Scott Attebery – Page 3 – Sharing my story as a life-long learner of Christ

Where is Your Church’s Allegiance?

In his book, Mere Discipleship, author Lee Camp recounts the Rwandan civil war from the mid 1990’s. At the time, Camp was located in Kenya as a missionary.

In the book, he explains how Rwanda had been considered a textbook case of successful Christian Missions. Churches were being planted and were multiplying rapidly.

Then came the civil war between the Hutu and Tutsi.

Adversity has a way of revealing reality. The very churches that had long been considered a “success” were suddenly ripped apart. Not necessarily by gunfire, but by something worse: allegiance.

Although the new converts had claimed allegiance to Christ alone, it soon became apparent that when push came to shove, allegiance to their tribe was more important.

According to Camp, “the Jesus who taught his disciples to ‘love your neighbor’ was missing when young men were hacking old men, women, and children to death, simply because these neighbors were of a differing ethnic background… the ‘gospel’ imported into Rwanda failed to ever challenge the ethnic identities of its ‘converts’—they ‘became Christian,’ but many remained first and foremost either Hutu or Tutsi.”

Before you point the finger at Rwanda, remember, my fellow Americans, some of our own churches were torn apart in the 1800’s during our civil war as brother fought against brother. Our own Christian heritage has black spots in which we have to wonder where our allegiance truly lies.

So how can pastors and churches develop disciples of Christ who will stand the test of adversity?

Here’s one thought: remember that actions speak louder than words.

For some reason, we allow ourselves as ministers to be satisfied when people say all the right words. We think that as long as someone can answer questions in Sunday School or lead a small Bible study, they must be a strong Christian.

This kind of thinking leads us to miss the small “civil wars” taking place in our members lives already. I’m talking about the seemingly small ways that we are all hypocrites from time to time –yelling at your daughter on the way to Sunday school to memorize the verse about controlling your anger, or harping on the evils of abortion and in the same breath looking down on the single mom –even though she ‘chose life.’ And what about the way we carry on about prayer in schools when there is hardly any prayer in our churches.

You don’t have to look very far to find our small civil wars. We all have them –and praise God, He pours out His grace on us for these sins.

But forgiveness of those sins doesn’t mean that we should ignore them. This is where I think we are in danger. Why? Because every major civil war in history began with small skirmishes based upon allegiances.

So as ministers we must look beyond people’s words –“God bless you, I’ll be praying for you, Jesus is the way”– and look at their actions. Then, speaking the truth in love, let us “exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of [us] may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13). In other words, help your members make their ultimate allegiance to Christ –not self, not culture, not personalities, and certainly not politics.

Putting your arm around someone and saying, “Bob, I’m concerned about your anger issues,” or “Mary, can we talk about your frustration with Suzie” is just the kind of Christ-like diplomacy that can help disciples grow in their allegiance to Christ and avoid major conflicts in the future!

Until then, here’s a relevant question that might help you look beyond the “right words” to get an idea of your members’ allegiance:

If civil war broke out in our country today between Democrats and Republicans, would allegiance to Christ be stronger to allegiance to a political party?

Quit “Trumping” Your Church

The President recently announced policy changes via Twitter. I’m not sure that’s a wise move.

My concern has nothing to do with the policy change itself. Rather, the method of communication is what seems lacking. His announcement caught the Pentagon off-guard. Respected generals were left to answer reporters’ questions without the luxury of preparing a statement.

The President’s intent may have been great, but the execution was lacking. It is possible to do the right thing the wrong way.

It reminds me of pastors who make biblical changes in their church, but neglect to practice biblical wisdom and communication in their approach. For instance:

Starting a membership class may be a great idea. But make sure everyone knows it’s mandatory before someone walks the aisle to join your church without taking the class. Talk about a “walk of shame” back to their seat!
Moving to small-groups on Sunday nights might be good for your congregation. But no member should find out by reading a sign on a locked door at 6pm on Sunday.
Eliminating the food pantry and joining a community food bank might have merit. But the folks who have spent years organizing and donating to the pantry deserve to be in the conversation.

When you do things the wrong way –even the right things– you open yourself up to a world of problems. With that in mind, here are some tips to guard you from “Trumping” your church:

Discuss significant changes in policy and practices with your leaders. These are the people who can help you contemplate and communicate the change. They will be the first to defend the new policy –but only if they have a “heads up” first. It’s not wise to catch them off-guard with public announcements. Never do anything to diminish the trust of the leaders with whom God has surrounded you.
Ask those who will be most affected by the change to be involved in the conversation. Changing Sunday school? You’d better talk to the teachers first. Changing the way you take up the offering? Get the ushers and treasurer together for a conversation. Don’t expect them to embrace a change they weren’t allowed to discuss.
Communicate the change to the church repeatedly and in various ways over a period of time. Never assume that one announcement of a major change is enough to inform the entire congregation. What about the people who were absent from the service due to sickness or vacation? What about the folks who didn’t receive a bulletin the week you printed the announcement? What about the folks (like me) who need to hear it and read it several times before reality sinks in? Different people get their information from different places. Therefore, consider all available channels of communication –bulletins, newsletters, website, emails, social media, etc.
For larger issues, consider a question & answer forum for church members. This isn’t always necessary. And, it can be unpredictable. However, giving people an opportunity to ask questions and voice opinions can go a long way to building and maintaining trust in a congregation. Most people don’t need to have their way; they just want to have their say. If you are uncomfortable with a “town hall” setting, consider inviting people to leave comments in a box or to email questions and comments to you directly over a period of time.
Remind people of the change after the decision is made. Spend months continuing to remind people of the new service schedule so they don’t forget. Consider a permanent place in your bulletin spelling out the new process for membership to avoid awkward situations at the close of services. Think about ways to communicate verbally on a regular basis. Habits change slowly and not everyone thinks about the changes as much as you do. Reminders are a wonderful gesture of courtesy.
Prepare back up plans. Anytime a major change occurs, people will forget and revert to the old practice. Be prepared for this so they are not caught in a frustrating circumstance. If you change the schedule, have greeters show up at the old meeting time for several weeks until everyone is acclimated. If you change membership procedures, have a plan for what to tell someone and how to rescue them from embarrassment if they walk the aisle. Think through how you would feel and how you would wan to be treated in those situations.

In my experience, the process of change can be more controversial than the change itself. Avoid unnecessary stress on your congregation. Go the “extra mile” in executing and communicating change.

Remember, It is possible to do the right thing the wrong way.

That sounds like something to Tweet!

The Blind Side of the Blind Side

It’s almost football season. That means it’s time for watching football movies. One of my favorites is “The Blind Side.” But there is one problem…

Maybe it’s because I’m a minister. Or maybe it is because it was glaringly obvious. Either way, Disney rewrote Scripture.

Maybe you caught it too. Near the beginning of the movie, as the camera sweeps across the campus of the high school setting and finally settles on an entry-way arch –there it is… etched in stone. The camera slows down just long enough so you can read it:

“With man this is possible.
With God all things are possible.”

I don’t know if Disney thought people wouldn’t notice the slight change, but to be honest, it’s not so slight. In fact, it’s huge.

Matthew 19:26 actually states: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Do you see the difference? Two little letters –“im” –as in the difference between “possible” and “impossible.”

Jesus’ words in Matthew 19 are in response to a question posed by the disciples.

The rich young ruler has gone away sad because he couldn’t swallow the thought of allowing Christ to rule his life instead of his possessions. After he walked away, Jesus told the disciples how difficult it is for a rich man to enter heaven. This astonished the disciples because they thought that if anyone would enter heaven, surely it would be a rich and powerful person.

That is the way the world thinks: Great men can achieve great things –and God can just help those poor souls who aren’t so great.

Or, maybe you’ve heard it stated another way, “If you set your mind to it, you can do anything.” Really? I’m pretty sure I’ll never do a reverse slam-dunk on a ten foot goal without a trampoline (and physical therapy afterwards).

The truth of the matter is that even the mightiest of men are helpless. Everything they have ever achieved is completely dependent upon Christ. He supplies them with their gifts, talents, abilities, resources, and relationships (Romans 11:36). Nothing is possible without Christ.

And, more importantly, no man can win his way to heaven –it is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8).

So that’s why Jesus explained how difficult it is for a rich man to enter heaven. And that’s what prompted the disciples to ask, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25).

Jesus answered, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). Wow. Everyone is in need of Christ –not just a few poor souls who can’t get it together for themselves. In fact, none of us can “get it together.”

I guess Disney figured that Christ’s message didn’t fit in a “feel-good,” “pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps” kind of movie. Or maybe they determined that men would reject the idea that they need God for everything (not just when He’s convenient).

Either way, it is a pity. Because sooner or later, even the most powerful men in the world realize that there is something they can’t buy with money or manipulate with power. In that moment, reality hits them from the blind side.

Why You Must Warn About Following Christ

My friend Adam recently went to the hospital for a biopsy. Doctors had found a growth in his pancreas and needed to determine what it was. Before the procedure, a nurse explained the risk: 1 in 100 pancreas biopsies will agitate the pancreas enough to cause pancreatitis. Adam understood the risk and signed the waiver.

Unfortunately, Adam was the 1 in 100. Ouch.

Medical professionals are required to warn patients before procedures. Similarly, Jesus warned would-be followers about becoming His disciples.

Don’t misunderstand. He did not warn people against following Him, rather He warned them about following Him. There is a huge difference.

Usually we associate warnings with risks:

The risk of cancer from second hand smoke
The risk of injury from sports
The risk of falling from a ladder

Instead of warning about risk, Jesus warned about reality. The reality Jesus warned of was total abandonment to Christ. According to Jesus, salvation is more than a claim, it is a radical commitment. That’s why it was important for Christ to warn those listening by describing the realities of following Him. Consider Luke 14:25-27:

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:25-27).

Christ’s warning was simple: Salvation is free, but it will cost you everything.

How can that be?

Consider marriage vows. In the US, aside from marriage license, marriage is free. Men are not required to pay a dowry to the bride’s parents. Each is free to marry the person whom they choose.

Marriage also comes with a commitment: to love and to cherish, forsaking all others, till death do us part. Marriage, although free, costs your life. You are no longer your own, you are joined together as one. You must be faithful to your spouse. It’s a total commitment with major ramifications.

Christ did not warn His followers so that they would avoid following Him, but so that they would understand the cost of following Him.

That’s why He continued with two examples:

A man person building a tower without ensuring he has the resources to finish (v. 28-30).
A king going to war without ensuring enough troops are available to win (v. 31-32).

In both cases, a failure to count the costs could result in a failure to finish. Christ is implying a sobering truth: Only those who endure to the end are saved.

This does not mean that salvation is not guaranteed or that a person may lose their salvation by apostatizing (permanently walking away from Christ). Rather, the person who walks away forever was never saved to begin with. “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us” (I John 2:19).

Therefore, a warning is in order. In fact, neglecting to warn would-be followers is cruel and dangerous. It can lead to false assurance and damnation.

If we really love lost people, we will warn them of two realities: 1) Hell, and 2) the cost of following Christ.

Passion for lost souls is 100% Christ-like. But in our haste to see people come to Christ, we must not lower the bar of commitment. Jesus certainly didn’t:

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:33).

Sound too harsh? Not when you consider the treasure of Christ. Like the man who found a treasure hidden in a field, the Bible says he took great joy in selling everything he owned to purchase the field.

Commitment to Christ is not torture, it’s a treasure. Warn your friends, lest they miss out!

8 Ways to Improve Your Church’s Care Plan

Loss is hard. Although everyone handles grief differently, I’m convinced that nobody handles it easily.

One of the ways that Christ comforts His children is through His body –the church. Romans 12:15 reminds us to “weep with those who weep.” After all, that’s what Jesus did. When His friend Lazarus died, He wept with Mary and Martha over their loss (John 11:35).

So when Jesus gives us, His ambassadors on earth, an opportunity to represent Him through comforting those experiencing loss; we must not take it lightly. That’s why I think it is vital that every church think through their own “care plan” now.

Pastors, loss is coming to your church –probably sooner than later. Have you taken the time to make sure your people will represent Christ in the best way possible? Or will you just hope and assume that things will work out?

If you are like most pastors, you probably have people in your church that have always taken care of the hurting. These people have served as unofficial “grief coordinators” for years without any formal structure or plan initiated by church leadership. You may be tempted to think, “I don’t need to worry about this because they always take care of those things.”

But what happens if the lady who normally coordinates food for grieving families is on vacation? What if the deacon who normally visits the grieving is in the hospital?

I want to encourage you to take some initiative here. You are the pastor –its your responsibility to make sure that the church has a plan. This doesn’t mean you have to do all the work, but instead, you need to make sure a proper plan is in place to make sure all the work gets accomplished.

So here are a few suggestions to be proactive with your church’s grief care:

1) Share your heart. Make sure everyone in the church understands what you want to accomplish in grief care and why it is important. Give them biblical reasons.

2) Recognize those who already serve. Identify everyone who already takes the initiative to serve those suffering from loss. Ask around to make sure you have a list of everyone (you don’t want to miss somebody). Then, have some sort of appreciation event (banquet, small meeting with thank you cards, recognition in front of the church body, etc.) to communicate your appreciation of their work and your desire to understand the process that normally takes place. Never suggest a new process until you’ve taken the time to understand the old process.

Ask those who have served in the past to help you identify possible weaknesses in the existing plan. Ask them how someone could potentially fall through the cracks. Then, encourage them to help brainstorm ideas to strengthen the process.

3) Don’t try to take over this ministry. Don’t steal this ministry from your people. Instead, be sure to empower the congregation to take ownership of caring for the grieving. This doesn’t mean you neglect the hurting. Instead, it means you “equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:12) and enjoy ministering together.

4) Communicate with the grieving person’s support system. Don’t act as if your church is the only source of care the person will receive. Most of your members have friends and family who will support them in their loss as well. Be proactive in communicating and working together with others to provide care. It’s a great opportunity to show that the church is a ‘team player’ concerned more about people’s needs than protecting their ‘own turf.’ Who knows, it might turn into a great opportunity to share the gospel.

5) Offer to communicate on behalf of the grieving. Ask them if they would like for the church to utilize announcements, bulletins, social media, etc. to communicate things like 1) hours they can receive visitors, 2) where they can send food/memorials, 3) ways they can pray for the grieving.

6) Put their loss on the calendar. Someone within the church needs to keep up with a “loss calendar.” This is a powerful tool that enables you to follow up with calls and cards 3 months, 6 months, and on yearly anniversaries of loss. One of the most difficult realities for grieving people is the realization that others are forgetting their loss. A timely note in the mail or call on the telephone can bring incredible joy.

7) Go disposable. Maybe it’s just because I’m a guy, but when I experienced loss, the last thing I wanted to do was wash dishes and return them to people. Stacks of orphaned dishes are demoralizing. Ask your people to take dishes in disposable storage containers. And, if your church has a supply of napkins and plasticware, consider having a volunteer who sends a packet of these supplies to the house of the grieving family.

8) Remind your people to look for more needs than food. Yards need to be mowed, trash needs to be taken out, and floors need to be cleaned. During the holidays, a little “decorating help” can be a huge blessing.

Clean Churches Die

During my second full week of pastoring, one of the ladies of our church made a disturbing comment. Looking back, I believe her comment probably describes the attitude of many other churches and their members.

Our church was getting ready to construct a new building when I was hired. I’m sure the lady meant well, but you can imagine my shock when she said, “I don’t know why we are building a new building. We are a small town and only getting smaller.”

She was right. At that point in time, the town of 18,000 people had experienced a brief decline in population. However, her viewpoint missed one major fact: Out of the 18,000 people in the town, no more than 5,000 were active in a local church.

I kept my mouth shut, but my snarky brain wanted to shout, “actually, we are building too small! There’s no way we could hold all the potential new believers in our town with this new building plan.”

What would prompt a person to overlook so many lost people in a town? It’s not ignorance of the situation. I believe most church members are tempted to write off the majority of unbelievers for one simple reason: They believe that unbelievers’ lives are too dirty for their church.

Such an attitude is Christian prejudice rooted in hypocrisy, selfishness and pride. And it is exactly the attitude that Christ’s disciple’s appeared to have in response to His interaction with the Samaritan woman (AKA “The Woman at the Well”) in John chapter 4.

The woman’s life was so radically changed by her encounter with Christ, that she left to tell everyone in town what had happened. As a lady with a “reputation,” the fact that she was eager to declare Christ to the townspeople who looked down upon her reveals several important facts: Her shame had been taken away, her soul had found peace, and her pain had been replaced with joy. She was a new creation!

But the story doesn’t end there (even if many sermons do). Look at what happens next in John 4:27-30:

Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.

Jesus Pursues Unclean People

When Christ’s disciples arrive on the scene, the Samaritan woman is still there. Apparently, they had such little regard for her that they didn’t mind speaking disparagingly about her in her presence! They asked Jesus “Why are you talking with her?” They were truly perplexed. Verse 27 even states they “marveled.”

It was disgraceful to speak to a woman in public. But this wasn’t just any woman –she was a Samaritan with a promiscuous past! Samaritan’s were considered “unclean” by the Jewish elites. Rabbis stayed clear of them.

Yet Jesus sought her out. Jesus pursued those who were deemed “unclean!” If that weren’t true, we would all be without hope because we are all sinners, unrighteous, and unclean.

Ministry is messy because people’s lives are messy. If you’re not getting your hands dirty, you’re probably not ministering the love of Christ.

But the disciples didn’t seem to understand yet.

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor” (vs. 31-38).

Unclean People are the Harvest

Voluntary fasting is rare. Occasionally, one may skip a meal to spend time with a loved one, or to work on an important project. But it is rare for a human desire to overshadow physical hunger. One such instance, however, takes place in the life of a farmer.

In agriculture, harvest time occurs in a limited window. A good farmer will begin harvesting as soon as the crops are ready and will work nonstop until the job is completed. Taking breaks –even for meals- may waste time and prevent the farmer from reaping the entire harvest before it is too late.

When the disciples urge Christ to eat, Jesus tells the disciples to look up and see that it is harvest time. In other words, He is saying that the urgency of the harvest is more important than the urgency to eat.

When the disciples lifted their eyes to the harvest, what did they see? They saw the Samaritan people coming to see Jesus in response to the woman’s testimony!

Jesus was hungry to reap the harvest. –And He wanted his disciples to be hungry to harvest souls as well.

Just like the most beautiful flower must first be planted in the uncleanliness of dirt, Christ had planted seeds of righteousness in the unclean lives of sinners. Now, it was time to harvest what had been planted! The harvest was the bounty of new creations, made righteous in Christ. The harvest requires getting ones hands dirty.

Jesus was inviting the disciples to rejoice in harvesting what they did not sow. Christ had sown gospel seeds in the Samaritan woman and she responded by sowing seeds amongst the townspeople. Now, the disciples were able to join in the harvest party!

And the harvest was great.

Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world” (vs. 39-41).

God blesses Unclean Ministry

Verse 39 says “Many Samaritans form that town believed in him…” Jesus was so moved, that He stayed two days. The text seems to imply that Jesus extended His visit based on the sowing and reaping.

Want to enjoy the presence of Christ? Sow and reap!

When believers take part in Christ’s harvest, everything exalts Christ. Even the woman’s testimony pointed everyone to Jesus. Just look at what the new believers said to the woman in verse 42: “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

The congregation that desires to exalt Christ while enjoying His presence will sow seeds of the gospel and reap a harvest of righteousness.

So why aren’t more churches experiencing such a harvest? Because it requires ministering to unclean people. Very few are willing to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. Yet, the Lord doesn’t typically work in clean environments –the healthy don’t need the doctor (Mark 2:17)! It is the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, and swindlers. “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (I Corinthians 6:11).

Never forget, you were unclean and deserving of wrath before Christ graciously reached out His clean, nail-pierced hands for your rescue. Leaving your high, lofty, institutionalized church tower to reach unbelievers pales in comparison to vacating the glories of heaven to serve the vileness of earth.

Mark it down: Clean ministry dies.

The church that only welcomes those who have it all together will soon run out of prospective members.
The church that ignores the decaying community adjacent to its property will decay and die itself.
The church who is unwilling to reach out to other ethnic and socio-economic groups of people will turn inward and calloused toward missions.

If your church is looking to have a harvest party and rejoice in the presence of Christ, look no further than the unclean. There is an endless supply of unclean unto which you can minister. You’ll probably find Jesus there.

Takeaways:

Ministry is messy.
Jesus ministers to the unclean.
The harvest is ready for those willing to minister with Jesus in messy lives.
Jesus set the example by dying for us while we were unclean (Romans 5:8).

It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty to reach the lost. I’m sure your town, no matter how big or small, is full of them!

Recruiting Seekers: The Mission of God and the Role of the Church

Recruiting in college athletics is a 24/7, 365-day-a-year task that involves seeking out talent, assessing skills, and evaluating character. Athletic programs live or die by it.

The church has been given a task similar to recruiting. We are called to evangelize, sharing the gospel with the lost in hopes they will come to Christ. Evangelism is not optional for the church anymore than recruiting is optional for a college coach.

At first glance, the call to evangelize may seem overwhelming. Just look at the description of unbelievers in Romans 3:10-11 to understand our mission field:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

no one understands;

no one seeks for God.”

Over the past twenty years, the term “seeker” has been used to describe people in search of God. However, the description Romans 3:10-11 paints of unbelievers leaves little room for the term “seeker.” Verse 11 even states that “no one seeks for God.”

That’s why I believe we need to rethink and redefine what we mean by “seeker.” I’m not anti-seeker (just keep reading). But I do believe we need some major clarifications. Every Great-Commission church must be able to answer the following questions biblically:

What is God doing in the world (i.e. the mission of God)?
What is the church’s role in God’s mission?
How should the church perform its role?

What is God Doing in the World?

Praise God, Romans 3:10-11 is not the end of the story. Scripture provides various accounts of people seeking God:

Zacchaeus: Why was the wee little man climbing a tree to see Jesus (Luke 19:1-10)?
Nicodemus: Why was this ruler of the Jews willing to risk his reputation to speak with Jesus (John 3:1-21)?
The Ethiopian eunuch. Why was he so interested in the Isaiah scroll if he couldn’t understand it (Acts 8:26-40)?

If there is “no one [who] seeks for God,” how do we explain Zacchaeus, Nicodemus, and the Ethiopian eunuch? Notice the common theme in each story:

An angel of the Lord directed Philip to the Eunuch (Acts 8:26). Jesus told Nicodemus that “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). And after Zacchaeus was converted, Jesus explained, “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

In every episode, God was seeking the sinner before the sinner was seeking God. It is by the Holy Spirit that our hearts are convicted of sin and drawn to Christ. That’s why we pray for the lost!

The mission of God, therefore, is to seek and save those who are lost, multiplying disciples around the world for His own glory (Genesis 1:27-28, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8).

What is the Church’s Role in God’s Mission?

If unbelievers are seeking God, it’s because God has sought them, and is moving in their hearts. And if the Holy Spirit is doing the work, then we do not need to lure them in with a barrage of marketing and gimmicks.

Perhaps a better way to identify genuine seekers would be to sow the pure, unadulterated Gospel indiscriminately through gospel-saturated hospitality, relationships, and preaching. Those who respond to the truth of the Gospel can only do so by the power of the Spirit. Those are true seekers. And the church must continue pursuing them.

We never stop spreading the gospel to everyone, and we never stop pleading with the lost to repent and place faith in Christ. However, we must keep our eyes open for opportunities where it is evident God is working in someone’s heart. That’s what Jesus often did when He left the crowds to focus on a seeker like Zacchaeus.

But Christ is doing more than seeking mere converts. He is seeking worshippers, making disciples, and shepherding His people (John 4:23, Matthew 28:18-20). How we go about evangelizing unbelievers impacts how we make disciples and shepherd believers. Conversely, how we minister to believers impacts how we evangelize unbelievers. The “how” is just as important as the “what” and the “why.”

How Should the Church Perform its Role of Evangelization?

No college athletic program can survive by merely collecting players. Nor can the church fulfill its purpose by merely sharing the gospel with the lost. We must make disciples who will be conformed to the image of Christ and magnify His glory to the ends of the earth!

But if all of our efforts are focused on drawing crowds through any means necessary –to the point that even our corporate worship services, Sunday School classes, small groups, and other activities are all planned around lost people –when will we ever feed the flock and make disciples?

College coaches never quit holding practices, meetings, and workouts for the sake of recruiting. In fact, when recruits visit campus, they often watch the team practice or play. Players are never neglected for the sake of recruits.

One temptation of seeker-driven churches is to view evangelism as the primary task of the church. I respectfully disagree with this idea. The church is to exalt Christ by obeying His command to make disciples of all nations, which includes evangelizing the lost. In other words, we evangelize the world, in order to make disciples of all nations, in order that the churches produced will exalt Christ for the global glory of God! Evangelism is not the ends for which God created the world. Instead, it is a means to that end. Seeker-driven churches are tempted to reverse the order of priority.

The church that is recruiting with gimmicks, to the neglect of training disciples, feeding the flock, and challenging the congregation will never be mature. At best, they will have a massive collection of immature converts who believe the Christian life is all about recruiting more immature converts and God’s Word will be reduced to passages that recruit the best. It is demeaning to Scripture and demonstrates little faith in the sufficiency of Scripture.

Unless something interrupts the trend, this kind of church becomes no more than a club for morality, community, and service projects.

Christ’s church is called to something greater.

The shift from seeker-driven to seeker-sensitive may seem small, but it is vital. It is just as evangelistic, but recognizes God’s work in evangelism as primary. Paradoxically, when our view of God’s work in evangelism is heightened, our own role in evangelism is heightened as well. Moreover, our evangelistic efforts are fueled by the promise that God is working. We are not alone in seeking seekers. When we come across a genuine seekers, we know God has already begun to move!

How a church approaches the concept of seekers will shape every part of the Church’s ministry including the Sunday service, discipleship strategy, evangelism efforts, community involvements, and membership process (more on that in a future post).

Takeaways:

Christ is the ultimate seeker. He seeks and saves the lost.
Unbelievers seek God because He seeks them first.
The Church’s approach to seekers must be consistent with Christ’s seeking.
The Church must be Christ-driven and seeker-sensitive.
Seeking seekers must not take the place of feeding the flock.

Recruiting Strategy: The Church’s Approach to Seekers

This is the final post regarding seekers. Previous posts have explored God’s mission in seeking sinners and the church’s role in evangelism. This final post discusses the approach a church takes toward evangelizing the lost. How we evangelize is just as important as who we evangelize and why we evangelize.

How Should the Church Perform its Role of Evangelization?

Unless something interrupts the trend, this kind of church becomes no more than a club for morality, community, and service projects.

Christ’s church is called to something greater.

Takeaways:

Christ is the ultimate seeker. He seeks and saves the lost.
Unbelievers seek God because He seeks them first.
The Church’s approach to seekers must be consistent with Christ’s seeking.
The Church must be Christ-driven and seeker-sensitive.
Seeking seekers must not take the place of feeding the flock.

This series of posts attempts to clarify a biblical approach to “seekers.” Click here to read the article in its entirety.

Recruiting Network: The Church’s Role in God’s Mission

This is the third post in a series on “seekers.” Previous posts have established that

Sinners do not seek God naturally (Romans 3:10-11)
God seeks and saves sinners (Luke 19:10)
The Holy Spirit draws sinners to seek Him (John 3:8)

But that does not mean that sinners are automatically converted without being evangelized. That leads to the question this post will discuss:

What is the Church’s Role in God’s Mission?

That’s what all of these posts about seekers are driving towards: how the church should perform its role in evangelizing unbelievers. We will dive into that question in the next post.

This series of posts attempts to clarify a biblical approach to “seekers.” Click here to read the article in its entirety.

Master Recruiter: What is God Doing in the World?

In my previous post, I suggested that church leaders need to clarify the idea of a “seeker.” Then, I proposed three questions to help define the issue.

What is God doing in the world (i.e. the mission of God)?
What is the church’s role in God’s mission?
How should the church perform its role?

This post tackles the first question.

What is God Doing in the World?

Praise God, Romans 3:10-11 (‘no one seeks for God’) is not the end of the story. Scripture provides various accounts of people seeking God:

Zacchaeus: Why was the wee little man climbing a tree to see Jesus (Luke 19:1-10)?
Nicodemus: Why was this ruler of the Jews willing to risk his reputation to speak with Jesus (John 3:1-21)?
The Ethiopian eunuch. Why was he so interested in the Isaiah scroll if he couldn’t understand it (Acts 8:26-40)?

If there is “no one [who] seeks for God,” how do we explain Zacchaeus, Nicodemus, and the Ethiopian eunuch? Notice the common theme in each story:

In every episode, God was seeking the sinner before the sinner was seeking God. It is by the Holy Spirit that hearts are convicted of sin and drawn to Christ. That’s why we pray for the lost!

The mission of God, therefore, is to seek and save those who are lost, multiplying disciples around the world for His own glory (Genesis 1:27-28, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8). Keeping with the previous post’s analogy, God is the master recruiter.

If God is seeking sinners, what role does the church play in evangelism? That’s the topic of my next post.

This series of posts attempts to clarify a biblical approach to “seekers.” Click here to read the article in its entirety.