Is the Gospel Good News?

June 22nd, 2011

As missionaries, what is the gospel we are to spread?  Is it good news?

Well, that’s kind of a dumb question.  Obviously.  Gospel means “good news.”  But what makes it good news?

Generally speaking, the gospel as preached in America over the last few decades (at least) has focused on the following ideas:  You have sinned.  You will die.  Since you have sinned you will go to hell.  You don’t want to go to hell after you die.  It’s bad.  You want to go to heaven.  It’s awesome.  Believe that Jesus died for your sins and you can go to heaven.  Congratulations!  You’re going to heaven instead of hell when you die!

There is truth to these statements, don’t get me wrong, but it contains a fundamental flaw.  It isn’t the focus of the gospel as Jesus and the early church preached it.  Half truths can be dangerous.

It is definitely good news that you go to heaven instead of hell when you die.  But there is more to it than that, and it is vitally important.

Jesus and the apostles preached a gospel that changed the life that you lived right here and now, and that change (or lack of change) had eternal repercussions for judgment and the afterlife.  It focused on two aspects of this.

First, you now have the power from God (grace) to live a righteous life and develop the character of God that you did not have on your own.  Repentance was the central theme, and that meant a literal changing of your ways to God’s ways.  The power to live this way comes from the Spirit of God given to believers that transforms the whole life of the believer to partake in God’s divine nature and live it out.

Second, communities of this new humanity will be a testimony to the power and reign of God in the earth.  The sick will be healed.  The blind will see.  The lame will walk.  The poor will have their needs met.  The lonely will be put into families.  Those in prison get a visitor.  The wealthy will give away their possessions.  Racial, cultural and national differences will not divide them.  They will not solve differences by violence but by sacrifice and love.

To participate in this kingdom has eternal ramifications.  To reject this in any way is to reject God and also has eternal consequences.  The present and eternal are intimately connected and to separate them or dismiss any aspect of the gospel weakens it and the believers it supposedly produces.

The gospel has powerful and inspiring implications both now and in the future.  God works mightily in the present according to His eternal redemptive purposes.

That, my friends, is good news.  That, my friends, creates disciples that turn the world upside down.  That is a call to a kingdom that is worth dropping your nets, leaving everything you’ve ever known behind, and considering yourself dead to the world and alive to God.

I’m not ashamed of that gospel.  It is the power of god to save to the uttermost.  I’ll live like a missionary for that gospel.

Peace.

Posted in Disciples and Believers, misc messages, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

The Greatest Missionary … the Church

June 18th, 2011

Before I get into discussing the gospel, one correction must be made and clarified.

Much of my earlier discussion about being a missionary seemed individual.  That is misleading.  Yes, God can – and does – send out individual missionaries, and the call to be like Christ as a sent missionary is individual to a degree.  But more importantly, there is a collective call for the local church to be a unified missionary in their community.

God can use individuals and small teams to do work and start new churches in new areas, or even help you see yourself as a missionary at your job or in your neighborhood.

But the greatest power in missions happens not when “I” feel a call to a community or a people but when “we,” the local church united, feel a call to a people.  When the church united, not an individual, moves against the gates of hell, it will overcome every obstacle and win victories for the kingdom of God.  Every time.

This is why Paul did not go out alone.  At times he found himself alone, but he knew that more power happened when two or more agree.  One puts to flight a thousand, two 10,000.  It is exponential.

Be careful about ideas of unity and consensus – unity in the body doesn’t mean that everyone has the same individual vision or that everyone gets input.  The vision may come from one or two, generally God-given and anointed leaders in the Body, but the Body is unified in recognizing that vision is from God and locking arms with one another to move forward.

The gates of hell itself cannot stand against that …

… which is why hell does all it can to keep that unity from happening.

Peace.

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Missionary vs. Evangelist

June 15th, 2011

Why would I say, “Forget evangelism, be a missionary”?  Aren’t we supposed to do evangelism?  Aren’t we supposed to obey the Great Commission?

The problem becomes the modern connotations with the term “evangelism,” some of which are valid and others that are so disconnected from the biblical reality and confused with man-made traditions that it doesn’t properly express what it means to be like Christ.  To use the term, evangelism, as biblical as the word is, brings to mind a one-way communication of the gospel designed to bring another person to conversion.  Now, at some point, evangelism, even with this definition, should happen.  The gospel must be communicated.  Some point of commitment, repentance, is made.  This is good, but only one piece of the picture if that’s all we understand.

A missionary is a more complete picture of what I’m talking about and is what is needed to bring believers to understand what it means to be like Christ and what we are all called to.  A missionary is sent from one land and one people to another land and another people to spread the good news of the kingdom of God.  Doesn’t sound like a big difference, but if you look at it, it is.  We have been sent by God from His kingdom and His Church to the world and to its people to call them back to His Kingdom and His Church with us.

A missionary takes time to listen and learn, to discern the culture around him and his situation and context.  A missionary feels called to people, not just to a message or just to preach.  A missionary falls in love with these people and challenges them to leave their land and people for the kingdom and the church.  A missionary seeks to remove cultural barriers, not create them.  A missionary is willing to change his own stripes, as much as he can, to become all things to all men, to win them to Christ.  A missionary seeks to learn, humbly, about a people before he tries to teach them.

A true missionary will evangelize by nature, but his identity is more like Christ, an alien in the land, and therefore a better representation of Him.  The missionary will make disciples, not just converts, seek an indigenous expression of the church in a culture and place and time.

I’ve lived in another country, another culture; I know what it means to look and feel stupid, to be humbled, to not be able to communicate, to only eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because those were the only ingredients we could recognize at the store, to learn to love without feeling superior and appreciate other peoples not like me.  It is powerful.

The truth, however, is I am just as much a stranger in a strange land here in the US as I was in Korea.  And so are you.  Start thinking like a missionary.

I know I promised some thoughts on the gospel … those are coming up … one more on being a missionary and then we’ll get there ;) .

Peace.

Posted in crucible of korea series, Disciples and Believers, misc messages, mooney report, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

You are a Missionary

June 11th, 2011

I remember back in the day, one of our first times back from serving in Korea, Becca and I had a get together at Faith Community Church and shared with everyone what was going on with us there.  I developed this email report that I sent out to a lot of my friends called the Mooney Report.  It developed somewhat by accident.  So many people said, let us know when you get there, that I just lazily sent out a report to the whole group.  Then so much happened over the next few days (we were in a different country, people!) that I sent out another one.  I got so many great responses that I kept doing it, almost once a week, for the next few years.

Some of the responses I would get would be how great it was that we were missionaries and what a great experience that must be and so on and so forth.  So when we had the little get together at Faith Community, what God put on my heart to encourage people with was this: you are a missionary.  Everyone who is a true disciple of Christ is a missionary.  I just happen to do it in a different country.  You’re called to be a missionary here.

Yeah, people didn’t really get it.  They still don’t.  At the end of our four years in Korea, God told me, “I’m sending you back to the US to be a missionary there.”  As usual, God has me put up or shut up.  I knew what He meant, and much of what that entailed.  People didn’t have a problem with us living like missionaries in a different country (living simply or in community, focused on the kingdom, etc).  They loved it … overseas.  But it challenges people when you live like that next door to them.  It challenges their idea of what it means to be Christian since so much of it has been tied up into being American.

If you are to be a “Christian,” or “like Christ,” then you have been sent AS HE WAS SENT.  That scripture is as clear as the nose on your face and takes some serious self reflection to truly understand.  Here is the scripture if you don’t believe me, from John 20:21: “Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you!  As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’”

Jesus was sent from the Father to heal a broken world, to give hope to the poor, to call people to righteousness, to preach about the judgment, to heal the sick, raise the dead, and deliver from demons.

So were you.

You have been sent to preach good news.  You are a missionary.  You are called to look at the world around you as an alien and a stranger, as someone from another world and another kingdom, and to call people to that world and kingdom … because it is good news.  It is the best news EVER.  And you don’t hide a light under a basket, you set it on a hill and declare it.  That is not for a few Jim Elliots or, to a much lesser degree, Britt Mooneys or others.  It is for everyone born of God to be sent to a hurt and dying world.

Forget evangelism.  You are a missionary.  Start thinking like one.

This naturally leads to a discussion on the gospel … which comes next.

Peace.

Posted in crucible of korea series, misc messages, mooney report | 1 Comment »

Are You a Soldier?

May 30th, 2011

“No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” – 2 Timothy 2:4

“So, you’re a soldier?”

“Yep, I’m a soldier.”

“Where did you go to boot camp?”

“Oh, I’ve never been to boot camp.”

“Which branch of the service are you with?”

“I don’t believe in branches of service.”

“Are you with a specific company or platoon?”

“Oh, no, I just kinda meet with some guys when I can.  I’m pretty busy with other things.”

“Ever been in a battle or seen combat?”

“Nope.  That’s not my calling.”

“Ever even fired a weapon?”

“Don’t think so.  Maybe once on accident.”

“You don’t seem like a soldier to me.”

“Hey, man, don’t judge me!”

Peace.

Posted in military thoughts, misc messages | 1 Comment »

Are You a Christian?

May 27th, 2011

I would have a difficult time convincing anyone I was a mechanic.  I know how to drive a car, both automatic and manual, and I know the basic idea behind engines and such, but no one in their right mind would pay me any money or trust me to tell them what was wrong with their car or to attempt to fix it.  Nor should they.  It would be ridiculous, therefore, to assert that I am a mechanic.  A quick series of questions by anyone half knowledgeable about the craft would prove it.

But we get really defensive if we call ourselves a Christian and someone questions it.  The term itself, Christian, has become either so diluted or so maligned that many refuse to even use it anymore, which is a somewhat different debate for a different time.  The term, Christian, is actually from the Bible, where the believers in Antioch were called such by the city around them.  Christian means “little Christ,” and as I harp on all the time, the term was generated by the overwhelming testimony the disciples of Christ had in that city.

Despite the outrage many feel when questioned (or may be feeling now even reading the title of the blog … and continuing to read), it is completely biblical.  We are told that we are not to judge those in the world but those in the church, all in context of a standard of lifestyle that is necessary fruit of a changed life (1 Corinthians 5/6).  We are told to examine – and test – ourselves to see if we are in the faith (2 Cor 13:5) and to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12).  In context, both of these statements have moral implications, in Philippians they are told to “obey” and the church in Corinth were about to get a visit from Paul and he was gonna deal with those who were “sinning.”

So what is the measure?  The whole of the New Testament deals with this, but I’ll give two passages and you can just start there.  Examine your life by the Sermon on the Mount and 1 John (yes, the whole letter), and see how your life measures up.  There are also doctrinal tests within those passages, as well, especially 1 John.   (For a lot more on this, you can go back to an earlier series I did on Disciples)  Can we go too far in our judgment of our brothers and sisters in Christ?  Absolutely.  But to deny the standard is just as dangerous as abusing it.

Our modern scholars, both conservative and liberal, have become experts and reading the Bible and explaining away doing what it actually says, just from different perspectives.  The conservatives claim inerrancy but twist passages to say things that go against clear and universal biblical teaching.  The liberals do away with inspiration and inerrancy and either claim that the scriptures they don’t like were made up or culturally irrelevant to our day.

The end result is the same, to deny the standard and the testimony handed down to us of what it means to be a disciple of Christ, no matter what you call it.  Anyone who thinks Christianity is just another means to live a good, decent American life (whatever that means to them) either hasn’t actually read the Bible or has read it and doesn’t believe it, regardless of their views on inerrancy.  To be a Christian means that you love, speak, and act like Jesus Himself.  Anything less insults the power and work of God through Christ.

Post is getting long … more on this later …

Peace.

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Some thoughts on THE END

May 24th, 2011

Well, May 21st came and went … and certain predictions didn’t come true.  But a good thing may have come out of tall this.  While we can all agree that these people were wrong and continue to be wrong (now it’s Oct 21 … ), it also got people who want to know what God really says to delve into the Bible and discuss these things with one another to get at some important truths.  So there are a few thoughts to share.

First, just because some guy out in California continues to make a fool out of himself in relation to things about the end times doesn’t mean that anyone who believes that Jesus is coming back is a fool.  Jesus is coming back, at a date no one will know and will be a surprise to everyone, and He will establish something that will be so phenomenal … I’m not sure we can fully comprehend it since it is even more awesome than what we have now.  Some end times details may be up for debate, but that is a clear teaching.  Many will mock that anyway, as has been promised also in Scripture, but those who know Christ are expectantly waiting for His return.

Second, we must be wary of anyone who speaks of the end times as escapism.  Nowhere does the Bible talk about the end times and then excuse half-way Christianity.  The Kingdom of God is here and now and working and active and powerful beyond imagining.  We have the Spirit of Christ within His people now.  Creation is groaning and waiting for the sons of God to be revealed … that means the saints of God!

Third, the way to be “ready” for His return is to live holy, righteous lives.  Knowing the earth will one day all be destroyed and recreated into a new heavens and new earth, Peter says, what kind of people ought we to be … “in holy conduct and godliness” and “diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless” (2 Peter 3).  Maxing out your credit cards for vacations or going into debt for billboards aren’t necessarily proof that you understand how to get ready.

Fourth, if anyone seriously gives you a day and time “from God,” you can safely assume they are wrong … and if it is the pastor of your church, don’t walk, run.

Last, and this is a little more personal, for every dude out in Cali or Westboro Baptist Church there are dozens, or more, of churches out there changing lives with the love and power of Jesus Christ.  They may be from all different backgrounds and paradigms, but they are out there.  The media won’t tell those stories, and those churches don’t advertise what they’re doing (real churches don’t have to), but they are out there.  It is essential in this hour and in this nation that you are a part of one.

Peace.

Posted in misc messages, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

St. Patrick

March 17th, 2011

Every year I try to say something about St. Patrick.  Not thinking about much new this year that I haven’t already said.

But I have been meditating this year, especially while meditating on one of my heroes, about how screwed up American holidays are.

We do a horrible job honoring what the holiday is supposed to be about.  St. Paddy’s day is a great example.  We have successfully sold a lot of green T-shirts and other gaudy crap but haven’t gone much farther than that.  We’ll sell and drink a lot of green beer and wear green beads and pinch people who dare flaunt that tradition.

St. Patrick was a man who risked his life and gave up his personal and religious “career” to go back to a barbaric, pagan land that had enslaved him and he told them about Jesus.  He saw converts killed for their beliefs and fought against the Catholic hierarchy to keep the Irish Christianity independent from their religious control.

We live in a country more likely to make a cheesy Leprachaun movie with great songs by Elton John than a big budget high quality film about the life of Patrick.  The latter would make a great movie, by the way.  So would a movie about St. Nicholas.  And probably St. Valentine, too.  But we’d rather bury our heads in the consumeristic sand.

If we want to honor St. Patrick, I will say the same thing I say almost every year.  Tell people about Jesus.  Tell them Jesus loves them and wants to change their whole life.  Give to the poor.  Show compassion to the broken.  Then after that you can join me down at the pub for a Guinness.

Peace.

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Roland Allen Cracks the Top Ten

March 14th, 2011

As some of you know, I’m getting a Master’s degree online in church planting.  Both getting a Master’s and the subject matter have been on my mind for a while, so I just stuck them together to see what happens.

So far so good.  Some interesting material, but of course you have to wade through a lot of it to find the nuggets.  There is a lot of reading, and I found a gem.

There is a short list of books that I would recommend to Christians to read.  Most of the books out there might be good, but not necessarily in this category.  In fact, I wouldn’t even put my own book in this category yet.  Maybe I’ll write one of those one day.

For example, I would recommend any Christian read Mere Christianity (CS Lewis), Knowledge of the Holy (Tozer), Cost of Discipleship (Bonhoeffer), and then we get into Watchman Nee’s Glorious Church, Andrew Murray’s Humility, Kempis’ Imitation of Christ, etc.

It is rare that I read something and put it in those categories.  And I read.  A lot.  Roland Allen’s Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? is one of those books.

It is full of insight and applicable to any Christian on the subject of evangelism or church planting, or basic ecclesiology for that matter.  Ironically, this book wasn’t required reading for one of my courses, but God nudged me to buy it and I’ve underlined half of it.  It is mercilessly short, but like some of the books mentioned above, so deep and full of meaning that rambling would have ruined it.

Roland Allen, an Anglican, knows the scriptures and history.  His scholarship is sound without being about his scholarship.  He makes his point.  Well.  The book is beautifully simple and full of life.

Most Christian ministers will have a problem giving this book its due.  It tells them that if they want to do their job well, they have to work themselves out of a job.  Other church planting books call this one “revolutionary” but then dismiss it as unrealistic.  I couldn’t agree with Allen more.  Also, in light of the current shift away from any notion of a “mean” God, Allen’s description of Paul’s gospel would offend a modern conscience.  So there’s a little in here for everyone that will make you uncomfortable.  That just means it is full of truth.

I don’t say this often, and I make fun of people who do, but anyone serious about church planting, evangelism, or the nature of the church should read this book.  It affirms biblical principles in those areas, gives a sound and needed look at Paul’s ministry, and is flexible enough to be applicable to anyone seeking to really do church in a biblical way.

And guess what.  It’s free on the internet.  I bought it before I realized this, and I’m glad I did, but here’s the link to read it if you can handle reading stuff on a computer screen.  Roland Allen, Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours?

Peace.

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Examining Relationships

March 5th, 2011

There are generally three types of Christians, when it comes to relationships with the church and the world.

Before I continue, allow me to define here what I mean by church.  I mean here the local church, a single congregation of believers committed in covenant with one another.  That is your church.  Yes, there is also the Church universal, which I greatly believe in, but for the sake of this post, I mean the local church you to which you have (or possibly have not) committed yourself.   So, in no particular order …

Type A: these Christians go to church but really don’t know anyone at their church.  If they do, it is only in a very peripheral sense, handshakes at the door, in and out.  They do, however, have a very extensive group of friends outside the church.  These are the people they feel very close to and probably have very little spiritual conversation with.  They generally consider their religion a private thing and not to be shared in any real sense.

Type B: these Christians go to church and their closest friends are there in the church.  They have little to no contact with those outside the Christian subculture since they can find nothing in common with them, and their inclination is to be judgmental to those outside of their belief system, even other Christians.

Type C: these Christians might go to church but have little to no contact with anyone in the church.  They also have little to no contact with the outside world.  They’ve isolated themselves from both the community of faith and the world around them for a myriad of reasons, but it has generally progressed from losing friends through other life transitions and not being intentional about replacing that void with healthy ones.  So they have none.

Type D: a relatively new type of Christian over the last few decades (although possibly this type has existed before throughout history … I’m going more on my own experience here), this Christian has some friends in the world and some Christian friends but does not truly commit to any one fellowship, all in the name of a lofty idea of the Church universal.  These Christians generally treat churches and ministries like consumers – they like the praise at this service, the preaching at this other ministry, and the fellowship over at that small group.  They have a hard time committing to one group out of either a fear of being controlled, limited, or missing out on something someone else is doing that they might like.

If this isn’t clear to you by now, I believe all of the above types to be unhealthy.  There may be a time of transition where a person may live in one of these types (I have been all of these through short seasons in my life), but over the course of the life of a Christian, none of these should be normal.  I realize that this may cause offense, since most people within these categories are convinced that it’s working for them and deny any challenge to their personal choice.  Well, it hasn’t stopped me before …

What is normative, biblical and healthy for a disciple of Christ is the following:

Type E: these Christians have their closest relationships within the local church.  They are a family with those in the community of faith.  The relationships within the church are where the Christian finds his or her refuge and safety.  They are not separate from the world, however.  They regularly have contact with their physical community, be it neighborhood, school, job, etc.  They are friends with those outside the church and have a good reputation among their community for being kind, generous, full of integrity and a contributing member of the society around them.

This is spiritual maturity, which by nature more than implies the others are spiritually immature (again, understanding some may take offense).  It takes great spiritual maturity and discipline to maintain a pure Christian witness, being intimate with other believers, and fostering a good and respectful relationship with all of humanity.  This balance is only maintained through being properly intentional in each area – and constantly seeking God and being humbled by Him.  Otherwise, extremes persist and one of the other types become the new norm.

There is great wisdom in being “in the world” and yet not “of the world.”  It is a powerful thing.

Peace.

Posted in misc messages, shared life | 1 Comment »

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