The Heart of Young and Seasoned Church Workers

If there's one thing that is true for all people called to church work, it's that they have passion not only for God, but for their church.  If you get a group of young church workers talking, chances are you'll hear them talk about what they love about their church and what they hope to change.  As a young church worker, these are some insights that I’d suggest would be helpful for both young and seasoned church workers to know about each other in order to be a healthy team.

[gss-content-box color="gray”]This post is a guest post written by my brother Corey Grunewald. Corey does Graphic Design & Video Editing at Faith Lutheran Church and can be found on the Twitters.[/gss-content-box]

Seasoned Church Workers

Don't be discouraged that those you're in leadership over want to change or shake things up.  They don't believe what your church is doing is all bad, otherwise they wouldn't be there.  The truth is, they want the same thing you want: to lead the congregation to a deeper relationship with Jesus.  They understand that they are trying to change things that you worked a long time to achieve.  They don't want to simply forget the history of their church, but they do want to continue creating history.  They respect what you have done and simply want to continue that process.

They stand on your shoulders as they begin to lead; don’t knock them down.

Young Church Workers

Your leadership was once where you are.  They weren't always the boss and they faced a lot of flack when they were trying to move the church forward.  If you experience a lack of freedom in pushing your church forward, you may be experiencing the protective nature of a leader.  Because they've experienced so much, they want to protect you from the negative things they've encountered. They know the pain of negative feedback and want to help you avoid it.

If there's one thing to remember in changing things in your church it's this: when you try to move your church forward, you're not just asking for a buy in from leadership, but for leadership to take the fall if things don't work out.

If you’re a veteran church worker, what do you wish you could’ve told a younger version of you?  If you’re a young church worker, what would you like to tell a future version of you to make sure to remember?

Leave it to Beaver vs. Modern Family

The world we live in is rapidly changing.  The world my parents grew up with is not the same as the world I have grown up with.  And it scares me to imagine the world that my kids will grow up with.

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Leave it to Beaver debuted in 1957, showcasing a young boy and his adventures around the neighborhood.  The television show highlighted the life of the Cleaver family and typically showed Beaver getting into trouble and then facing his parents for reprimand and correction.  What’s fascinating about the show to me is looking at it now 57 years later.  What is shown on TV is simply nothing like what was on at that time.

Did you know the first episode of Leave it to Beaver almost didn’t air?  It was too controversial.

Why?

Wall and Beaver in this episode purchased an alligator for $2.50 and needed to then decide to hide it so as not to be caught with a living alligator in the house.  Then comes the conflict...

"We were going to put it in the toilet because we knew alligators needed water," Mathers said. "At that time, you not only couldn't show a toilet, you couldn't show a bathroom on television. It was prohibited.” - FoxNews Entertainment

And what about the sleeping arrangements?

June and Ward have two twin beds in their bedroom.  In 1957, it was far too controversial to suggest that a married couple shared a bed together.

Fast forward to 2014...

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Things have changed a bit.  And this isn’t to suggest that our world is going to hell because of shows like Modern Family.  And certainly not to say that Modern Family is of the devil… I love Modern Family.  But I just want to highlight, what is socially acceptable in our culture.

This can be scary depending on the world you grew up in.

But regardless it is important.  Because the world we are trying to reach is a world that is growing up with Modern Family, Family Guy, and the Walking Dead.  The commonly held values are changing, the way people talk are changing, and the way people understand right and wrong are changing.

But not everything is changing.

While culture changes, people really don’t.

The most basic needs that people haven’t are really any different.  People still are born with the same problem.  People are still all curved inward upon themselves and seek their own wants and desires.  People still don’t naturally have the desire to choose the things of God.  And people still seek to find hope, joy, and satisfaction in all kinds of things that are not God.

The difference in today’s culture?

People are okay talking about these things and sometimes even celebrating them.

But sin, that’s always been around.  The sins that are being celebrated, these have always been around.  There’s nothing new.  People have the same problems and the same sins; culture is just revealing those problems in a new way.

And if people don’t really change, what people need is also the same.  The message of our culture is the same message that was given for all cultures throughout history.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God - Galatians 4:4-7

For All & For You: An Overview of Objective & Subjective Justification

For All.  For you.

There are two senses in which we can talk about the work of Christ.  First, what Jesus did on the cross he did for all people.  Second, Jesus’ work has saved you by grace through faith.  Both of these are important when we discuss the love of Christ because it reminds us that the love of Jesus is both universal and personal.  The fancy, theological language that describes this is called objective and subjective justification.

For All.

Who did Jesus die for?

When Jesus died on the cross, he did not only die for believers.  He suffered and died for the sins of all people.  When John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world,”  the word “world" includes everybody.  When we talk about the work of Christ, in the widest sense we always refer to that which Christ did for all people.

It’s what Luke records when he writes, “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)

And the Apostle Paul,

"For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” - 2 Corinthians 5:14

All people.

In widest sense, we could say that the work of Christ is universal.  In more technical terms, this is sometimes referred to as objective justification.  The atoning work of Christ is for all people.  Jesus didn’t just die for some people, he died for all sinners.  And this truth is objective; it’s not dependent on the person that Jesus died for.

For You.

But while this work is for all people, not all people are saved?

This is why it is important that we understand the work of Christ in both the wide and narrow sense.

Why aren’t all people saved if the work of Christ was for all people?

Ephesians 2:8 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith.”  Grace which was for all people is received personally through faith.  All people aren’t saved because not all people have faith.  In the narrowest sense, we can say what Christ did for all people he did for you.

This is what faith trusts.  Faith trusts that what Jesus did on the cross for all people, he did for you.  Faith makes the objective truth of the Gospel personal.  In more technical language, we like to call this subjective justification.  We receive the benefits of God’s gift personally through faith.  And it is only through faith that we receive the benefits of what Christ did for all people.

Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gospel

On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.  In the proclamation it was stated:

“All persons held as slaves are, and henceforward shall be free."

In that moment, slaves all over the United States are free.  Men, women, and children leaving plantations for the first time as free families.  As the good news is declared to the country, slaves become free and leave their chains behind.

But imagine for a second, another slave.  This slave hears the good news and thinks, “It’s too good to be true; I can’t trust it.”

And then he continues to work on the plantation as a slave.

Does his failure to believe the message negate the general freedom that has been declared for all slaves?  Of course not! But his failure to believe does make this message of freedom ineffective for him personally.

*note: this illustration came from a classic book on Christian Doctrine

The Gospel, which has won freedom for all people, declares us free. It is by faith in that freedom that has been won universally that applies it personally.  Faith, which comes from the Spirit and trusts in the work of the Son, makes the universal love of the Father personal.

Failure to see the universal love of God falsely believes that Jesus only died for the elect.  It believes that God loves some but not others.  And failure to see personal justification falsely believes that all are saved regardless of their faith and/or by their own works.  It emasculates the Gospel as it eliminates the need for Christ in believing that grace works apart from faith.

It’s for all.  And it’s for you.

It’s universal.  But it’s also personal.

Dating Doesn't End with "I Do"

Dating doesn’t end with “I do.”

In a marriage, there are many things that are competing for your attention.  Bills, kids, projects, deadlines, school, laundry, dinner, groceries, birthday parties, or even the in-laws.  While these things are necessary and important parts of a marriage, a marriage needs much more than paid bills and kids to thrive.  The goal of our marriage isn’t just to stay married, it’s to have a marriage that is filled with joy.

And a joy-filled marriage comes in the pursuit of one another and in knowing that God is in pursuit of us.

For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.  Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (ESV) - Ephesians 5:23-27

Notice what happens here. Christ pursues the Church.  Christ sacrifices.  Christ gives of himself.  Christ loves.  And this verse from Ephesians calls men to the same thing - love your wives, sacrifice for your wives, pursue your wives.

Christ calls men to do for their wives what has been done for them.  And it might even be suggested that by God’s pursuit of you, he has freed you to not focus on scoring spiritual points with God but instead focus on the hard work of fulfilling your calling as you love and pursue your spouse.

Dating is an opportunity for pursuit that shouldn’t disappear after the wedding vows.  It will certainly look different, but it shouldn't end.  Because even after the vows are spoken, the relationship doesn’t stop growing.

And when there are so many different areas of our life that are seeking our time and attention, the question becomes, “Which area of your life will become the priority?"

“Daily you make decisions to give up one thing in order to gain something else. This is especially true within the arena of your schedule. You face a variety of responsibilities and opportunities: work … family … hobbies … clubs … leagues … the list is endless. Each competes for your attention. Each competes for your most valuable resource, your time. But to give each of these the time it demands or deserves would require more time than you have.” - Andy Stanley

Maybe it’s time to start dating again.

As life happens in marriage, dating is easy to get bumped down the list.  Our kids take priority.  Our bills have to get paid.  The jobs need to get done on time.  And while it is easy to bump dating off the list, it is probably the last thing that should be moved down the list.  Because even when we struggle to pay the bills, a healthy marriage gets us through those difficult days.  And even if our career is miserable, a happy marriage makes it do-able.  And while our kids are certainly a priority, the best gift we can ever give to our kids is a healthy marriage and a healthy home to grow up in.

Everyday you are going to have to make decisions about what to give up and what to pursue.  Choose your family.  Choose your spouse.

Note: This title and concept comes from a Date Night event that Eric and our church put on for couples that my wife and I got the chance to participate in.

Creating a Family Culture within the Church

Families can be a bit odd.  They all come in different shapes and sizes and usually have their own inside jokes and memories that have been created over the years.  There is something significant about the relationships in a family.  While friendships may come and go, family often remains.  The relational connection between family members is an important, beautiful, and significant relationships.

As Christians, the same language of family is woven into the way the Bible describes the local church.

Church is family.  And this means that as a family, we might be a bit odd.  We might have our weird traditions or even family members who creep you out a little bit.  But nonetheless, we are family.  We are a family who is there for each other, supporting each other, and encouraging each other as we grow.

Family feels welcome.

When I show up at a family party, I always feel welcome.  Family is excited to see me, my wife, and my kids. We are greeted as we walk in and we immediately have plenty to talk about.  There is no question about how I should act, where I should go, or what is appropriate - it’s family.

Family is welcoming.

Church should feel this way.  Do you feel welcome on a Sunday morning?  Better yet, if you invited your unchurched co-worker, how would they feel?

And it’s okay if they don’t feel like a close family immediately.  It takes in-laws time to adjust to a new family.  The same is true when somebody shows up at our churches; they might take a while to grow close.  But they will never grow close if they never feel welcome in the first place.

Princess Anna said it best when she suggested, “Love is an open door.”

Our churches need to have an open door, welcoming the people of our neighborhoods, communities, and schools and welcoming them to come and join the family.

Family sticks together.

In Lilo and Stitch the phrase gets spoken, "Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind.”  Calling a group of people family means more than close friends.  Family is a group of people that does life together and is involved in all of the mess of life.

More than any other group of people, I know I can be me when I’m with my family.

Because my family knows the real me. They know the things that make me weird.  They know what gets on my nerves. They know what makes me emotional. They know the stories about what I was like when I grew up. They saw me at my worst. And they’ve been with me at my best.

Family gets involved in all the good and the bad and is present.

And family is safe regardless of how good the good is and how bad the bad is.

As churches, our desire should be for people to feel the belonging of family.  In our congregations, people need to feel the safety to be themselves.  People need to feel safe to reveal the mess of their lives and let other people in on it. When that happens, people will have the opportunity to stick with people and have the kind of relationships that are important in a church family.

Family is family.

In order for a church to be family, people also have to be made family.  This is important because central to what we do as Christians in our churches is to share with people the message of the Gospel.  We share a message with those who are far from God in hopes that they might be adopted into the family of God.

Feeling like family is not enough for us.  We want them to actually be family.

And in order for them to be family, they need to believe the message that they’ve been made family.

And we can help with that.  We can help them belong to a family as they hear and hopefully in turn believe the message.  We can help them know clearly what our family is all about.  When a guest comes into our house, we help them not get lost in our traditions, values, and beliefs, but instead translate them so they can follow along and feel like they are a part of the family.

And we do this so that they might believe the Good News. Because we don’t want people to just feel like family.  We don’t want people to just stick together.  We don’t want people to just feel welcome.  We want them to actually be made brothers and sisters in Christ.

God Wears a Mask

In the daily living of life, sometimes it is difficult to see God at work.  We go about our morning routine, drive into work, go about our business, have dinner with the family, and put the kids to bed.  And sometimes in the ordinary living, God’s work seems absent.

But the problem is not whether or not God is actually present.  The problem is our failure to realize it.

Like Jacob once we notice God’s activity, we will respond, “Surely the Lord was in this place and I was not aware of it.”

When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, he taught them several petitions that many of us pray to this very day.  We’ll pray things like “Give us this day our daily bread” or “Deliver us from evil.”  And God answers those prayers for us daily.  But the way he does that is by doing his work while hidden in the work of ordinary people doing their ordinary jobs.  God gives daily bread, and he does it through farmers and grocers and pizza makers.  God protects us from evil through police officers and other public services.

We regularly pray for God’s healing, but often fail to notice that God is at work quietly healing when he is hidden in the work of doctors and surgeons and pharmacists.

Martin Luther described this way of working as the “mask of God.”

All our work in the field, in the garden, in the city, in the home, in struggle, in government-to what does it all amount before God except child's play, by means of which God is pleased to give his gifts in the field, at home, and everywhere? These are the masks of our Lord God, behind which he wants to be hidden and to do all things. - Martin Luther

Like an actor in a play, the actual person doing the work is hidden behind the mask at all times.  The actor is doing the work, but what the audience sees and experiences is the character playing their role.  To think of God as wearing a mask simply means that God is hidden in the work he does in the world.  And the mask that he wears when doing his work is His people.  God wears the mask of the police officer when protecting, the artist when entertaining, the parent when changing diapers, the blue jean designer when sewing a pair of jeans, and the barista when providing the morning shot of expresso.

Our work is a place where God does his work.  As we serve and love our neighbors, God is hidden doing his work and loving the people around us.

18 Quotes on Vocation

The doctrine of vocation is one of my favorite doctrines and one that I would suggest is often overlooked when it comes to significant theological concepts.  While justification was certainly the central rallying point of the reformation, the doctrine of vocation was one that came with it.  While justification referred to the vertical relationship between man and God, vocation referred to man’s relationship with the world around him.

Because I love the doctrine of vocation, I am often reading and writing about it and have over time acquired a list of quotes that I think are significant to consider when talking about God’s calling.

18 Quotes on Vocation

1. “The maid who sweeps here kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays – not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors.  The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.” - attributed to Martin Luther

2. "To pour beer for the glory of God is pretty simple: offer a smile and be friendly to whoever saunters up to the bar, give suggestions for a good draught, and when you pour tilt the glass at 45°, make sure the beer isn’t pouring too deep in the glass, bring the pint upright for the final pour and make sure the head isn’t more than an inch-deep. If you overflow, wipe the sides down and flash a smile as you slide the drink across to the customer. Say, “Cheers.” Take a swig of your own brew. Repeat." - Ken Chitwood

3.“The church’s approach to intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours and to come to church on Sundays.  What the church should be telling him is this:  That the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables.” - Dorothy L Sayers

4. "What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels…God with all his angels and creatures is smiling - not because the father (or mother) is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith.” - Martin Luther

5. “A woman told me about getting involved in a Bible study that demanded strict commitment to the study of God’s Word.  ‘You should make the Bible your number one priority,’ she was told.  That meant getting up early and the very first thing in the morning doing Bible reading and having a quiet time with the Lord.  She did this, but to her consternation every morning as she would start to read her Bible, the baby would wake up.  She found herself resenting the interruption.  Here she was, trying to spend time with God, and the baby would start fussing, demanding to be fed and distracting her attention away from spiritual things.  After a while, though, she came to understand the doctrine of vocation.  Taking care of her baby was what God, at that moment, was calling her to do.  Being a mother and loving and serving her child was her vocation, her divine calling from the Lord.  She could read the Bible later.  She did not have to feel guilty that she was neglecting spiritual things; taking care of her baby is a spiritual thing!” - Gene Veith, God at Work

6. “God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbor does.” - Gustaf Wingren

7. “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” — Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC

8. “Everyone will be forgotten, nothing we do will make any difference, and all good endeavours, even the best, will come to naught.  Unless there is God. If the God of the Bible exists, and there is a True Reality beneath and behind this one, and this life is not the only life, then every good endeavour, even the simplest ones, pursued in response to God's calling, can matter forever.”  - Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavor

9. "When we reduce the notion of “calling” to work inside the church, we fail to equip our people to apply their Christian faith to everything they do, everywhere they are." -Tullian Tchividjian

10. "If you find yourself in a work by which you accomplish something good for God, or the holy, or yourself, but not for your neighbor alone, then you should know that that work is not a good work. For each one ought to live, speak, act, hear, suffer, and die in love and service for another, even for one's enemies, a husband for his wife and children, a wife for her husband, children for their parents, servants for their masters, masters for their servants, rulers for their subjects and subjects for their rulers, so that one's hand, mouth, eye, foot, heart and desire is for others; these are Christian works, good in nature." - Martin Luther, Adventspostille 1522

11. "God himself will milk the cows through him whose vocation that is." - Martin Luther

12. "When I go into a restaurant, the waitress who brings me my meal, the cook in the back who prepared it, the delivery men, the wholesalers, the workers in the food-processing factories, the butchers, the farmers, the ranchers, and everyone else in the economic food chain are all being used by God to “give me this day my daily bread.”" - Gene Veith

13. "All our work in the field, in the garden, in the city, in the home, in struggle, in government-to what does it all amount before God except child's play, by means of which God is pleased to give his gifts in the field, at home, and everywhere? These are the masks of our Lord God, behind which he wants to be hidden and to do all things." - Martin Luther

14. "In the long term I think being a preacher, missionary, or leading a Bible study group in many ways is easier. There is a certain spiritual glamour in doing it, and what we should be doing each day is easier to discern more black and white, not so gray. It is often hard to get Christians to see that God is willing not just to use men and women in ministry, but in law, in medicine, in business, in the arts. This is the great shortfall today.” - Dick Lucas

15. "You have worth apart from your work and that frees you to work for all that it is worth." - Matt Popovits

16. "Work is not primarily a thing one does to live but the thing one lives to do. It is, or it should be, the full expression of the worker’s faculties, the thing in which he finds spiritual, mental and bodily satisfaction, and the medium in which he offers himself to God."—Dorothy Sayers

17. "The book of Genesis  leaves us with a striking truth-work was part of paradise." - Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavor

18. "God is busy about his work in the midst of your work whether you realize it or not.  The laundry, the spreadsheets, the phone calls, and the cups of coffee are all deeply spiritual because God is at work in the world. He is serving your family, your coworkers, and your community through the work you do.  God is at work providing “daily bread” through the work that you do, no matter what that work is.” - my guest post at Liberate.org

Do you have any other favorites on the topic of vocation?  What are they?

Addiction: Leaving The Vomit Behind

Have you ever wondered what causes a dog to return to its own vomit?  It’s quite disturbing.  What in the world would make any creature return to the very thing that moments early made them sick to their stomach. In Proverbs 26:11 it says, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to his folly.”

As humans, we often act just like the dogs, returning to the very things that make us sick.  And this isn’t just reserved for a few of us who deal with addiction.  We all deal with addiction.  If we are honest, we will all find sins that we habitually return to that over time seem to own us.

Today, I’m excited to announce the launch of a new eBook.  I’ve spent the past couple months editing, designing, and putting together: Addiction: Leave Your Vomit Behind so I could give it away on the blog for free.  This is the second eBook I’ve made, the first one has nearly hit the 1,000 download mark!

Update: This eBook is no longer available for free but can be found on Amazon for the low price of $2.99. 

Here’s what some readers have been saying about the book so far:

"Love this book on a topic that we don't know enough about in the Church today. The subject matter connects through Scripture and effectiveness. This would be a great help to any ministry."-Paul Spurlin, AdventuresInMinistry.com

"This concise, powerful book pounds home the fact that addicts of all kinds are imprisoned as slaves with our only hope being a Divine Rescuer. An incredible, practical treatise on how true freedom can be found!" - Nobel Macaden

"This book is a powerful example for the follower of Christ, that addiction does not have the last word. There is freedom and hope to be had at the foot of the Cross. Where there was addiction, guilt, and shame, there is now worship of God, love, and forgiveness. This is a must-read for every single follower of Christ." - Ben Marshall, Director of Youth and College at Calvary Baptist Church, Holland, MI

How to get your copy

Addiction: Leave Your Vomit Behind is available on Kindle version of the book available if you prefer that format for only $2.99.

Thinking Theologically Requires Comfort Socially

Everybody is a theologian, but not everybody is a good one.  And not everybody is interested in having conversations about their theology… especially if it is different than yours.  The problem with this reality is that as Christians we’ve been given a mission to make disciples of all nations and this means engaging people who are far form God with the message of the Gospel.  In order to see those who are far from God become the family of God, they somehow need to hear the Gospel.  And them hearing the Gospel often requires us having earned the right to be heard.

The Gospel can and does work apart from being shared in the midst of relationships.  But most often the Gospel does it works in the context of relationships.  Relationships with family members, coworkers, or neighbors.  The Gospel is most often heard the clearest when it is spoken by someone who cares about the individual, not somebody dropping off a tract as he passes by.

The reason this is true has nothing to do with the theological accuracy of the tract.  The tract may actually clearly present the Gospel.  The problem with the tract is there is no relationship.  There is no conversation.  There is no listening.  There is no engaging in hearing the story of lost person.  And there is no actual love for one another.

In order for people to think theologically, they need to be comfortable socially.

This is true for those who are far from God.  This is even true for those who regularly engage in these type of conversations.  Think about your own life; who do you have the best theological conversations with?  I imagine it is somebody you trust and are willing to have the difficult conversations and ask the hard questions.

In your ministry, are you helping people be comfortable?

I don’t mean be comfortable with the scandalous message of the Gospel.  I don’t mean be comfortable being confronted with their own sin.  I mean comfortable with you.  The cross is often a stumbling block and considered foolish, and I don’t suggest we change that.  But that doesn’t mean you should be the stumbling block.

How do you make somebody comfortable socially:

1. Listen to them. When we have a desire to share the Gospel, we most often immediately think of what we need to say.  And it’s true, we need to say something.  But do not miss the importance of earning the right to be heard.  As we listen to our neighbors, we might actually hear their hurts and pains.

2. Actually care about them.  This isn’t about increasing attendance.  It’s not about improving our bottom line.  It’s about getting to know people.  To hear their hurts and know their families.  To actually love them with no strange attached.

3. Speak their language. It’s amazing how uncomfortable I can get when somebody is talking around me and I have no idea what they are talking about.  If we want people to be comfortable enough in engaging in the conversation, we have to speak a language that they can speak.  This means that some words will need to get explained and translated.

Earning the Right to Be Heard

“Preach the Gospel; use words if necessary.”  - attributed to St. Francis of Assissi

This well-intentioned phrase gets used all the time. And it’s not exactly accurate.  Because how else do you preach the Gospel?  Words are always necessary.  You can speak the words.  You can write the words.  You can sign the words.  You can film the words. But words are always necessary in the preaching of the Gospel.

But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” - Romans 10:14-15

You have an incredible calling as a Christian - to bring the good news to all people.  Bring the Good News to your homes, your neighborhoods, your communities, your schools, and your workplaces.  As a Christian it is your job to bring the Gospel to those who need to hear the message of the Gospel. Your job is to be a missionary translating the Gospel into the language of the people in your worlds.

But what do you do when no one’s listening? 

Preach the Gospel.  Use words.  But you don’t want to be that lone guy on a  street corner shouting and hoping people “turn or burn.”  You don’t want to be a jerk that is seen as another “one of those Christians” who are hateful and don’t care about me.

We assume that if we can just get the idea across, then it will be up to the person to respond, whether we do it correctly or not. Maybe we also think that in order to get God’s approving glance, it’s our duty to share “truth,” even if our modus operandi is “Obnoxious for Jesus . . . and loving it.” - Hugh Halter, the Tangible Kingdom

We are called to preach the Gospel, and this always requires words.  But in order to preach the Gospel, we also have to earn the right to be heard.

How do we earn the right to be heard?

Earning the right to be heard might seem complicated, but it’s really not complicated.  Jesus sums up the entire Law in the commands to “Love God” and “Love others.”  In loving others, we are earning the right to be heard.  As we love our neighbors - whether that be in our own homes, our schools, or our neighborhoods - we are making relational connections that provide opportunities to share the Gospel.

Can the Gospel be shared and effective apart from relationship?  Absolutely!  But this isn’t the primary way we should be operating if we are trying to live as missionaries in our cities.  Missionaries get to know their city by being present in the city and loving those in the city, not by flying in and dropping off some tracts.

Be present.

Richard Ford said, “When people realize they’re being listened to, they tell you things.”  This is something that only happens in the context of relationships.  When we are present in people’s lives and listen to their stories, we also start to learn about them.  We learn their passions, their fears, their pains, their suffering, and their joy.

When Lazarus dies, we see this in Jesus.  He weeps.  He sits their with the family and cries.  His presence communicates something.  He actually cares.

“There is also a time to simply become part of the very fabric of a community and to engage in the humanity of it all. Furthermore, the idea of presence highlights the role of relationships in mission. If relationship is the key means in the transfer of the gospel, then it simply means we are going to have to be directly present to the people in our circle...one of the profound implications of our presence as representatives of Jesus is that Jesus actually likes to hang out with the people we hang out with. They get the implied message that God actually likes them.” - Alan Hirsch, Forgotten Ways

Do you like the people you want to reach?  Because if you want to reach them with the Gospel, you need to be present in their lives.

Love.

If you are being present in the lives of people you want to hear the Gospel, it’s also important that we love, period. This is often difficult because when we have in mind the goal of “preaching the Gospel,” this also becomes the focus of our relationships.  But in order to earn the right to be heard, we must love without an agenda.  We should absolutely have a desire to share the Gospel in this relationship; that’s important and will naturally flow out of our love for that person.

But it must also be considered, will I still be friends with this person if they don’t get "saved"?

John writes, “Love one another as I have loved you.”

When Christ loves, he loves with no strings attached.  It’s not I’ll love you if you come to this bible study.  It’s not I’ll love you if you agree with this statement.  It’s not I’ll love you if you agree with my political views.  It’s I love you, period.  And then that love is demonstrated in suffering and death.

And John calls us to love like Jesus loved.  This means we love even if they never come to church with us.  This means we love even if they continually bash the church and our beliefs.  This means we love even if everything in you thinks they don’t deserve it.

And what does this look like.  I believe someone once wrote, "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”

What's that in your hand?

Moses and God just got done having a talk at a bush that was on fire and wouldn’t burn up.  Moses decides to start asking questions about his new mission.  Although he is about to be used to lead the people out of Egypt, he seems a bit reluctant about the whole thing.  Moses asks the question, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me?”

Essentially, "What if they think I’m crazy?"

Then God replies with a fascinating question, “What is that in your hand?”

Moses had a staff in his hand.  Why did God decide to use a staff?  Did he really need the staff?  Did he really even need Moses?  God had a plan to rescue the nation of Israel and he decided that he wasn’t going to do it alone.  He was going to use Moses.  And Moses’ staff.

Five + Two = 5,000

Jesus has drawn a crowd like he often does.  And as evening approaches, the disciples get concerned because there are over 5,000 people that have gathered to hear Jesus and people are getting hungry.

Jesus doesn’t want to send them away, but instead wants to feed them.

The disciples respond, “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish.”

Five loaves. Two fish. Jesus didn’t need the loaves and the fish to feed the people.  But he chose to.

God again, just like he did with Moses, chose to use the disciples and chose to use ordinary bread and fish to do something miraculous.  He used what was already there, a few pieces of bread and fish, to do something miraculous for the people gathered.

What is your five loaves and two fish?  What is that in your hand?

God is in the business of using ordinary people and ordinary gifts and doing something miraculous.  So what is it that you have that God will use to do something incredible?

Two Kinds of Righteousness

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Faith or good works?

In order to really answer the question, you have to consider what you are asking.  Are you asking which is necessary?  In that case, the answer is both.

Are you asking which is necessary in order to be considered right with God?  In that case, the answer is faith.  You are made righteous solely by faith in the finished work of Christ.

But what if you are considering what makes you right with your neighbor?

Are you righteous in the eyes of your neighbor based on your faith in Jesus?  Or does righteousness in your relationships with others depend on the work that you do?  In your relationships with friends, family, and coworkers, righteousness might be considered as something that depends on our work.

Throughout the scriptures we can see a distinction in two kinds of righteousness.  There is a righteousness that comes solely from the work of Christ.  It describes our standing before God.  And there is a righteousness that comes in our relationship with our neighbor.

The righteousness we have before God is completely passive.  It’s not our doing, it’s all God.  And the righteousness we have before our neighbor is active.  It relies on our own work.

"This is our theology, by which we teach a precise distinction between these two kinds of righteousness, the active and the passive.” - Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians

And teacher of mine said it this way:

"What is meant by two kinds of human righteousness?…One dimension involves our life with God, especially in the matters of death and salvation. The other dimension involves our life with God's creatures and our activity in this world.In the former we receive righteousness before God through faithon account of Christ. In the latter, we achieve righteousness in the eyes of the world by works when we carry out our God-given responsibilities.” - Charles Arand, Lutheran Quarterly

Passive Righteousness.

When it comes to the righteousness we have before God, it rests solely on the work of Christ.  Jesus declared, “It is finished.” Martin Luther described us as “beggars.”  We are completely passive in our relationship with God, powerless to do what only God can do.

Passive righteousness is the vertical relationship between God and man.  God does the work.  The only contribution that man brings into this equation is sin.  This is a righteousness that is alien; it is completely outside of ourselves.

This alien righteousness, instilled in us without our works by grace alone—while the Father, to be sure, inwardly draws us to Christ—is set opposite original sin, likewise alien, which we acquire without our works by birth alone.  Christ daily drives out the old Adam more and more in accordance with the extent to which faith and knowledge of Christ grow.  - Martin Luther

This is why Romans describes man by saying, “No one is righteous - not even one.”

Before God, no man by his own actions is made righteous.  This is why Wingren described Luther’s words when he said, “God doesn’t need our good works.”  Because our righteousness in the vertical realm does not come from anything we do, but only from God’s action toward man.

Active Righteousness.

When it was said that God doesn’t need our good works, he continued by saying, "but our neighbor does."

In our horizontal relationships, our righteousness is not passive, it is active.  We not only have relationship with our creator (passive), but we also have relationships with our neighbors.  In our relationships with the world around us, God calls us to be active serving the world around us.

Active righteousness is what we do in our communities, our neighborhoods, our families, and our jobs.  Active righteousness is where we fulfill our God-given vocations.

The passive righteousness we have freely through faith; active righteousness requires that we serve those around us in the places that God places us.

Why this distinction matters?

A proper understanding of these two kinds of righteousness is important because we must not confuse the two.

If we confuse the two and think that active righteousness establishes our relationship with God, we will trust in ourselves for salvation.  Instead of relying solely on God in the vertical relationship, we will find ourselves relying on our own ability to follow the commandments or serve our neighbors.

If we confuse the two and think that passive righteousness carries over from our vertical relationship into our horizontal relationships, we will end up ignoring the needs of our neighbors.  When we ignore active righteousness, we ignore our callings to our family, to our communities, and in our careers.

Instead we must see these two kind of righteousness clearly.  In our relationship with God, we are recipients.  We, like beggars, receive the gifts that only God can give.  And in relationship with the world, we actively seek to do good and serve our neighbors.  And these two kinds of righteousness, while distinct, are also deeply connected.

Our passive righteousness inspires our active righteousness.  Because we are free from having to earn our salvation, we are also free to do good for our neighbors.  This is why Martin Luther said, “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.”  Good works will follow.  The righteousness that comes passively through faith always flows out into an active righteousness that loves the neighbor.

Some other great resources on this topic:

• Lutheran Quarterly Article by Charles Arand
• Just and Sinner: What are the two kinds of righteousness? 
• Concordia Theology: FAQ on Luther’s Two Kinds of Righteousness

Pastor Dads

What would it look like if Dads were the pastors of their home?  What would our families look like if Dads saw their vocation as father as crucial to the life of their kids and spouse?  What if dads saw themselves as the primary shepherd in their home? It is often easy to see the job of pastoring and shepherding as the job of the professionals, but for the dad the pastoring in their home is primarily their responsibility.

In Luther’s small catechism, it actually begins with the words:

“As the head of the family should teach the household.”

Pastor dads are teachers.

When Jesus gives the command to go and make disciples, which includes our living rooms, he also gives instructions on how this is to happen.  By baptizing and teaching.  As dads pastor their children, the call is to be a teacher to them.  As dads, we teach our kids how to follow Jesus.  We teach our kids about the commands, about the scriptures, about Christ.  And we teach our children how to live like Jesus.

We teach as we instruct through our words.  And we teach as we model a Christian life.

We talk about forgiveness.  And we show forgiveness.  We teach about promises.  And we show promises.  We teach about sharing our faith.  And we actually share our faith.

Pastor dads are shepherds.

A friend of mine describes the word pastor by pointing out how strange it is.  “Sounds so archaic.  Unsophisticated.  Definitely not as impressive as ‘Chief Executive Officer.’”  Pastors are shepherds.  A shepherd cares for, protects, feeds, and watches over his flock.  And while the dad of the home certainly might have to make sure business is in order, the budget is balanced, and the family is sticking to their mission - the dad is also a pastor.  Shepherding his little flock.

"Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.” - 1 Peter 5:2

As dads, the first flock that we’ve been given is our own families.  And pastoring our family means feeding them spiritually, caring for them spiritually, and shooting the wolves who come to attack.

Pastor dads are leaders.

As dads teach and shepherd, they also lead.  Dads lead their homes.  They set the pace, the direction, and the vision of the home.  Some have even taken this as far as creating a family mission statement.  Whatever it looks like, the pastor dad has to be a leader.  Because as we make disciples in our family, we do so by being the lead follower.  We lead as we follow.  We give direction as we follow direction.  We are imitators and call those who follow us to imitate us.

Note: I borrowed the title of this post from a Mark Driscoll eBook by the same title.  

Leading When You're Not in Charge

If you are a leader, you want to lead.  You have ideas of how your ministry, your congregation, or your organization should be led and would love to see those things happen.

Even if you are not the guy in charge.  That’s what makes you a leader.

You are passionate about the place you work, the calling you have, and you want to move the vision forward.  But what do you do when you aren’t the lead guy?  How do you influence your organization when you aren’t the person in charge?

Because we can’t all be on the top of the org chart.

And if we can’t all be on the top, for the person in charge, it is important that great leaders are scattered all throughout the organization.  Any organization, especially a church, needs to have great leaders throughout the entire organization.  Our churches need leaders who are passionate about the mission and vision of the congregation and lead from within their own spheres of influence.

A good leader doesn’t necessarily have to have the highest position in the organization, he simply hast to lead from wherever he is positioned.

How to Lead from Below

Note: I am far from an expert at this, but am just sharing some of the things I have been taught, have observed in others, or have tried myself. 

Leverage influence over a position.

Relational influence is more valuable than a position on a org chart any day.  Positional authority seeks to get people to listen and obey commands.  Relational influence gets a team on board with the direction the team needs to go.

People simply react more enthusiastically to being enlisted in a common cause than they do to being ordered around. And getting people to act on their own to achieve the goals you have in mind is far more effective than having them only react to your direction. - Wall Street Journal

While you may not be in a position of authority in your congregation, the most valuable tool you have as a leader is not your position.  Regardless of where you fall in the org chart, if you have relationships with those you work with, you have an opportunity to lead.

Lead with honor and respect.

The fastest way to lose the support of the leader who is authority over you is to dishonor or disrespect his authority.  This might seem obvious, but when there are disagreements or division, this becomes all the more important.  If you want to earn the right to be heard by the leader in authority over you, you have to have honor and respect for that leader.

There is no doubt that as a leader, you will disagree with other leaders in your organization.

In fact it would be surprising to me if a Senior Leader in any organization had a staff that 100% agreed with his decisions all the time.  And if that were the case, I would be very skeptical of working in an organization that created robots that blindly support every decision of their Senior Leader.

Since you will likely disagree with something, the question then becomes how do you disagree well?

Andy Stanley says, “Support publicly; challenge privately.”  And when you support them, mean it.  And when you challenge them privately, really listen.  And admit when you’re wrong.

Be incredible.

Want to gain influence with those you work for?  Do your job well.  Don’t just meet the requirement, do it exceedingly well.  Don’t just serve those in your ministry, be the best servant you can possibly be.  Don’t just preach a sermon, preach the best sermon you know how.  Don’t just provide pastoral care to those you counsel, give them your full and undivided attention.

Seth Godin said, “The leader is the leader because he did something remarkable."

What are some other ways you have found helpful when leading from below?

When Should You Leave a Church?

People leave churches for all kinds of reasons.  Some of the reasons are good and other times…not so good.  Sometimes the reasoning stems from a disagreement in doctrine, other times it stems from a ministry philosophy, and others it simply comes from a preference of style.

As Americans, we are likely shaped by our consumerism when it comes to the way we approach churches.  Our culture has certainly shaped the language that I despise when people look for a new church home,  "Church shopping."

Imagine the early church talking about “church shopping.”

And I’ll be the first to admit that things like musical style, preaching style, the design of the facilities, and ministry strategy all matter to me.  But none of these things are the main things.  The musical style, the preaching style, and ministry strategy all must be servants to right teaching and right living.

"Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” - 1 Timothy 4:16

Life and doctrine.

This is what matters most.  For us personally and for us corporately, we must guard our right teaching and our living.  While all that within us might want to have a church that sings cool songs and have entertaining sermons (which aren’t bad), these desires should be servant to the desire for our churches to have right teaching and right living.

Orthodoxy and orthopraxy.

And so style certainly matters, but it should be shaped by right teaching.  There is teaching that simply desires to say what itching ears what to hear and there is teaching that wants to speak ancient truth in a language that people can understand.  Both might be engaging when listening to a preacher, but only one comes from an understanding of what matters most.

When you should absolutely leave your church...

Wrong Teaching.

If your church teaches the scriptures wrong, that's a great reason to leave.  There are lots of churches that are growing in size but also compromise what they teach when it comes to the Word of God.  The church that does not teach the Bible is emasculated.  It may find strategies for growth numerically, but the people will dwindle spiritually.

Does this mean you will perfectly agree with the way every single thing is said?  Probably not.

But when you question the teachings, ask questions of the leaders.  Our churches do not need congregants who blindly follow what their pastor teaches.  Instead we need congregants who ask, “Well, what does the Bible say about that?”

Congregnants like the Bereans: "Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11)"

If you go to a church that is not teaching what the Bible teaches, leave.

Wrong Living.

This one can be a bit harder to find.  And that’s not because it happens less often, but it is more difficult to discern because churches are filled with sinful, hypocritical people who do not live the way God calls us to.

Right teaching should always lead to right living.

Orthodoxy and orthopraxy are linked to one another.  And so if you encounter a congregation who doesn’t take seriously following Jesus, that’s a good reason to leave.  If you are at a congregation that teaches rightly the Bible, but in practice doesn’t follow the teaching, something has gone wrong.

When the church as a whole fails at living out what they believe, you have to ask, “Do they really believe what they say they believe?”

If you are considering leaving because of a failure in “Right Living,” I highly suggest that this be done carefully, respectfully, and filled with conversations.  Because our churches are filled with sinful people, it must also be considered that a congregation is repentant of their failures and seeking to correct where they have gone wrong.

What other reasons might you find to leave a church? Do they fit within these categories? 

Photo Credit: Kate