The Assembling of the Church

People in the Raleigh area occasionally email me and ask if they can meet with our church. Of course, anyone is welcomed to meet with us. Sometimes, they ask me, “What are your church meetings like? What should I expect?”

Well, I recently met Jon. We had lunch together, and last Sunday he met with us. I asked him if he would tell me about his time with us. I told him that I would like to post it on my blog (before I received his description). So, this is what Jon said about meeting with us last Sunday (he wrote it as a letter to the church):

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Dear Brothers and Sisters of Messiah Baptist Church,

For the last few years now, my spiritual instincts have told me that something was missing from my overall church experience. My whole life as a believer, I assumed any dissatisfaction with the “worship service” was the result of my inadequacies or my lack of “spirituality.” I’m still inadequate, and I’m still not very spiritual, but something was telling me that I wasn’t the only thing broken.

The Lord has taught me quite a bit over the last year, and I have finally taken the step of faith to leave my existing church and search for a deeper church experience … something closer to what we see in the New Testament, and what I believe Christ intended. That is why I greatly anticipated my visit to your church this past Sunday. Of course, anticipation wasn’t the only feeling I had. I was also a little skeptical, perhaps somewhat afraid. I’ve been reading a lot lately about simple / organic church, and in the back of my mind, I can picture the type of people this might attract: rebels, non-conformers, heretics, etc. (somewhat kidding). What if I was disappointed? What if what I have been envisioning for over a year was a big let-down?

Any reservations aside, I found myself being mostly excited to visit with you. I was eager to experience some of the things that we actually read about in the New Testament. I am happy to say that I was very filled and fulfilled by our meeting together. I was surprised (while also not surprised) by how natural it felt, as if I was in my element. I guess the best way to describe it is to say that it felt very “balanced.” I guess one of my fears was that it would seem like, “let’s do everything we can to not look like an institutional church!” … “let’s be extremely different!” Rather, it felt like a genuine pursuit of our Lord’s idea of church. I was comfortable in the corporate sense (as a fellow believer) but challenged in a personal sense (in light of what we studied). It was refreshing and it was very balanced.

Here are the elements of the meeting that meant most to me:

Fellowship — I felt very welcomed among the group. It wasn’t just the “hello, welcome to our service, glad you’re here today.” It was genuine, meaningful conversation. You were interested in who I was and what was going on in my life. The meal was also very special. It gave everyone a chance to further connect and spend time together. I loved the fact that there was no sense of hurry or “look what time it is!” … We were just content to share our time.

Family — I love that the entire family is included in the meeting. We love having our son in church with us now and I like the idea that he can learn with us as he matures.

Interaction — I personally liked the circle seating arrangement. I don’t know how you normally do it, but it seemed very appropriate for sharing amongst the group. I love that everyone had an opportunity to share, read scripture, and have input (and it was decently and in order). I also loved the fact that there was freedom to be vulnerable, whether it be a hard situation someone is going through or even a sin that needs to be confessed.

Music — I’m assuming you usually have a guitar or something (which I like), but I enjoyed being able to sing without a lot of extra noise. It allowed me to focus on the meaning and the message of the songs. I was glad to see a good balance in the song selections (hymns, choruses, etc) … all familiar. A couple of songs did seem to “drag’ on a little bit, mainly the ones with a lot of verses (but I’m sure that’s just the old worship leader in me). I’ve yet to develop a comfort level with “contemporary” church music or the idea that “worship” is all focused on the musical part of the service, so I was definitely pleased to see that the corporate singing (and the whole meeting for that matter) appealed to the spirit rather than the emotions.

Bible Study — What a great lesson and very good insight from the whole body. I left having discovered new truths shared by all those who had something to add. It was refreshing to see a meeting where the Holy Spirit has more control than we do. Yet, it was not a “free-for-all.” Everyone shared (with humility) according to their spiritual insight. I did not sense that anyone was trying to draw attention to themselves by what they had to say.

Now, I can finally say that I know what I’ve been missing! Thank you all again for allowing a fellow brother join your family for one day. I certainly look forward to doing it again soon.

Until we meet again,
Jon

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According to Princeton’s wordnet, “reciprocity” means “a relation of mutual dependence or action or influence.” Similarly, a “reciprocal pronoun” is “a pronoun or pronominal phrase (as ‘each other’) that expresses a mutual action or relationship between the individuals indicated in the plural.”

Did you know that reciprocal pronouns are common in the New Testament? They are. They are usually translated “one another” or “each other” or even “each one”. Reciprocal pronouns are very important for us to understand how we should relate to one another. Many times, this relationship is obvious and easy to understand.

For example, in 1 John 4:7, John writes that we should “love one another.” (ESV) Most believers recognize that our relationship with one another should be expressed with mutual love. If person A loves person B, but person B does not love person A, we recognize that they are not loving one another.

Similarly, in 1 Peter 5:14, Peter writes that we should “greet (or welcome) one another.” (ESV) Again, it is easy to recognize that if one believer greets someone, but the greeting or welcome is not returned, then they are not greeting one another.

In James 5:9, James writes, “Do not grumble against one another.” (ESV) Grumbling probably means complaining. So, believers should not complain about one another. So, if one sister refuses to complain, but another sister does complain, then the two are not following James’ command. They are grumbling against one another.

We find Paul using reciprocal pronouns often. For example, in Galatians 5:13, he tells us, “Through love serve one another.” (ESV) This is also a command that recognize as a reciprocal command. If a brother is serving someone, but that brother refuses to serve, then the two are not serving one another.

But, there are other reciprocal instructions that are difficult to understand. In fact, in some circles, the reciprocity is removed from these commands.

Consider Paul’s statement in Colossians 3:16. He says that when the word of Christ dwells in us richly, we will demonstrate that by “teaching and admonishing one another.” (ESV) How reciprocal are we with this instruction? If one person teaches, but another person does not teach, do we recognize that they are not teaching one another? What if one person is admonishing but another is not admonishing? Do we allow this instruction to only apply to some believers but not to other believers?

Paul makes a similar statement in Romans 15:14, where he says that he is convinced that the Romans are “able to instruct (admonish) one another.” (ESV) Does the reciprocity in this statement apply only to the Romans? Did they have something that believers today do not have? Or, could God still expect all believers to teach/instruct/admonish reciprocally?

Another interesting reciprocal statement is found in Romans 14:19. Again speaking to the believers in Rome, Paul says, “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding (the edification of one another).” (ESV) The reciprocal pronoun is harder to see in the ESV translation “mutual upbuilding.” But apparently Paul that it was important that all of the believers in Rome reciprocally pursue those things that led to peace and edification. Is this still something that we all pursue reciprocally.

Peter writes some of these difficult reciprocal commands also. In 1 Peter 4:10, he writes, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (ESV) Do we recognize the importance – the necessity even – of all believers exercising their spiritual gifts in a manner that can serve other believers? Do we sees this as every believer’s responsibility?

There are many other “difficult” reciprocal commands. A couple would include “submit to one another” (Ephesians 5:21), “humble yourselves before one another” (1 Peter 5:5), or “count one another as more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). These, and many, many other commands in Scripture, are reciprocal commands. That means that the commands are give to a plural group to be carried out as “a mutual action”.

Why do you think its easy for us to recognize “love one another” and “serve one another” as mutual requirements, while we tend to not recognize “teach one another” or “edify one another” as mutual requirements?

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This is passage #60 in “Scripture… As We Live It“:

There was not a needy person were needy persons among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (Acts 4:34-35 re-mix)

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Steve at “From the Pew” considers a very important topic in his post “The Sermon-Centered Life.” He wants to know why the sermon is considered central to many Christians traditions. For example, he says:

Preaching is scriptural. The sermon may have developed more as a tradition than not, but a tradition that isn’t forbidden is fine. I’m fine with sermons and preaching. But what I’m trying to get at is why it’s often so central, so much more important than all other things in the church, so often exclusionary of other things. Many times I have found myself thinking, “Gee, I’m a bit late to church for whatever reason, but at least I didn’t miss the sermon.” If the sermon goes late, sometimes other activities can be cut short for the sake of preaching. People don’t often ask how the praying or singing or offering went, they ask how the sermon went. We often make recordings of only the sermon. To many, the sermon is the most important thing in church, and even the thing around which all other Christian life is lived. It can solve our problems like nothing else. It can make or break the reputation of a pastor.

I think Steve may have inadvertantly touched on one reason that the sermon is central for many churches and many traditions: because the pastor is central. And what does a pastor do? Most would say that a pastor preaches. In fact, in many Southern Baptist churches, pastor and preacher are synonymous.

As Steve points out, you can find preaching – proclaiming the gospel to unbelievers – in Scripture. Of course, that’s not what we call “preaching” today, but it is what Scripture calls “preaching.”

So, we should ask ourselves why the sermon is central is so many churches today. We should also ask, if the sermon is not central is Scripture, then what has the sermon replaced… and why?

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I’ve written a couple of posts concerning Luther’s “The German Mass and Order of Divine Service” (1526). I think most people are surprised when they read what Luther wrote about the church meeting. Here are those posts:

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Luther and the non-Christian “worship service”

In his essay “The German Mass and Order of Divine Service” (January 1526) Martin Luther explains how a Sunday meeting should be carried out. Specifically, these are his instructions (I’ve removed some of the details so that it is easier to see the outline):

[a] At the beginning then we sing a spiritual song or a psalm in German, in primo tono, as follows : Ps. xxxiv.

[b] Then Kyrie eleison, to the same tone, but thrice and not nine times. . . .

[c] Then the priest reads a Collect in Effaut in unisono, as follows : ‘Almighty God,’ etc.

[d] Then the Epistle, in the eighth tone. . . . The Epistle should be sung with the face turned to the people, but the Collect with the face turned to the altar.

[e] After the Epistle is sung a German hymn, ‘Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist,’ or some other, by the whole choir.

[f] Then is read the Gospel in the fifth tone, also with the face turned towards the people.

[g] After the Gospel the whole congregation sings the Creed in German, ‘ Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott,’ etc.

[h] Then follows the sermon…

[i] After the sermon shall follow a public paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer, with an exhortation to those who are minded to come to the Sacrament…

[k] Then the Office and Consecration proceeds, as follows : ‘Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the same night’(i Cor. xi. 23 ff)…

[l] The elevation we desire not to abolish but to retain, for it fits in well with the Sanctus in German, and means that Christ has bidden us to think of Him…

[m] The Sanctus in German, ‘Jesaia dem Propheten das geschach,’ etc.

[n] Then follows the Collect : ‘We thank thee, Almighty Lord God,’ etc.

[o] With the Blessing : ‘The Lord bless thee and keep thee,’ etc…

This looks very familiar. In fact, besides the various portions in German and/or Latin, this “order of service” is similar to what I was accustomed to experiencing while I was growing up in Baptist churches in Alabama. Sure, we called “The Blessing” by a different name (the Benediction), and we didn’t sing or speak the various creeds to one another each week. But, overall, our Alabama Baptist liturgy was very similar to Luther’s German/Latin liturgies. After moving to Georgia and North Carolina, and visiting church meetings in other parts of the USA and the world, I’ve also found that Luther’s “order” is very similar to the order of church meetings around the world.

Here’s the funny part… if you call it funny… Luther did not think this “order” was best for the church. Instead, he intended this “order” (whether in German or in Latin) to be for unbelievers. This is a quote from the beginning of Luther’s essay – which is often overlooked:

Both these kinds of Service (German and Latin) then we must have held and publicly celebrated in church for the people in general. They are not yet believers or Christians. But the greater part stand there and gape, simply to see something new: and it is just as if we held Divine Service in an open square or field amongst Turks or heathen. So far it is no question yet of a regularly fixed assembly wherein to train Christians according to the Gospel: but rather of a public allurement to faith and Christianity.

Did you catch that? What the church today calls a “church service”, Luther says is not for the church at all – that is, not for Christians. Instead, he designed his “Mass and Order of Divine Service” for the sake of attracting those who are not Christians. In fact, he later describes what he thinks a meeting would look like for those who are already Christians (see my post “Luther and the Church“). However, without considering Luther’s purpose, we blindly follow his design. I wonder if we’re missing something…

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Luther and the church

In the preface of “The German Mass and Order of Divine Service” (1526), Martin Luther describes three different kinds of “divine service”. The first and second kinds of “divine service” are differentiated only by the languages used (Latin and German, respectively). Importantly, this is what Luther says of these two kinds of “divine service”:

Both these kinds of Service then we must have held and publicly celebrated in church for the people in general. They are not yet believers or Christians. But the greater part stand there and gape, simply to see something new: and it is just as if we held Divine Service in an open square or field amongst Turks or heathen. So far it is no question yet of a regularly fixed assembly wherein to train Christians according to the Gospel: but rather of a public allurement to faith and Christianity.

Thus, for Luther, the public service in both Latin and German are for the purpose of exposing unbelievers to the Gospel. Notice that he does not see these services as being for Christians. So, what does Luther proscribe for believers? Keep reading for his “third sort of divine service”:

But the third sort [of Divine Service], which the true type of Evangelical Order should embrace, must not be celebrated so publicly in the square amongst all and sundry. Those, however, who are desirous of being Christians in earnest, and are ready to profess the Gospel with hand and mouth, should register their names and assemble by themselves in some house to pray, to read, to baptize and to receive the sacrament and practise other Christian works. In this Order, those whose conduct was not such as befits Christians could be recognized, reproved, reformed, rejected, or excommunicated, according to the rule of Christ in Matt. xviii. Here, too, a general giving of alms could be imposed on Christians, to be willingly given and divided among the poor, after the example of St. Paul in 2 Cor. ix. Here there would not be need of much fine singing. Here we could have baptism and the sacrament in short and simple fashion: and direct everything towards the Word and prayer and love. Here we should have a good short Catechism about the Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer. In one word, if we only had people who longed to be Christians in earnest, Form and Order would soon shape itself. But I cannot and would not order or arrange such a community or congregation at present. I have not the requisite persons for it, nor do I see many who are urgent for it. But should it come to pass that I must do it, and that such pressure is put upon me as that I find myself unable with a good conscience to leave it undone, then I will gladly do my part to secure it, and will help it on as best I can.

It seems that Luther is calling for a different type of meeting for believers. In this meeting, Luther does not have to order things. Instead, he sees that “the form and order would soon shape itself.” (I would add that it is the Spirit that forms and orders the meetings.) In fact, Luther sees baptism and the Lord’s Supper happening in this group – not in one of the public meetings that are meant for unbelievers. Notice also that in this meeting, believers would teach one another and take up money to give to the poor.

So, why did Luther not pursue this type of service? Well, he tells us here that he does not know “earnest” Christians willing to participate in this type of meeting. History tells us that Luther later relented from this position in order to appease the state church.

Everything that follows this point in “The German Mass and Order of Divine Service” describes how to carry out the first two kinds of “Divine Service”, which Luther said were not intended for believers, but for unbelievers. We will never know what would have happened historically if Luther had held to his convictions: “I will gladly do my part to secure it, and will help it on as best I can.”

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As I mentioned previously, I’ve been reading The Jesus Paradigm by David Alan Black. (see my posts “The Jesus Paradigm“, “Summer Reading“, and “Not about me… seriously“.) I read it slowly, mainly because I had several other things going on at the same time. I should make a couple of disclosures before my review.

First, Energion Publications sent me the book for review. (I am very appreciative!) See their page on this book here: jesusparadigm.com

Second, David Alan Black is my PhD mentor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Black’s purpose in writing this book is to encourage his readers toward “radical discipleship”. He is concerned (rightfully so, I would say) that many believers have forfeited following Jesus, and have instead placed their trust in their traditions, their leaders, or their politics.

This is not a book about the church. Nor is this a book about politics or leadership. However, Black touches on each of these subjects, and in some cases he grabs them with both hands. No, this book is strictly about discipleship – about following Jesus in the simple – yet extraordinarily radicaly – ways in which Scriptures describes and prescribes.

For much of the book, Black uses the radical reformers of the sixteenth century – the Anabaptists – as exemplars for our own discipleship. He explains how the Anabaptists refused to compromise their way of life:

Above all, the Anabaptists believed in obeying Christ’s call to abandon self and follow his example of humility, service, and suffering. The way of Jesus, they taught, is the way of suffering servanthood. It is the ultimate in downward mobility. (39)

Using the Anabaptists’ way of life as an example, Black exhorts every believer to consider him or herself to be a minister (servant) and a missionary. Every believer is responsible to teach, admonish, serve, give, evangelize, disciple, etc. These responsibilities cannot be given to or taken by others, even those in leadership.

However, Black does not want his readers to follow the Anabaptists. Instead, he says, the Anabaptists were simply attempting to live according to the pattern that they found in Scripture. Were they perfect? Of course not. But, they lived their beliefs.

And, Black does not write only to those who follow in the footprints of the Anabaptists historically. In fact, I think any believer from any tradition can benefit from reading this book. Black even concludes by calling all believers to radical discipleship and unity in Christ:

It’s time to summarize and conclude. Are you in a mainstream congregation? In an emergent church? In a home meeting? It really doesn’t matter.  The paramount question to ask is this: Are you willing to wash the feet of others? Are you willing to use your gifts to enrich the Body of Christ? Are you willing to forego pyramids of power? Are you willing to surrender what is rightfully “yours”? In the end, it doesn’t matter what evangelical church we belong to. What matters is that we faithfully pursue the Jesus paradigm regardless of the religious structures around us. What matters is that we work from the bottom up… And we are to do this whether or not we agree with our brother or sister in every area. (126)

On one hand, Black’s book is an academic work. His years of study in Greek, New Testament, hermeneutics, and history are ably demonstrated in this work. On the other hand, this book stands apart from many works of academia, because Black is unable (and does not desire to) separate this work from his life. In fact, he uses examples from his own work in the seminary in North Carolina, at his home in Virginia, and in countless villages and cities around the world – especially in Ethiopia – to exhort his readers to consider their beliefs and live them out!

I have to admit that I did not first come across these lessons while reading this book. Instead, I’ve spent many hours discussing these concepts with Black. We’ve talked about being servants and ministers. We’ve talked about a church full of priests. We’ve talked about the church relying on the state.

This book is a great reminder of the many discussions that I’ve had with my PhD mentor, and the reason that I asked him to be my mentor in the first place. Everyone reading this book will quickly realize that Black is not writing from an ivory tower. Instead, he’s writing with hands covered with Ethiopian dust.

This is a book that I would recommend to anyone. Read it… and share it with others… then live the pattern of life that you find in Scripture… the pattern of life in which only the Holy Spirit can direct you and empower you.

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This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)

Ms. Jennie has had a rough time lately. She is the 85 year old lady from New York who lives in a local nursing home and who my family spends time with each week. About a month ago, she developed pneumonia. She had not been sick, but she woke up in the middle of the night unable to breathe. She has been on oxygen off and on for the last several weeks.

She’s also had hip problems. Her hip has been hurting her alot, and she’s been taking pain medicine that makes her groggy. She has to shift positions often because of her hip.

During the last few weeks, when we’ve visited her, we’ve been unable to stay for very long because of her breathing problems, or because her hip was hurting, or because she became groggy from her pain medicine.

But, the last time that I visited with her, she was back to her normal self. Her breathing was back to normal, and they had taken the oxygen tanks out of her room. She had had a few physical therapy sessions, and her hip was feeling much better.

When I walked in the room she smiled at me and immediately began talking. She talked about things that had happened over the last few weeks – things she had not been able to talk about before because of her breathing and her hip.

She also wanted to talk about “religious things”. This is always somewhat funny to me, because she starts by saying that she does not talk “religion” with anyone but me. She says that she tells people, “If I want to talk about religious things then I’ll talk to Alan.” I asked her why she talks with me but not with other people, and she says, “Because I know you care about me”.

While we were talking about God, she started talking about her children again. She’s angry with God because “he took” her sons in separate automobile accidents when they were both twenty-one. She also has a daughter, but her daughter is not “good” like her sons, at least according to Ms. Jennie.

She was almost in tears when she told me that her daughter once threw hot coffee in her face and yelled at her, “I hate you! I wish you were dead!”

I told her that I can’t imagine the pain that that caused. I told her that I could imagine Miranda telling me that. It would break my heart.

Then I said, “I know that I can’t make up for what your daughter did and said to you. I don’t want to try to make up for it. But, I want you to know that I love you, and I’m glad that you’re not dead”. She smiled again in spite of the pain that her memories had caused.

I don’t know why God has chosen me to love Ms. Jennie. I pray that God will use my relationship with her and my words to her to bring Ms. Jennie to himself. Only he can do that. All I can do is make myself available to him and to her.

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If you would like for me to include your story in this series, please send me an email at aknox [at] sebts [dot] edu.

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Last week, I wrote two posts concerning the start of a church. The first post was called “Hypothetical Situation… what do you think?” The second post was called “More about the hypothetical situation“. In this hypothetical situation, I projected Paul’s first visit to Thessalonika into modern times.

When Paul first went to Thessalonika (Acts 17:1-10), he was only able to spend a few weeks in the city. Several Jews and later some of the Greeks became interested in the Gospel and began following Christ. Paul makes it clear in 1 Thessalonians that the birth of this church was miraculous, because the church was not birthed because of his teaching, but because of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Certainly, the Spirit used Paul and Silas and others, but Paul recognized that the birth and health of the church did not depend upon him, but depended completely on the work of the Spirit.

I’m concerned that we have replaced dependence on the work of God through the Holy Spirit with training, planning, marketing, leadership skills, etc. I’m concerned that some leaders (some, not all) have built something that depends on them and their team, such that, if they left, what they built would crumble.

Now, I want to say something that most people reading this blog will agree with. However, please think carefully about what I’m about to say, and compare it to how the church functions today.

Many groups of belivers today are more dependent upon leadership, training, programs, buildings, finances, etc. than they are dependent upon the work of God through the Holy Spirit. Many believers today are more dependent on good business practices than they are dependent on the Holy Spirit.

If removing leadership or programs or buildings or finances or anything else would cause believers to stop meeting together, stop disciplining one another, stop growing spiritually, then that group of believers is not depending on God.

Yes, I know this is a strong statement, and perhaps many will disagree with me. However, at least one author agrees:

We in the churches seem unable to rise above the fiscal philosophy which rules the business world; so we introduce into our church finances the psychology of the great secular institutions so familiar to us all and judge a church by its financial report much as we judge a bank or a department store.

A look into history will quickly convince any interested person that the true church has almost always suffered more from prosperity than from poverty. Her times of greatest spiritual power have usually coincided with her periods of indigence and rejection; with wealth came weakness and backsliding. If this cannot be explained, neither apparently can it be escaped.

The point I am trying to make here is that while money has a proper place in the total life of the church militant, the tendency is to attach to it an importance that is far greater than is biblically sound or morally right. The average church has so established itself organizationally and financially that God is simply not necessary to it. So entrenched is its authority and so stable are the religious habits of its members that God could withdraw Himself completely from it and it could run on for years on its own momentum. (A.W. Tozer, Tozer on Christian Leadership)

I think that we are currently witnessing the result of the church (for the most part) being run on its own momentum for too long. The momentum (which is not powered by the Holy Spirit) is running down.

Now, we must ask ourselves… are we willing to forego all of the stuff that we think is necessary and rely completely on God and only on God?

Whether we are Baptist or Presbyterians, Institutional or Simple, Emerging or Lutheran, Missional or Attractional, we must all ask ourselves this question: Are we truly relying on God for our health and existence or are we relying on other people or things? And, we can’t just ask ourselves this question once. We must continually examine the way we live, the way we meet, the way we evangelize, the way we serve, the way we lead, everything.

For those of us who are leaders, this is an especially important question. If the church would stop functioning or growing if we disappeared, then there’s a big problem. We are – even if unintentional – building something that depends on us, not on the Holy Spirit.

The church is not the church unless we are following and relying completely on the Holy Spirit. We may birth something on our own, and we may keep something running on our own. But, only the Spirit can birth and grow a church.

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I’m tired of gimmicks, mottos, slogans, mission statements. Why can’t we just make disciples? In fact, I think that will be my new motto: “Just Make Disciples”.

I shared this idea with a few friends, and they were all very excited about the idea of spending time with one another – discipling one another – helping one another live our lives in conformity with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and encouraging others to do the same.

One of my friends has a t-shirt printing business. He told me that he could print some t-shirts with “Just Make Disciples” on it. I think this will be a wonderful way to encourage people to spend their time making disciples instead of doing so many other things that seem good, but distract us from our mission. I was planning to get together with my friend this afternoon, but he’s working on the design for the logo, and buying t-shirts, and setting up his screen prints, and talking to Christian retailers. He thinks “Just Make Disciples” will become a huge brand.

Another friend is in marketing. He thought this idea was wonderful also. He said he knew some people that he needed to spend time with in order to just make disciples. His mind works so fast that he already  has ideas for a print campaign, a radio spot, and maybe even a TV commercial. He knows a couple of actors and authors who may be interested. I was hoping to have lunch or dinner with him, but he’s very busy putting together these marketing plans for “Just Make Disciples”.

One of my friends is one of the elders of a local church. He thinks this idea will revolutize the church. He says that it is so simple that any believer can take part, and it is so effective that only a few people who just make disciples will change their neighborhoods and city. He had to cancel our plans to get together because he’s working on a small-group study and a sermon series designed around our new motto “Just Make Disciples”.

I have a friend who is a lawyer. He thinks he needs to spend more time helping the people in his practice follow Jesus. He’s looking forward to spending time to just make disciples. Of course, he said, we have to be very careful with our brand. Someone could steal it, or mimic it, or denigrate it. He’s looking into a formal copywrite. For now, he say, we should try to trademark “Just Make Disciples ™”. We were planning to get coffee together tonight, but he has to do some research and fill out the right forms in order to protect “Just Make Disciples ™”.

So, my afternoon and evening is free. I was planning to get together with several friends to just make disciples, but they’re all busy with “Just Make Disciples ™”. You know, now that I think about, what we really need is a web presence. And, since I’m a web developer, I think I can come up with a great web site for “Just Make Disciples”. There could even be a discussion area where people can hang out and spend time with one another online.

So, like I said, I’m tired of all those gimmicks, mottos, slogans, and mission statements. I want to just make disciples. I think “Just Make Disciples ™” is exactly what we need today.

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Here is the 59th passage in “Scripture… As We Live It“:

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds (Acts 5:1-2 re-mix)

No changes required… we live by this one fairly consistently.

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