GCM Collective

Yesterday I went to a gathering in Philadelphia for something called a GCM (Gospel, Community, Mission) collective.  It's basically a cluster of pastors and church leaders from a particular region that have some similar convictions on how gospel, community and mission shape the life of the Church.  The goals are mutual encouragement, equipping, and multiplication. 

Since I don't have many relationships with other like-minded pastors in the area, I thought it was worth exploring, and I was encouraged by our time together.  Our plan is to meet on a bi-monthly basis. 

You can read more about GCM here; below are some distinctives that unite those involved with GCM:

GCM Collective Distinctives

GOSPEL COMMUNITIES LIVING ON MISSION IS THE PRIMARY ORGANIZING STRUCTURE OF THE CHURCH

The gospel is central to everything
 The gospel is not simply the means by which we are converted–it is the good news of redemption through Jesus Christ that reconciles us to God and adopts us into his family. It transforms our hearts, shapes our ethics, pastors our souls and changes our behavior. It creates the Christian community and defines its purpose. The gospel is the word we speak to bring unbelievers to faith and to bring believers to maturity. The Christian community is created by the gospel for the gospel. 

Community is the primary apologetic of the gospel
Because the Christian community is created by the gospel it is the place where the gospel can be seen and understood. The reign of God is a reign of life, justice, peace, blessing and freedom. But the good news that God is king is not heard as good news by a world that has chosen self-rule. The people of God therefore are to so live under the reign of God that the world sees that God is good and his reign is good news. We explain and commend the gospel through our lives and especially through our life together in Christian community.

Community is missional and mission is communal
The Christian community is created by the gospel for the gospel. So its defining purpose is to glorify Christ by proclaiming and demonstrating the gospel to a needy world. Christian community cannot be introspective. It is always seeking to bless its neighborhood and proclaim Christ to a lost world. Because the Christian community is an apologetic of the gospel, mission should normally not be a lone activity. Wherever possible we want to do mission together and introduce unbelievers to the Christian community.

We share our lives as extended family
The church is the community created by the gospel, so Christians are not individuals who gather for meetings, but members of God’s family. Our identity is communal. We make decisions with regard to the implications for the church, and we make significant decisions in consultation with the church. We should share our lives together as a family. We spend time with one another, care for one another, exhort one another with the gospel, pray with one another and take the initiative to resolve conflict, all the time inviting unbelievers to participate in this common life. In a broken world we offer a place of belonging. Church life is family life.

All believers exercise gospel ministry
Mission should be communal. Gospel ministry is not the preserve of a professional elite or people in full-time ministry. It belongs to all God’s people. We are all given the privilege and responsibility of mission. We are all missionaries. We are not all called to be the same–our different gifts and personalities compliment one another as we share together in the exciting privilege of mission. We need one another. The role of leaders is not to do gospel ministry on behalf of others, but to prepare God’s people for gospel ministry.

Discipleship, shepherding and leadership development happens in community on mission
The Christian community is the primary, God-given context for pastoral care and leadership development. In the Christian community the gospel not only informs the head, but also transforms the heart. The gospel is not only learned, but also lived. We learn about gospel ministry by doing gospel ministry. The idols of our hearts are revealed not in a therapist’s office, nor in a classroom, but in the context of shared lives. And in the context of a shared life we daily apply the gospel to one another’s hearts and lives. 

The goal of teaching and preaching is gospel transformation that equips for ministry
Good Bible teaching and preaching should capture and recapture our affections for Christ. Our goal is not simply to have good Bible teaching, but for the Bible to shape people’s hearts and lives. We want to be doers of the word as well as hearers of the word. The frontline of gospel ministry is not a sermon when the church gathers; it is the lives and words of the people of God throughout the week. Bible teaching, when the church gathers together matters, but it matters because it prepares God’s people for frontline gospel ministry throughout the week. This is to be the goal and measure of our teaching and preaching.

The Gospel Assumed, or Explicit?

The title of Chandler's book originated in a blog post by Josh Patterson, one of the pastors at the Village Church.  It's worth reading it's entirety:

Is the gospel assumed in your relationships? Or, is the gospel explicit? I have been thinking about this distinction for a few days now. Those who live life under the banner of an assumed gospel simply navigate the waters of life with an underlying foundation that is personal and meaningful. An assumed gospel often means that a person deeply values the gospel and tries to live life according to the gospel.

 The issue with an assumed gospel is that it is often too personal and, therefore, becomes private. The person who lives under the assumption of the gospel often knows how it relates to their life, but nobody else does. Their kids never see how the gospel affects decisions, arguments, finances, etc. Their neighbors never hear of the hope within. Their co-workers are left to wonder about what makes them different. Those who live under the assumed gospel often find it awkward to bring it up and talk about the work of Christ. Why? Because they never bring it up and learn to articulate the implications of Christ's work and their life.

On the contrary, those who are explicit about the gospel in their relationships have a different effect. By living out the gospel and speaking about the gospel and working through the gospel (verbally), they are helping to connect the dots for those around them. Their kids hear how the gospel relates to the family finances or time or relationships or arguments. Their neighbors hear about the hope within. Co-workers are privy to the reality that this person is not simply a moral guy/girl, but one who is forgiven and transformed by the death and resurrection of Christ.

I want to encourage you to begin, and with some of you, continue to make the gospel explicit in your relationships. Don't waste life by living an assumed gospel; rather, flesh it out and connect the dots for yourself and those around you. Talk with your spouse about how Christ's Person and work relates to everything. Pass this on to your kids. Mention Christ. Talk about Christ. Point to Christ. Relate to Christ. Oftentimes where the gospel is assumed, it is quickly lost.

Don't Waste Your Sirens

I've had this same thought before regarding sirens, and was grateful for the reminder from Jonathan Parnell at the Desiring God blog:

We hear sirens all the time. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the day, at some point, we hear the sound of an ambulance or fire truck or police car. What do you think when you hear them?

We have become so accustomed to the sound that we typically ignore it. We go about our activities uninterrupted. But wait, that sound means something! It means that there is an emergency. Someone is in need, and that’s not something to ignore.

Sirens come into our day loaded with significance. Whether they are heard faintly in the distance or close enough to disturb our ears, they come into our day as an invitation to get out of our bubble of self and remember that there are 6.8 billion people in the world. They invite us to remember that the world is in need and that opportunities are emerging everywhere for God to glorify his name and make his goodness known.

Next time there is the sound of a siren, we don’t want to waste it. Would you consider a simple prayer for the person in need? Would you pray for the driver and team who are rushing to help? Would you pray that Jesus be embraced and that God be glorified, somehow at some point? And would you pray that the day be hastened when the sound of sirens will be no more?

It works in the country too...

Tim Keller:

No better way to show the city who God is than to serve neighbors whether they believe like you or not.

Soldiers for Christ

A guest post from Scott Leary:

I was channel surfing this week when I stumbled upon the Military Channel. I have not served in the military and probably never will. But the show that was on intrigued me. It was a documentary on the Navy Seals and the training they endure called BUD/S. BUD/S (Which stands for Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) is a 6-month SEAL training course held at the Naval Special Warfare Training Center in Coronado, CA. The Navy Seal website states in reference to BUD/S, “There will be an exceptional few with burning desire who persevere when their bodies are screaming to quit, yet continue on. These men experience a tremendous sense of pride, achievement, brotherhood and a new self-awareness that, “I can do anything!!”

As I watched this show, I watched the 20 yr olds unite as brothers. They willed each other through incredible pain and hardship. It was all in preparation for battle which some, if not all of them may see for our country. This reminded me of another battle out there. The battle is for salvation of the lost. This battle is fought by those who serve Jesus and further his mission through his Church. Paul tells a young pastor Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1-4 :

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

I want to make two points for you today. One is that Paul warned Timothy of hardship and suffering in verse 3. Faithfulness to God and his truth will include hardship. It is inevitable. Paul wanted Timothy to know that. Soldiers suffer hardship as I saw from watching the Navy Seals train. Seals are faithful and train themselves for a mission just as believers in Jesus do. Jesus is our commanding officer in military terms. We ought to have a burning desire to see him glorified and worshipped even though that may mean that we suffer hardship to that end.

However Paul did not leave Timothy on that note. Lets go a little deeper. Secondly, Paul also told him in verse 3 to “Share in suffering as a soldier.” Soldiers never fight alone. They never leave their comrades behind. The Greek word in this verse means to suffer hardship with someone. The Christian faith must be lived out in community with others. We must share our very lives with other Christians and non-Christians, old, young, married, single, child, teenager, believer, unbeliever. It does not matter. Our aim is to bring others to Christ and the way we do that is through community and the sharing of God’s word.

So I hope we learn through Paul that soldiers of Jesus Christ will experience hardship but through God’s grace and the joy of being in Community, we can all endure.

Good advice for reading a book...and for dealing with people

Mortimer Adler, in his book How to Read a Book:

"Do not say you agree, disagree, or suspend judgment until you can say, 'I understand.'"

What I wanted to say Sunday...but didn't

There was something I wanted to say this past Sunday in my sermon, but because it was tangential to my main point I decided not to say it. It was in my notes, but when I got to it in the sermon, I passed over it.

The Apostle Paul had come to Jerusalem and taken four Jews into the temple to perform a purification ritual. Some Jews from Asia came and stirred up the city against Paul, saying that he had brought a Gentile into the temple (which was strictly forbidden). Luke writes,

29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. (Acts 21:29)

Here's what I wanted to say:

The problem with these folks from Asia is that they supposed something that hadn't actually happened. They saw Paul with Trophimus. They saw Paul in the temple. So they assumed that Paul had brought Trophimus into the temple. But it didn't happen. Their anger against Paul was rooted in an assumption which wasn't true.

There's a valuable warning here: beware of assuming the worst about a person's actions or motives without first making sure you've gotten the facts straight from that person. I wonder how much strife in the Church could be avoided if, instead of assuming what person X did or said or feels or believes, we actually went to that person and asked them about the situation rather than assuming things about their actions and intentions?

I think Christ's church might reflect our Savior a lot more if we took that simple step of communication. Don't assume the worst about a person; assume the best, until you're proven wrong.

Healing power for prejudice

At the beginning of the day's morning prayers, traditional Jewish men pray:

Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has not created me a woman, a Gentile, or a slave.

Saul of Tarsus probably would have learned this prayer as a boy, and prayed it regularly. Yet in Acts 16 we see him ministering to a woman (Lydia), a slave (the servant girl whose owners used her fortune-telling to gain great wealth for themselves), and a Gentile (the Philippians jailer).

The Gospel had broken his prejudice; he later wrote in Galatians 3:28:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

That's a mighty Gospel!

A twisted kind of pleasure

A classic example of the kind of thing I wrote about yesterday, quoting C.S. Lewis on the dehumanization of our enemies:

As news reports surface that Governor Mark Sanford, a Republican from South Carolina who supposedly was a potential candidate for President in 2012, has been guilty of an adulterous affair, one high-school classmate writes on his facebook page:

"Another GOP candidate bites the dust!! 2012 is almost shaping up to be too easy!"

There is something very sad about rejoicing in the heartache and sorrow that a family is experiencing, simply because it advances your own political interests.

I think C.S. Lewis was right; this has to be a symptom of living in a world of pure hatred.

Talk TO people, not ABOUT people

John Piper, commenting on Luke 18:9, "He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt...":

It may seem minor at first, but notice that it says that Jesus told this parable TO some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous. It does not say he spoke this parable ABOUT them. Jesus was looking the Pharisees in the eye and telling them a parable that implied that they were self-righteous. He was not talking about them but to them.

Though it may seem minor, it contains a lesson that is huge for the health of our church. Let’s be like this. Let’s not talk to others about people’s faults. Let’s talk to them about their faults. It is easy—and far too tasty on the tongue of our sinful souls—to talk about people. But it is hard—and often tastes bitter—to talk to them. When you are talking about them, they can’t correct you or turn the tables and make you the problem. But if you talk to them about a problem, it can be very painful. So it feels safer to talk about people rather than talking to them.

But Jesus does not call us to make safe choices. He calls us to make loving choices. In the short run, love is often more painful than self-protecting conflict-avoidance. But in the long run, our consciences condemn us for this easy path and we do little good for others. So let’s be more like Jesus in this case and not talk about people, but talk to them, both with words of encouragement, because of the evidences of grace we see in their lives, and with words of caution or warning or correction or even rebuke. Paul urged us to use the full range of words for the full range of needs: “Admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all” (1 Thessalonians 5:14).

It's Not Exactly the Empty Tomb, But....

I woke up this morning and the main page of espn.com had this picture:

The headline below the photo read:

Hear 'Em Roar

Penn State beat No. 23 Illinois 64-63 on Thursday night. Was it the win that puts the Nittany Lions into their first Dance since 2001?

This is not exactly as miraculous as the empty tomb, but it is pretty amazing nevertheless. And as I read the report of the game and thought about the Nittany Lions possibly going to the Dance, I had a deep feeling of satisfaction. I was pretty excited when the Phillies won the World Series a few months ago, but this was a much different kind of excitement (not necessarily better, just different).

Since graduating from PSU in 2000, I haven't followed the hoops team too closely. I always know how they are doing (mostly bad), but today I could only tell you the names of two or three players on the team that won last night. Still, I found satisfaction in watching them get some national recognition last night.

As I thought about this, I was reminded of a definition of community that I came across a few weeks ago as I was preparing a sermon on Acts 2:37-47. 'A community is a group of individuals who have been bonded into a body through an intense common experience.'

I think that explains the depth of excitement in seeing PSU hoops get a little positive recognition for a change. For five years of my life, I spent 6-7 months of 40 hour weeks working for the Penn State basketball program, in hopes that some day the words 'Penn State basketball' might mean something beyond the walls of our locker room. All those hours shared by the young men who came before me and after me (players, coaches, managers, etc.) has knit us together in such a way that I still rejoice in their successes, even though I don't know most of the people involved anymore. I was (and am) a part of the community that is Penn State basketball.

And this makes me very excited to see the deep bonds that form among the people who I am now working with as we lead and serve the church that I am privileged to work for. Long hours working for a college basketball team can be a somewhat intense experience, but laboring to see a church become all that it can be for the sake of the Gospel of Christ is an experience far more intense. And I am exceedingly grateful to be cultivating a bond with the men I am now working with, a bond that will endure throughout eternity.

When things get difficult at the church (which inevitably happens even in the best churches), I will look back on today's basketball enthusiasm and hopefully be reminded that all the hard work for Christ's church will eventually produce a bond of love with those who I've worked with that far surpasses what any sporting event can give.

Now let's hope the Nittany Lions done't blow it tomorrow afternoon!