Category: Evangelism


Prayer Walking

Filed Under: Evangelism, Recommended Books, Spiritual Life, The Viral Jesus Book, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — Leave a comment
February 21, 2012

Thank you for all the interaction about listening to God. Now I have a new challenge. Please send me your stories for meeting God through the practice commonly called prayer walking. If you don’t know what prayer walking is, here is a good primer.

So, to encourage people to experiment with prayer walking, or continue prayer walking, I’d like to offer to send a copy of my book Viral Jesus to those who send me a good story of an encounter with God while prayer walking. As always, I get to be the final arbiter of which stories get posted and to whom I send books, but I’m pretty generous, so feel free to send me your stories.

Joel Zehring sent me this story about both listening and prayer walking. I believe in prayer walking. I find that God speaks to me best when I prayer walk and I know many people who have the same experience.

Joel’s Story

Here’s a story I posted on my blog a couple years ago:

I’ve been taking my son on prayer walks around our neighborhood for a few months, and a funny thing has happened. To my eyes, the neighborhood hasn’t changed much, but my prayer walking is changing.

On our most recent walk, I passed a guy working on his lawn. I said hello, threw out a quip about being productive, and kept on walking. As soon as he was out of my periphery, I got the idea that I should ask him if I could pray for him.

“Next person,” I told myself as I continued on, speaking out loud my prayers as I pushed Nathan in the stroller.

A few streets later, Nathan pointed to a little girl standing in her driveway. Her mother was taking out the trash.

“That’s a little girl, huh?” I commented, followed by a friendly “hello” to the mother. We were past the house before I remembered that I was going to ask if I could pray for her. I wondered if I was being forgetful or willfully negligent in passing up these opportunities.

Heading up our street to go back home, we saw one more person, a woman raking weeds in her front yard. I said hello and commented on her yard and her diligence. Before the conversation ended, I crossed to her side of the street and mentioned our mission for this walk.

“Our neighborhood needs it,” she said.

Then I made my pitch: “I don’t mean to push anything on you, but is there anything we could pray about for you?”

Without hesitation, our neighbor explained what was happening lately in her life, and how we might pray for her. We learned that she follows Jesus and she shared a good deal about her family. Before walking on, I prayed a quick prayer aloud for her requests, then wished her a good day.

Over all these months of praying over our streets, it’s never once struck me to stop and pray with our neighbors. I’ve prayed for husbands, wives, parents, children, and I’ve prayed that God would reveal himself to our neighbors. I just didn’t think that he wanted to reveal himself right there on the street during our prayer walk. I’ll be walking a lot more carefully on our next walk.

  • Is prayer walking a new idea to you?
  • Where is your best place or way to encounter Jesus and communicate with Him?
  • What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of prayer walking?
  • Have you ever prayer walked a place with a group of people? How was that experience?
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Letters to the House Church Movement

Filed Under: Apostolic Ministry, Church Life, Church Planting, Discipleship, Evangelism, House Church, Meeting Together, Organic Church, Recommended Books, Simple Church, Spiritual Life by rossrohde — Leave a comment
February 7, 2012

Click here to order Letters to the House Church Movement.

Some books are practical, some are theoretical; both have their place. Rad Zdero’s book Letters to the House Church Movement is strongly practical; while reflecting a deep understanding of the paradigms under which house churches and house church networks really work (theoretical).

Rad is a house church planter and network organizer in Canada; what we in the house church movement would call an apostle. He is also an astute theologian, though he might not call himself that. As such, he has had plenty of correspondence over the years, which touches on the real nuts and bolts issues that house churches face. By sharing his real letters with us he doesn’t paint house churches in some romantic glow. This is a warts and all look at what house church practice is really like.

Here is a sampling of the kinds of issues and questions Rad deals with.

  • What are actual house church meetings really like?
  • How do house churches deal practically with problem people?
  • How do you deal with the house church radicals who have a chip on their shoulder about traditional churches?
  • How do house churches multiply and how do they deal with missions?
  • What are the real problems (not the imagined problems of those who have never experienced house church) that house churches face? How should they be dealt with?
  • What does leadership look like in house churches? What is the role of elders and apostles? What does that word “apostle” actually mean in a house church setting?
  • What is the role of women in house church?
  • How do house churches answer the common criticisms that they face? What is their biblical backing for these answers?
  • How do house churches group themselves into networks and how does that all work?
  • What is their relationship with more traditional churches?
  • What is house church spirituality like?

I could go on because Rad covers a lot of important ground just by answering real letters and emails he has received over the years. He does this graciously, openly, humbly, yet with a frankness and clarity I find refreshing. He doesn’t beat around the bush, but he is kind. I like that.

Who would profit from a book like this? First of all, any house church practitioner. Because Rad has long experience and the churches and networks he is dealing with are well organized and mature (or maturing), he has lots to say to us. Reading this book might show us some things we are missing.

However, I think this book would be good for people who are curious about house churches but have never experienced them or haven’t experienced them broadly enough to really know how they work. I would also include those who are critics of house church. My own experience with critics is that they are usually unaware of the reality and are often responding to their own imagined fears or some bad experience with an unhealthy house church practitioner (see bullet point three). It’s OK to criticize but that should come from an extensive enough knowledge that the critic isn’t just setting up a straw man and knocking it down. Rad gives the answers to the key criticisms that an experienced house church apostle of a large network would give. It’s best to get these answers from someone who actually knows what they are talking about from real experience.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely, in fact I’m going to recommend it to one of the house churches I’m involved with. I think reading this book will give the Holy Spirit a chance to speak to us about what He wants us to do next.

  • Have you even experienced house church? What was that like, good or bad?
  • What questions do you have about how house churches work?
  • If you are a house church practitioner, what problems do you fact? Where do you need to grow? I’d suspect this book would be a good resource for you.
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Early Christian Behavior

Filed Under: Christendom, Church History, Evangelism, Recommended Books, Spiritual Life, The Viral Jesus Book by rossrohde — 7 Comments
November 17, 2011

Fresco from 2 centuries after Mathetes.

How did the early Christians interact with the world around them? We have the book of Acts, which gives us a brief history from Luke’s perspective but beyond that do we have any record of how they viewed their world and how they interacted with it? Actually we do. There is a brief letter called The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus which many scholars believe was written about 130 AD.[1] This is actually a rather brief letter, the entirety of which you can read here. In it a Christian named Mathetes tries to describe who Christians are and how they live to a non-Christian friend named Diognetus. Of particular interest to me is a sentence in Chapter V which I believe shows the Early Churches aversion to Greek philosophy.

The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. I’d like to make a number of observations about this quote which I believe can help us understand how our early brothers thought and how therefore they can be of service to us to get us back on track to what the Church was originally designed to be.

Observation 1: Mathetes is focused on conduct, not speculative thinking. To the early Christians how we lived was much more important that doctrinal speculation. How we lived showed who we were. This was not done by merely reciting doctrinal statements.

Observation 2: Mathetes is responding to the Greek world around him and contrasting Christianity from it. The Greek world around him, at that time, was fascinated with philosophical speculation. Of particular interest was Platonic thought which placed much emphasis on concepts and ideas (called ideals) and placed little or no importance on how we live.

Observation 3: Mathetes is concerned more specifically with following “speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men” and “mere human doctrines.” He is taking a swipe at the humanism of the day, the idea that men can figure things out and determine what truth is. Mathetes’ world was humanistic and so is ours. In fact, the humanism of our day is based philosophically on the humanistic philosophy of Mathetes’ day.

In Diognetus’ world people were obsessed with their own ideas and interpretations. They lived in a world of ideas and doctrine, not the world of life defined by concrete action. Christians of Mathetes’ world were different. They, in essence, said, look at how we live then you will know who we are.

Modern day Christianity has more in common with Diognetus’ world than it does with Mathetes’ world. We argue about doctrine, which, let’s face it, is the speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men.” Many have become “advocates” of “merely human doctrines.” Some are followers of Luther, others are followers of John Calvin, some are Pentecostals while others hold to the doctrine of cessationism. Some hold firmly to Postmillenialism while others are willing to stake their lives on a pre-tribulation rapture. We are behaving exactly like the realities that the early Christians such as Mathetes spoke against. I will discuss these issues more in my upcoming book Viral Jesus: Recovering the Contagious Power of the Gospel, which will be available for purchase on this blog Feb. 7, 2012.

Am I against doctrine? No. Am I against getting wrapped up in arguments about doctrinal ideas rather than living a Spirit controlled life? Absolutely. Our faith should be most easily be defined not by details of our doctrine but by the unique beauty of our lives…which will show what we believe, which, if necessary, could be written down as doctrines. There is a significant difference between those two views; one is deep experiential spirituality, the other is mere Christian humanism. Many people nowadays long for deep experiential spirituality. Almost nobody is searching for Christian humanism. Mathetes understood this, so he chose the first option in Chapter V of his letter, which he called displaying a “wonderful and confessedly striking method of life.” You can read Chapter V in its entirety following the questions.

  • Do you think the average Christian today lives a wonderful and confessedly striking method of life? Why or why not?
  • Is Christian behavior today so markedly different that it shows up statistically such as in divorce rates?
  • In some ways Mathetes said the Christians were just like those around them, in other ways they were markedly different. How would you characterize the ways they were the same and the ways they were different (see below)?
  • How do Christians today try to distinguish themselves from non-Christians?

CHAPTER V — THE MANNERS OF THE CHRISTIANS.

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.

[1] This is probably an accurate dating. Another theory is that it was written in the early 3rd century. But that seems to be based on evidence from the last two chapters who most believe was a later addition from Hippolytus of Rome.

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Fixing vs. Loving

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Church History, Evangelism, Spiritual Life, Worldview by rossrohde — 10 Comments
November 2, 2011

Fixing isn't as helpful as loving.

In my last post, Deep Presence, I talked about an experience our simple church had with God in a café patio. What I didn’t mention was that at the same time there was a gay and lesbian group meeting on the patio. In essence they were having the functional equivalent of simple church but focused on gay/lesbian issues. I’m not saying they were looking for God; I have no idea one way or the other. I mean they were meeting together in community to have a meeting that was more than the sum total of its parts.

My friend Lyle (a member of our simple church) and I have discussed on and off what it would look like if our group became more proactive in ministry. What would it look like for our particular group to follow God into ministering to the community around us? In reflecting on this question, I came back to the gay and lesbian group. Here are some observations I’d like to note. It looked like this was a regularly scheduled group. Further, it seems like we took ‘their spot.’ They didn’t say anything, nor did they get huffy, it was just noticeable by some glances. Instead, they very graciously just sat in another location and had a happy, animated conversation. Our group was very ‘evangelical.’ Like it or not, I’m sure they could ‘smell’ our evangelicalism a mile away.

Now, what would it take to minister to that group? Stop for a minute and really think about that question. I asked you to stop because I’m sure most of our first reactions would have created serious problems but done little good toward moving the members of that group toward Jesus. Think about this passage:

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. 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 didn’t bring up that passage to note that homosexuals were wicked and won’t inherit the kingdom of God (as it is commonly used in evangelicalism). Nor to note that homosexuality is no less wicked than greed, which homosexuals often bring up with Christians. I brought it up for these two sentences: And that is what some of you were. 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.

The early Church was filled with ex-homosexuals (and ex-greedy people). The Greek world of that time had a much greater population of homosexuals than does our culture. Yet somehow the Christians found a way to minister Jesus to them to the point that they were washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Further, they felt loved and welcomed among the Christians. Do you think those of us who are current Western evangelicals could pull that off? Did you ever wonder why for the Early Church this was normative and for our expression of Christianity it is as rare as hen’s teeth?

Let’s go back to our church meeting on a café patio next to a gay/lesbian group. What would we have needed to do to minister to them? Let me posit this. Our whole ‘way of being’ would have to focus on loving them and not fixing them. Do you like it when people you don’t know or trust try to fix you? Do you like it when people you do know and trust try to fix you? I’ll bet your answer is no to both questions. Here’s another question. Do you think Jesus’ golden rule applies? You know, the one where he says “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

So how could we have loved them (or love them the next time)? We could have noticed that this was their spot and graciously relinquished it to them. We could have made kind eye contact with them. We could have smiled. We could have asked them if we could get anything for them as we were going to get a refill on our coffee. We could have just focused on looking out for their good…loving them. No fixing. No agenda other than love.

What would God have done, or could God do, with that? I don’t know. But I do know that it is Christian; truly, deeply Christian. It is based on Jesus’ value system of loving others and considering them as more important than ourselves. It is based on inclusive love, not based on merit but grace. It is based on not judging others. And it is based on humility knowing that I’m not really any better than anyone…anyone, else. But I’m in the process of being washed, sanctified and justified. That’s not my doing, its God’s. I’d like to share that with others, but only from a platform of love; not with a wrench in my pocket.

  • Have you ever had someone try to ‘fix’ you? How did you like that? Did it feel more like love or judgment?
  • Are there other types of people, besides gays and lesbians, our Christendom has separated us from?
  • Have you ever approached others with a wrench in your pocket? How’d that go?
  • How did we get to the point where the name “Christian” is more likely to illicit fear of being judged than a strong reputation for loving others?
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Prophetic Lifestyle

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Evangelism, Spiritual Life, Worldview by rossrohde — 3 Comments
August 19, 2011

We need to make lifestyle choices that reflect the life of our King.

From this title one might assume that I’m referring to going about prophesying; but I’m not. I’m talking about living a life which is not only distinct from “the normal” but calls into question foundational principles of our society which God would call sinful.

Sadly, in my opinion, few Christians actually live like this. I’m not sure I do; certainly not to the level I can. But I do believe that God, and the Bible call me to be moving ever closer to that ideal. To do so I believe we need to look at two concepts that I very seldom hear Christians talking about beyond a doctrinal level. In other words, we talk about it; we just don’t put a lot of effort into putting it in to practice. Both are plainly stated in the New Testament.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Rom. 12:1-2).

Issue #1: Altruism (Rom. 12:1)

Our lives are to be a sacrifice for others and the ultimate “Other,” God. In fact, we can’t serve God unless we live for others. Jesus himself said, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” (Matt. 25:40). And again, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (Matt. 25:45). Our lives are to be lived for serving others, particularly “the least of these,” or we are not really serving Jesus at all.

This kind of life has a secular name, altruism. Here is the dictionary definition of the word, “unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others.”[1] Imagine if we Christians actually took this to heart as a central focus of our lives. Imagine if the vast majority of Christians actually lived like this even if it ended up causing them to live a lower standard of living or harmed them in some other way. The early Christians were famous for this. What would our society today think of Christians if this was what we were known for? What would our society think of God? Currently in the US God himself, only gets a 52% approval rating. Yet Jesus was the ultimate altruist, sacrificing his life for many; and his life is the model for our lives. So is 48% of our society really angry at God or what they perceive about God based on the behavior of his followers.

Issue #2: Not Buying the “System” (Rom. 12:2)

We are warned a number of times in the New Testament not to buy into the values of the world. Besides Rom. 12:2, we have Col. 2:8, for example, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” The word translated here “basic principles” is the Greek word stoicheia. It is also translated “foundational principles” in other passages.

There are basic rules that the world system works by. One, just as an example, is that we take care of ourselves and our own; the rest can look out for themselves. This is one of the basic or foundational principles of capitalism. That’s how our economic system works. But does that mean we, as Christians, should buy it lock, stock and barrel; or should we be living a different lifestyle, where we are “in the world but not of the world?” Here’s an interesting study that speaks to that very issue.

We Christians need to be very careful we don’t get sucked into a system; political, economic, social or moral, which compromises our basic Christian values. We are seldom actually faced with either/or choices. We do not have to choose strictly between the Democratic or Republican viewpoint (or the Conservative, Labour or Liberal parties, if you are in the UK for example). We do not have to make a simplistic choice between capitalism and socialism, branding one as an ultimate good and the other as an ultimate evil. We should be critical of the Democrats and call them to task. We should do exactly the same to the Republicans and the Libertarians, for that matter. We should be wisely critical of capitalism and communism and socialism. All are worldly systems based on evil principles. Our lives should stand in prophetic contrast to all of these worldly systems; which are all based on the foundational principles of the world. Further, we should do so with grace and love. We shouldn’t be calling others who are different than us highly charged labels like pinko or capitalist pig; even “crazy tax and spend libs” or “tea party wing nuts.” Our words should be seasoned with salt; and our lives should be different, very different.

  • Do you think we Christians in the West are adequately critical of our social, political, moral and economic values?
  • Do you think the average non-Christian knows many Christians whose lives really reflect Jesus, being living sacrifices, living lives that are deeply altruistic?
  • Living to gain money is one of the foundation principles of capitalism. How does that square with I Tim 6:10: For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs?
  • If we question where our society has strayed from moral values but fail to question social, political and economic values, will we be living a prophetic lifestyle? Should, for example, your neighbor be impressed if you are faithful in your marriage and greedy and selfish with your money?
[1] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/altruism

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This is Discipling

Filed Under: Discipleship, Evangelism, Recommended Books, The Viral Jesus Book, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 9 Comments
June 30, 2011

I wrote my upcoming book, Viral Jesus: Recapturing the Contagious Power of the Gospel[1], to answer a basic question; what will it take to once again see a viral movement of the Gospel in the West? Most Christians don’t realize the following facts:

  1. We have not had a viral movement of the Gospel in the West since the early 4th century.
  2. Christianity was designed by God to be a sustained viral movement and its first three centuries were exactly that.
  3. Christianity as a whole did not have a sustained viral movement of the Gospel between the Edict of Milan in 313 AD. and the Chinese House Church movement which started in 1949 (that’s 1,636 years).

So, if Christianity was designed to be viral movement, it was originally a sustained viral movement and it has become a viral movement again in other places (like China and India) outside the West, what will it take to once again see that happening here in the West?

What happened in the late 3rd Century and particularly at the Edict of Milan that stopped the Gospel from being what it was designed to be, viral in its spread? What are we unintentionally doing now that keeps it from being viral? What have our brothers in places like China and India learned that allows the Gospel to again spread rapidly and organically like seeds in a field or leaven in a lump of dough (Jesus’ original metaphors) or like a viral video?

Most of us are unaware of our own Christian history. Most are unaware of how different we are from the Early Church and their practices. In our minds this is the way it has always been. But, that is not true, our current practice is far different (in some ways almost the exact opposite) from what the Early Church did. And there are significant strategic consequences to those changes.

In Viral Jesus, I’m going to tell the story of our history, where the changes came from and why. I’m going to explain the changes in our theology focus and why they have damaged the ability of the Church to fulfill her commission from God. I’m going to explain what happened in China with real accounts from their exciting story. I’m going to tell real life stories of how this is just beginning to impact places like Western Europe and the United States. And, I’m going to explain how we too can once again recapture the strategic genius of the Early Church of our brothers in China, India and other non-Western Great Commission hot spots.

But, as a teaser I’m going to share this video that I became aware of recently. It captures some of what I am expressing in Viral Jesus. It doesn’t have the history, it doesn’t have the theology, it doesn’t the real life stories of how this is starting to happen here in the West or how it is succeeding in other areas of the globe; but it does begin to capture the essence of the strategic implications.

  • Are you aware that our current church practice is often almost the exact opposite of what the Early Church did? Do you know where these changes in practice came from and why?
  • Are you aware of how powerfully and virally the Gospel is spreading in places like China and India?
  • Are you aware that we are just beginning to see this kind of movement in West?
  • Do you know what those who are reaping this viral harvest are doing differently that the traditional practices we all know?
[1] The Viral Jesus release date in Feb. 2, 2012. You will be able to buy a copy from this blog.

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The Public Invisibility Motif

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Christendom, Evangelism, Jesus is Lord, Simple Church, Spiritual Life, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 1 Comment
June 22, 2011

They need to see through us to see Jesus.

Dan Smith, in a comment sent to my post Setting Parameters, discussed the differences between simple church life and ministry in more traditional churches:

Another major difference is the embracing of invisibility in ministry. While Jesus emphasized secrecy in prayer, giving, good works, etc in the Sermon on the Mount, almost everything I did as a conventional church pastor (preaching, teaching, worship leading, outreach etc) was intended for public consumption.

Dan makes a good point; there really is something to Jesus’ invisibility motif. Jesus warned us away from focusing attention on ourselves. Jesus had a laser like focus on his Father. He wanted us to do the same thing. When we have a laser like focus on God, we tend to point others in the same direction. Humility isn’t thinking poorly of ourselves; it isn’t thinking of ourselves at all. It is focusing on God and others.

Further, there is a deep power in secrecy, in invisibility. I believe this power is both sociological and spiritual. Sociologically we build mistrust when we try to gain attention to ourselves through good works. When we hype them, those who the beneficiaries of the good works and those who are on the sidelines wonder what our hidden agenda is. What’s in it for us? Why are we doing this? The suspicion is that we are just trying to gain attention for ourselves. And that suspicion may very well be on point. Is our attention focused like a laser on Jesus, or are we focusing somewhere else.

But there is a deeper spiritual issue. It is one of trust. Can we trust a supernatural God to bring about in public what we pray about in secret? But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matt. 6:6). Do you trust God to fulfill your prayers, or do you need to go make something happen? Jesus is telling us we can pray in secret and see real results in public.

When we fast it is not intended to impress those around us. “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (Matt. 6:17-18). Can we trust God to fulfill what we are fasting for without us making an issue of it? The same could be said about giving. We don’t need to make an issue of how much we give, because that’s not the point.

On the other hand, there was also what seemed to be an opposite emphasis in Jesus’ teaching? “Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.  For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light” (Lk. 8:16-17). Is Jesus speaking out of both sides of his mouth? No, I don’t think so. I think there are a few lessons built into this public invisibility motif.

  1. Our focus is on God, not ourselves.
  2. We don’t do anything to impress others, particularly other Christians.
  3. We have a supreme confidence that God is the power behind our prayers, what we pray in a closed room will become reality in public.
  4. Since we want those who don’t know Christ to know him, we aren’t shy about proclaiming him with a beautiful life, which reflects his life and beautiful words, which reflects his words. Our life and words should make this a public issue…graciously.
  5. Since we aren’t doing anything duplicitous or evil, we shouldn’t be afraid of anyone knowing what we are up to and why. That we don’t need to hide. On the other hand, we don’t need to talk about it either. We don’t need to defend ourselves if we aren’t doing anything wrong.

So, we don’t need to hide anything because we aren’t doing anything shameful. In fact, we want the world to know what we do because we want them to know Who is behind it. But, we don’t do anything to bring glory to ourselves, only to God. And, we trust in him and his power to bring things about, not our cleverness and effort.

How are we doing nowadays in fitting within Jesus public invisibility motif?

  • In Dan’s statement “almost everything I did as a conventional church pastor … was intended for public consumption? What public do you think Dan was talking about, Christian or non-Christian? How does that fit with Jesus’ public invisibility motif?
  • Do our actions speak of supreme trust in a God who can hear our prayers and notice our secret fast and bring about the answer in public?
  • How much of typical Christian behavior is consciously or unconsciously intended on impressing other Christians?
  • Does our life speak of a laser like focus on glorifying God?
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The Man in White

Filed Under: Evangelism, Spiritual Life, Supernaturalism, Viral Christianity, Worldview by rossrohde — Leave a comment
June 18, 2011

For most of us Westerners, even Christians, dreams are just a nightly phenomenon which has no real connection to our spiritual life. For anyone actually familiar with the Bible, this should seem strange. The Bible is replete with stories in which God uses dreams to communicate to people. Let me give you just a few examples: Jacob’s dream of a stairway to heaven, the dreams associated with Joseph in Gen 37:1-10 of sheaves of wheat and sun moon and stars bowing to him, as well as the cup bearer, baker and Pharaoh’s dreams Gen. 40-41. These just begin to scratch the surface. God used dreams to communicate with Gideon, Solomon, Daniel, Joseph, Jesus’ stepfather and Pilate’s wife. In fact, dreams and their conscious counterpart, visions (think Cornelius and Peter), are a major way for God to speak to his people. So much so that God explicitly promised of such communication through the prophet Joel which Peter used to encourage the early Church.

So why do many modern Western Christians dismiss with contempt such communication from God? It certainly isn’t because God is afraid to communicate with humans in such a way. To believe such a thing would be to deny major portions of the Bible as false. Nor is it because God used to do it but doesn’t any longer. God continues to communicate with people all over the world through dreams and visions. Those in the West, who are open to such communication receive them. And, it is a common way for God to speak to people outside of the West who haven’t had their worldview corrupted through false scientific modernism[1]. Those who have not been corrupted in their thinking to limit themselves merely to what can be measured (called scientific rationalism or just rationalism), receive communication from God because they haven’t tried to limit God in how he can speak to them.

However, I’d like to focus on one important way that God is using dreams and visions to communicate to people today which is dramatically affecting the Great Commission. It is called dreaming of the Man in white. More specifically, God is using dreams to communicate to spiritually open people in the Muslim world to direct them to Him. He often does this through giving them a dream of Jesus dressed in white who gives them specific personal instructions so they can come to Him.

A personal story

I once met a Muslim born believer[2] at a party. I asked him how he came to Christ. He got very nervous; he was afraid I wouldn’t believe what he had to say. He started to tell me about a woman who was also a Muslim born believer who had led him to the Lord. I asked him how she came to Christ. Now he was really nervous. He started to hem and haw about some experience she had once had. Finally I asked him if she had experienced the dream of the Man in white. “How did you know!” he exclaimed. I’m not a mind reader. I just know that God is doing this around the world to reach Muslims.

This dream of the Man in white is not a rare occurrence. It is one of the major ways God is bringing Muslims to Jesus. This is powerful, it is supernatural and it is common.

The following is based on questionnaires of over 600 Muslims who became Christians:

“Though dreams may play an insignificant role in the conversion decisions of most Westerners, over one-fourth of those surveyed state quite emphatically that dreams and visions were key in drawing them to Christ and sustaining them through difficult times[3].

If you want to read some of these stories here is a place you can read just a few of thousands.

  • Do you agree or disagree with me that some Western Christians doubt dreams, visions and other supernatural events because they have had their thinking impacted by scientific rationalism?
  • Has God ever communicated with you through a dream or vision?
  • Do you know Muslim born believers who have seen the Man in white?
  • Do you believe Western Christianity’s relative lack of supernaturalism is a good thing which makes us wiser and less gullible or weaker because we don’t have the full experience of God’s reality?
[1] Don’t take this statement as a fear of science or scientific thinking. I believe science can bring both much good and harm to us humans. The scientific process is very useful for exploring the natural world. God is just beyond the mere natural world of atoms and molecules. We should not think in terms of science vs. spirituality; we should just be clear on what science can teach us and what spirituality can teach us and not confuse the two.

[2] Muslim born believer is a missiological term for a person born a Muslim who has converted to Christianity. It is used to distinguish such people from Christian born believers in the Muslim areas such as Coptic Egyptians, Iraqi or Syrian Orthodox or Palestinian Christians.

[3] This material is a portion of an article originally published in Mission Frontiers magazine, March 2001. www.missionfrontiers.org.

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Teacher’s Assistant

Filed Under: Discipleship, Evangelism, Jesus is Lord, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 3 Comments
June 4, 2011

Your job is to be the Teacher's assistant

Jesus said: “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi, for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers” (Matt. 23:8). Ever thought about that? There is only really one Teacher. His name is Jesus. Here’s another thought. We are to make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20), but they are not our disciples, they are Jesus disciples. So where does that leave us in a discipleship relationship with less mature brothers? We aren’t the teacher, were just a brother or sister and we don’t make our disciples, we make disciples of Jesus. Here’s where I think it leaves us, as teacher’s assistants. Let me explain.

Pay Attention to the Teacher

If we are not the teacher, we are not in control of the discipleship process, the teacher (Jesus) is. Our job then is to pay close attention to what the Teacher is doing, with any given disciple, and in any given situation and assist. We don’t set the agenda or the curriculum, we let Him do it. This pretty much throws out discipleship manuals with sequential chapters and lessons. How can we know what the Teacher is going to do next? He can read the hearts of his disciples; we can’t. He knows where he intends to take them; we don’t. He knows their characters, gifts, abilities, histories and flaws; we can only see this partially. So, in place of the generic discipleship process, manual or agenda, we need to learn to pay attention to the Teacher and assist Him.

So what does this look like? First, we throw away the manuals. Second we pay attention to what is going on in the particular disciple’s life. What is God doing? What are the themes and the patterns? What questions do Jesus’ disciples have? What situations have they found themselves in and what does the Teacher have to say about all of this? That brings us to point three; we need to learn to listen to the Teacher as He is discipling his disciple. In the process of discipleship, we are constantly in prayer, particularly listening prayer. Jesus, what do you want me to do? What do I need to notice? What should I do about this situation? Should I say anything, or should I wait for a better moment?

A Real Life Example

One of the men with whom I’m currently in a discipleship relationship is Vitorio. The general theme of our discipleship relationship over the last few months has been God preparing him to be actively involved in evangelizing a specific apartment full of men. A couple of months ago God gave Vitorio a dream. You can read about this in Discipleship as Discernment.[1] By the end of our conversation in late March, we knew that God was directing him to this specific group. I sensed that God wanted him to pray specifically for these men before he attempted evangelism, so I said so. He did this for a week. He came back to me and reported that consistently as he prayed he had a sense of disquiet about the drinking that went on in that apartment. In the mean time, this particular apartment of guys had invited Vitorio to move in with them. Hmmm! We prayed together about this and we sensed that God was telling him that now was not the time to move in there because the drinking could harm his own immature spiritual walk. Vitorio continued to pray.

About a month and a half later his own roommates (Christians) kicked Vitorio out of his apartment because he wasn’t choosing to participate with them in rigid legalistic practices. Again the drinking apartment asked him to move in with him. Vitorio asked God what he should do. God gave him peace about moving into the apartment. He told the group he would move in but he was concerned about the drinking and he didn’t want to move in if there was going to be a bunch of partying. I wasn’t a part of this process; Vitorio and Jesus just did it together. They promised him that if he would move in they would not drink in the apartment.

Vitorio moved in and within a week the chief partier moved out. The men who stayed have become more and more open to spiritual things. Last night, as we discussed this situation, Vitorio felt that he wasn’t “expert” enough to preach the gospel to them although they were curious. This has been a consistent theme. I asked God about what I should say. He reminded me of one of my own personal philosophy of ministry statements, “whatever I have I can give away.” I told Vitorio you can only give them what you have. Is Jesus in your heart? Give them Jesus. I reminded him very briefly of the basic points about the Gospel and said tell them something like that. He thought he could do that. Then I assured him that if they came up with questions he couldn’t answer is was an opportunity for him to discuss these issues with me. He would grow, and through that growth he would then have something he could give away to them.

I never would have chosen this situation for Vitorio. I would have worried myself sick about him moving into a notorious party apartment. On my own I would never proactively suggest such a tactic. But Jesus knew better. Now Jesus is using Vitorio to plant seed in fertile soil, soil that has a lot of fertilizer in it. If I had tried to make Vitorio my disciple, and thought of myself as his teacher, I would have ruined everything. But, I’m only the teacher’s assistant, so I need to follow His lesson plans.

  • Do you feel confident enough to your ability to follow the Teacher’s lesson plans that you can throw away the manuals?
  • If you aren’t confident enough, what should you do about it?
  • This is not the way typical discipleship is done nowadays, what questions does it create in you, what insecurities?
  • If you are not in this type of discipleship relationship with others, with whom do you sense God prompting you to initiate a relationship?
[1] The Discipleship as Discernment post is developing similar themes and would be helpful to read as a companion post to this post.

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One Criterion

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Christendom, Discipleship, Evangelism, Jesus is Lord, Meeting Together, Spiritual Life by rossrohde — 6 Comments
May 25, 2011

Lots of things can be done in this space. Are they the most effective way of making disciples?

Most Christians are familiar with Jesus’ Great Commission found in Matt. 28:18:20:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

And most Christians are aware that the key command in the Great Commission is “make disciples.” Everything else, baptizing, teaching to obey, where we are to do such things (all nations), describes what making disciples entails. But I’d like to suggest that this key component of the Great Commission, making disciples, should also be a key criterion for evaluating what we do, and how we do it. Let me put it in the question form. Is what I am doing the most effective thing I can do to make disciples of Jesus Christ?

I would like to suggest that much of what we do is often not put through this lens and consequently much of what we do ends up being superfluous, or pointless, or not particularly effective. And, often the things we spend the most time, effort and money on doesn’t really help much in making disciples and therefore may need to be evaluated to see if it is superfluous, pointless or a waste of time, effort and money.

Let me give a couple of examples. I know of churches which have spent literally millions of dollars to build the new gymnasium, or education wing or sanctuary but to do so have severely cut or eliminated the missions and evangelism budget. Does a new gym (you can replace “gym” with “sanctuary” or “education wing”) really ramp up our ability to make disciples? Is some program we want to do in the new gym so incredibly effective at making disciples, it requires a new dedicated facilities? Can’t we do that ministry at some existing gym? Is what we are going to do in this gym really making us more effective at disciple making?

If we were to ask ourselves what the point of the new facilities was, we would list of activities that would occur there. Most might be marginally construed to be helpful in making disciples, some would not. Probably most of it would be self justification. But couldn’t we make disciples as effectively or even more effectively without the building and expenditure of time, effort and money? Could we make disciples more effectively by changing what they are doing or do it somewhere else?

Here’s another example; the main expense of most churches is their facilities and their staff. The ministry of most churches is focused on the church service which in turn revolves around a sermon. Does hearing a sermon really make effective disciples? I’m not against sermons, I actually like to preach. But if I do preach, I don’t delude myself into thinking it is particularly effective at making disciples. I’m just fitting in to what has already been planned.

Preaching, if we are honest with ourselves, is a very ineffective form of teaching; and an even less effective way of making disciples. It is effective at two things, giving a lot of information to a large group of people, and if done well, being entertaining. But, honestly, giving a large download of information to a large group of people is seldom an effective discipleship tool. Entertainment is just a bit of fun. I enjoy good public speaking, but I don’t delude myself into thinking it is the best possible way to make a disciple. And, consequently it is very low on my discipleship behavior choices.

What would our activities look like if we were actually asking ourselves, is what I am doing the most effective thing I can do to make disciples of Jesus Christ? I believe it would be much simpler, much more interactive, and a whole lot cheaper.

Dedicated buildings don’t make more effective disciples of Jesus Christ. Let me say it again, dedicated buildings don’t make more effective disciples of Jesus Christ. How much money in the Western Church is tied up in facilities? I’m sure it’s in the billions of dollars. What would happen if all of that money was spent on apostolic ministry and doing good in the name of Jesus? What would happen is we would make a ton of disciples and Jesus would be glorified. We would have a whole lot better reputation with those who don’t know Jesus. And I believe we’d find that when the Church got out of all of those dedicated buildings, Christians would start maturing faster.

What if we quit trying to have a Sunday school programs and started discipling parents on how to disciple their children? The more mature disciplers who were discipling the parents, would grow in their faith, the parents would grow in their faith and so would the kids. And, you’d probably have closer more loving families. Yet, how much effort do we put into Sunday school programs?

These are just a few examples. But I believe we need to quit making our decisions based on what has always been done or what seems like the next new flashy thing to do and start making decisions on one important criterion; is what I am doing the most effective thing I can do to make disciples of Jesus Christ?

  • What do you think the main criteria are for ministry making decisions?
  • What would be your top three list of things we commonly do that really aren’t helping much in making disciples?
  • Now, thinking of your top three, what could you do to make them more effective, simpler and more interactive? Would that end up making them less costly and time consuming?
  • How much of what your church (or you) are currently doing is focused on making more effective disciples of Jesus Christ? Is any of it activity for activity’s sake or for tradition’s sake?
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