When we first set out to plant a missional church, we had some lively debates over what exactly it meant to live missionally. Does it mean moving into a disadvantaged neighborhood and working for renewal? Does it mean living in the same zip code so we can truly be a missional community? Does it mean deepening already-existing relationships with co-workers? Does it mean deliberately changing my patterns of life to bring me into contact with non-Christians “on their turf” (bars, music shows, nightclubs, etc)? Our conversations about these matters seemed easily to slide toward people moralizing their preferences and looking down on others who didn’t think like them. (Which is one reason why we consistently need to be reminded of the gospel!)
Tim Keller helps to answer this question by observing that the standard pattern of evangelism in the New Testament centered around the oikos (Greek for household). But the word household in NT times was much broader than we tend to think of it. “In the Bible, evangelism does not happen primarily through programs… it happens naturally through one’s oikos, or household… A household was not just your family, but… a fairly tight-knit, close set of colleagues, kin, friends, neighbors. It was understood that when you became a Christian, you had been called to be a steward, evangelistically speaking, of your oikos.”*
In our day, Keller suggests that the biblical term oikos applies to at least five networks: your kinship network (family and relatives), your neighborhood (those who live near you geographically), your colleagues (co-workers or co-students), your affinity network (people with a shared special interest), and your friends (those from the other 4 networks whom you develop a close relationship with). The relative strength or weakness of these five networks varies based on your context.
What it means to live missionally, then, is to have authentic friendship with people in these networks. That’s it. If Jesus is truly important to you, and if you have real friendships with people, then Jesus is going to come up sooner or later in the natural course of sharing life. You shouldn’t have to artificially shoehorn Jesus into every conversation, nor should you feel the need to hide or downplay your affection for him. Those in your oikos will get to know Jesus as they get to know you.
So – is missional living primarily about your neighborhood, your co-workers, your hunting buddies, or your non-Christian family members? The answer is: yes.
[*Quoted from "Evangelism and the Steward Leader," mp3 audio from Redeemer Presbyterian Church.]
I have found that people tend to confuse three different but related spiritual gifts: teaching, prophecy, and exhortation. Thoughtfully reflecting on the differences may save you from much frustration as you figure out your “fit” in God’s mission.
According to Divine Design (a leadership assessment tool developed at Covenant Seminary and used at Coram Deo):
Teachingis the ability to understand and communicate the Christian faith so as to make the truth clear to others. The result of this gift is the equipping and maturing of others in the body of Christ so that they will grow in grace and be more effective disciples.
Prophecy or Preaching is speaking what God wants said with clarity, creativity, and power. The primary ministry in this gift is not prediction, but in confronting people with the truth about God and man—with conviction and empowering as the result.
Exhortation is the gift of being able to encourage others by well-timed and wise counsel. This gift builds the Body of Christ by helping new, young and adolescent disciples to turn from sin and believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. Also called the gift of Counseling or Encouragement.
Here’s how these gifts play out in various arenas:
Missional Community/Small Group Leadership: The best MC leaders are usually those with the gift of teaching, because they’re not content to communicate information; they want to see people learn and grow. On the other hand, prophets tend to preach to their MC, while exhorters want to turn it into a counseling session.
Discipleship/Spiritual Formation: The best disciplers are usually those with the gift of exhortation, because they know how to speak a timely word (Prov. 15:23) and how to draw out what people are really thinking and feeling. Teachers tend to turn discipleship into “content dump” while prophets often talk at people instead of to them.
Rebuke/Confrontation: The best people to confront sin effectively are usually prophets, because they care less about what people think than about the truth. Teachers tend to instruct instead of confronting, while exhorters can be so encouraging that the rebuke isn’t appropriately felt.
Preaching: Prophets make the best preachers. Teachers can also be effective from the pulpit when they play to their strengths (clarity, equipping, disciplemaking); in fact, one pastor gifted in prophecy and another gifted in teaching often makes for a great 1-2 punch. Exhorters can also be effective preachers because of their great insight into people; however, they should invite the input of teachers and prophets for help with structure and clarity.
Of course these are over-generalizations. No one should be pigeonholed into a particular area of service, because with appropriate skill development and maturity, people can minister effectively outside their area of gifting. But in general, it’s a good idea to find a role in ministry that leverages your God-given gifting for the good of His body and the progress of His mission.
It should also be noted that progress in sanctification (or lack thereof) can strengthen (or conversely, weaken) the effectiveness of these gifts. Teachers or prophets who haven’t learned to be “quick to listen, slow to speak” (James 1:19) tend to delight in airing their own ideas without considering whether they fit the circumstance. Exhorters who are not well-traveled in the disciplines of prayer, meditation, and Bible study can end up dispensing moralistic advice instead of good news. The fact that you have spiritual gifts doesn’t mean you’ll use them well. Don’t neglect your need for progressive sanctification.
(By the way, if you’d like to take the Divine Design profile to get a better “read” on how God has uniquely gifted you, let us know.)
Since the launch of Coram Deo, we’ve gathered every Wednesday night for an hour of communal prayer. And when I say “we,” I mean a dozen or two faithful people. The faces change from time to time, but rarely are there more than 15 people in the room.
This causes me great angst as a pastor. I want to see more people show up to pray. At the same time, I despise legalism. I refuse to bind people’s consciences. Showing up at Wednesday night prayer doesn’t merit God’s favor, nor does it necessarily indicate a healthy prayer life. People may come because they’re motivated by guilt or they want to look good to others. People may stay home and yet be deep and vibrant in prayer.
In calling people to corporate prayer, I have erred on both sides. I have given off shades of performance: “If you really love Jesus, you’ll come to prayer.” I have been apathetic and passive: “The Lord will bring whomever he wants.” Even now, I confess that I am mystified about the proper biblical approach to this subject. The parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8) and the radical promises of Jesus (John 15:7, 16) convince me that prayer matters more than we think it does. On the other hand, “performance praying” is a classic mark of a Pharisee (Matthew 6:5).
So here I am, gingerly stepping out in a blog post to address the matter. I will begin by airing some of my frustrations. I will end with personal narrative, explaining why corporate prayer is good for my soul. I’ll leave it to the Holy Spirit to do what he needs to do in your heart.
FRUSTRATIONS; OR, STUFF THAT NEEDS TO BE SAID
It is not legalism to call people to spiritual disciplines. Many Christians have a nervous twitch toward anything that smacks of fundamentalist rigor. Anytime someone uses the word “should” (as in “you should gather with other Christians to pray”), we accuse them of legalism. But this is foolish and misguided. The New Testament is full of imperatives. Telling, urging, commanding someone to do something is NOT legalism. Legalism is what happens when we forget the proper motivation (gospel grace) or when we measure God’s acceptance of us by our good performance.
You cannot have a healthy prayer life without corporate prayer. Some people assert that they pray in private instead of gathering with others to pray. I question whether these people are very mature in their practice of prayer. Corporate prayer shapes you in a number of ways that private prayer cannot. It makes you humble yourself and engage with the prayers of others. It forces you to quiet your straying mind. It forces you to confront your judgmental attitudes toward that guy across the room who prays too long or that person who just asked for something completely selfish. Corporate prayer is an essential component of spiritual formation.
Yes, prayer meetings are often lame and feel like “a waste of time.” I’m happy if we experience a unique sense of the Spirit’s presence one out of every four Wednesdays. Sometimes prayer is lame. That’s OK. It’s still shaping. And isn’t the nature of relationship about “wasting time?” We live in a very production-oriented society, where everything is measured by efficiency and productivity. Except friendship. When you are with friends, you expect to “waste time” together. To those who are “too busy” to commit an hour of the week to corporate prayer, I would simply ask: what other time-wasters do you commit an hour to? Facebook? Revising your fantasy football roster? Watching television? Talking on the phone? Arguing with friends about really life-altering issues like who should have won American Idol or which Avett Brothers album is the best?
SELF-DISCLOSURE; OR, WHY I MAKE IT A WEEKLY DISCIPLINE TO GATHER WITH OTHERS FOR CORPORATE PRAYER
My soul needs it. By Wednesday nights I am often beat down, dejected, and spiritually tired from pastoring and teaching and discipling and counseling and rebuking and problem-solving. An hour of praying with others recharges my heart, refreshes my vision, and renews me in the promises of the gospel.
It’s too easy for me not to pray. I need a regular weekly rhythm to keep me disciplined. Otherwise I could easily go months without really devoting myself to prayer, keeping alert in it (Col 4:2).
I meet with God. Regularly I experience a deep sense of God’s presence while praying corporately with others. I feel a greater sense of burden and urgency than I do praying alone.
It’s a rebellion against my flesh and my culture. We live in an entertainment-saturated, convenience-driven culture that idolizes work and busyness. Setting aside one hour of my week for corporate prayer is one way for me to live counter-culturally. It’s rest. It’s reflection. It’s dependence. It’s admitting my need. It’s worship.
It humbles me. I’d far too easily drift into thinking that Coram Deo is successful because of something I’m doing. Prayer reminds me that I can do nothing apart from him.
It shapes me. When I pray with others I have to learn to listen, not speak; to trust, not doubt; to believe the best, not assume the worst. Over the past decade God has graciously made me slower to speak and quicker to listen. Much of that spiritual formation has come through corporate prayer.
It’s the most important part of our mission. We are out to see people repent of sin and trust in Jesus. And yet that’s not something we can make anyone do. If we’re going to succeed, we’re going to succeed on our knees. Because unless God works, our work is useless.
I’m trying to set an example. Too many Christians think that spiritual leadership is about doing something to lead others. But spiritual leadership is primarily about being a certain kind of person. A worshipful, prayerful person. I’m doing my best to become that kind of leader, so that those who follow me will become those kind of people.
I like it. For all the reasons above and many more, I look forward to Wednesday evenings from 8 to 9 PM. It’s one of the highlights of my week. Even when it’s lame and awkward and laborious… I like prayer.
I’m praying that this post might spur more of you to join us on Wednesday nights. We meet at Lane’s house, near 97th and Maple. Ask around in your MC, or call the CD offices for specific directions.
Additionally, I’d be interested to know: what hinders you from corporate prayer? Or – what motivates you toward it?
This post will be mostly irrelevant to many of you, but for the sake of aspiring elders, church planters, preachers, teachers, and others who might benefit, I thought it might be helpful to walk through my process of sermon preparation, using this morning’s sermon (Col. 2:1-5) as an example.
Prayer. Mondays are sermon prep day. I begin the day with an hour of personal communion with God through Bible reading and prayer. If I don’t, preaching prep becomes toilsome instead of worshipful.
Mechanical Outline. I ponder the text for the week, analyze its structure, and lay it out in a mechanical outline on my whiteboard. Fee and Stuart: “A text can’t mean now what it never meant then.” A mechanical layout makes sure I’m following the logic of the passage and not importing my own.
Subject. I ask the first question Haddon Robinson taught me to ask: what is this passage talking about? (i.e. what subject is the original author writing about?) Subject of Col 2:1-5: Paul’s struggle/burden/longing for the church at Colossae and the others near it
Big Idea Statement: I ask Haddon’s second question: what is this text saying about what it’s talking about? (i.e. what is the original author saying to the original audience? How would you summarize the text in a sentence?) Big Idea of Col 2:1-5: Paul longs for the church to know (riches/assurance/understanding /knowledge) Christ, so that no one will delude them with persuasive arguments.
Fallen Condition Focus (FCF): I think through Bryan Chapell’s question: what aspect of our human fallenness does this text address? Or, to be more precise: What is the mutual condition that contemporary believers share with those to or for whom the text was written that requires the grace of the passage? FCF of Col 2:1-5: our tendency to be deluded by persuasive arguments
Proposition: How would I restate the raw material of the FCF and the Big Idea in terms of a proposition? What am I asking people to think/feel/do? What is at stake? What am I saying to the person out there thinking, “so what?” Proposition for Col 2:1-5: Because we can be deluded by persuasive arguments, we must know Christ, in whom is all wisdom and knowledge.
Contextualization: What do I need to do to connect this passage to my audience’s world? Contextualization for Col 2:1-5: what modern arguments are most persuasive to me and to the people of Coram Deo? (This step often requires the most work… for instance, this week, I had to think through the common arguments and find quotes and research to support them. I always want to state arguments a) in the person’s own language; b) with appropriate supporting documentation (i.e. I researched this in the library, NOT on Wikipedia) and c) in a way that would be fair and charitable if they were in the room. So, for instance, this morning I wanted to say things in a way that Richard Dawkins would consider fair if he were present.)
Querying the Text: What about this text doesn’t make sense to me? What bugs me? What seems unclear? If it seems unclear to me, it will probably seem unclear to the people I’m preaching to. Stuff that bugged me in Col 2:1-5: the effeminate-sounding phrase ‘that their hearts may be encouraged,’ the ways Christians have used this text to justify a ‘fortress mentality’ that simply ignores or avoids the persuasive arguments of the surrounding culture.
Gospel Connection: How does this text necessitate, foreshadow, or elucidate Jesus’ person and work? Gospel Connection in Col 2:1-5: knowing Jesus [and knowledge in the Bible is almost always existential/personal, never abstract/conceptual] is the key to not being deluded by persuasive arguments
Gospel Implications: How does the grace of Jesus in the gospel help us to live out the teaching of this text? Gospel Implications in Col 2:1-5: ‘in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ – in Christ we are freed from our idolatry of knowledge, so that we may experience the true riches of knowledge and wisdom. As a result, through the gospel, we are able to hold true knowledge with confident humility and gracious certainty.
Some weeks this process is easier than others. Sometimes I do a better job and sometimes a worse job of thinking through all these facets of a sermon. I am an intuitive person and so I don’t walk through this checklist from 1 to 10. But in general this reflects my basic process.
Much of the textual work takes place on Mondays. Lately I’ve been gathering with a group of leaders on Tuesday mornings to talk through the text and the sermon, so that helps to clarify and crystallize my thinking. This week’s sermon prep took place: all day Monday; one hour Tuesday morning; two hours Thursday afternoon; six hours Saturday afternoon/evening; and two hours Sunday morning before church (which are mainly devoted to prayer and practice). Sometimes it takes more work than this; sometimes less.
Thirty years ago, God called John Piper to resign from teaching at Bethel College and take the pastorate of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. As he considered this vocational change, Piper sought advice from his father, a wise 55-year-old evangelist who had labored hard in the ministry for four decades. Perhaps Bill Piper’s words to his son will be a helpful encouragement/challenge to some of you who are considering pastoral ministry:
Now I want you to remember a few things about the pastorate. Being a pastor today involves more than merely teaching and preaching. You’ll be the comforter of the fatherless and the widow. You’ll counsel constantly with those whose homes and hearts are broken. You’ll have to handle divorce problems and a thousand marital situations. You’ll have to exhort and advise young people involved in sordid and illicit sex, with drugs and violence. You’ll have to visit the hospitals, the shut-ins, the elderly. A mountain of problems will be laid on your shoulders and at your doorstep.
And then there’s the heartache of ministering to a weak and carnal and worldly, apathetic group of professing Christians, very few of whom will be found trustworthy and dependable.
Then there a hundred administrative responsibilities as pastor. You’re the generator and sometimes the janitor. The church will look to you for guidance in building programs, church growth, youth activities, outreach, extra services, etc. You’ll be called upon to arbitrate all kinds of problems. At times you will feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. Many pastors have broken under the strain.
If the Lord has called you, these things will not deter nor dismay you. But I wanted you to know the whole picture. As in all of our Lord’s work there will be a thousand compensations. You’ll see that people trust Christ as Savior and Lord. You’ll see these grow in the knowledge of Christ and his Word. You’ll witness saints enabled by your preaching to face all manner of tests. You’ll see God at work in human lives, and there is no joy comparable to this. Just ask yourself, son, if you are prepared not only to preach and teach, but also to weep over men’s souls, to care for the sick and dying, and to bear the burdens carried today by the saints of God.
My own experience affirms that Bill Piper’s counsel is spot-on. And countless young pastors like myself are eternally grateful that Dr. Piper made the decision he did. More at Justin Taylor’s blog.
The crew at Acts 29 invited me to do a short video promo for the upcoming boot camp in Louisville. Thanks to Justin for the camera work. Thanks also to the construction guys next door who were kind enough to stop using their power saws for 4 minutes so we could get a good take.
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You thought racism was a problem? You thought gay rights was a hot-button issue? Not anymore. The latest craze in the politically correct push for “tolerance:” fat rights.
A friend in Hollywood pointed me to an article in today’s LA Times that chronicles the madness:
Marilyn Wann of San Francisco is among the nation’s fat activists. She became passionate about defending the rights of fat people when she was denied health insurance based solely on her weight. …She now does corporate training to promote fat acceptance in the workplace. She’d like to change two beliefs: that people chose what they weigh, and that weight equals health. Both are false, she says.
Size tolerance, fat-acceptance activists say, should be right up there with religious tolerance, ethnic tolerance and gay tolerance. “It’s the culture that has to change,” says Judith Matz, director of the Chicago Center for Overcoming Overeating. “I look forward to the day when fat phobia becomes as intolerable as racism.”
One of the most common theological questions people have is how divine sovereignty and human responsibility work together. Despite very clear biblical teaching on the matter, it seems that our finite minds struggle to rest easy. Colossians 1:29 is one of the texts that helps give light to the issue. Since I won’t be taking this particular angle when I preach on verse 29, I wanted to quote some very helpful observations from Sam Storms’ book The Hope of Glory: 100 Daily Meditations on Colossians.
For this purpose I labor, striving according to his power, which mightily works within me. (Col. 1:29)
The presence of God’s power does not preclude Paul’s personal struggle or energetic striving or laboring. Rather, it makes it possible. God’s power is not designed to eliminate our responsibility to work hard but to enable us to fulfill it. Paul is able to work hard because God is working hard. The latter doesn’t destroy or undermine the former.
J.I. Packer perhaps put it best when he said, “The Holy Spirit’s ordinary way of working in us is through the working of our own minds and wills. He moves us to act by causing us to see reasons for moving ourselves to act. Thus our conscious, rational selfhood, so far from being annihilated, is strengthened, and in reverent, resolute obedience we work out our salvation, knowing that God is at work in us…”
Thus we see that God has chosen to operate not independently of but only through and by means of human effort and labor. God’s energy doesn’t fall from heaven haphazardly and amorphously, but comes to us through human ministers and ministry, via human toil and struggle.
So how might we know when God is energetically and powerfully working in us? If, when you are slandered, you respond by entreating (1 Cor. 4:13), you can rest assured that divine energy is working mightily in you. If, when you are reviled, you bless instead of curse (1 Cor 4:12), you can rest assured that divine energy is working mightily in you. If, when you are persecuted, you endure (1 Cor 4:12), you can rest assured that divine energy is working mightily in you. When you are afflicted but not crushed, are perplexed but do not yield to despair, are struck down but not destroyed, you can rest assured that divine energy is working mightily in you (2 Cor 4:8-9). When you are sorrowful and still rejoice, possess nothing yet are rich, you may rest assured that divine energy is working mightily in you (2 Cor 6:10). If, when you are in poverty, you give generously and joyfully (2 Cor 8:1ff), you may rest assured that divine energy is working mightily in you.
You probably won’t feel anything. There’s no guarantee that your body will vibrate or your appearance will change. But if you find yourself responding and thinking as Jesus would, if you find yourself acting and choosing contrary to every fleshly and sinful impulse, you may rest assured that divine energy is mightily at work in you. Only in this way can we, like Paul, continue to serve and love and minister and not lose heart.
– from Sam Storms, The Hope of Glory (Crossway, 2007), 137-138.
Dave Harvey, who will be a featured speaker at the upcoming AMBITION boot camp, hits the nail on the head with an assessment of what’s plaguing men in the church these days:
