“Therefore Go, and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19)
Just over a month ago I was so blessed to baptize 4 teenagers in a friends swimming pool. Since then they have started coming on Wednesday nights to the simple church held in my wife Nancy and my home. As they were new in their faith, we shared simple times of worship with them they entered into for the first time. We share the Lord’s Supper every week and they shared in that for the first time. We all say the Lord’s Prayer together as [part of the Lord’s Supper/. The teenagers just looked at each other as the rest of us recited it by heart. I was convicted in my assumption that everyone knows the Lord’s Prayer. They are new to the faith, my mistake. So next week I provided it to them to read along with us. Last week I taught them on prayer and it’s necessity as the life breath of a Christian. I led our group through an hour time of prayer. For the teens it was their first time in a long block of prayer.
Last night our simple church met at our house again, however we did not meet inside. I did a short teaching on prayer walking, we circled up and prayed in our front yard, then we divided up into groups and headed off in different directions to prayer walk our neighborhood. I was so proud of these teens! They were only baptized a month ago, yet they took up their mantle of authority they received in their baptism and went out into the streets to pray over and with their neighbors. They stopped and asked to pray with people out walking, in their front yards, and working in their garages. They prayed over houses and various know situations of neighbors. We prayer walked for an hour then all met up back at my house to share meal, the Lord’s Supper, and discuss their experience. I told them how proud I was of them! That they are new to the faith so they do not know how huge what they just did was compared to allot of Christians in the church. I told them how I pastored churches where many members had been baptized 20, 30, 40 or more years ago, have been Christians decades longer than they were, yet when I suggested we leave the church and go out in the streets and prayer walk and pray over our neighbors, they would not do it and looked at me like I was crazy. These teens just weeks into thier faith embraced a high level of obedience as disciples of Jesus. During our meal together they asked if we could go prayer walk their school sometime? I said absolutely!
After our gathering two of the teens came up to me and asked me if they could lead the group in the Lord’s Supper next week. I again said absolutely! And I gave them both print outs of the service to read over this week to prepare for leading next week. Praise God!
See, the goal of our missional life is not to grow churches. The goal of the church is to grow missionaries. The goal of the gospel is not to get people to church. The result of the gospel is that people will find each other and gather because of the deep meaning of a common experience. This is why I myself and I advocate other church planters not to start the church by launching a church service. Instead, I advocate that they launch people out with the Gospel and add the gatherings as needed. The challenge for a church is to sensitively "not provide" things at the gathering that you want people to experience in the world, and slowly reestablish the meaning behind weekly church service. Maybe, it should not be called a "service." That communicates, " You come here to get what you need." The key is to not let your gathering become something more than it is supposed to be, not let people depend on the gathering for things it wasn't supposed to provide in the first place.
I am reflecting on this simply to encourage you to think outside the box. To see church as a movement throughout your day instead of a location on one given day. But be prepared that if you pray for God to lead you to minister outside the box, he will honor that and show you what real out of the box faith, worship, and grace looks like. It is challenging me right now. I pray you are now or will come to the place it challenges you as well.
My family, we are all members of The Church. We are all part of the movement of God. We are all missionaries. The definition I use of a missionary is; “someone who is willing to sacrifice everything except the Gospel, for the sake of the Gospel.” I pray you will pray to the Holy Spirit and ask Him for guidance, then reflect throughout today on these questions:
Is your church life based on movement or a location?
How are you participating in the movement of God?
Where is church as the movement of God happening around you?
Where is God calling you to enter into his movement?
Please post your reflections as a comment below.
Also please connect with me as I would love to help, train, and walk with you, your small group, your church, in becoming movement.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel and Make Disciples!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community.. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. I would also love to help you start a simple church in your home. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
