Resurgence 2.5

We measure maturity a lot of different ways in our churches. Sometimes it’s measured by church attendance. Other times it’s measured by Bible knowledge. But the biblical evidence of maturity is fruit. In Matthew 7:17f-20 Jesus says, “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit […], thus by their fruit you will recognize them.” Maturity is all about fruit.
 
How many times have you heard (or said) that “God doesn’t expect success. He just expects us to be faithful.” Pastor, that’s only half true. The Bible makes it very clear that God expects far more than faithfulness. He also expects fruitfulness. This is taught all throughout the New Testament. Many people will be surprised when they get to heaven and God says, “You didn’t bear any fruit?” Remember, Jesus cursed the fig tree because it didn’t bear fruit!
 
God expects fruitfulness in our lives as well. And he says it over and over and over again. But how do we help people bear spiritual fruit in their lives? How do we turn them into mature, mission-minded believers who minister to others? Let’s not answer that question with any buzzwords. I’m not interested in the modern way, the postmodern way, the emergent way, the missional way, the seeker way, the charasmatic way – or even the purpose driven way. I’m interested in how Jesus helped people become fruitful. 
  
In Jesus’ prayer in John 17 he says, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” He hasn’t gone to the cross yet, so what work has he completed? It’s the finished work of Christ that most churches never understand – making disciples.
 
How did he finish the task? His prayer in John 17 tells us.

1. He led them to salvation. Jesus prayed, “For you granted him authority over all men that he might give eternal life to all those you have given to him.” This should be obvious. Discipleship begins with evangelism. Of course, we want to disciple people who are already Christians. But remember, Jesus started with pagans. We’ve got to win people to Christ before we can train them. The spiritual birth always precedes spiritual growth.

2. He taught them the Word. Jesus taught his disciples the Word of God. There is no spiritual growth that’s not based on God’s Holy Scripture. In verse eight Jesus prays, “For I gave them the words that you gave me and they accepted them.” And in verse 14 he says, “I have given them your word.” The Word of God is the foundation for all discipleship. Want people to grow spiritually and be fruitful? Get them in the Word every day. Just listening to your sermons – no matter how good they are – won’t help your people be as fruitful as getting them into the Word for themselves.

3. He prayed for them. To see your people grow spiritually, you need to pray for them. That’s part of pastoring. You don’t just pray for your sermons or yourself; you pray for your people as well. Jesus said, “I pray for them. I’m not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours” (John 17:9). We need to pray with them and pray for them. Paul followed this example of Christ as well. In fact, he starts almost every letter in the New Testament he wrote with a prayer for the church.

4. He checked up on them. Jesus says, “While I was with them…” You can’t disciple somebody that you’re not with. Pastor, you’ve got to be with your people if you want them to grow spiritually. You’re not going to be able to personally check up and mentor everyone. But somehow your church needs a system for coaching in your church. You need small group leaders or others who will follow up on your people. Jesus protected his disciples from false teaching and kept them from backsliding. He guarded them. At the end of his ministry on earth, he says I haven’t lost a single one of them – except Judas to fulfill Scripture. If you want your people to grow, you need some sort of accountability in your ministry. 

5. He sent them on mission. Then Jesus says, “As you sent me into the world I have sent them into the world.” Who do you think are the most mature people at our church? The thousands of people who’ve gone overseas on mission. It changes them. When they come back, they’re not thinking about diamond-crusted tennis bracelets anymore. Once you’ve served around the world, it changes your value system. You care more about people overseas, and you care about people in your own community, too. These short-term missionaries have come back and loved the poor, ministered to the addicts, and battled the sex trade right here in Orange County. That’s maturity.

   The goal of discipleship in any church must be ministry and mission. Maturity is never an end in itself. In fact, you can’t be mature until you’re ministering and living on mission. Jesus said “I didn’t come to be served. I came to serve and to give my life as a ransom.” The words give and serve define the Christian life. You want your people to be like Christ? Teach them to give and serve.

6. He expected reproduction. We know he expected reproduction because in verse 20 of this priestly prayer he says, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.” He not only sent the disciples out into the world, but he implied that he’s expecting reproduction. Did it work? Obviously. There are nearly two billion people who claim the name of Christ around the world.

7. He focused on character. Jesus didn’t simply expand the knowledge, perspective, skills, or conviction of the disciples. He focused on their character. Spiritual maturity is about character and conduct – not just content. We don’t want to just fill up people’s minds with facts and figures. Paul says, “I want to present every man perfect in Christ.” If, in the final analysis, the people I’m training aren’t more like Jesus after we’ve worked together, I’ve missed the point.

8. He loved them. Jesus said, “You sent me and I have loved them as you have loved me.” This is so typical of Jesus. All that Jesus did for his disciples was in a spirit of love. You must love those you train. If you don’t love them, it doesn’t count. If you don’t have a sincere abiding love for the people in your church, then do you know what discipleship is? It’s manipulation. You’re just manipulating them toward a goal.

Sometimes we forget that Jesus is the best model we have when it comes to ministry. No one in the history of the world discipled people more effectively. Jesus was able to say at the end of his ministry that he had finished his work. Pastor, I hope we can say that as well

Let me challenge you with these thoughts…

• When you teach on “felt needs,” you aren’t watering down the message. You are helping people find forgiveness and healing and a new direction for their life. It’s easy to preach through the Bible. It’s much harder to preach to hurting people who need to understand how the Bible applies to their lives.
• When the person sitting beside you is dealing with a marriage crisis that’s leading to a crisis of faith, it makes your preferences of music and volume seem pretty small.
• When you neglect the mission field in your neighborhood because of your desire to help people across the ocean, I wonder if you’re just choosing the path of least resistance.
• When you choose to focus on your theological differences at the expense of helping people find healing and hope, could it be that you haven’t spent enough time living out your faith because you’re too busy defending your faith?

In recent weeks, I’ve looked in people’s eyes and heard many stories. They are the real stories of real people experiencing real pain.

Let’s not forget why we do what we do.

Best quote above, IMO: When you teach on “felt needs,” you aren’t watering down the message. You are helping people find forgiveness and healing and a new direction for their life. It’s easy to preach through the Bible. It’s much harder to preach to hurting people who need to understand how the Bible applies to their lives.

We saw 187 people come to Christ today…WOW…that PUMPS ME UP!!!

For those of you who wonder “what we do with people” who receive Christ (which makes them sound like PROJECTS and not PEOPLE), we encourage them to continue to come to church, read their Bible, plug in and serve, share the Gospel…and we rely on the Holy Spirit to work in their lives as much POST conversion as we did PRE conversion!  :-)

Perry Noble, his take on structured discipleship. I think it made sense when he said new Christians should be treated as PEOPLE not PROJECTS.

1. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile – He’s a hundred years old. His slogan should be “It’s not only houses and whores who grow respectable with age.” That line he uses “problema mo, sagot ko!” eh papaano kung siya ang problema?

2. Senate Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada – He will definitely live up to his father’s reputation.

3. Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago – Not attending sessions because of chronic fatigue syndrome daw. Now she has the energy to run and serve for another 6 years. That’s not chronic fatigue syndrome, that’s manic depressive.

4. Representative Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr. – Loyalty to Binay

5, Representative Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.- Mas bagay sana NPC, Danding is his ninong too.

6. Representative Rodolfo Plaza – Who he?

7. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III – Just forget the election protest against Zubiri? Eh kung ganun lang pala ang gagawin niya at hindi niya paninindigan ang protesta niya di ibig sabihin hindi nga siya dinaya ni Migs. Sino kaya ang sasabihin niya nandaya sa kanya pagnatalo siya ulit? Para siyang a bad replay of Loren, nagprotesta laban kay Noli tapos hindi tinuloy kasi magsesenador na lang siya.

8. Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares – Daughter of FPJ, very active in the opposition

9. Jose “Joey” de Venecia III – Will he be as vigilant with Erap as he was with Gloria? He should have run with either Chiz or Noynoy. That way he could have maintained his image as a graft-buster. How does he explain running with a crook?

10. Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim- Sayang talaga. Sana he ran with Chiz or Noynoy. How does he explain running with a crook? He will end up like Honasan.

11. Edu Manzano – Well, someone has to take Lito Lapid’s place

I will be writing about this too within the week. I might entitle it "Why I LIKE Erap to run for president" :D

Cute commercial. Seriously, though, I will freak out if I see an 8 year old kid who writes that way. :D

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How tired I am of this unbearable distance between us.
How I long for the toll of the recess bell.
Have you forgotten me?
Grown mindless of me?
Tell me I am not writing into an abyss or that is what will become of my heart.

The problem is not our heart. It is not our intentions. We are ignorant. We don’t mean to be ignorant, but we are. We have a disease called “The Curse of Knowledge."

In their book Made to Stick, brothers Chip Heath and Dan Heath expand on this term, “Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it. Our knowledge has ‘cursed’ us. And it becomes difficult for us to share our knowledge with others, because we can't readily re-create our listeners' state of mind." 

We are cursed with church knowledge. We know the basics of the Bible. We know where to park our car in order to exit quickly. We know where the bathrooms are located. We know the songs. We know when we are supposed to clap after a song and when we should be reflective. We know what the pastor means when he says, “Just as in the days of Noah…” We know we ALWAYS sing verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, repeat last phrase, again, one more time. We know God is faithful AND all things work out for good AND sometimes God answers prayer by telling us to wait AND when God closes a door he sometimes opens a window AND a thousand other silly slogans which look good on a bumper sticker but mean nothing to people who do not know.

The problem is we have no memory of what it is not to know. And so our churches, led by people plagued with the curse of knowledge, provide experiences and design services that feel right to people who know stuff but totally miss the boat when it comes to people who don’t...

The curse of knowledge disables most of us (who have been in church for years) from being able to hear our message in the same way as someone who has no room for church in their lives. It also keeps us from hearing the teaching of Jesus in the same way someone who did not grow up in the church hears the same words.The curse of knowledge keeps us from being able to see that we are not communicating.

You say, “I’m speaking in English. Everyone in my community understands English. I’m speaking in their language. Right?” Not necessarily. Speaking the right language is more than the words that are spoken. It is about context, timing, previous experiences, and culture.

Help. I’m broken and I can’t get up.

‘Broken by God’—that’s a statement I’m hearing a lot lately.  What does it mean to be broken by God? I’m not so sure that it’s something that God does as much as it is a place we find ourselves in.

I think there are two primary places of brokenness.  First, brokenness can be the result of sin.  We’ve messed everything up and now, life is just broken.  Second, brokenness can be the result of surrender.  We’ve submitted ourselves to the purposes of God so much that we are experiencing pain; the pain of selflessness, submission, being misunderstood, etc.

It’s critical we don’t confuse the two. We need to stop saying, “God is breaking me,” when we’re really just breaking ourselves by repeating destructive, sinful behavior.  And, if you’re experiencing brokenness as the result of surrender, lean into it; you’re going through a process of transformation.

Help.  I’m broken and I can’t get up. I’m flat on my back.  My sin is great. Lord, please forgive me and restore me.

Help.  I’m broken and I can’t get up.  I’m on my knees.  My surrender is great. Lord, please give me the strength to stay the course.

What are your thoughts or experiences with this topic of brokenness?

Great thoughts from Swerve today.