Crowd or Community?

How many "friends" do you have on Facebook? More than 200? More than 300? More than 500? Now answer me this. How many of those "friends" would you contact right now if you needed help with battling pornography, an eating disorder, depression, temptation, etc.? How fast does your list of "friends" begin to narrow?

Surely you agree that there is a difference between "friends" on Facebook and genuine community? After all, you wouldn’t send a Facebook message to most of your “friends” to reveal your need for help with a serious issue or struggle.

Have you ever stopped to consider the failure of having genuine community in your life?
One major difference between what I call "generic" community and genuine community is honesty. Just like you wouldn’t share your deepest struggles with all our Facebook "friends" you wouldn’t expect all of them to be completely honest with you either, would you? Anyone can update their status with useless advice but how much would you take to heart from those you are "friends" with on Facebook? Not that they would out right lie to you necessarily, but they might not risk a lot to call you on our junk either, right? Sometimes the dress does make you look a little...you know. Not me of course, because I don't where dresses...I'm a dude. As much as we hate to admit it...we need a community with one part honest Abe and one part mercy. If you're really stubborn you might even need a third part slap on the back of the head once in a while.

We see this failure to be honest in community in a BIG way on TV. Any American Idol fans reading along? My wife and I sometimes watch the first couple of weeks of the show. We like to watch when they’re visiting all the major markets across the country to find out who they’re "sending" to Hollywood. So, we see failure in "generic" community in this way. Surely if some of these contestants had genuine community around them someone would have prevented them from going on national television and making a fool out of themselves, right?

So we recognize that we wouldn't contact just anyone of our "friends" on Facebook in our hour of need and we wouldn't really expect legitimate honesty from those we share "generic" community. The thing we need to do now is talk about the role and importance of genuine community according to the Bible.

I once heard Matt Chandler make the following comment regarding Biblical community, "It was not the plan of God in the Scriptures at any point to create a person or group of people, to save a person. He has created and is saving a people."

Now at the end of Acts 2, verses 42-47 describe Biblical community following Peter's sermon. There are several key things we learn about Biblical community: (1) We rejoice with one another when there are times of rejoicing, (2) We mourn with one another when there are times of mourning, (3) Where anyone is in need, we help meet the need.

So while God is in the business of saving people, community is designed to sustain us...in part. We still can't overlook the most essential element of Biblical community: Gospel-Centrality.

Take a look at Romans 15:1-7.

1. You are your brother’s keeper. (V. 1)
We need a place to fight through immaturity. Surely you can think of some mature believers who have given you room over the years to be immature, right? People have put up with you in the past. We've got to learn that church isn’t a spectator sport. Real community requires personal involvement.

2. You need others to “build you up.” (V. 2-3)
We need others to tell us the truth – not just how pretty we are. The fact is you smell and you just can’t recognize it. Additionally, gospel-centered community isn’t self-serving. You need to be a part of this kind of community for the sake of others. We all play a role in helping one another along.

3. You need a gospel-centered community. (V. 4)
We find our hope in the God of the Scriptures alone! Self-help doesn’t work. The aim of gospel-centered community is magnifying Christ and learning how to apply the Gospel to every area of our lives. You also need a place to confess sin and repent from sin.

4. Your life is messy, complicated, and difficult. (V. 5-7)
It’s God working through us where we find strength/encouragement to serve one another through weakness and immaturity rather than seek to kill one another. God is the one who grants us with what we need to live in harmony with one another while working toward further sanctification.

So...

Starting praying for God to lead you toward Biblical Community and get connected to a church! Don’t spend your life moving from church to church. If you've never found one that was right...maybe the common denominator is YOU. Find a place and get involved. Find and join a small group where you can study the Bible and live life with other believers. I'll go even further and suggest that you form or find a same sex discipleship partnership where you can move through issues that might be more appropriate for same sex accountability.

Jesus said it would be like this

In John 16:33 Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Difficult days will come. When they do we can have peace because Chris alone has overcome the world. The peace of Christ comforts us because He alone is in control. It's the times of trouble that force us to deal with the fact that we are not in control and we need Christ to carry us.

So, when troubles times come take heart and remember…

1. Remember that God is the author of life.

Psalm 139

Where shall I go from your Spirit…even the darkness is not dark to you… you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

2. Remember God’s benefits promised to you.

Psalm 103:2-5

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

3. Remember that God works for your good.

Ecclesiastes 3

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

4. Remember God’s love and provision for you.

John 3:16

For this is how God loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

5. Remember God’s promise for those who are in Christ.

Revelation 21:3-4

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

God fulfills ALL of these promises through Christ.

1 John 3:1, “See how great a love the father has lavished on us that we might be called the children of God.”

The Gospel

Church Membership, really?

I recently sold my road bike. Over the years I've owned a Cannondale and a Specialized road bike. Through the years I've had an on-again-off-again love relationship with cycling. The height of this relationship usually came around the months of May and July every year. In May you have the Giro d'Italia and in July you have Le Tour de France. I've been riding bikes since I was a kid and as an adult I was finally able to afford a couple of very nice road bikes at different times. My favorite part of riding was climbing. My favorite part of climbing was grinding out the gears to make it to the top...mind over matter. I loved it all. The peloton...the strategy...I used to dream about being a domestique on the tour. Anyone remember "the look" Armstrong gave Ullrich? Amazing.

Now for the off again part...while watching these two races every year and reading Lance Armstrong's biography I couldn't help but feel the adrenaline begin to pump...right up until the point I clipped in and realized it was 110 outside. The bottom line was...there was a pretty big gap between the idea and the reality of being a cyclist. So I had a road bike and all of the necessary gear, but compared to Lance Armstrong or anyone else you might actually see on the road...I wasn't really a committed cyclist.

Wait a minute...didn't the title of this post include something about church membership? Yes...so here we go. For me, cycling was a romantic idea that I didn't really have the discipline to follow through on. I think there is a similar situation facing the idea of church membership.

Now don't get me wrong, a lot of churches proudly display their membership numbers...some even hang the number in the sanctuary along with last weeks offering amount. For the most part churches boast of membership numbers that do not reflect the actual number of people sitting on the pew or in the chair. I believe the norm is about 50%. On average if a church has 100 members you'll have around 50 people coming each Sunday. I think the fact that churches don't take their membership numbers seriously tells us they don't take membership seriously.

For the most part, we don't value church membership anymore because we don't value living on mission. It used to be that believers would join together as a body for the purpose of building one another up. Early Christians needed help and support to work toward holiness and to maintain their focus in spite of difficult circumstances brought about by a counter-cultural mission for the Gospel. When living on mission cost you something you need the love and support of those in the battle with you.

Like my relationship with cycling, most of us are on board with the idea of church membership because it's biblical, but we're not on board with the mission that in it necessitates the benefits of being a member of a local body of believers. So what would you say if someone asked you why he or she should be a member of a Bible believing church? We need accountability as we pursue holiness and we need support to remain faithful to the mission God has called us to. Every position on a cycling team is important...every rider has a role in strategy and team goals...there is no waisted position on the team...everyone depends on one another to be able to finish strong. To be on the team you have to be on the bike.

Greater Vision

I've worn glasses nearly all of my life. Over the years I've tried to switch from glasses to contacts multiple times, but just can't handle poking myself in the eye every morning...not the best way to start my day. With that said, every year I usually end up at my doctor's office for a check-up to see if I need a new prescription to maintain clear vision. I wonder if we need to do the same with our personal life from time-to-time? If we don't check-up once in a while we'll find that we're pretty far off course.

Right now I'm slowly reading through David Platt's new book, Radical. I can't help but consider what it means to live in light of the call God has placed on all of those who call Him Lord. Have we really considered the vastness of the call that God has given all of us? Think about this...we were created by God, saved from our sins, and blessed by God to make His glory known in all the world. Simply put, we're called to reach the nations...both the United States and the world. It isn't either/or...it's all nations.

I'm not going to say that all of us should pick up and move, but we shouldn't pass on the call to reach the nations though we might not be called to move to them! So what does this mean? Simply put, we should embrace the call to reach the nations! This has to change the way we live doesn't it? If we live with a mission to reach the nations we'll live with a greater purpose. Living with this purpose will change the way we spend our money and the way we make all kinds of decisions. I think there are a few simple questions we can ask to help us take a step in the right direction...First, we should ask God to break our heart for the things that break His. Second, we should make plans to go to the nations when we get a chance to take a trip. Third, we should send money in partnership with organizations who are reaching the nations with the Gospel. The bottom line question of all questions to consider..."How can I leverage all that I've been given to accomplish the most I can for the call God has given us all for the nations?"

Platt writes, "God has an ulterior motive in blessing us...we are not the end of His grace." So, let's not stand on the edge of the mighty call of God with the vision of bat.

Blessed To Be A Blessing

Have you ever stopped to consider what God has called you to do with your life? Is it all for you or for some greater purpose? It's easy to get caught up in your own life and carried away in your own goals and plans, but what should we be doing? We've all heard that we're supposed to look forward to hearing the Lord say, "Well done" but for what? What are we supposed to do in order to have those words spoke over us as we stand before the Lord? Work hard? Raise a family? Serve the church?

It's easy to get caught up in great plans. So easy that most of the time we get caught up in the plans and never really do anything. I'd venture a guess that the Lord isn't going to say "Well done" for the things that many of us think we are doing to deserve those words. I think, rather than getting caught up in grand plans or epic movements we should consider what God has called us to do.

God calls us all to make much of him, much of others and to make disciples. God calls each one of us to a personal relationship with Him through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God has gone to extraordinary measures to reconcile us to Himself through the blood of Christ. Our foremost call is to be centered and content in our relationship with God. Secondly, God has called us to make much of others. Specifically God calls us to love others as much as we love ourselves. We're to serve others and expect nothing in return. We're to live in such a way as to recognize that there are other people living on this planet other than ourselves. We're blessed to be a blessing! Finally, we are called to make disciples. We're called to share the Gospel with others and walk with them as they grow in their relationship with Christ.

It's important to understand how these three general calls go hand-in-hand. Our relationship with God is of first importance and through this relationship God-The Holy Spirit empowers us to do everything else we're called to do. First, we're called to be still and know that He is God. Then the Holy Spirit transforms us to know and love God, compels us to love others, and empowers us to share the Gospel and make disciples.

I think the answers to the following questions serve as the foundation for which we can expect to hear the words, "Well done:"

How is you're personal relationship with Jesus?

How are you serving others? You're blessed to be a blessing!

With whom are you sharing the gospel and teaching God's Word?

Eli loves YouTube!

Thought I would share Eli's favorite YouTube video with you. This afternoon Cary has been having lunch with a group of girls from her table group from Freedom. Needless to say, Eli and I have a lot fun when mom's away...