Wandering Sheep – One Last Time
I have one more thought concerning wandering sheep this week and I am done.
The vision of CrossPoint very simply is to reach JUST ONE MORE. To be more specific, the vision of CrossPoint is to reach JUST ONE MORE to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ.
The process by which we help JUST ONE MORE to become a fully devoted follower of CrossPoint can be summarized with one word: CONNECT.
At CrossPoint, we want people to CONNECT in three ways:
The vision of CrossPoint very simply is to reach JUST ONE MORE. To be more specific, the vision of CrossPoint is to reach JUST ONE MORE to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ.
The process by which we help JUST ONE MORE to become a fully devoted follower of CrossPoint can be summarized with one word: CONNECT.
At CrossPoint, we want people to CONNECT in three ways:
First, we want people to CONNECT with GOD in worship.
Next, we want people to CONNECT with GOD’S PEOPLE in Bible study.
Finally, we want people to CONNECT with GOD’S PLAN by identifying their ministry in the church and their mission in the world.
I think CrossPoint is doing an admirable job helping people CONNECT. We are improving each week by moving people through our process. Yet there is always room for improvement.
We are not striving for perfection; for perfection is an unattainable goal. However, we are string for excellence, because excellence in ministry is something we can achieve.
In our striving for excellence at CrossPoint, I must ask the following question:
What kind of disciples are we producing at CrossPoint?
Most days during the week I think we are producing some very solid followers of Christ. For the most part I see numerous CrossPointers who are active in the membership, ministry, fellowship, discipleship and worship of the church. I see some, in particular, who are really growing in their faith and striving to help others along in the process. In many respects I think we are making great improvements in the CrossPoint process and that is encouraging. However, when we look a little closer, with more detail in mind, I wonder if sometimes what we are producing is a group of chronically delinquent church members instead.
For three days now I have written about this seemingly innocent burden. Early in the week I wrote about the lack of involvement or participation of some CrossPointers. Today, I am more concerned about their level of commitment and witness. This I do know—church attendance and participation has more to do with your level of commitment and devotion to Christ than it does with anything else.
Some people say they are just too busy. Others tell me they are just taking a break. A few even admit to being lazy. Those are nothing more than excuses. The real root of the problem has to do with one’s abiding relationship with Christ. Which forces me, once again, to evaluate what kind of disciples we are producing at CrossPoint?
For three days now I have written about this seemingly innocent burden. Early in the week I wrote about the lack of involvement or participation of some CrossPointers. Today, I am more concerned about their level of commitment and witness. This I do know—church attendance and participation has more to do with your level of commitment and devotion to Christ than it does with anything else.
Some people say they are just too busy. Others tell me they are just taking a break. A few even admit to being lazy. Those are nothing more than excuses. The real root of the problem has to do with one’s abiding relationship with Christ. Which forces me, once again, to evaluate what kind of disciples we are producing at CrossPoint?
I would like to know what you think.
3 comments:
I agree, "church attendance and participation has more to do with your level of commitment and devotion to Christ than it does with anything else", but I would be careful about saying the opposite is true. Your level of commitment and devotion to Christ does not necessarily have more to do with your church attendance and participation than it does with anything else.
I think it is difficult to understand a person's relationship with Christ unless you are that person. Just as each of us has a different relationship with our spouse than anyone else does, our relationships with Christ are all going to be different. Our feeling of connectedness and being "at home" in a church probably have more to do with our attendance at a particular church.
Our responsibility as a church family is to encourage each member to continually grow in their relationship with Christ. Nothing else matters. Which church we attend doesn't matter. Which Bible study we attend doesn't matter. Whether or not we like the preacher doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is our relationship with Christ.
That being said, if we have a strong relationship with Christ, we will most likely attend and participate in a church somewhere. If CrossPoint isn't that church, we should encourage them to attend somewhere else. Our primary focus should be to include everyone in the family of Christ -- not to defend CrossPoint or insist that they belong to something here. Not everyone is spiritually mature enough to be deeply involved in our ministries. Most of our Bible Study classes and ministries have a basic assumption of some level of spiritual maturity. This if fine for "lifelong Christians" who join our church. We need to recognize the difference in needs for the "new Christians" and shepherd them along their spiritual journey differently. We need to learn how to recognize them and how to approach them in a non-threatening, non-judgemental way. How do we get this person to connect?
If we insist that everyone get involved too soon, we end up with actively serving believers. If we allow and encourage spiritual growth before too much involvement, we end up with spiritually developed servants.
Either way, we end up with ministries being filled. Is our goal to achieve serving? Or is our goal to achieve spiritually mature Christians who are serving?
That being said, a lack of attendance and participation anywhere is probably a good sign of a lack of devotion to Jesus Christ. But be careful not to assume that just because they aren't attending, they aren't devoted to Christ. We may not be properly nourishing their spiritual growth.
What kind of disciples are we producing??? I'll be honest - I have been burdened with my own lack of commitment to Christ. What are Christ's commands for us? Because that is what our church's focus should be. As far as I can tell it's to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. He then goes on to say that if we are true disciples and if we truly love Him, we will obey His commands. I'm gonna step on some toes here but I'm not trying to impress anyone and besides I am talking about myself first. (I know I'm rambling, but stick with me, I've got a point here.) If our commands are those as stated above, why is it that we look so much like the world? Why is it that we will laugh at a crude joke instead of correcting the person in public? Why is it that we have all of these ministers and not a minister of evangelism? What is our job? - to be fully devoted followers of Christ. I see examples of that in Paul and Peter and Steven and the others who were martyred in an attempt to reach the lost and yet most of us are willing to let our pastor be the only one who tries to reach the lost. Why is that? What kind of disciples are we making? I would say that if we are only connecting in worship and in Sunday school or with other Christians we are incomplete disciples. In fact I would question if we were truly disciples at all, at least based on the requirements Christ listed. Don't get me wrong - I love this church and I think we are making headway, it's just that we could be so much more - we should be so much more and I think we just need to gain a burden for the lost. Let's face it - if we are nice to a lost person and they die without being told about Christ they will go to Hell, and we will continue on . . . What kind of disciples are we making? "Incomplete" is my answer. I really do love you all - In His humble service - Jerry
Jerry, I certainly appreciate your zeal. It is contagious. God places men like you in His church to keep the church on mission. As for an evangelsim minister consider this--the third part of our proces is to CONNECT with God's plan, which includes being a missionary in the world. In the same way we say every CrossPointer is a minister, we are also saying every CrossPointer is a missionary. That is what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Christ.
Bill, I always appreciate your candor. You are right, we cannot measure someone's devotion to Christ by mere attendance. However, when they admit to being lazy, then that is another story.
I am so glad all of you have responded to this week's blogs. The next two blogs will hopefully be even more insightful.
I look forward to seeing your Sunday.
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