A Counter Opinion: Why We Can Celebrate Online Communion with Confidence

The following is my response to a theological opinion issued by the CTCR on March 20, 2020 regarding the question of whether the Lord’s Supper, offered online, is efficacious or not. The CTCR is known for offering helpful opinions to theological questions of the day. In my opinion, this is not one of them.

To be clear, I really didn't have a dog in this fight until a District President came after my friend Pastor Eric (who has about a month to live because of cancer) because he was offering online communion to his congregation during this horrific pandemic. Then when I read the CTCR opinion which was used as a club on Eric, I felt I needed to respond.  (I've always had more courage than sense.)

My response is not meant to address all concerns.  This is a narrowly focused response to a narrowly focused CTCR opinion. The CTCR opinion is discouraging many pastors and congregations from offering the Lord's Supper online, even though the pastors and congregations had thought it through theologically and deemed it appropriate according to the clear words of Jesus and Luther's simple explanation.  

My goal with this response is not to suggest that every congregation SHOULD offer online communion, but to encourage those who are considering it, especially during Holy Week, by outlining why online communion can be a faithful way to celebrate the Lord's Supper, honoring both Christ's words as well as Luther's explanation.

A Counter Opinion to the CTCR Opinion of March 20, 2020 Concerning the Efficacy of the Lord’s Supper If Instituted While Using Online Technology

Rev. Greg Finke, St. Paul, MN | Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020

Introduction

Since late February, congregations and pastors have faced unprecedented challenges because of the coronavirus pandemic.  For the sake of the vulnerable among us, we have rightly and wisely chosen to practice social distancing. Already there are too many heartbreaking stories of well-meaning parishioners gathering for worship only to see the virus spread among the congregation and members getting sick and dying. Therefore, we have wisely and lovingly chosen not to gather in our buildings around Word and Sacraments with our brothers and sisters. In centuries past, because we would have been physically separated, we would have been utterly separated, indeed.  There were no other alternatives.

Of course, now there are.  In spite of not being able to safely gather in our buildings around Word and Sacrament, we can still gather around Word and Sacrament via computer.  Because of technology, even though we are physically separated, we are not utterly separated.  We can still hear the gospel.  We can still hear our pastors speak the Words of Jesus for instituting the Lord’s Supper. And we can still have the bread and wine in our homes consecrated by those Words of Jesus.

By God’s grace, technology has enabled us to extend the reach of the Word and the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper beyond the walls and acoustics of a church building into our members’ homes.

Any little child raised in the Lutheran Church knows that the Words of Jesus are the Words of Jesus no matter how they may be conveyed.  If dad and mom read these words from a book, they are the Words of Jesus.  If she hears them on the radio, they are the Words of Jesus.  And if you were to ask her after hearing her pastor speak the Words of Jesus in the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper online, “Were those the Words of Jesus you just heard?” she would of course say, “Yes!”  Why?  Because they ARE the Words of Jesus.  As Lutherans we believe and confess the efficacy of God’s Word.  Whether coming via print, radio waves or the internet does not take away any of His Word’s power and effectiveness. 

However, on March 20, 2020, the CTCR (Commission on Theology and Church Relations), came out with an opinion at odds with the understanding I have and many LCMS people have regarding the efficacy of celebrating the Lord’s Supper online. 

Who is the CTCR? It is a committee of 16 LCMS theologians (a few of whom I know personally and consider friends) who are charged with studying theological questions submitted by the Synod (and Synod officials) and rendering opinions that inform the discussion of congregations and Synodical leaders as they sort through theological challenges and questions of the day.

I read through the opinion [you can read the opinion by clicking the button at the bottom of this blog post], and although the CTCR has issued many helpful documents over the years, this one, in my opinion, was a clunker.  I felt its arguments were one-sided and its tone dismissive of opinions like mine which are contrary to the ones the CTCR holds on this question. After reading it, I was unimpressed and did not agree with the final opinion.  I’ll admit I was even a little angry about it.  But that’s okay.  Such disagreement with a CTCR opinion is perfectly acceptable.  The CTCR is not charged with creating doctrine.  Their opinions are not binding.  The opinions are intended to be informative and add to the discussion of the Synod.  Regarding the efficacy of online communion, it is one opinion to be considered. Take it or leave it.  And I was leaving this one. 

That is, until I began to see that this CTCR opinion was having two disastrous consequences for the faithful members of the LCMS. And so, I have written this response to offer a counterbalance to what I think is an unbalanced opinion from the CTCR.

The Consequences of the CTCR’s Opinion

Although the CTCR did not intend it, their published opinion has unleashed two severe consequences: 

1.       The Lord’s Supper is now being refused to hundreds of thousands of faithful members for the foreseeable future, and during a time when the Lord’s Supper’s assurance and comfort are sorely needed.

2.       The CTCR’s opinion was immediately weaponized by certain ecclesiastical supervisors (and meddling-clergymen) against faithful congregations and pastors who do not agree with this opinion. They are being threatened with the charge of heresy and removal from the Synod unless they comply with the opinion.

Weaponizing Human Opinion

Obviously weaponizing what the Synod and the CTCR meant to be an “opinion” is shameful. But it is already happening.

How should we respond if ecclesiastical supervisors or meddling-clergymen are weaponizing opinions and bullying the faithful? 

When meddling-clergy try to force their opinions on to congregations to which they have no call, we can follow the advice of Paul in 2 Thessalonians 3:11-13, “We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.  And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is good,” (NIV). Disruptive busybodies need to be called out, told to settle down and get back to the work of pastoring their own flocks.   

How should we respond to ecclesiastical supervisors who weaponize their opinions to force conformity? 

In Acts 5, when Peter and the apostles were called before the ecclesiastical supervisors of their day and they demanded that the apostles conform to opinions that were clearly wrong, they responded – in spite of threats and bullying – with faithfulness and courage. Their response can be our model. Acts 5:28, “We must obey God rather than men.”  There were, of course, consequences to endure. The apostles were flogged for standing their ground.  But when they left, they “left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name,” (Acts 5:41).

Likewise, when Luther was brought before the ecclesiastical supervisors of his day and they demanded that he to conform to opinions that were clearly wrong, he responded – in spite of threats and bullying – with faithfulness and courage. His response can be our model, “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.”

A Counterbalance to the CTCR’s Opinion

During this uncertain, dangerous pandemic, when we are unable to gather in our church buildings at our altars, many faithful LCMS congregations throughout the U.S. have been offering the Lord’s Supper online.  It is simple to do.  Members have bread and wine in their homes.  The pastor speaks the words of institution via a live internet connection.  Having heard and believed the Words of Jesus, the members eat the bread and drink the wine… just like they have always done since they were confirmed.  In the eating and drinking, members believe they have received what Jesus promises, His very body and blood for the forgiveness of their sins.  Gift offered.  Gift received.  At the core of this confidence is a simple, well known Lutheran belief: The Words of Jesus are the Words of Jesus no matter how they are conveyed.

However, the CTCR has a different opinion of what happens via such an online experience.  In the conclusion to the document they write that they “in no way intended to pass judgment on the motives of those involved,” which is no doubt true. But that kindness aside, the rest of the document dismisses the members’ confidence that Jesus is able to do what He promises to do through His Word no matter how it is conveyed – whether a live internet connection or in person. The CTCR’s opinion is that, because the sacrament was not instituted by a pastor standing immediately over the elements, it is “uncertain”.  Such language is sprinkled throughout the opinion. According to them, the celebration of online communion is an “unsatisfactory solution,” “faulty,” a “novelty,” “introduces doubts or uncertainty,” and is an “uncertain sacrament.”

Clearly, if the CTCR talked to anyone with a counter opinion as part of their research, it had no impact on their thinking.  Not once in the document is a counterargument made for the possible efficacy of online communion. 

And, that’s fine. Remember, it’s only an opinion… an opinion I feel is one-sided and not well thought out, but, under normal circumstances, an opinion over which I could shrug my shoulders and move on.  Except these are not normal circumstances.  And the question of whether online communion is efficacious or not is no longer an academic exercise for theologians but a very urgent question for congregations in pain. So, when I saw congregations who are joyfully receiving the Lord’s Supper online from their pastors now being told it is “uncertain” and “faulty” in what I consider a one-sided way, I was motivated to offer a counter opinion.

What follows are the two main reasons why I believe the CTCR’s rationale for discouraging the use of technology as a way to facilitate the Lord’s Supper are faulty.  I will use bold type for quotes I am highlighting from the CTCR opinion, and I will leave many of the quotes in context. 

The CTCR’s opinion is faulty when they: 

1.       Undermine the efficacy of God’s Word no matter how the Word is conveyed

2.       Introduce doubt to the faithful where previously there was no doubt

#1: The Opinion undermines the efficacy of God’s Word no matter how the Word is conveyed.

The opinion goes back and forth between affirming the efficacy of God’s Word and then undermining it. 

On the one hand they affirm the efficacy of God’s Word no matter how it is conveyed when they write:

“Such churches are able to find various ways to help members to hear the Word of Christ richly. From telephone calls to emails to website messaging to instant messaging to sermon streaming, the Word is being heard and received in the midst of the coronavirus.”

But then in the very next sentence, they undermine it:

“But what of the Sacrament of the Altar? The forgiveness of sins is not prevented when one cannot commune, for it is delivered by the Gospel as it is read and preached and spoken by the royal priesthood and also in the sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Supper as well as in Absolution. But it is only in the Lord’s Supper that we eat and drink Christ’s very body and blood. It thereby offers a special assurance that is proper only to it, just as Baptism has its own assurances.” 

Somehow, the Words of Jesus are efficacious online when the Gospel is read or when an absolution is spoken, but the CTCR doubts the efficacy of the Words of Jesus when they are spoken online for the institution of the Lord’s Supper? 

Every confirmand knows how Christ’s very body and blood is present in the Sacrament: through the gracious Words of Jesus alone.  Luther explained it this way in the Small Catechism, “How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things? It is not the eating and drinking indeed that does them, but the words here written, ‘Given and shed for you for you for the remission of sins’; which words, besides the bodily eating and drinking, are the chief thing in the Sacrament; and he that believes these words has what they say and express, namely, the forgiveness of sins.”

Should we doubt the efficacy of the Words of Jesus because they are spoken online rather than in a building?

Luther rightly does not include any other qualifiers to the efficacy of the Lord’s Supper because God’s Word does not.  Luther does not say “Besides the Words of Jesus, the faith of the hearer and the eating and drinking, you also need to be concerned about where the Words of Jesus are spoken in order to be assured that you have what Jesus promises.”  Why does the CTCR introduce this qualification that is not in the Scriptures or noted by Luther?

One may ask, “How can congregations have confidence they are receiving the Lord’s Supper online?” Simple. They believe what all Lutherans are taught: “…and he that believes these words has what they say and express, namely, the forgiveness of sins.”  The congregation hears Jesus’ Words; believes what He offers with the bread and wine; and then eats and drinks.

As we noted in the introduction, if any little child heard the Words of Jesus being spoken by their pastor online and we then asked the child, “Were those the Words of Jesus?” she would say, “Yes!”

Do we believe the Words of Jesus are the Words of Jesus no matter how they are conveyed? Of course.  Do the Words of Jesus get short-circuited as they pass through the internet?  Of course not.

#2: The Opinion introduces doubt to the faithful where previously there was no doubt.

Did faithful people in our Synod already have questions and doubts about celebrating the Lord’s Supper online before the CTCR’s opinion was published?  Of course.  That’s why the CTCR was given the topic to study in the first place. My goal with this critique is not to convince the reader that one MUST participate in the Lord’s Super if it is offered online, but that there is a solid Scriptural, Lutheran basis for addressing the doubts one may have, a basis the CTCR is silent on.  If a congregation or individual still has doubts after considering both sets of opinions, then, by all means, abstain from the Lord’s Supper until you can celebrate it in a way that overcomes your doubts.

However, there are many faithful theologians, congregations and individual members of the LCMS who had already worked through their questions about online communion previous to the publishing of the CTCR’s opinion. They are currently celebrating the Lord’s Supper online without doubts.  They did their theological work and have ultimately put their faith in the same teachings they always have: The Words of Jesus and the explanation of Luther.

Unfortunately, as we quoted earlier, the CTCR’s opinion is that there should be doubt about the efficacy of the Lord Supper if it is instituted online. It seems that, if they considered the theological work done by those who would advocate online communion, they disregarded it completely.  There is no mention of other theological opinions besides the one they present.

So, inevitably, if online communion is to be doubted, their best advice to the faithful during the pandemic is not to commune at all.

Regarding the inevitable hardship not communing will be, the CTCR is empathetic:

“The inability to commune is therefore no small matter, but a true hardship!”

“We know, however, that the church has known this hardship at other times and not only in our own time. During the early years of colonial America, Lutherans often went weeks or months without the Supper. Congregations without a pastor are often unable to receive the Lord’s Supper in their services because supply pastors are unavailable—sometimes for lengthy time periods. And, in the early 20th century during the great influenza epidemic of 1918–1919, many Missouri Synod churches were not able to meet for any services during a period of time. We are not in uncharted territory.” 

My counter opinion is that while not communing is, indeed, a hardship, it is an unnecessary hardship.

In the past, the church has known this hardship because we lacked the gift of technology. However, it is no longer an inevitable hardship that we have to endure in the same way. The CTCR’s assertion that “we are not in uncharted territory” is inaccurate.  We are in a whole new world. 

In the past, we may have been prevented from partaking of the Sacrament for a variety of reasons, but for the first time we now have a new tool to overcome the old hardship.  We are not living in the 1800’s or in 1918. We are not living in an era when the only way to speak to someone is if you are standing in front of them. This is 2020. We understand that God has allowed us amazing tools – tools we can now use to extend the reach of the Word and the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper beyond the walls and acoustics of a church building into our members’ homes no matter what physically separates us.

It is my opinion that to compound the already odious hardships of the pandemic by also discouraging congregations from receiving the Lord’s Supper is unnecessary because we have new tools which overcome our separation and honor the basic requirements of Scripture: The Words of Jesus, the faith of the hearer and the eating of the elements.

However, the CTCR opinion is that we should be suspicious of these new tools, calling them “novelties,” “humanly-instituted techniques,” and “personal idiosyncrasy.”  This opinion rings hollow since the Church has introduced many such “novelties” and “personal idiosyncrasies” over the centuries. 

For instance, congregations introduced the novelty of using English instead of Aramaic in speaking the Words of Institution, wafers instead of a loaf, individual cups instead of a common cup, liturgy in a formal service instead of a meal in a home, communing with a sanctuary full of strangers instead of with family and friends around the dinner table. When introduced, these were all novelties, techniques and idiosyncrasies. The difference, of course, between those novelties and the novelty of using online tools is that we are now used to those novelties.

Nevertheless, the CTCR writes:

“Some unsatisfactory solutions to the unavailability of the Sacrament have been suggested at the present time. One is that a pastor speak the words of institution from the church during a streaming service while everyone communes at home... While the hunger and thirst for the Lord’s Supper that leads to such measures is both understandable and commendable, the solutions are nevertheless faulty.”

“A video streaming ‘consecration’ with words spoken by the pastor remotely and communion elements in member homes is almost identical to an approach that the CTCR addressed in 2006 in which the Commission said: 

1.       The Lord’s Supper was instituted by Jesus with words and actions spoken and carried out by him in the direct presence of his disciples (Matt. 26:26-28). Throughout history, the church has sought to be faithful to Christ’s practice in this regard. Pastors speak the words of institution in the presence of the assembled congregation, thereby giving assurance that we are “doing this” as our Lord has instructed us to do (Luke 22:19). Whenever the actual words and actions of the celebrant in consecrating the elements are intentionally separated (by time, distance, or technological means) from the distribution and reception, no assurance can be given that our Lord’s instructions are being heeded and that the body and blood of Christ are actually being given and received for the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of faith (cf. fn. 15 of the CTCR’s 1983 report Theology and Practice of the Lord’s Supper [TPLS]).

Wow.  That’s quite a pronouncement.  But is it accurate?  And on what basis do they assert this opinion with such certainty? On the basis of another CTCR opinion issued in 2006 which quotes another CTCR opinion from 1983?

Deeming the solution of online communion as “unsatisfactory” and “faulty” is certainly the right of the CTCR. They are entitled to their opinion. But forming that opinion based on whether the Lord’s Supper is being instituted correctly enough or following the instructions of Jesus closely enough is a slippery slope to take.  Is the Lord’s Supper the Lord’s Supper because we do it correctly enough or because the Lord keeps His promises in spite of us? Is our assurance of the real presence of Christ based on how closely we have been able to adhere to His instructions or based on how closely He has adhered to His promises? 

The CTCR’s basis for its opinion, whether they meant it to or not, introduces grave uncertainty into every celebration of the Lord’s Supper.  Once we introduce degrees of adherence to the law in order to verify if we have the Lord’s Supper or not, we have introduced doubt and uncertainty into every celebration. How can we really be sure that we are doing it correctly enough?  How can we really be sure the pastor got it absolutely perfect?  How can I really be sure I believe enough or believe correctly enough to be worthy? 

Praise be to God that this has never been our basis for assurance.  It has always and only been because of Jesus, for “we believe, teach and confess that no man’s work nor the recitation of the minister effect this presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Holy Supper, but it is to be ascribed solely and alone to the almighty power of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Formula of Concord, Ep VII, 8).

Conclusion

Many congregations and pastors have evaluated online solutions and consider them to be God-sends during a very difficult time. They do not consider the solutions “faulty” because they know and believe that the Words of Jesus are the Words of Jesus no matter how they are conveyed.  Again, Luther in the Small Catechism: “How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things? It is not the eating and drinking indeed that does them, but the words here written, ‘Given and shed for you for you for the remission of sins’; which words, besides the bodily eating and drinking, are the chief thing in the Sacrament; and he that believes these words has what they say and express, namely, the forgiveness of sins.”

Do faithful people in our Synod have different opinions about celebrating the Lord’s Supper online?  Of course.  Faithful theologians, congregations and individual members disagree all the time on many theological questions. In this case, my goal is not to assert that my opinion is the right one or that all people should agree with me.

My goal is to provide a counter opinion to the CTCR opinion and to let people know that there are many well-trained, highly-educated, biblically-faithful LCMS pastors and members who do not doubt the efficacy of online communion and that this confidence is not born out of the rightness of the opinion, but out of the clarity and simplicity of the Words of Jesus and the explanation of Luther. 

Thanks be to God!

Rev. Greg Finke, St. Paul, MN

Postpone Easter Worship?

I have heard talk on social media about postponing our Holy Week and Easter celebrations until sometime after the pandemic has passed and it is safe for us to gather in crowds again.  This is from congregational leaders and friends I know, love and respect.

The thought is that Holy Week and Easter just wouldn’t be right online. That they are so important and precious to the Church that we should wait to celebrate until we can gather again safely and do it right.

Postpone Easter?

Hmmm…

Look, I get it.  So, there’s no judgement or criticism here for such a decision.  But there is another take to consider before making that decision.

Remember what Easter actually is.

Easter is not a great end to a great story worthy of an annual celebration.

Easter might seem like a great end to a great story because it is positioned toward the end of each of the four gospels.  But Easter is not the end of the story.  It is the end of the beginning of the story.  It is a launch.  It is a starter’s gun.  It is the grand physical evidence that sin and death have been definitively removed so that we are now completely free to get up off our… pews and get on with the living and loving and redemption and restoration that the world so desperately needs.

Combine Good Friday, Easter and our baptism and we become the body of Christ… not metaphorically but materially.  Jesus literally took our sin away from us on the cross and put His Spirit back into us through baptism. That means we are now literally the way through which the resurrected Jesus becomes real, physical, tangible and active to the people around us that need Him so badly.

So…

Easter is not about a party for us but a lifestyle for the good of others.  

We honor Jesus not by waiting to celebrate Easter till it’s safe but learning to celebrate Easter every day when it’s not.

It’s said all the time: “Every Sunday is Easter” (even in Lent).  What if we meant that?  What if we used every Sunday as an Easter launch to remind each other of what is already in play?  That we are freed up from sin and death for a reason! That we get to be refilled, reminded, refreshed and restored so that we can be recommissioned and head out for another week of adventuring with the Living One for the good of others!

Postpone Easter?  Are you kidding?  Now is the time to kick it up a notch.  Not by adding more brass to the Easter music, or by adding more dramatic effects to the PowerPoint.

No, instead, whatever you choose to do online for worship over the next couple weeks, whatever you choose to call it, whether you postpone your “Easter Sunday” celebration until a future time or not - when we gather online for worship next, remind each other that Easter is already happening.  It’s not a date on the calendar but a new reality unleashed.  Remind each other that Jesus is already out of the tomb. That Jesus has already sounded the starter’s gun.  That Jesus is already on the loose in the community.  And that He’s still inviting us to join Him for the good of our neighbors.  Woohoo and alleluia!

It may look like today is an ordinary Monday towards the end of Lent. But are you kidding me?  It’s still Easter! It’s been Easter every day for 2000 years.  Every morning, we get to once again rise up with Jesus and look for ways to help others experience His love, life, hope, truth and grace.  From Him, to us, through us, to the people around us that need Him so badly. Woohoo and alleluia!

I found the following story in the Houston Chronicle yesterday (Sunday, March 29, 2020).  Even though the article is not about Easter, it powerfully illustrates what Easter looks like when lived out for the good of others.  It illustrates what it looks like when someone has a complete confidence in the resurrected, eternal life he/she has already received from Jesus.  It looks like self-sacrificial love for others.  It looks like Jesus.  Wohoo and alleluia!

Leonard Pitts wrote the following for the Miami Herald. I have edited his words for brevity:

“A few words on the quiet death of an Italian priest.

“His name was Father Giuseppe Berardelli, and he served in Casnigo, a small village not far from Milan. He was 72 and died in a hospital of the novel coronavirus.

“This was on March 15, though reports are just now filtering out. Again, it was a quiet death. As such, it was easily lost in the cacophony of our times.

“You see, Father Berardelli died after he gave away his respirator.  He insisted it go instead to a younger patient who was struggling to breathe, a person the priest did not know.

“The biblical maxim leaps to mind: John 15:13, ‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’”

Postpone Easter?  Are you kidding me?  You can’t.  It’s already happening.  And our neighbors need us to live it.  

Woohoo and alleluia!

Part 4: Smelling Salts for Leadership

The way we are used to doing Church in the U.S. has been severely disrupted by the pandemic. We all know that. And it has revealed some weaknesses in the sustainability of our congregational model. If our members can’t come to our buildings for our programming and give their offerings, how long can we last? Is the only thing we really have to offer the community around us is a Sunday morning service? Do we have no other purposes to fulfill?

The disruption also reveals that U.S. congregations of all sizes have strayed into operating more like nonprofit businesses - with something like a fee-for-services model - than like the New Testament Church we are called to be. And so when the wrench of COVID-19 was thrown into our gears, the model we were relying on failed us.

When the New Testament Church was disrupted in Acts 8:1-4, scattered from each other and separated from the Apostles, the result was not a crippled Church or a confused Church but a multiplying Church. You see, there’s our way for our results but then there’s Jesus’ way for Jesus’ results.

What is this season of disruption revealing about your congregation? It is a perfect time, now that the gears of our current church-machines have ground to a halt, to reflect, evaluate and ask some new questions of ourselves. And so we offer, “Smelling Salts for Leadership.” If we take an unpleasant but bracing whiff of these smelling salts, we have the opportunity to wake up, see clearly what we have been doing to ourselves, and begin to see some of the simple but important reforms we can make.

Now’s the time. Now’s the time to have thoughtful leadership conversations (using technology, of course). “Have we been producing the fruit of a New Testament Church or the fruit of a 501(c)3 nonprofit business? Has this disruption caused us to respond like a threatened business or like a Church ready for multiplication?” Now’s the time to ask because the disruption of our congregational model is no longer hypothetical. Everyone is experiencing the concrete challenge to our congregational viability, identity and purpose.

As my friend, Bryce Formwalt, recently pointed out, “I believe that this crisis has exposed our deeply rooted dependency on Sunday morning gatherings inside our church buildings. Many American churches have built their identity and purpose around Sunday morning worship, fellowship, and education … and not much else. So what is church if we can’t gather inside our beautiful buildings on Sunday mornings? My hope is that this crisis will help you and your congregation to think deeply about this question and reclaim your mission.”

Is Bryce right? Let’s take a whiff of Smelling Salt #4 and see.

Smelling Salt #4

In the U.S., we know how to run 501(c)3’s and denominational franchises, but we’ve forgotten the basics of running a New Testament Church. 

1. In the U.S., because our congregations have applied for nonprofit, tax exempt, 501(c)3 status, we end up being more thoroughly influenced by what it takes to run a nonprofit business than we are by what it takes to be a New Testament Church.

2. 501(c)3 congregations are governed by constitutions and bylaws, led by boards and committees, and evaluated by metrics measuring the success of our nonprofit business; for instance, the number of people coming through the doors, the level of revenue coming through the offerings, and the level of satisfaction coming from our members.

3. Likewise, many congregations are more deeply influenced by what it takes to be a denominational franchise in good standing than being good examples of a New Testament Church in the local community.  For too many congregations, the first question asked is not, “What is the model of the New Testament Church?” but, “Is this Lutheran?” (or fill in your preferred denominational label).

4. A 501(c)3 congregation is habitually focused on gathering members and supporting itself. A New Testament Church is habitually focused on sending out trained disciples who support the transformation of the community.

5. One way to tell whether a congregation is thinking more like a 501(c)3 or a New Testament Church is by listening to what is being talk about most at church.

501(c)3

• Senior staff and Governing Boards are talking most about the sustainability of their 501(c)3: budgets, attendance trends, policies, buildings, paying bills, staff, level of members’ satisfaction, etc.

• Program committees and staff are talking most about the next “Jesus show” they are preparing or what lessons people need to learn. Their first question usually is, “Will the members participate or not? Will they like it or not?”

• Small groups (that is, any smaller congregational gatherings) are talking most about their own interests, needs and level of satisfaction with the organization.

• The rest of the members are talking about how well (or poorly) the congregational leaders are adhering to denominational franchise rules and how well (or poorly) the leaders are meeting their needs.

New Testament Church

• Senior staff and Governing Boards are talking most about how well the members are fulfilling Jesus’ mission of loving neighbors and transforming the community.  They are talking about how best to use the organization to facilitate these missional results.

• Program committees and staff are talking most about how their program can disciple the members to live out their baptismal identity for the good of others in their daily lives – that is, how can their program teach/model/facilitate/inspire/champion/train/tell the stories of living such a redemptive lifestyle.

• Small groups are talking most about how they are joining Jesus and interacting with lost people. What’s working, what’s not and what’s their next step.

• The rest of the members are talking most about how well (or poorly) the congregational leaders are modeling biblical, missional lifestyles which the members can take note of and imitate in their daily lives. (see Hebrews 13:7)

6. Another way to tell whether a congregation is thinking more like a 501(c)3 or a New Testament Church is by how the congregational leadership is defined and organized.  Is leadership defined and organized around the constitutional requirements of a 501(c)3 or around accomplishing the mission of God and prioritizing the multiplication of missional disciples? (see Matthew 28:19-20)

• Are senior lay leaders identified by their willingness to serve on a board and by their organizational skills or by their discipling skills and the outcome of their way of life? Do their duties revolve around meetings, agendas, budgets, policies, constitutions, staff evaluations and membership complaints or around discipling new missional leaders?

• The congregation needs officers to manage the 501(c)3 and comply with IRS regulations.  But we also need the kind of leaders the Bible advocates so we see multiplication of missional discipleship throughout the congregation and out into the community.

7. The Bible says a New Testament Church leader is identified by the outcome of their way of life.

• Hebrews 13:7, “Consider the outcome of [your leaders’] way of life and imitate their faith.”

• Luke 6:43-48, “Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.”

• Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness…”

8. The duties of a New Testament Church leader are defined by their willingness to invest in relationships so that they can disciple other members to follow Jesus and join Him on His mission in the community.

• 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

• Philippians 4:9, “Whatever you have learned from me or seen in me – put it into practice.”

• Philippians 3:17, “…and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”

9. The qualifications for this kind of leader are simple: a) year by year, do we see them growing up and becoming more like Jesus; b) do we want people of the Church imitating their way of life?

10. Leveraging this kind of leadership means our leaders are regularly gathering in smaller groups with members to

• invest in relationship with them,

• talk with them about how life with Jesus is going,

• encourage them,

• offer them insights from their lives

• and spur them on to another week of love and good works for others. (see Hebrews 10:24-25)

11. On the other hand, 501(c)3 lay leaders are leveraged in the following ways:

• Leaders go to meetings in conference rooms with other leaders. Most members don’t see them or know them nor are they aware of the outcome of their daily way of life.

• Leaders are put in charge of programs and model for members how to lead a program (and members are still unaware of the outcome of the leader’s daily way of life).

• Leaders are asked to lead Bible Classes or Small Groups and model for members how to lead in that setting.

• Thus, members end up being under-discipled in how to live the impactful life of a Jesus-follower in the community simply because the congregation did not identify and organize its leaders for this purpose.

12. A third way to tell whether a congregation is thinking more like a 501(c)3 nonprofit business or a New Testament Church is what metrics (statistics) motivate the members most. For instance:

• Regarding offerings and membership: for the 501(c)3, these ARE the metrics.  Few other metrics matter. And when comparing the two metrics, “How much money do we have?” trumps, “How many members do we have?”  The level of contentment the congregation has with its finances drives the level of commitment it has for gaining new members.

• Regarding leadership: a 501(c)3 asks, “Do we have enough people willing to be elected to the positions required by the constitution?” A New Testament Church (NTC) asks, “Who are the leaders in our congregation we want our members to imitate?”

• Regarding attendance in services and programs: a 501(c)3 asks, “Are people showing up for our services and programs?” A NTC asks, “Are people growing up because of our services and programs so they are a force for redemption and restoration in this community?”

• Regarding the budget: a 501(3)c asks, “How much money do we need for our services and programs?” A NTC asks, “How much money can we use to bless this community in which God has placed us?”

• Regarding the commitment of members: a 501(c)3 asks, “Why don’t more of our members come to our voters’ meetings?” (or serve on our committees or volunteer to help with our programs?) A NTC asks, “How can we help our members invest in friendships with more lost people in their neighborhoods?” (or serve the community or volunteer to help other nonprofits?)

Questions to Prompt Action

• Is the point of Smelling Salt #4 to abandon our 501(c)3 status with the IRS or to be aware of how the framework of such a status can warp how we go about running our congregation?

• When our congregation gathers in meetings, groups or classes, what do we talk about the most?

• From the examples given above, how does being a 501(c)3 distract our congregation from being a New Testament Church for the good of this community?  What can we do to correct this?

• Jesus says, “By their fruit you will know them.” What is our congregational fruit telling us these days?

• Who are Hebrew 13:7 kinds of leaders in our congregation?

• How can we organize our congregation into small groups so they can regularly interact with our Hebrews 13:7 leaders?  (Note: for the sake of sustainability and good order, think in terms of where members already live.)

• The metrics we have are driven by the values we have.  What we value is what we measure. What do our current congregational metrics tell us about our current congregational values? What additional metrics can help us embrace new values?

Is Now the Time to Become an Acts 8 Church?

In the last few days, we have seen public gatherings limited to 250 people and then limited to 100 people and then 50 people and now 10 or less people. As one church leader said, “This creates a crisis for our congregations, even the smallest of our congregations.”

Is he right?

Interestingly, the word “crisis” comes from a Greek word meaning “decision” or “decisive point.”  Does the new reality of COVID-19 present local congregations with a crisis or with an opportunity?

It will feel like a crisis because we have to change our habits in how we prefer to participate in Church. It will feel like a crisis because we are cut off from our professional church workers and volunteers who we depend on to do our Church-business.  It will feel like a crisis because we are used to being passive church-goers and the pandemic is requiring us to get up off our… pews and be active Christ-followers.

Our first urge is to cry out, “We haven’t done Church this way before!”

However, Jesus is not standing in the middle of all this disruption, wringing His hands and saying, “I never saw this coming!  What shall we do??”

Instead, and as usual, Jesus is up to something redemptive in the disruption.  This is a “decisive point” when we can start making new and clear-headed “decisions” about how we can help each other be Church for the foreseeable future.  Jesus is shaking up His Church not so we are alarmed by a crisis but so we wake up to an opportunity… an opportunity to rediscover what being Church is really about.  Perhaps Jesus is administering a whiff of smelling salts to His people so we can start pressing past being 501(c)3 organizations and be the New Testament Church.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus speaks these famous words, “…and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” However, it is not until Acts 8:1, just after Stephen is martyred and a great persecution breaks out in Jerusalem, that the Church is essentially forced to finally scatter into Judea and Samaria.  Acts 8:1 says, “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.” 

To our twenty-first century, U.S. ears that would seem to signal the death of the Church.  They were scattered and they were separated from the Apostles. I mean, if your congregation was scattered and separated from your professional church workers and volunteers, what would be the result?  (We’re about to find out, right?)

However, just the opposite happened in Acts 8.  This “crisis” didn’t lead to the end of the Church, but to the explosive expansion of the Church. Acts 8:4, “Those who were scattered shared the Good News wherever they went.”

Perhaps the COVID-19 pandemic is our Acts 8 moment.

What follows is some suggestions that other Christ-followers like you are beginning to implement in their neck of the kingdom here in the U.S.  So let’s get up off our… pews and rediscover how to be the New Testament Church!  Woohooo!

If You have Mixed Feelings about Not Gathering for Worship

1. The Church especially needs to take “social distancing” seriously to help slow the spread of the pandemic. Why?  In South Korea, they have tracked 80% of their COVID-19 infections to one dear woman who went to church services twice within a few days.  She thought she had a cold.  This woman is known as Patient 31.  Patient 31 had all the best of intentions when she went to church.  But because she did not practice social distancing, she unintentionally led to 80% of South Korea’s COVID-19 infections. As of Monday, March 16, there were 8000+ COVID-19 cases and 75 deaths. (Information from Reuters)  https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-SOUTHKOREA-CLUSTERS/0100B5G33SB/index.html

2. Jesus held up the value of the 1 over the 99 (Luke 15:1).  If COVID-19 has an estimated death rate of even 1%, then the 99% need to protect the 1% who are most vulnerable. Right?

Now’s the Time to Discover House-Church

1. In the New Testament, house-churches were the norm.  Even though we talk about the Church in Corinth or Rome, we are really referring to multiple smaller gatherings in houses in those cities. Now is an opportune time to help our people break out of simply being passive church-goers and become more experienced with being the Acts 8 Church. For instance, we can help them take on actively leading worship in their homes. One tool we have that the Acts 8 believers didn’t have is the internet (and websites, live streaming, Facebook Live, Zoom, Google Hangouts, email, phones, etc.).  So we can start developing content and get it out to our members’ computers like never before.  Praise God!  What a great opportunity to begin shifting the center of their faith and worship from simply participating and receiving on Sunday mornings to actively engaging their family and neighbors during the week.  (see below for a letter from The Point [Lutheran Church] in Knoxville, TN for some ideas of how to communicate this opportunity.)

2. Interestingly, some years ago in Myanmar, the communist government wanted to begin killing off the Church there.  They thought the way to do that was to limit public gatherings for worship to 8 or fewer people.  But instead of killing off the Church, it exploded.  The Church spread even more rapidly.  One of the reasons is that the believers no longer could rely on their professionals to do what God had given them to do.  And the Word of the Lord spread even faster!

3. But what about Holy Week and Easter services?  Now is the time to prepare materials that have house gatherings in mind.  Don’t fight it.  Don’t feel down about it.  Embrace it.  Think outside the box.  Be creative.  Be simple.  Be celebrative.  Enjoy it!  What can gifted volunteers prepare for the rest of your people to use with small groups of family and neighbors in their homes?

Now’s the Time to Help Members become Friends with Each Other

1. Your Church is not a building and it is not an organization.  It is people.  Now is an opportune time to help them get to know each other like never before… even though they can’t be with each other.  How? Map out where your members live using Google mapping software.  Then recruit members who live in the midst of other members to start making phone calls once a week to 5-10 member households who live nearby.  They can use the following questions to get to know each other better:

• How are you doing?

• Do you need anything?

• Do you have internet access?  (So they can receive content from the Church.  If not, what can be a Plan B?)

• What is your story?  (Let’s get to know each other a little better.)

• Do you mind if I call you again next week?

Your Church could come out on the other end of this pandemic being relationally closer than ever before.  And all because you became more intentional about talking together over the phone!  (One more idea: after we are past this pandemic, people can have what we call Connect-the-Dots parties with the people they had been calling.)

Now’s the Time to Help Your Members Care for Neighbors More Intentionally

Idea #1:

Place a notecard in each neighbors’ mailbox with Philippians 4:6-7 written on one side (“Do not be anxious…” or John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled…”) and your name and phone number on the other side with the invitation to call if the neighbor needs any help or just would like someone to talk to or even to pray with.

Idea #2:

Go door to door practicing social distancing and collect the following information:
+ Names at each address
+ Contact number
+ Email
+ Occupations
+ Any Special Needs

Tell neighbors you will compile the list and then drop a copy to each of them to keep everyone connected and aware of opportunities to help and serve one another. Times like these can bond people together. If we approach one another safely, intentionally and with love, after this ends, host a block party to celebrate what it means to be good neighbors!

Idea #3:

If you are a current or retired teacher or if you have expertise in math, science, English, etc., reach out to families in your neighborhood who have school-aged children. Offer to help with tutoring or with whatever academic help they could use.

Idea #4:

Here’s something no parent thought they would ever tell their teen, “Get on your phone!”  But you can give them a specific amount of time to check in with their friends, see how they are doing with everything, offer some encouragement and hope, and even offer to pray with their friends.

The Letter from the Point:

This upcoming Sunday, we’re going to be gathering… differently.

We’ve always been a church who likes to meet in unconventional spaces: movie theaters, coffee shops, bars, and now - homes.

Why?
This past weekend, The CDC recommended that groups of 50+ people stop gathering across the country. We are going to respect the professionals, love the vulnerable people in our community, and continue gathering as people of God by meeting in smaller groups in people’s homes all around Knoxville.

We feel like this is such a God thing, and here’s why:

A group of people met a few weeks ago about the future of The Point. This was well before COVID-19 in the states hit the news. This group of people took a weekend to talk and plan and worship and pray - and one of the major takeaways of that weekend was this: Community is really important. It’s also not something we are always very good at.

We knew we wanted to find ways to build community at The Point. But we still weren’t clear on how.

So here we are now: 

We could see this recommendation from the CDC as a hindrance OR we could see it as a huge opportunity - an opportunity to love the vulnerable people in our community by practicing social distancing, to humbly be an example of putting our interests aside for the sake of others, and (most excitingly if you ask us) an opportunity to get to know our neighbors and church family more intentionally than ever before.

What is this going to look like?

Good question! We will not be gathering at our usual location. We will be livestreaming our service on Sunday morning at 10:30am Eastern from Emilie’s house. You can join us the same way as always - via this link.

However, we will also be doing our best to get you an invitation soon from someone at The Point who lives in your area of town. The hope is they’ll invite you to church in their home and we will essentially have mini “livestream parties” all over Knoxville. Worship, truth, and community.

Of course, you know as well as we do that things are moving fast. We don’t know how long we’ll be gathering in this way. But we do know that God is not surprised by any of this. He’s not wringing His hands in worry. He’s strong and good and still in control. As for us, we will keep you up-to-date with any changes as best we can via social media, emails, and this page on the website.

Action Steps For You: 

If you’d like to host a small livestream gathering at your house, let us know here!

If your information is not up-to-date in our system, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page so we can both connect you with a house church host and easily contact you should things get more dicey in the coming weeks.

If you need extra prayer or help, click here.

Keep an eye on your inbox - some discussion questions for house church and materials for parents to use with kids will be coming your way later this week.

Keep leaning into Jesus and praying for our church, city, and world!

God is moving in our city, our country, and our world. He’s shaking things up. And as always, He is in control and really good. We’re stoked to continue singing in the middle of the storm!

Part 3: Smelling Salts for Leadership

It’s been a crazy week with the pandemic. A week calling for wisdom, grace, courage, prayer and action from the people of God. We have been relegated to being at home more and subtracting much from our usual lives. But in the subtraction is the potential for addition… the opportunity to add reflection, evaluation and new insight to our lives… especially as we eventually emerge on the other side of COVID-19.

So here is Smelling Salt #3. As with the previous Smelling Salts, these are not meant to make us feel bad but to help us wake up, see clearly, and start making better more deliberate choices that lead to real mission, discipleship and multiplication.

Smelling Salt #3

In the gospels, the disciples’ lives were rarely boring. How did we make discipleship so boring?

1. We have settled for reading about following Jesus rather than participating in the daily adventure of actually following Jesus. The disciples were rarely bored because they weren’t reading about following Jesus, they were living the adventure of actually following Him!

• It’s like substituting the adventure of whitewater rafting for the safety of reading a pamphlet about whitewater rafting.  Whitewater rafting is exhilarating; reading a pamphlet about it is less so.

• Likewise, we substitute reading a pamphlet about following Jesus for regularly getting up off our… pews and joining the adventure of actually following Jesus.

• Example: In Mark 1, Jesus says, “Come, follow me,” to Peter and Andrew, and then James and John respectively. What did the fishermen do?  It says, “At once they left their nets…” and “Without delay they left their father…” They took action. They joined Jesus and started actually following Him. When U.S. Christians read Jesus’ words, what do we do?  The Bible Teacher looks for a Bible Study about following Jesus, the music director starts rehearsing a song that highlights the theme of following Jesus and the pastor starts searching for a good analogy for his message about following Jesus.  BUT WE NEVER GET AROUND TO ACTUALLY DROPPING OUR NETS AND FOLLOWING JESUS!

2. Therefore, people leave worship and Bible class without a simple answer to this question: What do I now do?  They know they are loved, forgiven and saved. But they are also relatively bored. They do not have a simple, practical and biblical sense of purpose that then frames and directs everything else they do for living their daily lives for the good of others.

3. Solution: Professional church workers and volunteers can teach that the gospel reveals more than how we are saved.  It also reveals why we are saved.  We have a new identity in Christ.  But we also have a new purpose (mission) in Christ.  The Word of God is not simply something to be considered, noted and contemplated but also put into practice for the good of others. When people know who they are in Christ AND what they now get to do WITH Christ, the result is new experiences, new stories, new questions and new things to talk about when we are together.

4. To help people pivot from merely hearing the Word to putting it into practice, ask this question at the end of sermons and Bible teachings: “What is one thing Jesus is giving me to believe or do for the good of others this week?” Have participants write down their response and then go out looking for opportunities to put the belief or action into play.  When you re-gather, ask them how it went.

Questions to Prompt Action:

• Jesus said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man… But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man…”  What if Jesus meant this?

• How are we regularly leading our congregation to violate these words of Jesus? How do we help them pivot from violation to participation?

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons.”  What do you think he meant?

• What can preachers and teachers do to communicate BOTH who we are in Christ AND what our purpose is with Christ for the good of others during the coming week?

• The following is from Greg’s book, “Joining Jesus on His Mission.”  The 5 Practices help people live on purpose.  The 5 Questions help prompt people to have new conversations.

The 5 Mission Practices are effective at positioning us to join Jesus on His mission every day:

1. Seeking the Kingdom | Look for the good the Father has prepared in advance for me to do.

2. Hearing from Jesus | Reading the gospels, what is Jesus giving me to do for the good of others?

3. Talking with People | What’s their name? What’s their story? What’s Jesus up to in their life.

4. Doing Good | How can I be a way something good happens in their day?

5. Ministering through Prayer | Praying for people daily and with people as God gives opportunity.

The 5 Questions

1. How did you see God at work in your life this week?

2. What has God been teaching you in his Word?

3. What kind of conversations are you having with your pre-Christian friends?

4. What good can you do around here?

5. How can we help you in prayer and what do you want us to ask you about next week?

Part 2: Smelling Salts for Leadership

Our culture isn't messing up our effectiveness in mission and discipleship.  We are.  Our congregations are perfectly calibrated for the results we’re currently getting in mission, discipleship and multiplication.  There is our way for our results, but then there’s Jesus’ way for Jesus’ results.  We need a healthy whiff of leadership "smelling salts" so we can wake up, clearly see what we are doing to ourselves, and start reforming our ways to Jesus’ ways.

The following presentation (with a few edits) was given at the 2020 Best Practices for Ministry Conference in Phoenix, AZ under the title, “Smelling Salts for Leadership.” This is week 2 of the 5 week series:

Smelling Salt #2

In the U.S., we don’t have an outreach problem, we have a discipleship problem.

1. Outreach is not something separate from discipleship. Outreach is the expected fruit of discipleship. If we disciple people the same way Jesus disciples people in the gospels, outreach happens. If we don’t, it doesn’t.

2. Aren’t convinced of that?  Then ask, “How many people would each of your members need to reach per year in order to double the size of the congregation year after year?” The answer, of course, is only one person per year. One person per year is not a very lofty goal. The problem is not that we have too lofty an outreach goal. Our problem is that our people are not discipled to reach even one person in a year.

3. In Ethiopia, Mekane Yesus (a Lutheran church body with 8 million members in a country the size of the southeast U.S.) has a goal of baptizing 10 million people in the next 5 years. They think the goal is too small.  Their people are already discipled to reach their neighbors and friends with the good news of Jesus.  Thus, even a goal of 10 million is easily within reach.  All it will take is for each member to reach slightly more than one person each in the next five years.

4. How did we get here? In the U.S. church, for generations we have taught that the ultimate expression of Christianity is attending worship services, going to a Bible class and being elected to a committee rather than

   a) self-sacrificially loving our neighbors and

   b) sharing God’s good news with them.

5. Regarding self-sacrificially loving our neighbors: we are thoroughly discipled (trained) to attend church.  However, we are under-discipled in the main practice Jesus points to as His top discipling/training goal (John 13:35); we are under-discipled in using the most valuable asset we could have as a congregation (1 Corinthians 13:13); and we are under-discipled in using the most important and powerful outreach tool we have been given as individuals (Mark 12:31). What is it? God’s love. (Galatians 5:6, 14, 22; 1 John 4:7-12; Hebrews 10:24-25)

6. We talk about God’s love, preach about His love, sing about His love, and memorize verses about His love.  But His love’s power is only experienced by others when we actually offer it to others... especially those who don’t deserve it.

7. Remember: The experience of God’s love becomes the evidence of God’s love to unbelieving people.

8. One can accurately predict what the congregation’s growth or decline will be in the coming years simply by looking at the number of members investing in friendships with pre-Christian people. (By “pre-Christian” I mean someone who does not yet know and trust Jesus.) If very few members are investing in such friendships, decline is inevitable no matter how much money we have for buildings, programs, P.R. and staffing.  On the other hand, the more our members invest in such friendships, the more growth we will see.  “You reap what you sow.”

9. At some point we need to realize that mission really does come down to this: spending actual time with actual pre-Christian people so they can actually experience God’s love, joy, peace and truth through us.

10. Regarding sharing God’s good news with our neighbors: we also ignore another important skill Jesus has at the top of His training goals (Luke 10:1-9, 24:48, 1 Peter 3:15). Church-goers and even church professionals are generally terrified about sharing their faith outside of church.  Why?  Simple: because we never practice it. And because we never practice it, we are left untrained, uncertain, uncomfortable and afraid of it.

11. We become experienced, skilled and confident at whatever we practice the most. When your congregation comes together, what do you practice the most? Church-goers generally practice sitting and listening the most.  What if we started practicing sharing the Good News of God with each other for the sake of sharing it with our pre-Christian friends and neighbors?

Questions to Prompt Action:

• How many friendships with pre-Christian people do each of our members currently have?

• Are you and your members having regular dinners with sinners?  (see Matthew 9:10)

• What is considered the most important outcome of all the congregation’s corporate efforts? (Hint: is it something like, “Our members are experiencing an increased capacity for loving unlovable people in their neighborhoods?”)

• What do you practice the most when your congregation comes together?

Part 1: Smelling Salts for Leadership

The following presentation (with a few edits) was given at the 2020 Best Practices for Ministry Conference in Phoenix, AZ under the title, “Smelling Salts for Leadership.” Beginning this week, I will publish one Smelling Salt per week to help jolt us awake and begin thinking more clearly about how we go about Jesus’ work of mission, discipleship and multiplication.

___________________________

Your congregation is perfectly calibrated for the results you’re currently getting in mission, discipleship and multiplication.  There is your way for your results, but then there’s Jesus’ way for Jesus’ results. We need a healthy whiff of leadership smelling salts so we can wake up, clearly see what we are doing to ourselves, and change it.

The purpose of smelling salts is to jolt a person awake. Likewise, the purpose of this presentation, “Smelling Salts for Leadership,” is to jolt congregational leaders awake. The purpose is not to make leaders feel bad about mission and discipleship effectiveness, but to wake us up so we can see clearly what we are doing and begin changing what needs to be changed.

Smelling Salt #1

In the U.S., we are witnessing the final collapse of programmatic Christianity.

1. This is good news because Christianity is fundamentally a redemptive lifestyle to be lived for the sake of others not a program to attend for the sake of self.

2. Programmatic Christianity is expensive, exhausting and unsustainable.  It relies on money, professionals, buildings, P.R., and a lot of volunteer energy to keep the programmatic machine running. Unfortunately, the result of all that energy and investment is “passive church-goers” who attend a program rather than “active Christ-followers” who change their neighborhoods.

3. Of course, Christian programming can support Christian living. The temptation for church-goers, however, is to substitute the programs for the living.

4. Likewise, Word and sacraments are a means for empowering such a daily lifestyle not a substitute for such a lifestyle.

5. If church-goers are the same as they were one year ago (in terms of experience, skill, confidence, fruitfulness and stories about following Jesus in daily life), it is for one reason: they haven’t been following Jesus yet.  They have been worshipping Him, studying Him and discussing Him… but not yet following Him.

6. Programmatic Christianity has inadvertently produced church-goers who approach Christianity like a hobby rather than as an active, redemptive lifestyle for changing the world.

   • The main goal of programmatic Christianity has become gathering people at the church; whereas the main goal of biblical Christianity is discipling people to spread the Church.

   • Likewise, we have institutionalized the practice of members delegating to others what God gave them to do. Thus, after decades of participating in our programs, we have produced passive, inexperienced, fearful scholars rather than proactive, trained, confident imitators of Jesus who bless the community.

Questions to Prompt Action:

• Do you and your congregation simply study what Jesus says to do in the gospels or do you do what Jesus says to do in the gospels?  (Matthew 7:24 encourages discipleship over scholarship)

• What would it take to re-disciple people to engage Christianity as a force for redemption and restoration in the community rather than simply a service to attend on Sunday?

Smelling Salt #2 will be published next week.

For help answering the above questions (or others like them) AND plotting a course for re-discipling your congregation, contact Greg Finke at 281-844-7644 or finkeonthemove@aol.com.

"Do for One"

What you wish could be done for all, do for one.

I know there are a number of public figures who have said something similar over the last few years.  And they are spot-on.

What you wish could be done for all, do for one person.

Jesus put an even deeper twist on it when He said, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one… you did for Me.”

Wow.

What if He meant that?

He didn’t say, “Whatever you wished for everyone…” He said, “Whatever you did for one…”

We are closing fast on Thanksgiving and then we zoom into Advent.

Let’s take a hot minute and think.

Instead of a storm of “doing” for the sake of “tradition” during this holiday season, let’s focus and actually do something for one person. An elderly neighbor.  A single parent.  An immigrant.  A person the rest of the neighborhood overlooks or simply abhors.

One person who is alone.  One person who is in danger of having no one notice.  One person who needs a friend.  One person who needs one person to come alongside them during these festive days so they do not slide into a black hole… again.  One. Person.

We all wish we could do something big.  Something that could make a huge difference.  Something that could affect everyone who needed something.

Nice sentiment.  In the meantime, nothing actually gets done for anyone.

Let’s reverse that trend this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

What you wish you could do for all, do for one.

A congregation in Charlotte I am working with had a simple but great idea.  They put it this way, “This holiday season: Focus on One.” They suggest using the weeks of advent as the pace. 

Week 1: Pray. Think.  Go around and ask other neighbors.  Who can use some help this holiday season?  Who could use a hand?  Who could use a visitor?  Who could use some relief?  Who is living without the grace and truth of Jesus?

Week 2: Pray for the person.  Daily.  Several times a day, in fact.  Why not?  That’s easy enough, right?  Lift them up in the name of Jesus before the Father of Love.  Then reach out.  Introduce yourself.  Stop by. Bring a gift. Say hi. Ask how they are. Ask if there is anything a neighbor might be able to help with.

Week 3: Circle back. Let the person know you are around.  You care.  You notice and want to be of service to them.  The Bible says to love our neighbors, and you intend to get better at it.  Invite them to something enjoyable… a gathering, a meal, a game night, an excuse to spend time together rather than remain alone.  Be creative.  Have fun with it.  Google it.  You can think of something.

Week 4: Circle back again.  Speak value and worth to them.  Look at their eyes.  Do you see the hope?  Do you see the glimmer of joy?  Invite them to join you for a holiday gathering.  Invite them to spend Christmas Eve with you.  (Or if you are reading this before Thanksgiving, to come for Thanksgiving dinner).

The point is simple: What you wish could be done for all, do for one.

“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them,” John 13:17.

This could be a very cool holiday season for you and your neighbors.

Let’s do it.

"From One to Many - How Faith Works"

I recently met a new friend named Tim.  Over beers, he shared with me an amazing story of how faith came into his family back in the 1800’s. It is quite a story and I asked him if I could share it with you.  The following are Tim’s words.  It is a simple but powerful reminder of how faith works. Enjoy.

Osten Hansen was born in Lyster Sogn, Norway in 1846.  When he was 20 months old, his father died.  He went to work as a farm hand at the age of 6.  He was illiterate.  Another farm hand taught Osten to read using the Scriptures.  Thus, Osten learned to read and came to faith.  He got into the habit of lacing up his boots "Ina Jesu Navn" which means "In Jesus' Name" so that he walked with the Lord throughout the day.

In 1867 he loaded all his belongings into a steamer trunk and traveled to the US, entering at Ellis Island.  He made his way to Viroqua, WI where there was a settlement of Norwegians, and homesteaded.  He married Guri Prestegaard and the two of them started their family, living in a sod dugout.  He continued to lace up his boots in Jesus’ Name.

They lived 12 miles from the church, and every Sunday their family made its way to worship loaded into a lumber wagon drawn by 2 oxen, with their lunches packed.   By 1881, they had 7 children, and built a house on their farm.  In a matter of two months, six of these children died of black diphtheria.  A year later, the 7th child died of the same illness.  There were no hearses to carry the bodies of their children away.  They hung black curtains in the windows of their home to warn travelers to stay away, and buried their children in a make-shift cemetery at the farm.  

Osten and Guri started over, and had 6 more children.  My grandfather, Arthur, was the youngest of these 13 children.  Osten often said that he hoped at least one of his children would become a minister, because he and Guri would not have endured the loss of their family had it not been for faith in Jesus.  Arthur was the only child to go to college.  He served in the Navy in WWI, crossing the Atlantic 4 times on ship.  He graduated seminary and became a minister.  He married Marie, and had 4 sons - Paul, Rolf, James and John.  All 4 sons became ministers.  James, my dad, had four sons.  Two of them, Nathan and John, became ministers as well.  

I’m so grateful for the faith passed along to me by my mother and father.  This abiding faith in Jesus that we have known from childhood can be traced, in large part, to an unknown farmhand in the hills of Norway who befriended Osten and shared his faith.

"My Buddy, Al"

Maybe it was because he was from Western Nebraska and I was from Texas.  Maybe it was because I was born on February 12 and he on the 13th. More likely it was because we were both pretty goofy.  But whatever the reason, Al Henderson and I became fast friends in the fall of 1985. 

We were first year students at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.  And even though the atmosphere there was decidedly scholarly and reverent, I would regularly hear a hearty, “R-r-r-r-u-f-f!” from across campus. That would be Al barking at me (yes, barking at me) to get my attention.  Let’s just say it was effective.  He never failed to get my attention or anyone else’s who was within earshot.  It was also contagious… at least for me.  Because, in spite of my initial hesitation, I was soon barking in reply to my buddy… across a seminary campus.  He was so dang joyful, so full of life, so… goofy.  He drew me in.

Al and his wife Kris, as well as their three children, became extended family to us.  We loved them and they loved us.

God, in His wisdom, chose to separate Al and me after the seminary; much like a wise parent separates two children who will only get each other into trouble.  He was called to be a pastor in Northwest North Dakota and me to Central Michigan.  We both got busy with ministry and life.  We didn’t talk often, but whenever we did, it was like we had seen each other just last Tuesday.  He usually called me (he was more faithful about that than me) and I always knew it was Al on the other end because when I answered the phone there was a deafening, “R-r-r-r-u-f-f!”

In fact, the last voicemail I ever got from Al consisted of one word: “R-r-r-r-u-f-f!”  Translated, it meant, “Hey buddy, this is Al.  Give me a call as soon as you can.  Love you!  Talk soon.”

That was the last voicemail I ever got from Al because on October 2 he was murdered outside the church he served in Fort Dodge, Iowa. 

But…

I don’t want to talk about how Al left this world. I want to talk about what Al left this world. 

Al left many, many experiences of God’s love that were the evidences of God’s love, especially for the first responders of Fort Dodge, Iowa… people who would have otherwise been unsure.  What do I mean?

Al had a family to love – and he did… mightily.  Al had a congregation to love – and he did, mightily.  But Al also had a group of men and women outside his family and congregation which he knew needed someone to mightily love them, too – the first responders. 

Many of them did not know or trust the love God already has for them.  They did not know or trust that God had already sent His Son for them, too.  So Al took it upon himself to love them and be the way through which they would experience God’s love.  God’s love was felt by these men and women because Al loved them with it.  And because they experienced God’s love through Al, the experience of God’s love became the evidence of God’s love for them. Al was tangible proof.

The following excerpts and quotes were taken from a recent article in the Fort Dodge newspaper. I figured the first responders themselves would do the best job of expressing what Al’s love meant.

When the law enforcement officers and firefighters of Fort Dodge were facing grim situations, they had the Rev. Al Henderson to lean on for support.

“He was just a selfless person,” Mayor Matt Bemrich said.

Fort Dodge Fire Chief Steve Hergenreter echoed that sentiment, saying “He just kept showing up in times of trouble.”

For Fort Dodge Police Chief Roger Porter, Henderson was a calming presence. The first time Porter met Henderson was about 10 years ago when Porter was a patrol supervisor. Henderson rode with Porter in his squad car as he patrolled the streets of Fort Dodge. “He rode with us a lot. He was always there to help out and ride with the officers and get to know them. The first time I met him he got in the squad car with me and we just talked. He wasn’t there to preach, he just wanted to be a listening ear. When I felt I needed to talk to someone I felt I could go to him. He was that person you felt comfortable going to. Sometimes he helped without you even realizing it. He saw the good in everything.”

Assistant Police Chief Cory Husske was able to write how he felt about Henderson. His statement was read by Sheriff’s Deputy Amy Stringer during a vigil for Henderson Thursday night. Husske wrote, “We’ve suffered the devastating loss of someone that was not just our chaplain. Pastor Al Henderson was our friend, confidant, coffee companion, voice of reason, our brother on the blue line, our greatest cheerleader, and sometimes he was simply the ride-along partner you didn’t know you needed until he got in with you.”

He added, “For 10 years Pastor Al selflessly invested the hours that it takes to slowly break down the unique and stubborn walls that we unintentionally build around ourselves as first responders. Over the years, he officiated some of our weddings. He baptized some of our children, and in some cases, he did both. He was there during some of our greatest victories and celebrations. But perhaps more importantly, he was there for us during our times of struggle, defeat and mourning. Many know him as the man who spent a few hours in your squad car so that you could get some things off your chest. For others, he was there when you needed help coping with certain things burdening your mind. But for all of us, he was there to guide and replace whatever we laid on him, with faith, prayers, and comfort in our hearts. And now, as Pastor Al would say, God Bless.”

My buddy, Al, helped first responders experience God’s love which to them was the evidence of God’s love for them. This is what Al left his community.

And you can do it, too.  For, you see, like Al, you have the love of God in you.  You also have people around you who do not. They have not yet experienced God’s love and therefore are left unsure of God’s love.  But you can be the way they experience it and become the evidence for it.  Just show up, get in with them, spend some time, listen, care.

That was Al’s secret.  He kept showing up where love was needed. He kept investing the hours that it takes to slowly break down the unique and stubborn walls that people unintentionally build around themselves.  It’s pretty simple if we simply do it.

Al showed us what can happen when we go to be with a person who needs someone to care.  A first responder.  A next door neighbor.  An at-risk kid.  An elderly person who has been forgotten.  Who has God already placed nearby to you? How can you show up?

You don’t have to sell anything or convince anybody or control the conversation.

The people who need the evidence of God’s love need the people who have God’s love to bring them God’s love.

It’s not how Al left this world but what Al left this world that I hope we remember and emulate.

A Prayer for Joining Jesus Each Morning

There are many prayers to be prayed each morning. But here is a new one I really like. I learned about it from my new friend in central Texas, Ric Landvatter. Ric is slowly dying of cancer but actively living with Jesus. His eye is not only on eternity but on the moments and people before him. This is Ric’s prayer… and now it is mine:

Lord, I don’t know what You want me to do today, but You are with me, so let’s go do it.

Lord, I probably don’t know how to do what You want me to do today, but You are with me, so let’s go do it.

Lord, I probably don’t want to do what You want me to do today, but You are with me, so let’s go do it.

When we finish what You want me to do today, it won’t be because of me but because You were with me.

Let’s go do it. Amen!

"Where is God Moving the Finke’s? The Story"

“I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1

Well… God’s been doing it again. He’s been messing with the Finke’s. And Dwelling 1:14. Big time.

Let me tell you the story.

A Little Background

Believe it or not, Dwelling 1:14 has been offering training in mission and discipleship for eight years now.  As a result, a fairly substantial pool of experienced practitioners has developed. Over the last few years, Susan and I have had a vague but persistent idea that “someday” we would enjoy reconnecting with these experienced leaders to help them see their next-steps for multiplying mission and discipleship throughout their congregations and out into the community.  We had noted that even the most effective leaders eventually come to the edge of their vision and experience, and need a little help to see what God is already showing them next.

We also thought that instead of trying to fit such an opportunity into our crazy weekend travel schedule, we could have leaders come to us for a few days during the week.  We would invite them into our home where they could get out of the noise and busyness of their day to day ministry. They could have space to reflect with other leaders, laugh, eat, tell stories, pray, gain important clarity and then leave with a simple plan for taking their next-steps with Jesus.

We thought this would not only be effective but a lot of fun too.

But when would we start this?  In a few years?  After we retired?

And where would we start this?  In Houston?  In a new location?

It was all pretty vague in our minds.  Someday.  Somewhere. If the Lord wills.

The Place is Here and the Time is Now

This past December, we were minding our own business in St. Paul, Minnesota.  

(Yes, I know.  But God didn’t consult us on this matter.)

We were in St. Paul to lead a local congregation through Dwelling 1:14’s Discovery Training Weekend. The congregation graciously put us up in a B&B which straddled the beautiful neighborhoods of Cathedral Hill and Summit Hill.  It is a beautiful setting.  But Dwelling 1:14 is often in beautiful settings as we help congregations around the country.

The difference this time?  God was up to something new.

On the first night we were there, Susan and I decided to take a walk.  It was cold and snowy.  Susan thought it was beautiful. I thought it was… cold and snowy.  We were minding our own business (frankly, I was focused on monitoring my extremities for frost bite), when we began to experience an unusual but distinct sense that God wanted us to come live in this neighborhood. 

What??  St. Paul, Minnesota??  I am a Texan.  I freeze easily.  I visit snow; I don’t live in it.

Nevertheless, Susan and I both got the distinct sense that God was saying something like, “You know that vague dream you have?  The place is here and the time is now.” 

Hmm…

At first, we tried to shake it off, explain it away, reframe it into something else.  After all, we love Houston and we love our neighbors even more.  But God kept pressing His point.  Bible verses, devotions, “coincidences” kept reiterating that God was up to something and that we needed to trust Him as He brought it to pass.  Great. 

Throughout the rest of December and January, we kept expecting the doors to St. Paul to close. Perhaps this was just God’s way of getting our attention and a more logical destination would soon become apparent. However, instead of doors closing, the Lord caused a plan to emerge and even a specific property in that neighborhood to be identified. By early February, our board of directors had joined the adventure and voted unanimously to begin the process of raising investments in order to acquire the identified property.

Amazingly, the funds were raised in just a matter of weeks. (That’s another whole God-story in itself.)  By early March the board felt enough investments had been raised to make an offer on the property. Because the property had been on the market for over 300 days, the board felt a bargain could be had. The offer was made on Monday, March 11.  Then we waited to hear back… but we heard… nothing.  We didn’t hear back from the seller the rest of Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday morning.  No counter-offer, no communication whatsoever. Nothing.  

So, at noon on Wednesday, our realtor left a message for their realtor seeking a response.  Four hours later, their realtor called and simply said, “We got another offer,” and hung up on our realtor!  What?  Our board had prayed for a definitive answer. And this was certainly definitive.  But it was also confusing.  It had seemed so clear that God had led us to this home in this neighborhood in St. Paul.  So, what was He up to?

The board decided to wait and pray through the weekend and see what the Lord might do.  If nothing had happened by Monday, we would meet again via phone and reassess our situation.

 In the meantime, on that Saturday morning, I got a phone call out of the blue.  It was one of our investors.  They just “happened” to live in the same neighborhood as the property we had tried to acquire.  They also just “happened” to already have their home on the market.  The investor said, “Greg, this might sound a little unusual, but we’ve been praying about it and we think God wants us to offer you our house.”

(Did you hear that thump just now?  That was my jaw hitting the floor.)

I stammered.  I stuttered.  I’m quite sure I made no sense as I tried to respond.  I couldn’t believe the timing and the generosity of their offer!  Eventually, though, I managed to thank them and said I needed to talk with the board.   

The board, too, was astounded by all this.  But, wisely, they wanted to take some time to pray, do their board work, and make sure due diligence was taken.  They agreed to meet face-to-face in St. Paul the week after Easter.  They toured the home, met the owners, and then met most of the next day to assess various risks, and, with the Lord’s help, to make a decision. By the end of the meeting, they had identified several risks to keep in mind, but they couldn’t ignore the amazing work God had done to bring us to this point.  They voted.  The decision was unanimous.  It was time for us to step out of the boat and join Jesus on the water.

 Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

So, the decision was made. Dwelling 1:14 would accept the offer and move its H.Q. (as well as the Finke’s residence) to St. Paul. 

In the meantime, Susan and I had to go back home to Houston and prepare to move. That meant two painful things had to happen: 1) we needed to put our home of twelve years up for sale; and 2) we had to break the news of our move to our best friends in Houston… our neighbors.  Susan and I decided to go to each of them and personally share this story.  We are so proud of their spiritual growth over the years!  Each said essentially the same thing: “We are sad to see you go, but we can see God is doing this. You better follow Him.”

Regarding selling our home, time was of the essence for a number of reasons.  But, suffice it to say, we needed to be able to sell our home and take occupancy of the home in St. Paul no later than June 30.  A very tight turn around in the world of real estate.

We prepared our home and put it on the market wondering what would happen. The housing market in Houston had cooled considerably in the first months of this year; because of oil prices, people were unsure of what the local economy would do; and the stock market was wonky.  The bottom-line question: would we be able to sell the home quickly enough to make all the financing questions work?

Evidently God had it all covered.

It took all of 29 hours for us to receive an offer. 29 hours. We close on June 20.  Wow…

A New Season of Adventure and Mission in St. Paul

After our move later this month, Susan and I will continue to travel on the weekends to bring mission and discipleship training to new congregations coast-to-coast. (Hello Knoxville, Seguin and Charlotte! See you soon!)

However, we are also excited for what God will do in and through this new setting. First things first – we look forward to getting to know and starting to love our new neighbors. What are their names? What are their stories? What’s Jesus already up to?  What good has He prepared in advance for us to do?  (We’re attending a wine tasting party at a neighbor’s home the first night we are in St. Paul.)

We still do not understand all the reasons God chose to move us from Texas to St. Paul.  But, at the very least, it is stunningly clear that St. Paul is His choice.  And the home He has provided is truly an amazing place.  A 9500-square-feet urban retreat which will now be dedicated to helping leaders like you see, plan and take your next steps in mission, discipleship and multiplication.  Once we settle in, we will announce selected weekdays starting in 2020 to offer this new arm of ministry to experienced leaders and practitioners like you. 

Collaboration for multiplication!  Here. We. Go!  Woohoo!

(We will have pictures for you in the weeks ahead as we move in and get settled.)

“See Your Next Step, Plan Your Next Step, Take Your Next Step”

Are you ready to finally see Mission-Multiplication happen in your community?”

The Challenge & Opportunity

Leaders in U.S. churches have been dreaming of mission-multiplication movements for decades. We, of course, see such a movement in the book of Acts and we see such movements in other parts of the world even today. However, in the U.S., while we have made various attempts at igniting such a movement (see “mega-church,” “meta-church,” “multi-site,” “new-starts for new-believers”), we have yet to actually see it in our midst.  We read books about it, go to conferences about it and listen to podcasts about it.

But are you ready to actually do something about it? Like, no fooling?

A Simple Calculus

U.S. churches are perfectly calibrated for the results we are currently getting. It’s a simple calculus: our way for our results.  But what if we took all we have learned over the last few decades:

• What worked and what didn’t?

• What did we inadvertently build into our tactics that limited the results?

• What were our blind spots because of inherited paradigms?

What if we took all that and went back to the gospels with clearer vision in order to re-calibrate our ways to Jesus’ way?  The calculus would shift: from “our way for our results” to “Jesus’ way for Jesus’ results.”  

Are you ready for this?

“Next-Step: Collaborate to Multiply”

Imagine small groups of experienced practitioners like you coming together with Greg and Susan Finke in a picturesque, urban-retreat setting to collaborate around identifying Next-Steps for mission, discipleship and multiplication. With a little help from your friends, you would be able to see your next step, plan your next step and take your next step.  By God’s Grace, Dwelling 1:14 is launching a new arm of ministry to accomplish just that beginning in 2020.  While the Finke’s will continue to travel on the weekends to bring mission and discipleship training to new congregations coast-to-coast, they will also use selected weekdays to offer this new arm of ministry to experienced congregations.

Contact Greg Finke at finkeonthemove@gmail.com or 281-844-7644 to learn more.

Next week, we will share the story of where God will have the Finke’s launch this new arm of ministry and the story of how He brought it to pass.

A Pretty Big Announcement from Dwelling 1:14

An Exciting Announcement for All Dwelling 1:14 Practitioners

Are you one of the many congregations who have already been working with Dwelling 1:14? You have seen the transformation in your people. There is a new mission-mindset in play. There are new lifestyle and congregational practices in play.  The culture of the congregation has shifted so that they are not only believing in Jesus and worshiping Jesus but also getting up off their pews and joining Jesus on His mission in their daily lives.

What’s Your Next Step? See it. Plan it. Do it.

Are you about ready for your Next-Step?  After an effective season of mission and discipleship, congregations and leaders often come to the edge of their vision and experience.  Unless they can see what their next step is, they are in danger of plateauing or getting stuck. They want to see mission and discipleship continue to multiply throughout their congregation and out into the community, but aren’t sure how to get there. 

Collaborate to Multiply

Imagine small groups of experienced practitioners like you coming together with Greg and Susan Finke in an urban-retreat setting to collaborate around identifying next-steps for mission, discipleship and multiplication. With a little help from your friends, you will be able to see your next step, plan your next step and take your next step.

By God’s Grace, Dwelling 1:14 is Launching a New Arm of Ministry in 2020 to Accomplish Just That

While the Finke’s will continue to travel on the weekends to bring mission and discipleship training to new congregations coast-to-coast, they will use selected weekdays to offer this new arm of ministry to experienced congregations, as well. In the coming weeks, more information will be announced.  Or better yet, contact Greg Finke directly at finkeonthemove@gmail.com or 281-844-7644 with your questions.

What are We Looking for When We are "Seeking the Kingdom?"

Jesus wants us to see what the Father is showing us.

“Open your eyes and look,” John 4:35.

“Seek and you will find,” Matthew 7:7.

“Seek first His Kingdom,” Matthew 6:33.

Likewise, Jesus warns us against missing what the Father is showing us.

“You will be ever seeing but never perceiving,” Matthew 13:14.

So, when we are looking for what the Father is showing us, what are we looking for?

Last fall, I blogged about this, offering a biblical framework for it (click link to take you to it): https://dwelling114.org/blog/2018/9/30/not-seeing-what-were-looking-at

Today, let’s get a little more specific. Think “indicator lights.” Like you have in your car.

In most cars, the manufacturers have included a variety of indicator lights that pop on in our dashboards when we need to pay attention to something.

An indicator light pops on when we are getting low on gas, or when we need to have a mechanic check the engine, or when a door is accidentally left ajar.

Indicator lights are important because they draw our attention to situations we may overlook otherwise.  We don’t always know what to do when we see an indicator light pop on, but at least we know we better pay attention.

The same is true for “seeking the Kingdom of God.”  In the context of worship, we are used to seeing and responding to God’s indicator lights.  When we see the Word of God being read, when we see a baptism or people approaching the Lord’s Supper, we know God is already up to something.  We are well trained to see and recognize these things as indications of God’s presence and activity.   When we see the fellowship of the saints whether in worship or sipping coffee in the fellowship hall afterwards, we are seeing indications of God’s presence and activity in the fruit of the Spirit being exhibited.

That’s Sunday and that’s easy.  But what about on Monday?  We may not be as experienced at seeking and finding the presence and activity of God in the crazy, work-a-day world of the weekday. However, God also gives us indicator lights we can watch for and even anticipate seeing there.

What are some of those indicator lights?  What are some indications that we should sit up and pay attention because God is showing us something He wants us to notice and respond to? (Ephesians 2:10)

Today let’s focus on three indicator lights:

Interruptions

Jesus is our model for seeing and recognizing interruptions as indicator lights from the Father.  As we read the gospels, the poor guy cannot walk ten steps without someone coming up and interrupting Him. (Among my favorites are Mark 7:21-43 and Mark 10:46-52.) But Jesus knows what He is really looking at (see John 5:17).  For Him interruptions are not simply someone screwing up His schedule.  For Jesus interruptions ARE the schedule.  Jesus recognizes that while interruptions may not have been on His schedule for the day, they were on His Father’s.  And Jesus is good with that.  So, we can be good with that, too.

The next time you are interrupted by someone, ask yourself, “What are You up to here, Father?” Take a breath. Take an extra second to look around, to look at the person, to look beyond your need to get to your next appointment so you can see what this appointment from the Father may be about.  This interruption is not simply an interruption. It is an opportunity. The only question is, how will you respond?

Irritations

This just keeps getting better and better, right?  First interruptions are supposedly indicator lights from Jesus and now irritations??  Yep.  They are opportunities for us to look up and pay attention to what else may be going on right in front of us.

Think of it this way, when you feel irritation flaring up in you, consider it a pop quiz from Jesus.  When you “feel” irritation for a person, you can “see” that it is also an indicator light popping on.  How will I handle this? Like the same old me? Or like the one being slowly trained by Jesus in the ways of Jesus?  Will my irritation trigger me into adding fuel to a growing mess or will I see that my irritation is actually a perfect opportunity to respond like my Rabbi and be a way something good is introduced to a bad situation?

When irritations flare up in you, they are indications that Jesus is giving you a pop quiz… and He has gifted you and enabled you to ace it.  So be ready.  The next pop quiz will probably be any minute now.

Human Pain

If human pain is obvious to us, it is easy to recognize it as an indicator light.  If we see someone in obvious pain, we are more likely to slow down, have compassion and see how we can help.  (Although Luke 10:25-37 reminds us that while it may be easy to recognize, it doesn’t mean we won’t walk around it anyway.)

However, we also know that there is a lot more pain around us than is being revealed.  In our culture, these days, we have all become very skilled at hiding our pain.  So how do we see the indicator lights of human pain in our neighbors and co-workers if they are skillfully hiding it from our view?  There is only one solution.  We have to actually care about our neighbors and co-workers.

Rats.

Truth be told, we are actually okay with not “seeing” their pain.  We would rather not bother with it anyway. But if we want to participate in the Kingdom coming and the will of the Father being done right here on earth as it is in Heaven, all we really have to do is get to know our neighbors, care about them as people and stay in touch with them. When they are in pain, it may not be obvious to the casual observer, but because we know them, care about them and are paying attention to them, we see their pain rippling out around their masks.

If we look, we are more likely to see.  If we care, we are more likely to ask.  And if we are Jesus-followers, we will stop what we are doing because we know we are looking at a big bright indicator light directly from the Father.

 Jesus wants us to see what the Father is showing us.

“Open your eyes and look,” John 4:35.

“Seek and you will find,” Matthew 7:7.

“Seek first His Kingdom,” Matthew 6:33.

So, let’s head into this wild and crazy day with Jesus, anticipating that an indicator light or two will pop on along the way.  Amen?

Do You Know Why Jesus Said, "Love Your Neighbor"?

If you want to make engaging mission much simpler for you (and more fun), try doing something Jesus told you to do:

Love your neighbor.

Do you know why Jesus said to love your neighbor?  Because it works.

There is no more effective way to engage real mission than by being with, eating with, and talking with real people who really need the grace and truth of Jesus. By creating this simple context of friendship, we are in a place where we can offer a little grace, a little good news, a little truth when our neighbor needs a cool cup of Jesus’ water.

We make mission so much harder and more awkward when we neglect the simplest ingredient: getting to know our neighbors.  What’s their name? What’s their story? What’s Jesus already been up to in their life?

If you say you’re “all-in” for joining Jesus on His mission, it starts with actually loving your neighbor which means hanging out with them. If joining Jesus on His mission seems to be stalled for you or taking a really long time to gain traction, the diagnosis is simple: you probably haven’t gotten around to loving your neighbor yet and hanging out with them regularly.

When Jesus says, “Love your neighbor,” He doesn’t want you to just memorize the words, or discuss it’s meaning in church, or recite it in the original Greek. He wants you to go home and do it.

Again, the reason Jesus says to love your neighbor is because it works.  You know why mission isn’t working in many of our communities?  Christians are disobeying Jesus.  We are not getting to know our neighbor, eating with our neighbor, laughing with our neighbor, mourning with our neighbor, talking about meaningful things with our neighbor.  We are not loving our neighbor.

So, let’s cut it out.  Let’s repent, believe the good news and go with Jesus to love our neighbor.

How do we get started?  Follow the K.I.S.S. method:

• Share some food

• Share some laughs

• Share some stories

• Add grace

• Repeat regularly

And the Kingdom comes and the will of the Father is done.

Now go have some fun! (Your neighbor needs it.)

"Making Jesus Real" | An Advent Tale

Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ.”

It’s a very Advent-y thought: God becoming flesh. But more than being an Advent thought, God intends it to be an ongoing reality for His material creation.

How? Through His people.

Here’s what I mean: God became flesh in Jesus. Jesus died and rose to take away our sins. His Spirit is breathed back into us through Baptism. We now literally have Jesus inside of us. We now are the material body of Christ in the material world of creation.

And what do we now do?  Sit on the bench and run out the clock until we die and go to Heaven?  Or is there something more in the meantime?

This past fall, I met Melanie and her husband, Don.  They live in the northeast where I was leading a mission training at their church. Melanie shared with me how she had become a Christian as an adult. She said that as she looks back on her years growing up, she now sees that Jesus was already introducing Himself to her by the way people interacted with her.

I pointed out that her story is a revealing example of what the Bible means when it calls Christians “the body of Christ.”  In other words, being the body of Christ is not a theological thought but a material reality for the people around us.  Jesus is always present. But His presence, love and activity become real… become experiential… become tangible through His people.

When we, as the body of Jesus, live out the love of Jesus, we make the person of Jesus real to the people around us who need Him so badly. That is, indeed, very Advent-y.

I asked Melanie to tell us her story.  And she graciously complied below.  Enjoy!  And Merry Advent!

Melanie’s Story

Years ago, I stopped in at a church to make an emergency phone call, on my way home from work. The pastor spent some time talking with me, gave me a Bible (my first one) and invited me to a service. Not long after that, Pastor Bill baptized me into the Christian faith.

I’m so thankful that he took the time to care.

As I read God’s Word and listened to Pastor Bill’s sermons, I remembered people who had been a part of my life earlier on and, with amazement, recognized the love of Jesus in them.

…Cynthia!

She was a senior and I was a freshman in high school, when I joined the silks squad. I remember being so excited and eager to learn how to twirl my flag while marching with the school band. To join meant to practice twirling in sync with the other squad members, of course, and this was hard for me because I was shy and I felt intimidated by the older girls.

Cynthia picked up on my discomfort and came to my rescue. She was warm and friendly, and she went out of her way to talk with me and to help me feel welcome. She even gave me rides home from practice, a real honor being that I was a lowly freshman.

There was something noticeably different about Cynthia. For one thing, she listened to Amy Grant on her car radio. I’d never heard of her before, so Cynthia explained that she sang Christian music. Cynthia went to church, and I’d never heard any other teenagers talk about that before either. However, she didn’t talk too much about it. She seemed more interested in hearing what I had to say.

Cynthia was different in a lot of ways, but most importantly she treated me in a way that I knew I didn’t deserve to be treated. That was the key. That was the real Jesus connection for me. Family loves you because you are family, but this girl - why did she genuinely care for me?

When the squad came together for a weekend in the Poconos, Cynthia’s support enabled me to overcome my shyness and join in the fun. I didn’t even mind too much when the girls toothpasted and feathered me, my ‘initiation’ into the group, because I knew that Cynthia and I would laugh about it after. It meant so, so much to know that this trusted friend was right there with me.

Remembering Cynthia’s care made everything I was reading in my Bible and hearing in church services wonderfully real for me. She had made the love of Jesus real for me. I can’t remember the names of the other girls in my silks squad, but I will never forget Cynthia.

After a few years I moved on to a new job and a new church, and I lost touch with Pastor Bill. I hadn’t kept up with Cynthia either. I wonder if they have any idea what an impact their little acts of kindness have had in my life?

They were just living out their faith in Jesus each day, actively and intentionally loving the people that our Lord brought into their lives, according to His Master Plan. They couldn’t see that plan, and they didn’t need to. Their trust in it, and in Him, made it real for them.

And, some years later, for me.

"Grandparenting in the Neighborhood This Fall"

I was talking with a retired couple from Denver.  They have lived in the same home in the same neighborhood for thirty years.  Back in the day, several families moved in around the same time and raised their kids together.  They said “neighboring” was easy then.

Now?

Those neighbors have all moved on.  The kids grew up and started lives of their own.  Now, the parents have moved on, as well.  Some retired.  Some downsized.  Some moved to be closer to their kids who are having kids.  No mater the cause, the result is the same.  My friends find themselves on the same block but nothing is the same at all.  They are the only ones left.  The neighborhood has completely turned over.  New young families move in almost monthly.  They know almost no one.

Their question: what should we do?

Sound familiar?  Many people in the congregations we work with have similar stories.  “Back in the day, neighboring was easy.”  Kids played.  Parents talked.  “We really lived the way you are describing. We really loved each other.”  Life and love and laughter and conversation flowed.  It seemed so natural. 

It can be again.

Many mourn the loss of community in their neighborhoods.  “It didn’t used to be this way.”  But, frankly, it didn’t used to be this way because we used to do things differently.  We didn’t think about it then, we didn’t plan it out, but it was happening: we were with our neighbors so we got to know our neighbors.  And, over time, as we got to know our neighbors, we started to love our neighbors.

The good news?  What used to happen naturally can happen again intentionally.

Think about it.  Your neighborhood still has several common denominators that are in play from “back in the day.” 1) new young families are moving in and living near each other (you may not be new to the neighborhood, but you are new to your new neighbors); 2) everyone has a need for community (they may not expect to fill that need with neighbors, but everyone still has that need); 3) the children in the neighborhood (you are not the parents, but you can thoroughly empathize with parents who are parenting); 4) Jesus is on the loose in your neighborhood (and He still wants families to have the peace and joy of living in His grace and truth).

The only thing missing?  Someone being intentional about neighboring… like you.

Back in the day, it used to happen naturally.  But Susan and I have found over and over again, from coast to coast, from urban settings to rural, that if someone becomes intentional about neighboring, neighborhoods come alive and neighbors start to love each other again. And the “Neighborhood Grandparents” can lead the way.

Are you the only “old” people left in the neighborhood?  Perfect!  You can become every family’s surrogate grandpa or grandma!

And that brings us back to my friends’ question, “What should we do.”

Be intentional about “neighboring.”

• Bake some cookies and head out to start welcoming new families to the neighborhood. (Everyone loves fresh baked goodies. Even if families can’t accept them for dietary reasons, they will love that you offered.)

• Start a closed Facebook page for the neighborhood and invite new neighbors to join it. This helps everyone stay in touch and can increase safety in the neighborhood.

• Halloween is a great time to start connecting with neighbors.  Instead of hiding behind closed doors with the lights off, be out on the front lawn with the best candy on the block.  (Don’t go cheap! Now is not the time to be stingy.)  Some have asked about putting “Jesus-stickers” on bags or handing out pamphlets.  I would advise against this.  The information you want to share is awesome, but the context for the sharing is not.  Work on building friendship over time so you eventually have a natural context for sharing values and beliefs back and forth.  If you really believe now is the time for Jesus-stickers, etc., then be sure to give the absolute BEST candy.

• The Thanksgiving season offers a unique opportunity to interact with new neighbors and their kids.  Right after Halloween, go door to door, re-introduce yourself and say something like, “Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time to show our thanks and share with others.  Wouldn’t it be cool to find someone in our own neighborhood who could use a little help or a little hope?  Do you know of anyone we can love-on and bless over the upcoming holiday season?”  Maybe it’s a single parent, or a widow(er), or someone who is battling an illness… you get the idea.  Invite neighbors to help figure it out.  Then work together to organize how everyone can be a part of whatever is decided.

• Advent, believe it or not, is a prime time for getting to know young families better.  Invite families over to make Advent Wreaths together.  (We have found this to be very popular with young families longing to find more substance for their Christmas celebrations.)  Invite families into your home for this.  Ask parents ahead of time if there are any dietary restrictions.  (Hot chocolate and cookies are favorites if they are permissible.)  Provide foam rings from the craft store, four thinner candles, one thicker candle that can stand on its own, and some artificial greenery.  Let them decorate their own wreath.  You can share with them where Christmas came from, “Christians believe that God loves each of us so much that He sent His Son Jesus into our world to save us from our sin. They believe Jesus was born on Christmas. That’s why we have all the Christmas fun!  To celebrate His birth!  The Advent Wreath helps people remember this and count down the days to Jesus’ birthday!”

• In connection with the Advent Wreath, or as a Christmas gift later, you can give each family the gift of a children’s Christmas book.  We have found Arch Books from Concordia Publishing House to be really, really good for this.  Right now Arch Books are on sale for only $1.99 each.  Here’s a link https://www.cph.org/c-246-arch-books.aspx?REName=Books%20%26%20Bibles&plk=240.

 What not to do:

• Don’t be weird and clingy.  Don’t be presumptuous and don’t make this about you.  Instead, be friendly.  Be yourself.  Be helpful.  Be welcoming.  Read the signals they are sending you.

• Don’t have an agenda.  And don’t make this simply about “getting them to church.”  If you are offering friendship as bait for church membership, they will see right through your deception.  And be disappointed.  What they need, especially in the beginning, is not your congregation but you.  In other words, before you invite them to church, BE the church.  Be the person they are glad to see.  Be the person with a smile and a word of encouragement.  Be the person who always seems to have a little love, joy and peace to spare.  Be the person they want to invite to their kid’s birthday party.  Simply love them and see what Jesus does from there.

Happy Grandparenting!

"Not Seeing What We're Looking At"

“You will be ever seeing, but not perceiving…” Matthew 13:14

 A few months ago, it was time to replace our car. We live in League City, Texas (outside Houston).  So I was thinking pickup truck or big SUV. You know, something “Texan.”

Susan was thinking of something a little different. She was thinking “Subaru.”

Subaru?!

I tried to set her straight. I told her, “Texans don’t drive Subarus. Texans drive F-150s and Tahoes and vehicles like that. People in Vermont drive Subarus. People in Seattle drive Subarus. But not Texans!” (O.K., maybe some people in Austin drive Subarus. But they moved here from California.) I concluded my argument with, “I NEVER see people driving Subarus around here.”

Well, we talked it over. But you already know how this decision-making process ended up.

We got the Subaru. A Forester.

And then the strangest thing happened. Evidently on the very same day we picked up our Subaru, thousands of other Houstonians did the same. I mean, one day NO ONE is driving Subarus around and the next day there are THOUSANDS driving around! Subarus suddenly seemed to be everywhere!

What could account for this sudden influx of so many Subarus??

The answer, of course, is that the Subarus had always been there. I had looked straight at them every day driving up and down our roads. I just hadn’t SEEN them. I saw pickup trucks and SUVs and Camaros (nope, I didn’t get to have one of those either). But once I bought a Subaru myself, all of a sudden my eyes were finally seeing what they had been looking at all along. Turns out a lot of Houstonians drive Subarus. And now that I was looking for them, I was seeing them, too.

Not seeing what we are looking at. It’s really pretty common for us humans. Something is visible. It’s there. But we don’t “see” it.

…maybe it’s because we don’t have a framework for understanding what we are looking at… or we undervalue what we are looking at and, so, look right through it… or we are misinformed or misled about what we are looking at… or we weren’t expecting to see what we are looking at in the first place and so we do not see it now.

Whatever the cause, the outcome is the same: we don’t see what we’re looking at.

And for those of us who are aspiring to “seek the Kingdom of God” every day so we can join Jesus on His mission, that can be a problem. We end up being like the guy Jesus warns about in Matthew 13 who is ever seeing the Kingdom but not recognizing what he is looking at.

…maybe it’s because the guy doesn’t have a framework for understanding what he’s looking at… or he undervalues what he’s looking at and, so, looks right through it… or he’s misinformed or misled about what he’s looking at… or he wasn’t expecting to see what he is looking at in the first place and so he doesn’t see it now.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It doesn’t mean it isn’t visible. And it doesn’t mean Jesus intends for him to overlook it.

I don’t want to be that guy. Do you?

So, how do we start to see what we are looking at? It starts with knowing what we are looking FOR. In the story earlier, when I knew what I was looking FOR – a Subaru – I started to see what I had already been looking AT. Turns out, Subarus were already all around me. Likewise, what Jesus tells us to look FOR in the gospels will help us to recognize what we have been looking AT all along… the Kingdom of God breaking in.

Want to see the Kingdom of God all around you? Jesus says to look for the little people – the least of these, the overlooked, the undervalued, the judged, the rejected, the young, the old, the neighbor, the coworker, the friend, the family member – and look for the little opportunities to love them, bless them, and treat them better than they deserve. This is the “good” the Father is preparing in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10). This is the Kingdom breaking into the realm of the visible.

Do you see it now?

Jesus says if you look for the Kingdom you will see it. Because it is all around you. It is already prepared. It is already in motion. It is already visible. It is already seeking to get your attention.

Perceiving the Kingdom happens when you see the people nearby who need someone like you to notice.

Turns out, there’s a lot to see. And the more you look, the more you’ll see. And the more you see, the more He will be able to show you.

Today could be a very exciting day for you… and the people around you… because the Kingdom of God is at hand.

Then Jesus said, “Open your eyes and look. Seek and you will find. Do you see anything now?” (John 4:35, Matthew 7:7, Mark 8:23)

"The Source of Your True Value"

There are two kinds of love in the world:

1) The kind of love that seeks value in its object; and,

2) The kind of love that creates value in its object.

The first kind of love is the most familiar to us. It drives our everyday preferences. For instance, when I say that I love a good book or a good movie or good TexMex, that is the first kind of love in play. When I want the best employee for the hire I need to make, when I am not satisfied until the room is picked up, when I keep skipping songs on my play list until I find just the right one, that is the first kind of love in play.

There’s nothing wrong with such a love. It is what it is. It’s part of everyday life. It’s focused on what I want, what I prefer, what I need. It is a love that is felt when the object of the love is valuable enough, lovely enough or useful enough. The primary question is this: has this thing or person earned my love?

But there is another kind of love in the world. It is more rare.

It does not seek value and take it. It creates value and gives it. Perhaps I can best illustrate this kind of love with a story.

In 1987, my wife was already carrying our first child when we were sent to Missoula, Montana for a year of pastoral internship (our denomination calls it “vicarage”).  When Amanda was born later that year, the congregation was thrilled to have a newborn in their midst. She received gifts from many people, and among them was a small gift from a beautiful, elderly woman named Wilma.  Wilma was widowed and on a very limited fixed-income. She didn’t have much to spend on the Vicar’s newborn baby girl. But she wanted to give something.

So, Wilma bought Amanda a little plastic baby doll. The baby doll was cheap and only about 8 inches long but it quickly became known as the Wilma Doll. Now, the thing you need to understand about the Wilma Doll right off the bat is that… well… there is no delicate way to put it… it was ugly.  And the longer Amanda loved on her Wilma Doll, the uglier it got. Wilma’s facial features began to fade. In time, some mysterious spots formed on it. (My wife boiled Wilma a variety of times trying to get the spots off.) The cheap little dress it came with eventually fell apart and fell away.

You might wonder, why not just get rid of such a doll?  It was cheap, plastic, ugly and naked.

Well, here’s the thing. It may have been a cheap, plastic, ugly baby doll. But it just happened to be Amanda’s FAVORITE baby doll. And that made all the difference.

You see, there are two kinds of love in the world. One seeks value. The other creates value. And that’s what Amanda’s love did for the Wilma Doll. The Wilma Doll was not valuable or lovely on its own. But it became so because Amanda loved it so. Here’s the bottom line: the Wilma Doll was of great value in our home because it was AMANDA’S beloved Wilma Doll.

What does this have to do with you?

Everything.

No doubt, you are like many who doubt you have true value or worth on your own. You think of yourself as nothing but an ugly Wilma Doll.  And you may even be right.

But here’s the thing… even if you are nothing more than a Wilma Doll, you just happen to be GOD’S beloved Wilma Doll.

Your deep value does not come from being lovey. Your deep value comes from being loved.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God… and that is what we are.” 1 John 3:1