[real-time connections] chapter 7: serving together

[real-time connections] chapter 7: serving together

This Chapter has relevance in 2 areas of my Life.

1.) My Church is Also a Missional Church, similar to Bob Roberts- Northwood Church, Focused on reaching outside the 4 walls of our Church, to Reaching the world for Christ, locally, and globally = Glocally

My Home church is Lifebridge Church, In Fort Wayne, Indiana.

My Church’s Mission Statement is: Connecting to God, Each other, and the World thru Christ.

I have been a member of this church since the very beginning, but  it  has only been within the last 1 1/2 -2 years that i have begun to realize what our mission statement truly means. More than just connecting to God. More than just connecting to each other (which is not a hard thing for me to do by any means!), but connecting to the community, and the world, to help people find the life in Christ that we have!

When I first Re-dedicated my life to Christ, I  had heard of the Great Commission, but it was a Foreign Concept to me.

Matthew 28:18-19 (NLT)
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,  baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

I read that and thought, “how am I supposed to do that??”  But, I now realize that i am not necessarily supposed to do what that literally says, but by meeting others needs by reaching out and showing that you care, with no strings attached, it  allows God to open doors that wouldn’t otherwise be opened. It allows God to transform lives and make disciples because it really isn’t about us at all! It’s about Him and  weather we are going to allow God to use us to bring him glory, and now that I realize that, The Great Commission doesn’t Seem to be as foreign to me as it once did. When I love God and love on people, he takes care of the rest!

Making a Difference in the Local Community

The part of this chapter that resonated with me the most was in this part:

The Author heard a Question and asked it to his Congregation.

“If this Church were absent from our community, would anyone miss it but your members?”

The author said that he wanted his church to be a church That would be missed,  and I think that  any church that wants to focus on being a Missional Community needs it.

I have an AWESOME Pastor named Bill Campbell, who just recently preached a sermon called “Together We Can”

In this Sermon, Which was Quite Similar to this chapter,one of his points was that Our purpose was to function as a “Missional Community” and as a Missional Community we needed to make a difference in the World we live in, and how important that was. He stated why it was important, was because “IT ISN’T ABOUT US! (Recurring theme isn’t it?) Its about Being God’s Hands and Feet!

Matthew 25:34-36 Says this :
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation.

35 And here’s why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,

36 I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

“When we Allow God to use for his Glory, together we can produce lives that are changed so that they can find the Life in Christ that we have” -Pastor Bill Campbell

That’s what its all about! There have been SO many times I have felt God speak to my heart about this topic over and over; I have seen the Mathew 25 Verse pop up over and over. When that happens I know that this is something important that he’s trying to get across to me.

The Second Area that this Chapter that this Spoke to me on was Actually in my Job. I Truly Believe with all my heart that God has me working when I am for a Specific Purpose, and that Purpose I believe is to Learn to Serve Selflessly.

I work as a Team Member at a Chick-Fil-a. I can Honestly say that, this is NOT your Everyday Fast-Food Place!

I thought I knew how  to serve others before I started working there, but boy was I wrong!

At Chick-Fil-A, they serve customers and expect customers to be served on a Whole Different Level!

S Truett  Cathy  The Founder of  Chick-Fil-a,

“Illustrates to readers that significance and success come when one exhibits servant leadership in all areas of life, seizing everyday opportunities to help others” .

Working at Chick-Fil-A is not just a job to me. Its also a Ministry, and I really feel that its preparing me for the ultimate purpose God has for my life, which is  to be used by God to Serve Others.

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[real-time connections] chapter 6: engaging society

This past Christmas season, I was eating out and was being waited on by a young waitress that I had come to know over a period of time. I asked if I could pray for her and she mentioned her husband needed work and couldn’t find it but that she had been able to work some overtime and that tips had been a little better but she still didn’t have enough to buy a Christmas tree for the kids to have their presents under. As I ate my meal, I thought about the joy of my own childhood Christmas’s, the presents, the tree. After I finished eating, I paid my check, left a tip along with an extra $25 to buy a small pre-lit artificial Wal-mart tree.

In Chapter 6: Engaging Culture, in the book Real-Time Connections, Bob Roberts begins by telling the story of his love of art and how he began developing friendships with artists in the galleries of Hanoi, Vietnam. These friendships had been made possible through the efforts of Northwood Church and their willingness to venture out of their safe zone into a world that didn’t offer the safety and security of their worship centers, Sunday school rooms and church offices. One of the first things that Roberts is quick to remind us is that:

“When you really understand the scope of God’s Kingdom, all the work that a disciple does is ‘religious’ work.”

All throughout the New Testament, the writers, especially the Apostle Paul is quick to remind us of the universality of the redemptive work of Christ on all aspects of the human experience beginning with the restoration of the honor and dignity of the human existence as it reflects the image of God, to our relationship with our creator and then with one another in our families, friendships, work place connections, and acquaintances with those working in the grocery store, the waitress at your favorite restaurant and the check out girl at the Wal-mart…and so on. He also reminds us that each disciple of Christ should be able to verbalize what it is that Christ has done for them and is currently doing in them; but, at the same time, God wants to use each person to bring a visible manifestation of His reconciliatory work to the world through work, gifts, skills and relationships. All of the core elements of life in education, agriculture, communication, science/technology, government and so on are all elements in which disciples are supposed to permeate all activities of life. Religion/faith is not a separate part of society, but is in reality the filter and mechanism through which we operate in all the other arenas of life.

In a culture where people withdraw and become apathetic in regards to the political process, pull kids from public school in favor of homeschooling (I’m not against homeschooling when it’s an honest God-call, but not just because it’s a fad in “religious” circles), resist expressing our faith and worldview in front of our friends, family, co-workers and others, we tend to sit around and lament and complain about how bad things are in the world when Jesus reminds us time and again that this is the type of behavior we should be ready to expect because they are lost and don’t know any better.

“Don’t be surprised when they abuse you and treat you spitefully…” and “don’t fear when they hate you because they hated me first” the BDN (me) paraphrase….

They point is that we have not been called to separate ourselves from culture and become a subculture that exists in a pseudo-reality. Instead, we are called to exist within the current culture, engage it, exist within it and teach it what it means to live with the honor and dignity that a God-led life contains.  As Bob Roberts puts it:

“Christianity is an integrated faith. It permeates every area of life-family, work, government, play and relationships…When we integrate with others, it doesn’t necessarily mean complete assimilation. As followers of Jesus, we do not let the world swallow us into its value system and give up our convictions.”

Jesus called has called us to be salt and light and while many fine sermons have been preached on the characteristics and qualities of these things, the most important thing to remember is that both salt and light, when applied to a specific environment, brings a fundamental change to that environment. Christianity that has created a paranoid, defensive posture brings no relationships, no community and eventually, the church itself breaks down and fails to be the complete body of Christ and becomes a group of schismatic cliques that vie for power and control. It stops being a serving faith that engages its towns, cities, neighborhoods, states, nations, or its world for the cause of the Gospel of Christ with the same unconditional, unmerited, undeserved, un-earnable love that God showed us “in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. Would the world be so fortunate that we would die to ourselves and live in Christ to be salt and light and bring it a fundamental change? The next time you eat out, ask the waitress how you can pray for her, and when she says she needs parts to keep the car running to get the kids to school and herself to work…give her an extra $10 for a tip…

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[real-time connections] chapter 5: living as a disciple

Recently my wife and I were out to dinner and I was moved to asked her this question, “Are we serving God enough?” Our first response was no, but as we thought more about our lives and our involvement with our children, church, and school, we felt that we were serving our Lord to our satisfaction. 

Shortly after that night I began my preparation for this blog by reading Real-Time Connections: Linking Your Job with God’s Global Work. As I was reading Chapter 5: Living as a Disciple, I was reminded of my favorite quote from my pastor, “My job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted”. Allow me to explain. 

The beginning of the chapter, the author Bob Roberts Jr. describes a model of ministry that his church and others around the globe use. The model consists of 3 integrated components as follows:  

1. “Interactive relationship” with God – This consists of our worship to God and it “enables us to learn to hear God’s voice in a regular daily way”. Some of the best times I have and worshiping God is when my family is asleep and I have the house to myself late at night. Because there is no music, people, or distractions I am free to pray and worship Him intimately which allows me to be more open and receptive to His voice.
2. “Transparent connections” – This consists of small group ministry that leads to accountability and community. The couples’ cell group that my wife and I lead at our church is the most rewarding part of ministry for me. Being able to be transparent and share common marriage situations strengthens our marriage and keeps us connected. Knowing that other couples face the same challenges we do helps us to be able to resolve any differences that we face. 

It was right along here where I was feeling pretty good about myself until I read the 3^rd component to the model and was reminded of my pastors quote. 

3. “Glocal impact” – Where we “use our jobs as the platform from which we serve together in our community and the world.” Honestly, I am lacking in this part of my ministry. My co-workers know I am a Christian and I live by example, but now I want to witness one on one with them. I want to be an ambassador on behalf of Christ. The key to this model is that all three components must work together simultaneously. What I learned from this is to use all three of these components in my life and not just the first two. You see, I go to church regularly and pray daily, lead a small group (components 1 & 2 of the model). But I want to use my job as an Accountant for ministry also. How do I do that? I do that by becoming a “true” disciple.

The last part of the chapter defines 7 characteristics of what a “true” disciple is. 

1. A true disciple is Broken. Being broken brings repentance and gets ourselves out of the way of what God wants to do.
2. A true disciple Obeys. One needs to be willing to take up our cross and follow the Master no matter what.
3. A true disciple is a Learner. Not only should we be in the word of God, but we must also be aware of our surroundings and culture.
4. A true disciple Engages. We should use our teaching to be involved in the lives of those we are serving.
5. A true disciple Discerns. “Biblical discernment is the ability to accurately perceive where people are and where they are headed, and then gracefully show them a different way to move forward.”
6. A true disciple has Faith. Faith is a verb. It’s requires action and not only a belief.
7. A true disciple Loves. Our love for Jesus is seen through the way we serve others.

By rediscovering what a true disciple is, I have learned that I want my job to be a part of my ministry, working together with my personal and church ministry. I want to become a true ambassador for Christ as described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20. I want my life to truly make a difference for the great commission. 

Maybe there is a component of ministry you are challenged by? Maybe you are opposite of me in that you pour out so much of your ministry in your job, that your personal, family, or group time suffer. My prayer is that we use all three of these components of ministry equally and effectively. I also pray the God will afflict (challenge) us when we are comfortable! Be Blessed!

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[real-time connections] chapter 4: linking to the world

The fourth chapter of Real-Time Connections by Bob Roberts Jr. focuses on “Linking to the World.”

The first several chapters laid out his vision – that we would make disciples not through increased ‘church-based’ activity, but by being obedient in our every day lives.

Robert’s does have a disadvantage in writing about how to get Christians to engage in the world through their daily work. After all, he is a professional pastor paid to minister, so how can he possibly relate? What does he know about my cubicle? What does he know about my workplace struggles? What can he say to me?

That being said, he gets it. He’s not all about building another church-based ministry. He engages in unleashing his church for the kingdom through their daily pursuits. In previous chapters he lit the fire under lay leaders, encouraging them not just to spread the Kingdom through church activity, but through the influence in their individuals vocations.

In “Linking to the World,” Robert’s points out the obvious global shift we have had. All of the information is flattened thanks to television, telephones and international travel. Tribes and cultures are now dispersed across the planet and the enclaves we once thought safe are now in the great big mixing bowl of planet Earth.

He tries to boil down the concept to three poorly named and difficult to understand realities.

• Decentralized connectedness
• Nodal networks
• Post Americanism

However, once you get past the head scratcher titles and unpeel the material, you begin to understand what he’s saying. Mission work is no longer America sending out missionaries. In fact, the world is connected to each other through a thousand different connections and if we are to reach the world, we need to empower those connections. 

The nodal networks are the places where those connections intersect.  The mechanic buys his groceries from the same store as the lawyer. The lawyer hires the roofer who also shops at the same store. Their node is the grocer, who can influence and change lives. “Our lives as individuals exist at a point where multiple lines of relationship and influence intersect, lines that connect with hundreds of other nodes,” he writes.

There is recognition of the breakdown in the traditions, denominations and centralized way of delivering the gospel. “There will always be centralized authorities,” Roberts writes, “but they will not be like the highly structured, and authoratitve organizatons of the past.”

The church unleashed isn’t a new principle, but it is exciting to see a pastor who writes about his church members changing the world without everything rolling through the church structure.

He calls the church a “grass roots” effort.

He writes, “Each one of has the ability to do something truly significant with what God has given us if we will just step out.”

So, how about it? Will you step out?

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