Analyzing the Church's Commitment to the Its Calling

“Don’t ask what the world needs.

Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.

Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

- Howard Thurman (Christian clergyman, author, and activist)

Analyze where the Christian church stands today.  Take an honest look at the standing of one of the most treasured institutions of society.  Make an earnest appraisal of the modern church.  See where the church stands today.

For far too long, in the eyes of many, the church has remained in isolation.  In the opinion of some, the church has appeared inactive, almost docile, dormant and dulled, if not deadened.  Others have said that the church has simply dwindled into a state of sheer ineffectiveness.

George Barna has studied and evaluated the church for years.  Henry Blackaby has shared some insights and findings as well.  John Maxwell has offered multiple volumes on Christian leadership.  Rick Warren weighed in with The Purpose Driven Church.  There is no shortage of Christian perspectives of what the church is not and where the church has fallen short.

Don't disregard the Reformation or the Great Awakening.  Don't toss aside the Progressives or the Abolitionists.  Do not forsake the social activism of Prohibition and the Salvation Army, YMCA, and YWCA.  Don't forget how Christians fought Darwinism and the teaching of evolutionism in the U.S. school system.  Forget not Azusa Street and the likes of Oral Roberts or Billy Graham.  Do not frown upon the church's role in the Civil Rights Movement, the anti-war protests, and the pro-life debates.  Consider all of the church's storied past.

Recall that the church has been called to be more than a building.  The church has a calling as the body of Christ.  Look at Luis Palau, Chuck Colson and Prison Fellowship, and the countless missionaries and ministries that exist today.  See how many are fed, clothed, sheltered and ministered to through street ministries and storefronts alike.  See the church playing an active role in society.

Do not grapple with public opinion.  Do not spend hour upon hour debating with the church's critics.  Stand proudly and boldly to be counted among the many who diligently serve the Lord by doing all that they can with what little they have for "the least of these."



Develop Difference Makers

 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen. - Matthew 28:19-20 (KJV)

The Great Commission gives us the disciple-making formula.  We have been referencing it for years.  We have used it for our mantra in evangelizing the entire world, putting much of our focus on the going and baptizing with regards to all nations and unto the end of the world. 

What about the teaching part?

. . . and teach all nations. . .
. . . Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. . .

Our discipleship process should make a difference.  It should make a difference in the people who are discipled by us.  It should make a difference in them as they become fishers of men.  It should make a difference in them to the point where they make a difference in the world around them.  We, as the body of Christ, are to develop difference makers.

Get ideas and insights on how to develop difference makers:

• Outreach Magazine
• Urban Ministry
• Life Church
• Relevant  Magazine

We need today's Christian to be able to sort through the muck and the mire.  We need Christians who will know what is truth and what is false, calling out the false prophets and standing for the truth.  We need Christians who are not blinded by the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, MTV and other fantasies.  We need people who will stand upright as the world goes astray, working in this ministry of reconciliation.  We need Christians to serve as Christ's army.

Read the likes of J.C. Ryle, Francis Chan, Oswald Chambers, Watchman Nee, William Wilberforce, and William Carey.  Try to get a hold of the works of Hudson Taylor, Richard Allen, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Al Sharpton.  Look into men like William Tyndale, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and John Bunyan.  Let the words of these men sink into your heart, mind and soul.  See how they made a difference.  See how others taught and trained them.  See how you can develop others to make a difference.

8But you must defend

those who are helpless

and have no hope.

9Be fair and give justice

to the poor and homeless

- Proverbs 31:8-9 (CEV)

We all should question ourselves.  We must answer for what we do and we fail to do.

I love the opening chapter of The Street Lawyer by John Grisham, I love the line of questioning by one of D.C.'s homeless brothers to a room of high-priced attorneys whom he has taken hostage of in their office:

1. How much money did you make last year?
2. How much money did you give to charity (to the poor and the needy) last year?

Doesn't that make sense to you? Do the math.  #1 may outweigh #2, but there needs to be some actual figures for each one of those.  For instance, if #1 for you is $100,000 and #2 is $10,000, then you have given 10% of your income to charity.  No matter if you gave to the animal shelter, the rescue mission or the youth ceneter, that money went towards people doing good works.
 

It reminds me of an old school Hollywood flick called Boys Town.  I saw it before Ted Turner started touching up the old black and white movies, but even after it has been remastered, it still has an old school flavor to it.  Spencer Tracy plays an inner city priest who watches over a flock of unwanted urban youth, offering them compassion and hope despite poverty and the dire conditions of the city life.  It reminds me of Sleepers.  The one where Dinero plays the priest who is smoking either Pall Malls or Lucky Strikes.  He plays the part where he offers an alibi for the kids-turned-adults who murder an abusive juvenile detention center guard.  That was "Sleepers," not "Boys Town."  They're not the same movie or even the same type of movie, but they have similar characters.  They have the guy- whether he's a priest or not- who looks out for the youth of the community beyond their spiritual needs and offers a role model or father figure for them to look up to and see working within the community. 

Every community needs both groups of people.  Each community needs someone who will give some part of what they have to help others and those who serve to help others.  It's philanthropy.  We need more people giving towards good causes.  We need people to offer a helping hand by being a role model or a father figure, even a big brother or big sister.  Plenty of kids desire to have someone show them some love and appreciation.  The elderly want that, too.  The disabled want it just like everyone else does.

Be a voice for others.  Be a helping hand for others.  Make a difference with what God has given to you.

Leave a Legacy Behind

“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We lead people.  We do it in church.  We do it in community.  We lead people.

What do we leave behind?

We work tirelessly.  We leave a trail of blood, sweat and tears behind.  We put in long hours and endless days.  We end up doing much more than we ever make out of any of what we are given.  We do a lot and end up with little to show for it.

You need to leave a legacy behind.  You need to be sure to train your replacement and take him or her under your wing.  Make an impact in your community.  Make a difference in this world.  Take the opportunity to leave a legacy behind.  Plant seeds today that will lead to a bountiful harvest in the future.

The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways. - Proverbs 14:14 (ESV)

Size Matters in Ministry

²⁵ Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶ and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. - Acts 11:25-26 (NIV)

Paul (Saul) and Barnabas went to Antioch on a mission.  Earlier, in verses 20-21, men from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and shared the "good news" and "a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord." Word of this reached Jerusalem and Barnabas, who was "a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith", was sent to Antioch where he encouraged the believers (vv. 22-24).  That's when he went for reinforcements, seeking out Paul (Saul) in Tarsus.

The Book of Acts gives the Bible reader an account of the missionary journeys of Paul.  Barnabas, also known as "Son of Encouragement," went to Tarsus and brought his partner to Antioch.  They spent a year there, teaching and discipling a diverse population of believers.  Obviously, they did some good works because the people were called "Christians," followers of Christ.  At some point, their teaching and fellowship must have hit home with those with whom they shared the Word of God.

Think it through.  There were those who brought the Good News that sparked the movement among the people.  Barnabas stepped in and offered some support to the new converts.  After that experience, Paul (Saul) was brought in to assist Barnabas in discipling the people at Antioch.  That was teamwork.  The teamwork occurred in phases or stages.

We need to examine the example of these men further.  Our ministries need to do something similar.  There needs to be a team who can go into uncharted territory and break new ground with the Gospel.  They need to be able to share the Good News with fervor, winning hearts and souls along the way.  They need to return to the house of God, sharing what they discovered as fertile ground, so that others like Barnabas can come in and edify the new believers with words of comfort, gladness and encouragement.  From there, those encouragers can leverage their relationship with the believers and other evangelists and workers who can support and strengthen the believers.  That's teamwork.

We need prayer warriors who can intercede on behalf of lost souls and those evangelists and missionaries.  We need workers within the ministry who are taught and trained, equipped to do good works beyond the confines of the house of God.  We need those who have the spiritual gift of exhortation, comfort, and other special gifts to serve in a variety of capacities in order to reach a dying world.

It takes a team who can work together to bring a community together in the name of Jesus.

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
- 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 (NKJV)



A Fiasco of Faith

And let our people also learn to maintain good works,

to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.

- Titus 3:14 (KJV)

We, the faithful, are also called to be fruitful.  We are commandment to bear much fruit.  Jesus said so.  The Lord Himself wants us both faithful and fruitful.

So what's the deal? Are we faithful? If we are so faithful, we should be full of fruit.  We should be fruitful.

We become unfruitful, in the words of Paul to Titus, when we fail to meet urgent needs and to maintain good works.  Being without fruit, barren in other words, we demonstrate little faith.

James said as much when he wrote: But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:18, KJV).  What you have to show for all the faith that you claim to have will speak louder than words.  Your actions will outweigh your words.  Your proclamation and profession of faith will be measured by your production of fruit.

Fruit is the byproduct of your works.  Your works should produce something.  The fruit stands as evidence of the effort on your part.  No faith equals no fruit.  It is a simple formula.

Keep the faith.

Time Well Spent

Recently, I spent some time away at a training in the La Jolla area of San Diego.  Known for its picturesque beaches and scenery, this area makes one recall thatlife is a great adventure.  You begin to wonder how much of the adventure you have taken advantage of or simply avoided over the years.

The training refreshed me spiritually and otherwise.  Also, it renewed my vision and focus.  I even made a connection with an old friend who had been just as busy as I have lately.   We committed to getting together and making things happen for the benefit of our communities and the generation coming up after us.

All in all, I would have to say that it was truly time well spent.  I thank God for the opportunity to have been selected from among my peers to gain this training and experience as well as the responsibility to bring back what I have learned to the larger group.

Living as Missionaries

"If we are all Christians, we shall all be missionaries."- D.L. Moody

Missionaries are on a mission.  They go out and about, spreading the gospel and good works.  Some teach English in foreign lands while teaching the Bible.  Others conduct special projects through urban ministry.  Missionaries do the will of God by doing the works that God called them to do among those who believe and others who are in unbelief.  They serve the Lord by serving people.

www.urbanministry.org
http://www.outreach.com/
www.paisproject.com

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