What Kind Of Salt Should We Be?

You may or may not be tapped into it, but there’s been a big discussion going on for a while in certain circles about whether a church should be “attractional” or “missional.”

I’m probably not smart enough to know the answer.

But I do know this: every church had better be on a mission, and every church had better be attractive.

Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God. —Phil 1:10-11, Message

Body Parts, Pagans, and Jesus

Heard a fascinating lecture this week on archaeological insights into the Apostle Paul’s time in ancient Corinth. Lots of cool stuff, but one detail really stuck with me.

DISMEMBERED REMEMBRANCE
Corinth’s major medicinal activity happened at a kind of temple/hospital facility called the asklepieion (named after Asklepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing). Archaeological digs have uncovered a very peculiar ritual practiced by the people of Corinth: body part votive offerings.

Here’s the deal: to commemorate their request for healing, suffering people would create or purchase a life-sized clay model of the afflicted body part and leave it as an offering to the gods.

Evidently, this happened a lot.

AN EPIDEMIC OF SUFFERING
According to Princeton’s American School of Classical Studies at Athens, “The accumulated mass of life-sized votive limbs and organs found in the Asklepieion precinct amounted to some ten cubic meters and included examples of almost all parts of the body: legs, feet, arms, hands, ears and eyes, torsos, heads, female breasts and reproductive organs, and male genitalia.”

The professor giving the lecture showed slide after slide of votives like these—piles of arms and hands, ears and vaginas, all intended to elicit the help of someone who didn’t even exist.

How sad. In an age before effective medicine, when a tumor or a bone spur or almost anything else was a lifetime sentence of agony and suffering, hurting people left tangible monuments to their pain—graphic, life-sized depictions of bodily suffering that must have paled in comparison to the spiritual agony they felt daily in a life without God.

“They were saying, ‘I need help,’” the professor said, his voice trailing off now, sad and full of sympathy. “And that’s why Paul went there.”

OUR CORINTH
I couldn’t help thinking of the night Jennifer and I watched the film version of Rent, a play about 8 New Yorkers (among them a stripper, a drag queen, a bisexual, a gay man, and two aids patients) and their (largely unfruitful) search for love and meaning.

We wept.

A few months later, we had sold most of our things, packed the rest, and moved to Brooklyn with the sole purpose of bringing Christ to New York City.

They were saying, “I need help.”

And that’s why we went there.

How God Is Like Joshua Bell

So what happens when you put a world-famous violinist in a subway station, dress him in regular clothes, and have him play during rush hour? Apparently, not much.

A couple of years ago, a Washington Post reporter tried this with concert violinist Joshua Bell. He put Bell in a DC subway and had him play a $3,000,000 Stradivarius as over one thousand people passed him.

Bell made $32.17. $20 of that was from the one person who recognized him.

That happens with extraordinary things, doesn’t it? So often, if they’re not set apart for us somehow, we don’t notice them.

Now, if you were to put Joshua Bell in a tuxedo on stage in Carnegie Hall, it would be different, right? Everyone would say, “Wow. What an incredible performance.” And what would you have done? Dressing him differently and putting him on stage certainly doesn’t increase his talent.

It just glorifies him.

Glorify: (v.) 1. to reveal or make clearer the glory of

This is what we’re called to do with God. We don’t need to add to his talent, we just need to demonstrate it. My life becomes the stage, my love the spotlight.

Because it would be tragic if people in the subway walked by and missed him.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:5-6

Are Gospel Meetings Worth Saving?

So I was asked yesterday to preach a gospel meeting for a church this October.

For those of you not familiar with this breed of event, it’s a series of church services (usually Sunday morning, Sunday night, Monday night, Tuesday night, and Wednesday night) during which a visiting speaker will preach a series of lessons (sometimes tightly themed, but often a kind of “best of” collection from his repertoire).

Growing up, our church always had gospel meetings—one in the Fall, one in the Spring. And the reason, supposedly, was to share the gospel with the lost.

The only problem was, no lost people came.

Usually about 35% of our church’s members showed up, along with five to ten people from other churches in the area. To my knowledge, no one ever came to Christ as a result of the gospel meetings our church held.

For that reason, I’ve since been a little…unenthusiastic about the idea of a church having a gospel meeting. To be frank, it seems outdated and ineffective.

But here’s the thing—I love the idea of getting a bunch of people who need Jesus in a room together and sharing the good news with them in a loving, compelling way. And hey—if a gospel meeting’s the way to do that, I’m all for it.

I’ve just never seen one work that way.

So I’d really like to hear your thoughts on any of the following:

• Is the gospel meeting an effective evangelistic tool in 21st century America?
• If so, what should a church do to pull it off successfully?
  
• If not, is there anything that could take its place as a large-group Christ-sharing environment?

Involvement Minister or Outreach Minister?

Some churches have “involvement ministers.” Others have “outreach ministers.” Either’s great, but here’s my opinion:

Nothing brings people together and gets them involved better than a shared mission that’s bigger than any one of them. And you can’t do outreach without getting people involved.

If the core of your involvement isn’t outreach, something’s wrong. And if you expect outreach to happen without everybody being on board and engaged, you’ll be disappointed.

So…

The best involvement minsters prioritize outreach. And the best outreach ministers prioritize involvement.

Right?

The Coolest Thing Our Church Does

What’s the coolest thing your church does?

Here’s my vote for ours: a couple of weekends ago we completed our second annual Home for the Holidays project at Henderson. Every year, we connect with a local family in need and renovate their home in time for Christmas. It’s a ton of work. And it’s a blast.

The family we helped this year was due for something good to happen to them. Gwen and her husband, Darin, are raising their 18-year-old son and their three grandchildren (8, 5, and 18 months). The kids’ mother is in rehab, and Gwen and Darin haven’t been able to get much help from the extended family (all of whom are white) because the kids are biracial.

Gwen has been doing all of this on her own lately, because Darin’s National Guard unit was deployed to Iraq.

About a month ago, they got behind on the payments on their rental house, were evicted, and came home to find their all their things thrown out in the front lawn.

In the rain.

They found a smaller house with a lower payment, but it was in rough shape. It needed paint, the floors were damaged, the gutters were falling down, and they couldn’t afford to cover the windows with anything other than old sheets.

So we helped out. We painted the entire inside of the house, replaced the floors in the living room, bedrooms, and kitchen, fixed the gutters, redid the cabinets, put blinds on all the windows, landscaped the yard, gave them a Christmas tree, and took care of a few other odds and ends.

And we did it in a weekend.

It’s not Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, but it’s a big transformation. Less “Move that bus!” and more “Move that small pickup!”

Anyway, I’m proud to be connected to the people that made this possible, and we’re all more than happy to share Christ’s love by helping people in need.

Here are some highlights and the reveal for your viewing pleasure:

Three Relationships Every Christian Needs Right Now

Someone I respect a great deal once said that at any given time, every Christian should be developing a relationship with three kinds of people:

1. Someone who’s a stronger/more mature Christian than you
2. Someone who’s a newer Christian than you
3. Someone who’s not yet a Christian

I think this is some of the best advice I’ve ever heard, and here’s why:

A Stronger Christian

Everyone needs a mentor: someone who’s been where you are and is where you want to be. So much perspective and wisdom can be gained from a man or woman or couple who can share stories/insights/advice on life with God. My mentoring relationships have accelerated my spiritual progress in huge ways.

A Newer Christian

Commonly called “discipling” in the religious world, this is something I’ve never seen emphasized in the churches I’ve been a part of. But considering the metaphors used in Scripture to describe new believers, it’s clear this is a phase of their life during which they need focused care and attention. You may not be a spiritual giant or a Bible scholar, but you’re probably further along than most of the newer Christians around you. And they could benefit from your help.

A Pre-Christian

We can do all the door-knocking we want, but until we begin actively investing in intentional relationships with unbelievers, our evangelistic efforts will more often than not fall flat. Jesus spent time with the people who needed him. And if we are his body…

This advice continues to challenge and remind me to seek the blessings others have to offer, and to offer to others the blessings God has given me.

What about you?

If you’ve been (or are being) blessed by being a part of one of the above relationships, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.