You See Bones, I See an Army (cont,)

I'm on a roll.  Continuing with Discipleship Defined by Floyd McClung.
Discipleship is not telling other people what to do, nor is it a rigid set of rules and practices for spiritual growth.  Nor is it a way of relating for "moderns" that does not apply to "postmoderns." 

While discipleship involves helping each other grow in Christ, it doesn't mean we take responsibility for each other's decisions.

People grow the most when they learn to hear God's voice for themselves.  The aim of making disicples is to point people to Jesus.  There is no greater joy for people than when they discover God's will for themselves.  As much as we may be tempted to give people the answers or "fix" them, God alone can transform the human heart. 

Making disicples is not an option, it's a command.
Jesus said, "Teach tme to observe all things I have commanded you."  Obedient disciples make disciples.  It's the heart of what we do.  There is nothing more important than investing our lives in other people.  There is no more crucial role for leaders in the church.  When leaders invest their lives in other leaders, it's discipleship at its best.  Why?  Because only those who live with apostolic intent can create a leadership culture conductive to attracting and releasing more leaders.  When a leader develops other leaders, the impact of one life is multiplied many times over.  It produces more fruit for the kingdom of God.

Making disciples is personal in nature but global in scope.

Making disciples begins with building relationships with people who don't know Jesus.

Making disciples is another way of describing church planting. 

Making disciples is God's way of transforming cities and nations.

Sadly, many leaders are getting people to make decisions about Jesus, but they are not making disciples for Jesus.

Discipling someone means intentionally identifying with God's interests in that person's life.

There are churches and movements today that produce these kinds of disciples, while others don't come close.  The reason some churches and movements produce these kinds of disciples is because the leaders have been captured by a vision of laying down their lives for the purposes of God.  If the people who lead have this kind of passion and vision, it will be passed on to others.  unless we make disciple-making our main agenda, all our visions are fantasy.  It's the difference between dreaming and doing.  And to do the job really well, we have to make our main business making disciples who make disciples.

Personal discipleship helps create the truest form of trust between people.  Not just the kind of trust that believes a person is reliable, but trust that is based on knowing that other people have our best interests in mind.  It's the trust that comes from people baring their hearts to one another.  It's the trust that results from dealing with conflict in healthy, loving ways.  It's the trust that says, "I want input from you, even if it means significant adjustment to my character or plans."

Trust takes time, hard work, connecting from the heart, humility, and lots of transparency.  Trust is the assurance that you can rely on people to tell you the truth, knowing that they believe in you.  Trust creates safety and assures others they can open their hearts to one another without fear of retribution.  Without a strong sense of trust, people build walls, lift the drawbridge to their heart, and live behind barriers of suspicion and cynicism.  Amazingly, we can pull down walls of mistrust through being vulnerable to another person.  Discipleship embodies this way of relating.

Disciples make disciples.  There is no shortcut and there is no other way for a church or movement to reproduce itself.

That concludes the book!  The appendix gives five core practices to start and multiply simple church communities.  They are:
1.  Pray
2.  Meet
3.  Disciple
4.  Gather
5.  Multiply

This has been a fascinating and motivating book.  I have heard people say that reading Christian books isn't good because it's not the Bible.  I disagree.  If God can inspire people to write the Bible, he can inspire people today to write good Christian books that motivate and explain in today's language the message and purpose of the Bible.  They are no substitue for the Bible or my daily reading and time with God, but they pour into me the same way sitting across the table from someone giving me wisdom about the Bible does.  It's like listening to a good sermon.

My kids have a video game called Sonic that has this little critter running really fast down roadways.  Every so often he hits a patch and is propelled even faster.  You want to hit those patches because you are racing against time.  It's the same with my Christian walk.  I'm racing against time.  The days are evil.  We are running a race to expand the Kingdom of God.  These Christian books motivate me and encourage me to disciple others and help me keep in mind the whole reason I was placed on this earth:  to give God glory and pleasure and win souls.  They spur me on a little faster. 

Have a blessed Thursday!

Great Joy

I had a time of great joy yesterday, a couple of times actually.  First, during my quiet time, I pulled out my Life Journal from last year.  I started reading my entries dated from April to July.  It was fascinating seeing the journey I made from trials and faith and hope to where we are today with our church plant.  Being my first journal, I never had this experience before.  Each entry was like a mini devotional.  I thought of the two ladies who I meet with regularly and how each of them could benefit from some of the entries. 

Then I met with one of the ladies.  We had a great time of sharing and encouraging each other.  I love our times together.

Last night I read the journal entries to Greg.  I saw his wheels spinning on how to incorporate some of the entries into services or classes.  He was excited to hear the fighting words I used, when others think of me as reserved. 

Today I get to meet with my other lady.  I look forward to this meeting each week.  Pouring into each other, listening, and encouraging.  I can see how the Holy Spirit is using us in each other's lives to teach and build each other up, often without our knowledge.  Discipleship is so fun!

I encourage you today to find someone to pour into or who can pour into you.  God didn't make us to be lone rangers, but to do life together.  That's the best part!

Have a blessed, sunny, cool day.

Surprise!

Back again already. Made you jump, huh? hee, hee, hee.

We had a great small group meeting last night. As we drove over with one of our leadership team members and she and Greg we chatting, I began to pray silently for the meeting. Greg and I always prayed together on the way over and we've seen some amazing things happen in our meetings. Lately, the conversations in the car have nixed the prayer time, so being the quiet one, I decided to cover it. Last night was no different, the coolest thing that happened was that their youngest son and his fiance showed up for the entire meeting. They've been to 2 of our prayer meetings over the last 8-10 months. We were thrilled to have them there, and boy did they show up for a doozy of a topic!

We finished our series on marriage, ending with . . . romance and sex. It didn't seem to me Greg held anything back, but he said he did a little. We looked at scripture and Greg had each couple do some talking back and forth at times. One of the topics he touched on was about a husband being a spiritual covering for his wife. The funny thing was that 3 of the 4 women knew what a spiritual covering was and could explain it to her husband, and not one husband knew what it was!

A spiritual covering is when a husband prays with and for his wife, puts her needs above his own, leads his family, and is right with God. The wonderful thing about men who do this is the effect it has on their wife. We all shared it made us feel treasured, loved, cared for, protected, and safe. When a woman feels this way, there is trust and mutual understanding. Our roles as husband and wife are more properly aligned. This results in a woman wanting to share in the physical part of the relationship.

Greg also mentioned that if the guys aren't putting her physical needs above his own and spending at least an hour at a time with his wife, they're really missing out. Last night all the women nodded their heads in agreement and the guys either looked down or stared, glazed over, trying to take it all in.

Greg talked about the importance of communication before or during a couple's time together. He talked about the need for repentance from anything in the past that could be a hindrance, as well as other things that can hinder intimacy, like children, stress, worry, illness, etc.

It was a great meeting. Lots of information, things to work on, and even some laughter.

One of the members of our small group that Greg is disipling will be leading the next 2 studies on integrity. We're hoping he'll lead a men's study someday and this is a great way to have him practice. That's all discipleship is, teaching and giving opportunities to grow. If you're a small group leader, are you giving your members opportunities to stretch and grow by leading? This biggest blessing a leader can have is seeing one of their disciples stretch, grow, and begin to lead on their own. God once told Greg not to count the people (who will be in attendance in our church) but to count how many people we release (trusting people to do ministry). Yep, that's what it's all about.

Blessings to you on this cold, frosty, yet sunny and clear Thursday.

More Good Stuff

I thought I would share a little more from Erwin McMcanus' book, Wide Awake.

Your circumstances do not equal your opportunity, because your opportunity is shaped not simply by your external factors but by the internal factors of who you choose to be and become.

Unless you learn how to adapt to your environment, to your circumstances, and to your challenges, you will continue to use them as an excuse, claiming they are the obstacles that stop you from living the life of your dreams.

There are times when the greatest act of courage and the best evidence of character is the willingness to change.

All of us must choose to reinvent ourselves to face whatever is waiting in front of us. Part of learning to reinvent yourself is learning how to be teachable, resourceful, and flexible.

If you are a sincere follower of Christ, then you are mandated by God to be a voracious, intentional learner. You cannot allow yourself to settle, to be less than your best in whatever field or endeavor you have committed yourself to. You must always strive toward excellence in whatever your pursue.

[Read the story of Esther] Esther learned how to work the system. If you're going to continue to reinvent yourself and allow nothing to stop you from fulfilling the destiny God created you to accomplish, you must be humble enough to remain teachable enough to remain adaptable. You have to learn from anyone and everyone in any and every context. You have to have an open mind ad an open heart and recognize that in every discipline and every field, there is something you can learn that will help you become a better person and advance God's purpose for your life.

That's it for today. I've always said I want to be a better person tomorrow than I am today. That's why I read so much and why I listen more than I speak. How about you? Do you dominate conversations with stories about you or do you ask questions of the other person, showing you're more interested in them than having them learn about you or other things? What do you pour into yourself that you can turn around and pour out to others? What's your passion?

Greg just got home from discipling someone. They meet every other Saturday morning. Greg just loves this kind of stuff. It's his passion to see people grow. What individual(s) are you pouring into? One on one, deeply. I don't mean talking about sports or laundry. I mean talking about things of the heart. Pray about who you can pour into, or who might be good to pour into you. You're learning a lot, you can pass it on. You should. Blessings this gorgeous Saturday! Prayer Walk next Saturday. Be praying!

New Book

Well, it didn't take long, did it? I'm halfway through Chasing Daylight and I get another book. This one is called Releasing the Power of Rubber Bands, Lessons in Non-linear leadership by Nancy Ortberg. Nancy was one of my favorite speakers at the Awaken 2008 conference last month.

The book hasn't been published yet, I have an unedited edition. So far I love it. It talks about how leadership is like rubber bands. When you're leading someone, you want to stretch them taught, challenging them. Too much stretching and they could break, or become un-useful. Too little stretching, keeping them limp, really doesn't allow them to be used for the purposes for which they were created. Basically, we need to challenge those under our care. Exercise them to make them strong and growing toward maturity. Basically, discipleship. I think her analogy is a good one, and the title will attract those in the secular world who wouldn't pick up a "Christian" book on discipleship, but are looking for leadership principles. It's the same in either realm. Good leaders know how to develop those under them and around them. It's like parenting, only you have the time to have a strategy before it's needed, where in parenting you're making decisions on how to handle behaviors by the seat of your pants.

If you're interested in Discipleship, there are a couple of links on this page toward the bottom of my two favorite discipleship books, The Disciplemaker's Handbook and Disciples Are Made, Not Born. The links take you to Amazon.com so you can read more about the books.

I had an opportunity to inject a little discipleship into my daughter yesterday. We went to her school to sign her up for driver's ed. On our way out we ran into her English teacher who said she was an excellent writer and that she hadn't turned in her essay to take AP English next year. (She's getting it done this weekend) On the way out, she told me she didn't do it because she was afraid the essay would be too hard. It was on a punctuation mark. After she heard of other students who had written the essay, and after prodding from her teacher, she decided to o it. On the way to the car, the words, "Never let fear rob you of an opportunity" just popped out of my mouth. I know this was a little too wise for me to come up with and wording I wouldn't normally use, so I take no credit for it. But I repeated it to her to make sure she got it and she did. That just might be a phrase that gets repeated around here. I think of the things that fear could have robbed me of in my life, like going to college to get a degree, getting married, having kids, changing jobs, etc. Don't let fear rob you of an opportunity either. Blessings the beautiful day.

Nuggets #30

An Unstoppable Force by Erwin McManus
Decoding DNA
Just because a person can not read doesn't mean she lacks the capacity to learn. One's present condition is not an indication of potential, but of development. The radical minimal standard that our "heroes" from Acts aspire toward is not intended to be a yoke of burden on our backs, but to inspire us to see who we could be if we allowed God to unleash his potential in us.

Resilient Transformation
The marvel of leading a New Testament community is that the genuine measure of leadership is not simply in the calling out of the extraordinarily gifted and talented. Instead, it is in the creation of an environment where each individual discovers and develops her unique gifts and talents.

On the Job Training
If the three years of Jesus' public ministry were meant to prepare his disciples, then his method of preparation was to send them into the world. The disciples never enjoyed insulation from realities of ministry and the pressures of the world around them. They were training in the context of real life and were expected - from the very first moment - to begin the process of becoming fishers of men.

Already knowing how he would meet the needs of the people, Jesus was determined to push his disciples to a different level of faith, which would result in a different level of living.

Jesus began by establishing a radical minimum standard that would permeate his church long after his ascension to heaven. We must evaluate our own preconceptions and assumptions about what it means to be a Christian.

So, my question to you is, are you being prepared to go out into the world to become fishers of men?

Nuggets #29

An Unstoppable Force by Erwin McManus
Life is Not a Stage
I didn't experience the stage theory of discipleship, a view that the spiritual journey is a series of building blocks or spiritual Legos. You build into a person one aspect of the Christian faith at a time, and if a person follows Christ long enough, then all the elements of spiritual maturity will be finally engaged.

The stage theory approach to discipleship is often doctrinally heavy and spiritually light.

Only after a proper theological foundation has been established do we begin to expect the fruit of ministry to emerge. For most people the extent of this expression relates to faithful attendance at church. If a Christian has a sound theological perspective and is a regular attendee in church life, he or she is perceived as qualified for the highest levels of leadership in most churches. Around these two foundational commitments of sound doctrine and regular attendance, we build another level of commitment: church participation and service.

Tragically, the basics of spiritual formation are seen as expressions of extraordinary Christian maturity. Some people move to an extraordinary level of faith and actually become evangelistic. Some begin to express an unusual connection through prayer. Others seem compelled to extraordinary sacrifice and begin to tithe, and still others receive a unique missionary distinction characterized by their willingness to uproot and go anywhere for the sake of the Gospel. The stage paradigm for Christian discipleship works on an assumption that the core is proper beliefs and the journey is adding on the different components of spiritual life.

The best biblical metaphor for the discipleship process is that new Christians are new babies, not new buildings. To make disciples is not to add a second floor and a third floor and a fourth floor, but to nurture what is already there and allow it to grow naturally.

Newborn babies are disproportionate to their adult shape, with large heads, very small bodies, and tiny fingers and toes. But they have every part they're ever going to have.

It's important to note that discipleship should be a natural process, not a legalistic one. It should be strategic and unique for the disciple maker, taking an inventory of the gifts and makeup of the disciple, and then developing what God has already given that person. They still need every aspect of spiritual maturity, but they were given their spiritual gifts for a purpose and those should be developed. Liken it to someone with a passion for a certain career. They still need to take their general ed courses, but they concentrate on their major.

Nuggets #19

An Unstoppable Force by Erwin McManus
Chapter Nine: Re-Formation

Redefining Church
Many who hear the prophetic call to return and restore the purpose of God for the church are inspired to new levels of obedience and faith. For them, the process of examining every program and expression of the church against the biblical mandate to make disciples of all nations becomes necessary for church health and renewal. Yet for others, this is not true. (For me this is VERY true. It's my passion!)
Known by the Scars
People need to know that the purpose of God burns in your heart, that people not only matter to God but also genuinely matter to you. The people you hope to lead need to see that your life has been reoriented around the very purposes that you advocate.

Yet I was reminded from the encouragement of spiritual men that what's important is not that everything goes right, but that what you're doing is right. If you are to lead God's people in the way of God, then you must prepare yourself for spiritual warfare ahead. If your motivation is the approval of men or being measured as successful in this world, then this journey may not be for you. But if you can live and die on the knowledge that you have given your life for the purpose of God, then you can move to the next step in the process of spiritual re-formation.

I'm going to make my comments in italics from now on, a suggestion from my husband so people know when Erwin stops and I start. Not that anyone would mistake my babble for a genius like Erwin, but I'll do it to make things simple.

So, there's the break between those who do right and those who focus on the outcome. I think this goes back to fear. The other day I wrote about those who wouldn't be caught dead doing something wrong. This is out of fear. But there is so much freedom and peace of mind when you're doing what you know God has mandated in his Word and you leave the desire for the approval of men in the dust. Being a soldier for God is referred to many times in the Bible. I believe that our spiritual walk is often a battle, and our faith, freedom in Christ, and the salvation of others is something to fight for.

Isaiah 41:9-14 (NIV)
"I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, 'You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
All who rage against you
will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
will be as nothing and perish.
Though you search for your enemies,
you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you
will be as nothing at all.
For I am the Lord, you God,
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.
Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob,
O little Israel,
for I myself will help you," declares the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel."

Nuggets #13

An Unstoppable Force by Erwin McManus
(As mentioned yesterday, today we'll look at the six different areas in which you as a leader have a direct impact in the ethos of your congregation.)

Character
The people you serve will be able to summarize who you are in one core idea or one central characteristic. You need to listen carefully to how they describe you. They may describe you as a kind and caring, visionary and courageous, empowering, or something else. Hopefully you will appreciate the description you hear.

When we consider character, we usually think of attributes such as integrity, humility, and trustworthiness. All of these are obviously critical to spiritual leadership. But the kind of character I'm speaking of is more than that. Every leader makes a distinguishing mark, which is the best way to define what we call a character. A character is a distinguishing and defining mark or imprint that communicates something to those who see.

Stories
If your stories are never personal, it will be very difficult for people to embrace a personal faith. People want to know what you're committed to. They want to know how you experience God. They want to know what you know about God, not simply what you've learned. Whatever topic you preach on, the story you choose to tell will reel your heart.

One thing I've noticed over the years is that even when I teach about tithing, I tell a story about evangelism. I love telling stories about people I meet and the conversations we have about God. It doesn't matter to me what the topic is. These stories are always relevant and fit in with the subject. Your stories of faith, your stories of risk, your stories of failure - all these stories shape the ethos of the congregation. Borrowed stories just don't work as well. Stories communicate what really is important and what kind of experiences others in the community should aspire to have.

Experiences
People want to know about your experiences - even the bad ones. They want to know when you've failed; they want to know when you've been disappointed; they want to know what you've struggled through; they want to learn from your life. Genuine ethos cannot be developed without genuine communication.

Reward
Another way leaders shape ethos is by what they reward.
Once when I was a young pastor, I found myself creating an environment in which only those who did the wrong things were receiving my affirmation. They were the people I always spent time with. The more you sinned, the more you disobeyed God, the more of my time I would give you. If you did what you were supposed to do you received very little of my time. I was essentially rewarding disobedience and dysfunction rather than affirming obedience and servanthood. I realized that who I gave my time to demonstrated what was important.

I also began to realize that whenever I affirmed someone through a story, it helped shape the culture. If I told stories of the secret servanthood of members in the body, it inspired everyone else to serve. When I celebrated sacrificial giving by individuals, it inspired others to give sacrificially.

Battles
Everything worthwhile has a cost, and the ethos of a community is worth fighting for. Establishing a value system that honors God and reflects his heart is the most important battle in spiritual leadership. All spiritual leaders must be warrior-poets who lead both through courage and suffering.

Advancement
I believe that the resume-style selection of leadership has detrimentally affected the development of an apostolic ethos in the church. The church overwhelmingly hires from the outside.

It seems abysmal that in a church of ten thousand, you wouldn't be overwhelmed with emerging leadership, and yet these churches tend to hire proven leaders from other congregations. We seem to be better at growing congregations than at developing leaders.

The development of indigenous leadership is critical to creating and shaping ethos. It is also essential in generating first-century church momentum. One reason for this is that when you identify leaders from within, everyone realizes that he or she could be the next leader identified. It gives everyone a sense of inspiration and hope that he or she might be selected and invested in. If you're always hiring from the outside, it becomes a mystery how one every grows to that level of leadership. The obvious conclusion for someone interested in leadership would be that he or she has to leave the church to find a place where that level of leadership could be obtained.

In an organization, leaders must be brought from the outside. In a movement, leaders emerge from within. A genuine movement is a leadership culture. It values the identification, development, and empowering of new leaders. A central component of a movement's success is not the selection of accredited leaders but of proven leadership. Leadership is not about how much education a person has attained but how much they have actually accomplished in a ministry context. In many congregations the only role that members can aspire to is to be a good follower. In the first-century church, there were no other churches to take leaders from. Everybody had to be homegrown.

At the end of each chapter of this book, Erwin gives several questions. I'm going to include a few below for you to ponder.

1. Is your leadership more spiritual or secular? Are you leading from biblical or business principles?

2. Who are the emerging leaders in our community (congregation), and what do we need to do to prepare them for spiritual leadership?

Let's look at number 2 for a minute. How do you determine who the emerging leaders are? What is the criteria? In a future blog, Erwin talks about discipleship. He says there are two types of discipleship: the stage theory or new building metaphor, and the new baby metaphor. In the stage theory, people are taught a proper theological foundation, next a layer of faithful church attendance is added, then they are trusted with serving. Layer upon layer, systematically, to grow an individual to spiritual maturity. The other way is to nurture what is already there in an individual. Just as a new baby has everything they need already, a new believer has everything they will need for their spiritual journey. It just needs developing. Some have an unusual connection through prayer, some are overtly generous, some are willing to pick up and move to another country for the Gospel. Everyone has gifts, we just have to discover and nurture them.

So, how do you identify a future leader and how do you prepare them for spiritual leadership? You spend time with them. You love them where they are and see their potential. You get to know their level of faithfulness. You discover their gifts and passions with them. Woven through this relationship are times when you serve with them, correct them, encourage them, stretch them, teach them, and most of all you show them you trust them.

There is a very wise man in our church. I think of him as the father of our church, having built it with his own hands with a handful of faithful individuals who had a call and a dream. This man knows how to show people he sees their potential in a very surreptitious way. When he began recruiting people for a missions trip to Brazil that he was leading, he walked up to someone he wanted to go on the trip with him and say, "I hear you're joining us on the Brazil trip." In at least one instance the person had never considered going. They hadn't gone on a missions trip before. But just by planting that little seed in their heart, they started to see the possibility of them going, serving, and seeing already the approval in this man's eyes that they were worthy of the challenge. They began to pray, and save, and commit, and train, and they they went. It was like butter to see how smoothly he discipled this team to go all the way to the Amazon for two weeks, build two churches and have several adventures. True, this leader has the gift of discipleship, but anyone can do it. It's amazing how much impact you can have on someone's life when you are willing to pour a little of yourself into them.