Author: Craig

No Customers in Church.

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No customers in church.

4As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4-5

When Peter considered the church under pressure he knew there were no customers in church. The followers of Jesus might experience the rejection of people, but they could also expect in the fellowship of the church to experience the delight and value of God. Peter sees God as a master builder, fitting the fellowship of Jesus’ followers into a healing community, “a holy priesthood.” In this kind of community lives are shaped by the Gospel and enlivened by the Holy Spirit to live sacrificially and responsively in all their occupations in the pleasure of Jesus Christ.

Churches come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and cultures. Churches create their own weather patterns. But here’s the deal, wherever you are as a follower of Jesus it is the Lord’s will that you would be fitted and built into the lives of other followers of Jesus for the mutual benefit of this “house” and its community.

The customer mindset makes church about me. That’s really anti-church. Church is not about what I can take from the “church.” But its easy to settle for spiritual consumption and suck the life out of church as Jesus envisioned us.

Continually we must ask the Lord to renew our vision of what we can be as His church together.

The delight of being His by His will.

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“But to all who did receive, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12-13

It is possible to convince ourselves that we do not need to be loved, to be chosen, to be cared for. It is a lie. This lie is fueled by the illusion of our achievement and the illusion of our domination of the forces of nature. But like all illusions they are ultimately confronted with death.

John was convinced that what God did through Jesus at the Cross actually breathed life into people who would receive Jesus Christ as Lord. Not an illusion. But an actual reality giving birth to people as children of God, with the rights and responsibilities of children of God. All accomplished by His will.

Not by force. We do not become lovable by our own force. We are lovable by God’s will.

The Gospel brings us into the joy of new birth by God’s grace.

All that you study.

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All that you study

16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Colossians 1:16-20

All that we study has its roots in the creative work of God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all engaged in Creation. All that we study, macro and micro, has had the creative imprint of Jesus in it. Much of what we study has been infected with the ripples of the Great Catastrophe. However, the redemption of all things and our relationships for the glory of God, is the work of Jesus and His church. So our study, so our work, must be saturated with this awareness: all that we study has its origin in Christ.

“All things were create through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church.”

Observable

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Observable

Christian leadership, specifically discipleship, is meant to be done in such a way that our life in the grace of Jesus is meant to be observable. Jesus had a circle of friends who could observe his life. Paul had a circle of friends who could observe his life. These were invited in and challenged. Timothy while in Ephesus received a letter from Paul in which Paul challenges him to pursue this pattern of life:

12Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 16Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:12-16

Is your progress observable? By anyone? What adjustments would be required in your life for at least a few others to see your progress and journey with you?

This is the disciple-makers challenge!

The Source of All that We Admire in Christ Jesus

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When Jesus entered into our relationships, taking on flesh, He continued to live int he communion of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Living in the midst of our brokenness Jesus was subjected to the same temptations we are. Yet He did not sin. Why not? He lived loved. He lived fully in the reality of His Father’s love for Him. Check out what happened at Jesus’ baptism:

21Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:21-22

Jesus spoke of His communion with the Father and the Spirit. In John 5 Jesus connects even the authority of what He did to the reality of being loved by the Father.

19So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
John 5:19-20

Live loved.