Sharing within the Body

Have you ever been close enough to someone that their joy was also your joy? Where their pain was your pain? I remember sitting at a friend’s wedding recently. He literally jumped for joy when his bride walked through the doors. I remembered how I felt when I saw my wife walk down the aisle, and I felt his joy. I was not directly affected by them getting married, but their joy became mine as I watched. I’ve also experienced the opposite. I had another friend recently receive some devastating news. This news would not directly touch me, but my heart broke with his. I felt nauseous thinking about how bad my friend must be hurting. In a small way, his pain became mine. In both situations, I felt closer to these friends by sharing their joy and their pain.

I’ve been studying through the letters to the Corinthians recently, and it has been massively challenging and convicting for me. I’d love to share one little passage that has shaken me up a bit lately. It comes out of 1 Corinthians 12.

“… so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” – 1 Cor. 12:25-26 (NASB)

Paul has been teaching about the value of every member of the body, which is the church. It’s a simple idea, but my question is, how big is our idea of the church? Saturday night students? Fellowship Saturday night? Or even all believers in Northwest Arkansas? What would the implications of this passage be if we saw the church the way Scripture teaches that God does? When God views the church, He sees all people everywhere who will follow Him. According to Scripture, if we embrace our role in the church, when another part of the church suffers, we all suffer. When they are honored, we rejoice!

I’m scared that we are so concerned with what’s going on here in our little corner of the world that we miss out on being a part of something so much bigger. It’s a simple challenge. What if we started learning about what’s going on in the rest of the world. Where is the church exploding and doing great? Where is the church being persecuted and suffering? How can we make their honor our joy and their suffering our suffering? I think the first step is that we learn about what’s happening and we pray for the church. Who knows what God will do from there? Below are a couple of websites you can check out to see what’s going on in the church across the globe.

For His glory and our joy,
Nr

www.voiceofthemartyrs.com
www.win1040.com
www.compassdirect.org

On Drawing Near

As we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. It’s the promise we are claiming during our 50-day journey. And as I have begun thinking, it is the promise in which He will make Himself known. As He makes Himself known to us however, it is His desire that it would overflow into the lives of others.

The overflow would speak of God’s desire for us to live with purpose and mission. I think sometimes in my life there is a disconnect. A disconnect that is described also in James 4:8 “purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
I often like to pretend that there is somehow a secular part of our days or weeks and then the part that is sacred with God. But God cannot be fit into our lives; He must be that which fills our life.

This would mean that how I treat people, all people; my spouse, my children, my family, closet friends, or a complete stranger would come from the same bond of love which is Christ. We must all understand that we are called to be a vessel that overflows with the love of God, Christ Himself. So the next time you are at a restaurant, at the movies, a coffee shop or grocery store, realize that the smallest encounter can be used for the greater purposes of God.

As we draw near, He will draw near to us, which means we have to also be willing and open to allowing Him to change our hearts, minds, attitudes and lives. As He does that, you will begin to see, taste and experience a purity of heart. A purity of heart will lead us towards a love for God and for others.
Now the question to ask ourselves, “is the love that is overflowing from your life as you draw near to God, double-minded?” Be willing to become single-minded for the purpose of God and the love of others.

~Bold thoughts from a loud woman
ew

Para-Church ministries

As we launch into our new series on Vintage Church, we have posed a looming question of “What is the Church”. In reflecting this question, one quickly will go the opposite direction asking: “What is not the Church”. In particular…lets ponder a biggy: “What about para-Church ministries?” Are para-Church ministries the Church?
This question lies near and dear to my heart. My parents have been in full time ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ for 35+ years. Hundreds to perhaps thousands have come to Christ through their commitment, faithfulness, and leadership. The question we pose however is not whether or not para-Church ministries like these have been blessed by God or are effective, this goes without saying. The question we ask is: are they the Church.
I like the definition Pastor Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill, Seattle) gives to what makes up a Church. He says:
The local church is a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. In obedience to Scripture they organize under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, observe the biblical sacraments of baptism and communion, are unified by the Spirit, are disciplined for holiness, and scatter to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great commission as missionaries to the world for god’s glory and their joy.

Operating under this definition, I think it is clear that para-church ministries such as Campus Crusade for Christ, New Life Ranch, Young Life, and Lightbearers are NOT the Church. The beautiful thing about organizations such as these however is that GOD IS USING THEM FOR KINGDOM MOVEMENT. They have clearly throughout the past 100 years been some of the most significant missional movers in Western Christianity.

So-what-do-we-do-about-it?
I think we call these ministries for what they are: When done right, they are missional arms of effective Churches. In no way is it wrong to support or be involved in these. We should back them with our time, effort, and finances. They should not however become a replacement for the Church but rather a pipeline too it. The most healthy para-Church ministries I have seen are the ones who come alongside the Church, pushing new believers into its Discipleship and Accountability strategies. In this, para-Church ministries live out that which they are defined for (para-Church: of the Church).

Deep thoughts from a Shallow guy-
Matt Newman