Pondering John's Baptism

This weekend my daily Bible reading took me further in to the Book of Acts, which I've read many times before.  But I was really struck by this story about Paul, and some disciples, in a way that I had never been struck before.  Maybe it is because I am reading it in The Message paraphrase or maybe I just never paid close enough attention!  Anyway, here it is, from Chapter 19:

"Now it happened that while Apollos was away in Corinth, Paul made his way down through the mountains, came to Ephesus and happened on some disciples there.  The first thing he said was 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?  Did you take God into your mind only, or did you also embrace him with your heart:  Did he get inside you?' 'We've never even heard of that-a Holy Spirit:  God within us?' 'How were you baptized, then?' asked Paul.  'In John's baptism.'  'That explains it,' said Paul.  'John preached a baptism of radical life-change so that people would be ready to receive the One coming after him, who turned out to be Jesus.  If you've been baptized in John's baptism, you're ready now for the real thing, for Jesus."

I want to point out a few things here-first Paul did not question the fact that they were disciples.  Second, he didn't question the fact that they were baptised.  By asking them if they had received the Holy Spirit, he was in essence asking them what type of baptism they had received.  When the disciples replied "John's baptism", you see Paul saying "That explains it!" 

A modern day reader might look at that exchange and conclude that the disciples were not really baptised because it's assumed that it is a given that we are baptised by the Holy Spirit.  I think Paul would disagree with that assertion.  So, here's what I am pondering.  Those who are in the church are baptised, but how many in the church are stuck in John's baptism?  Weird question?  Let me explain.

Paul describes John's baptism as "radical life change so people would be ready to receive the One coming after him" or in other words  taking "God into your mind only."  They received the Holy Spirit but they had not yet "embraced" the Holy Spirit. 

I may be splitting hairs here but I do wonder how many people are sitting in our churches longing for something more and yet getting the impression that this is as good as it gets in their spiritual life.  Faith, to them, is an intellectual exercise that you try to apply in a practical way in your daily life.  I believe taking faith beyond the church doors and using it in your daily life matters!  But I also get the sense that people are longing for something deeper, something more and they're not sure how to find it!  They sense, that there is something more, that there should be something more but how do you find that something more?

Apollos taught what he knew.  He taught it faithfully and well and the disciples followed.   Paul came along and showed them the next step.   They were not aware that there was something more.  Modern day Christians don't have the same exact problem but there is a similar issue-who will teach them how to take the next step?  Who will help point the way to something more? 

This may seem like a weird thing to bring up during Advent but think about it-when a woman experiences pregnancy she knows that the baby and her body will go through change.  There is a process that happens.  There is something more than simply being pregnant.  The first flutter, the first strong kick, the first bout of 3 a.m. false labor.  All of it leads up to the big event, the actual birth!  But there is even more after that-there is raising, to the best of our God given ability, the little helpless squirming bundle that is now in our arms!  There is always a next step, there is something more.  If you apply that analogy to the church-are we as a congregation teaching that something more?  Or are we just letting our members rest in a baptism that is similar to the baptism of John? 

It's a question that I think we should consider pondering.

The Revelation Churches Suffering from Identity Crisis

You could probably make the case that five out of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation suffered from an identity crisis.  Ephesus, Sardis and Laodicea had forgotten their source and they had lost their spark.  Pergamum and Thyatira had an even bigger problem-they were not really sure what they believed in!  Because of that they had a pretty open "anything goes" policy and it was robbing them of their vitality.  Pergamum's problem was laid out in Revelation 2:14-15 (NRSV)

"...you have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel, so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and practice fornication.  So you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans."

Thyatira had a very similar issue, we are told about in Revelation 2:20 (NRSV)

"...you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice fornication and to eat food sacrificed to idols." 

These two churches were still doing work and trying to act faithfully, but they both had a teaching issue.  They believed, but it was unclear exactly what they believed.  They were guilty of trying to "add to the word" something that was not meant to be a part of the message in the first place.  In verse 16, Pergamum is told to repent.  And verse 21 says that Jezebel was given time to repent, but she refuses.  Egads!  Their "value added" message is about to become a big problem if they don't address the issue!  These two churches illustrate WHY it is so important to make sure that those who are teaching in church, are properly teaching.  It also illustrates why it is so important to be very clear about what the church believes and why.  It is important to have a plan!

If you ask someone in the Catholic faith what the church believes, they can tell you.  Even a "nominal" Catholic can articulate church belief!  They may not agree with it, but they can clearly tell what the church's position is on a particular practice or belief.  As for United Methodists, for many years, it really depended on the particular church that you attended.  In recent history, this has been a bit of a problem that went unrecognized.  I think there was a bit of belief that people would eventually pick it up, through osmosis.  Assuming that someone will understand and naturally "get it" on their own is just a bad idea and fortunately, leaders in the church recognize that this is an issue and are becoming more intentional about teaching.

There have been individuals over the years who started the ball rolling, but I have to say that I think Bishop Schnase (who happens to be my Bishop) picked up the momentum when he published his book "Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations".  One of his chapters focuses on Intentional Faith Development and he provides examples of what that might look like.  Reverend Bob Farr (who also happens to be a leader in the Missouri Conference) touched on this topic in his book "Renovate or Die" in his chapter called "Disciple with Clear Steps".  But I have to say, where I really made the connection and saw this fleshed out in a very practical, workable way was at Church of the Resurrection's Leadership Institute.   Adam Hamilton and his staff took the time to explain their process of Discipleship-in detail!

Teaching individuals about the Bible, about what the church believes and why we believe it truly matters!  The goal is to make Disciples.  The reality is, not everyone is at the same place at the same time.  There is a learning curve and it is important to plan a process to teach members and bring them deeper in to the process of Discipleship.  I'll use myself as an example.  Where I am now in my faith walk, is not the same as where I was five years ago, or ten years ago, or twenty years ago.  Things that might have thrown me for a loop twenty years ago will not have the same effect on me now.  It didn't happen overnight!  It was a process of asking questions, getting answers, reading, praying and going through some challenges over the years.  I was blessed to have some wonderful teachers and mentors through the years but had I not had that support system, I'm not sure where I would be today!

Adam Hamilton used a "Discipleship Pyramid" to explain the process of Intentional Faith Development.  At the base of the Pyramid are the 40% who say "of course I'm a Christian".  Further up the Pyramid are the 30% who say "I have a ways to go".  Above that comes the 20% who are deeply devoted  and then, the final step on the Discipleship path, the 10% who are deeply committed Disciples.  The top two groups have become capable of "feeding themselves" and the top 10% are consistently capable of living out the 3 H's (head, heart, hands).  For those of you unfamiliar with the 3-H concept let me quote COR's definition of deeply committed Christians and their definition of what Discipleship is:

"Deeply committed Christians are: followers of Christ who are theologically informed (head); spiritually transformed (heart); and living out their faith in the world (hands).  Discipleship is: the lifelong process of personal inward transformation in the context of Christian community that finds its best expression in the world serving others and sharing Christ."

Schnase says in "Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations" (pg. 62):

"Churches that practice Intentional Faith Development offer high quality learning experiences that help people understand Scripture, faith and life in the supportive nurture of caring relationships."

Rev. Farr in his book "Renovate or Die" drives home the point as to why it is important to plan a path.  In chapter 8 he says:

"During my time in ministry, most congregations have gone from allowing new members (who come up after the last hymn or who send over their transfer letters from another church) to join to making folks attend membership classes of some sort before they can join.  The reason for this thinking is that it will stop the new membership dropout syndrome, only to have us later discover that well over half of the people who attended the membership classes drop out after six months anyway....We hesitate in the United Methodist Church to set up paths and steps because we want to let everyone be individuals...But no path and no direction means we will achieve nothing and go nowhere." 

He goes on further in the chapter and offers this sage piece of advice:

"Decide what the end picture needs to look like and build a step process backward to the beginning." 

If we do not put some thought into planning out a faith journey path we could, as a church, end up like the first three churches that lost their spark or, we could end up like the two churches, who allowed teaching that did not line up with church belief.   This is an identity crisis that can be avoided with a little thoughtful planning and it can save a congregation from a lot of headache further down the road!  We have a belief system and we have an identity.  Feel free to preach it and teach it!  You'll be glad you did!  And your members will thank you as well!

And you thought Revelation was just a book of prophetic visions without a practical application for today!  Surprise!

No Gadgets and Gizmos and Yet They Grow

So, the Methodist Church is seeing growth.  It just doesn't happen to be here in the United States.  It's happening on the continent of Africa.  It's happening in Korea.  It's happening in South America, just to give you a few examples.  In many of these areas "doing church" is not an easy task!  There are restrictions, freedom of worship is not a world-wide concept.  They do not have fancy sound systems, or state of the art video screens.  Many do not have access to the Internet and social groups and online Bible resources (let alone an actual Bible).  Many of them do not have running water let alone a bed to sleep in!  And yet, they grow!  They are vibrant and alive!

Why?

Why is it, that in places, where worship can get you killed, where poverty is the norm, where there is every reason to be mad at God for ones lot in life, the church grows?

Maybe it has to do with simple faith?  Or spirit?  Or message?  Maybe it has to do with keeping it simple?

I can picture the PhD Theologians cringing as they read these thoughts!  But has anyone ever considered the possibility that we have over-analyzed ourselves in the United States to our own peril?

Analysis can be good to a certain point.  But anyone who has been in therapy can tell you that too much of a good thing can become a bad thing!  You can analyze yourself to the point of inertia, all because of your quest to fix what you think is wrong.  Analysis overused, can become nothing more than a gadget or gizmo.  Think about this in terms of someone who walks in the door for the first time and decides to join our church.  Do they join because of our in depth analysis of best practices or do they join because of the spirit they sense in the community?   Are they impressed because of a word study about why a certain word was used in the English translation based on the historical Latin or Hebrew usage or do they connect with the message that they are hearing?

What message is being shared so powerfully around the world that they connect with people in such deep and profound ways? The leaders elsewhere seem to have their fingers on the pulse.  And what works elsewhere may not work here in the United States, but can we say, with all honesty, that we have our fingers on the pulse?

Grow, grow, grow, we are told over and over again.  Outreach and mission in the community-that's the prescription.  Make your worship services more vibrant.  Small groups are the solution.  How many of the churches elsewhere around the world consciously do these things?  How many are driven by these choices?  If I had to guess-not many!  I think that they do these things, but they do them naturally, organically-it's not a conscious thought or priority for them.  I think they do naturally celebrate in worship.  I think they do naturally try to help their neighbors and I think they do naturally have small groups that pray for each other and with each other.  I think these things happen, not by plan, but because it is a natural outgrowth of the message!

What is that message?  I'd love to know!  I would love to hear what the leaders from other countries have to say in response to that question!  Again, I'm speculating here, but my guess is, it's pretty simple.  We have all sinned and made mistakes in our lives.  But there is this man, who lived long ago, who was actually the Son of God.  His name is Jesus and God sent him to save us all.  He loves you so much that he gave his life for you.  Accept his gift of forgiveness and new life and then share the story with your family and friends.  Follow his footsteps.  Love others, even those individuals that are hard to love.  Do good every chance you get.  Most importantly, share the story.

I could be completely wrong on this line of thought (as if that would be the first time) but, ya know, it really does make me wonder and think.  No gadgets, no gizmo's, no healthy church prescriptions and yet they grow!  Can we be humble enough to admit that we don't have all of the answers and look at what these churches do and how they do it and perhaps learn something?  Can we stop analyzing long enough to grasp the message that they so eloquently convey?  Perhaps the answer has been staring us in the face all along!  Perhaps the answer is just that simple!

Why do they grow?  This inquiring mind would like to know!

Disconnect?

Here are a couple of posts by two Methodist bloggers that I read regularly.  Even though they are talking about different topics, if you look more closely, they are both talking about the same thing.

The Mediocre Commission from Dan Dick's Unitedmethodeviations blog

English Major Reads the Mission from John Meunier's An Arrow Through the Air blog

I'm looking at these posts after having read about Hezekiah in Second Chronicles chapters 29-32.  What struck me most as I read this section was what a dynamic leader King Hezekiah was in his time!  He focused on one thing only-as the leader he wanted Israel to get right with God again.  He cleaned up the temple, he cleaned up the town, he got rid of the things that had taken them away from God so they could focus on worshiping THE GOD once again.  Not only was there action regarding what he said, there was commitment.  The people clearly understood what was being asked of them and how to go about "fixing" the problem.  They cleaned up their act!  And they did so, without hesitation.  

Hang on to this thought as I jump over to Hebrews 3:7-8 (NRSV)

"Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in rebellion, as on the day of testing in the wilderness..."

Here's what the footnote says on verse 7 in the Wesley Study Bible:

"The emphasis on 'today' throughout this passage strikes a note of urgency.  Responding to the word we hear from God is the first priority for each day, not to be put off until another day."

Again, there is an emphasis on action and commitment.  

So, where is the disconnect today?  Where are the dynamic leaders clearly putting out a message of what needs to be done?  That, in a round about way, is the message I get from both Dan and John's blog posts (although they might disagree with my interpretation and conclusions).  This is not something that is happening just in the United Methodist church, this is happening in denominations across the country and around the world.  Not all!  But enough to raise the eyebrows.

It's not just leadership that is the issue though.  Let's go back to Hezekiah.  He cleaned out the temple and the towns-he got rid of the "sacred cows", to use a turn of phrase.  What would have happened if the people resented the fact that he removed the "pagan rubbish"?  What if they couldn't let go of that Asherah pole  because it had been standing for 100 years?  It was part of their "cultural heritage".    There are two sides to this coin-ineffective leadership on the one side, members who just won't let go of certain things on the other.

How do we overcome the disconnect?  One suggestion I have, is look at what Church of the Resurrection does, not because everyone should be like them, but because they have a very clearly planned path of Discipleship training (and it's not a 36 week course).  When someone asks them the question "what do I do next" they are able to answer that question because they have a course path already planned out.  It's clear, it's concise and it's ongoing.  The goal is to deepen their knowledge, their faith and their commitment (or as they describe it:  Head-Heart-Hands).  If members have a deeper spiritual walk, perhaps they will not feel the need to hang on to something that just doesn't work any longer.  It probably is not the only solution out there but I do think it is worth considering.  So that addresses one side of the coin, but how about the other side, the leadership side?

 Where, oh where, are the dynamic leaders who can guide a congregation to make needed change without inciting a riot?  Is that expectation of a leader to high a standard to set?  Now I suppose we could just avoid that sort of confrontation by letting the established churches continue on doing their thing and, instead, start brand new congregations.  But here's the flaw with that plan-at some point the "new" church becomes an old established church and you have the same exact problems all over again!  So how do we train our leaders to walk that fine line?  I get the distinct impression that most ministers would welcome some training in this area.  A class that is part "cast a dynamic vision" and "how to handle the grief of letting things go" counseling for church members.

All I'm saying is, we might as well try to address the issues now because it sure beats going round the mulberry bush over and over again!  If we can help our ministers to become better at managing transitions then we spend less time in-fighting and more time focusing on the community around us.  And let me just say this, because I have experienced it first hand, change poorly executed causes A LOT of hurt feelings and heartache and the damage of the "ghosts of Christmas past" carry on long after you think it's all said and done!  There are members who may be able to forgive but I can tell you they don't forget!  Although, you may not have been the minister who instituted the change, you better believe that at some point, it will be brought out of the closet and you will be forced to deal with the aftermath.  It's not pretty and it surely is not a lot of fun!

gett'n to it!  It's time to reconnect!

Skunked!

In the wee hours of Sunday morning life suddenly became exciting in "Trudy's world" for all the wrong reasons!  My husband decided to let our dogs out, sometime around 3ish, when the civilized world is fast asleep.  We have two younger "pups" (they are not quite two years old yet) and two older dogs.  The pups seem to be under the illusion that anything outside is a living chew toy, meant to be chased.  The skunk in the woods did not share their perspective and proceeded to make his objection known by a full on spray!  My husband, hearing the commotion and wanting to bring peace to the neighborhood, let them in the house!  And that is the point, that I woke up from my blissful slumber due to the most wretched, eye watering smell known to man!  Thanks to the dogs, my house was skunked!

We did manage to get them back outside but the damage was done-the house reeked!  So Sunday was spent washing-anything and everything, trying to get the smell out of the house.  When family and friends stopped by to visit, the first thing I asked was "how bad is the smell in the house?"  A lingering odor but by acting fast and going deep we managed to eradicate most of the unpleasantness!

As I was fighting what seemed like a losing battle, I thought about the section in Hebrews that I had read on Saturday.  In chapter 10 Paul is telling the Hebrews to hang on, to not quit, to stick it out.   The Message paraphrase says this:

"If we give up and turn our backs on all we've learned, all we've been given, all the truth we now know, we repudiate Christ's sacrifice and are left on our own to face the Judgment-and a mighty fierce judgment it will be!"

A little further on in the chapter:

"But you need to stick it out, staying with God's plan so you'll be there for the promised completion." 

This got me thinking about the people who come in the front doors at our church and leave out the side door. Is it that they have given up on their faith, or have they just given up on the church?  I've talked to some of those people who went quietly out the side door over the years.  I've even been one of them, to be honest!  A lot of them left not because they lacked faith, they left because the church lacked depth.  I remember in particular, a conversation with a former member who ended up going to a different church down the road. He said to me "I love the people here but what I got was milk.  What I get at this other church is meat and I needed that!  There came a point in my spiritual walk when I needed more than just milk on Sunday morning."  I think on the times when I had to walk away from a church and those occasions had to do with the fact that I just got burned out.  I'm one of those "willing volunteers" that gets over volunteered and there doesn't seem to be any graceful way out!  So, rather than cause a conflict, I quietly exit out the side door.

We talk a lot about evangelism and outreach in general.  We want our members "going out in to the world".  I agree, that we need to be "out and about" more.  I do wonder though, are we equipping our members to do that?  Are we giving them the depth of teaching that they can go out confidently?  Are we also giving our members who do volunteer and do go out, an opportunity to take a break when they need to?  Do we recognize what our members already do as far as volunteering in ways that may not be connected to the church?

Tough questions!  No easy answers for me at least!  One thing that I do see though is that there seems to be, in some circles, a desire to look at each thing as a separate entity and I am not convinced that is such a wise thing.  Let's take evangelism for example, if we don't teach members well about what we believe, why we believe it and why it is important (in other words, give them some depth) then how will they respond if they are challenged when they try to share their faith?  If you feel like you're going to lose in the first place, then why would you battle through the frustration and exhaustion in order to win the battle?  The average member in our church will not be standing out in front of a crowd talking about their faith walk, they will be doing it one on one.  So, knowing that this will be the "style" of evangelism that the majority will be doing, isn't it worth looking at the depth of teaching that we have in our own church to empower them to share confidently?  To me, this is not an "either/or", this is a "both/and" situation.

This has been percolating in me for awhile but it really came to the forefront for me after attending the Leadership Institute at Church of the Resurrection.  I don't think I'm making a mountain out of a molehill on this idea.  I don't think I'm barking up the wrong tree.  The Methodist tradition and Wesleyan heritage has depth.  We just need to work on how we teach that depth to our members.  Without depth, our members do not have the tools to evangelize or to hang in there for the long haul.    

The pups had never run in to a skunk before.  The older wiser dogs knew to stay clear.  The younger two got sprayed and then came into the house where they "shared the love".  Hopefully the pups learned their lesson and will steer clear of skunks in the future!  I worked hard to get the smell out of the house and by the time I was done, I was exhausted.  But I knew if I acted quickly and stuck with it, eventually I would gain some ground.  And when all was said and done, I could take a break and recharge my batteries.  Asking our new members to go out and evangelize is like sending the pups out to face a skunk.  Without some depth of experience, they could end up getting painfully sprayed.  And when they do get sprayed they run for home.  If we do not have experienced leaders there to help clean them up, then the smell will stay.  And the leaders-they need time to recharge their batteries as well.  Whether it is a minister or a volunteer, they may have the experience but they can get burned out if they are expected to do the work all of the time.  Balance is the key.    Looking at one area specifically is not a bad thing in and of itself.  But when we isolate from the "both/and" realm of experience and depth than we are short changing our ability to address the problem.  We need to reach out, we need to evangelize but in order to be effective we also have to recognize the need for teaching.  Depth and experience and time for rest, need to be part of the equation as well!

And I am positive that "both/and" sure beats getting skunked!  I speak from the voice of experience on that one!

Penance, Prayer and Depth

Penance is a really old fashion word that we historically associate with punishment, and that understanding is reinforced by the dictionary definition of the word.  I'd like to draw your attention to a few of the descriptive words in the definition:  "sincerely repent, confess and perform acts required".  I really got to thinking about this word as I read through chapter 5 in John Ardt's True Christianity (just a quick note if you decide to follow the link and read this yourself-it looks like it is all one big document but it does break down by chapter, you just have to look for the start of a new chapter in the body of the text).  Back to the topic at hand!  John Ardt made this statement:

 "For true conversion does not consist in putting away great and outward sins only, but in descending deeply into your own self, searching into the inmost recesses of the heart, the secrets and closets, all the windings and turnings thereof; changing and renewing them throughout, with the grace, that is given you..."

For an individual to really embrace the gift of grace, they need to understand that they have a need for forgiveness in the first place.  That's why we see Peter in Acts chapter 2 of The Message paraphrase saying:

"Change your life.  Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven." 

 Many did repent and were baptized.  Yet, we find Paul talking in chapter 5 of Hebrews about the fact that those who should be eating "solid food" are still drinking "baby's milk."  They understood on the surface, but they had not gone into the depth that John Ardt talked about.

We have the same problem in the modern church!  Think about it-why make the effort to go to church, or to fellowship with other believers if it does not make a significant difference in your life?  Depth matters!  I was reminded of this at a workshop that I participated in at the Church of the Resurrection's Leadership Institute.  Rev. Constance Cherry led the workshop and it's focus was on prayer-specifically corporate prayer.

Rev. Cherry asked a question that we should all ask and seriously consider: "if the people in this congregation only had me to teach them to pray, what would their concept of God be like?"  As leaders, we need to remember the importance of teaching others how to pray.  Corporate prayer is a conversation between God and people and what we say, the words we use, should reflect that understanding.  And true conversation not only involves speaking, but it also involves listening.  It involves acknowledging that God is present. Corporate prayer done well can be a model for individuals to use in their personal, private prayer time.  It can help us move towards a deeper relationship with God.

As I reflect on the information that I gleaned from this wonderful workshop I realize that prayer is one of the things I struggle with personally.   Particularly the quiet "listening" part and the admitting my shortcomings and mistakes and asking for forgiveness.  When was the last time that I sincerely repented, confessed and changed my ways?  It's not that I don't want to do these things, it's making the time to do them!  I long for that spiritual depth but I honestly didn't know where to begin!  I have the distinct impression that I am not the only one out there that struggles with the this issue!  The further down the road you go, the more you realize, the less you know!  Nothing like a little reminder that nails you squarely between the eyeballs!  (Yes, Virginia, God does have a sense of humor!  He puts up with me, that should be proof enough!  hee hee hee!)

So two lessons learned from this particular workshop.  One is that I need to work on my own prayer life and listen more and ask for forgiveness for my mistakes more often.  The second is that corporate prayer is important and I hope that my church will make this small change in our services to include more prayer time.  Modeling prayer in a corporate setting may be just the thing that an individual needs in order to make a significant change in their own life.  Isn't that what our faith walk is about?  Penance, prayer, grace and change.  Seeking depth rather than superficiality.  I pray that our faith community chooses to lead the way by example because it is a powerful and meaningful way-following in Jesus footsteps!

Time for me to go eat some more humble pie!

Resurrection vs. Regeneration

Once again, I have run across something that made me go hmm...and it actually clarifies something I have struggled with for a while.  Current "churchese" talk circles have said that the United Methodist Church needs a resurrection to happen.  I understand the point they are trying to make, but the term has bothered me.  So I looked up the definition in my Webster's dictionary and here's what it said:

"the act of rising again, after death"

So, are we saying the church is dead?  I don't buy that!  If you look at what Wesley wrote in the sermon that I posted yesterday, he said that there was a remnant or "seed" that remained, and it sprouts and it grows and it matures.

This morning I was reading in Wesley's Christian Library a piece from John Arndt's True Christianity.  He talks about following the pattern of Christ and he uses the term "regeneration".  Regeneration-it is a very interesting term!  Here's the definition:

"to give new life or vigor to-a spiritual rebirth" 

This is a term I can relate to-it makes sense!  It also illustrates exactly what I was seeing in the Book of Acts (which I posted about last Thursday).  The Spirit is not dead!  The church by extension is not dead because a remnant or "seed" remains!  Let's apply it to the model that I noticed in Acts.

The Apostles were the first "spiritual generation".  They planted seeds in the Disciples (the second spiritual generation) and they followed the pattern of Christ-they grew, they matured, they became leaders.  Stephen and Phillip and Barnabas became "seed planters" and Christianity spread.  They did their apprenticeship at the feet of the Apostles, then they were sent out as leaders to continue the process.  Regeneration was built in to the system right from the start!

Here's the modern day lesson for the church.  Discipleship done well has regeneration already built in to the system!  Our members need to spend time at the feet of good leaders, listening, learning and seeing how things are done BEFORE you put them in to leadership roles.  They need time to mature.   But once they reach that level of maturity, they can then become leaders themselves and they can plant the seeds and lead others through the same process.  The individuals that they Disciple can then become leaders as well, once they reach that level of spiritual maturity.  And the process continues.  Active regeneration.

Regeneration does not start from a dead place.  It starts from a living place.  The Holy Spirit is alive and well! It does not need to be resurrected.  The only thing that needs work happens to be "us".  We need to embrace regeneration in ourselves.  Then we can start the process of regeneration in our churches.

I'm liking this idea of regeneration!  :-)

Something Significant Going on in Acts

This is going to be a short post because I am still trying to get a sense of what needs to be said on this topic.  Take some time today to read Acts, chapters 9-11.  Most of the time any sermon that is preached on these chapters deals either with Paul's conversion or Peter's vision.  As you read, I want you to ignore the rock star Apostles and focus on what is going on around them on the side lines.  Focus specifically on these sections:

Acts 9:10-19  Notice that God did not send an Apostle, God sent a Disciple-Ananias.
Acts 9:26-27  Notice that Barnabas has to intervene for Paul because the Apostles would not even speak to him because they are afraid of him.
Acts 10:1-8  Notice that God speaks to Cornelius first before he speaks to Peter.
Acts 11:19-26  Notice that only a few of them spoke with the Hellenists (meaning those who were not Jewish), they had great success, the Apostles sent Barnabas, Barnabas then went to find Paul and bring him back to Antioch and Antioch is where the Disciples were first called "Christians".

In my mind I am thinking in terms of "spiritual generations".  The Apostles were the first "spiritual generation" and here in Acts we are seeing work being done by the second "spiritual generation" of followers.  They had been trained well enough by the first generation to successfully carry out and carry on the mission.  And even though Cornelius was not necessarily a Disciple at the time, Peter is being sent to train him to become a Disciple leader.  

How exactly this applies to the here and now, I'm not sure.  I just know that I sense in my spirit that there is a significant lesson here to be pondered.  What we glean and how we apply it matters significantly.  All I know is that I am hearing that still small voice saying "pay attention, pay attention because this is big and it matters!"  I've learned to listen and pay attention and right now, I'm in "wait" mode.  I'll get back to you on this.  In the meantime, if you have any thoughts on this feel free to share! Something significant is going on!

Disciple and then Delegate

In chapter 6 of the Book of Acts we are introduced to a problem that arose in the early days of the church.  A conflict arose about food distribution between the Hebrews and the Hellenists.  It seems the Hellenists felt that their widows were being neglected and not getting as much as the Hebrew widows.  So the Apostles called the entire community together for a meeting to settle the issue.  In verses 2-4 (NRSV translation), the Apostles say this:

"...It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables.  Therefore friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word."  

Now a modern reader might read this and think "what, they were too good to do this?"  Somehow they thought they were above needing to do this task?  Not so fast!  I think if the Apostles thought that there was no one well qualified to handle the task they would have taken it on.  But, the community was growing-the Apostles had trained people within the community who could take on this leadership role.  They were fully confident that they could safely delegate this task.  The Apostles had discipled their followers so they could then start delegating so they could continue to disciple others.  That's how you grow-you teach and train others how to lead, so they can take over and then you move on and teach and train others how to do the exact same thing!

And Luke is kind enough to introduce us to two of the seven chosen-Stephen and Phillip.  We are able to learn about their separate ministries.  Stephen's ministry went beyond just feeding to performing "signs and wonders" and also speaking in the synagogue of the Freedmen.  He is so powerful in his speech that individuals set out to discredit him and he is brought before the council, where he delivers a message.  It was a message that they did not like, so they stoned him. Phillip, meanwhile, goes to Samaria and "proclaimed the Messiah to them."  He also performed signs and wonders.  He was so successful that the Apostles on hearing that Samaria had accepted the word of God, sent Peter and John to pray for them.

If these examples don't make a strong case for the importance of good discipleship in the church today, then I don't know what does?!  Not only did the Apostles teach and preach, they also trained their followers, leading by example.  And when they felt that certain followers were ready, they gave them a chance to lead by delegating tasks to them.  By doing this, it freed them up to help others work through the same process in order to get to the point where they could lead as well.

This makes a lot of sense.  Our members are "out in the trenches" working and dealing with people who might never darken the doorstep of a church, but are receptive to talking with and listening to someone "just like them."  Discipleship really is an apprenticeship because not only should it give "book knowledge" but it should also provide practical knowledge.  An apprentice needs to learn first by listening and watching and then you let them do the work.  You have them try their hand at something small so they can become comfortable doing the work and then they move on to more difficult tasks.  When a leader can delegate with confidence, then they can continue to do the work of leading and training others.  When the "trainee" can become a "trainer" then suddenly you can train even more people which means more work can get done.  It also frees a leader up to focus more on vision and leading because others have been trained to teach.

I can only speak from my personal experience in the UMC but I have a feeling that what I am about to say plagues a lot of denominations out there.  We assume too much and we tend to skip the discipleship step.  Not every church does this, and I don't think that it is done consciously, but the undercurrent is there.  We assume when someone walks through the door that they know how to pray.  We assume that they are reading their Bible and that they know how to read their Bible.  We assume that they are ready to do mission and evangelism work right from the get-go.  We assume that they understand what it means to be a Methodist and what comes with that territory.    We assume that they know how to practically apply Bible teaching in their daily lives.  So rather than taking some time to teach and train we put them in to some sort of ministry and they burn out and leave through the side door.  We scratch our collective heads and wonder what happened? We asked them to do something that they were not ready or prepared to do.  We skipped a step.



If we want to grow and share the gospel then we have got to get serious about discipleship.  It doesn't happen overnight.  It is not a "silver bullet", it is a process that takes time.  Are we willing to take the time to do some serious training?  That my darling readers is a question well worth asking and answering.  Our response will dictate our outcome.  And outcome is the new buzz word in the "measuring metrics" world.  If we get this right, then the numbers game will become a thing of the past!  That is what makes the question worth asking!  The day we declare "numbers no more" will be the day that I declare Hallelujah AMEN!