Tag Archives: Christ

One of These Little Ones…

Posted on May 8, 2010 | 1 comment

“Children should be seen, not heard!” was the saying I remember hearing around my childhood house. Sadly, this is still the way children often are made to feel today. As though they were a disturbance, a nuisance, a distraction. Nothing to contribute to the world of adults. What they say is, well, terribly childish. And true enough, their hungry curiosity, bold sincerity and ceaseless energy try the patience of every cranky adult. Even the seasoned parent risks embarrassment with a child’s spontaneity. Our kids have said some things in public that made us wish we were just their babysitters.

But such are the God-given qualities that make children so very special. God has built in an inquisitiveness that keeps them asking, observing, and always wanting to learn more. They’re full of questions and anxious to share their discoveries. There are no pretenses with little ones. They can be abrupt but you’ll almost always know what they are thinking. And make no mistake about it, they have a capacity to grasp spiritual truths at a profound level. Kids are readily stirred towards genuine thanksgiving to God for the least suspected things in life. Like their pajamas, spill-proof cups and Transformer™ underwear. This is something to be desired and emulated in our stuffy adult lives. I don’t think I have ever thanked the Lord for my underwear! But what a blessing it is to be excited over the little things in life. Too often we take them for granted.

Not quite three weeks ago my four-year-old son drew a picture of three crosses, as one would imagine the scene at Calvary with Jesus in the middle. On his own initiative he drew it, then colored it and put his name on it. “This is for Jesus,” he said, handing it to me. “I am going to give it to Jesus in heaven. It’s a birthday present from me to him.”

That act of thoughtfulness and sincere love for Jesus brought a smile to my face and tears to my eyes. When was the last time I expressed such gratitude and care for my Savior, let alone prepared a gift for him? I believe Luka’s artwork rose to the heavens as a sweet smelling aroma to the Lord. His little heart birthed this simple worship, reminiscent of the spikenard poured over Jesus’ feet by Mary in spontaneous, thankful adoration (Jn 12:3).

“Can I go to heaven right now?” Luka went on to say. “I want to go to heaven without dying. Do we eat food in heaven? I want to fly around when I get there!” The thinking process of this almost-five-year-old is rather humbling when I consider how little thought we adults typically give to these subjects. I can’t recall the last time I heard any BIG people express such immediate and sincere desire to go to heaven and bring along a gift for Jesus. Isn’t it also revealing that children were the ones who spontaneously worshiped Jesus in the temple? And when the prim-and-proper religious leaders heard it they were indignant and told Jesus to make the children stop. Jesus then responded, “…have you never read, ‘OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF’?” (Matt. 21:15-16)

No wonder the Lord sharply rebuked the disciples when they hindered the children from coming to him to ask for his blessing. He quickly told them that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these little ones (Matt. 19:13-14). Perhaps the disciples thought those children would be a nuisance to Jesus and “should be seen but not heard.” Maybe they felt those children were not important enough to merit the Master’s attention? Whatever the case, they couldn’t have been more misguided. Jesus set the record straight and gave a new example for all to follow. When asked who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus did the unthinkable for a 1st century Jew. He took a little child and put him in the midst of them as the object lesson for his answer. What Jesus said next was radical.

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matt 18:1-6 ESV)

We shouldn’t forget that Children are demanding, selfish, impatient, moody, terribly persistent and downright sinful at times. But so are most adults, no? We’re all born as sinners and it’s in our nature. Nonetheless, Jesus selected children as the exemplary recipients of God’s kingdom. Clearly these words puzzled every listener then present. Two thousand years later they continue to challenge this 21st century father to  learn from his own curious and bubbly children!

Kids have a lot to offer our adult world, so be careful to not exclude them from yours. Jesus certainly didn’t. And the next time you are around a five-year-old, take note of his thought process, sensitivity, curiosity and above all, his inquisitive ability to receive the things of God with joyful certainty! You will likely come away with a good lesson to put into practice.

Every blessing,

Mark at uThinkology

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The Virtual Pastor: Following a person, or a personality?

Posted on March 29, 2010 | 7 comments

Recently I wrote an article on the subject of the Virtual Church (which you should read before moving forward with this post to see where I am coming from on certain points) and even at the time of writing it I had already been keen on future related posts. I received some interesting feedback as a result and I suspect there is more to come. Nonetheless, it would be unjust to consider that topic while overlooking the virtual pastor, who is by default a component of the virtual-church.

The virtual pastor is not a colorful vector image like those seen in computer-generated animations. Instead, he is the man whose Bible teaching is broadcasted from a church service to another predetermined location, typically a building with ample seating capacity. It is there that a congregation of believers gather infront of a screen to watch the message being given, thus forming a satellite church in the least flattering sense, if not better expressed as church via satellite.

This is a new form of pastoring, one that is hardly compatible with the biblical image of shepherding sheep. A pastor that is not present to tend the sheep is tantamount to a church not present to follow the pastor. Both are a contradiction in terms and defy the nature of their definitions (the church is a gathering; the shepherd is with his sheep).

Virtual methods may work well when they are employed by corporate America, but their regular usage in ministry only perpetuates an already unhealthy church mentality. After all, how should we expect congregants to perceive God’s design for his church when their pastor can serve them through the air waves? Or worse yet, when his job is perceived only to be the delivering of a message, the more common view of a pastor these days?

It all fails to model the personal aspect of a connected body for church life when the closest a congregation can come to their pastor is a digital image viewed from the front row. It goes against the very behavior a pastor would expect from the sheep. At this rate, a congregant may think it just as beneficial to skip service and watch online from the comfort of home. At least they’ll save on gas consumption.

This article is not a rebuke to the pastors or ministries that are making use of technology where there is no flesh-and-blood alternative and as a temporary solution to a logistical problem. I do however find much fault with, and no reason for, a pastor who broadcasts himself to another location. A church must have its own resident teaching pastor. As we will see in a future post, the virtual pastor really isn’t a pastor at all according to Biblical terms. I question both the means employed to reach this end, and the end itself.

Because this topic is rather vast in scope, I will be posting the article in a few or more segments as a mini series. No matter how tightly I may try to write it, putting everything in one post would be too long, or incomplete at best.

Following are some of the issues I intend to cover in subsequent posts. I welcome your suggestions as well.

1. The Biblical definition and function of a pastor

2. The definition and application of ‘virtual’ in ministry

3. The biblical incompatibility of the ‘virtual’ nature with the living nature of church

4. The ethical and practical problems that ensue from a ‘virtual’ ministry

5. The justifications given by some to support ‘virtual’ ministry

6. Better alternatives to the broadcasted satellite church

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Who do you say Jesus was, and why should it matter anyway?

Posted on February 10, 2010 | 3 comments

Let’s face it, Jesus was not a peace activist. On the contrary, he brought division and conflict. This was not his intention, but it was inevitable. In Matthew 10:34 he said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

He didn’t mean he came to cause war, though many have fought them mistakenly in the name of Christ. Clearly, Jesus spoke metaphorically in the verse above. The very nature of his person and his PURPOSE in coming, is what would cut and divide, like a sword. His words were often sharp, and they cut to the heart, bringing pain and exposing the deeper issues of life. That is how truth is, is it not? As the saying goes, “The truth hurts.” Sometimes it cuts when we are trying to avoid it. But the truth about Jesus hurts even more, because it cuts in order to confront the problem of mankind, a problem most would rather pretend is not there. That problem is our sin and unwillingness to be accountable to God for our lives. Now, if my mentioning the word ‘sin’ has jolted you, then I rest my case. The truth hurts, and it even cuts.

What you think of Jesus will most definitely cut like a sword. Either it will cut you off from him, or it will cut you off from those who reject him. Make no mistake about it, the sword will cut and divide. The subject of Jesus simply arouses deep emotions in people. Even if you try to avoid the issue, you can’t. There is no ‘neutral’ ground. You either acknowledge who Jesus is and what he has done, or you don’t. To have no opinion at all about Jesus really is still an opinion. In essence it says, “I don’t think Jesus is important enough to warrant my time or energy to investigate.” Perhaps your view says that what one believes in life really doesn’t matter, as long as one is sincere. I’d like to talk about that view in future posts, and most certainly will bring it up. But for now, let’s get back to the words of Jesus.

In Matthew 16:13, Jesus asked a question to his disciples, “Who do people say that I, the son of man, am? To paraphrase, what are people saying about me? Who do they think I am? Do any have it right, that I am the promised messiah?

The disciples’ response in Matthew 16:14 is very interesting and revealing, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.” First, notice how there were various views about Jesus. At that time, much like today, peoples’ opinions were at conflict with one another. And certainly they all could not have been true. On the contrary, according to Jesus (who had every right to correct false ideas pertaining to himself), all three of these particular ‘ideas’ were wrong. How do we know this? Well, the first obvious reason is that his name was not John or Elijah, but Jesus. And we also know that Jesus did not acknowledge the view that he was just another prophet. But the biggest clue comes to us from Jesus, who asked yet one more question in the next verse, Matthew 16:15, “But who do you say that I am?”

Do you notice how Jesus now makes the question very personal to the disciples? It was not enough to let others have opinions while they carried on with indifference. Settling for the fact that people are divided over the person of Jesus never relinquishes anyone from the need to take a position about him. The disciples had to make a decision for themselves. What did they think of Jesus?

Friend, this is the question we all need to answer. You don’t have to agree with my view, or anyone else’s for that matter, but you do have to agree with your own. What I mean here is that you owe it to yourself to at least have a view. One that is based on fact, and has been formed after careful, personal investigation. If what Jesus said and did is true, then he is the messiah and you need to make a decision as to what you will do with that information. If Jesus was a phony, or a loony, then none of it matters and you can just continue with life as before. But certainly, Jesus made some radical claims, into which we must at the very least investigate.

Notice how the apostle Peter answered the question in Matthew 16:16, “You are the Christ.” With this, Jesus rejoiced. He said in Matthew 16:17, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

Did you notice that Jesus acknowledged Peter’s answer, as accurate? Therefore, Jesus claims to be the Christ, or messiah. In future posts, I’ll be sharing more about the messiahship of Jesus. In the mean time, think about and try to answer the question that Jesus asked. Answer it honestly. In spite of what others might be saying, who do you say Jesus is?

Though Jesus mentions the sword in the opening verse of this post, he also spoke of peace and promised it to his followers. But this peace had nothing to do with world peace from military ceasefires and everything to do with mankind and his creator. It is inherently dependent on one’s view of Jesus, for one must come to him for it.

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Jesus on the Great Commission

Posted on January 30, 2010 | 2 comments

Here is an interesting nugget on the subject of discipleship. To not get rusty after all my blood, sweat and tears invested in learning Biblical Greek through my seminary study, I’ve been trying to use it daily in my devotional time as well as sermon preparation.

This morning I was following a discussion on leadership and mentoring, which is another way of saying ‘discipling’ in biblical language. This, of course, landed me at the Great Commission in Matt 28:18-20. What I found particularly interesting there is the fact that the only word of Jesus recorded explicitly in the imperative (i.e. impertative means to command or order to do something) form of the Greek was ‘matheteusate’, which literally means to “disciple”. Following this as the direct object (the part of the phrase that receives the action rather than does the action) is ‘all nations’,  written as ‘panta ta ethne’ in the Greek.

We often cite this verse to mobilize our churched people into the field of evangelism and missions. While there is nothing incorrect about this application, ‘GO’ is not the actual emphasis of the great commission. To ‘make disciples’ is the command. The words ‘go’, ‘baptize’ and ‘teach’ are participles in the Greek, which would be like saying ‘while going and baptizing and teaching’. These are all an implicit part of the great commission, but they are merely part of the greater focus and actual command of making disciples as Jesus gave it.

Let me explain why this challenges my approach to ministry. Often, we place the emphasis encouraging people to ‘go’ to the field for missions. Always, we make sure that believers are ‘baptized’ after trusting in Jesus. Sometimes, this takes an all-too-legalistic application as part of a creed or requirement for membership into certain denominations. And few reading this post will argue against the importance of teaching others what Jesus did and said. However, my execution of making disciples has fallen far short of what I believe Jesus to have said in Matthew 28:18-20.

Discipleship in light of Jesus’ definition as a Jewish rabbi in New Testament times is to be our goal. A disciple in Jesus’ day was a student who learned closely from his teacher – both by example – and by instruction. Much time was spent together between instructor and disciple. There was a hands on approach too, an apprenticeship if you will. In all, there was a careful nurturing in order to bring the disciple to a specific destination in knowledge and application so as to form his or her character. In other words, we can go, baptize, and teach, without ever truly making a disciple as Jesus intended. For those elements don’t make a disciple. Knowing Christ, walking with him and picking up ones cross to follow him, living by faith and loving Jesus. These describe what I see in the New Testament disciples.

While I have focused often on evangelism, and weekly on teaching, I have fallen pretty far short of Jesus’ definition, and need to reconsider how I am making disciples. Surely my pulpit time goes but a limited distance on the road to Emmaus.  May the Lord, the master disciple maker himself, teach us to make disciples, lest we be guilty instead of fulfilling the ‘Great Omission’.

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