Bearing the heavier burden

Hey, another week, another blog. That is life, forever moving forward. But that said, I’m going to have a look backwards at something that happened in class the otherday. We were talking about the Pietists (a movement that started in Germany in the early 1700’s with the aim of getting people to really start reading their Bibles, and being concerned about sanctification not just justification. Also they kicked of the idea of small groups) and they had three questions they would always ask about scripture

            What does it teach us?

            What does it command us?

            What hope or promise for us does it contain?

Regardless of what you think of the validity of the questions they lead to some good discussion. We were having a look at Titus 2:11-12, and having a laugh about how it could so easily be interpreted as no fun (well, I wasn’t laughing. Because I’m not like that) Christianity. But what does it actually teach us? It looks at being self controlled so that we can live Godly lives. In the wider context of Titus (as Tim Blencowe showed us at engage) we do this to shine a light. But what I was really interested in was that was we started to talk about this we got on to the subject of movies, i.e., should Christians watch movies that are filled with ungodliness and worldly passions? We are not participating in those things but we are watching them. I’ve never had a problem with Christians watching any movies and to be honest I watch a lot of movies that are brimming over with ungodliness. What really moved me though was when of the other students said, “We need to carry the heavier burden. Maybe there is value in movies but if we are saying something about our faith by watching them maybe we shouldn’t watch any.” And it was that bit about carrying the burden that struck me. How often as Christians are we not willing to shoulder the heavy burden when we should? I will nearly always take the shortcut and defer to my liberalism, oh it’s okay to do that and that and that, whatever I want so long as I don’t hurt anyone. And too often I do what I think is right, and not necessarily what the Bible says is right. Which is wrong. So I was definitely challenged to bear the heavier burden. Now all I need to do is follow through…

7 Practices of Effective Ministry: a review.

To be honest I’ve lost all track of when I should be posting. So sorry if I’ve stuffed up your RSS feed. On the plus side it means I’m posting today. Which is quite exciting. Today I thought I’d do another book review, because my last one was well received. Well at least by the one person who commented! Anyway, I’m going to review a book my boss made me read-but which I ended up finding quite helpful: 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner & Lane Jones.

Who’s it for?

It is definitely a book aimed at those engaged in church-based ministry. BUT before you tune out there is valuable stuff in there for anyone engaged in Christian ministry, which if you’re a Christian you are. Also if you run a business there are some effective strategies too.

Easy Read?

Definitely. I feel like I’m interview myself here. Actually, I am. It’s important to know that it is easy to read or you wouldn’t bother. It is written in an engaging and easy to read style. In fact the first half of the book is a story and who doesn’t like stories? In the first half of the book the 7 practices are introduced in a parable style and in the second half they are explained and deepened. In fact when I started reading it I skipped the first half and went straight to the meat. Which you could do. But I felt bad and went back to the beginning anyways.

Valuable?

Yes! The writers really focus on practical things that you can be doing as a church for your ministry to grow. I also think that these practices would be effective for individuals but also say, if you lead your Sunday school, or are in charge of your youth group. The 7 practices are things like Clarify the Win and Listen to Outsiders. Which aren’t necessarily new but the way they are looked is. The writers also present lots of examples to support their ideas. I particularly liked how throughout the book there is a focus on teamwork, and a realization that we can’t do it all on our own. In case you’re sitting there thinking “Oh no, but churches grow through the Holy Spirit…” You’re absolutely right, it is not what we do it is what God does and the authors recognize this: “Conspicuously absent here is any discussion about prayer, the Holy Spirit, and dependence upon God. Though absent from the book, these things are certainly not absent from the culture of North Point or from any healthy church.” I think the most valuable thing about the book is that it encouraged me to ask questions about the ministry I’m in, and to think about it at a deeper level.

Dangers?

Yeah, there could be. (No ‘Yes!’ this time. Feeling like being excited about danger is a bad thing) One of the points is about narrowing your focus. Which I agree with if you are spread to broad you won’t accomplish as much. I just feel that there is a danger here. It’s a common theme in leadership books these days, “lead to your strengths.” Which let me emphasise, I don’t think that is bad. God has given us gifts and we are to use them. I think the danger here is that it means we can become short sighted and unaware of needs in our community. And while the authors acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is key, I think this step is the one where we are most likely to stop relying on God, and start thinking about our focus. The danger that we will start to go, “Oh no, that’s not my focus. So I can’t help you. Sorry,” is a worry for me and could be an end result. To be fair that’s a danger that could result but if you follow practice 7 ‘Work on it,’ it is a danger that is lessened.

Anything else?

Yeah. Read the book. It’ll get you thinking about your ministry. Which is a good thing. Even if you disagree with the book.

Suffering

Taking for our text today…jokes, apparently that’s a terrible way to start a talk. So I did anyway. Joking aside, I’ve been thinking a lot about suffering recently, in fact since I finished Rediscovering Holiness by Packer awhile ago. And what’s struck my mind is that maybe in the West we don’t suffer enough. Or to make it more personal-I don’t suffer enough. Suffering is something that refines and tests our faith (James 1) but I don’t know that I suffer enough. Please, before you bring the rage, I don’t think suffering in and of itself is something to be desired. Nor is that something that I think God wants for us. Suffering happens and it hurts. Also, I’m not particularly desiring a lifestyle of suffering.

What I’m thinking about is that I just really don’t suffer that much. And in the West if you’re middle class I think that that seems to be the case. Yes, definitely there are people around me that suffer, and severely as well. But I never really suffer (which is a blessing) but how does faith grow without that? Or perseverance? Yes, I believe firmly in Christ but it has never really been tested in a really difficult time. What do you guys think? Do we suffer enough?