Jesus said 'Come follow me'. He calls people to discipleship ... to following. He commissions us to 'Make disciples', i.e. bring others to a maturity whereby they are also following Jesus.
Yet all the while Jesus honoured and respected the God-given free-will that we are given. We can, at any time, simply say 'no thank you' and wander our own way. In fact in some clearly recorded occasions in the gospels thats exactly what people did (e.g. end of John 6).
Ultimately Jesus honoured the gift of free-will to the point of letting people cruelly execute him.
In mission we lead. Whether it is just one person to Jesus-discipleship, a group, a whole church, or even to speak missionally into society, we find ourselves as leaders. Since the direction of our leadership is towards-Jesus, we rightfully hope that all will journey together. We want to take as many with us in that Spirit-led direction as possible.
Yet we are limited, and it is not solely dependent on us. Each person must make their own decision, exercising their free-will. Even if we are leaders gifted with the strongest Christ-like message, we must recognise this fact. Romans 12:18, in its call for living at peace with those around us, reminds us that we can only do that as far as it depends on us - i.e. there are limitations.
The skill of Jesus' mission that we pursue is therefore to call people towards Jesus as best we can, yet simultaneously laying down any sense of coercive power. We must call people to follow Jesus, completely honouring their free-will.
Friday, 30 January 2015
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Moment of Burn
Waiting on God, an openness to the Spirit, a welcoming of the moment of God's choosing. That was the pattern set by Jesus at the beginning of Acts leading to Pentecost and that fantastic moment of burn that set the disciples on their way.
Like a high speed download from God, things suddenly moved forward. From that moment as mission history unfolded there were other Pentecost-esque moments for new believers. Acts 18 and 19 is instructive - it had been possible to know of John the Baptists call to repentance, and even to know the teachings of Jesus, yet still be lacking. A moment of burn was required, their own individual filling of the Spirit.
Why think that it might be any different in our time? Each of us, to move forward, also needs a moment of burn ... enabling forward movement.
In previous posts we have talked about slow burn, and the need to continually burn. Both get started in a God timed and given moment of burn, our own Pentecost.
Like a high speed download from God, things suddenly moved forward. From that moment as mission history unfolded there were other Pentecost-esque moments for new believers. Acts 18 and 19 is instructive - it had been possible to know of John the Baptists call to repentance, and even to know the teachings of Jesus, yet still be lacking. A moment of burn was required, their own individual filling of the Spirit.
Why think that it might be any different in our time? Each of us, to move forward, also needs a moment of burn ... enabling forward movement.
In previous posts we have talked about slow burn, and the need to continually burn. Both get started in a God timed and given moment of burn, our own Pentecost.
Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Continually Burn
'A church exists by mission as a fire exists by burning', a modern theologian once wrote. From the New Testament it is also clear that a Christian continues in that mission by the continual fire of the Spirit at work in their lives (e.g. Rom 12:11).
That fire of the Spirit, the ongoing experience of God keeping us ablaze, infectiously affects those around us. It drives us out to the last, the least the lost against the odds. That fire of the Spirit enables lives to be touched and transformed, to join in too when likewise on fire for the Lord.
We must never let flame of God's work sizzle out, or worse replace it by institution. Yes we will build structures to attempt to manage the various people in discipleship, worship and mission ... but the real ongoing force will be the work of the Spirit individual by individual.
Wesley wrote of the Methodist movement: 'My fear is not that our great movement will eventually cease to exist, but that our people will become content to live without the fire (of the Spirit)'.
Let us continually burn ... keeping in mind that institutions must ultimately come second place to that need for the ongoing work of the Spirit in each of us. No fire, no mission, no church!
That fire of the Spirit, the ongoing experience of God keeping us ablaze, infectiously affects those around us. It drives us out to the last, the least the lost against the odds. That fire of the Spirit enables lives to be touched and transformed, to join in too when likewise on fire for the Lord.
We must never let flame of God's work sizzle out, or worse replace it by institution. Yes we will build structures to attempt to manage the various people in discipleship, worship and mission ... but the real ongoing force will be the work of the Spirit individual by individual.
Wesley wrote of the Methodist movement: 'My fear is not that our great movement will eventually cease to exist, but that our people will become content to live without the fire (of the Spirit)'.
Let us continually burn ... keeping in mind that institutions must ultimately come second place to that need for the ongoing work of the Spirit in each of us. No fire, no mission, no church!
Wednesday, 3 December 2014
Slow Burn
Everything in society now wants to be a super speed, with no waiting or latency. It affects our own life and expectations, it affects the way we do church, it affects our understanding of God's mission.
Yet leadership is best done through relationship and shared values ... and this needs time. There is rarely a high speed download option for this kind of stuff - it is typically learnt through the ongoing university of life. Of course there are different universities to choose from - we need to repeated choose the University of Spirit-filled life, founded by God, where Jesus Christ is the Principal.
The Godly influence we have is therefore generally a slow burn process, permeating what we do, how we structure, and what we attempt. I was struck by the leadership book 'The Tortoise Usually Wins' by Harris who covers this subject more thoroughly.
Bible commentators reckon Jesus took about three years to prepare the way for Kingdom/Spirit age that he inaugurated, yet technically he could have covered the journeys/events recorded in the gospels in just a matter of weeks. In those three years he forged relationships; characters that could then carry the scripture-understanding download that he gave late on, and the Pentecost experience that would follow.
21st Century Mission needs to be open to God's high speed download for when He chooses to give it, but must also realise the appropriate place of slow burn too.
Yet leadership is best done through relationship and shared values ... and this needs time. There is rarely a high speed download option for this kind of stuff - it is typically learnt through the ongoing university of life. Of course there are different universities to choose from - we need to repeated choose the University of Spirit-filled life, founded by God, where Jesus Christ is the Principal.
The Godly influence we have is therefore generally a slow burn process, permeating what we do, how we structure, and what we attempt. I was struck by the leadership book 'The Tortoise Usually Wins' by Harris who covers this subject more thoroughly.
Bible commentators reckon Jesus took about three years to prepare the way for Kingdom/Spirit age that he inaugurated, yet technically he could have covered the journeys/events recorded in the gospels in just a matter of weeks. In those three years he forged relationships; characters that could then carry the scripture-understanding download that he gave late on, and the Pentecost experience that would follow.
21st Century Mission needs to be open to God's high speed download for when He chooses to give it, but must also realise the appropriate place of slow burn too.
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