An overly simplified meaning of being a disciple.

This description is far too simple for anything beyond the most brief of overview, but looking for the ultra simple explanation of being a disciple it may not be too bad.

What does it mean to be a disciple?  Our lives are being lived on the trajectory that we choose.  We will allow that trajectory to be represented by \.  At some point in our lives we encounter the trajectory, represented by /, of the goodness, beauty and power of God in the person of Jesus Christ and the redemption He offers.  In that moment we may choose to continue on with the trajectory of our lives, where we call the shots, make the decisions and determine what we will love and adore.  We have faced the question, “Who is in charge?” and we have answered that with a very clear, “Me”. After that encounter with God we go our separate way from God, we can represent that encounter with an X.  At the intersection of God’s and our trajectory there was a moment in which we are called to follow.  A call we have rejected.  However, if we choose to answer affirmatively the call to follow then our lives experience a change in trajectory.  It becomes more of a Y.  The trajectory of our life now parallels, indeed is in His.  So much so, that Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, but I am not really the one doing the living, the day to day life I live in this material world, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave His life for me.”  ^{Gal 2:20 paraphrased} We are walking with Him along the arc of His will and purpose.  That moment of intersection is the moment we answer His call to us, “Follow Me,” with the commitment, “I have decided to follow Jesus.”

A possible help for your congregation.

Last week, I asked that you participate in a survey about Covid-19 and church giving.  I want to thank all of you who have done so.  If you have not yet, please follow this link and take this survey.  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RJTCBTT

Of the results that have come in a great many have expressed concern about the financial impact of the temporary shutdown on giving.  The prognosis for churches seems to range from the mildly difficult to very serious.  I remain confident that out of this the Lord will bring good.  We have our part to be good stewards, but we can do that with confidence in God’s direct provision and in providential opportunities.  I may have come across one such opportunity this week.  I was having a conversation with Mike and he was telling me about how his company did a solar project for a large SBC church not far from where he lives.  It turns out that solar power can be a benefit for a church.  The roof is there all week soaking up the sun, but the building is used less often than a conventional business.  Depending on a multitude of factors, a church’s roof might be put to use to produce income for the church.

Let me admit that I am a moron when it comes to all things electric.  Once you get beyond an on/off switch you have pretty much left me behind.  But when it comes to an opportunity for a church to develop a revenue stream using an existing roof it makes sense to me.  Rather than provide my list to Mike or send everyone a brochure, I will simply say if you want more information send me an email and I will get you more information. 

Loving Jesus After Covid

Before we get into the blog please help me help churches by filling out this five-question survey.  It will take about 2 minutes.   Thank you.

Covid-19's impact on giving

More than a few of us are ready for the Covid-19 shut down to be lifted.  Like so many other issues in our nation right now this seems to be a matter of deeply held opinions causing a deep divide.  The church finds itself in the midst of finding the balancing point between desiring not to spread disease and the desire to gather again. 

While some churches have simply closed and encouraged their members to worship individually at home while waiting for meeting bans to be lifted other churches have worked aggressively to offer virtual services. Some churches are using drive in services insisting that members stay in their cars and have no direct contact with each other.  I have yet to meet anyone who likes this approach to being the church.

There are some who insist that the church is being singled out.  While non-essential businesses are being allowed to open, the church is banned from meeting.  Some see this as a sort of proto-persecution, a way of gauging the response of Christians in America to being oppressed. For this reason some churches and Christians have begun to insist on having their rights restored and being allowed to gather in mass worship meetings.  There have even been suggestions of “worship protests” in which Christians gather to worship in protest of the ban on large group meetings.

Is this the beginning of a plan to oppress the church in America?  If Christians do not speak up and declare what they believe now, will they lose the right to speak up at all?  Is this the beginning of persecution?  I believe that is a question that only future historians will be able to answer.  I can see both sides of the argument and honestly I am not sure that it is the most important issue the church faces.  It is possible that governments can take our freedom.  No doubt a free society feels better for the church than an oppressed society.  But around the world today where there is the maximum level of freedom, there the church is most in decline. 

Will we lose our freedoms? Maybe, but nothing can make us not love Jesus.  And that is where the church ought to focus.  Uncle Screwtape advised that if possible his apprentice should attempt to get the patient to practice what he calls, “Christianity and”.  Screwtape explained that the amalgamation of Christianity with anything would, from hell’s perspective, be a positive thing.  His suggestions seem fanciful or even comic for us, and there is no end to the possible combination of additives to Christianity.  We could have Christianity and vegetarianism, Christianity and spelling reform, Christianity and hand sanitizer, Christianity and social distancing, Christianity and mask wearing.

Even if the Supreme Court ordered that all churches be reopened this weekend would that mean that America would suddenly begin to experience a grand revival?  Most likely not.  In fact, until some things change inside the American church the decline we have been experiencing will continue in the post Covid future.  Now is the time to return our focus to hit the reset button of our churches to loving Jesus with our whole being.   If persecution actually does comes, only loving Jesus will give us the strength to endure.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RJTCBTT

After Covid let's reset to making disciples

One of the unexpected challenges that have risen from the covid-19 epidemic is the role of mass gatherings of Christians for worship.  With the danger of spreading the illness being the apparent primary motivation a number of legal authorities have ordered the suspension of worship gatherings or at least gatherings of more than 50 people.  Some Christians have seen this as specific oppression and a violation of their Constitutional rights of the free expression of religion.  There have been churches that have meet in defiance of bans on group meetings.  There has even been talk of group worship gatherings in protest to bans, not unlike or even copied from the “re-open” protest. 

It is somewhat ironic that the push for mass public worship gatherings is neither a mandate of Scripture nor the practice of much of the church outside of the west.  In fact, among persecuted Christians mass gatherings of worship are both dangerous and uncommon.  Here in America we have developed the habit of measuring the meaningfulness of our ministry by the numbers that we can post, specifically weekly worship attendance.  This has become especially true in the wake of the church growth movement and the seeker-friendly services.  Without the matrix of numbers we have lost the ability to validate our churches, our ministries or even ourselves.  Hence there are some who passionately argue that the church must begin meeting publicly as soon as possible. 

Rather than see the Covid-19 shut down as an occasion to draw battle lines in the ever-evolving, church-state relationship, there is a better use for this time.  We need to hit the reset and focus on dying to self and stop trying to grow the crowds.  The church in the New Testament is never told to gather in mass crowds for worship.  The gathering of the church in large groups seems to be the exception rather than the rule of the earliest church.  What the church focused on was the fulfilling of the great commission to go and make disciples.  The terms of discipleship are pretty simple they are also pretty stark.  When Jesus invites us to come and follow Him, He is inviting us to come and die. If you want to be a disciple you have to take up the cross and follow Jesus.  In Roman processions the one carrying the cross was generally about to die. Taking of the cross, being a disciple, following Jesus are all terms for dying to self.  That was Jesus’ message but that message has not typically been the message of our churches.  

We have focused on church growth having mistaken Sunday attendance with making disciples.  We started with a mistaken assumption and ended in some very wrong places.  We started by mistaking a good ancillary byproduct (Sunday worship attendance) for the Gospel and then spiraled down to insipid banality.   In other words, we have marketed the church by leaving behind the cost of following Christ and by trying to make it cool, hip and desirable. 

For example, we acted as if we were embarrassed by the ideal of sacrificial living and giving, while at the same time we offered entertainment that was in some vague way Christian.  We have stroked egos and coddled sin in order not to “lose people” from our church attendances.  We have become highly focused on our rights (legal and social) while forgetting our responsibilities.  Which have you seen or heard more recently?  A complaint or protest about American churches being persecuted or protests about the gluttony of church members while their brothers or sisters in the third world church haven’t enough to eat? 

I am not opposed to the public mass gathering of Christians for worship.  But for disciples who daily die to self in order to live for Christ the weekly public gathering is not the main thing.  When meeting bans are lifted let’s do what Jesus said and go make disciples rather than try to build our weekly attendance.

Five Steps to quadrupling your post Covid-19 attendance.

As we come out of the Covid-19 shut down many churches are concerned about a decline in attendance.  The habit of church attendance is easy to slip out of and with many members getting accustomed to online services some may opt to not return to in-person services.  How can a church regain its attendees?  What could it do to induce non-members to try a church after such a lengthy shut down? 

Below are five steps that you can follow that will bring in huge crowds for your Sunday event.  Something this big is not going to just be a service; it is an event.  This is a little out of the box, but in times like these conventional, traditional thinking will kill your church attendance.  Don’t think of this as being out of the box. (Thinking that is described as “in” or “out” of the box is frankly “in the box thinking”)  Think of this as being further down the tube. 

This five-step process will require courage and fortitude, creativity and panache.  Imagine the most cutting edge, edgy, on the brink, verge, ministry you can think of and then go a couple steps beyond.  In fact, if things at church were a little stale before the shutdown this might be a great time to rename and rebrand your congregation.  See the end of this article for a list of names for your congregation that have not been used yet for churches

#1 Be committed to the process.  There will be some upfront costs, but you should recoup that expense, so stick to the plan. The greatest danger to the plan is failing to be fully committed.  Halfhearted efforts will come off looking lame and nothing is worse for a church than looking lame.  It is imperative that you pursue this with a passion that is unequalled by anything else in your life.

#2 Have the venue and legal permits in place.  If your building will not hold the number of attendees you will need to rent other space.  This may require traffic and parking directions and other infrastructure.  Food will be a part so be aware of food and drink services and permits.  This part of the effort maybe the least fun part of the process, but once it is done you can move on to the much more energetic and exciting part of the plan.  A little hard work up front pays off big later.

#3 Hire the right band and performers.  You will need to select the band based on your target audience-metal, country, hip-hop, or classic rock.  Get the best performers possible.  That may mean that your worship leader may not even be a Christian, but if the songwriter was a Christian and the worship leader sings the words it is all the same.   Some churches have in the past used comedians to draw crowds.    If you choose to use comedians they will need to be a big name with the ability to draw a crowd on their name alone.   When it comes to bands they need a following or groupies to make sure you have a base of attendees.  Be very careful of other performers like clowns, magicians or dancers, they must be able to draw on their own.

#4 Advertise like crazy.  Broadcasting is the word.  Narrow casting (person to person) will not reach the biggest crowds possible.  While the performers are an expense, advertising is an investment.   You may want to hire a professional publicist to insure that you do not miss any avenue.  During the ad campaign play down the name Christ, Christian, or church.  These words may be triggers for some people.

#5 Put on the greatest event your community has ever seen.  You may have to try to out-Disney Disney World, but it is either go big or go home.  Use the progression of the past to be your guide to discover the next big thing.  Pay careful attention to the evolution of church promotions in the past.  Once upon a time, we had pie suppers and later “The world’s longest banana Spilt” (currently the record is 4.995 miles). Then there were the Super Bowl parties with the first half of football then halftime devotion and then another half of football along with lots of great snacks.  If your church had one of these and the snacks were lame you could lose people to another church with better food.  Some churches even brought in ex-football starters to speak at half time.  More recently we have had huge, candy give away at Halloween, or Trunk or Treat to get people to come to church for free candy, which is almost like free grace.  Don’t fail to learn from our Catholic friends who sometimes have Clown Mass, and the Barney Blessing. (Just google it)   To show how much we care about your family, how about canceling worship if Sunday falls on Christmas day?  It is sort of passé now, but the cutting edge used to be to worship the Lord as we remember the resurrection by means of a helicopter, Easter egg, air raid. (Just google it)  If your target audience is a little more redneck, never fear! You could host Christian Professional Wrestling. (Just google it)    

But why do these weak half measures?  Go big or go home.  You can target men of all ages or at least those 21 years old and older, with free beer and free wings all served by Hooter girls.  That, with a great concert and a good venue, will draw the crowds. And by doing it all for free you can teach about grace, “You are a sinner and getting forgiven is like being given free beer.”  Don’t forget to say “Jesus” or pray or do something vaguely religious so you can call this church. 

Church Names and tag lines

Scope: Focus on Jesus

Dial: cranking life up to the max

Dawn: the new beginning you need

Crest: riding high in life

Joy: The life you want

Camay: Christ and me always yearning

S.O.S.: Save our soul

Tide: Washing over me with life

Colgate: Better than your college life