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for Paul the gospel bound believers to one another as well as to God. Acceptance by Christ necessitated acceptance of those whom he had already welcomed (Rom 15:7); reconciliation with God entailed reconciliation with others who exhibited the character of gospel preaching (Phil 4:2-3); union in the Spirit involved union with one another, for the Spirit was primarily a shared, not individual, experience. The gospel is not a purely personal matter. It has a social dimension. It is a communal affair. ~ Robert Banks, Paul’s Idea of Community
You wont want to miss it: DWELL
I meet with two guys every two weeks for pastoral accountability. I hesitate to use the word “accountability” given all its negative connotations. I have written on those here, charting a more gospel-grounded approach to accountability. We read through a book of the Bible every two weeks and then meet to do “Text-Theology-Life”. Currently we are reading through 1 Timothy.
Chapter three is about the qualifications of an overseer/elder. These are easy to read with a view to cultivating more elders/pastors, but the Spirit slowed me down enough to consider, not assume, my own status in practicing these qualifications. The string of adjectives can be intimidating: “must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach…” In particular, I have been lingering over “manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity.” One way to get at what Paul means is to consider the opposite.
If your house is in disorder, with kids managing the parents based on their incessant wants and unruly behavior, then chances are the household is not well managed. If kids schedules and pleadings are constantly caved into, its the kids that run the home, not the parents.
Some planters/pastors abdicate this responsibility in pursuit of “nobler church ministry,” but the logic of Paul is exactly the opposite: “If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?” Some are so busy managing their churches, that they neglect their own families. This is a disqualification for pastoral ministry. It puts the cart before the horse, church before family. Some of us need to repent both privately and publicly over this sin.
However, we can’t mistake generally problem free households for well-managed households. My kids have a pretty good tempermants, but am I managing—protectively and caringly leading—my family practically and spiritually? Am I modeling and cultivating tenderness, respect, and obedience? Or am I just coasting on good kid temperament? Do I take time to instruct my children with patience and love? Do I pray with them and teach them about Jesus? Do I spend time with my wife away from the kids discussing family life and just delighting in her? These are questions I am asking myself.
For some helpful audio and notes on the qualifications of pastors/elders, check out Darrin Patrick’s talk “Developing Elders, Deacons, and Members.“
Below is a summary of thoughts I shared with our launch team this week. These statements about church planting were culled from Luke 9.
Four Points:
o Church planting/kingdom work is hard, self-denying work.
§ Take up your cross, deny yourself daily, embrace social ostracism, sacrifice of your time, even excess family time to follow Jesus on mission in being the church. (9:23, 62)
o Church planting is multiplying work.
§ Jesus SENT 12 and 70 to proclaim the kingdom message and make disciples, not to build a building or launch a service.
§ Church planting is a community project, not a paid position. When confronted with the needs of feeding 5,000, Jesus said “You give them something to eat” (13).
§ Son of man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them (56). We have a winsome, saving gospel, not a destructive, legalistic message.
o Church planting is city renewing work.
§ Jesus set his face to Jerusalem to save the city and may cities to come (51). Paul followed this pattern in his urban church planting focus. We exist not to be a hip church but to renew the city socially and spiritually with the gospel of Christ.
o Church planting requires humility.
§ Jesus puts God’s glory above our own desire for praise and recognition (46-48). Planting is not about personal praise for your sacrifices. Your reward is from God.
§ We are about expanding His kingdom, not just our church. We are one of many local churches that will cooperatively bring in spiritual and social renewal.
§ Our worth should not fluctuate with numerical shrinkage and growth. Instead root your significance in Jesus death and resurrection to accept, love, and change you.
§ We should not think of ourselves as great because we are living the missional life. This does not make you special; it makes you obedient.
One Foundation: God in Christ through the Spirit is our nourishment and strength to live the self-denying, church multiplying, city renewing, humility requiring work of church planting.
o We feed but we are not the food. God sets the table in the wilderness as he did with Israel and with the 5,000.
o The power for spiritual growth and multiplication comes from King Jesus: “Where you go, the King goes, and where the King goes, people bow.” – Neil Cole
Things are progressing well for the Austin Area Church Planting Network. We will begin the formalization of the Network by forming a board comprised of planters and established pastors that reflect the diversity of Austin.
Today we have a good discussion about how young planters/pastors can cultivate healthy, unselfish relationships with other pastors. Dan Davis shared some reflections, arguing that younger leaders often fail to develop good, transparent relationships with others for three reasons:
- They have not “crashed and burned” in order to discover their relational needs.
- They are too stretched for time.
- They approach relationships on a purely “what can I get out of this” basis.
Of course, not all young pastors approach relationships this way, and if they do, the problem is likely rooted in their theology proper (how they view God). No matter who we are, some relationships have to be formed over tasks; however, people are not essentially levers to be pulled for our success. This commercialization of our relationships can be remedied by repenting over viewing people as instruments. Repentance will likely need to start with how we view God. Do we relate to him primarily over what he can do for us, for our ministries, and how he can make our theology better? Do we view God in the tradition of the Western church that conceives of God as “consubstantial but with distinct hypostases” —in other words the Trinity as shared substance but distinct in themselves. OR do we conceive of God and relate to him as persons-in-community—to be God is to be a community of persons of relationships–which by redemption we are swept into to the sweet satisfaction of our souls? If the former, some confession and repentance may be in order to God himself, then change in our relating to him and consequently to others.
“Most gospel ministry involves ordinary people doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality.” Evangelism is often presented as a program or something for professionals. It is neither. Growing out of a radical call to love other people in the way of Jesus, Total Church authors, Timmis and Chester argue for a refreshingly simple
model of evangelism that is rooted in gospel and community.Three Strand evangelism includes: 1) building relationships 2) sharing the gospel 3) introducing people to community. This approach has most influenced our approach to “evangelism.” Regarding the role of the community the authors comment:
model of evangelism that is rooted in gospel and community.Three Strand evangelism includes: 1) building relationships 2) sharing the gospel 3) introducing people to community. This approach has most influenced our approach to “evangelism.” Regarding the role of the community the authors comment:
Not everyone can think on their feet. Some people are simply not good at speaking to strangers and forming new friendships. One of the practical benefits of the three-strand model of evangelism is that it gives a role to all of God’s people. By making evangelism a community project, it also takes seriously the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit in distributing a variety of gifts among his people.
Applied three-strand evangelism includes forming authentic relationships with others, inviting them into your community through dinners, movies, hearing bands, parties and so on, allowing them to witness the power and presence of God in people who aren’t afraid of culture and genuinely love others.
I recently met up with some other Acts 29 guys.to discuss the new A29 regional events intended to help equip church planters of all stripes. The spirit behind these events is remarkably kingdom-centered, with established churches aiming to listen to planters (to resource them), and planters eagerly learning from seasoned leaders and planters. A particluar strength of the upcoming regional events are the practical workshops, which cover things like establishing financial systems, spiritual formation, and courage in planting.
Friend and fellow planter, Jacob Vanhorn, provides more info on the regionals here.
In search of a biblical-theological, culturally relevant, simple evangelism approach I came across Tim Chester’s The World We All Want. Here is a description of this course:
We all dream of a better world – a world of security, plenty and friendship. Christians believe that God promises just such a new world. The Bible is the story of God making that promise and keeping it. The World We All Want is for people who are interested in the message of the Bible. Developed by the Crowded House, The World We All Want is an evangelistic Bible overview.
One of the key points that Tim has emphasized is beginning our gospel “presentations” with new creation, not with sin. I the Austin context, this is pretty crucial. Beginning with sin smacks of legalism and self-righteousness, but beginning with what we all long for—and what God promises—a world put to rights, full of joy and justice connects with the longing of every human heart. It mines the seed of religion in the heart of man and graciously leads him to repentance over looking to lesser things for fulfillment of this longing.
I just ordered the accompanying book, so more to come. Tim has also graciously posted the pdfs of the session summaries for Alpha course like presentations.
Here is some outstanding research on the openness of the unchurched to talk about Christianity with certain people.
Steve McCoy on a 2008 Evangelism Plan.
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