Author Archives: rob.haynes

I’m Sorry I Didn’t Make Disciples Sooner

I come to you today with a confession: 

I failed to take seriously the command of Jesus to make Disciples. For too long, in my three decades of ministry, I ignored the simple and direct command of Scripture to make disciples who will make disciples. It wasn’t on purpose. I thought I was doing a great job, but I now know that I was woefully deficient. 

Alongside this confession, I am hopeful, more so than ever. I am convinced, more than ever, that our denominational heritage of discipleship in Classes and Bands, the original Wesleyan/Methodist Small Groups, is the answer for the current and future church. However, for nearly thirty years I missed that message. As I said, it was not a sin of commission, rather of omission. Allow me to illustrate.

I began serving in ministry in the mid-1990’s. The prevailing model of ministry at the time was to build great programs. If we built a great program, then many people would come. Some of them might return. They would get involved in another program that might keep them connected to the church. A few of those would go a little deeper and might lead another program. You get the idea: we were taught to program so that we could build a program that would build programs. 

Allow me to brag just a moment: I became good at building programs. I could build something that could get people to come out and even some of them would return. As a youth pastor, I created events for students after football games that attracted hundreds of teenagers. I put together some great mission trips to some cool places. As an associate and lead pastor, I replicated these practices with adults. The names changed, but the methods were the same.  

However, I am not sure I made many disciples. When I look at the mandate of the gospel, I see several things pointing me to make disciples, but nothing about occupying people’s time with programs.

This may seem a little harsh. It may even seem foolhardy to some people. You may be reading this and thinking that I am crazy for not wanting to attract people. However, I have found that if we spend all our time in ministry merely trying to attract people according to the current whims of the culture, then they will merely move along to the next thing that catches their attention.

I was confronted with this reality in a couple of conversations when I was a youth minister.

One day, I ran into Anthony walking into church on a Sunday morning, guitar in hand. Anthony was an influential teenager in our church. He was a talented musician, a leader in his school, and was friendly and outgoing. I asked him if he was coming to the really cool thing that I had planned for next Saturday. I can’t even remember what I had programmed, but it was another way of keeping people busy at the church. His reply cut me to the quick: “I’ll come if I can’t find anything better to do.” Ouch! This was one of the key people I expected to see there! If he wasn’t going to come, I was in trouble.

The second was with some parents of the students in my ministry. On a Sunday morning we were talking in the Sunday School hallway in between the worship hour and the Sunday School hour. They were lamenting that their teenage children were not coming to church. Their conclusion was this: With absolute resolution parents should get their teens out of bed and bring them to church! Then it hit me: of the three or four families standing before me, none of their teens were in church that morning. When I asked why this was, they each sheepishly offered half-hearted excuses of tired children or over-programmed schedules. 

The church, and me as their minister, was not offering anything different than what they were getting anywhere else. I was just putting Jesus’ name on it. Much like retailers competing for market share, I was competing for the attention of teens with forces that grab their attention much better than I could. 

I wish I could tell you that I learned my lesson immediately. Oh, if only. However, I succumbed to the pressures of these forces for several more years in ministry. If you serve in ministry, maybe you have seen it too. It takes on different shapes depending on the place and target age groups. It can look like “Caring Ministry”, “Pastoral Care”, “Age-Level Programming”, “Men’s Breakfast”, or even “Sunday School” and “Small Groups.” 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the church being a center of community activity or with providing fellowship for those who are facing loneliness, isolation, or disenfranchisement. However, we must be cautious not to confuse programmed entertainment with discipleship. And the Church’s primary role is to make DISCIPLES, not to merely entertain those who show up.

I did not learn this soon enough. I continued to make the mistake of following the whims of my church members. They wanted to be entertained, and to put the church’s name on it. Sure, we talked about the Bible. We talked about Jesus. We enjoyed one another’s company. However, I seldom saw life-changing ministry happening. I blamed many things, but rarely the right thing: My failure to make more and maturing disciples.

So, at this stage in my ministry, I have decided to put all my energies into disciple-making over programming. In the church we planted a few years ago we have made this the key focus of everything we do. This, by no means, reduces the role of mission or evangelism. Rather, just the opposite. Because I do not treat them like a programming audience, it means that I am not solely responsible for mission or evangelism. It means I am learning to walk with people as they discover the Holy Spirit’s desire as to how they should serve in faith sharing with others. The best way I have seen to do this is right in the middle of our heritage as Wesleyans as demonstrated in the Class and Band Meetings. 

Let’s face it: the Church is facing several challenges today, challenges from which the Wesleyan/Methodist movement is not immune. I do not fear for the future of the church. Rather, the global and historical witness of people committed to discipleship gives me hope. 

The GPS/SatNav in my car gives me an important reminder about this hope. When I lose my way, it tells me that it is time to “recalculate” and get back on the road heading the correct direction. It is time to get back on the path to which God has called us: to make disciples, not merely comfortable and entertained church-attenders.

This is my confession. May You, O Lord, have mercy upon us, spare those who confess their faults, restore those who are repentant, and grant that we may hereafter live a godly and righteous life. Amen.

The world watched last September as millions mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth. Subsequently, many watched with great interest as Charles was enthroned as King in May. The pageantry and celebration had not been seen in a generation. As King Charles assumed the throne, he was given the regalia of royalty: a crown, an orb, and a scepter. However, it is the scepter that monarchs have used across centuries and cultures to symbolize power and authority.

What we hold in our hands can say a great deal about who we are and our intentions. If I approach you with a football or with a first aid kit or with a dinner plate, I am conveying different messages. It also may say something about who I am or what skills or authority I possess. While anyone may hold a football or a dinner plate only the king, by rights, may hold the scepter. However, what if a king were to give up his rights to such power in favor of a more peculiar demonstration of power?

John’s gospel gives us a beautiful account of the Thursday night before Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. The final hours that Jesus spent with his disciples is full of rich messages. One of the most beautiful scenes is when Jesus washes the disciples’ feet. Chapter 13 tells us that Jesus knows that His time is now short. Judas Iscariot has already committed to betraying Jesus. John points out that Jesus knew “that the Father had given all things into his hands…” (v.3, emphasis mine) This means that Jesus could have set things on a different path. He could have stopped Judas’ plot. He could have thwarted those who sought to take His life. He could have defeated the Romans. The power was in His hands. He could have wielded the scepter that was rightly His.

However, “He took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.” (v. 4) The Greek word used here that we translate “took off” can also mean “laid down.” The hands that deserved the scepter that rules the universe, laid down his robe—and his life—and picked up a towel that was reserved for the lowest of salves. He took the time to wash the feet of those who would abandon Him in just a matter of hours: including the ones who would return to follow him and the one who set the plans of his death in motion. He deserved the power. He chose peculiarity.

Many parts of our culture today demand that we grab as much power as possible. This power, we are told, comes in the form of political influence, financial gain, or a favored reputation in social circles. Even in parts of the church today people are vying for money, influence, and worldly power. However, none of these are the pattern of Jesus. He knew that the peculiar pattern that His disciples must follow is the pattern of the Cross. In doing so, He would prove that true power comes in the Resurrection.

Modern-day followers of Jesus are called to follow this same peculiar pattern. The Bible’s answer to the challenges in today’s world, and our individual relationships, is not more struggles for power, status, or influence. Rather, the answer is showing one another that our Savior has called us to choose peculiarity over power. We are, of course, called to follow Jesus in holiness and righteousness. Along the way, others will let us down. We, ourselves will fail sometimes. Our response, by Jesus’ example, is the pattern of the Cross. In this pattern, the power of His resurrection is made complete in us.

Many Christians tell me how they long for things to be different. They tell me of their ideas on how to bring about change in the individuals, institutions, and social systems that are marred by the sin of reject God’s teaching. No doubt, our world desperately needs the transformation that comes through Christ’s message of hope, forgiveness, and a call to holiness. At the same time. Jesus’ followers must resist the urge to grab the scepters of power the world dangles before them. These apparitions of power never last. Rather, imagine a world where Jesus’ followers came together to convey His message with the towel of servanthood. People will wonder at our peculiarity. When they do, we should point them to the Cross and watch Jesus’ Resurrection power make them new.

“Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power.” Psalm 145:4

I became a Christian in my twenties. I was attending a large-membership church at that time, and I was recruited to help as a teacher’s assistant with the children’s Vacation Bible School that summer. I was intimidated by the idea of leading children. In the nearly thirty years since then, I have heard that same hesitation among people of various ages and Christian maturity. Yet, sharing with children can be easier than you think. First, let’s look at some Scriptural direction and the Wesleyan history of faith-sharing with children. We will then look at an idea on how you can tell the Good News of Jesus to children with a few simple items.

In Deuteronomy 4:9 Moses commands the people to remember the instructions of the Lord and tells them to pass it on to their children and grandchildren. This instruction still applies to us today and should provide encouragement for us to share and show the love of Jesus to God’s children of all ages.

Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations includes people of all ages. It is not just limited to adults, or even teens, but also includes children. The Scriptures are clear that children need the love and forgiveness that Jesus offers. This is seen, among other places, in Matthew 19 when Jesus welcomes the children into his teaching ministry and tells the disciples that they should follow his example.

John Wesley understood the vital role that ministry to children has in the mission of the Kingdom of God. He demonstrated this in his work to start schools, like the Kingswood School. He instructed the leaders of the Methodist revival to teach the children and show others the importance of ministry to children. When some protested (like I did early on) and said they did not feel like they were gifted to teach children, his response was to “pray earnestly for the gift and use the means for it.” He went on to tell them to reach out to children and their parents alike, to teach them on every occasion, and give parents the tools to raise their children in the wisdom and admonishment of the Lord.

Long before modern researchers told us that most children set their religious preferences by age twelve, Mr. Wesley was telling Methodist leaders the same thing. He understood that instructing children at this critical age was vital to the ministry. He affirmed Martin Luther’s assertion that a revival never lasts longer than one generation.

Sharing the story of salvation can begin with something simple like a Wordless Book that you can make on your own. Each page of the book is a solid color with no written words. Arrange colored paper in the following order and tell the Gospel story using these colors as a guide.

1. GOLD is for God’s perfection—God created the Heavens and the Earth in perfect love and grace. God wants us to be with him and in constant relationship with him. When God created the Garden in perfection, he warned Adam and Eve not to do things that would hurt themselves and others.
2. BLACK is the mark of sin—Because of the things we do that break God’s laws, our relationship with God is broken. It needs fixing. There are things that we do that separate us from God, others, and ourselves. The Bible calls these “sins”. All of us have sinned, and our hearts need to be made clean. We cannot make our own hearts clean; only God can do that.
3. RED represents Jesus’ sacrifice—The Bible tells us that there is punishment for sin. Jesus, God’s One and Only Son, took the punishment for our sins so that we would not have to face the punishment we deserve. Instead of us being punished for our sins, Jesus died on the cross so that all the wrong things we have done can be forgiven.
4. WHITE is the purity that Jesus offers—This means that our hearts can be made clean. Jesus does not force this on us, but we must ask God to forgive us. When we believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and invite him into our hearts to turn away from sin, he will wash us as white as snow.
5. GREEN is for growth—The Bible says that we should continue to learn to love Jesus more deeply every day and share his love with others. We are to read God’s Word, pray, worship, serve, and obey for the rest of our lives.
6. GOLD is for eternal life—Scripture tells us that Heaven is very real and that we can work with God to bring God’s Kingdom on Earth. It also tells us that Jesus has made a heavenly home for all who love and serve him. This is open to everyone.

This is only a starting point to begin a discussion with the children. It can also be adapted in any number of ways; for example, you can make bracelets with children that contain beads of each color. As the children wear the bracelets, they can be reminded of the story of salvation. By using this simple color pattern, the book can be adapted to any language and in a variety of cultures.

I encourage you to put together a wordless storybook or bracelet with some children in your life. Maybe they are children you have met in your neighborhood, your church community, or the local park. Pray that God would open your eyes to those who need to hear it. Then let yourself be used to tell the children of God’s mighty acts as you proclaim his power.

Early on in my walk with Jesus, I felt a strong call to minister to youth and young adults. I earned a degree in education, in part, to be the best Bible Study teacher that I could be. I crafted lessons with textbook precision. However, the professors at the university did not fully prepare me for the complexities of the spiritual journeys of the young adults in the ministries where I served. What they needed was not just my well-crafted lesson plans, but someone who could share with them in the journey of discipleship.

Sharing faith with teens can be a scary thing for some adults. Many times, it feels like there are walls between adults and teens. However, like people of any age, teens desire an authentic relationship with someone who genuinely cares about them. They want the adults around them to be themselves, while seeking to understand the struggles they are experiencing. When approached this way, many young adults are open to hearing about how Jesus can help them, at the very least, make sense of an increasingly complex world. It is easy to say that, but sometimes much more difficult to do. So, where do you begin? The familiar BLESS acronym can be a great place to start.

B is for “Begin with Prayer.” Every attempt at reaching out to someone else in the Name of Jesus should begin with prayer. We know that the Holy Spirit is already at work in the life of the other person and in the situation you will enter with that person. Pray that God will open the hearts and spiritual eyes of everyone involved.

L is for “Listen.” As the saying goes, “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” Listening to someone in love and compassion is one of the best ways to show care and concern. Genuine listening shows people that they are not a project to be completed or something to be fixed. Rather, it shows that you truly want to be a part of their lives.

E is for “Eat.” There is something profound about sharing a meal with someone else. It opens doors of conversation, makes emotional connections, and builds community. Invite teens and their friends to share a meal with you and make some of their favorite foods. Be sure to sit with them during the meal and show them that you care enough to be in close proximity with them. You may be surprised at the deep connections that can be made over something as simple as sharing a meal.

S is for “Serve.” When you have been a part of someone’s life in a prayerful manner, listening to their heart, and sharing meals with them you will begin to see areas in which you can serve them. Maybe it is providing supplies for school, an outfit for an interview, or a ride when parents are unavailable. It may be something as simple as showing up for a game, recital, or presentation. Never underestimate the power of your service in the Name of the Lord. God will use it in mighty ways.

S is for “Share.” When God opens doors, share the story of Jesus and how he has worked in your life. It would be a shame to shy away from sharing the Good News of the gospel now that you have built a strong relationship with these young adults. When you have followed these other steps, you are likely to discover new points of connection with the teens in your life. As you share your faith, a good place to start are those areas where your story connects with theirs. Tell them what Jesus has done in your life in a natural and authentic way. Then, let God use it. It doesn’t have to be forced. Remember that God is much more invested in the lives of every person with whom you share your faith. He will bring the return on that investment in His wisdom and timing.

BLESS is a great way to guide your ministry with teens. Please hear me: I am not discounting the need to carefully prepare quality lessons for youth and young adults. We need to honor God and the people in our ministry with the best we can offer. At the same time, we cannot hide behind the proverbial classroom podium. Authentic faith-sharing means walking alongside others as they ask questions. Jesus shows us this in his teaching to Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 32): “They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’” In the same way, walk the road with teens and talk with them, opening the Scriptures to them. As you BLESS them, may the Lord set their hearts on fire.

When I talk to some Christians about sharing their faith with others, they seem scared or even threatened. Often their concern is that someone may resist their efforts at evangelism and ask them questions they cannot immediately answer. However, in Scripture we see that God is not afraid of peoples’ doubts. The account of the Resurrected Jesus’ interaction with Thomas in John 20:24-29 is but one example that tells us that God welcomes those who have questions.

Researchers tell us that, in many parts of the world, the numbers of non-religious people is on the rise.  People in this group would not readily label themselves as “religious” yet many of them are open to spiritual conversations. Years ago, I worked in a business where I had a co-worker named Bill who did not consider himself “religious.” He would rather spend time outdoors on a Sunday morning rather than in a Christian church. Over time, I learned that Bill had an interest in spiritual things when he started talking about “Bob.” Bob, you see, was the name he decided to give to God. In a bit of rebellion against the religious establishment, he chose this name rather than “God” or “Jesus.” But I learned that he and I held some of the same beliefs about God, as revealed in Jesus. This points to an important point when sharing faith with people who question or doubt: faith-sharing is often a dialogue of questions and answers on both sides.

Sometimes we will share our faith with others, and they will answer with skepticism and doubt. This is no reason to be afraid or to withdraw from the relationship. Rather, we can approach these as open doors to longer conversations and allow God to shape both us and the other person. When we are sharing faith and someone approaches us with questions and doubts, we need not be concerned with having all the correct answers. We can look at it as a chance to learn more about the other person, about God, and about how God is working in both of us.

Maybe you know someone like my old co-worker Bill. If you seek out ways to share your faith you will certainly meet people like Bill before too long. When you do, I encourage you to use purposeful conversations like these to help understand the other person. Pray that the Holy Spirit gives you the wisdom to answer with the Truth of the Gospel. As you do so, I want to offer three questions that may guide your conversations as you talk about Jesus.

1. What do you mean by…? Ask the other person to clarify the terms they are using. You may find that the two of you are not even using the same terms. When you think of “God” what are you thinking of? The other person may be defining God in a completely different way. Clarifying these assumptions right away will help you. You can offer a scriptural outlook to the person to correct misunderstandings.
2. Where did you learn that..? Find out what the other person is using as their source of information. This will give you some good talking points. Unsurprisingly, my colleague Bill got his information from a variety of sources, some of which were more reliable than others. By offering lessons from the Bible about Jesus, I was able to share with Bill what I knew to be true.
3. Have you ever considered…? You can offer a counterpoint in a way that is non-confrontational. This allows you to hear the other person’s concerns and questions. You do not have to come up with an immediate answer to their challenges. Rather, this allows you time to formulate an answer. Has there ever been a time when you walked away from an encounter and thought later, “I wish I had said…” A response like “have you considered” allows you time to go back to other person at a later time and say, “You know, I was thinking about our conversation last week. Have you considered…?” This also shows that you value the person and the relationship enough to keep it in your mind when you are apart.

This line of discussion requires us to be in regular dialogue with others of various states of spiritual growth. It means that we should seek out relationships with others who may not be Christians. For some of us, that is uncomfortable. But take courage! We know that God is already working in that person’s life, already calling them to a relationship with Him. That means that when we listen to the Holy Spirit’s prompting we will know when to speak and what to say. This certainly takes the pressure off, doesn’t it? Jesus shows us a purposeful, loving conversation with those who express doubts about faith can have a powerful impact. These conversations begin, and are maintained by, working on intentional relationships with others. Where is God leading you to such relationships and conversations?

Why share your faith? The Father uses your fallout

Evangelism has gotten a bad name over the last few years. For more reasons than we have time to go into in this article, “The ‘E’ Word” is a problem for many people in some parts of the world. Recent polls show that younger generations of Christians in many parts of the world are grappling with not just how to share their faith, but whether or not they should do so at all.

Yet, Scripture provides clear commands for Christians to share the story of how Jesus has made a difference in their lives. Jesus himself told his followers that the plan for spreading the Good News included them—in their success, their failures, and everything in between. What, then, is the answer? What if we looked at Evangelism not as a program or strategy, but as an overflow of what God has done in our lives? Let me see if I can illustrate.

Several years ago, why wife and I were traveling on a road trip with our preschool-aged son. We were driving down the highway as a thunderstorm approached. We were startled by a bolt of lightning as it hit the edge of the road a few hundred meters in front of us. The noise and bright light shocked us all. However, what really surprised us was what happened after the ground strike. The lightning bolt made a hole in the ground at the side of the road.  As we approached the place where the lightning hit, the dirt from the newly created hole had flown in the air and now rained down on our car. It was the fallout of the strike, and it fell on us as we went by.

When talking about why we share our faith, that lightning strike and the resulting fallout might be helpful. The story of the New Testament church is that the people were startled by an unexpected and cataclysmic event. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus shook the world. It came upon them with the same surprise, and brilliance, of a lightning strike. The miraculous events around the birth of the church at Pentecost and throughout the Book of Acts are like a fallout that continued to rain down upon all those that were near it.

However, the strikes, and the fallout, did not stop there. This pattern is repeated every day in the lives of women and men who put their faith in Christ. Its effects find their way to any who put their trust in the Risen Lord today.

But why share this with others? Why not let God strike them with their own lightning bolts? God could do that. Yet, in another divine mystery, God has chosen to use Christ followers to share the Good News of the gospel. We are reminded of this joy and privilege in 1 Peter 2:9: “[Y]ou 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.”

God has created in every one of us a desire to know Him and His purposes for our lives. Followers of Jesus share their faith in Christ with others because the Holy Spirit has pierced the darkness in their own lives with God’s wonderful light. This truth should be shared far and wide. The Bible tells us that it should not remain a private opinion. In sharing this truth, we give others the opportunity to know the truth for themselves, and about themselves. They can know themselves more deeply because they will discover who they are in Christ.

Lightning comes in all types: A bolt that hits near us or maybe a flash of light in a distant cloud that illuminates a dark night. Some Christians can tell the story of their decision to follow Jesus in a way that looks more like a nearby lightening strike. Others would recall a story of a slow process, like flashes of lightening in clouds on the horizon. Either way, the result is the same: the Light of Christ has shone into the darkness and that Light has made all the difference.

After we encountered that lightning strike on the highway and the results of it, our young son, who had seen the whole thing unfold, said in a loud voice, “Do it again, Daddy!” When we share our faith like this, we want to ask our Heavenly Father to “Do it again!” Why share your faith? Simply because Christ has chosen His followers to share their own experience with the Light, and the resulting positive fallout, of what He has done in them. As you look for ways to share your faith, that’s a good prayer to begin: “Do it again, Daddy!”

A few years ago, in a town not too far away, there was a traffic accident involving a car and a motorcycle. The person driving the car was unhurt and was able to walk away from the accident. However, the motorcyclist was trapped under the car and unable to move, though he was still conscious and alert. A witness to the accident yelled out that the car was now on fire. If someone did not act soon, the motorcyclist would perish.

The accident and subsequent fire drew a crowd on the busy street. One person stepped forward to test his strength at lifting the 4,000-pound car off the trapped man, but it would not budge. One by one, people stepped forward to help. With the contributions of several in the crowd they were able to lift the car enough to pull the motorcyclist to safety as emergency crews arrived to extinguish the flames. It was through the collective efforts of the group, no matter how individually small, that they were able to save the man who could not be saved through one individual’s actions.

The Bible teaches that small contributions can lead to tremendous things when used collectively in Ecclesiastes 4:12 “A three-stranded cord is not easily broken.” This wisdom comes in the middle of an instruction from the Teacher that work done solely for oneself is futile. The chapter reminds us that two people can help each other out when needed, but there is an extra measure of strength when three work or more together. The image of the rope is a powerful one. Much like the people trying to lift the car, even if three ropes are working at the same task but doing it alone, they will not be as strong as they are when they work together. If you make a three-stranded cord, the rope is exponentially stronger than when the three strands of rope are detached from one another and work alone.

Jesus repeats this promise when he reminds us that: “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20) Even when two Christians are gathered in the Name of Jesus, the Holy Spirit moves among them making that strong, three-stranded cord. One richness of our heritage as the People Called Methodists is the understanding that our faith is not to be only expressed in personal holiness. It must also be lived in community with other Christians and expressed in acts of love. John Wesley was emphatic that “the gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness, but social holiness.”  Some people have misunderstood this as a message to only seek to rework political systems, economic structures, or social norms. However, that misses some important points of Wesley’s message and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Social holiness is intended to help one another to grow more in the image of Jesus in every way.

The richness of the theological heritage of the Methodist movement teaches us that use of Bands, Classes, and Societies were an important force in the revival that began in England in the 1700’s and is alive in many parts of the world today. Social Holiness happens in a variety of settings: a gathering of a handful of people in a Band, a group of a dozen or so in a Class, or a larger worship service in a Society. These can help someone grow in an existing relationship with God or introduce new people to faith in Jesus Christ. All of them provide a space for people to grow in community with one another.

There is one more interesting thing to point out about that three-stranded rope and Wesleyan Social Holiness. To realize their full strength, the fibers of a rope cannot all be twisted in a uniform direction and manner. Rather, they must be twisted in such a way that they provide just the right amount of friction against one another. In doing so, they become stronger. Just as the maker of the rope has one purpose in this design, it is important that we come together for one purpose: growing more like Jesus. We expect people to put away the sin that so easily entangles and anything that hinders us from pursuing the race marked out for us. At the same time, we recognize that not everyone has to be just like us. Rather, we learn more from the richness of the diversity that God gives us.

I encourage you to find a group of people to grow in God’s grace in the Wesleyan way. If you already have such a group, invite others who need to what it means to follow Jesus. You will find yourself growing stronger in the Lord together. And, hey, you may just provide the rescue that someone else needs.

“Mary treasured up all [the words of the shepherds] and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:19

In Luke’s account of the birth of Christ, we see angelic messengers proclaim the newborn King. Shepherds, the first recipients of this Good News, share the message all over town. In what seems like a sharp contrast, Jesus’ mother quietly contemplates all of this. Yet, I think there are lessons in both the Old and New Testament that can teach us about when to ponder and when to proclaim.

Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that there is a time for every matter and a season for everything. What follows this declaration is a list of fourteen pairs of seemingly opposite events: birth and death, weeping and laughing, war and peace, etc. It is a beautiful piece of both wisdom and poetry. These truths resonate with people at some of the deepest levels, though they may never have realized that this truth comes from God’s Word. The American folk-rock group, The Byrds set these words to music in their hit, “Turn, Turn, Turn.” The song was an instant success, hitting the top of the charts in the US, the UK, and Canada. It has been covered by several other artists and remains an iconic song for both its music and message.

Though these paired events may seem to be opposites, when we take a closer look, we can see that they are deeply dependent upon one another. Each one needs the other to exist. (Go ahead and read them for yourself now in Ecclesiastes 3:2-8.)

In a similar set of seemingly opposite events, Luke’s Gospel records Mary’s quiet, contemplative response to the shepherds’ proclamations of miraculous signs and wonders. The shepherds had heard promises and declarations directly from heaven itself and found everything exactly as the angels described. They could not hold back the great news and told everyone they could find. However, Jesus’ mother—certainly no stranger to miraculous events by now—keeps things to herself and ponders them in her heart, at least for the time being. This is an important lesson for us to remember: there is a time to ponder and a time to proclaim.

Western culture does little to reward pondering over proclaiming. Rather, it seems to reward a steady stream of barely constrained information through pictures, posts, and videos. Content creators on social media who are “influencers” are rewarded with likes, hearts, and follows. However, much of this content can seem shallow, irrelevant, and frequently ill-advised. The effect can snowball until viewers, readers, followers, and listeners can demand more immediate content. The room for pondering is seldom encouraged or rewarded.

This is not limited to impersonal social media streams but can spill into our interpersonal interactions as well. Not long ago, I got into a rather tense discussion with a local businessman. The businessman was responsible for some damage to a piece of my personal property. This fact was not in dispute. When I asked for compensation and discussed how we might resolve the matter, the conversation became argumentative. He attacked my character and made all sorts of unfounded accusations. My immediate response was to tell him how wrong he was. The more I tried, the worse it got. All of my proclamations made little difference. Over the course of our three or four conversations, I debated how I would stand up for myself and witness the love of Christ in the situation. I gave it some time and space and, of course, gave it a ponder. I tried to consider how I had appeared to the businessman and what he may have been going through. I considered how my words might have come across. I considered what things may have been going on in his life that would lead to his hurtful words to me. As a mentor once told me, “What someone says, says more about them than it does about you.”

The Christmas season is a wonderful time for the proclamation of the glorious fact that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. It is also an important time for pondering. Maybe you are like I was, and facing unfounded attacks, hurtful words, or just wanting someone else to know that you are the one who has the right point of view. Take some time to ponder. It is in the pondering that we can listen to what the Holy Spirit wants to tell us. It is fascinating that the same idiom used for Mary’s pondering in Luke is also seen in Psalm 119:11: “I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.” In other words, spiritual pondering leads to holiness.

My friends, go do some pondering and then go proclaim Jesus’ love boldly. There is a time and season for both.

When I was young, my grandmother had strict rules against working on Sunday. We were not allowed to do household chores, work in the yard, or other such jobs. She insisted that we remember the day as one to rest from our work. She was so insistent on it that it frequently seemed that we worked hard to rest.

We are wired for the need to regularly rest. Yet, many of us are not very good at it. Frequently, we try to put our value in what we produce or what we can accomplish. As such, we run harder to accomplish and produce. However, consistent rest is good for both our bodies and our souls.

The Bible records the first day of respite in the creation story when God himself rested on the seventh day. The Hebrew people are commanded to take a day of rest as an act of faith. In an agrarian society where daily work was required to survive, a day of rest was an affirmation that Yahweh would provide every need. Jesus affirmed the need for a Sabbath rest and its benefits for the believer and the Kingdom alike.

Just as then, our modern age of always-on and always-available information does not lend itself well to rest. Many things are asking for our attention, twenty-four hours a day. Is it possible that a modern Sabbath is not just about putting down subsistence farming tools, but putting down our information devices?

The importance of a daily and weekly period of silence cannot be overstated. Time spent in prayer with the Lord, reading the Scriptures, participating in the means of grace, and enjoying the creation are all valuable. We who are created in the image of God are made for such things. Recently, I learned this in a new way when I committed to a day of silence. The absence of phone calls, text messages, and even the music on the radio created space for the Lord to work in my heart when nothing else could. I went to a nearby body of water and just took it all in. I truly felt that the Lord had led me beside the still waters to restore my soul. It was nothing complicated or planned. Rather, I just allowed the Lord to speak in whatever way he wanted to do so.

Rest throughout the year is important as well. When I first began serving in ministry full-time at a church, my senior pastor insisted that each staff member take two consecutive weeks of vacation each year. We were instructed to not call into the church and no one from the church would call us. While we were responsible for arranging things during our absence, our time away was to be a gift to us and to our families. This is likely the greatest gift in ministry anyone has every given me. Those two-week vacations, though not elaborate nor expensive, provided cherished memories for our family. The disconnect from communication provided a space where I could reconnect with my family and with the Lord.

Though it may seem counter-intuitive, there is something that happens when we take these times of rest that lead to even greater things. Fred Rogers hosted an American children’s show that lasted nearly 900 episodes. He wrote more than 200 songs. He was also an ordained minister. In a 1994 television interview, he was asked, “Who has made a difference in your life?” His answer is a master class in remembering the sabbath. “A lot of people. A lot of people who have allowed me to have some silence. I don’t think we give that gift very much anymore. I’m very concerned that our society is much more interested in information than wonder, in noise rather than silence…. Oh my, this is a noisy world.”

In that same interview, Rogers said that the most important part of any book is the space between paragraphs. When we get to those spaces our minds have a moment to process what we have just read. You may have a full routine of activities for God each day, week, month, and year. Yet are you allowing yourself time prioritize the wonder of God over the information about God?

At the core of our Wesleyan theology is the belief that God is calling all people unto himself, that God wants to be in relationship with each of us. As we want to know God better, and introduce others to Christ, we would do well to create space for conveying the gospel message in word and deed as well as creating space for silence before our Triune God. Mr. Rogers was right: it is a noisy world. Go spend some time enjoying God’s created world in stillness and wonder.