I’ve never really been a conformist. I think people that know me know that I go against the grain. I play the devil’s advocate, I turn things upside down. So it shouldn’t be a surprise when I am so passionate about religion that I am taking a more radical viewpoint on an issue.
I’ve been doing an intense study of the life of Jesus over the last 8 months. I’ve been looking at what Jesus stood for, what He had time for, and who He was as a person. Jesus had time for relationships and made it a point to be around sinners. He didn’t spend his time converting people; He spent his time doing fellowship with them, living as an example.
The bible is unanimous about loving the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul AND also to love your neighbor as yourself. Love is what Jesus stood for, and as John Lennon stated “All You Need is Love”.
Later, during Jesus’ resurrection, there was this bit that seems to have been lost or misinterpreted. It’s called “The Great Commission” and is found in all 4 Gospel’s and The Book of Acts, making it very significant. Matthew 28:19 states: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t say; “sit here and wait for people to come to you”. He commands us to GO and make disciples of all nations. That our job is to find these non-believers, individuals struggling with whom they are and what they believe, and make disciples of them, to baptize them in God’s name. It seems like recently, churches have grown complacent and relied on people to just show up, for them to do the right thing.
I’ve never really been classified as a shy person. In fact, if you were to ask people that know me, I could very well be classified as the loud, noisy, obnoxious person asking 100 questions. But that’s me, I’m the type of person that wants to be your friend, to get to know you, and I don’t feel I know you until I have talked to you. Not everyone is like that, in fact, with the way technology is today, I can bet that there are more people not like me. It’s too easy nowadays to send a text message or IM and have a “serious” conversation without ever seeing the person face-to-face. I know people that have quit their job in an e-mail, broken up with their significant other in a text message, or told someone they didn’t want to be their friend in a phone call.
Now, getting back to my point, Churches expect these shy new people to come in the door as someone looking to start a relationship with Christ, or for more information about God and Jesus. That’s just not the way it’s going to happen. Christianity is about relationships and you need to form a relationship with someone before you are ever able to talk to them about religion. Jesus didn’t just come out to people and say “I am the Son of God and you need to believe in Me.” No, he made disciples, He spent time on His relationships, and He proved Himself.
My church attempts to encourage parishioners to invite new people to church, but that is a difficult thing to do as well. How do you convince someone or encourage someone to wake up at 10am on a Sunday to learn more about God and to praise Him? It’s easy to just put a responsibility on someone and expect them to do it, but the church isn’t teaching them how to develop these relationships, how to encourage and bless people to come to church. Half the battle is just working up the courage to talk to them about religion. Again in my stubbornness, I’ve never been one to follow the courtesy rule of not talking about religion to strangers.
I have the t-shirts that I wear that state “Jesus was the blood donor that saved my life”, or that “Seven Days With-out Prayer Makes One Weak”. Some people call it being “in-your-face”, but I call it an ice breaker. And in the ministry that I have felt called to, these Ice Breakers help me get teens to come and ask me about my shirt, and this is the start of that relationship I need to build with them to bring them closer to God.
It may be an exciting time for me and my call to ministry. I am currently working with the Diocese of Lexington to put together a new job for myself. I would ask for your prayers and support during this time, for me and for the people making these decisions.
I plan on delving more into this idea of building relationships and evangelism. And my hope is that as I get further into this, the more comfortable you will be to discuss your beliefs with others, because hopefully you have been saved by Jesus Christ, now your calling is to help save someone else.
Nice post.
The Great Commission is about doing, loving and leading by example.
Hi Ryan,
We met at DG’s house. As a UM Pastor I can tell you that the church didn’t get me to God and Jesus. I had called out to God and God showed me to him. It was later that the church then nurtured me. So yes I agree that we should be about Kingdom Living and less about Church attendance. By Kingdom Living we then see that the church grows. That is what we are teaching at Eggleston UMC…a life of community. Being a friend and a neighbor to all even if that menas they may never accept Jesus. Praying for you and your ministry.
Hey Kieth, Thanks for the great message. I believe all church should be based around a community!