Sacramental Living

In Part 1 of this post, I discussed this question from the perspective of the religious person. In Part 2, I discussed this question from the perspective of “the world.”

Now I’ll finally spell out my perspective … a perspective that has been honed that last few months (and will likely change with time as perspectives are want to do).

I’m reminded that Paul often wrote, “This is from me and not the Lord.” So be warned, this is of Brian and not necessarily the Lord (but it certainly doesn’t run counter to what I understand of Christian history and Jesus’ own ministry.)

A minister should have two primary purposes:

• to preach the gospel;
• to equip others to be ministers;

Let me flesh these two purposes out a bit. Preaching the gospel is much more than what happens in a Sunday worship gathering. At present, the faith community where I serve holds two Sunday worship gatherings … each addresses a different learning and participatory style. Consequently, the two sermons or teachings I give each Sunday are often delivered quite differently with different emphases (although the theme is always the same).

When I am done with the Sunday sermons, teachings, dialogues, experiences, I know full well I’m not done preaching for the week. Yes, one aspect of preaching is being God’s mouthpiece. But an equally important part of preaching is the way I live my life. I must strive for Christ to shape me into a walking example of Paul’s admonition: “Follow my example as I follow Christ’s.”

I don’t say what Paul says, but rather I try to live in such a way that my example can be followed. That means I am a servant, a giver, an encourager, a God-bearer.

Now, I’ve been preaching this way long enough to know that I will have both good soil and bad soil in my sphere of influence.

What is good soil? Those persons who desire to be and experience Jesus above all else.

What is bad soil? Everyone else.

Can bad soil become good soil? Absolutely … but the outcome is not my responsibility. I simply spread the seed and leave the rest to the Spirit of God. When I find good soil, I focus the majority of my energy, time, and resource in that good soil.

This will inevitably mean that I can’t spend much time with those not hungering to be disciples. I hear the groans now: “Isn’t a pastor supposed to treat all parishioners the same, after all?: In a word: No! A pastor who operates through this fruitless exercise may be more spiritual than even Jesus. Because Jesus invested his time and energy and resource in the good soil; not the bad. The greatest waste of my life would be investing in bad soil.

Now about equipping others to be ministers. This is exactly what Jesus did. He gathered twelve around him, invested his life in them, equipped them, and sent them out to ministry. Sure, one proved faithless. But through the rest of that rag-tag bunch, the world was turned upside down.

What if I invest in equipping just twelve other people? What if I disciple them to grow in grace? What if I enable them to be ministers who preach the gospel by the way they live their lives and, in turn, they equip others to be ministers? I think at least Coastal Georgia might be turned upside down!

So that’s what I believe my calling is: preaching and equippping. I’m not called to:

• steady a sinking ship;
• mediate petty, un-Christlike arguments;
• be a quivering mass of availability;
• lay down God’s call and vision for the selfish desires and wrong thinking of others;
• marry and bury people;
• run programs;
• be the only dispenser of grace in a faith community;
• etc., etc., etc. …

Oh, I may do some of that … only in as much as it serves the core calling. And in that calling, I am fearless for I trust a God who consistently and without fail weaves beauty out of brokenness.

SO TELL ME:
Are you preaching and equipping? If so, how?

——

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Tags: perspective, preach, gospel, equip others, ministers, community, Jesus, ministry, disciple

So today the Farm Bill will likely not be reformed in Congress. For all the joining of hands from social progressives and fiscal conservatives over the possibility of reforming this bill, our efforts will likely be defeated.

Why?

As stated on NPR’s Morning Edition large agribusiness interests (lobbyists) are just too strong. The richest 10% of American farmers and farming industries pour millions into congressional campaigns and threaten to oust incumbents over this one issue. All the while, the Farm Bill increases persecution of the poor world-wide and on US soil.

As Christians, we are to speak truth to power. Yet, there comes a time when power must embrace truth and act truthfully. How can our representative form of government be an authentic republic when the “power” entities succumb to threats to their power, rather than embracing truthful ways of living and being even at the expense of their power?

An example of truthful living … I’m a pastor. But God did not call me to be a pastor, rather to preach the gospel (in words and by the way I live my life in community). Now, it could be said that a pastor wields power (though it is ebbing away in our post-Christian society). That power is usually within one’s own faith community. When I am faced with the choice of living and/or speaking truthfully OR clinging to my power of influence and being well-liked, I must choose being truthful … even if that comes at the expense of my “pastor” position. I can always be truthful to the call to preach/live the gospel … though I may sacrifice the “power” of pastoring in order to do it.

Are our politicians called to be truthful representatives that make right choices on behalf of the republic, or are they called to be career politicians that must be powerful members of Congress at all costs?

SO TELL ME:
What power do you sacrifice in order to live truthfully?

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Tags: Farm Bill, agribusiness, persecution, poor, power, truthful

So I’ve been travelling for going on two weeks. As I see the light at the end of this on-the-go tunnel, I realize I will have been home exactly one night in a 21-day span. It’s been time away from home, from the routine (whatever that is), but not time away from thinking, praying, and being invited into deeper relationship with God.

Ideas are brimming these days. Before my traveling began, God was already tipping the dominoes on several different chains of events that could have significant impact for the kingdom in the earth. Seeing what God is doing and searching to find my place in it leads me to several observations:

My frustration level is higher and God’s progress is diverted only when two things happen–

I disobey the Lord’s prompting by not carrying through with what God is inpsiring in my heart; either because of fear or because the inspiration usually doesn’t fit within the usual parameters of “doing church” (though it spurs us on to be the church); OR

I attempt to control the beginnings of what God is doing for what I perceive to be the logical results.

Guess what … God’s activity is most prevalent when I just jump into what God is already doing … when I call for those I serve to jump with me into God’s future … when I don’t waste time on “bad soil” that isn’t willing to let go of comfort zones and step into the Spirit-led future of Christ.

So, I’ve jumped! I’m in 100%.

Living this way as a Christ-follower in a Christian faith community is an organic way to be the Church. It’s messy, somewhat chaotic, unpredictable … but alive and so much better than what the Church has encountered for 40+ years.

Imagine a faith community that actually means something to its neighborhood, its neighbors, its city and county. Imagine people discovering how uniquely God has created them for just such a time as this. Imagine a God that does not even see a box and calls us to be more than outside a box, but to be blind to any parameters as well.

Sounds like what was happening when Jesus, Peter, and Paul were alive. Sounds ancient. Sounds like the future, too.

SO TELL ME:
Are you ready to jump? If so, what are you jumping into?

——

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Tags: praying, relationship, God, kingdom, inspiration, doing church, be the church, God’s activity, future, Christ, Christ-follower, faith, organic, Jesus, ancient