinion at odds with the understanding I have and many LCMS people have regarding the efficacy of celebrating the Lord’s Supper online. 

Who is the CTCR? It is a committee of 16 LCMS theologians (a few of whom I know personally and consider friends) who are charged with studying theological questions submitted by the Synod (and Synod officials) and rendering opinions that inform the discussion of congregations and Synodical leaders as they sort through theological challenges and questions of the day.

I read through the opinion [you can read the opinion by clicking the button at the bottom of this blog post], and although the CTCR has issued many helpful documents over the years, this one, in my opinion, was a clunker.  I felt its arguments were one-sided and its tone dismissive of opinions like mine which are contrary to the ones the CTCR holds on this question. After reading it, I was unimpressed and did not agree with the final opinion.  I’ll admit I was even a little angry about it.  But that’s okay.  Such disagreement with a CTCR opinion is perfectly acceptable.  The CTCR is not charged with creating doctrine.  Their opinions are not binding.  The opinions are intended to be informative and add to the discussion of the Synod.  Regarding the efficacy of online communion, it is one opinion to be considered. Take it or leave it.  And I was leaving this one. 

That is, until I began to see that this CTCR opinion was having two disastrous consequences for the faithful members of the LCMS. And so, I have written this response to offer a counterbalance to what I think is an unbalanced opinion from the CTCR.

The Consequences of the CTCR’s Opinion

Although the CTCR did not intend it, their published opinion has unleashed two severe consequences: 

1.       The Lord’s Supper is now being refused to hundreds of thousands of faithful members for the foreseeable future, and during a time when the Lord’s Supper’s assurance and comfort are sorely needed.

2.       The CTCR’s opinion was immediately weaponized by certain ecclesiastical supervisors (and meddling-clergymen) against faithful congregations and pastors who do not agree with this opinion. They are being threatened with the charge of heresy and removal from the Synod unless they comply with the opinion.

Weaponizing Human Opinion

Obviously weaponizing what the Synod and the CTCR meant to be an “opinion” is shameful. But it is already happening.

How should we respond if ecclesiastical supervisors or meddling-clergymen are weaponizing opinions and bullying the faithful? 

When meddling-clergy try to force their opinions on to congregations to which they have no call, we can follow the advice of Paul in 2 Thessalonians 3:11-13, “We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.  And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is good,” (NIV). Disruptive busybodies need to be called out, told to settle down and get back to the work of pastoring their own flocks.   

How should we respond to ecclesiastical supervisors who weaponize their opinions to force conformity? 

In Acts 5, when Peter and the apostles were called before the ecclesiastical supervisors of their day and they demanded that the apostles conform to opinions that were clearly wrong, they responded – in spite of threats and bullying – with faithfulness and courage. Their response can be our model. Acts 5:28, “We must obey God rather than men.”  There were, of course, consequences to endure. The apostles were flogged for standing their ground.  But when they left, they “left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name,” (Acts 5:41).

Likewise, when Luther was brought before the ecclesiastical supervisors of his day and they demanded that he to conform to opinions that were clearly wrong, he responded – in spite of threats and bullying – with faithfulness and courage. His response can be our model, “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.”

A Counterbalance to the CTCR’s Opinion

During this uncertain, dangerous pandemic, when we are unable to gather in our church buildings at our altars, many faithful LCMS congregations throughout the U.S. have been offering the Lord’s Supper online.  It is simple to do.  Members have bread and wine in their homes.  The pastor speaks the words of institution via a live internet connection.  Having heard and believed the Words of Jesus, the members eat the bread and drink the wine… just like they have always done since they were confirmed.  In the eating and drinking, members believe they have received what Jesus promises, His very body and blood for the forgiveness of their sins.  Gift offered.  Gift received.  At the core of this confidence is a simple, well known Lutheran belief: The Words of Jesus are the Words of Jesus no matter how they are conveyed.

However, the CTCR has a different opinion of what happens via such an online experience.  In the conclusion to the document they write that they “in no way intended to pass judgment on the motives of those involved,” which is no doubt true. But that kindness aside, the rest of the document dismisses the members’ confidence that Jesus is able to do what He promises to do through His Word no matter how it is conveyed – whether a live internet connection or in person. The CTCR’s opinion is that, because the sacrament was not instituted by a pastor standing immediately over the elements, it is “uncertain”.  Such language is sprinkled throughout the opinion. According to them, the celebration of online communion is an “unsatisfactory solution,” “faulty,” a “novelty,” “introduces doubts or uncertainty,” and is an “uncertain sacrament.”

Clearly, if the CTCR talked to anyone with a counter opinion as part of their research, it had no impact on their thinking.  Not once in the document is a counterargument made for the possible efficacy of online communion. 

And, that’s fine. Remember, it’s only an opinion… an opinion I feel is one-sided and not well thought out, but, under normal circumstances, an opinion over which I could shrug my shoulders and move on.  Except these are not normal circumstances.  And the question of whether online communion is efficacious or not is no longer an academic exercise for theologians but a very urgent question for congregations in pain. So, when I saw congregations who are joyfully receiving the Lord’s Supper online from their pastors now being told it is “uncertain” and “faulty” in what I consider a one-sided way, I was motivated to offer a counter opinion.

What follows are the two main reasons why I believe the CTCR’s rationale for discouraging the use of technology as a way to facilitate the Lord’s Supper are faulty.  I will use bold type for quotes I am highlighting from the CTCR opinion, and I will leave many of the quotes in context. 

The CTCR’s opinion is faulty when they: 

1.       Undermine the efficacy of God’s Word no matter how the Word is conveyed

2.       Introduce doubt to the faithful where previously there was no doubt

#1: The Opinion undermines the efficacy of God’s Word no matter how the Word is conveyed.

The opinion goes back and forth between affirming the efficacy of God’s Word and then undermining it. 

On the one hand they affirm the efficacy of God’s Word no matter how it is conveyed when they write:

“Such churches are able to find various ways to help members to hear the Word of Christ richly. From telephone calls to emails to website messaging to instant messaging to sermon streaming, the Word is being heard and received in the midst of the coronavirus.”

But then in the very next sentence, they undermine it:

“But what of the Sacrament of the Altar? The forgiveness of sins is not prevented when one cannot commune, for it is delivered by the Gospel as it is read and preached and spoken by the royal priesthood and also in the sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Supper as well as in Absolution. But it is only in the Lord’s Supper that we eat and drink Christ’s very body and blood. It thereby offers a special assurance that is proper only to it, just as Baptism has its own assurances.” 

Somehow, the Words of Jesus are efficacious online when the Gospel is read or when an absolution is spoken, but the CTCR doubts the efficacy of the Words of Jesus when they are spoken online for the institution of the Lord’s Supper? 

Every confirmand knows how Christ’s very body and blood is present in the Sacrament: through the gracious Words of Jesus alone.  Luther explained it this way in the Small Catechism, “How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things? It is not the eating and drinking indeed that does them, but the words here written, ‘Given and shed for you for you for the remission of sins’; which words, besides the bodily eating and drinking, are the chief thing in the Sacrament; and he that believes these words has what they say and express, namely, the forgiveness of sins.”

Should we doubt the efficacy of the Words of Jesus because they are spoken online rather than in a building?

Luther rightly does not include any other qualifiers to the efficacy of the Lord’s Supper because God’s Word does not.  Luther does not say “Besides the Words of Jesus, the faith of the hearer and the eating and drinking, you also need to be concerned about where the Words of Jesus are spoken in order to be assured that you have what Jesus promises.”  Why does the CTCR introduce this qualification that is not in the Scriptures or noted by Luther?

One may ask, “How can congregations have confidence they are receiving the Lord’s Supper online?” Simple. They believe what all Lutherans are taught: “…and he that believes these words has what they say and express, namely, the forgiveness of sins.”  The congregation hears Jesus’ Words; believes what He offers with the bread and wine; and then eats and drinks.

As we noted in the introduction, if any little child heard the Words of Jesus being spoken by their pastor online and we then asked the child, “Were those the Words of Jesus?” she would say, “Yes!”

Do we believe the Words of Jesus are the Words of Jesus no matter how they are conveyed? Of course.  Do the Words of Jesus get short-circuited as they pass through the internet?  Of course not.

#2: The Opinion introduces doubt to the faithful where previously there was no doubt.

Did faithful people in our Synod already have questions and doubts about celebrating the Lord’s Supper online before the CTCR’s opinion was published?  Of course.  That’s why the CTCR was given the topic to study in the first place. My goal with this critique is not to convince the reader that one MUST participate in the Lord’s Super if it is offered online, but that there is a solid Scriptural, Lutheran basis for addressing the doubts one may have, a basis the CTCR is silent on.  If a congregation or individual still has doubts after considering both sets of opinions, then, by all means, abstain from the Lord’s Supper until you can celebrate it in a way that overcomes your doubts.

However, there are many faithful theologians, congregations and individual members of the LCMS who had already worked through their questions about online communion previous to the publishing of the CTCR’s opinion. They are currently celebrating the Lord’s Supper online without doubts.  They did their theological work and have ultimately put their faith in the same teachings they always have: The Words of Jesus and the explanation of Luther.

Unfortunately, as we quoted earlier, the CTCR’s opinion is that there should be doubt about the efficacy of the Lord Supper if it is instituted online. It seems that, if they considered the theological work done by those who would advocate online communion, they disregarded it completely.  There is no mention of other theological opinions besides the one they present.

So, inevitably, if online communion is to be doubted, their best advice to the faithful during the pandemic is not to commune at all.

Regarding the inevitable hardship not communing will be, the CTCR is empathetic:

“The inability to commune is therefore no small matter, but a true hardship!”

“We know, however, that the church has known this hardship at other times and not only in our own time. During the early years of colonial America, Lutherans often went weeks or months without the Supper. Congregations without a pastor are often unable to receive the Lord’s Supper in their services because supply pastors are unavailable—sometimes for lengthy time periods. And, in the early 20th century during the great influenza epidemic of 1918–1919, many Missouri Synod churches were not able to meet for any services during a period of time. We are not in uncharted territory.” 

My counter opinion is that while not communing is, indeed, a hardship, it is an unnecessary hardship.

In the past, the church has known this hardship because we lacked the gift of technology. However, it is no longer an inevitable hardship that we have to endure in the same way. The CTCR’s assertion that “we are not in uncharted territory” is inaccurate.  We are in a whole new world. 

In the past, we may have been prevented from partaking of the Sacrament for a variety of reasons, but for the first time we now have a new tool to overcome the old hardship.  We are not living in the 1800’s or in 1918. We are not living in an era when the only way to speak to someone is if you are standing in front of them. This is 2020. We understand that God has allowed us amazing tools – tools we can now use to extend the reach of the Word and the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper beyond the walls and acoustics of a church building into our members’ homes no matter what physically separates us.

It is my opinion that to compound the already odious hardships of the pandemic by also discouraging congregations from receiving the Lord’s Supper is unnecessary because we have new tools which overcome our separation and honor the basic requirements of Scripture: The Words of Jesus, the faith of the hearer and the eating of the elements.

However, the CTCR opinion is that we should be suspicious of these new tools, calling them “novelties,” “humanly-instituted techniques,” and “personal idiosyncrasy.”  This opinion rings hollow since the Church has introduced many such “novelties” and “personal idiosyncrasies” over the centuries. 

For instance, congregations introduced the novelty of using English instead of Aramaic in speaking the Words of Institution, wafers instead of a loaf, individual cups instead of a common cup, liturgy in a formal service instead of a meal in a home, communing with a sanctuary full of strangers instead of with family and friends around the dinner table. When introduced, these were all novelties, techniques and idiosyncrasies. The difference, of course, between those novelties and the novelty of using online tools is that we are now used to those novelties.

Nevertheless, the CTCR writes:

“Some unsatisfactory solutions to the unavailability of the Sacrament have been suggested at the present time. One is that a pastor speak the words of institution from the church during a streaming service while everyone communes at home... While the hunger and thirst for the Lord’s Supper that leads to such measures is both understandable and commendable, the solutions are nevertheless faulty.”

“A video streaming ‘consecration’ with words spoken by the pastor remotely and communion elements in member homes is almost identical to an approach that the CTCR addressed in 2006 in which the Commission said: 

1.       The Lord’s Supper was instituted by Jesus with words and actions spoken and carried out by him in the direct presence of his disciples (Matt. 26:26-28). Throughout history, the church has sought to be faithful to Christ’s practice in this regard. Pastors speak the words of institution in the presence of the assembled congregation, thereby giving assurance that we are “doing this” as our Lord has instructed us to do (Luke 22:19). Whenever the actual words and actions of the celebrant in consecrating the elements are intentionally separated (by time, distance, or technological means) from the distribution and reception, no assurance can be given that our Lord’s instructions are being heeded and that the body and blood of Christ are actually being given and received for the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of faith (cf. fn. 15 of the CTCR’s 1983 report Theology and Practice of the Lord’s Supper [TPLS]).

Wow.  That’s quite a pronouncement.  But is it accurate?  And on what basis do they assert this opinion with such certainty? On the basis of another CTCR opinion issued in 2006 which quotes another CTCR opinion from 1983?

Deeming the solution of online communion as “unsatisfactory” and “faulty” is certainly the right of the CTCR. They are entitled to their opinion. But forming that opinion based on whether the Lord’s Supper is being instituted correctly enough or following the instructions of Jesus closely enough is a slippery slope to take.  Is the Lord’s Supper the Lord’s Supper because we do it correctly enough or because the Lord keeps His promises in spite of us? Is our assurance of the real presence of Christ based on how closely we have been able to adhere to His instructions or based on how closely He has adhered to His promises? 

The CTCR’s basis for its opinion, whether they meant it to or not, introduces grave uncertainty into every celebration of the Lord’s Supper.  Once we introduce degrees of adherence to the law in order to verify if we have the Lord’s Supper or not, we have introduced doubt and uncertainty into every celebration. How can we really be sure that we are doing it correctly enough?  How can we really be sure the pastor got it absolutely perfect?  How can I really be sure I believe enough or believe correctly enough to be worthy? 

Praise be to God that this has never been our basis for assurance.  It has always and only been because of Jesus, for “we believe, teach and confess that no man’s work nor the recitation of the minister effect this presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Holy Supper, but it is to be ascribed solely and alone to the almighty power of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Formula of Concord, Ep VII, 8).

Conclusion

Many congregations and pastors have evaluated online solutions and consider them to be God-sends during a very difficult time. They do not consider the solutions “faulty” because they know and believe that the Words of Jesus are the Words of Jesus no matter how they are conveyed.  Again, Luther in the Small Catechism: “How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things? It is not the eating and drinking indeed that does them, but the words here written, ‘Given and shed for you for you for the remission of sins’; which words, besides the bodily eating and drinking, are the chief thing in the Sacrament; and he that believes these words has what they say and express, namely, the forgiveness of sins.”

Do faithful people in our Synod have different opinions about celebrating the Lord’s Supper online?  Of course.  Faithful theologians, congregations and individual members disagree all the time on many theological questions. In this case, my goal is not to assert that my opinion is the right one or that all people should agree with me.

My goal is to provide a counter opinion to the CTCR opinion and to let people know that there are many well-trained, highly-educated, biblically-faithful LCMS pastors and members who do not doubt the efficacy of online communion and that this confidence is not born out of the rightness of the opinion, but out of the clarity and simplicity of the Words of Jesus and the explanation of Luther. 

Thanks be to God!

Rev. Greg Finke, St. Paul, MN

Postpone Easter Worship?

I have heard talk on social media about postponing our Holy Week and Easter celebrations until sometime after the pandemic has passed and it is safe for us to gather in crowds again.  This is from congregational leaders and friends I know, love and respect.

The thought is that Holy Week and Easter just wouldn’t be right online. That they are so important and precious to the Church that we should wait to celebrate until we can gather again safely and do it right.

Postpone Easter?

Hmmm…

Look, I get it.  So, there’s no judgement or criticism here for such a decision.  But there is another take to consider before making that decision.

Remember what Easter actually is.

Easter is not a great end to a great story worthy of an annual celebration.

Easter might seem like a great end to a great story because it is positioned toward the end of each of the four gospels.  But Easter is not the end of the story.  It is the end of the beginning of the story.  It is a launch.  It is a starter’s gun.  It is the grand physical evidence that sin and death have been definitively removed so that we are now completely free to get up off our… pews and get on with the living and loving and redemption and restoration that the world so desperately needs.

Combine Good Friday, Easter and our baptism and we become the body of Christ… not metaphorically but materially.  Jesus literally took our sin away from us on the cross and put His Spirit back into us through baptism. That means we are now literally the way through which the resurrected Jesus becomes real, physical, tangible and active to the people around us that need Him so badly.

So…

Easter is not about a party for us but a lifestyle for the good of others.  

We honor Jesus not by waiting to celebrate Easter till it’s safe but learning to celebrate Easter every day when it’s not.

It’s said all the time: “Every Sunday is Easter” (even in Lent).  What if we meant that?  What if we used every Sunday as an Easter launch to remind each other of what is already in play?  That we are freed up from sin and death for a reason! That we get to be refilled, reminded, refreshed and restored so that we can be recommissioned and head out for another week of adventuring with the Living One for the good of others!

Postpone Easter?  Are you kidding?  Now is the time to kick it up a notch.  Not by adding more brass to the Easter music, or by adding more dramatic effects to the PowerPoint.

No, instead, whatever you choose to do online for worship over the next couple weeks, whatever you choose to call it, whether you postpone your “Easter Sunday” celebration until a future time or not - when we gather online for worship next, remind each other that Easter is already happening.  It’s not a date on the calendar but a new reality unleashed.  Remind each other that Jesus is already out of the tomb. That Jesus has already sounded the starter’s gun.  That Jesus is already on the loose in the community.  And that He’s still inviting us to join Him for the good of our neighbors.  Woohoo and alleluia!

It may look like today is an ordinary Monday towards the end of Lent. But are you kidding me?  It’s still Easter! It’s been Easter every day for 2000 years.  Every morning, we get to once again rise up with Jesus and look for ways to help others experience His love, life, hope, truth and grace.  From Him, to us, through us, to the people around us that need Him so badly. Woohoo and alleluia!

I found the following story in the Houston Chronicle yesterday (Sunday, March 29, 2020).  Even though the article is not about Easter, it powerfully illustrates what Easter looks like when lived out for the good of others.  It illustrates what it looks like when someone has a complete confidence in the resurrected, eternal life he/she has already received from Jesus.  It looks like self-sacrificial love for others.  It looks like Jesus.  Wohoo and alleluia!

Leonard Pitts wrote the following for the Miami Herald. I have edited his words for brevity:

“A few words on the quiet death of an Italian priest.

“His name was Father Giuseppe Berardelli, and he served in Casnigo, a small village not far from Milan. He was 72 and died in a hospital of the novel coronavirus.

“This was on March 15, though reports are just now filtering out. Again, it was a quiet death. As such, it was easily lost in the cacophony of our times.

“You see, Father Berardelli died after he gave away his respirator.  He insisted it go instead to a younger patient who was struggling to breathe, a person the priest did not know.

“The biblical maxim leaps to mind: John 15:13, ‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’”

Postpone Easter?  Are you kidding me?  You can’t.  It’s already happening.  And our neighbors need us to live it.  

Woohoo and alleluia!

Part 4: Smelling Salts for Leadership

The way we are used to doing Church in the U.S. has been severely disrupted by the pandemic. We all know that. And it has revealed some weaknesses in the sustainability of our congregational model. If our members can’t come to our buildings for our programming and give their offerings, how long can we last? Is the only thing we really have to offer the community around us is a Sunday morning service? Do we have no other purposes to fulfill?

The disruption also reveals that U.S. congregations of all sizes have strayed into operating more like nonprofit businesses - with something like a fee-for-services model - than like the New Testament Church we are called to be. And so when the wrench of COVID-19 was thrown into our gears, the model we were relying on failed us.

When the New Testament Church was disrupted in Acts 8:1-4, scattered from each other and separated from the Apostles, the result was not a crippled Church or a confused Church but a multiplying Church. You see, there’s our way for our results but then there’s Jesus’ way for Jesus’ results.

What is this season of disruption revealing about your congregation? It is a perfect time, now that the gears of our current church-machines have ground to a halt, to reflect, evaluate and ask some new questions of ourselves. And so we offer, “Smelling Salts for Leadership.” If we take an unpleasant but bracing whiff of these smelling salts, we have the opportunity to wake up, see clearly what we have been doing to ourselves, and begin to see some of the simple but important reforms we can make.

Now’s the time. Now’s the time to have thoughtful leadership conversations (using technology, of course). “Have we been producing the fruit of a New Testament Church or the fruit of a 501(c)3 nonprofit business? Has this disruption caused us to respond like a threatened business or like a Church ready for multiplication?” Now’s the time to ask because the disruption of our congregational model is no longer hypothetical. Everyone is experiencing the concrete challenge to our congregational viability, identity and purpose.

As my friend, Bryce Formwalt, recently pointed out, “I believe that this crisis has exposed our deeply rooted dependency on Sunday morning gatherings inside our church buildings. Many American churches have built their identity and purpose around Sunday morning worship, fellowship, and education … and not much else. So what is church if we can’t gather inside our beautiful buildings on Sunday mornings? My hope is that this crisis will help you and your congregation to think deeply about this question and reclaim your mission.”

Is Bryce right? Let’s take a whiff of Smelling Salt #4 and see.

Smelling Salt #4

In the U.S., we know how to run 501(c)3’s and denominational franchises, but we’ve forgotten the basics of running a New Testament Church. 

1. In the U.S., because our congregations have applied for nonprofit, tax exempt, 501(c)3 status, we end up being more thoroughly influenced by what it takes to run a nonprofit business than we are by what it takes to be a New Testament Church.

2. 501(c)3 congregations are governed by constitutions and bylaws, led by boards and committees, and evaluated by metrics measuring the success of our nonprofit business; for instance, the number of people coming through the doors, the level of revenue coming through the offerings, and the level of satisfaction coming from our members.

3. Likewise, many congregations are more deeply influenced by what it takes to be a denominational franchise in good standing than being good examples of a New Testament Church in the local community.  For too many congregations, the first question asked is not, “What is the model of the New Testament Church?” but, “Is this Lutheran?” (or fill in your preferred denominational label).

4. A 501(c)3 congregation is habitually focused on gathering members and supporting itself. A New Testament Church is habitually focused on sending out trained disciples who support the transformation of the community.

5. One way to tell whether a congregation is thinking more like a 501(c)3 or a New Testament Church is by listening to what is being talk about most at church.

501(c)3

• Senior staff and Governing Boards are talking most about the sustainability of their 501(c)3: budgets, attendance trends, policies, buildings, paying bills, staff, level of members’ satisfaction, etc.

• Program committees and staff are talking most about the next “Jesus show” they are preparing or what lessons people need to learn. Their first question usually is, “Will the members participate or not? Will they like it or not?”

• Small groups (that is, any smaller congregational gatherings) are talking most about their own interests, needs and level of satisfaction with the organization.

• The rest of the members are talking about how well (or poorly) the congregational leaders are adhering to denominational franchise rules and how well (or poorly) the leaders are meeting their needs.

New Testament Church

• Senior staff and Governing Boards are talking most about how well the members are fulfilling Jesus’ mission of loving neighbors and transforming the community.  They are talking about how best to use the organization to facilitate these missional results.

• Program committees and staff are talking most about how their program can disciple the members to live out their baptismal identity for the good of others in their daily lives – that is, how can their program teach/model/facilitate/inspire/champion/train/tell the stories of living such a redemptive lifestyle.

• Small groups are talking most about how they are joining Jesus and interacting with lost people. What’s working, what’s not and what’s their next step.

• The rest of the members are talking most about how well (or poorly) the congregational leaders are modeling biblical, missional lifestyles which the members can take note of and imitate in their daily lives. (see Hebrews 13:7)

6. Another way to tell whether a congregation is thinking more like a 501(c)3 or a New Testament Church is by how the congregational leadership is defined and organized.  Is leadership defined and organized around the constitutional requirements of a 501(c)3 or around accomplishing the mission of God and prioritizing the multiplication of missional disciples? (see Matthew 28:19-20)

• Are senior lay leaders identified by their willingness to serve on a board and by their organizational skills or by their discipling skills and the outcome of their way of life? Do their duties revolve around meetings, agendas, budgets, policies, constitutions, staff evaluations and membership complaints or around discipling new missional leaders?

• The congregation needs officers to manage the 501(c)3 and comply with IRS regulations.  But we also need the kind of leaders the Bible advocates so we see multiplication of missional discipleship throughout the congregation and out into the community.

7. The Bible says a New Testament Church leader is identified by the outcome of their way of life.

• Hebrews 13:7, “Consider the outcome of [your leaders’] way of life and imitate their faith.”

• Luke 6:43-48, “Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.”

• Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness…”

8. The duties of a New Testament Church leader are defined by their willingness to invest in relationships so that they can disciple other members to follow Jesus and join Him on His mission in the community.

• 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

• Philippians 4:9, “Whatever you have learned from me or seen in me – put it into practice.”

• Philippians 3:17, “…and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”

9. The qualifications for this kind of leader are simple: a) year by year, do we see them growing up and becoming more like Jesus; b) do we want people of the Church imitating their way of life?

10. Leveraging this kind of leadership means our leaders are regularly gathering in smaller groups with members to

• invest in relationship with them,

• talk with them about how life with Jesus is going,

• encourage them,

• offer them insights from their lives

• and spur them on to another week of love and good works for others. (see Hebrews 10:24-25)

11. On the other hand, 501(c)3 lay leaders are leveraged in the following ways:

• Leaders go to meetings in conference rooms with other leaders. Most members don’t see them or know them nor are they aware of the outcome of their daily way of life.

• Leaders are put in charge of programs and model for members how to lead a program (and members are still unaware of the outcome of the leader’s daily way of life).

• Leaders are asked to lead Bible Classes or Small Groups and model for members how to lead in that setting.

• Thus, members end up being under-discipled in how to live the impactful life of a Jesus-follower in the community simply because the congregation did not identify and organize its leaders for this purpose.

12. A third way to tell whether a congregation is thinking more like a 501(c)3 nonprofit business or a New Testament Church is what metrics (statistics) motivate the members most. For instance:

• Regarding offerings and membership: for the 501(c)3, these ARE the metrics.  Few other metrics matter. And when comparing the two metrics, “How much money do we have?” trumps, “How many members do we have?”  The level of contentment the congregation has with its finances drives the level of commitment it has for gaining new members.

• Regarding leadership: a 501(c)3 asks, “Do we have enough people willing to be elected to the positions required by the constitution?” A New Testament Church (NTC) asks, “Who are the leaders in our congregation we want our members to imitate?”

• Regarding attendance in services and programs: a 501(c)3 asks, “Are people showing up for our services and programs?” A NTC asks, “Are people growing up because of our services and programs so they are a force for redemption and restoration in this community?”

• Regarding the budget: a 501(3)c asks, “How much money do we need for our services and programs?” A NTC asks, “How much money can we use to bless this community in which God has placed us?”

• Regarding the commitment of members: a 501(c)3 asks, “Why don’t more of our members come to our voters’ meetings?” (or serve on our committees or volunteer to help with our programs?) A NTC asks, “How can we help our members invest in friendships with more lost people in their neighborhoods?” (or serve the community or volunteer to help other nonprofits?)

Questions to Prompt Action

• Is the point of Smelling Salt #4 to abandon our 501(c)3 status with the IRS or to be aware of how the framework of such a status can warp how we go about running our congregation?

• When our congregation gathers in meetings, groups or classes, what do we talk about the most?

• From the examples given above, how does being a 501(c)3 distract our congregation from being a New Testament Church for the good of this community?  What can we do to correct this?

• Jesus says, “By their fruit you will know them.” What is our congregational fruit telling us these days?

• Who are Hebrew 13:7 kinds of leaders in our congregation?

• How can we organize our congregation into small groups so they can regularly interact with our Hebrews 13:7 leaders?  (Note: for the sake of sustainability and good order, think in terms of where members already live.)

• The metrics we have are driven by the values we have.  What we value is what we measure. What do our current congregational metrics tell us about our current congregational values? What additional metrics can help us embrace new values?

Is Now the Time to Become an Acts 8 Church?

In the last few days, we have seen public gatherings limited to 250 people and then limited to 100 people and then 50 people and now 10 or less people. As one church leader said, “This creates a crisis for our congregations, even the smallest of our congregations.”

Is he right?

Interestingly, the word “crisis” comes from a Greek word meaning “decision” or “decisive point.”  Does the new reality of COVID-19 present local congregations with a crisis or with an opportunity?

It will feel like a crisis because we have to change our habits in how we prefer to participate in Church. It will feel like a crisis because we are cut off from our professional church workers and volunteers who we depend on to do our Church-business.  It will feel like a crisis because we are used to being passive church-goers and the pandemic is requiring us to get up off our… pews and be active Christ-followers.

Our first urge is to cry out, “We haven’t done Church this way before!”

However, Jesus is not standing in the middle of all this disruption, wringing His hands and saying, “I never saw this coming!  What shall we do??”

Instead, and as usual, Jesus is up to something redemptive in the disruption.  This is a “decisive point” when we can start making new and clear-headed “decisions” about how we can help each other be Church for the foreseeable future.  Jesus is shaking up His Church not so we are alarmed by a crisis but so we wake up to an opportunity… an opportunity to rediscover what being Church is really about.  Perhaps Jesus is administering a whiff of smelling salts to His people so we can start pressing past being 501(c)3 organizations and be the New Testament Church.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus speaks these famous words, “…and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” However, it is not until Acts 8:1, just after Stephen is martyred and a great persecution breaks out in Jerusalem, that the Church is essentially forced to finally scatter into Judea and Samaria.  Acts 8:1 says, “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.” 

To our twenty-first century, U.S. ears that would seem to signal the death of the Church.  They were scattered and they were separated from the Apostles. I mean, if your congregation was scattered and separated from your professional church workers and volunteers, what would be the result?  (We’re about to find out, right?)

However, just the opposite happened in Acts 8.  This “crisis” didn’t lead to the end of the Church, but to the explosive expansion of the Church. Acts 8:4, “Those who were scattered shared the Good News wherever they went.”

Perhaps the COVID-19 pandemic is our Acts 8 moment.

What follows is some suggestions that other Christ-followers like you are beginning to implement in their neck of the kingdom here in the U.S.  So let’s get up off our… pews and rediscover how to be the New Testament Church!  Woohooo!

If You have Mixed Feelings about Not Gathering for Worship

1. The Church especially needs to take “social distancing” seriously to help slow the spread of the pandemic. Why?  In South Korea, they have tracked 80% of their COVID-19 infections to one dear woman who went to church services twice within a few days.  She thought she had a cold.  This woman is known as Patient 31.  Patient 31 had all the best of intentions when she went to church.  But because she did not practice social distancing, she unintentionally led to 80% of South Korea’s COVID-19 infections. As of Monday, March 16, there were 8000+ COVID-19 cases and 75 deaths. (Information from Reuters)  https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-SOUTHKOREA-CLUSTERS/0100B5G33SB/index.html

2. Jesus held up the value of the 1 over the 99 (Luke 15:1).  If COVID-19 has an estimated death rate of even 1%, then the 99% need to protect the 1% who are most vulnerable. Right?

Now’s the Time to Discover House-Church

1. In the New Testament, house-churches were the norm.  Even though we talk about the Church in Corinth or Rome, we are really referring to multiple smaller gatherings in houses in those cities. Now is an opportune time to help our people break out of simply being passive church-goers and become more experienced with being the Acts 8 Church. For instance, we can help them take on actively leading worship in their homes. One tool we have that the Acts 8 believers didn’t have is the internet (and websites, live streaming, Facebook Live, Zoom, Google Hangouts, email, phones, etc.).  So we can start developing content and get it out to our members’ computers like never before.  Praise God!  What a great opportunity to begin shifting the center of their faith and worship from simply participating and receiving on Sunday mornings to actively engaging their family and neighbors during the week.  (see below for a letter from The Point [Lutheran Church] in Knoxville, TN for some ideas of how to communicate this opportunity.)

2. Interestingly, some years ago in Myanmar, the communist government wanted to begin killing off the Church there.  They thought the way to do that was to limit public gatherings for worship to 8 or fewer people.  But instead of killing off the Church, it exploded.  The Church spread even more rapidly.  One of the reasons is that the believers no longer could rely on their professionals to do what God had given them to do.  And the Word of the Lord spread even faster!

3. But what about Holy Week and Easter services?  Now is the time to prepare materials that have house gatherings in mind.  Don’t fight it.  Don’t feel down about it.  Embrace it.  Think outside the box.  Be creative.  Be simple.  Be celebrative.  Enjoy it!  What can gifted volunteers prepare for the rest of your people to use with small groups of family and neighbors in their homes?

Now’s the Time to Help Members become Friends with Each Other

1. Your Church is not a building and it is not an organization.  It is people.  Now is an opportune time to help them get to know each other like never before… even though they can’t be with each other.  How? Map out where your members live using Google mapping software.  Then recruit members who live in the midst of other members to start making phone calls once a week to 5-10 member households who live nearby.  They can use the following questions to get to know each other better:

• How are you doing?

• Do you need anything?

• Do you have internet access?  (So they can receive content from the Church.  If not, what can be a Plan B?)

• What is your story?  (Let’s get to know each other a little better.)

• Do you mind if I call you again next week?

Your Church could come out on the other end of this pandemic being relationally closer than ever before.  And all because you became more intentional about talking together over the phone!  (One more idea: after we are past this pandemic, people can have what we call Connect-the-Dots parties with the people they had been calling.)

Now’s the Time to Help Your Members Care for Neighbors More Intentionally

Idea #1:

Place a notecard in each neighbors’ mailbox with Philippians 4:6-7 written on one side (“Do not be anxious…” or John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled…”) and your name and phone number on the other side with the invitation to call if the neighbor needs any help or just would like someone to talk to or even to pray with.

Idea #2:

Go door to door practicing social distancing and collect the following information:
+ Names at each address
+ Contact number
+ Email
+ Occupations
+ Any Special Needs

Tell neighbors you will compile the list and then drop a copy to each of them to keep everyone connected and aware of opportunities to help and serve one another. Times like these can bond people together. If we approach one another safely, intentionally and with love, after this ends, host a block party to celebrate what it means to be good neighbors!

Idea #3:

If you are a current or retired teacher or if you have expertise in math, science, English, etc., reach out to families in your neighborhood who have school-aged children. Offer to help with tutoring or with whatever academic help they could use.

Idea #4:

Here’s something no parent thought they would ever tell their teen, “Get on your phone!”  But you can give them a specific amount of time to check in with their friends, see how they are doing with everything, offer some encouragement and hope, and even offer to pray with their friends.

The Letter from the Point:

This upcoming Sunday, we’re going to be gathering… differently.

We’ve always been a church who likes to meet in unconventional spaces: movie theaters, coffee shops, bars, and now - homes.

Why?
This past weekend, The CDC recommended that groups of 50+ people stop gathering across the country. We are going to respect the professionals, love the vulnerable people in our community, and continue gathering as people of God by meeting in smaller groups in people’s homes all around Knoxville.

We feel like this is such a God thing, and here’s why:

A group of people met a few weeks ago about the future of The Point. This was well before COVID-19 in the states hit the news. This group of people took a weekend to talk and plan and worship and pray - and one of the major takeaways of that weekend was this: Community is really important. It’s also not something we are always very good at.

We knew we wanted to find ways to build community at The Point. But we still weren’t clear on how.

So here we are now: 

We could see this recommendation from the CDC as a hindrance OR we could see it as a huge opportunity - an opportunity to love the vulnerable people in our community by practicing social distancing, to humbly be an example of putting our interests aside for the sake of others, and (most excitingly if you ask us) an opportunity to get to know our neighbors and church family more intentionally than ever before.

What is this going to look like?

Good question! We will not be gathering at our usual location. We will be livestreaming our service on Sunday morning at 10:30am Eastern from Emilie’s house. You can join us the same way as always - via this link.

However, we will also be doing our best to get you an invitation soon from someone at The Point who lives in your area of town. The hope is they’ll invite you to church in their home and we will essentially have mini “livestream parties” all over Knoxville. Worship, truth, and community.

Of course, you know as well as we do that things are moving fast. We don’t know how long we’ll be gathering in this way. But we do know that God is not surprised by any of this. He’s not wringing His hands in worry. He’s strong and good and still in control. As for us, we will keep you up-to-date with any changes as best we can via social media, emails, and this page on the website.

Action Steps For You: 

If you’d like to host a small livestream gathering at your house, let us know here!

If your information is not up-to-date in our system, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page so we can both connect you with a house church host and easily contact you should things get more dicey in the coming weeks.

If you need extra prayer or help, click here.

Keep an eye on your inbox - some discussion questions for house church and materials for parents to use with kids will be coming your way later this week.

Keep leaning into Jesus and praying for our church, city, and world!

God is moving in our city, our country, and our world. He’s shaking things up. And as always, He is in control and really good. We’re stoked to continue singing in the middle of the storm!

Part 3: Smelling Salts for Leadership

It’s been a crazy week with the pandemic. A week calling for wisdom, grace, courage, prayer and action from the people of God. We have been relegated to being at home more and subtracting much from our usual lives. But in the subtraction is the potential for addition… the opportunity to add reflection, evaluation and new insight to our lives… especially as we eventually emerge on the other side of COVID-19.

So here is Smelling Salt #3. As with the previous Smelling Salts, these are not meant to make us feel bad but to help us wake up, see clearly, and start making better more deliberate choices that lead to real mission, discipleship and multiplication.

Smelling Salt #3

In the gospels, the disciples’ lives were rarely boring. How did we make discipleship so boring?

1. We have settled for reading about following Jesus rather than participating in the daily adventure of actually following Jesus. The disciples were rarely bored because they weren’t reading about following Jesus, they were living the adventure of actually following Him!

• It’s like substituting the adventure of whitewater rafting for the safety of reading a pamphlet about whitewater rafting.  Whitewater rafting is exhilarating; reading a pamphlet about it is less so.

• Likewise, we substitute reading a pamphlet about following Jesus for regularly getting up off our… pews and joining the adventure of actually following Jesus.

• Example: In Mark 1, Jesus says, “Come, follow me,” to Peter and Andrew, and then James and John respectively. What did the fishermen do?  It says, “At once they left their nets…” and “Without delay they left their father…” They took action. They joined Jesus and started actually following Him. When U.S. Christians read Jesus’ words, what do we do?  The Bible Teacher looks for a Bible Study about following Jesus, the music director starts rehearsing a song that highlights the theme of following Jesus and the pastor starts searching for a good analogy for his message about following Jesus.  BUT WE NEVER GET AROUND TO ACTUALLY DROPPING OUR NETS AND FOLLOWING JESUS!

2. Therefore, people leave worship and Bible class without a simple answer to this question: What do I now do?  They know they are loved, forgiven and saved. But they are also relatively bored. They do not have a simple, practical and biblical sense of purpose that then frames and directs everything else they do for living their daily lives for the good of others.

3. Solution: Professional church workers and volunteers can teach that the gospel reveals more than how we are saved.  It also reveals why we are saved.  We have a new identity in Christ.  But we also have a new purpose (mission) in Christ.  The Word of God is not simply something to be considered, noted and contemplated but also put into practice for the good of others. When people know who they are in Christ AND what they now get to do WITH Christ, the result is new experiences, new stories, new questions and new things to talk about when we are together.

4. To help people pivot from merely hearing the Word to putting it into practice, ask this question at the end of sermons and Bible teachings: “What is one thing Jesus is giving me to believe or do for the good of others this week?” Have participants write down their response and then go out looking for opportunities to put the belief or action into play.  When you re-gather, ask them how it went.

Questions to Prompt Action:

• Jesus said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man… But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man…”  What if Jesus meant this?

• How are we regularly leading our congregation to violate these words of Jesus? How do we help them pivot from violation to participation?

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons.”  What do you think he meant?

• What can preachers and teachers do to communicate BOTH who we are in Christ AND what our purpose is with Christ for the good of others during the coming week?

• The following is from Greg’s book, “Joining Jesus on His Mission.”  The 5 Practices help people live on purpose.  The 5 Questions help prompt people to have new conversations.

The 5 Mission Practices are effective at positioning us to join Jesus on His mission every day:

1. Seeking the Kingdom | Look for the good the Father has prepared in advance for me to do.

2. Hearing from Jesus | Reading the gospels, what is Jesus giving me to do for the good of others?

3. Talking with People | What’s their name? What’s their story? What’s Jesus up to in their life.

4. Doing Good | How can I be a way something good happens in their day?

5. Ministering through Prayer | Praying for people daily and with people as God gives opportunity.

The 5 Questions

1. How did you see God at work in your life this week?

2. What has God been teaching you in his Word?

3. What kind of conversations are you having with your pre-Christian friends?

4. What good can you do around here?

5. How can we help you in prayer and what do you want us to ask you about next week?

Part 2: Smelling Salts for Leadership

Our culture isn't messing up our effectiveness in mission and discipleship.  We are.  Our congregations are perfectly calibrated for the results we’re currently getting in mission, discipleship and multiplication.  There is our way for our results, but then there’s Jesus’ way for Jesus’ results.  We need a healthy whiff of leadership "smelling salts" so we can wake up, clearly see what we are doing to ourselves, and start reforming our ways to Jesus’ ways.

The following presentation (with a few edits) was given at the 2020 Best Practices for Ministry Conference in Phoenix, AZ under the title, “Smelling Salts for Leadership.” This is week 2 of the 5 week series:

Smelling Salt #2

In the U.S., we don’t have an outreach problem, we have a discipleship problem.

1. Outreach is not something separate from discipleship. Outreach is the expected fruit of discipleship. If we disciple people the same way Jesus disciples people in the gospels, outreach happens. If we don’t, it doesn’t.

2. Aren’t convinced of that?  Then ask, “How many people would each of your members need to reach per year in order to double the size of the congregation year after year?” The answer, of course, is only one person per year. One person per year is not a very lofty goal. The problem is not that we have too lofty an outreach goal. Our problem is that our people are not discipled to reach even one person in a year.

3. In Ethiopia, Mekane Yesus (a Lutheran church body with 8 million members in a country the size of the southeast U.S.) has a goal of baptizing 10 million people in the next 5 years. They think the goal is too small.  Their people are already discipled to reach their neighbors and friends with the good news of Jesus.  Thus, even a goal of 10 million is easily within reach.  All it will take is for each member to reach slightly more than one person each in the next five years.

4. How did we get here? In the U.S. church, for generations we have taught that the ultimate expression of Christianity is attending worship services, going to a Bible class and being elected to a committee rather than

   a) self-sacrificially loving our neighbors and

   b) sharing God’s good news with them.

5. Regarding self-sacrificially loving our neighbors: we are thoroughly discipled (trained) to attend church.  However, we are under-discipled in the main practice Jesus points to as His top discipling/training goal (John 13:35); we are under-discipled in using the most valuable asset we could have as a congregation (1 Corinthians 13:13); and we are under-discipled in using the most important and powerful outreach tool we have been given as individuals (Mark 12:31). What is it? God’s love. (Galatians 5:6, 14, 22; 1 John 4:7-12; Hebrews 10:24-25)

6. We talk about God’s love, preach about His love, sing about His love, and memorize verses about His love.  But His love’s power is only experienced by others when we actually offer it to others... especially those who don’t deserve it.

7. Remember: The experience of God’s love becomes the evidence of God’s love to unbelieving people.

8. One can accurately predict what the congregation’s growth or decline will be in the coming years simply by looking at the number of members investing in friendships with pre-Christian people. (By “pre-Christian” I mean someone who does not yet know and trust Jesus.) If very few members are investing in such friendships, decline is inevitable no matter how much money we have for buildings, programs, P.R. and staffing.  On the other hand, the more our members invest in such friendships, the more growth we will see.  “You reap what you sow.”

9. At some point we need to realize that mission really does come down to this: spending actual time with actual pre-Christian people so they can actually experience God’s love, joy, peace and truth through us.

10. Regarding sharing God’s good news with our neighbors: we also ignore another important skill Jesus has at the top of His training goals (Luke 10:1-9, 24:48, 1 Peter 3:15). Church-goers and even church professionals are generally terrified about sharing their faith outside of church.  Why?  Simple: because we never practice it. And because we never practice it, we are left untrained, uncertain, uncomfortable and afraid of it.

11. We become experienced, skilled and confident at whatever we practice the most. When your congregation comes together, what do you practice the most? Church-goers generally practice sitting and listening the most.  What if we started practicing sharing the Good News of God with each other for the sake of sharing it with our pre-Christian friends and neighbors?

Questions to Prompt Action:

• How many friendships with pre-Christian people do each of our members currently have?

• Are you and your members having regular dinners with sinners?  (see Matthew 9:10)

• What is considered the most important outcome of all the congregation’s corporate efforts? (Hint: is it something like, “Our members are experiencing an increased capacity for loving unlovable people in their neighborhoods?”)

• What do you practice the most when your congregation comes together?

Part 1: Smelling Salts for Leadership

The following presentation (with a few edits) was given at the 2020 Best Practices for Ministry Conference in Phoenix, AZ under the title, “Smelling Salts for Leadership.” Beginning this week, I will publish one Smelling Salt per week to help jolt us awake and begin thinking more clearly about how we go about Jesus’ work of mission, discipleship and multiplication.

___________________________

Your congregation is perfectly calibrated for the results you’re currently getting in mission, discipleship and multiplication.  There is your way for your results, but then there’s Jesus’ way for Jesus’ results. We need a healthy whiff of leadership smelling salts so we can wake up, clearly see what we are doing to ourselves, and change it.

The purpose of smelling salts is to jolt a person awake. Likewise, the purpose of this presentation, “Smelling Salts for Leadership,” is to jolt congregational leaders awake. The purpose is not to make leaders feel bad about mission and discipleship effectiveness, but to wake us up so we can see clearly what we are doing and begin changing what needs to be changed.

Smelling Salt #1

In the U.S., we are witnessing the final collapse of programmatic Christianity.

1. This is good news because Christianity is fundamentally a redemptive lifestyle to be lived for the sake of others not a program to attend for the sake of self.

2. Programmatic Christianity is expensive, exhausting and unsustainable.  It relies on money, professionals, buildings, P.R., and a lot of volunteer energy to keep the programmatic machine running. Unfortunately, the result of all that energy and investment is “passive church-goers” who attend a program rather than “active Christ-followers” who change their neighborhoods.

3. Of course, Christian programming can support Christian living. The temptation for church-goers, however, is to substitute the programs for the living.

4. Likewise, Word and sacraments are a means for empowering such a daily lifestyle not a substitute for such a lifestyle.

5. If church-goers are the same as they were one year ago (in terms of experience, skill, confidence, fruitfulness and stories about following Jesus in daily life), it is for one reason: they haven’t been following Jesus yet.  They have been worshipping Him, studying Him and discussing Him… but not yet following Him.

6. Programmatic Christianity has inadvertently produced church-goers who approach Christianity like a hobby rather than as an active, redemptive lifestyle for changing the world.

   • The main goal of programmatic Christianity has become gathering people at the church; whereas the main goal of biblical Christianity is discipling people to spread the Church.

   • Likewise, we have institutionalized the practice of members delegating to others what God gave them to do. Thus, after decades of participating in our programs, we have produced passive, inexperienced, fearful scholars rather than proactive, trained, confident imitators of Jesus who bless the community.

Questions to Prompt Action:

• Do you and your congregation simply study what Jesus says to do in the gospels or do you do what Jesus says to do in the gospels?  (Matthew 7:24 encourages discipleship over scholarship)

• What would it take to re-disciple people to engage Christianity as a force for redemption and restoration in the community rather than simply a service to attend on Sunday?

Smelling Salt #2 will be published next week.

For help answering the above questions (or others like them) AND plotting a course for re-discipling your congregation, contact Greg Finke at 281-844-7644 or finkeonthemove@aol.com.

"Do for One"

What you wish could be done for all, do for one.

I know there are a number of public figures who have said something similar over the last few years.  And they are spot-on.

What you wish could be done for all, do for one person.

Jesus put an even deeper twist on it when He said, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one… you did for Me.”

Wow.

What if He meant that?

He didn’t say, “Whatever you wished for everyone…” He said, “Whatever you did for one…”

We are closing fast on Thanksgiving and then we zoom into Advent.

Let’s take a hot minute and think.

Instead of a storm of “doing” for the sake of “tradition” during this holiday season, let’s focus and actually do something for one person. An elderly neighbor.  A single parent.  An immigrant.  A person the rest of the neighborhood overlooks or simply abhors.

One person who is alone.  One person who is in danger of having no one notice.  One person who needs a friend.  One person who needs one person to come alongside them during these festive days so they do not slide into a black hole… again.  One. Person.

We all wish we could do something big.  Something that could make a huge difference.  Something that could affect everyone who needed something.

Nice sentiment.  In the meantime, nothing actually gets done for anyone.

Let’s reverse that trend this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

What you wish you could do for all, do for one.

A congregation in Charlotte I am working with had a simple but great idea.  They put it this way, “This holiday season: Focus on One.” They suggest using the weeks of advent as the pace. 

Week 1: Pray. Think.  Go around and ask other neighbors.  Who can use some help this holiday season?  Who could use a hand?  Who could use a visitor?  Who could use some relief?  Who is living without the grace and truth of Jesus?

Week 2: Pray for the person.  Daily.  Several times a day, in fact.  Why not?  That’s easy enough, right?  Lift them up in the name of Jesus before the Father of Love.  Then reach out.  Introduce yourself.  Stop by. Bring a gift. Say hi. Ask how they are. Ask if there is anything a neighbor might be able to help with.

Week 3: Circle back. Let the person know you are around.  You care.  You notice and want to be of service to them.  The Bible says to love our neighbors, and you intend to get better at it.  Invite them to something enjoyable… a gathering, a meal, a game night, an excuse to spend time together rather than remain alone.  Be creative.  Have fun with it.  Google it.  You can think of something.

Week 4: Circle back again.  Speak value and worth to them.  Look at their eyes.  Do you see the hope?  Do you see the glimmer of joy?  Invite them to join you for a holiday gathering.  Invite them to spend Christmas Eve with you.  (Or if you are reading this before Thanksgiving, to come for Thanksgiving dinner).

The point is simple: What you wish could be done for all, do for one.

“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them,” John 13:17.

This could be a very cool holiday season for you and your neighbors.

Let’s do it.