In between chapter devotional and Bible reading week 12, day 5

Today is an in between chapter devotional and actually just some of my thoughts after having Ron Mangin here over the weekend.  We will pick up Ecclesiastes chapter 11 on Monday.

I was able to hear Ron on Sunday morning along with all of you.  I then was able to go to Ottawa at noon and sit in on the 1st Presbyterian Church's "future cast" team and listen in on another group of committed Christians talk about the outreach of their church with Ron.  Then I was back to OUC for the 5 p.m. seminar with our church, those that gathered to hear more about evangelism/discipleship in the life of the church in the 21st century.  We had Ron over for dinner following the conversation continued.  Then next morning, Monday, I was with him to meet with any of the area pastors here that I have been meeting with.  Bill Jacobsen was the only to accept the invitation but I got to observe Ron in a situation when only one came.  That time was followed with a monthly cohort meeting with Ron in Ottawa at noon as we continued the conversation with another set of pastors who struggle to introduce the relationship aspect of the church to the outside world while the set in place religious activities are happening inside the church.  I say all of that because it saturated my mind with thoughts of what is my next step.

No one comes to faith in Christ without a relationship first to Him and Him alone but then there is the messenger of the gospel.  Our relationship with those around us has to be an intentional Christian relationship.  That might not come out in the first meeting but this monumental truth in your life that Jesus is Lord should not be hidden because it is the core of who you are.  

Some questions came up over this time and here are some of them.

• "Do I really want them to know about Jesus?"

• "Do I pray for those opportunities before a prescribed meeting with them or as I see them approaching?"

• "Is the church calendar too full for the people of God to build those relationships outside the church?"

• "Will it be perceived as more 'free time' or really taken as time to take the witness of Christ to the ball field, hockey rink, school board meeting, bowling league, etc.?"

• "What would it take to shift our focus from an almost exclusive 'come to us' to a balance of being a place to come to here about Jesus because they have seen Jesus in us in our involvements in where they are?"

• "Was this another evangelism/discipleship weekend or course that I have taken that I will put on the shelf and be pleased that I completed it or will it take hold in my life?"

A minister walked into a room filled with tables surrounded about with people of his town.  It was after a disaster had hit his town.  He stood in the center of the room and waited for someone to come up and talk with him.  The sad thing is that no one moved from their tables to welcome him to a spot at their table.  The minister was upset about this.  "Don't they know who I am?  Don't they know that I can help them?"  The problem was that he didn't move.  He didn't approach those tables of people.  He stood there waiting for the people to come to him instead of intersecting the lives of the people of his town.  

I think the minister gave a picture of how the church acts.  We are in the center of town and we get upset at times that people are not coming up to us.  Some in our town don't even know where we are located.  We put on events at the church and promote them heavily but the result is nothing like we imagined.  Sometimes we don't make a concerted and committed effort to move toward them with the witness that is within us.  We are waiting for them to make a move when the Great Commission tells us to go or as we are already going to make disciples.  I think the reality of this means a shift in the energy we put toward promoting things at the church to promoting ourselves as the church amongst the community God has placed us.

What number is more important?  The number that attend on a Sunday morning gathering or a special event promoted by us or how many of our people are building intentional relationships with others as maybe their only Christian acquaintance or friend?  What do we put more energy, training, and resources into to?  A critical look at the church calendar and budget probably would be a good start to display our practices over the idealism of our mission.  These are all things that I have been grappling over and thinking about after this weekend with Ron and also the 10 months of being in a cohort with other pastors.

I realize it has to start with me.  It has to start with me making intentional relationships outside the wonderful relationships I have with my brothers and sisters in Christ at OUC.  It means walking across the street more to my neighbors.  It means inviting out and inviting in people for a meal and to let them see me as a Christian first and foremost.  It means me approaching what God puts me in as being there for Him.  And because I am the pastor of the church, it means I need to go from doing this myself to backing it up with teaching to you as essential for someone who calls themselves a follower of Jesus Christ.  Even though my "preaching" throughout the week with my life should be a reflection of what I preach on a Sunday morning or church gathering, I need to take those formal preaching times to push us to do as the Lord says to do.  

We covered not to long along on a Sunday morning the phrase said by Jesus in Luke 6:46, which says,

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do the things I say?"

Jesus had just got done talking about loving not each other but loving even our enemies.  He was speaking about being radically in love with them even when they lash back in opposition.  He was talking about leaving the center of the room and approaching the tables as He did.  Why don't we do that more or as the central part evangelism/discipleship push of the church?  Why do we put so much effort in the "come to us and see" model rather than the "go to them and be" model?  

I don't want to put this weekend on the shelf.  I want it to change us to be a group that does what Jesus says.  I guess all these thoughts means that there is more to come so stay tuned.

As always, feedback is great via email, phone, or personal contact.

Your pastor - Adam.