If following a leader is hard, and it often can be, leading in any capacity is infinitely harder. Its one thing to take responsibility for following someone, but the responsibility that a leader must bear for all those whom he leads is the heavier burden. Its understandable then, how serious leaders must take their charge. Its also understandable how constant the work of shepherding must be, tending this sheep, pursuing that sheep. Its a never ending task. Its often a thankless task. It is a very necessary and pressing task. In the midst of this type of leadership, a subtle intruder can create a mess in a local pasture: the spiritual shepherds of God’s people can become confused as to whose kingdom they are building. We can get so focused on building our particular local body, that we lose sight of a much bigger calling.

This is especially true of small town churches. Church members can often be hard to come by, therefore, pastors and elders tend to guard their sheep very closely. Its easy to hold on tightly to our little sheepfold because we are trying so hard to maintain our little kingdom that we so diligently labor to build. Now, should we be jealous for our members? In a certain sense, yes, we should. We should seek to protect them from false teachers. We should seek to build a wall of gospel community around them and nourish them. What we should not do, however, is always assume that God has given us particular sheep as our own, for our own ends. While we often give lip service to the idea of the ‘Kingdom of God’, this actually challenges us to live as if it is true.

I lament the exit of good families and solid disciples. I always hate to see them go. I have often found myself saying to God, “why did you bring them to my church only to let us pour into them and enjoy their gifts for a short time, and then send them off to someone else?” The short answer: because the kingdom of God is bigger than my church or purpose. God has seen fit to extend a mutual blessing for a time, and then to prepare each of us for the next phase of His plan. I would love to hang on to the sheep I get to shepherd for a while, but that is not what God’s Kingdom is all about. The kingdom of God must be advanced, and sometimes it means letting go of the ones we love the most, so that they can continue the work of the gospel. 

The early church that we find in the book of Acts, saw many gifted men and women come and go, and they were happy for the simple reason that the cross was advanced. It saddens me to see faithful disciples answer a call to move on, but it fills me with joy to know that they will move into a new community and blossom just as they did within the one I shepherd. They move on to fill a void in another fold, and a spot opens within the fold I oversee for another sheep to come and find nurture. Its not my kingdom I am building, its God’s. I am not trying to build a following for me, I am seeking to point others to Christ. May we always send off our sheep in the joy that we are a part of something much bigger than budgets, programs, and success. We are a part of the kingdom of God, and it is much greater than self.      

“I just love that outfit.” “I love this recipe.” The examples are legion. We use the word love in so many different ways and contexts, that it seems as if we have forgotten exactly what it means, or even what it implies. Even when it comes to the love of God, we tend to speak of it the way we do most anything else: tritely and overwhelmingly shallow. While we may acknowledge God’s love as something that is real and perhaps present, why does it often seem to move us so little? One of the most profound truths found in the Bible is that God loved us enough to give Himself for us. One verse in the Bible sums up the gospel truth of God’s love like no other verse in all of Scripture: John 3:16. This verse is widely known and often quoted, yet it seems as if we have missed what God’s Word is saying to us.

Most people know this verse by heart, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Many Christians quote it, and many preachers preach it, but the question is, do we really understand what John is saying? Having a proper understanding of John 3:16 will shape how we understand the ministry of Christ, the love of the Father, and the power of the gospel.

For many, when they read John 3:16, they read it with the understanding that the focus is on whom God loves. Now, no doubt God’s love does reach the world—which I certainly think is a point to be made here—but that is not the main point of John 3:16. The primary purpose in John 3:16 is to tell how God loves. The word “so” is a Greek word that is more appropriately translated, thus or in this way. So, when we look at the verse we should actually read it as follows: “For God love the world in this way: he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” As we see, John’s focus is not to show the width of God’s love—to whom it is extended. Rather, John is showing us the unfathomable depth of God’s love.

The gospel is not merely a call to faith, it is a call to live in the reality of the deep, rich love of God. We must understand that God did not merely say I love you, He demonstrated His love by giving His perfect Son as a sacrifice to atone for sin. Humanity was separated from God by the curse of sin, and God restored our relationship by giving us Jesus. Both the faith and the life that flow through the power of the cross are the result of God’s love. Why do we trust God? Because He showed us His love and trustworthiness through the cross. Why do we enjoy eternal life? Because God’s love for us through the cross has given us new life in Christ. What John gives us here is “love in action.” That is, God has not only confessed to love us, He has proven how much He loves us by giving His Son as a ransom for the souls of His people. This is the vertical side of the equation-the aspect dealing specifically with our relationship with God. There is, however, a horizontal aspect as well-how God’s gift of love effects how God’s people reflect that love to others.

God’s sacrificial love must be the pattern for how we love others. Jesus makes that clear in John 15:13, when He says, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay his life down for his friends.” What makes this statement so remarkable is that Jesus was about to lay His life down for His people as His own expression of love. Naturally, we will never make the same sacrifice Jesus did because His was redemptive and unique. We are, however, called to show love primarily in sacrificing for the good of others. God the Father laid down the life of God the Son that He might redeem us and call us His friends. 

Why do we serve or sacrifice? Will it merit God’s love? Will it make us more appealing to God? Absolutely not! We serve and sacrifice, we love because we are the recipients of the richest, purest, most effectual love of all. To lay down our lives for the good of others is to humbly serve them before we serve ourselves. It is to shoulder their burdens and enter into their struggles with no thought of being repaid. Why is the church called upon to love in this way? Simple, it is the example that has been set before us. The sacrifice of God is the seal of His deep love for His church. Likewise, the church shows that she is God’s by seeking to reflect His love to all people.

The gospel is the message of hope and redemption. It is the good news that sin and death have been crushed by the power of the cross. The foundation upon which the gospel is built is the deep love of God. His love saves us, His love empowers us to trust, and His love liberates us to serve and love others. 

jameslesliemiller:

Word.

Community has become such a buzz word in the larger conversation of humanity—both broadly and the church more specifically—that we are somewhat numb to it. The definitions of community that exist are legion because community has largely become whatever the speaker, writer, or “expert” says it is. Contrary to popular opinion, community is not a fluid idea that changes. How its applied from place to place or culture to culture may be varied to match norms and mores, but with regards to foundation, community is essentially an objective idea. Christian community is certainly an objective idea because there are a few things that the Bible says will be unmistakable marks of the church.

Again, we find in Acts 2:42 one of those objective identifiers of Christian community. Dr. Luke tells us, And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Central to Christian community is the worship of God as is made explicit here. Not only is the preaching of the word central, but so is the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (which is one of the implications of breaking bread together) and the prayers which people make. That is, the community on display here was a community founded upon the worship of the Lord. Community doesn’t simply happen, and it is not built on a contrived idea. Community is intentional and is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ and the cross.

Of the 4 things mentioned that sum up the community of the early church in verse 42, it is significant that Luke mentions the practice of prayer. It is unfortunate that many often fail to realize just how intimate prayer actually is. When we pray for others, we are entering into their struggle. We are standing with him/her, and shouldering the weight of their burdens with them. We are entering into a spiritual battle with a brother or sister, fighting a war against the world, the flesh, and the adversaries of the church. It is often true that where community is hollow, the prayer life of that community is hollow. Dead community can be linked to prayer habits that are inconsistent or that are nonexistent.

The temptation to complicate the issue of community is great. The great enemy of our souls would try to convince us that we must have a complex system of programs working in order to achieve community. Often times, the very things that we create to enhance our community tear it apart. People who pray for one another, know one another. People who pray together, trust each other because they are walking shoulder to shoulder in a battle with the power of darkness. Prayer certainly draws us closer to God because it demands that we trust in Him alone, but it also draws us closer to one another because we are following the Biblical mandate to bear one another’s burdens. How well do you know those in your community? Ask yourself, how often you are seeking to pray with them and for them. Through prayer, we not only come to know our community on a deeper level, we also show them great love as we walk them to the throne of grace helping them make their petitions known.   

I am often mindful of the sufferings of others. I have been been uniquely positioned by God’s sovereign will to walk through the valleys of shadow with those who experience hardship and pain. One of the biggest obstacles that I must overcome is to genuinely identify with the person in their grief and not trivialize their pain with truth that is disconnected from the gravity of the situation. In other words, I have to guard against minimizing the grief with cheap sentimentalism.

Yesterday, the world was witness to the brevity of life and our ultimate need for hope in something that is lasting. Many were effected by the storms. Some I know, and many I don’t, and yet to stranger and loved ones alike, the message is the same. Please understand that this is not my attempt to cheapen the losses that many have faced or to lighten the weightiness of what has happened. Yet, I am convinced that God’s Word speaks comfort and hope to us in the midst of trials, and I offer this passage of Scripture to those who need to be reminded of the eternal, unmovable hope that is the sovereign Lord. In Psalm 46, the psalmist says, 

God is our refuge and strength, 

a very present help in times of trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High. 

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

he utters his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come, behold the works of the Lord,

how he has brought desolations on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the chariots with fire. 

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!”

The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. 

To live is to experience pain, loss, trial and hardship. Hope is not found in avoiding the things that hurt; hope and joy are found in the One who transcends all the grief and tribulation. God’s promise is not to keep us from trials, but to be a place of refuge when have them. That is, God invites the weary and hurting to come to Him and through the truth and grace of His Word He provides the bread of life, and the rock of salvation. I grieve with you who are hurting and lamenting, but I rejoice in the God of heaven who invites us to come to Him and find rest for our souls. The grace and peace of the Lord be with you all.

Community is not built on the backs of dynamic personalities. It does however seem that way by much of what is practiced. It is the basic assumption of much of Christendom that if we find the right person, people will come in droves to hear him. Certainly having a recognizable name will draw a crowd, but that is not how community is built. The whole “name game” fosters too much competition and dissatisfaction at the local church level. Men who are not as gifted as our more popular brethren are judged by a standard that they are not gifted to meet. Spurgeons and Pipers only come once in a life time, and even those men would confess that true Christian community is not founded on them personally, but rather on specific Biblical principles.

There is no passage of Scripture more clear on true Christian community than what Dr. Luke writes in Acts 2:42-47. What we find in this passage of Scripture is relatively simple to follow and understand. There is a clear indication that these people weren’t simply involved in the lives of one another nominally, rather they had an intimate fellowship. This was not merely a fellowship that was defined by a 1 to 2 hour meeting on Sundays, it was defined by an involvement in one another’s lives at every level. They prayed together. They shared material resources when one had need. They ate meals together. As you look at the passage, a general theme presents itself: they participated in each other’s lives on every front.

Naturally, its not that hard to connect the last sentence in verse 47, And the Lord added to their number, day by day those who were being saved, with the rest of what we read. They grew because they understood the call to be communal. It would be easy however to focus on all the obvious examples of fellowship and miss the very thing that undergirded the community: they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching. Luke tells us plainly that they were devoted to teaching first, and fellowship second; and the rest of this short passage fleshes out exactly what their fellowship looked like.

The concept of fellowship (as stated in Acts 2) is couched between two decidedly worship-centered ideas: teaching and prayer. The foundation upon which true fellowship is built is the apostolic teaching that comes from the Word of God. If we are not devoted to good teaching, that is, teaching founded upon the Word of God, community simply cannot happen. Programs and events cannot be the basis for true Christian community because Jesus designed His community to be founded upon the faithful proclamation of His Word. Pastors are not expendable, but neither should we build the church around their name. We must come to understand the balance of appreciating their call and role in our lives and not make too much or too little of them. True community is the result of the Word of God driving us to love others more deeply. Genuine love is the result of the Word of God penetrating our own hearts and compelling us to act. God raises up men to preach and pastor His people, not simply to exercise control, but rather to build the glorious body of Christ into a rich community.  

It is no longer uncommon to hear of pastors who have faithfully labored among local congregations, to be asked to step aside. Sometimes those men have labored for more than twenty or thirty years, and yet, their faithfulness, loyalty, and devotion are rewarded with a rather unceremonious  encouragement to resign or retire. There are always two sides to a story, and we can never assume that just because a pastor has been somewhere for a long time that it is right that he continue there. It is disconcerting however, when a pastor has faithfully labored in a gospel-centered ministry, and is told that he is no longer what the church needs because his “success ratio” is not meeting the standard.

Now, sometimes pastors need to be dismissed (or at the very least, strongly admonished and rebuked). No congregation should have to endure a man who is not faithful to lead Biblically in worship, word, and witness. Yet, a grievous trend has become entrenched in the life of the church here in America, and it is deeply affecting our ability to have strong, Bible-centered community.

If you examine the Bible and early church history, you can see that the pastor was charged with the duty of teaching and preaching, caring for the spiritual needs of the flock, and to some degree, making sure that some physical needs were met. Part of his pastoral duty was to encourage the body, but also to instruct and correct it. The pastor would address issues of sin in his people and apply the Scriptures to their lives where they had departed from clear, Biblical ethic. Of course, sin and pride still made this an unpleasant experience, but it was broadly understood that that was part of the pastoral office. People largely submitted to it, and expected it when they strayed from the path of Biblical fidelity.There are documented cases of men like Charles Simeon, who stayed in his call for 54 years, with many of those years being extremely difficult because he was hated. Many of the Puritans remained in their pulpits decades not because they tickled their people’s ears, but rather because there was a different view of the pastoral office.

A great shift took place in the thinking of man, and while we can see traces of it before the Enlightenment, I think the Enlightenment really established the modern view of pastoral ministry. The pastor gradually ceased being a man called by God to proclaim truth to a local body and became a business man, whose task was to build a successful organization by “recharging the batteries” of those who came to hear him in a given week. The tables were quickly turned. No longer was it the pastor who was in the homes of his people examining them with the word of God, he became the examined. It was the pastor who now sat under the scrutiny of the people and if he did not give them what they wanted, he would be dismissed and pronounced, “unsuccessful”, “without a good vision”, or even, “unloving and unconcerned about growth and community.”

Why is Christian community a glimmer of what it once was, or what it was intended to be? Well, it seems that we needn’t look very far to see one of the major issues. The voice of the pulpit has almost been hushed to a whisper because the shepherds whom God has gifted and sent out are expendable. The pastor is often the target of much criticism, but it is understood that he is to offer none in return. Failure is largely laid on the shoulders of the pastor, regardless of the fact that few have sought to support him in ministry. Pastors don’t personally build the church, but as we examine Scripture, the church is not built without them. What must the church do? How must she respond?      

hannahmiller:

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A sure conversation stopper, an ace in the hole, something that will give one an advantage over another in conversation is to play the narrowness card. When the narrowness card is played, it spells almost certain defeat in debate for the opponent. I have always found that critique a bit unsettling. What is it that actually makes a person narrow in his or her views? Who gets to decide what is narrow and intolerant or what is broad and accepting? Narrowness in reality seems to be a subjective judgment. That is, one is narrow by the standard of the accuser because there is no objective standard of narrowness by which to measure narrowness.

As it is often defined, being narrow means that one is not open to other views. Typically, associated with the idea of narrowness is intolerance. Of course, my first question when I hear accusations of narrowness and intolerance is, by what standard is the narrow person being judged? My second question is, what does that say about the accuser, that he/she is accusing someone of being narrow for not accepting all beliefs equally? For as is plain, the accuser is also not accepting all beliefs as valid. It seems a bit hypocritical. By definition, being narrow is having a very focused system of belief. Wouldn’t it be correct then to say that we are all narrow to some degree or another?

Whatever the popular opinion might be, Jesus absolutely intended us to be narrow in our system of belief. Consider what He said in John 14:6, I Am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me. Consider what the apostles affirmed in Acts 4:12, speaking of Jesus, they said, And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. The Bible is filled with the idea that the God of the Bible is the only hope of salvation. Now, does believing this make a person more narrow than the person who pushes the belief that to believe in the Bible is wrong? Absolutely not! The person who accuses the Biblical Christian of narrowness is just as narrow because they are assuming that their own form of belief is right.

Now, to be fair, our belief must be a one-way street, but the manifestation of that belief must be a six lane interstate. That is, the object of our faith and hope must be Christ alone, but the love of Christ, that redemptive love that we have been shown, must be extended to the world. Our minds must be singularly focused on Jesus Christ, and our hearts must be open to love His church and the people of this world through sacrificial service. Having a singular commitment to Christ can never be devoid of a commitment to love our neighbor. The most loving thing we can do for our neighbor is to share the gospel with them both in how we live, and the message that we speak. The most damaging thing we can do to our neighbor is to abandon the simple truth of the gospel in an attempt to make the Christian life more palatable. This world needs the abosolute Truth to conquer the lie, it needs the Redeemer of souls to deliver it from sin, and it needs the Resurrection and the Life to restore life. The world needs the narrow truth to conquer a broad dominion.   

Most have heard the old cliche, hindsight is 20/20. There is no great mystery as to what that means. Simply stated, when we have the advantage of experience and the ability to look back over what has been done, we can see clearly how things should have transpired. That is one of the richest gifts of recorded history. History gives humanity that gift and affords us the opportunity of concentrated observation. Now, we must always wade through the biases and incongruities of the historians, but history gives us a chance to examine life and with some measure of accuracy, to appreciate things that were not readily apparent in the moment they happened.

One example of this is seen in the life of the 2nd president of the United States, John Adams. I am currently reading David McCullough’s, John Adams, and I confess, in my American History classes, I was taught very little about Adams. In all candor, it was exactly as John Adams predicted in his lifetime: when the Revolution is mentioned, it would be accredited to Franklin, Washington, and Jefferson. Now however, having had the opportunity to read about John Adams, we can clearly see how integral his role was in seeing the United States formed and nurtured. He was criticized and hated by many in the moment, yet his role in the establishment of the nation is second to none.

Adams was a man of many imperfections, which he readily acknowledged, but he was also a man of principle. In fact, even those who disliked him complimented him on his unwavering steadfastness to what was right. Principle is one of those qualities that we typically revere and cherish in retrospect. That is, we love to look back over history and admire the men and woman who stood upon principle, but often times in the moment they are the target of disdain. At this very point, we must appreciate history. John Adams once said that facts are very stubborn things because eventually they reveal the truth. I wonder, how many present “villains” will be justified in the annals of history as men and women who were steadfast in their stance for what is right…

Principle is a costly endeavor, hence, not very many are willing to stand there. Principle cost Adams another term in office. Principle cost Adams friends and relationships. Yet, the principle of John Adams preserved our foreign policy without war with France, and the principle of John Adams made America a better place. Now he is venerated, but once he was vilified. Similarly, the church is at the precipice of transformation. We have sacrificed much principle for the sake of appealing to the masses, and to what end? We don’t need academics and scholars to sort out all the issues, although, their work in the church is helpful. What we need is simple. To put it in Pauline terms, we need men and women who are steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord because we know our labor in the Lord is not in vain. We are not living for the present, we are living for eternity with Christ and should He tarry, we are living for posterity. History will rectify the the principled; God’s justice demands it. May we stand as our forebears did! May principle and steadfastness define us and not the vain glory that has captured much of humanity.