Tag: Mission

Gifts for building-1

By watching Jesus at work we see what the Father is like. And by watching us at work people will see what Jesus is like. Now go and turn that theory into practice.

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This article is an updated extract from my short book, Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church (JDMC). The bite-sized piece below is roughly two percent of the book. This makes a start on the fourth forgotten way.

Everything that happens in life depends on its surroundings, and that can have a big impact. Any gardener will tell you that some plants need plenty of sun and a freely draining soil, others need moist and shady conditions, and yet others only grow in acid soils. And of course almost nothing grows in a desert.

Jesus said, ‘I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it’ (Matthew 16:18). So what sort of environment has he provided in which this building (or growing) will take place? History shows that whenever there has been major growth in mission there has always been apostolic leadership at work.

Discuss or consider – What do you think an apostle is? What does an apostle do? Don’t worry if you are vague about the work of apostles; church in the West has had little to say about them for a very long time.

Gifts of service

People with an apostolic gift draw the church back to its essential task, guiding it into reaching and changing the world. This work of mission has been forgotten again and again throughout church history. Not only that, apostles stir us up into developing our own gifts and callings.

These people care for the gospel and remind us of its eternal purpose. They pioneer new forms of mission and church, they take care that all six forgotten ways are present and active. They keep things on track, and they offer a nurturing home where other essential gifts can work to good effect. In the list below, each gift produces a suitable environment for the next one.

Work of an Apostle > Work of a Prophet > Work of an Evangelist > Work of
a Shepherd > Work of a Teacher – (APEST).

These are all gifts of service; the purpose of the gifts is for the building up of the church so that we can all become mature (Ephesians 4:11-16). Throughout the long history of the Western church, the apostolic and some other service gifts have been overlooked and only those of pastor (shepherd) and teacher have been widely used. The results have been ineffective and short on impact. There is no space in this section to detail the other gifts, but they’re all covered in Part 9, The APEST gifts.

We’ll look at the five main activities of apostles (A – pioneering mission, B – activating the forgotten ways, C – identifying purpose, D – growing the gifts, and E – making connections). See if you can spot people like this in your own group; they’re almost certainly there. Help them to become active, value them, encourage them. And why not try for yourself? Anyone can do apostolic things at some level, but people with an apostolic gift will revel in them and excel.

Great places to look for inspiring examples are Acts and the New Testament letters. Paul is a wonderful example of the gift of apostle. Read Journeys to Significance for more about Paul. And don’t forget that Jesus reveals in himself all of the gifts from apostle right through to teacher, so look for powerful examples in the gospels too.

Discuss or consider – Can you find at least one or two examples of of each of the five apostolic activities in the New Testament? If you’re stuck, come back to the question after completing the rest of this part of JDMC.

A – Pioneering mission

Releasing new communities is a healthy thing to do, so always have new projects on the go. Dream, pray, form teams, and make a start (Luke 9:1-6). Apostolic stimulation and guidance are needed for this to happen, and it can’t be rushed. Close supervision and micromanagement are very unhelpful.

Try lots of new ideas even if they seem risky: see failure as a chance to learn. It’s useful to think about Christianity as always pioneering things; there are plenty of biblical examples of this; find them and study them. Make and cheer on some heroes (people who will go out and try new things). See how quickly Paul seized an opportunity in Athens (Acts 17:16-34).

Implant the idea of mission in the heart of the community. Tell stories about the early church and the church in China. Suggest everyone reads books like The Starfish and the Spider. Get everyone to consider how to make church simple and reproducible.

Map out the process needed and get people to work through it. Often, the map will emerge later and can be written down when it’s clear.

Discuss or consider – Are you at a stage where you can begin to spawn off new communities? Even if you are a very new group yourselves, you can dream about it, pray about it and talk about it. If you’ve been together for more than a year, ask yourselves, ‘What is holding us back?’

B – Activating the forgotten ways

1 – Thinking it through – This is all about a culture and a way of life. Encourage people to work through JDMC and read The Forgotten Ways; help them understand the ideas they contain. It may not be clear to people at first; parts of it have been forgotten for a long time and are not part of normal church life in the West. Clarify thinking about the entire system, not just the six parts individually. Active mission helps us live out Jesus’ calling. Apostolic people will help a group absorb these ideas by explaining their value and guiding their development.

As a group, think about Father’s work in redeeming his creation through the Son (Revelation 21:5). Read and explore the Bible on this, go to conferences together, listen to recorded teaching, share books and articles about going out and going deep. Retelling stories of success is an inspiring thing to do. It will help you see how you’ve been used, remind you of your calling and make the future clearer. Write down your most exciting stories, ask people for memories, keep photos and make slide shows, interview people and collect the stories in a book.

Here’s the theory – by watching Jesus at work we see what the Father is like. And by watching us at work people will see what Jesus is like. Now go and turn that theory into practice. Demonstrate Jesus’ love and grace to the people around you. To do it you will need to live a life that’s deeply integrated in the local culture.

Discuss or consider – Even if you are a new group, it’s likely you have at least a few stories to tell. Re-share them and write them down now, before they are forgotten. They’ll be useful later!

See also:
More sections of JDMC

Introduction – JDMC, what does it contain? – Using JDMC – how to approach it

Working together in six ways – Intro and Way 1 – Ways 2, 3 and 4 – Ways 5 and 6, six ways

Way One, Jesus at the centre – Jesus at centre 1 – Jesus at centre 2 – Jesus at centre 3

Way Two, Becoming disciples – Disciples 1 – Disciples 2 – Disciples 3

Way Three, Outward and integrated – OutAndInt1, OutAndInt2

Way Four, Gifts for building – GiftsForBuilding1, GiftsForBuilding2

Way Five, A living organism – LivingOrg1, LivingOrg2

More sections will appear here…

The work of the Spirit – Intro – Jesus, disciples, outward – Gifts, living, community, help

Other church leaders – Intro, bishops, elders – Deacons, pastors, priests

Last words – The end can also be the beginning

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Read the book

This was extracted from Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church (JDMC), pages 17 and 18. Download the whole thing or read it online – GetJDMC.scilla.org.uk

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Outward and integrated-2

By watching Jesus at work we see what the Father is like. And by watching us at work people will see what Jesus is like. Now go and turn that theory into practice.

< Previous | Index | Next >

This article is an updated extract from my short book, Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church (JDMC). The bite-sized piece below is roughly two percent of the book. This completes the third forgotten way.

Deeply integrated

Become significant in the lives of other people; make the time and commitment for it to happen. Your local culture is an asset, use it to the full; be involved in significant events like weddings, funerals, and parties (John 2:1-10). Develop conversational skills, interact like Jesus did, follow up with people, and build a network of friendships (John 4:5-26). But don’t spread yourself too thinly; devote most of your time to relatively few people so you can get to know them well. Take part in local projects and groups, community gardens, fundraising for a school, helping at a care home, joining a walking group or anything like that.

Discuss or consider – See how many ideas you can list that involve local activities. Choose one or two of them and consider how you could make a start

Tell the story

It’s essential to share the story of the good news with people. This means noticing opportunities as they arise in conversation, loving people deeply, finding out how the Lord has already touched them, and focussing on Jesus. Remember that Father is already at work in people’s lives; try to find out how, listen well, and ask probing questions (Jesus did).

Storytelling is a great tool. Tell some of the stories that Jesus told (the parables) and use your own words to share the things he did and the conversations he had. But don’t forget to tell the stories of Jesus’ work in your own life and those of others you know. People engage with stories and often identify with them and become emotionally involved. As an example, Luke 7:36-50 is a great story to tell to anyone who wants to come closer to Jesus. Build your own collection of favourite stories, learn them well and tell them in your own words when people need to hear them.

Live the life!

We must not only speak the good news, we must live it out too. People will notice straight away if what we say and what we do don’t match. As in everything, just look to Jesus for some examples. He loved life and he loved people (John 11:1-3), he ate and drank with them (Luke 15:1-2), partied with them (John 2:1-11), and demonstrated the love, welcome and joy that is in the Father’s heart. He said, ‘I only do what I see the Father do’.

Here’s the theory – by watching Jesus at work we see what the Father is like. And by watching us at work people will see what Jesus is like. Now go and turn that theory into practice. Demonstrate Jesus’ love and grace to the people around you. To do it you will need to live a life that’s deeply integrated in the local culture.

Holy does not mean distant or stuffy. Jesus is holy and we must follow him into the energy and joy of living as he did. Be light and salt; make people’s lives brighter and better flavoured. Be kind, be thoughtful, love much; maybe there are ways you can turn water into wine (at least figuratively). Eat with people often. Sharing reveals Father’s welcoming nature. Invite the poor and lonely, become known for the best parties in your area.

Discuss or consider – Think about the many ways you could show people that you love them. What about the difficult people who sometimes seem hard to love? How will you behave towards people like that? List some ways to bless and encourage the people you know.

A new faith community

Expect a new faith community to gradually develop as you continue to go deep. Let it grow in its own way; don’t try to mould it into what you have done before; let the community own it. And don’t try to draw people out of their natural culture. Don’t just identify with local people but allow yourself to become one of them. Try to understand which aspects of the community support the gospel and what gets in the way. Focus on ways of rescuing the culture and guiding it towards Father’s purpose for it.

Mission can and should continue from this new community. Send small groups out again to carry the gospel into further new contexts.

Discuss or consider – How will you avoid the temptation to mould new faith communities of your own experience and style of church life? What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘On this rock I will build my church’? (Matthew 16:18) Hint: He didn’t mean he would base it on Peter. What is the basis of church? (check verses 15-17) Who does the building

Probe and challenge

Jesus challenged commonly held views in his own, Jewish, culture. The Samaritans were strongly disliked by Jews – unholy and to be avoided. Jesus came into Jewish culture and lived amongst the people who held these views, but he challenged them. He told the story of the good Samaritan. He had a shocking conversation with a Samaritan woman at the well outside her village; the disciples were quite surprised but afraid to ask him about it (John 4:27). He healed a group of lepers; one of them was a Samaritan. Read what happened next in Luke 17:11-19.

We, too, should sometimes challenge the accepted norms of the local culture. Where there are thought patterns or customs that are strongly against the underlying principles Jesus taught, we can and should find ways to call people to change. But be very careful, where there is no conflict with the way of Jesus we are not justified in calling for change. Victorian missionaries sometimes made this mistake by assuming they should bring their entire culture as part of the good news.

Discuss or consider – Think about missionaries in Africa in the nineteenth century. Which of the following things needed to change and which did not? – Clothing, education, head hunting, nose piercing, body paint, farming, medicine, cursing enemies? How can you avoid making similar mistakes?

Keep on going

It would be a pity to work through this part of the guide and then move on as if nothing had changed. See the material as an opportunity to live life differently in the future. Keep changing, keep moving forward, return to this part of the guide again to check on progress. What has changed in your lives since the last time, what still needs to change?

It’s always possible to go out and deep more than before; so don’t stand still, keep learning and experimenting with new ways of reaching out. Go deeper and deeper into the community and culture you are trying to reach. Remember Jesus’ great command to ‘Go and make disciples of every nation’ (Matthew 28:18-20).

Discuss or consider – What are the main discoveries you made as you worked through this chapter? What will you do differently in future?

More sections of JDMC

Introduction – JDMC, what does it contain? – Using JDMC – how to approach it

Working together in six ways – Intro and Way 1 – Ways 2, 3 and 4 – Ways 5 and 6, six ways

Way One, Jesus at the centre – Jesus at centre 1 – Jesus at centre 2 – Jesus at centre 3

Way Two, Becoming disciples – Disciples 1 – Disciples 2 – Disciples 3

Way Three, Outward and integrated – OutAndInt1, OutAndInt2

Way Four, Gifts for building – GiftsForBuilding1, GiftsForBuilding2

Way Five, A living organism – LivingOrg1, LivingOrg2

More sections will appear here…

The work of the Spirit – Intro – Jesus, disciples, outward – Gifts, living, community, help

Other church leaders – Intro, bishops, elders – Deacons, pastors, priests

Last words – The end can also be the beginning

< Previous | Index | Next >

Read the book

This was extracted from Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church (JDMC), pages 17 and 18. Download the whole thing or read it online – GetJDMC.scilla.org.uk

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Outward and integrated-1

If we let him, Jesus will take us first into mission and then into new church life, shaped as he wants it to be. And this will be different depending on whether we live in France or Fiji, inner city or village, or among the poor or rich.

< Previous | Index | Next >

This article is an updated extract from my short book, Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church (JDMC). The bite-sized piece below is roughly two percent of the book. This time we make a start on the third forgotten way.

Once we are growing as apprentices (disciples), we will quickly realize that there are other steps to be taken. We are not only to be apprentices, we’re also to make more apprentices. On the one hand this is about being mission minded (Matthew 28:19), a people who are always going out into the world. On the other hand it’s about being embedded in the culture around us, a people who are deeply involved (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

Mission is far more than just a church activity because it’s based on Father’s constant intention to mend and restore creation. We often try to attract or even cajole the world into coming to what we are doing, but Father sends us out. Drawing people in separates them from their culture and friends; to catch lots of fish we must put out to sea where the fish live, not just sit on the pier with a rod and line trying to hook them onto dry land.

Get stuck right in with the business of making disciples and growing in discipleship. (Acts 14:21-22) Don’t wait. Be active right from the start. Then reflect together, pray together and celebrate what Jesus is doing amongst you and around you. What went well? What might have been done better? What can you learn?

Discuss – Think about how you might share in a culture in order to reach
the people there. How fully present will you be among the people you want
to reach? Do you know who they are yet?

Doing it Jesus’ way

Be wary of reforming people, persuading them to wear different clothes, eat different food or change their customs, culture and language. This won’t reveal Christ to them! If you claim to represent Jesus, they will assume that he is like you. Jesus came to live among the ordinary people of Judea and Galilee and he expects us to live among the people around us and identify with them; this demands that we go deep, something Paul understood and practised (1 Corinthians 9:19–23). Jesus shows us how to do it, he ate with Pharisees and tax collectors. He was fully present. He came as a servant and he shared the good news. It’s completely astounding that the Almighty Creator of the universe lived as a man among the village folk of Galilee for thirty years – and nobody noticed! That shows us how deeply he involved himself in the local culture, he became invisible.

Jesus is our example for going out and going deep. These two activities work together so that the gospel (good news) and the church (the gospel people) become firmly embedded in the local community. Rapid expansion is not going to happen any other way. We need to understand that knowing Jesus more deeply will lead us into both going out (Luke 10:1-4) and going deep (Luke 10:5-7). That will affect what church looks like in the place where we live. If we let him, Jesus will take us first into mission and then into new church life, shaped as he wants it to be. And this will be different depending on whether we live in France or Fiji, inner city or village, or among the poor or rich.

Discuss or consider – Will you identify with people as you find them, or will you bring your own culture with you as if that, too, is part of the good news? Jesus came in weakness, he came to give up his life. Talk about what that might mean for you as you follow him.

Getting out there

Getting close to the people we want to connect with is something we can plan for. Living in the locality is a good start. Find out where people gather and go there regularly (Acts 16:13-16, Acts 17:17), if possible go in pairs or small groups. Cafes, sports clubs, pubs, the market place and local parks are all good places to choose. Use these places for your planning meetings and discussions. Walk your dog regularly and get to know the people you meet on the way, take books and study material to the library or a local cafe and read there. Join local clubs and societies that interest you. The more often you are in the same place at the same time the more likely you are to meet the same people and get to know them.

You will need to make space for this in a busy life. Good relationships grow informally over time so be available for that to happen. Stay longer to talk; be willing to go somewhere else when a friend needs help. Make time at weekends when most people relax; simplify and streamline your life to make this possible. reduce the time you spend planning and meeting as a group or church so that you can be more available in the local community.

Be creative and try as many new ideas as you can. A good way to start random conversations with people is to offer them something they don’t expect. Take a container of cupcakes to give away, or hot soup in the winter. Ask people to choose their favourite photo from a folder and then give it to them to take home. You’ll be surprised how open people can be when you do things like this. As you read the gospels, notice how Jesus engaged people.

Ask yourselves questions such as – Where do people gather? Where do they find meaning and identity? Where is the Lord already working? How can I join in? What does good news look like to these people? Think about the groups of people you are being called to reach. Make friends with local influencers and leaders, people who are spiritually open and have good reputations. Again, in the gospels, notice where Jesus went and who he talked with.

Discuss or consider – Talk about some ways you might go out taking love and good news with you. What groups of people do you think you might reach? Think of things that will work among those people. What would be good news for them? Write down these ideas so you can refer back to them later. Take time to pray about it before moving on with the next section.

See also:

Discipleship – Dave Gibbons, Verge

More sections of JDMC

Introduction – JDMC, what does it contain? – Using JDMC – how to approach it

Working together in six ways – Intro and Way 1 – Ways 2, 3 and 4 – Ways 5 and 6, six ways

Way One, Jesus at the centre – Jesus at centre 1 – Jesus at centre 2 – Jesus at centre 3

Way Two, Becoming disciples – Disciples 1 – Disciples 2 – Disciples 3

Way Three, Outward and integrated – OutAndInt1, OutAndInt2

Way Four, Gifts for building – GiftsForBuilding1, GiftsForBuilding2

Way Five, A living organism – LivingOrg1, LivingOrg2

More sections will appear here…

The work of the Spirit – Intro – Jesus, disciples, outward – Gifts, living, community, help

Other church leaders – Intro, bishops, elders – Deacons, pastors, priests

Last words – The end can also be the beginning

< Previous | Index | Next >

Read the book

This was extracted from Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church (JDMC), pages 21 and 22. Download the whole thing or read it online – GetJDMC.scilla.org.uk

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

The work of the Spirit

the Holy Spirit … runs deep in [the] forgotten ways. He is … the Spirit of Christ and he was sent specifically to enable us to continue the work of Jesus.

What follows is an extract from JDMC, the first section on the Holy Spirit (page 37).

Cover-tinyThe work of the Holy Spirit is mentioned briefly in the previous part of JDMC, ‘Six – More than community’ (p 33). It is not explicitly presented in The Forgotten Ways, but it is certainly implied on every page. In the first edition of JDMC I closely followed the structure of Alan Hirsch’s work, but in this revision I have decided to add extra sections including this one about the Spirit.

I want to guard against any suggestion that JDMC is merely presenting an organisational mechanism for rapid missional spread. It’s much more than a worldly method or a management technique. Instead it is the pattern set by Christ himself, and therefore the Spirit of Christ is present throughout and waiting for us to hear his guidance and encouragement as we do the work the Master has entrusted to us. To depend on human technique alone won’t cut the mustard – far from it! One of the forgotten ways is keeping Jesus central, following only him, adding nothing in addition. This utter dependence on Christ surely implies and demands a dependence on his Spirit – how could it possibly be otherwise?

We need to recognise that this new life we live is not just about what we do, nor is it entirely about receiving from the Spirit. Jesus wants our co-operation. If there was no need for the work of the Spirit, why would Paul warn us not to quench him? (1 Thessalonians 5:19) And if there was no need for human effort and will, why would he tell us to strive? (1 Thessalonians 5:15, 1 Timothy 4:10)

So in this additional part of JDMC I want to highlight some of the ways we can recognise and value the Holy Spirit’s activity as we attempt to remember and activate the six forgotten ways. I also offer some advice on spiritual listening at the end.

To be clear, this section should not be seen as an additional ‘forgotten way’. It isn’t that at all. But the work of the Holy Spirit surely runs deep in each of those six forgotten ways. He is, as already mentioned, the Spirit of Christ and he was sent specifically to enable us to continue the work of Jesus. If we are the body and Jesus is our head, then the Spirit is like a nervous system – fundamentally centred in the head but with sensory and motor connections to every part of the body. When we resist him and are disobedient, part of the body is effectively paralysed. And if the body acts without the Holy Spirit it is sleepwalking and ineffective.

If all of this sounds hard – it is. We have to learn to die so that we can begin to live in Christ. It’s not that we have to work hard to be more like Jesus; rather we have to let go of all our own goals and desires and effort and planning and let Jesus live his life in us. He will tell us and show us what to do, when to do it, and how. The Holy Spirit is no less than the Spirit of Christ, he is our guide and walks with us in every situation. He is the heart and mind of the Messiah expressing himself through his people.

Talk together about the ways the Holy Spirit has interacted with you in your lives as you follow Jesus. Are there some encouraging stories you can share?

– o0o –

In 2015 I released the second version of JDMC, a discussion guide for Alan Hirsch’s ‘The Forgotten Ways’ in which he analyses the basis of movements throughout church history and identifies the essential ingredients for such movements to start and to be sustained.

(You can download JDMC in full, there’s no charge.)