Expect the church's most important growth to come from people you expect the least

Expect the church's most important growth to come from people you expect the least.

Let me tell you about someone you'd least expect.  

He's a very quiet university student from Sudan; 

one of those people you immediately like as soon as you see his smile.  

But, before I tell you about someone "you expect the least," 

let me first tell you how we should "expect the church's most important growth."

Expect the church's most important growth... 

Not just in quantity, but in quality.

From the time of Jesus and his original twelve students, 

the church grew quickly in quantity and slowly in quality.  

Quantity-

100 years after Jesus, it's estimated that the world population of Christians was at .01%.

200 years after Jesus, it grew to 3.6%.  

300 years after Jesus, it grew to 10.5%.  

350 after Jesus, it grew to 56.5%.  (When Constantine made Christianity Rome's religion)

Quantitatively, the church's population exploded exponentially.  

We count people to assess church growth, 

but throughout the past two-thousand years, 

there's another kind of growth that is more difficult to assess - quality.

Quality-

One-hundred years after Jesus, Christians were willing to die for their faith.

          (When Christian quantity was less, Christian quality was more.)

But...

One-thousand years after Jesus, Christians were willing to kill for their faith.

          (When Christian quantity was more, Christian quality was less.)

Currently, it's estimated that there are 2.18 billion Christians in the world.

Interpreting the present by the events of the past,

we can assume that the quality of those 2.18 Christians will gradually grow.

Shifting from Quantity to Quality-

It's an expected assumption that when we talk about church growth, we're often talking about things like bigger buildings, newer music, better preachers, more people, and increased popularity.  Let's face it, all that stuff is part of it, but that's not all of it.  There's something else - a form of growth that's more significant and important for the church.  There's another side to it and it's something you least expect.

Expect the church's most important growth to come from people you expect the least. 

People you expect the least...

Like my friend from Sudan-

I met him while playing basketball on a university campus in Indiana.  After talking about his passion for the Chicago Bulls and teasing me for recently becoming a Cleveland Cavaliers fan, I asked him what he was in school for. 

His answer represents an example of the

church's most important growth.

He’s attending school because he wants to bring Christ's influence into culture in a very specific way.  Instead of accepting the “sex sells” norm, he wants to work in the advertising and marketing industry to provide alternatives.  He said he’s sick of the industry turning women into objects in order to make sales.  And he boldly looked at me and said he’s gonna do something about it.  I smiled and held eye contact as to affirm his passion, but really, I was only thinking about how naive he sounded.  It was almost like he knew what I was thinking because he continued to remind me that Goliath was killed by someone who also sounded naive - David.  The boldness of his faith gave me faith.  And I think he made me a believer...  He's going for it and I pray that he has God's favor just like David did.

What excites me about all of this is how his faith is expressing itself.

This is the sort of thing that accelerates the church's momentum in the world.  

I didn’t expect to hear all that, but it didn’t matter, I listened with a renewed sense of optimism for church growth.  I’m convinced this is the kind of thing that's going bring the most important kind of growth to the church.  When increasing amounts of Christians disperse from their church gatherings to do stuff like this, Christian quality will be added to the Christian quantity. 

Let's not just share Jesus; 

let's live like Jesus and show Jesus.  

Let's not just invite people to our church gatherings; 

let's exit church gatherings and go to people.

We need a growth in Christian quality among our churches and in our cultures.  

My friend from Sudan is someone I’d expect the least, 

but I know from hearing his vision, 

he'll bring about the church's most important growth. 

This is our opportunity.  Each and every one of us can be like my friend from Sudan.  Although some people are gifted to become oversea missionaries, pastors, or Sunday school teachers, there are others of us who are gifted in completely different ways of equal importance.

The church will continue to grow in quantity, but it’s up to you and me to help it grow in quality.  Instead of relying on the church, its missions, its programs, its employees, and it's alter calls to grow in numbers, let's recognize that each and every one of us can contribute to the quality of church growth.

Expect the church to grow the most through people you expect the least. 

                                                                        (Matthew 18)

Family

This is my love, Kelly Jo (I call her "Nia").

This is Jude, our firstborn (we call him "Juder").

This is Calvin, our youngest (we call him "Brudder Bear").

They LOVE ice cream like their mamma.  :)

Jude and I on 4th of July (2014).

This is my family!

It takes a team, a vision, and it makes a culture

It takes a team, a vision, and it makes a culture.

I had a spontaneous idea today.  I thought it would be a great idea to hunt for morel mushrooms – something I had never done before.  What a great idea!  I thought I’d try it while I took a break from the computer work I was stuck in all day.  I didn’t really know what I was doing and I didn’t really know where to look, but I figured it couldn’t be too hard.  Or could it?   I assumed my passion to hunt morels would compensate for my lack of knowledge.

After the first thousand mosquito bites and absolutely no luck, I decided to get on my phone and Google where morel mushrooms could be found.  It sounds silly now, but for some reason I assumed I was just going to aimlessly wander into a patch of morels or something.  I finally found a website that gave incredibly practical advice for new mushroom hunters; advice that would have come in handy before the mosquitos had almost eaten me alive.  Come to find out, the website said that morels are found in certain locations throughout the progressing stages of their growing season.  That would have been nice to know ahead of time.  Another thing the website suggested was the use of mosquito spray.  It said that because morel season is in the spring, people tend to forget about mosquitos and their need for repellent until it’s too late.  It was too late!  The website also suggested morel hunting as a unique and recreational way to spend time with friends.  It makes sense I guess, but I’ve never really had that thought cross my mind before.  Besides, deciding to go was a last second thing. 

I walked around for over an hour with absolutely no luck.  After another thousand mosquito bites, I was irritated and itchy, but I wasn’t going to give up quite that easy.  Then, after running into a thorn bush and also having felt and picked off a pesky deer tick that crawled up my leg, I called it quits and started my way back to the car.  For some strange reason, morel hunting wasn’t interesting anymore.  

How many people fall prey to this sort of trap?  You set out by yourself and think you can succeed because you have an idea you’re passionate about.  New ideas and big passions can make you feel so incredible, they can consume you and make you think that what you’ve set out to do is the only thing worth doing.  The passion that comes with a new idea can be so intoxicating; it can make you feel as if you’re the only one in existence.  If you pursue your new idea without preparation, you’ll have a long journey ahead of you.  And if you attempt it by yourself, you’ll soon come to find out that it won’t matter how much passion you once had; you’ll find out that your intense passion will fade and your original idea will become incredibly unattractive. 

It only takes a little bit of time, empty hands, some mosquito bites, and a pesky tick before you find yourself heading back to the car while thinking to yourself, “That was a dumb idea.”  That is, until you get back to your car and hear four enthusiastic friends talk with one another about the fifteen pounds of morels they just found on their excursion.  Apparently, they thought it was a really good idea.  Well, good for them.  I’d have fun too if I found that many morels.  

The thing is, even if those four friends didn’t find any morels, they probably would have found a way to have fun anyway.  It's not always about the morels.

The smallest situations can teach the greatest lessons.

Failing from unpreparedness is unproductive.

Winning from unpreparedness is counterproductive.

Failing despite preparedness is productive.

Winning from preparedness is glorious.

Winning alone isn't gratifying,
But failing alone is intolerable.

Failing with friends isn’t all that bad,

But winning with friends is a freaking party.

Being alone isn’t enough.

Original ideas aren’t enough. 

Intense passions won’t be enough.

It takes a team instead of just an individual. 

It takes a vision instead of just an idea. 

It takes a culture instead of a short-lived passion.

It takes a team, a vision, and it makes a culture. 

If you’re with friends it'll be worth it, regardless of whether you win or lose.

I want to be part of that kind of culture.

Does anybody want to go hunt morels with me?

To Jude and Calvin (a journal entry about prayer)

This week has certainly turned into the warmest week so far this year.  My discipline of prayer took place yesterday while walking the hills and trails of our local state park.

I hiked up a large hill and into a pine grove.  It always seems to be quieter there in comparison to other places - probably from the pine needles that break up the sound.  My single focus was to experience an awareness of God’s presence through solitude in nature.

I quickly realized that for some reason, there is “agony” in me. 

I wondered:  Why am I this way?  Why don’t I ever stop?  Why do I keep living to prove myself to myself?  To others?  Why can’t I relax in this pine grove and know the peace of God in the depths of my soul? 

In hope, I prayed:  “Lord, I know I am your Beloved.  I know that I can stop doing, slow down, and rest.  I know that I don’t have to prove myself to you and I can rest in believing that you continually prove yourself to me.  Hear my cry.  Know my voice.  Please rest my anxious and troubled heart.”

It seemed like the sky opened:  With a force of gentle might, the Almighty One said, “I Am.”

In that moment, joy overcame me because of the view - my awareness of being became my prayer.  The sight of the trees, the sky, the grass, and the landscape somehow infused with me as we became one.  The gentle breeze not only breathed on my face and hair, but also in my soul.

To participate with existence is beautiful.  To love.  To be.  To breathe.  To think.  To feel.

To exist is something truly wonderful… 

I thought:  I don’t always participate with existence - agony is always the result.  Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.  Teach me your ways.  Guide my paths.  Allow me to hear your rhythms (Psalm 119). 

It sounds ridiculous, but remembering to value such moments and plan for them in the days ahead is a challenge.   Urgency is always knocking at the day’s agenda.  Life’s pace is always being encouraged to accelerate.  Regardless of these external pressures, the challenge of planning for and valuing these moments is worth fighting for.  The life that is founded upon those sorts of moments has more value than anything else (Matthew 13:44-46).

I need those times.  I will plan for those times.  I will be faithful to those times.  I will try and make all times like those times.

Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.

Be existence for me in those times…in all times.

Inspiring the world's tomorrow

We are the church,
so let's imagine, 
what if...

What if we believed Jesus?

What if we believed the explosive power of love and grace?

What if we believed in the kingdom of God?

What if we believed in transformation?

What if we believed that tomorrow doesn't have to be the same as yesterday?

What if we gave people a chance instead of waiting for them to earn a chance?

What if we showed people their worth instead of waiting for them to show us their worth?

What if we gave love away instead of waiting for love to come our way?

What if we offered our trust to people instead of waiting for them to offer their trust to us?

What if we practice relational generosity instead of being relational penny-pinchers?


I know,
it seems like Jesus was a little bit crazy,
but maybe we could learn a thing or two
about ourselves, about God, about one another, and about the world we live in.

He seemed
to believe in something so much bigger,
so can we.

Imagine,
what if…

What if we influenced the future of peoples' track record instead of dismissing them because the track record of their past?

What if God's will was done on earth as it is in heaven?

Imagine,
what if…
We are the church,
so let's imagine -
what if…

A Dawning

I'm strong.
I think it's embarrassing to be weak.
Other people think they're weak,
But I think I'm strong.
Am I only one who thinks I'm strong?
They think all of us are weak,
but I'm not weak, I'm strong.
I'm the only one who thinks I'm strong.

Am I strong?
Or am I weak?

I don't want to be the only one strong.
It's embarrassing - being the only one not weak.
But what do they see that makes them think they're weak?

Maybe I'm not so strong,
but rather, weak.
I think I'm weak.
I don't want to be the only one who is weak,
who thinks they are strong.
That's not strong,
that's weak.
It's embarrassing to be strong -
I'm weak.