Joshua 24:15: Choose For Yourselves

Within my own experience, working for a company that is based out of Taiwan, there is a chasm between the concepts about spiritual life held by most of my colleagues and the concepts about spiritual life found in the Bible. This gap will not be bridged by a basic gospel presentation because the terms are not readily intelligible.

Many of the key ideas, such as God, sin, Jesus, repentance and faith are fading into the dim cultural awareness of those in the West. We must assume that to discuss these ideas, we must introduce them.

Sometimes we look at a quote from Joshua "...then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve" (Josh. 24:15) we focus on the "this day" aspect of the choice. However, we neglect the experience of Joshua's audience (Israelis) over the preceding years whereby he could make the appeal to them. "...choose...whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." They had a wealth of other spiritual alternatives they could choose from, all with ancient pedigrees, impressive achievements and persuasive prophets. But they also had been led across the Jordan River in Joshua's company. This was a process of small and large decisions in which they learned about God's story that led them to this point of decision.

We often neglect the years of process in our rush to the day of decision.

Tim Keller, in his book Center Church, says, "many people process from unbelief to faith through 'mini-decisions'." (p. 281) There is a moment of trust but also there are steps that typically bring an individual to a point of trust. In post-Christian and non-Christian cultures, the steps are often far apart in time.

Keller lists six typical steps or "mini-decisions:

1. Awareness: "I see it." They begin to clear the ground of stereotypes and learn to distinguish the gospel from legalism or liberalism, the core from the peripheral.
2. Relevance: "I need it." They begin to see the slavery of both religion and irreligion and are shown the transforming power of how the gospel works.
3. Credibility: "I need it because it's true." This is a reversal of the modern view that states, 'It's true if I need it." If people fail to see the reasonableness of the gospel, they will lack the endurance to persevere when their faith is challenged.
4. Trial: "I see what it would be like." They are involved in some sort of group life, in some type of service ministry, and are effectively trying Christianity on, often talking like a Christian-even defending the faith at times.
5. Commitment: "I take it" This may be the point of genuine conversion, or sometimes a person will realize that conversion already happened and they just didn't grasp it at the time.
6. Reinforcement: "Now I get it." Typically, this is the place where the penny drops and the gospel becomes even clearer and more real.

This is not a linear process, because relationships are not linear. But each mini-decision crosses a line where a person can imagine themselves as a Christian.

My question for myself is how to help my friends, neighbors and colleagues towards the next mini-decision. Some of it is the way I live my life. Some of it is the conversations we share. Some of it is the things we do together. All of it is intentional: Deliberately loving people.

Acts 16: The Every Member Gospel Ministry

Tim Keller, in his book Center Church, talks about what he calls "every-member gospel ministry"(p. 280). We want every member of our churches to be ministers, but we also tend to place rather severe limitations of what that ministry can look like and still be "ministry". When we think to "equip his [Jesus'] people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up" (Eph. 4:12) we imagine better Sunday services, outreach campaigns, childrens' programs or Bible studies.

But consider my 24/6 life. That's the life I spend outside of church functions. What if my ministry exists there? Is the church equipping me to extend the kingdom of God in and through my job, family and community? And what does ministry look like there?

Keller notes four characteristics typical of this every-member gospel ministry:

• Organic. It happens spontaneously, outside of the church's organized programs (even though it occasionally makes use of formal programs).
• Relational. It is done in the context of informal personal relationships.
• Word deploying. It prayerfully brings the Bible and gospel into connection with people's lives.
• Active, not passive. Each person assumes personal responsibility for being a producer rather than just a consumer of ministry; 

The church is the enabler for such gospel ministry, giving truth and direction and resources (what I call air/food/water) and networking (aka fellowship). Some of my previous blog articles have reflected on the church as a ministry incubator. These ministries are gospel-targeted, and designed to welcome people into some form of community where they have regular, sustained contacts with multiple believers so they "come to understand the character of God, sin and grace. Many of their objections are answered through this process. Because they are 'on the inside' and involved in ongoing relationships with Christians, they can imagine themselves as Christians and see how faith fleshes out in real life" (p. 281)

The book of Acts contains numerous examples of ministry sprouting gospel wings from the household (oikos) of new believers. Most of these examples have been used to justify house churches (in my experience), but Keller here uses them as a model for churches to consult in enabling every-member gospel ministry. In Acts 16, Lydia's home and the jailer's home become became a "ministry center in which the gospel was taught to all the household's members and neighbors." (p. 278) Likewise in Acts 17:5, Acts 18:7, Acts 21:8 and 1 Corinthians 1:16, 16:15.

So my 24/6 life is ministry. It is active, not passive. It is Word [truth] deploying. It is relational. And it happens mostly outside of my church's organized program.  Does it replace church? No, church is huddle, the respite where we take a breath and get our next play. Life is where we carry out that play to advance to the goal.

Colossians 1:13: Imperialism by Act of Love

On June 16th, Jeremiah Heaton planted the blue flag with four stars and a crown and declared that Bir Tawil, a 800-square-mile patch between Sudan and Egypt, was now the "Kingdom of North Sudan" He was the king and his 7 year old daughter, Emily, was now a princess. "Heaton says his claim...is legitimate...exactly how several other countries, including what became the United States, were historically claimed. The key difference, Heaton says, is that those historical cases of imperialism were acts of war while his was an act of love."[1]

As followers of Jesus, the kingdom of God is planted wherever He sends us. We are his sovereign territory. "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves." (Col. 1:13) As such, we live as foreigners and resident aliens in this world, arguably subversive since Jesus said, of the devil: "Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out." (John 12:31) Each home, each office, each shop, each field and school becomes a beach head in God's plan to bring about Jesus' prayer: "...your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matt. 6:10)

But is it a kingdom if no one recognizes its existence? For Jeremiah Heaton, if the neighboring countries with political control or the United Nations don't acknowledge "North Sudan" is it real? For the kingdom of God, the king will receive universal acknowledgement: "every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord." (Phil. 2:10b-11a)

The kingdom of God is not a geographic location, but a new demographic, marked by those related to the king.



[1]Ileana Najarro, The Washington Post as cited in The Sacramento Bee, July 14, 2014, A10

2 Timothy 2:22: Pennysaver Messages to the Church

"Eric G. We want to hear your voice & make sure you're O.K. Please. It's been 6-months, time heals all. Please call home. Love, Mom, Dad, Heather." 

"Please pray for Rose. I need a job."

"Happy birthday Dad! With love. From your girls, TJ and Sarah." 

- Pennysaver 23544, July 9, 2014.

I found these notes in the "Messages" section of my local weekly mailer, tucked between the "Animals/Pets" and the churches listed in "Neighborhood News" There is something simple, public and raw about these declarations that makes me want to join them.  

This is one of the places that church is at its best and at its worst. At its best, it is the family that grows, laughs and cries together before God. "If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." (1 Cor. 12:26) At its worst, it is that same family, but torn apart by selfishness. Not pain or sorrow, but selfishness. That's why Paul advised, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves" (Phil. 2:3) 

Obviously, these people didn't look to the church for either. They rather posted (literally!) their concerns to the pages destined for recycling bins. Church was a worse bet than Pennysaver for sympathy. I am a worse bet than Pennysaver for sympathy, most days. But I did stop and pray for each. And I ask you to go out of your way to be the attentive ears and extended hands of Jesus this week. 

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." - Psalm 34:18

Finding God's Will In 250+ Pieces of Paper

What have I learned after sifting through 250+ resumes along with my 8 fellow pastoral search committee members?

1. Lots of gifted, godly, experienced men of God currently in transition in their ministry lives.
2. Lot of circumstances lead to transitions in church leadership.
3. Pastors don't realize how many people are applying for a position.

Even glimpsing the lives of so many pastors has given me a greater appreciation of the stresses that life in the church puts on those who are called into full-time ministry. Their resumes reveal the inherent contradiction in what we (as churches) ask them to do when they submit their application: they must be a humble servant-leader and at the same time they must put forward their strengths and successes. Few manage the balance well.

How hard it is  to weigh a man by a piece of paper! We asked God to protect the resume of the man who is best suited to Cornerstone. We didn't want to dismiss one that was unimpressive or accept one that was glossy and slick just because they were unimpressive or slick. We meditated on those Bible passages which dealt with discernment and God's insight vs. our insight, because we realized that a man's life was at stake and we were likely to get it wrong without help.

But in the end, you feel like you are standing in a grocery store in the condiments aisle. All good quality. All tested. But which one goes best with Cornerstone, in God's opinion? Because we can't hire them all. Or would just anyone do?

Another aspect that came out early is that the committee must be the first to believe that God still has a plan to use Cornerstone for good in El Dorado Hills. In discussing this, we felt it would be dishonest to call a man to invest his life and his family's life here if we didn't believe God had something more for this church.

It is a slow process. "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others." (1 Tim. 5:22a) From the time that we received the first application until the time we sent the first rejection letter was just over 3 months. That means that the lives of these pastors have been in suspense for at least that long. I feel for them. I answered each query about status personally. But at the same time, it just takes time. During that time, some have left their current positions anyway. Some have joined another ministry. Some are still seeking God's direction.

It's all good, because both the pastor and Cornerstone must follow God in service of his church. In thriving churches, senior pastors must sense the wind of the Spirit to steer the church into the life-giving role God has for it in the community.

John 1:23: Slow Train Coming

I've spent a lot of this past week on trains, both in Taiwan (to Jiaoxi and Taichung) and between Sacramento and the San Francisco airport. So its not surprising that I was reminded of chapter 14 of Rick Mckinley's book This Beautiful Mess, which is entitled "Slow Train Coming" The chapter refers to the iconic Bob Dylan album of the same name which features a picture of a rail crew laying track before an on-coming train. In this section, Mckinley talks about the already-here but not yet aspects of the kingdom of God.

Cover Art for Slow Train Coming by Bob Dylan

But to me it also reflects the already-here but not yet aspects of my work within the kingdom of God. On one hand, Jesus has already gone before me. As it says in Hebrews: "...Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. (Heb. 12:2a) He blazed the trail that I am following and prepared the way for me. Paul says: "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Eph. 2:10).

On the other hand, God has called me to break ground for those who would follow behind me in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is coming up behind, the "slow train" and I'm laying track. Talking about calling! John the Baptist said this: "Finally they said, “Who are you?" ... John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” (John 1:22-23) This is interesting, because only in John's biography of Jesus does it mention this appropriation of the prophecy as his mission. The others merely mention he was fulfilling it (cf. Mark 1:3, Matthew 3:3, Luke 3:4).

I sense that John's mission is my own: the make straight the way for the Lord. The prophecy John cited continues in the original (Isaiah 40): 

Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. (Isa 40:4-5a)

There are many ways for this mission to take shape, but it the result is clear: the extension of the rule of God and the blessings of God where God has called me. Riding on the train, there are places where the track hugs the shoreline, and there are places where it strikes out easily across the plains. But the east side of Taiwan is rugged, mountainous country. Make the railway smooth enough for the train requires some major engineering and restructuring of the landscape. Look at Isaiah's language again: valleys raised up, mountains made low, rough become level, rugged becomes smooth.

So Jesus has blazed the trail, but now we lay the rail for the kingdom of God to come.

Amtrak Train Arriving At The Station