The Unchurched in the Church...

As I write this post I know some of you will become pretty defensive, and that's fine. This is an important enough topic that ruffling a few feathers is the least of my concerns. What does concern me is standing before a Holy God and having to give an account for the way I've treated the individuals He has placed in my path. This post is something the Lord has laid on my heart and as you read please know that I'm probably the most guilty in this area. I write because I'm convicted, and I hope you'll search your heart and reach out to people in a whole new way.

Our churches are filled with individuals who've had a relationship with Jesus since they were kids. Unfortunately in far too many churches those are the only people who attend!

Here's what I mean and this is why I feel it's such an important topic. I teach a Sunday morning class of college age students and young adults. This week I asked them a very simple question. "How many of you grew up going to church"? Out of 75 people in the class, ranging in age from 18-33, 72 of them grew up in the church. Now I know I'm not some theological superstar who's bringing all these people to Jesus and I've only been teaching for 3 years but I've been around long enough to know that's a problem. If that stat carries over to the entire church that means 96% of the people in my church have been in the "church" since they were kids, and only 4% came to Christ later in life. Obviously the numbers may be a little skewed but I guarantee you it's not that far off. Still doubting? Then ask the people you go to church with or the people in your small group and see for yourself. It may not be 96% but even 85% should make us question how we reach out to those around us. Not the message were preaching, but the way in which we're reaching.

So how are we reaching people? I don’t enjoy admitting this but somewhere along the way I developed this tunnel vision gospel mindset. Here’s how it works…God gave me a group of old friends and coworkers and so I plug away looking for any opportunity to tell them how He has changed my life. Of course, I’m nice to other people but if I’m honest with myself, the extent of my efforts to reach out are basically relegated to a select group of people God has placed in my life. I inadvertently shrunk my mission field down to a handful of people. Guess what? That leaves a lot of people out of the picture, and if God is always at work drawing people to Himself, then I am in constant contact with people that need Christ.

Where are all these people? There everywhere. While I’m shopping with my “ministry project” from work there is a lady on the same aisle with tears running down her face shuffling through coupons trying to scrape enough change together to buy some food for her kids. Do I see her? No. While I’m at breakfast for the 20th time talking to an old friend who makes $150,000 a year and doesn’t see a need for a Savior, my waitress is working her third shift in a row to pay for medical expenses that keep piling up. Do I talk to her? No. When I’m sitting in church with all my friends and arguing theology, there is a guy pretty close to my age at the end of my pew that is going through a crisis and finally built up enough courage to step inside a church for the very first time. Do I talk to him? Kind of…I smiled and shook his hand during the meet and greet.

I believe God is continuously drawing people to Himself and bringing them in the doors of our churches every single week. But at the end of the day most of us are too caught up in our church routine to take notice of the unsaved, hurting people all around us.

I want you to think about the people you know who either started their relationship with Jesus or came back to Jesus later in life. I’m talking about people who finally realized there had to be more to this life then what they were experiencing. Without fail they all seem to share one thing in common, a crisis. Sure their stories are different; some are a little more outrageous then others, but in some way shape or form they almost always use the words "rock-bottom" and go something like this...

I was walking along the road of life, minding my own business, doing my own thing when out of nowhere I got a boulder dropped on my life. Everything was fine and then all of a sudden I got blasted with a crisis.

Now the crisis is different for everyone. For some it was a huge life altering crisis like a death in the family. For others it was a much smaller internal crisis like never having true peace or continually chasing empty dreams. But every person I have ever known and every testimony I have ever heard, a crisis was involved in some way.

I know that is a strong statement but I believe it with all my heart. Hurting people are sitting in your sanctuary, listening to your pastor and searching for an answer to their crisis. Think about it. People who don't know Jesus search for Him during a crisis, but when they step into our churches we greet them with a smile and move on with our lives. Unfortunately since they don’t know much about the church they're not coming to your Small Groups and they're not coming to your Bible Fellowship classes. We can be the nicest people in the world but unless we go out of our way to build relationships with those who are hurting chances are they won't be with us for long.

Put yourself in their shoes...it probably looks like a freak show. Everybody smiling and shaking your hand, but nobody taking the time to truly find out what is going on in your life. I know this because I'm the freak. I'm great at smiling and shaking hands, but my group of friends hasn't changed a whole lot in FIVE years. Has yours?

Are there any new believers in your group of friends?
Do you have any deep relationships with new believers?
Do you go out of your way to connect with visitors?
How much of your time at church is spent talking to new people?

So if we don't spend any quality time with new believers or visitors should it be any surprise why membership in our churches is on the decline. If we’re not letting new believers or people who are searching into our groups of friends then who are they hanging out with. Are we just assuming that other people in the church are taking the time to minister to them? Please don’t assume that everybody in your church knows somebody. Times are changing. Small country churches are fewer and farther between. What used to be a place where even the visitors were familiar has become a place where no one even knows who’s visiting, and that creates a problem. People who didn’t grow up in the church, even if they visit, probably won’t stay very long unless someone makes an effort to build a relationship with them.

The foundations of the Christian faith are built around relationships. When Jesus was here on earth He discipled and trained through everyday relationships. Read John 17, (for real...take out your Bible and read it) probably the holiest prayer in the Bible and count how many times Jesus refers to His disciples. Count the number of times He uses them, they, those, and listen to the context in which He talks about the disciples. It's all about training and teaching. Jesus built relationships with a group of men who were headed in the wrong direction, He turned their lives around and then He trained them to go and do the same. Unfortunately, most of our relationships have nothing to do with training or teaching, and to make matters worse most of our conversations don’t even have anything to do with Christ.

Here’s the bottom line. God is constantly at work, orchestrating circumstances to draw people into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Through divine intervention people who are hurting or in a crisis are coming into our churches like never before and unfortunately we don't seem to understand the necessity of building deep meaningful relationships. We're kind and friendly, but kind and friendly doesn't help a person get to Heaven. Next time your sitting at church look around you, talk to people, invite them to lunch. They are there for a reason and it is our responsibility to embrace them while they're in crisis. Not sure if they've gone to your church for years? Who cares, what’s the worst that could happen? You might make a new friend.

Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
- Proverbs 24:11

Mankind is No Island...

Helping those in need is such a vital aspect of Christianity and unfortunately it's often ignored. This is a great video. The eyes of the gentleman at the end move me every time; they remind me of paintings I've seen of the Apostle Paul...



If you live in the Tampa area and would like to help feed those in need feel free to join us on Thursday nights. You can read more about the ministry by following this link...

http://www.reachingtampa.org/homeless_ministry.html

The Thorns Among the Soil

Why do we always assume we are good soil?

I've probably read the parable of the sower and the soils 100 times and for some reason I always glaze over the first three examples and just assume I'm the fourth; the good soil.

The parable is about this guy that’s planting crops in his field. Back in those days there was a couple of different ways to plant seed but one was to walk through your field scattering seed as you went. Obviously if this was your preferred method there would be seed in a number of different places. Jesus tells us that some of the seed falls beside the road and onto a path, some hits rocky places, some fell in among the thorns and some fell on good soil. After Jesus got done telling the parable his disciples were confused and needed an explanation as to what Jesus was talking about so He breaks it down for them.

Matthew 13:19-23

19"When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.

20"The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.

22"And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

23"And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

What Jesus is describing is 4 different types people and please don't think these people are prehistoric old Jewish people. These are people that you and I come into contact with every day.

The first guy is the person that hears the gospel but doesn't really want anything to do with it. Not because Jesus is necessarily bad, but probably because he doesn't have the time or he thinks the way is too narrow minded. The text says the seed has been sown in his heart but the evil one or the devil comes and snatches it away.

The second guy is the person that hears about Jesus for the first time and is blown away. He's the one that comes to church, gets saved, and he gets involved in everything the church offers. But for some reason he slowly fades back into his old lifestyle. The text says when persecution comes he immediately falls away. The Word of God never quite takes a hold of him and before long he’s back hanging out with his friends and doing his old thing.

The third and forth guys are really the ones I want to focus on because unfortunately I find myself constantly battling between the two. Both of them have the word, but one gets choked by wealth and worry and is unfruitful. What scares me is that if I'm honest with myself it is a constant struggle to fight wealth and worry. Think about it. From the time we are teenagers we are constantly pushed to go to the best schools so we can get the best jobs and live in the nicest houses and travel in luxury when we retire. It's unfortunate but for most people, Christian or not, that is their life.

The sad part is when you really think about the parable Jesus is telling you can picture exactly what He is referring to. You've got two guys that probably go to the same church as well as attend the same Bible studies. They work the same jobs and their families fellowship together. The difference is that one is so caught up in "providing" for his family that he ignores the fact that the Christian life is about so much more than a service once a week.

From the outside looking in the unfruitful guy is just like any other normal guy. He probably has 2.5 kids, lives in a 4 bedroom 3 bath house and drives a nice car. His wife stays home and watches the kids and they vacation 2 weeks out of the year. At the end of the day they are good people. They take care of their kids and they donate a portion of their money to the local church. But the key is that they are too busy with THEIR lives to see the hurts and needs of the people around them. Christianity is so unique in it's love for other people. If we spend our entire lives seeking after our own pleasure and our own well being then we have missed the very essence of what Jesus has given us.

I came across this video the other day and it really help put things in perspective. I saw so much of myself in the video and I realized that if live my life seeking my own desires and ignore the pain and hurt of others then I have become the person Jesus was referring to. The Bible talks over and over and over about living a fruitful life and loving other people. I'm afraid that somewhere along the line the deceitfulness of wealth has clouded my vision for what it means to live a fruitful life.

India...

I came across this chart the other day and thought it was really interesting. It was published by the International Mission Board (IMB) and it shows the remaining people groups in the world, with a population over 100,000, that are considered to be unreached and unengaged. (You can click on the map to make it bigger) Basically saying that not only have they not heard about Jesus, they don't even have a missionary in their city. Obviously there are other areas that have not heard but these are groups with a population over 100,000.

Below is a ministry that helps get kids off the street in India's largest city. The name of the ministry is Vision Rescue...

What the World Eats...

Really interesting! From the book "What the World Eats"

Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07



United States: The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week: $341.98


Japan: The Ukita family of Kodaira City
Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25


Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11



Great Britain: The Bainton family of Cllingbourne Ducis
Food expenditure for one week: 155.54 British Pounds or $253.15


Kuwait: The Al Haggan family of Kuwait City
Food expenditure for one week: 63.63 dinar or $221.45



Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09



China: The Dong family of Beijing
Food expenditure for one week: 1,233.76 Yuan or $155.06



Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27



Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53



Mongolia: The Batsuuri family of Ulaanbaatar
Food expenditure for one week: 41,985.85 togrogs or $40.02



Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55



Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03



Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

Faith by Works?

I was reading the other day about groups of people who believe that one day they will stand before God and their entrance into heaven will be based on their good works versus their bad. Basically, there will be one big scale and all the good they have done in their lives will be measured against all of the bad they have done. If the good is greater then the bad they go to heaven, and if the bad is greater they go to hell. To start off, I want to make it clear that I do not believe your good works will get you to heaven. The Bible makes it very clear in Ephesians that it is by grace we are saved and not by works.

Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

But the whole idea of a completely works based heavenly entrance did get me thinking. If I were to die today, and this were true, would I go to heaven or hell? It is sad to think but so many Christians, myself included, seem to just go through the motions of life. We get up in the morning, and if we are lucky we have our daily devotional, we say our prayers, and by the time we are done working we come home, crash and then start all over again the next day. As Christians, we are supposed to show our faith through our works. As I thought about my life and made a mental list of my good works over the last week, I have to admit there were only a couple of things on that list. I guess I had never stopped to think about what it was to have faith by works. I just always figured that by not doing bad, I was doing good, but that is not the case at all. How often do I really go out of my way to show kindness or to do something out of my comfort zone that helps demonstrate my faith? When was the last time I volunteered to help shape the life of a young person, or when was the last time I discipled someone new in their faith?

In the Bible, the book of James is pretty clear about what we should do with our faith and how we should live. James 2 starting in verse 14 says.

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

Even though I do not believe that your good works will get you to heaven, I do believe that once you accept Jesus as your Savior, one of the easiest ways to show your faith is by your works. Over the last week I have changed my routine a little and made a conscious effort to show my faith through my works. It is amazing all of the new opportunities the Lord has shown me and all of the new ways I now have to honor Him. As Christians, there is always something we can be doing to further the Lord’s Kingdom and we just don’t realize all we can do or what we can handle until we try. Let’s face it, if the Bible says …faith without works is dead… and my good works don’t outweigh my bad, then how much faith do I really have?

James 3:13
Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.

New Scientology Ad

Great commercial, clearly highlighting the struggles of the human race, but it's so sad that they don't believe in Jesus. It blows my mind that they are referring to the exact same issues the Bible has shown us for thousands of years, but a science fiction writer in the 1950's decided to answer them in a completely different direction.

Church Bulletins?

I am reading a book right now by the President of World Vision, Richard Stearns called The Hole In Our Gospel. It's a very interesting book about how most Americans who profess to be Christians still miss the sacrificial living and giving aspect of their faith. He emphasizes the fact that there is a hurting world around us and for some reason we tend to ignore it and focus on our own problems.

I copied an excerpt of the book and put it below. Before you read it know that I'm not calling out any churches in particular I just thought it was a very interesting point.

If church leaders do not have an outward vision to become salt and light in our world, to promote social and spiritual transformation, pursue justice, and proclaim the whole gospel, then the church will fail to realize its potential as an agent for change. It will become inwardly focused on meeting the needs of its members, to the exclusion of its nonmembers. It will be a spiritual cocoon, where Christians can retreat from a hostile world, rather than a “transformation station” whose primary objective is to change the world.

We need only to read our church bulletin to see where our priorities have been placed. How many of the announcements involve programs that focus more on meeting our needs than the needs of those outside the church? I’ve been in churches whose bulletins read like the table of contents for Psychology Today, listing programs and support groups for depression, anxiety, divorce recovery, bipolar disorder, sexual dysfunction, eating disorders, and dieting, not to mention aerobics, Pilates, cooking classes, and Tae Kwon Do. It’s not that churches shouldn’t minister to their own members, but there should be a balance between internal and external ministry. When our churches become spiritual spas in which we retreat from the world, our salt loses its saltiness and we are no longer able to impact the culture.

Morgan Chilulu, an African pastor of a small and humble church in the midst of the Aids pandemic, once told me, “A church that lives within its four walls is no church at all”