what shall we build?

I want to build a great church. Through the years I have heard church leaders make that statement repeatedly. If you were to rewind the words I have spoken and play them back again, most likely you would hear me say them at some point in time.


While I am not sure that there is anything inherently wrong with these words, they usually point to an underlying issue that is a problem. Jesus said the He would build His church and by implication that work probably extends to us as well. However nowhere in scripture do we see that our focus is to be “building the church”.

The problem occurs when the church (or perhaps something posing as the Church) becomes more important than people. Jesus, at the point of His ascension, instructed the disciples to go into the world and make disciples. Paul told the saints in Galatia that he labored until Christ be formed in them.

I cannot speak for other church leaders. For me however, the intent of building a great church had less to do with people and more to do with building a great system of programs, services and facilities. It had to do with the desire to be cool and cutting edge. When I place this paradigm against the template of scripture, I find a great deal of discordance between the two.

Without a doubt I am involved in building the Church today. However my focus has changed from being toward a structure and a system to being toward building people. The primary fruit of Jesus’ ministry with people was not the evolution of a great healing ministry complete with conferences and programs. No, the fruit of Jesus ministry primarily manifested in the lives of 11 diverse followers in whom He poured His life.

We build the Church as we make disciples. We build the Church as we labor until Christ is formed in people. Both endeavors require us to leave our elevated platform and pulpit to interact deeply with the lives of people. We will be pricked by the rough edges of life; pummeled by the raw emotion of wounded people. Our neatly constructed theology will fall woefully short in our efforts to make disciples.

The time has come for us to focus less on building a church and more on building people!

dairy farmers, truth, and success

Recently Dave (a client) and I had a conversation about a mutual friend, a young dairyman. Dave was concerned about Kenny’s well-being. In the conversation, the topic of honesty came up. It’s not that Kenny is dishonest; he simply does not always give the whole story. I think it is because he fears exposure, that people will see that things are not well. Unfortunately, Kenny’s refusal to honestly acknowledge the gravity of the situation makes it difficult to help him succeed.


There is a principle that I have observed over the years as I have worked with people. Until we fully acknowledge “what is” we will never really succeed in the desired endeavor. I cannot help dairymen who do not give me all the facts about their situation. The same is true in the church world. Until we embrace God’s reality about our situation, we can never truly experience freedom and life.

The chief reason that we do not embrace the truth is that we fear that the truth will cause us to be seen in a poor light. Instead of freely admitting “what is”, we attempt to present an illusion. We strive to save our life and in so doing, we lose it. (Jesus mentioned this truth!) Whatever we attempt to hide becomes our master. It is not until we choose to “lose our life” that we find it.

Will Kenny survive and thrive in this unsettled time in the dairy industry? That will depend largely on whether he quits trying to present an illusion. Each of us faces the same choice. Will we admit to “what is” and begin the pathway to wholeness and success or will we continue to choose deception that leads to destruction?

more thoughts on truth

For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”


These words of Jesus continue to grip me. For the past 7-8 years I have been on a pursuit of understanding how God works and the laws He set up that order creation. In 2002, He clearly spoke to my heart that He would teach me about Himself from creation if I would be willing to learn. I am amazed how the "logos" and what I am learning from creation point to the nature of God in harmony.

Back to truth...Jesus speaks of the correlation between truth and exposure (light), between evil and secrecy (darkness). I have observed the same correlation in humanity as well. Whatever issue we feel we have to keep hidden in the darkness will also keep us in bondage. The greater the fear of discovery, the greater the bondage. Our secrets control us, deeply affecting every realm of our life. Unfortunately, that bondage sets us up to become even more susceptible to evil and self-destruction.

Ever since Adam's sin, we have followed his pattern of cover-up and hiding. Herein lies deception. We assume we can keep things hidden. However, God will come in the cool of the day; God will call out to us, not because He does not know where we are hiding, but because He desires us to step into the light of truth.

While darkness and bondage go hand in hand, the opposite side of this truth is true as well. Living in the light of truth brings a great deal of freedom. Living in the light feels dangerous to the self-god. However, if we courageously step into the life (taking up our cross) we will discover freedom from bondage. The truth does set us free!    

If we live in the truth, we have no need of a defense. If we do not live in the truth, we have no defense.    

thoughts about truth

I have been reflecting on the issue of truth a good deal lately. Recently I read the words of Jesus - For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”


The power of truth becomes evident when it is lived. Notice that Jesus tells us that people who do the truth have no problem having their deeds exposed. While knowing truth is important, simply knowing the truth does not translate into power. The truth can be inconvenient at times. To know the truth always requires a choice – will we live according to the truth or will we live according to our desired perceptions? Will we do the truth?

Several weeks ago I heard the following statement on a sports talk show. “When it comes to truth versus gossip, truth never stands a chance.” I have discovered the statement to be true. Gossip is always more attractive than truth. As most of you know, there is a steady stream of innuendo, rumor, and falsehood that surrounds Bev and me. One day she asked me in exasperation “Why don’t people simply ask us if things are true?” The answer to that question lies in the fact that for sin-warped humanity, it is easier to believe a lie than it is to deal with the inconvenience of the pursuit of truth.

I have repeatedly seen the connection between truth and living in the place of light and exposure to which Jesus refers in the words above. Through the years I have discovered that Christians are very good at drive-by criticism. They drive up, unload their criticism, and then quickly speed off before the criticism can be placed under the light of truth. I believe they instinctively know that their criticism is not rooted in truth but in falsehood. Therefore there can be no dialogue lest the truth would be exposed.

Truth not only has no fear of exposure, it welcomes it. Truth has no need to be hidden or covered; it stands on its own merits. When things are done in secret, it reveals the source of the actions. Over the past number of years, several church leaders have repeatedly told people that I am deceived. I contacted them to hear their concerns, where they thought I might be deceived. To a person, they all refused to dialogue about my supposed deception. Their unwillingness to bring their concerns to the light reveals the source of the accusations.

While truth will set us free, it will also cause us a good deal of discomfort at times. Embrace the discomfort; allow the truth to transform your actions. It is incredibly freeing to have no fear of the light, to welcome the exposure.

life around the fire

I moved the fire ring last weekend at our lake house in NY. As the project nears completion, some things have to be done to facilitate this new phase. Where the camper and the fire ring had been is now used for parking. I moved the stones from our fire pit to their new location on the grass. As I cleaned up the ashes, I began to think about all the wood that had been burned there.

My mind turned from the wood to all the life that was lived around those fires. Dreams were shared, stories were told and re-told. There were a few tears that fell as pain and frustration were expressed. And there was laughter, lots of laughter. Countless cups of late evening coffee where shared together around the dancing fires. Multitudes of hot dogs were roasted on wooden sticks held over the coals. And yes…a few hot dogs fell into the fire as the sticks succumbed to the heat.

In many ways, the fire ring was a microcosm of life the way it is meant to be lived – in community, together. Both joys and pain are best shared vulnerably. We celebrate each other’s victories and carry each other’s burdens. Somehow the joy of the victory is magnified as we share it with those close to us. In the same way, pain becomes a bit more bearable as we allow others to help carry it. The voice of God emerges in the shared conversation.

I hope that you find a fire ring as well. Do life with a community of followers of Jesus. Share your joy. Express your pain. Live together!

the gospel of the church?

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Repeatedly we discover the crux of Jesus' message in scripture. He came spreading the good news about the kingdom (the realm) of God coming to earth. Quite literally, the I AM was interacting with the affairs of man in a way that transformed people.

Perhaps the most revealing thing about Jesus' message was what He did not preach. He did not attempt to persuade people to join a church. He did not challenge them to embrace the synagogue and be more faithful in their attendance. He did not invite people (other than a very few) to join his ministry.

Someone recently referred me to an online article in a newspaper's religious section. A number of pastors spoke candidly about the "unchurched", about being saddened by the amount of people not attending church services on Sunday morning.

As I reflected on the article, my mind turned to the message of Jesus, a message of the kingdom of God, a message of good news, a message of power. I wonder if we have not replaced the message of the kingdom with the message of the church. Has our focus turned from the kingdom of God to an attempt to persuade people to attend our church services?

Incidentally "attending church" is not a biblical concept. The church is the outward manifestation of the inward transformational power of the kingdom of God. If we focus on the attendance of Sunday morning services, are we missing the point?

resurrection

This Easter morning I am in Upstate NY. The weather during the past several days has been stunning. Bright sunshine, warm breezes, and deep blue sky all combined with the sounds of spring, the frogs and the birds, for an unforgettable weekend. What a way to celebrate the power of the resurrection!

This weekend, I have been reminded of the power of the resurrection in another way as well. Bev’s parents have been here with us for the weekend. Some six weeks ago, her Dad had two major surgeries within a week to correct a stomach problem. While the surgeon repaired the stomach, something deeper occurred in the heart. Somehow during that time, the Master Surgeon performed heart surgery as well.

Leonard was always rather driven. He worked incessantly. He seemed somewhat concerned about what people thought about him. The uncertainty of the future frequently bothered him. When it came to issues of the heart, he never gave too much indication of what was going on.

He is different now. Heidi, our oldest daughter, made the statement – I like this grandpa! Something has changed. He spent much of this warm weekend walking around without wearing a shirt. (A miracle for a conservative Mennonite man!) When Esther reminded him of what his mother used to say about not wearing a shirt he responded with – I don’t care! He walked around the property singing. He cried when he expressed his joy at the beauty of the place. He spoke about his heart being happy. He marveled at the sight of thousands of walleye (a fish native to the lake) making their spawning run up the river, their eyes illuminating like Christmas lights when we shone a light on the water after dark. When we went to Lowes together, he told me that he and Esther had reserved their burial plots and had purchased a gravestone with the design of their choice. There was no trepidation about the future, about the uncertainty of death.

For Leonard, resurrection power is personal and real, transforming the soul. The tomb of fear – fear of people, fear of failure, fear of the future is empty this morning. The resurrection power that demolished the grave 2000 years ago still shakes the earth and remains the demonstration of the power of God to bring freedom.