Tag Archives: Discipleship

Distinctive Style of Methodists: Our Worldwide Parish by Maxie Dunnam

Distinctive Style of Methodists: Our Worldwide Parish by Maxie Dunnam

Followers of Jesus have a distinctive style. There are many marks of the Methodist Style. We have considered A Catholic Spirit and Heartfelt Religion. Let’s look now at one other distinctive mark, our worldwide parish.

It is gathered up in Wesley’s popular saying, “The world is my parish.” That word captures the style of the Methodist movement—a concern for all humankind, a spending of ourselves and our resources that all the world might be brought to Christ.

Most of what I share here and much I have shared about other marks are from my book, Going on to Salvation (Nashville, Discipleship Resources, 1996). The truths still speak to us today.

We need to know that Wesley came to this position “kicking and screaming.” His decision to join Whitefield in preaching in the fields to the poor and to coal miners was a difficult one. He fought against it. Whitefield was having great success in reaching for Christ those for whom the established church paid no attention. He sent for John Wesley, knowing his preaching power and organizing skill.

Up to this point, Wesley had only preached in regular church services while in England. Should he accept Whitefield’s appeal and help with the open-air meetings in Bristol? Charles insisted that he not do it. But John practiced what he preached. He called on the Christian fellowship for guidance. He submitted the decision to the Fetter Lane Society, and they decided he should go. Wesley’s Journal for Saturday, March 31 reads:

In the evening, I reached Bristol and met Mr. Whitefield there. I could scarce reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which he set me an example on Sunday; having been all my life (until very lately) so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church.

Wesley spoke to a little society on Sunday evening using the Sermon on the Mount “one pretty remarkable precedent of field-preaching,” he observed, “though I suppose there were churches at that time also.” The next day, Monday, Wesley reported in his Journal:

At four in the afternoon, I submitted to be more vile, and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in ground adjoining the city, to about three thousand people. The scripture on which I spoke was this,…”The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.”

In his book, The Radical Wesley, Howder Snyder sums up what happened:

Characteristically, Wesley immediately began to organize. He formed a number of societies and bands and on May 9 acquired a piece of property where he built his “New Room” as a central meeting place. When Whitefield returned to America in August, Wesley was left totally in charge of the growing work. He divided his time between Bristol and London, concentrating on open-air preaching, organizing bands and speaking at night to an increasing number of societies.

The Wesleyan Revival had begun. From the beginning it was a movement largely for and among the poor, those whom “gentlemen” and “ladies” looked on simply as part of the machinery of the new industrial system.The Wesleys preached, the crowds responded and Methodism as a mass movement was born. (pp. 32-33)

That’s what Methodism is all about—a missional and evangelical witness and outreach that sees the world as our parish—and every person in the world, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, without regard to race—every person as a person for whom Christ died.

The movement will go on and be empowered as we Methodists recover the warm heart, when we provide structures of love and care, and when we get a passion for ministry and mission, believing that “the world is our parish.”

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A Mark Of God’s Presence by Marjana Luist

A Mark Of God’s Presence by Marjana Luist

A few years ago, on a beautiful summer day, our family gathered by the rally track to cheer on my nephews in their race. We spent the entire day on a treeless hill, fully exposed to the sun. By evening, the effects were undeniable—our uncovered skin had turned red.

Just like the sun leaves a mark on us, so does God’s presence—though not on our skin, but within us. Being in His presence changes us, and that change is reflected in our attitudes, actions, words, and very being.

A deep tan requires more than a few fleeting moments in the sun. Likewise, true transformation into God’s likeness is not instant—it takes time. For real change to take place within us, a quick reading of a few Bible verses or a prayer listing all the things we want God to do for us is not enough. To bear the mark of God’s presence, we must spend time in His presence. A lasting tan requires regular exposure to the sun, and in the same way, the mark of God’s presence in us requires ongoing communion with Him.

Two years ago, while vacationing in a warm country, I spent several days soaking up the sun and swimming in the pool for hours, yet when I returned home, I looked just as pale as when I had left. The reason? A highly effective sunscreen.

Just as sunscreen lessens the sun’s impact on our skin, certain attitudes and spiritual barriers can diminish the Holy Spirit’s transformative work in our hearts. A person may attend church year after year, read the Bible, and pray, yet no real transformation takes place in their behavior, attitudes, or character. The reason is a protective layer that prevents the Holy Spirit from working in their heart. In spiritual life, such “strong sunscreens” can be apathy, certain fears, a false sense of satisfaction with one’s spiritual state, or anything else that blocks the Holy Spirit from reaching the heart.

One could attend three worship services and five Bible studies in a week, seemingly basking in God’s “sunshine,” but if there is a protective layer around the heart, no mark of God’s presence will be left. Faith will remain superficial and will not transform into a heartfelt belief. Not every religious experience changes us, but rather, the experience of the Holy Spirit working within us and in our lives.

Faith moves from being an intellectual belief to a deeply personal conviction when we encounter the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. This was also the case with John Wesley, who after the Holy Spirit’s light broke through, spoke of his heart being “strangely warmed.”  

When we remove the barriers around our hearts and truly seek God’s presence, we allow His Spirit to transform us. This is not a one-time event but a continual process—like stepping into the sunlight daily, allowing its warmth to leave a lasting mark. It is this “sunlight” of God in which we are transformed into His likeness and where our divine image is restored. The mark of God’s presence and the work of the Holy Spirit in us bring forth Christlike qualities such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:18, when we approach God with unveiled faces (without protective layers), we are transformed into His image (Christ-likeness) with ever-increasing glory. This is the work of the Holy Spirit—the true mark of God’s presence in us.

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Distinctive Style of Methodists: Heartfelt Religion by Maxie Dunnam

Distinctive Style of Methodists: Heartfelt Religion by Maxie Dunnam

Followers of Jesus have throughout history exhibited a distinctive style.  In my first article I shared about Wesley’s peculiar flair. The second article highlighted a Methodist’s catholic spirit. Here, we will look to the heart of the Wesleyan movement.

 

 

The Methodist movement was born in England and soon began to burn with a fire of love across the land, in large part, because of two big problems in the Established Church. One was spiritual apathy. Deism had flavored the intellectual and religious climate. God had become a benevolent ruler of the universe, removed from personal experience. In the arrogant rationalism that pervaded the day, everything had to be utterly reasonable.

The second thing that had happened was that the nature of the church as an organization had become remote, removed from life, not touching the people where they were. One cleric, for instance, had been made a bishop and given a lifetime stipend, but never set foot in the diocese over which he presumably had spiritual and temporal oversight. It was obviously all temporal and nothing spiritual.

Into that setting with those two characteristics – spiritual apathy and a remote church structure -came the Methodist revival with an answer to these two glaring, devastating failures of the church. The answer? Heartfelt religion.

For spiritual apathy, there was the experience of the warm heart. People wanted desperately not only to hear the gospel, but also to experience it. So John Wesley’s Aldersgate experience became the model: “I felt my heart strangely warmed, I felt I did trust Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” That experience was repeated over and over.

Furthermore, for people who experienced a church that had become lifelessly formal at best, and coldly remote at worst, the Methodists came with ministries of care and warm concern. The class meetings and bands of the Methodist societies became the settings for these expressions of compassion. People cared for and looked after each other’s souls. Loving hearts set other hearts on fire.

In a lecture at Emory University, Dr. Theodore Runyon introduced what to me was a whole new way of thinking about the “heart strangely warmed” and structures of care as means for our growth in Christ and our life in the world. It is a new way of thinking about a Methodist style. He used three terms to make an important distinction: orthodoxy, orthopraxis, and orthopathy. The first two terms were familiar; not the third. Orthodoxy is right doctrine, right opinion, right belief. But Methodists have never believed that orthodoxy was enough. God demands right action, right practice, right behavior – that is orthopraxis.

Even with that kind of plea for orthopraxis, working faith, Wesley always insisted that as faith without works is dead, works without faith profiteth nothing; that “all morality, all justice, mercy and truth – without faith – is of no value in the sight of God.”

Neither orthodoxy nor orthopraxis alone is sufficient. And what Runyon adds is that even together, they are not enough. There must be orthopathy. This means right passions, senses, tempers, dispositions; and in the larger sense, right experience. This, says Runyon, is the challenge to a theology of conversion – 

To recognize the crying need of humankind to be encountered and transformed by Christian faith in all aspects of their being, including the emotions, feelings, and experiences. Nothing less is a sign of the kingdom and its power in the midst of the present age. And nothing less than this kind of theology and experience ought to undergird our preaching, our Christian education, our evangelism and mission, and our witness and action for peace and justice.

Runyon then gave three hallmarks for such an orthopathic theology. First, Wesley’s “bookends” of creation and kingdom, the fundamental conviction that all creation is to be redeemed by Christ. The world and everything in it is to be brought under the Lordship of Christ not destroyed, but redeemed.

The second hallmark of orthopathy is realism about the present order of things. “We are a part of a world that has corrupted God’s good creation and become insensitive and deaf to God’s will and way.” The gospel forces us to see the alienation and estrangement of the present order and present the gospel necessity of being reborn into a new order.

Thus, the final hallmark of orthopathic theology is the familiar word of John 3:7: “You must be born from above.”

Runyon’s insight helps us think clearly about how we provide the opportunities for the “heart strangely warmed” and the structures of care that will be settings for the transformation of our whole life and total experience. When Wesley insisted that “true Christianity cannot exist without the inward experience and the outward practice of justice, mercy, and truth,” he brought orthodoxy, orthopraxis, and orthopathy together and gave us our marching orders.

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Accountability In The Wesleyan Way by Jorge Acevedo

Accountability In The Wesleyan Way by Jorge Acevedo

My youngest son spent a decade as a chef in training in many fine dining restaurants in the Southwest Florida area. Several of the eating establishments were seafood restaurants as you would expect living on the Gulf Coast. Nathan learned to cook some of the most fantastic fresh seafood dishes, but here was his dirty little secret. He did not eat seafood. He did not eat his cooking!

“Accountability” is one of those words in our culture, and sadly in the Church, that goes over as well as the word “evangelism.” People shut down when they hear it, but I think it’s because, like the word “evangelism,” we have not had good models and experiences of it. Typically, we think of accountability as a heavy handed, manipulative experience of being gaslit into doing stuff we’d rather not do. Such usage is often dished out but never practiced by those serving it. Let me suggest that there is a better way to describe and yes, even experience accountability.

Here’s a definition I would offer that I believe is in the Wesleyan spirit of “watching over one another in love.” Accountability understood from our holiness tradition is inviting trusted Christ followers to help me honor my most sacred commitments. If my walk with God, marriage, parenting, and vocation are some of my most sacred commitments then having a few trusted companions to help me stay faithful to those commitments is essential.

A lesser-known accountability group in early Methodism was a group of men and women hand-selected by John Wesley known as the “select society.” This group existed to serve as models of Christian perfection and as a training environment on both the doctrines and methods of the growing Methodist movement. Dr. Michael Henderson writes of the select societies, “The select society was an elite corps of those enthusiasts who had worked their way up through the ranks of class meeting, society, and band and were considered by both their peers and the leaders to be the standard bearers of the movement.”1 Yet unlike the scouting program of our day, there were no “badges” for being in the select society. It was simply an intentional gathering of women and men who embodied the best of the Methodist movement and desired to continue to grow in grace.

In A Plain Account of the People Called Methodists, Wesley describes the Select Society this way:

I saw it might be useful to give some advice as to those who continued in the light of God’s covenant, which the rest of their brethren did not want, and probably could not receive. So, I desire a small number of such as appeared to be in the state, to spend an hour with me every Monday morning. My design was, not only to direct them how to press after perfection; to exercise their every grace, and improve every talent they had received; and to incite them to love one another more, and to watch more carefully over each other; but also to have a select company, to whom I might unbosom myself on all occasions, without reserve; and whom I could propose to all their brethren in as a pattern of love, of holiness, and of good works.2

These were leaders who had been invited to live in rich, deep, formational community with one another. Personal holiness of heart and life, growing in ministerial capacity and living in gracious and accountable community were the aims.

It is also important to note that this became a place for Mr. Wesley to “unbosom” himself. This word, not used much in the 21st century, means “to disclose or reveal.” I find it fascinating that Mr. Wesley was self-aware enough to create a people and place for himself to live in grace and truth with fellow believers. Henderson reports, “Wesley encouraged a freewheeling and open discussion, especially on matters significant to the direction and policies of Methodism. He welcomed criticism of the system and of his own place in it.”3 Wesley understood the wisdom of a “do as I do” kind of spirituality. He “ate what he cooked.”

This is the stream of Christianity we find ourselves in as Methodists. This is how we understand accountability. Embedded in our DNA is a kind of accountability that fosters flourishing in our formation to Jesus as well as fruitfulness in our mission for Jesus. For more than 35 years, I have had a “band of brothers” with whom I can unbosom myself and it has been the game changer in my life and ministry. I’m eating Mr. Wesley’s cooking too.

So, how about you? Do a spiritual inventory right now. Do you have a band of brothers or circle of sisters with whom you can “unbosom” yourself? Who helps you discern how you are engaging in ministry to the world? Step into the way of accountability. It’s good for the soul.

 

1 Henderson, John Wesley’s Class Meeting: A Model for Making Disciples, 121.

2 Henderson, John Wesley’s Class Meeting: A Model for Making Disciples, 122.

3 Henderson, John Wesley’s Class Meeting: A Model for Making Disciples, 123.

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Distinctive Style of Methodist: Catholic Spirit by Maxie Dunnam

Distinctive Style of Methodist: Catholic Spirit by Maxie Dunnam

In my last article I made the claim that Methodists have a distinct style. As Christians, our style defines us as much, maybe more, than anything else.

I have the privilege of observing that more than most. My wife and I live in a life cafe. We have lived here for seven years, and plan to make this our “earthly home.” Though not formally defined and labeled as a “Christian Community,” we are. We have Christian worship on Sunday and a vesper service on Thursday.

We have many denominations represented here and at least two Jewish couples. Baptists and Church of Christ are the largest defined denominational groups. Though a minority, there are Methodists and our group is growing.

Other than the local churches I have served, different expressions of my ministry career have given me opportunity to live and test the popular expression of how Christians should relate: In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and, in all things, charity. Wesley described his approach to differences in belief in one big question, “Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart…If it is, give me thine hand.”

I don’t know who first suggested it, but I confirm that sadly the church and too many Christians are plagued with xenophobia. Formally defined, xenophobia is “hatred or distrust of foreigners or strangers.” It is not new to the church. The apostles feared Paul and his work among the Gentiles. They were suspicious because they did not understand. That spirit within the church has often hindered the ministry of Christ. We fear opinions, positions, attitudes, and beliefs that do not match our own.

Over against xenophobia I want to put those celebrated words of John Wesley. “Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart … If it is, give me thine hand.” Those words are actually from 2 Kings 10:15. Wesley used them as the text for one of the noblest sermons he ever preached, his sermon on the “Catholic Spirit.” It was one of the few instances in Wesley’s preaching when the scriptural setting of the text had nothing to do with the sermon. Unlike most of us preachers, Wesley didn’t take a text and depart from it; he stayed with it. Not so in this instance.

Wesley took the words completely out of their grisly context in 2 Kings 10 and asked, not what they meant there, but what a follower of Christ should find in them. And from that exploration, he gave us a great word to guide us as we claim and cultivate one of the most important marks of our distinctive style as Methodists: a catholic spirit.

Unfortunately there has been destructive misunderstanding and a misapplication of Wesley’s concept of the catholic spirit. We interpret that to mean “theological pluralism,” and such a pluralism has been projected as both acceptable and desirable of what it means to be a Christian within the Methodist tradition. Taken to an extreme, there is a fallacy in this concept. The way it is projected suggests that such a believer can believe almost anything about God, Jesus Christ, and the essential doctrines that relate to salvation. But this is a perversion of Wesley’s idea of the catholic spirit.

Such an uncritical, undemanding, unexamined emphasis on so-called pluralism was the furthest thing from Wesley’s thinking. He was unreserved in his condemnation of what he called “speculative latitudinarianism,” which would be his word for the way many interpret pluralism today. Wesley was rather adamant:

A catholic spirit is not speculative latitudinarianism. It is not an indifference to all opinions: this is the spawn of hell, not the offspring of heaven. This unsettledness of thought, this being “driven to and fro and tossed about with every wind of doctrine'” is a great curse, not a blessing, an irreconcilable  enemy, not a friend, to true Catholicism. A man of a truly catholic spirit has not now his religion to seek. He is fixed as the sun in his judgment concerning the main branches of Christian doctrine. It is true, he is always ready to hear and weigh whatsoever can be offered against his principles; but as this does not show any wavering in his own mind, so neither does it occasion any. He does not halt between two opinions, nor vainly endeavor to blend them into one. Observe this, you who know not what spirit ye are of: who call yourselves men of the catholic spirit, only because you are of a muddy understanding; because your mind is all in a mist; because you have no settled, consistent principles, but are for jumbling all opinions together. Be convinced, that you have quite missed your way; you know not where you are. You think you are got into the very spirit of Christ when, in truth, you are nearer the spirit of Antichrist. Go, first, and learn the first elements of the gospel of Christ, and then shall you learn to be of a truly catholic spirit (Fifty-Three Sermons, “Catholic Spirit,” p. 502).

With that perspective, it is easy to see that nothing is more needed in the church today, certainly in the United States, than a Catholic Spirit.

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Distinctive Style of Methodist: Knowing Who We Are by Maxie Dunnam

Distinctive Style of Methodist: Knowing Who We Are by Maxie Dunnam

Circumstances sometimes call us to do strange things – things we would not otherwise do. Circumstances also cause us to do things we should have done but never got around to before.

Two out-of-town visitors were walking along a street in New York City late one night. One of the pair, wary of the reputation of city streets at night, kept glancing over his shoulder, nervously eyeing every alley and shadowed doorway. Sure enough, his anticipation was rewarded. As the two rounded the next corner, two muggers appeared out of the darkness and closed in. The nervous fellow knew what was going to happen. He reached for his wallet, pulled out of a $50 bill and handed it to his friend: “Joe, here’s that $50 I’ve been owing you for six months.”

According to some critics, John Wesley never had an original idea in his life. He just borrowed from others. But the point is, even if it’s true that Wesley only borrowed from others, that would hardly solve the riddle of this man and the spiritual dynamic of the Methodist movement. Wesley’s genius and originality lay precisely in his borrowing, adapting, and combining diverse elements into a synthesis more dynamic than the sum of its parts.

Wesley also had the genius of putting an expansive, explosive truth in a single, sometimes simple sentence or a pithy phrase. He encapsulated his vision of mission and ministry in the sentence that has been on the lips of Methodists ever since: “The world is my parish.” He borrowed from Paul to summarize his theology succinctly: “Faith working through love.” He gave a challenging and rather complete principle of stewardship in the crisp triplet: “Gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can.”

He put controversy into perspective, and challenged our motives, “Fervour for opinions is not Christian zeal.” He found unique ways to call people back to the essentials of Scriptural Christianity, “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? Can anything but love beget love?” He described his whole approach to differences in belief and church order in the one question: “Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?… If it be, give me thine hand.”   

Together, these references suggest there is a distinctive Methodist style. I want to confirm and commend that. My wife, Jerry, and I live in a life care community. Even casual conversation and the way persons relate in our community reveal something of what they believe. We Methodists are a minority in the community, Church of Christ and Baptists are majorities. Even if I were not deliberately observant, I believe I would sense “something different.”  I think that has to do with style.

Diana Vreeland was an undisputed leader in fashion. She wrote her autobiography with the simple but stylish title, DV. It recorded her lifetime of living with inimitable style. She made a big point about the importance of style by referring to Japan. “God was fair to the Japanese,” she said. “He gave them no oil, no coal, no diamonds, no gold, no material resources-nothing! Nothing comes from the island that you can sustain a civilization on. All God gave the Japanese was a sense of style” (House and Garden, April 1984, p. 36, excerpts from DV). It was the ultimate compliment to the Japanese from this fashion style setter.

Methodists have a style that, to a marked degree, defines our uniqueness. I’m going to reflect on this distinctive style in the weeks ahead, and post here on Wesleyan Accent.

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Thoughts From 10,000 Ft by Sarah Wanck

Thoughts From 10,000 Ft by Sarah Wanck

As I type, I’m sitting (tray table down) on my American flight from Miami to Chicago. I thought maybe I’d rest. With a very long layover in Chicago I thought I’d rest now and work later. (There’s so much work to do.)  But as I closed my eyes, and adjusted my headrest, I was overwhelmed.

I tried not to weep.

It might be odd to openly weep on a plane full of passengers lost to my reality. If I could, I would shout in prayer, and lift up my voice in a language only known to the Spirit. My body is somewhere above Kentucky, but I feel like I’m sitting in the front row of the church in Marianao – not on the aisle seat of an over-full flight. And if I were there, that’s exactly what we would do. The whole body would be rejoicing in God’s goodness. Shouting in praise. Hands raised in excited adoration. The whole body would be standing in the presence of God Himself, bold with praise.

Instead. My heart could explode from the tension. The desire to openly pray and praise and the inability to do it. I’m meeting with the Lord from 10,000 feet. And no one knows. (Or cares.)

I’ve been to Cuba before.

I’ve been deeply transformed each time. Every time I’ve tried to come home and put into words what the experience is like – knowing that I have the great privilege of experiencing what most people will never get to know. And every time, I can’t.

I can say the technical things.

Revival continues to happen in the Methodist Church of Cuba. In their deep difficulty and struggle the people of Cuba overflow with a well of deep joy. They reflect a deeper love for Jesus. They live in the work of the Spirit. They are so committed to their King that they sacrifice and serve in ways that are challenging and inspiring to Christians everywhere. They are walking into the dark places to bring the life changing light of Christ. They welcome us with radical hospitality….anticipating our every need and readily responding before we know to ask. They live with little and they give us everything.

They believe the Spirit of God is alive, well, and working in each of them. And they act accordingly, actively praying for deliverance, healing, and baptism of the Spirit for others – and seeing the fruit of healing and deliverance when they do.

I’m holding back my weeping – not for the technical things. (Though they are truly incredible.)

But because of the communion of the Spirit we shared. I’m weeping at the union of lives that came through the power of the Spirit – and the profound honor of ministering in the Spirit together. I’m weeping for the words of life and prayers that were lifted over me – even as I attempted to minister to others.

I’m weeping because I’ve tasted the Kingdom there, over and over again. But in a profound way on this visit, years of learning each other and exploring Cuba ignited into shared ministry, shared Spirit, and into a taste of the Kingdom. It was the communion of Saints on earth.

And though I’m still processing – I think I’m also weeping for what we’re missing. How many churches, and how much of America is missing it.

It’s not that American churches are getting it wrong exactly.

It’s maybe more that we have something available to us that we either don’t know – or are too scared to discover. We’re on the edges of the Kingdom – holding it with hesitation instead of enjoying the fullness of the Kingdom that’s possible for us.

It’s nobody’s fault.

It’s American individualism, its failures of churches and leaders to lead them in the fullness of the Kingdom (my failure included). It’s ignorance. It’s being so comfortable that we’re not desperate for something the world isn’t satisfying.

I’m weeping for the pain of the people of Cuba.

But I’m weeping with joy for the Kingdom they embody in it.

And I’m weeping for the many Christians who aren’t running after it and don’t know to.

Maybe I’m weeping at not knowing how to help bring the fullness of the Kingdom in my own community and feeling so inadequate to try.

Turns out, I’ve not been able to keep the tears from falling.

The kindness of Jesus is simply too overwhelming. His goodness and mercy for the people of Cuba, and for me, is simply too much to hold in – so I’m wiping my tears with my complimentary napkin.

For now, I’ll stop myself from shouting from my seat.

And instead, I’ll imagine my heart on the front pew of that church – loudly declaring the goodness of God with the Cuban people that have so graciously given me the Kingdom.

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The Human Race On Trial by Maxie Dunnam

The Human Race On Trial by Maxie Dunnam

My files are flowing over with magazine and newspaper articles, cartoons, and photos. Unfortunately, I have not found a good “keeping” and “retrieval” system that is not too time costly for the reflections I prize.

Yet, I saw it and I can’t forget it…a cartoon that depicted an older couple, obviously rich and retired, sitting in their posh living room. The lady was reading, her husband looking out the window with a smile on his face. One gathers that he has just shared with her his latest dream for retirement activity. Frowning, she looks up from her book and says: “With strikes, campus unrest, the communist take-over, air pollution on the rise, hippie protest, and immorality rampant, it doesn’t strike me as the time to start a butterfly collection!” 

As we move into this twenty-first century we need to reflect on this wise claim that has been made: the twentieth century has put the human race on trial for its life. 

It is difficult not to believe that. The institutions upon which we have become dependent, around which our lives have been ordered–education, business, medical services, the penal system, organized religion, government–have each in some way been gradually revealed as inadequate, a few of them perhaps beyond renewal and repair. In any case, they have not been equal to their promise; they cannot fill the longing in us. 

We are dissatisfied with things as they are. And while dissatisfaction is as old as the human race, and every period of history is unique in its own fashion, I believe we have reached a crucial moment in human civilization. Atomic bombs are not just more powerful weaponry. Electronic computers are not just more complex adding machines. Neil Armstrong was more than a latter-day Columbus setting foot on the moon. 

Dare I even think it? Maxie Dunnam is not just another old man becoming 90, seeking to make a redemptive difference in a needy world. What can I do? What must I do? What will I do?

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Count It All Joy by Maxie Dunnam

Count It All Joy by Maxie Dunnam

What? Count it all joy?

After a brief greeting, James begins his Epistle, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” (James 1:2 KJV)

There is no hesitation, no fumbling to get to the point. It’s really a shout, COUNT IT ALL JOY! He continues, “when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 RSV) 

Ponder verse 3 slowly… “For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” Pay careful attention to the completion of his thought in verse 4: “For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

You see, suffering may produce steadfastness and faith, and we still will be incomplete. We still may lack joy. Pain by itself is evil, and alone, it doesn’t teach us anything. It may discipline us to be strong and not complain. Or, it may turn us into cynics. We may be tough and steadfast in our suffering, always keeping a stiff upper lip, but that’s a long way from what James is talking about– “Count it all joy … that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Philip Yancey, in his book, Disappointment with God, gives us a clue for allowing our steadfast faith in suffering to work its full effect in our life. He tells us about Douglas, who “seemed righteous, in the sense of Job,” and who, like Job, suffered terrible afflictions he did not deserve.

Douglas had given up a lucrative career to start an urban ministry. His wife developed breast cancer, had a breast removed, and was struggling with the debilitating side effects of chemotherapy. In the midst of this crisis, a drunken driver hit their car and Douglas sustained a severe brain injury. He suffered terrible headaches and double vision. He could no longer work full-time to support his wife and daughter. He had loved to read, but now struggled to get through a page or two. If anyone had a right to be angry with God, Douglas did.

Yancey expected Douglas to express disappointment with God, but instead, Douglas said that he had learned “not to confuse God with life”:

I feel free to curse the unfairness of life and to vent all my grief and anger. But I believe God feels the same way about that accident—grieved and angry. I don’t blame him for what happened….I have learned to see beyond the physical reality of this world to the spiritual reality. We tend to think, “Life should be fair because God is fair.” But God is not life. And if I confuse God with the physical reality of life -by expecting constant good health, for example- then I set myself up for a crashing disappointment… We can learn to trust God despite all the unfairness of life. Isn’t that really the main point of Job? (pp. 183-84)

Douglas challenged Yancey to “go home and read again the story of Jesus. Was life fair to him? For me, the Cross demolished for all time the basic assumption that life will be fair.”

Do you see the difference? It’s very clear. We can waste our suffering, or we can allow it to produce trust in God, steadfastness in faith. And we can allow that steadfastness in faith to perfect and complete us–leaving us “lacking in nothing.” 

So the shout of James is real. “Count it all joy!” And we can do that–if we know that growth is not easy –if we will realize that when we are suffering, it doesn’t help us to compare ourselves to others. And, if we will not waste our suffering but allow it to produce steadfastness in faith, that is what will bring us to completion, lacking in nothing.

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Foundations of Disciple-Making: Mutual Admiration by Paulo Lopes

Foundations of Disciple-Making: Mutual Admiration by Paulo Lopes

This is part four in a five-part series dedicated to exploring what I have come to understand as the five foundations of disciple-making. I hope this is helpful to all of those who, like me, are laboring to help the Church become better at participating in the Great Commission. Here are the first, second, and third parts.

 

I have the terrifying privilege of being the father of three girls. Working to understand them and their worlds has been the adventure of a lifetime. That’s because on top of being a guy, I grew up in a male dominated household, in another country to boot. It was three men (me, my brother, and my dad) and one brave woman (my mom). So, these days I feel at times like I’m finally getting it, just to realize I’m not. Then I feel like I’m doing something terribly wrong, only to discover it’s not a big deal. The whole process is exhausting and a little (very) scary. However, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. In fact, I can say with no hesitation that nothing has taught me more about surrendering to Jesus than being a father and a husband.

One of the things I’m most grateful for when it comes to my daughters is that my wife and I aren’t alone in all of it. Through our local church and friends, not only are there many other people involved and invested in our kids’ lives, but there are also many people involved and invested in ours. People who often understand what we’re going through and who are just one step ahead of us. Actually, one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned over the past few years is that I need to intentionally have trusted friends who will walk with me through all the stuff of life. All of it.

The biggest “ah-ha!” for me in this recent season is that disciple-making at its best works exactly like that: Friends walking along together with permission and intent to move one another towards Jesus in every aspect of life, not just parts of it. And, this process is hardly ever just a one-on-one affair. Afterall, different people are further along in different areas of life. Naturally, it makes sense that it would take a team of disciples, in different seasons and areas of life, to raise up a disciple. The apostle Paul understood this in the context of apostolic/pastoral ministry when he said  What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow (1 Cor 3:5-7). While he was speaking from a different role, I believe it’s safe to extrapolate. Paul tells the church in Corinth in other words “it’ll take more than just one of us to see that you mature in Christ. Now stop arguing!”

It’s sometimes difficult for us to grasp this idea practically in part because of our tendency to commodify, or make objects out of our disciple-making relationships. In this sense, disciple-making looks like an activity, or a program, where I meet up with people and serve as an instructor in the ways of Jesus. Often, we use books or video resources to aid us in this process. However, too often we leave those (weekly?) meetings and go on with our lives, spending time with our real friends. The problem with this approach is that effective, life-changing disciple-making happens in the context of friendships. And, true friendships require mutual admiration. This is true when it comes to those you are just beginning to have faith-conversations with, and it’s true for others who have been on the journey for a long time. It’s true for three reasons: 1- We don’t tend to take advice or help from people we don’t admire and respect; 2- We naturally tend to gravitate more towards others whom we admire in some shape or form; 3- Without admiration, we fall into the trap of treating others like a project.

In his book “The Four Loves,” C.S. Lewis says this about friendships: “Friendship, then, like the other natural loves, is unable to save itself. In reality, because it is spiritual and therefore faces a subtler enemy, it must, even more whole-heartedly than they, invoke the divine protection if it hopes to remain sweet. For consider how narrow its true path is. It must not become what the people call a ‘mutual admiration society’; yet if it is not full of mutual admiration, of appreciative love, it is not Friendship at all.”

It’s notable that Lewis chooses to alert the reader against confusing mutual admiration in friendships with a “mutual admiration society.” The term was coined by Henry David Thoreau in his journal (1851) describing what, at the time, had become a popular trend amongst scholars, poets, and intellectuals. Mutual admiration societies would be formed amongst groups of friends who would agree to praise each other’s work, exchanging lavish compliments with one another. At times these were genuine exchanges. However, these societies became an often superficial means for mutual advancement in society. C.S. Lewis recognizes that this sort of unspoken agreement isn’t the goal, but that friendships without (genuine) mutual admiration aren’t friendships at all! 

I can’t overemphasize this. Effective disciple-making relationships require mutual admiration. This means it goes both ways, regardless of how new someone is to faith, or even if they haven’t yet made a decision to follow Jesus. Remove mutual admiration from the equation, and the process feels like a task, a to-do, becoming mechanical and ineffective.

It doesn’t take much for us to notice this even in the strikingly asymmetric relationship between Jesus and his disciples. I mean, it would be a stretch to say that there was mutual discipleship going on. Jesus is, afterall, God made flesh. However, a quick read through the gospels reveals mutual admiration. I’m particularly drawn to Jesus’ renaming or giving nicknames to disciples. He calls James and John Boanerges, meaning “sons of thunder,” and shifts from Simon to Peter (Rock). In both instances Jesus calls out admirable traits of his disciples that perhaps they didn’t see in themselves. 

In reality, we find more relatable examples in the relationships between Paul and Barnabas, Barnabas and John Mark, then later Paul and John Mark, and finally Paul and Timothy. In every case, we find descriptions of deep friendship and mutual admiration. I like the example of John Mark in particular because Barnabas saw in him what Paul didn’t, insisting on giving him a second chance after his desertion. This caused the split between Paul and Barnabas. However, towards the end of his ministry, Paul asks for John Mark to be sent to him saying Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service” (2 Timothy 4:11).

Okay, so now that we know how important mutual admiration is to disciple-making relationships, what do we do about it? I’d like to offer up a few suggestions for those of you who are being nudged towards obedience by the Holy Spirit in the area of disciple-making. 

1- Find some friends you admire for different reasons, Christians or not, to begin sharing experience with (see part 2 of this series). Offer up counsel and advice while pointing them towards Jesus. Resist making it into a new project. Be intentional, but not mechanical.

2- Pursue friendships with others who do not follow Jesus. Look beyond their faith to find things you can admire about them. Are they particularly savvy in some area of life? Are they a good parent? Do they demonstrate compassion for others in a special way? How might God’s prevenient grace be at work in their life?

3- Consider what gifts you have that might spark admiration? In what areas might you invite someone to follow you towards Jesus? Pray that God would give you grace and favor with those you come into contact with.

4- What are areas of your life where you feel convicted about? Are there areas for which you need good counsel to become more like Jesus? Who are some people you know who might be a few steps ahead of you? Pursue relationships with them.

In the next and last part of this series, we’ll talk a bit about power in relationships. I look forward to sharing it with you.

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