ministry

Jul

2021

Time to Have our Hearts Checked

Hearts Full of Faith Beat Boldly in Christ

Ephesians 3:14-21, with reference to 2 Kings 4:42-44 and John 6:1-21; 9th Sunday after Pentecost

by David Sellnow

Ask kids what their favorite foods are. They’ll more likely say hot dogs, candy bars, and chips than tuna, spinach, or brussels sprouts. We don’t always wise up and change our habits when we become adults. I had a roommate one summer after college who, as far as I could tell, ingested nothing all summer long except coffee and cigarettes and occasionally mooched slices of pizza. I wouldn’t say he was the picture of health, but then, with my pizza, neither was I.

Some years ago, a study was done on the blood vessels of presumably healthy young adults (between ages 15 and 34) who died from causes other than illness. Among those in their early 30s, they found that 20% of males and 8% of females already had advanced stages of plaque buildup in their arteries. The American Heart Association has recommendations on cholesterol intake, on what foods to avoid or eat only in moderation. But as a leading doctor on that research team said, “It’s a hard sell [to] teenagers …. I have a grandson who, despite all our family discussions, still orders the double cheeseburger with bacon and fries.”

As you probably can guess, this Electric Gospel post isn’t primarily about your cardiovascular health. Each of us has a spiritual heart in us also, and what goes into our spiritual heart will determine our spiritual well-being. Let’s consider how hearts full of faith beat boldly in Christ; hearts that take in the love and strength of Christ will live in love and strength.

Consider words from this day’s Epistle lesson, Ephesians 3:14-19:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

When you begin a check-up on your spiritual heart’s condition, you realize that your spiritual heartbeat itself is a gift from God. When Paul said “for this reason” he thanked the Father, the reason is a theme that runs through the whole preceding portion of his Ephesian epistle: God’s saving activity for his people. God gave Christ as the Savior of the world; God raised Christ from death to reign in glory; God brought these Ephesians to trust in Christ rather than in idols; God caused the church at Ephesus to begin and grow; God gave these people a unity of heart and mind to work together for Christ’s kingdom. For all of it, God was responsible and God was to be praised. He is the one from whom the Ephesians received their spiritual heartbeat; he is the one from whom his whole family derives its name.

The same is true for us. We were in a dead, sinful state before God brought our spirits to life in the miracle of baptism. From that moment on God has been the one to strengthen and preserve faith in our hearts. In order for us to stay healthy spiritually, we need a steady, nourishing diet provided by God’s Spirit. Soaking in all the stuff you can absorb from contemporary culture can progressively harm your soul, like junk food impacts our bodies. You can get temporary boosts to your emotions or thoughts with other things, like you can artificially stimulate your body with substances like coffee and cigarettes. But there is just “one thing needful” (Luke 10:42 KJV) that can truly keep our spiritual selves healthy: the good news of love and forgiveness in Jesus.

Admittedly though, our sinful side doesn’t want the good things God gives. When the children of Israel were fed by God with manna in the desert, suited to meet all their nutritional needs, what did they say? “We detest this miserable food” (Numbers 21:5). They wanted other things (cf. Numbers 20:5). They got tired of what the Lord was giving them. We do the same thing spiritually. We look at what God is giving us in the Bible and in church, and we say, “Too much manna all the time!” We gravitate toward video games over Bible reading. We find streaming TV more interesting than sermons. We follow sports events and statistics more diligently than we search the Scriptures.

But it is through the gospel that Christ establishes himself in our hearts. We come to see how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is. We get to “know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.” Paul knew the amazing heights and depths of Christ’s love. He once wrote, “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy …. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:13-15). Christ died for every sinner, for the worst of sinners. That includes you and me.

Those who by God’s Spirit come to know this wonderful truth about Jesus’ love then overflow with that love. Hearts that are “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” will result in lives that are healthy, vibrant, and active in joyful service to others.

So, are you feeling healthy, vibrant, and full of love and joy and service? Or are you feeling a little tired, feeling worn down, feeling old? It’s not easy going through the stages of life–whether in our own individual lives or the shared life of a congregation. The Christians at Ephesus were in the first years of their church experience when Paul wrote his Epistle to the Ephesians. Paul had started the ministry in Ephesus in the late 50s. [Not the 1950s — just the 50s, the first century AD.] His letter to the Ephesians was sent back to them around the year 62. Another apostle, John, served in Ephesus later as part of his ministry. Around 95 AD, when persecution exiled John to an island off the coast from the areas he’d served, John had a different sort of letter to send to the Ephesian congregation. Jesus himself spoke these words:

I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false. I also know that you are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name, and that you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then from what you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first (Revelation 2:2-5).

In our individual lives, as we get older, it can be hard to maintain the passion and energy and zest for life that we had when we were younger. We may be stable and solid, but we can also get a bit stodgy, a bit stale, a bit set in our ways. Congregations can be that way, too, as they age. We can lose the love that we had at first. We grow weary. We become more mundane than spiritual, more routine than revitalized, more dreary than dynamic.

We need a reminder of the refrain that Paul put at the end of his prayer for the Ephesian church, the final verses of today’s epistle lesson: To him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever (Ephesians 3:20-21).

Too many times in our churches, we think small thoughts about our ministries. We want our congregation, our little corner of God’s kingdom, to do okay. We focus on scraping together what we’ll need to maintain what we’ve got, fund our budget, populate our programs and committees. Meanwhile, while we’re thinking about earthbound goals of that sort, God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. God has plans for our futures that we don’t even envision. Christ says, “My power is at work within you. My gospel is like dynamite for you, exploding with love and truth and joy and will accomplish more than you’d ever think could be done.”

Consider the other experiences which were related in the Bible readings for this Sunday. People didn’t think there was enough food to go around. In Elisha’s day, there was a famine in the land (2 Kings 4:38). Yet by the Lord’s grace, one sack of bread and grain became enough to feed 100 men in ministry training (the school of the prophets). When throngs of people kept following Jesus and had no food other than one boy who had a handful of bread loaves and a couple of fish, Jesus had no difficulty in making sure all were fed (cf. John 6:1-21). Often we think like the servant of Elisha, who looked at the resources they had and the need in front of them and said, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” (2 Kings 4:43). We can be like the disciple of Jesus who saw thousands of mouths to feed and said, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little” (John 6:7). When we find ourselves in situations where it seems like our cupboards are empty, or our strength is gone, or storms are swirling and raging, our tendency is to think we are sunk, we will starve, we will wither away. But when we think there are no solutions, Christ creates solutions. The Lord calls on us to start with what we have and do our best. He calls us to use every opportunity and resource and talent we’ve been given and trust Christ to make it enough, to multiply it, to expand our realities beyond anything we ever thought possible.

That’s how it has always been in the history of God’s people. When his people were held in bondage in Egypt, they didn’t imagine they could be rescued. Then plagues pressured a powerful ruler to let them go; God’s miracles enabled an exodus and a return of God’s people to their own land. When the earliest Christians were banned from the temple in Jerusalem and shunned from synagogues, when they had no church buildings of their own and were persecuted as if they were some dangerous cult, they could not have imagined that in time, the Christian faith would become predominant throughout the whole Roman Empire. When the organized church got sidetracked in the centuries that followed and became stuck in its institutionalism, in its rituals and rules, in its laws and legalism, the people didn’t dream there was much hope left in the church. Their hope grew fainter still after a horrible pandemic (the Black Death) had ravaged their communities and killed a third of the population, and the church’s highest-ranking clergy had no answers. (They were more likely to preach fire and brimstone than provide comfort or reassurance.) But then the Spirit of God raised up voices of reformation, voices such as John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, Martin Luther. The good news of Jesus and the riches of his mercy were proclaimed again with eagerness and energy and grace and renewal for everyone.

You may be at a time in your life right now where you are starving for sustenance and don’t know where it will come from. You may be at a time in your congregation right now where you have mostly questions and no clear picture of what’s on the horizon for your future. But be assured of this. Our God is “able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). The love of Christ is wider and longer and higher and deeper than you could ever measure (cf. Ephesians 3:18). Keep feeding on the Bread of Life, the spiritual food that Christ gives us, the life and truth that is Christ. He will fill your heart’s need, and he will revive your strength.

Lift up your eyes on high and see: .. [God] is great in strength, mighty in power ….
Why do you say … “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;
but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:26-31).

—

Scripture quotations, except where indicated otherwise, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Jun

2021

A suffering woman and a dead girl

Jesus is our Hope when Problems are Unsolvable

[Readings for the 5th Sunday after Pentecost: Lamentations 3:22-33, Psalm 30, 2 Corinthians 8:7-15, Mark 5:21-43]

Chances are, a number of you currently are experiencing or recently have experienced a loss, a hardship, some source of pain in your life. Just in terms of those who’ve lost a loved one, statistics say there are people reading this blog post dealing with that form of grief. “About 2½ million people die in the United States annually, each leaving an average of five grieving people behind” (The Recovery Village: Grief by the Numbers). In 2020, that number of deaths in the US was estimated at over 3½ million by the CDC’s National Vital Statistics System–the death toll expanded greatly due to COVID. An Associated Press poll conducted in March of this year found that 20% of people in the United States had lost a friend or close relative to COVID. “That means a potential bereaved population of about 65 million.” A psychiatrist at Columbia University warns that because of isolation due to the pandemic, a significant percentage of the bereaved could experience prolonged grief disorder, a condition of persistent grief that lasts longer and aches more deeply than the typical grieving process. Some studies have shown more than triple the typical rate of prolonged grief disorder have been occurring over this past year. (See “COVID Has Put the World at Risk of Prolonged Grief Disorder,” by Katherine Harmon Courage, May 19, 2021, in Scientific American.)

Those are some general truths, some national and international statistics. More than likely, some of you reading this are grieving over a loss, some are struggling with persistent pain, all know community members whose lives are hurting.

“Encounter” by Daniel Cariola, Magdala Chapel – https://www.magdala.org/

The Gospel account for this Sunday (Mark 5:21-43), from the days of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, shows powerful examples of persons dealing with grief and trauma … and their dependence on Jesus as their only hope. First there is the case of Jairus’ daughter, a young girl who should not become deathly ill, but who was deathly ill. Then, even as Jesus was on his way to Jairus’ home, the girl died. That did not stop Jesus from his desire or ability to help. We’ll say more about that momentarily. Meanwhile, Jesus was the only answer for a woman whose problem just would not go away, and she was at the end of her rope. She had been suffering for twelve years with “an issue of blood,” as the King James Version put it. Our translation says “hemorrhaging.” Modern scholars, assessing what may have afflicted her, deduce it was menorrhagia — “abnormally heavy and long menstruation that causes enough cramping and blood loss … that it makes normal daily activities impossible” (Nigerian Biomedical Science Journal, August 29, 2017). We feel anguish for that woman, experiencing such a condition for twelve years. Now think also of the social stigma that it placed on her in her culture. Jewish cultural norms, following the laws of Moses, stipulated that anyone with a bodily discharge (bleeding or secretion) was considered “unclean” and was to stay socially distanced till after the bleeding or discharge stopped. It was a religious rule but also something of a public health rule for the Jewish people back before anyone knew much about bloodborne pathogens protocols. So, on top of a chronic, frightening health problem, this poor woman was supposed to remain in something like COVID-19 lockdown when the community around her was not in lockdown. Think of the isolation and abandonment and frustration she must have felt. She seems to have been a woman of some means, and had spent every penny she had going to various doctors, trying to find a cure for her problem. But none of them could help her. Her condition only got worse. Coming to see Jesus was an act of desperation, her last hope. She’d heard about Jesus. She’d heard he could do miracles. So she violated the social distancing policies that prohibited her from going out into a crowded space. She made her way through the throngs of people following Jesus, hoping just to get close enough, thinking, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well” (Mark 5:28).

Indeed, the woman was made well from the moment she came in contact with Jesus. But Jesus did not want her to remain in hiding (or to hide from him). He stopped the crowd. He took note of the woman, who was afraid and confessed what she had done–which actually was a confession of faith. Jesus commended her and promised his ongoing presence with her. “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease,” Jesus said (Mark 5:34). Think a bit about the context too. Jesus was on his way to the home of a high-ranking person, Jairus, who was a leader of the local synagogue. And Jairus had a significant need for Jesus’ attention; his daughter was deathly ill. But Jesus paused to pay attention to the woman who just wanted a quick, incognito encounter and nothing more. She was like a person who comes to a church hoping against hope for something, sitting in the back row, not wanting to be noticed, but the Lord wants her to be noticed and wants people to care about her. No matter how insignificant we feel we are, no matter how ostracized or shoved aside by society, no matter how helpless we think our situation is, Jesus wants us to know we are welcome in his presence, that we are worthy of care and attention.

Gabriel von Max, “The Raising of Jairus Daughter” (1878) – Wikimedia Commons

And Jesus will care about us even when our situation is more dire than twelve years of incessant bleeding. For example, when a twelve-year old girl is dying–and even when she dies–Jesus does not turn away from helping. To everybody else in the situation with Jairus’ daughter, her death was the end of the story. People came from the family’s house to say Jesus need not be bothered anymore, because the girl was dead. When Jesus came to the house anyway and told the mourners the girl was only sleeping and he would wake her, they all laughed at him. But we see the ultimate power of Jesus and the reason he had come to be with us on this earth. Death is the ultimate problem that plagues us as human beings. The sicknesses we have point to our mortality, to the eventuality that we all die. The death of a child points out the cold reality of death in a particularly harsh way. But the shocking finality of death is the very reason Jesus became incarnate as a human being, to reverse that curse. As Scripture says, Jesus came down to our level “so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Since we are beings of flesh and blood, he “shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death” (Hebrews 2:9,14,15). Jesus’ actions healing the suffering woman and raising the dead girl are evidence of the healing and salvation he came to bring to all of us.

Maybe the problems you experience in your life aren’t exactly like the cases we looked at today, a woman hemorrhaging blood for twelve years, a family mourning the death of a child. Their experiences are examples within the range of so much human suffering that occurs. So many people experience deep hurts of so many kinds. In my years in the church, I’ve known …

dear souls who bore the scars of childhood sexual abuse for years and years in their adult lives …
dear souls who struggled with addiction …
dear souls who lost their jobs and struggled to maintain self-respect …
dear souls who experienced excruciating pain from terminal diseases …
dear souls who lost loved ones in senseless ways — in a car accident that occured on the way home from attending a funeral, or in a plane crash that occurred while attempting a stunt for a military air show.

In the work I’m doing now in human services, I encounter persons …

who need skilled nursing care and hospice care …
who need mental health hospitalization …
who have all manner of disabilities and need ongoing care and supports …
who are challenged by poverty and have little or no resources ….

So, while I don’t know exactly what you’re going through in your lives right now, chances are, there are losses, hardships, and no shortage of sources of pain. Maybe you feel like your soul has been bleeding for years and you don’t know how to make it stop. Where do you turn when the hurt in your life is constant, when the aches of your heart never really go away? Maybe you’ve tried everything–self-help books, practicing self-care, seeking professional help, any kind of help from anywhere and everywhere. And some things help some, but nothing is a complete cure. Only the hope we have for resurrection in Jesus can keep us going through the pains and losses and devastations that are so much a part of life on this earth. Jesus is our hope when our problems are otherwise unsolvable. Like the woman pressing through the crowd for even just a touch of the hem of his garment, we reach out to Jesus as our only eternal source of hope.

And how does that work–to reach out to be touched by Jesus when Jesus isn’t physically walking through the streets of your town? Certainly one way is in coming to church, where you gather to hear Jesus’ words and receive his touch through the sacraments. There’s another way, too, that I’d like to say a little something about before concluding this message. I’d like you to think about today’s Epistle lesson also (2 Corinthians 8:7-15), which maybe seemed to go in a different direction than the other readings of the day. Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth: “As you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in your love for us—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking” (2 Corinthians 8:7). The generous undertaking going on at that time was a special gathering of financial support for Christians elsewhere, particularly in the regions of Judea and Syria, who were experiencing food shortages and famine conditions. Actually, the original statement in Paul’s letter simply says, “We want you to excel also in this grace” — the Greek word charis (from which we get our English word “charity”). It’s somewhat limiting that in English we use the word “charity” (charis) mostly in terms of financial gifts. Scripture uses the same word not just for gifts of financial support but for the ultimate grace, God’s gift of his Son Jesus, the One and Only, to be our rescuer. Jesus now calls us to be gifts of grace to each other–with financial contributions, yes, but more than financial contributions. We become embodiments of Jesus to one another in our times of need.

At a church I was associated with in Texas some years ago, the congregation was in a bit of a financial crisis. A series of cottage meetings were planned, gathering members together in small groups at host members’ homes, to talk about how to address the financial crisis. At the first of those meetings, before getting to the stewardship agenda for the evening, there was an icebreaker activity planned, just to get people talking. Each person could respond to a prompt on the icebreaker card, which had prompts such as, “The most embarrassing moment in my life was ___________” … “One of my favorite vacations was _____” … “Something I’m praying about right now is ______,” and others. The first person at that first meeting started the conversation circle, choosing, “Something I’m praying about right now” and saying, “I’m praying for my daughter, who was just diagnosed with cancer.” There followed many minutes of fellow members showing concern for the woman, for her daughter, for her daughter’s husband and children, and actually engaging in prayer right there as a prayer circle. The next person in the circle then also chose to share something heavy on her heart, something she was praying about, and the members listened to her hurt and ministered to her as well. For over two hours that evening, the members shared their needs, consoled one another, prayed for one another. They never did get to the planned agenda about the church’s financial situation, and that was okay. They did what was important. The other cottage meetings that occurred in the days and weeks after that first one all followed the same pattern. The gathered members all focused on the prompt about what was heavy on their hearts, what they were praying about, and they acted as missionaries of gospel to one another, encouraging each other. Oh, and by the way, the church’s financial situation turned around too–because for the first time in a long time the members of the congregation began to realize the value of their ministry to one another and to others and, like Paul said, they began to excel also in that grace and in the generous undertaking of gifts to support needed ministry.

In the midst of famine and hunger, in the midst of grief and abandonment, in the midst of sickness and death, in the midst of all this world’s problems and pains, Jesus is our hope. And as brothers and sisters to one another in Jesus, we become miracles of grace and hope to one another as well.

Brothers and sisters, may Christ be with you as you endure whatever hurts or sorrows are happening in your life today and whatever troubles you may face in days to come. And may you be with one another in Christ, supporting each other, praying for one another, reminding each other of the gospel hope we share. We know our Redeemer lives, and that he will be with us when we are on our deathbeds, and that at the end, he will stand upon our graves, and that even after our skin has been destroyed, we will yet see God, we will be raised by Christ to be with Christ forever. How our hearts yearn within us! (Cf. Job 19:25-27.) Amen.

—

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Mar

2021

Legalism obscures the gospel

Last week, I came across an article in which one of our country’s congressmen was interviewed about his convictions–both political and spiritual. I found it interesting to hear a lawmaker’s view that the church, as he had experienced it, was far too much about law. (He since has affiliated with a less rigid congregation.) He described the form of religious upbringing he had as “really damaging … a very damaging religion.” He elaborated on what he had experienced: “The best way to put it is your salvation is by faith alone unless you do something wrong–and then you were never saved in the first place. And by the way, we have these really strict rules that you have to follow that nobody can follow, but everybody at the church is going to act like they are and you’re the only one that isn’t.” That sort of legalism, the lawmaker said, “took the joy out of Christianity.” He says he now understands that “Christ spent his time hanging out with sinners, not great people–and not because they were sinners but because that’s just where his compassion was.” He believes it is appropriate to “admonish the Church for the real damage it has done to Christianity” (A.Kinzinger, quoted in “The Man Who Refused to Bow,” by P.Wehner).

The descriptions sounded all too familiar. An excessive legalism has been an issue within Christianity from the days of the church’s beginnings. Read about the controversy in the early church over circumcision (Acts 15) or Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and you’ll see that to be true.

During my ministry years, I was asked to research and report on “legalism among us” to a district church conference. There was ample awareness that the problem persisted in our midst. The problem always exists, so it is continually appropriate to share thoughts on this topic. I’ll offer here a brief excerpt from the essay I presented to that church conference in the springtime twenty-some years ago.

Legalism Among Us

by David Sellnow
(excerpted from essay presented in April, 1995)

Not everyone agrees on just what can be called “legalism.” One brother whom I asked narrowed the thought primarily to that of work-righteousness: “Legalism is an attitude of law that feels I can be saved by it.” But most whom I consulted saw legalistic implications being more far-reaching. They offered expanded definitions:

“We become entangled in legalism when we try to take God’s place in establishing divine laws about what is right and what is wrong.”
“Placing the Christian for all practical purposes again under the law–this is legalism.”
“Letting the law predominate in our ministry rather than the gospel = being legalistic instead of evangelical.”
“Legalism is a confusion of law and gospel in which the law is used to accomplish the purposes of the gospel or the gospel is made into a law.”

The Webster’s dictionary that sits on my desk lists two meanings for legalism. The second one is the special theological one: “The doctrine of salvation by good works.” The first listed meaning is the common one that most comes to mind, however, including in reference to religion: “Strict, often too strict and literal, adherence to law or to a code.” I believe that meaning fits well what most of us mean by legalism most of the time. Where does this kind of legalism show itself among us in the church?

One arena is the midst of doctrinal controversies, where the promotion of one dogmatic position over another takes precedence over Scripture. Some will approach Scripture with an opinion or position of their own and try to make proof texts say what they want them to say by gymnastic exegesis. Others will rely on the tradition of what the church has long held and practiced without doing thorough study. Neither approach starts with the gospel plan of God in mind and works forward from there. Both ways start with a law or principle decided upon–either by tradition or by rejection of tradition–and from there try to figure out how the gospel fits with it.

Image credit: Bible Study Tools – https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/what-is-legalism.html

Traditionalism, in particular, all too easily lapses into legalism. Overly zealous traditionalism will reject something because it isn’t what we’re used to. We fix guilt to practices that God’s law neither commands nor forbids. Religious leaders insist on practices which Scripture leaves to our Christian freedom. The freedom of the gospel is undermined by intolerant clergy, who suggest there is something inherently wrong with an activity even though God’s Word has not spoken in the matter. The church becomes characterized by loveless criticism of each other, pressure for conformity to a certain pattern, rushing to judgment, nitpicking, and condemning every deviation from the usual ways.

The practice of discipline in the church is another area where legalism tends to take hold. I knew of a congregation that had a written policy saying inactive members would be sent a series of four letters, according to a specific timetable. If the member did not respond and become active accordingly, after the fourth letter excommunication was automatic. At an elders’ board meeting at a congregation where I interned, the head elder suggested a similar strategy in that church. Thankfully, the senior pastor blocked that proposal with reminders of our gospel mission. Nevertheless, church discipline overall remains a danger zone for legalistic tendencies. This is true both in the local congregation and in discipline of congregations and pastors as exercised by church body officials. What is our mood, our spirit? Is it, “Throw the rascals out!” and “Get rid of the dead wood”? Or is our goal to snatch others from the fire and have mercy on those who are wavering (Jude 23)? May we do everything we can to ensure that love stemming from the gospel characterizes all our actions and no unnecessary offense is caused.

How we view other Christians and interact with them also becomes a casualty of legalistic tendencies. We fail to recognize the fellowship that exists between us when we fixate on our differences. In his commentary on Galatians (1957), J.P Koehler offered a thought in regard to Galatians 2:19 (“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God”). Koehler wrote: “Formerly, sin was the element of my life when I tried to keep the law. Now, in the place of sin, God and his will are the goal and the guiding principle of my life.” The contrast is between living life to avoid sin (as under the law) versus living life to enjoy the blessings of God, basking in the joy of the gospel. Applying that thought to the issue of Christian fellowship, do we primarily aim to keep the unworthy and the unorthodox away, or do we mainly seek a positive, joyful expression of appreciation for the unity in Christ that we share? Taken to the extreme, we may act as though even to breathe in the direction of those outside our own denomination is sinful, and adopt a separatistic attitude which forbids all contact with those who are not of our own specific church. Is it not true that Jesus said, “Whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40)? A genuinely evangelical (gospel-driven) attitude appreciates faith in Christ wherever it is found.

As witnesses of Christ who are called to proclaim the good news in Christ, we will work to keep the gospel central and paramount in all our thinking, saying and doing… and be patient and evangelical with each other when differences occur. A law-oriented outlook will keep trying to rear up and take control of us in one direction or another, in our individual Christian lives, in our parishes, in church bodies. To maintain an awareness of how and where the law seeks to reclaim us is vital to our ongoing spiritual health. Any form of religious life not motivated by the gospel is an outgrowth of the law. May God be with us so that more and more, all our words and practices and efforts are readily apparent as products of the gospel, aimed at bringing hope and salvation–not distrust and fear.

Oct

2020

When you realize everything you were was wrong

Becoming aware that mercy triumphs over judgment

by David Sellnow

The evangelist Luke, chronicler of the Acts of the Apostles, was a writer who sought to give “an orderly account” of events (cf. Luke 1:3). Luke’s reporting concerning the conversion of Saul (also known as Paul) sticks to the facts of what happened. Saul had been “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1). He sought permission from the highest religious authorities to go to Syria to round up followers of “the Way” — believers in Jesus as the Christ. Saul wanted to take them into custody and bring them back to Jerusalem as religious criminals. The Lord had other plans. He blinded Saul with light from heaven and said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Those traveling with Saul “led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank” (Acts 9:8-9). In Damascus, Saul was brought into the Christian community and baptized, and “began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God’” (Acts 9:20).

Today, we’re used to journalists asking, “How did you feel?” when they interview persons after some life-changing experience. Luke didn’t pause to provide insights into Saul’s emotional state. We can well imagine the shock of it, though — suddenly becoming aware that everything he thought and everything he’d done had been aimed in the wrong direction. He had felt he was serving God by the rigid religious principles he pursued. But his insistence on his own rightness had prevented him from seeing what a merciful God really had in mind. In the encounter on the Damascus road, Jesus had said to Saul, “It hurts you to kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14). Like a work animal kicking back against a master prodding it forward, Saul was resisting the message of grace that God was calling him and all people to believe. Rather than striving to squelch and suppress those who had come to see Jesus as Christ, the Messiah, Saul should have been joining “the Way” and working with them. And by God’s grace, that’s exactly what he then did. As the Apostle Paul, he later expressed his amazement that even though he had been “a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence,” yet he received mercy because he “had acted ignorantly in unbelief.” He was awed by the grace of God that overflowed to him “with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:13).

The Epistle lesson for this Sunday (the 18th Sunday after Pentecost) provides another window into how Paul felt about his conversion from self-righteous Pharisee to someone trusting in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote:

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith (Philippians 3:4b-9).

In the church today, the tendency easily resurfaces to become adamant against “sinners” and “heretics,” the way Paul was prior to his face-to-face encounter with Jesus. Being convinced of one’s rightness and propriety can lead to overzealous efforts to keep the church “pure,” purged of those who aren’t the “right sort” of persons. When that thinking sets in, the fact that no one is the “right sort” of person has been forgotten. The truth is that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and all are to be extended the mercy in Jesus’ name without distinctions or prejudices. The purpose of the church is not to police people’s opinions and condemn those who don’t comply with existing traditions. In fact, the Lord is unhappy with those who try to impose their own expectations and restrictions on others. “For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13). Love and mercy and welcome are to be shown to “a poor person in dirty clothes” who comes into a church assembly no differently than if a rich person “with gold rings and fine clothes” walked through the door (James 2:2). God is defined by love and mercy toward all persons more so than by laws and policies and dress codes and rules.

If you catch yourself thinking that your religious convictions are elevated above others, or that there are certain types of persons you don’t want in your church with you, be careful. You may be kicking against the Lord, insisting on maintaining a form of spiritual inertia rather than moving forward in mercy where the Lord calls you to go. What you have thought may need to be discarded as rubbish, compared to “the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord” (Philippians 3:8), and the compelling mission of extending mercy to all others in his name.

—-

Aug

2020

Healthy self-assessment

For the sake of our service in Christ

by David Sellnow

The Epistle appointed for this Sunday got me thinking. Of course, all of Scripture is inspired and prompts our pondering on many levels (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17). But a particular line in today’s pericope sparked the thoughts I’ll share here today.

Here’s the verse from Paul’s letter to the Romans: “For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3).

Thinking of ourselves with sober judgment is difficult. We tend to go overboard in one direction or the other. Some church members may hold their own opinions and desires paramount over others and will try to control a congregation’s agenda to suit themselves. At the same time, other church members can be overly humble and self-effacing. Yes, we are called upon to live in humility (Ephesians 4:2). But that doesn’t mean adopting so low a view of ourselves that we hold back from serving others. Church leaders often struggle to find persons for needed ministry roles when members shrink away from teaching or witnessing or leadership, thinking themselves not up to the task.

Trust me, I’m not lecturing anyone with this bit of blogging, as if I’ve attained the ability to do appropriate self-assessment. I’ve erred on both ends of the spectrum. At times in my life, I’ve been way too full of myself, thinking I was somebody important. At other times, I’ve been overly hard on myself, thinking I had no value to anyone and nothing to offer. Perhaps your own self-image has followed a similar pattern, sometimes puffed up, other times entirely deflated.

We’re not alone in this dilemma. Even Moses had to learn about estimating his abilities humbly and honestly. Having grown up in a position of privilege in the royal palace, he envisioned himself as hero to intervene on behalf of his people, the enslaved Israelites. “One day, he went out to where his own people were. He watched them while they were hard at work. He saw an Egyptian hitting a Hebrew man. The man was one of Moses’ own people. Moses looked around and didn’t see anyone. So he killed the Egyptian. Then he hid his body in the sand” (Exodus 2:11-12). Moses had thought too highly of himself, presumed too much authority too soon, and ended up fleeing for his life. He spent decades as a shepherd in a foreign land and started a family there. After many years, God decided it was time for Moses to take on the mantle of leadership. But when the Lord then came to call Moses be his prophet, Moses balked. “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:11)? He objected, “Suppose they do not believe me or listen to me” (Exodus 4:1)? Even after the Lord demonstrated miracles that would validate Moses’ divine calling, Moses still offered an excuse: “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue” (Exodus 4:10). And when the Lord kept pressing, saying, “I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak,” Moses pleaded, “O my Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus 4:12,13).

God considered Moses the right man for the job, but Moses had stopped seeing himself as someone who could do anything of significance. Of course, we know whose view of the situation was accurate and whose wasn’t. With God’s strength supporting him, Moses became the leader God intended him to be. After his death it was written, “Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt … and in the sight of all Israel” (Deuteronomy 34:10-12).

When it comes to our own service in Christ’s kingdom, may God preserve us from presumption and arrogance as well as from minimizing or degrading ourselves. May we not think of ourselves more highly than we ought … but also not more lowly than we ought. Rather, may we consider our abilities as God’s servants “with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3). We want to see ourselves through a lens of humility, but not a warped lens that fails to see ways we can bring benefit to others in our world. As the apostle Paul urged elsewhere, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4). A key part of looking to the interests of others involves healthy self-assessment of gifts and talents and skills we possess, which we can use in caring for others. Rather than saying, “O my Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13), when we have the abilities and opportunities, God help us to say, “Here I am; send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).

—-

Aug

2020

The House of Disposable Souls

A Fable

by David Sellnow

“In the land of spirit beings, there was a house that gathered souls.They sought out souls that were perfectly spherical. Any souls they discovered that were out of round or oddly shaped were quickly discarded. They sought out souls that were unstained and unblemished. Any souls they discovered that had bumps or bruises were passed over and rejected. They sought out souls that were shiny and glowed in a preferred range of colors. Any souls they discovered that were mottled or blurry or too dark in appearance were left behind and ignored.

“Over time, the spirits gathered a small collection of souls that they protected and preserved in their house. If any of the souls developed inconsistencies or loss of clarity or discoloration or dulling, those souls were removed from the house. The spirits would seek other, more impeccable specimens, as replacements. The house became known as The House of Disposable Souls.

“Elsewhere in the land of spirit beings, there was another house that gathered souls. They searched for souls of all shapes and sizes. They included souls that were imperfect, unpolished, irregular. They valued souls that were rough to the touch as well as those that were smooth. They recognized special worth in souls that were differently shaped and of variegated colors. They saw deep potential in all souls they encountered. They labored to help each soul radiate its own unique sheen, coaxing out natural hues and luster. If souls they found or souls in their care suffered cracks or were damaged, the spirits applied balm to heal the wounds. They sought to refresh and develop each soul, nurturing strength as well as tenderness. The house became known as the House of Renewable Souls.”

After concluding the story, the teacher asked her listeners: “Which of these houses cared for souls as the Creator of souls intended?”

The listeners knew they had growing to do in their own attitudes and ministries.

Scriptures to consider:

“The Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
“There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. … I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:7,10).
”Here is my servant, whom I have chosen. … He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick” (Matthew 12:18, 20).
”Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:26-30).

Prayer:

Creator of all, teach us to value each human soul in the same spirit as Christ our Savior, who said, “Anyone who comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37). Amen.

—-

Apr

2020

Worshiping in spirit and truth

by David Sellnow

I woke up this morning to hear Baton Rouge pastor Tony Spell being interviewed on CNN. He was seeking to explain his church’s decision to go ahead with Palm Sunday services in defiance of the Louisiana governor’s shelter-in-place order. He had been quoted in the New York Post (4/5/20) saying, “We’re defying the rules because the commandment of God is to spread the gospel.” The CNN interviewer asked Pastor Spell whether he was endangering public health by gathering 1,800 people for worship last week, and again this Sunday planning to bus worshipers from around the city together to be at Life Tabernacle Church. Spell responded, “We believe the science of this … however, we do have a command from God, and there are no governing bodies that can tell us we cannot gather to worship freely.” He went on to say that while his church has the ability to livestream and televise services, he refused to do so “because the Word of God commands us to assemble together.” He asserted, “Neither the pressure of our friends, family, lawsuits, jail or death will stop us from operating our conviction, which is, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’” In a previous interview, Pastor Spell had told Insider (4/1/20): “I cannot baptize people in a livestream. I cannot lay hands on people in a livestream … and this is our biblical command—to lay hands on the sick and when they recover baptize them by immersion in water.”

Certainly, worshipers who are abiding by public health recommendations are feeling a sense of loss on this Palm Sunday. We’d like to be assembled together and commemorate Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem at the start of a momentous week. We want to sing, “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna!” and rejoice in one another’s presence in church—in a place dedicated to the praise of God.

We also know, though, that caring for the health of our neighbors is a biblical imperative, and that the worship of God is not restricted to any particular place. Once, when questioned by a woman about whether worship in a place outside Jerusalem was acceptable, Jesus answered, “ Believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. … The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:21,23-24).

Ministers who are doing their best to stream online services to their parishioners are doing a godly thing. Churches that are providing devotions and resources for individuals and families to use at home are doing a godly thing. All of us, now realizing that delving into God’s Word is not just an at-church activity but an at-home priority, are learning how things were in ancient days for God’s people. When there was only one designated place of worship—the original tabernacle (then later the temple, in Jerusalem)—God instructed all households to keep God’s words always in their hearts, to “talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:7). Before there were churches, before there were synagogues, the people of God prayed and praised and gave thanks regularly in their homes. Our present situation under shelter-in-place orders doesn’t stop us from worshiping. It simply asks us to adapt our worship and service to the needs of the community today. As Angela Denker, author of Red State Christians, said this past week: “Church in America will never be canceled, because the church is not a building.” The church isn’t a physical location. It’s not bricks and mortar. The church is the people of God, who, like living stones are being built into a spiritual house and offering “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5).

We believe God can and does bless people through the touch of a kind hand, as well as anointing with oil in the name of the Lord (James 5:14). But to gather hundreds together during a viral pandemic because a particular pastor thinks he has a personal mission to lay hands on people—that is presumptuous. Jesus’ response to such a suggestion well might be, “It is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7). Consider the fact that the Old Testament instructed that someone found to have a severe infectious disease “shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp” (Leviticus 13:26). Our God is not one to ignore public health concerns.

We pray God enlivens the church by his Spirit now as he always does—through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether shared on websites, in blog posts, via livestreams, through mail and phone and other means of communication, God will get his gospel work done. With proper respect for the governing authorities who look out for our communities’ physical well-being, we will look out for one another’s spiritual well-being in ways that are appropriate to the current coronavirus situation. At a later date, in due time, we will go into the house of the Lord again with gladness (Psalm 122:1). Meanwhile, let’s work all the more diligently to encourage one another in faith, using every alternate way we can find.

Jan

2020

The priesthood of all believers

Originally shared on the Electric Gospel on September 24, 2017. This message was written as a contribution for a devotional booklet published in the 500th anniversary year of the Lutheran Reformation.

***************

“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

All God’s People Are Priests

by David Sellnow

Harold stepped into the pulpit and addressed the congregation.

“I am not a pastor,” Harold said. “I never studied at a seminary. I’ve raised cotton, and now I work for an association of cotton growers. I am not a professional preacher or public speaker. I don’t generally get up in front of other people and give talks. So I’m rather nervous about standing up here this morning. In fact, if I weren’t behind this pulpit, you could see my knees knocking!”

That was how Harold began his message on a Sunday when the pastor was away. The church was a small congregation, far from any others of its synod. When the pastor was traveling to a national meeting or other obligations, church council members would lead Sunday services. Harold’s message on this day focused on words from the apostle Peter: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

“All God’s people are priests,” Harold continued. “Priests have the right to approach God directly; we are welcome in God’s presence. Through Jesus Christ we all ‘have access to the Father by one Spirit’ (Ephesians 2:18). When we were baptized, we became part of the priesthood of all believers in Jesus. That gives us the privilege of approaching God ‘with freedom and confidence’ (Ephesians 3:12), and also the privilege to proclaim Christ to the world. We declare the praises of the Lord who brought us out of darkness and into the light, who rescued us from death and gave us life. We all share in that gospel mission.”

The Reformation reaffirmed the truth that all God’s people are equal members of God’s kingdom, a universal priesthood of those who pray and proclaim in the name of Jesus. Martin Luther wrote, “If a group of pious Christians settled in a wilderness and had among them no priest consecrated by a bishop, and if they were to agree to choose one from their own midst to baptize, give communion, announce forgiveness and preach, such a man would be as truly a priest as he would be if all bishops and popes had consecrated him. This is why anyone may baptize and give absolution in case of necessity, which would be impossible if we were not all priests.”

Harold fulfilled such a role in his congregation in the pastor’s absence. Each of God’s people fulfills a more general role of worship and witness in everyday life. God’s Spirit is with all of his people—all of his priests—as we come to him in prayer and go for him to others, with news of his grace.

Prayer: Jesus our Lord, we praise you for what you have done for us. Embolden all of us as your people—a royal priesthood—to come to you for blessing and to speak for you, extending your blessing to others. Amen.

Dec

2019

An invitation to church

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on June 12, 2015. The following was written as a “letter to a friend” assignment in one of my Bible courses.

Come to church with me!

by Elizabeth Jeske

Hey, Jack!

It was so good hanging out with you last week! It seems like it’s been so long since we have spent some quality time together. It totally felt like the moment we left off though, as if no time had passed since we last hung out. I’m glad that we are that close!

You know that I care about you very much and only want the best things for you. Because of this, I can tell when you are not doing so well. I have noticed that you have not been going to church lately. I am not making any accusations and judgments, merely stating what I have observed. I know that there are dozens of reasons that people miss church, like sickness or traveling. But since this has been happening frequently, I have become a bit worried as to why you are regularly missing church.

The Bible has quite a bit to say as to why we attend church. First and foremost, it is a way to preserve and strengthen our faith. We are encouraged to “draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:22-25).

This section of Scripture speaks about several reasons we should go to church. First, we go to church because we are sinful beings. We consistently sin. I mean, we can’t NOT sin. We always are falling short of what we are supposed to be doing, falling short of what is expected of us. What better way is there to be reminded of our forgiveness, to have our consciences cleansed, than immersing ourselves in the Word in worship?

Another purpose of church is to get us into the habit of fellowship. The ability to profess your faith with other Christians is a wonderful experience. Being able to worship with other Christians helps strengthen our faith. It is also encouraging to see others in the faith worshipping alongside you. And Christ says that when two or more are gathered together, he is also there.

Faith needs to be nourished and stay active. An idle faith is sure to lead to no good. When we do not use our faith, it is not growing. It is not doing anything. An idle faith is not prepared for the temptations and devastations of the world. Regular worship is beneficial to keeping faith refreshed and prepared for the sin that constantly surrounds us. Continually going to church is a good way to stay active in our faith.

You might say that it is not worth going to church when your heart is not in it. While it might seem that way, it is quite the opposite. Going to church, even when our hearts are not in the right place, allows the Holy Spirit a chance to enter into our hearts. Closing our minds to going to church eliminates any chance of that happening. Going to church might be exactly what our faith needs.

Look, I know that hearing this from a friend is not the easiest thing to deal with. I know it might change our friendship a little bit, but I care about your faith-life enough to express my concerns. This is by no means a way to claim I know everything about you or to make you feel belittled. I just care enough to try to be helpful when I can.

If you would like, I would love to take you to church sometime. We can even explore a new congregation that we have not been to before, if you’d like. I would not mind if we went out to brunch afterwards. Just let me know!

Hope to hear from you soon,

Elizabeth

Dec

2019

Developing talent in the church

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on September 26, 2014

I had written the following article with with a church focus … and also wrote a non-religious, soccer-oriented version of the article that was published in the September 2012 Minnesota Soccer Times. Church-oriented readers might appreciate the spiritually-focused version of the article.

**********************

Player Development on God’s Team

by David Sellnow

“Everyone is important on this team,” the soccer coach said at the 13-and-under squad’s preseason meeting. He sounded like he meant it … but as the summer wore on, Mindy wondered. She and three other girls spent most moments of most games on the sidelines. For five minutes of each 35-minute half, they’d give the starting midfielders a breather—time enough for those players to come off the field and get water. Then the starters resumed their roles, and the subs became spectators once again. Mindy’s interest in soccer waned. She lost hope in her own potential as an athlete. A year later, when the high school held tryouts for the JV team, Mindy didn’t participate.

According to Fred Engh, founder of the National Alliance for Youth Sports and author of Why Johnny Hates Sports, this sort of scenario plays out far too often in children’s sport programs. Rather than encouraging confidence, strengthening skills, and building game readiness in all players on their teams, too many coaches are content to let weaker players be little more than benchwarmers so that the “better” kids can notch more victories.

I’ve been wondering—do we do something similar sometimes in our churches? Every individual in the church is an equally valuable member of God’s “team,” so to speak. We know that there is no favoritism with God (Ephesians 6:9), and that the healthy involvement of every person in the church is God’s desire (1 Corinthians 12). So we’ll want to engage in “player development” that not only helps each member of God’s team grow stronger in faith and faithfulness, but looks to get every teammate “into the game,” that is, actively serving in the mission of the church.

Sometimes we do that; sometimes we don’t. A couple examples from actual congregations, in which “player development” was not pursued …

An accomplished violinist offered to play for church. The pastor of her large congregation (not a fan of the violin) felt that pipe organ was the most effective instrument for corporate worship, and declined her offer.
At a tiny church, two members had some skill for keyboard playing—one quite more skilled than the other. The less accomplished pianist was asked to discontinue playing for services, because the other volunteer was a stronger musician.

Now a couple instances of positive “player development” …

A small church didn’t have enough voices for a full choir, nor anyone with the qualifications to serve as choir director. Undaunted, a small group of singers got together and practiced anthems they could sing in unison (sometimes accompanied by a member who played bluegrass guitar). They also rehearsed new hymns so they could lead the congregation in learning them.
Before a church school’s Christmas services, students in the school’s band take turns playing solo, duet or quartet pieces as pre-service music while worshipers gather.

These few examples focus on involvement in church music—which is only one aspect of the church’s life. Innumerable ways exist for involving God’s people in godly service, if we are willing to work with each person’s God-given gifts and acquired capacities. For example, a college student didn’t think she could do evangelism, but her pastor asked her to come along. Her bilingual fluency enabled her to serve as his translator when visiting nearby Hispanic neighborhoods. (In the process, she became quite capable as an evangelist too.) In the church that asked one of its two musicians to step down because her talents for playing and time for practicing were limited, could not a plan have been created to keep her involved—perhaps once a month, with simpler song selections and liturgy assigned for her days to play?

If our efforts to involve members consist of bulletin announcements saying, “Volunteers needed for this or that,” likely we’ll find the same group of “starters” stepping up to play all those roles. If our concepts of Christian service tend to remain fixed, in the form of standing committees or particular duties that habitually have been in place, quite possibly we are overlooking unique aptitudes and varied talents that some of our members on the sidelines possess.

Just as every player on a sports team desires—and needs—to take part in each game the team plays, each member of “God’s team” needs nurturing and encouraging to use skills that God has given him, to employ abilities God has bestowed on her, to get into in the “game” which is far more vital than all mere earthly pursuits—the mission of Christ’s people to sing his praises and to “declare his marvelous deeds among all peoples” (Psalm 96:3).

Rafe Esquith, an award-winning teacher in a central Los Angeles elementary school, laments how many kids’ sports programs just “keep feeding the ball to their best players.” (The chapter, “Put Me In, Coach,” in his book, Teach Like YourHair’s On Fire, would make profitable reading for every physical education teacher and youth sports coach. The whole book is worth reading by anybody involved in teaching, at any age level.) Esquith consistently labors in his PE classes to teach all the kids an understanding of the games they play and patiently instructs them in the fundamentals of each sport. Every child is seen as a player in progress, as someone with potential to be shaped and developed.

A similar attitude will be beneficial in our spiritual pursuits as “teams,” that is, congregations. The tasks and undertakings of different individuals will be different, but all can become part of the teamwork of church work. God calls on every Christian to pursue life as a “living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. … In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully” (Romans 12:1,5-8).

If we consider the measure of faith and personal giftedness that God has granted to each individual in his church, how many other areas of service might we identify?

If a man has athleticism and the gift to teach patiently, let him coach at the church’s combination sports camp / vacation Bible school.
If a woman’s gift is a capacity for careful listening and godly advising, let her serve as a mentor for young mothers in the church.
If an older child’s gift is brotherliness—a kindness and gentleness in dealing with younger children—let him be a helper in the Sunday School preschoolers’ class.
If a teenager is gifted with artistic flair and a knack for expressing the gospel’s beauty in visual forms, let her create artwork for banners or for backgrounds on the church’s projection screen.

What opportunities for “player development” can you discover for the talented people God has put together as your “team”?

Hearts Full of Faith Beat Boldly in Christ

Jesus is our Hope when Problems are Unsolvable

Legalism Among Us

Becoming aware that mercy triumphs over judgment

For the sake of our service in Christ

A Fable

All God’s People Are Priests

Come to church with me!

Player Development on God’s Team

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