One of my favorite images of the Church is the family of God. But you need to know that it is one of several metaphors used for the community of believers. It is a holy nation, a royal priesthood, and God’s special possession.

It is also like an army. Throughout the New Testament, the writers refer to people serving the Lord as soldiers. The Apostle Paul calls doing the work of ministry the good fight. Believers are to have on the full armor of God as they carry the Sword of the Spirit. We have an enemy, and we wage war against the forces of evil. Battle imagery is prevalent in most of the letters of the New Testament.

Each image has different connotations. There are lessons to be learned from a family and military personnel’s practices.

For me, family conjures up pictures of warm summer evenings, sitting around the fire, sharing a drink, a laugh, and the warmth of love. Being in the armed services paints a very different picture. There is basic training, facing dangerous situations, being on high alert, and depending on your fellow soldiers to protect you. It is not warm and friendly; it is challenging and demanding. 

I hope that when people connect to a Church, they become a part of a loving family. They also need to know that they are enlisting in the army and that their comrades depend on them to take their jobs seriously. At times, it will be demanding, but victory is assured.   

In children’s Church, we used to sing, “I may never march in the infantry, ride in the calvary, or shoot the artillery, but I am in the Lord’s Army.” My childish brain could not comprehend all that might mean, but as a mature believer, you need to understand that the song is still valid.

Whenever you say something like this, people will often quote Jesus’s words: “Don’t judge, lest you be judged.”

I understand this response. No one wants to be told they are behaving in an ungodly way. The defenses go up, and the claws come out.

Yet the verses that follow this statement in Matthew chapter seven state that we are to remove the log or plank from our own eye, and then we will be able to see clearly how to remove the speck from our brother’s eye. Two things are stated. First, we must take care of our own issues. Then, we are obligated to help our brother.

The problem people have when you say, “You have a problem,” is that you do not follow it up with the rest of the concept. For a follower of Jesus it is always, “You have a problem, just like I did, and I want to help you.” Let the other person know, “I want to show you the grace I received along with a way out. I sincerely want to be the support for you that I needed on my journey of faith.”

Everyone knows they have issues, and they are not looking for someone to point them out. What they need is someone to help them fix them in love.

Sometimes, the best thing to do is be direct and say exactly what you mean.

If you are a follower of Jesus:

-Attend Church every week and stop making excuses.

-Park far away and leave the close spots for guests.

-Sit near the front of the auditorium in the middle.

-Sit close to the people around you.

-Shake hands with guests and ask about their lives.

-Smile and be friendly.

-Sing loud; even if you are off-key, the Lord is listening.

-Learn to sit for one hour without leaving the auditorium. No matter how it looks, it is distracting to the speaker.

-Engage the sermon in any way possible. Do things like bringing a Bible, taking notes, and looking at the speaker.

-Plan to hang around and visit with people. Don’t be in a hurry to leave.

-Don’t be selfish when leaving the parking lot.

-Contact someone in the afternoon and tell them how much you appreciated seeing them.

Being a part of a Church is more than what happens on Sunday morning. But I am also entirely convinced that if Christian people did the things listed above every single Sunday morning, then we would reach hundreds more people with the message of the Gospel.

I am going through the “Rooted” discipleship book with a member of our congregation. It is my first time reading the book, and it has been an enlightening journey together. There are ten weeks of readings, and each week is broken down into five days of reading, questions, and reflection space.

This is the beginning of week 10, day 1 –

“I’m assuming that we are all committed to the Church. We are not only Christian people; we are also Church people. We are not only committed to Christ, we are also committed to the body of Christ. At least I hope so … For the Church lies at the very center of the eternal purpose of God. It is not a divine afterthought. It is not an accident of history. On the contrary, the Church is God’s new community.”                    — John Stott

Then, they add this as their first paragraph following the quote.

“The Bible is very clear: Christians are to belong to a Church – to belong to the body of Christ. That word, ‘belong,’ is kind of a tricky word, because it means more than ‘just show up as often as you can on Sundays.’ We use the word ‘belong’ the same way you would if you were saying you belong to your family. When you belong to your family, it doesn’t mean you just show up to be fed when you are hungry, rest when you’re tired, and use the family name for application when needed.”                                –Rooted page 208

I am now 52 years old, and it has taken all those years to become aware of how God created me.

At an early age, I noticed that I was different from other kids. I could remember things easily. That meant I didn’t spend long hours studying like the other students did. I would listen in class or read the textbook, and I could recall most of it without effort.

In college, I maintained an average GPA with little work. I had learned to absorb enough information to pass tests and do my assignments while having a very active social life. This was the first place I started to see differences in my brain. I read books very slowly compared to most people, but I never forget big-picture ideas and significant insights.

Finally, I entered the ministry and began to feel a vast separation when talking to other pastors. My experiences, sermons I had heard, lessons I was taught, and information I received were indelibly etched in my brain. Before our phones carried all this information, I used to walk around repeating other people’s sermons I had recently heard. Through the years, I was able to build a warehouse of stuff in my brain that I now use every week to write sermons and preach from memory.

I hesitate to talk about this much because, as you may be thinking to yourself, people can hear this as me having a huge ego. What I want people to know, this is not about me. God gave me a gift. I do not recall everything I have experienced. Still, significant lessons and experiences are burned into my brain, and I can remember them with nearly perfect accuracy as far back as when I was two years old. I did not have to work to become like this, although I do work at keeping lists to ease my anxiety.

Almost daily, someone will comment to me about my memory; while it can be flattering, I want people to know it is all about God. He created me with a unique attribute, and I am trying to use it for his glory. I could spend hours telling you about the downside to this gift, but I try to emphasize that I believe God made me this way so that I could serve him as a pastor.

Here is the thing: I believe this is true for everyone. Each one of us has some gift that separates us from others. It could be a strong work ethic, empathy, a particular skill or ability, personality, or a thousand other things. We are all God’s unique creation and have something to offer the world that will bring him glory.

I spent 51 years downplaying how God made me, and lately, I am starting to embrace it. Not to bring myself glory but to underline that we can use our uniqueness for God’s glory. I hope you will use your special gifts alongside me to make more and better disciples. In the end, it’s all about God.     

Whatever gift, skill, talent, or ability you possess can be used for the Lord.

As a Church leader, I dream of new, different, and better ways to do ministry. I am here to help equip Christians and guide them into a life of service for their faith. Over the years, I have been amazed at all the ways God has used people for his glory.

Wherever you feel God is leading you to minister in his name, I believe you can do it.

It may take imagination, sweat, creativity, labor, networking, communication, and lots of prayer, but there is something that you can do for the Lord.

Talent plus passion plus God equals an impact for his kingdom.

If you can dream it, I know God can use it. The only thing that limits ministry is the person doing the dreaming.

People respond to the question, “How are you today?” in two ways.

One group smiles and says, “Fine.” This generally means, “I don’t want to talk about the details of my life, but for the most part, everything is okay.”

The other says, “Busy.” They might also give me a response related to that concept. “I’m tired, I’m exhausted,” or “full schedule” are alternative answers but still mean the same thing.

Everyone is busy. Our lives and schedules are packed. We run from one thing to another and find few spots in our days to stop moving. Then, when we finally do, we pick up our phones and start scrolling. There are only a select few people who have much free time.

Yet, even with their busy schedules, I still know people who read their Bible, do devotions, and pray each day. Some people serve the Lord through the Church on a weekly basis, while others connect deeply with a small group of people. Some people are learning and growing spiritually despite being busy.

Perhaps the problem isn’t your time management skills; maybe it is your approach to growth. Those who want to mature as believers find time for that to happen. They listen to the Bible while exercising, learn from a podcast while driving, and connect with believers through social media. Their growth comes while their schedule is packed.

Being busy can be an excuse for a lack of maturity in your spiritual life, or you can learn to integrate your faith into your routine.

I do not think that some Christians are genuinely bad people. But I do believe that many of them are oblivious.

An oblivious Christian is someone who lacks awareness of the people around them. They ignore others’ needs and concerns. They are not mindful of non-Christians who enter their world or their Church.

Here are some of the tests you can use to see if this might be describing you:

-Do you worry more about getting a good parking spot for you at Church than keeping those spots for guests?

-Do you grab your seat at the back of the auditorium without a thought of the people who might show up late?

-Do you wish that all the songs were ones that you liked to sing and not care about anyone else’s preference?

-Do you talk only to people you already know and not pay attention to people who might be new in worship?

-Are you ever concerned with how a guest might feel if they were at your Church on Sunday morning?

Your answer to those questions reveals something about you.

It doesn’t mean you’re a terrible person; it means you are oblivious. And the solution is to open your eyes, ears, and heart when you are gathered with your Church community.

Now, as we head toward Easter, is the perfect time to become an intentional and deliberate Christian who is always aware of those who still need to know Jesus.

Throughout my childhood, I would ask people to explain certain things to me, and they would respond with, “One day, you will understand.”

I hated this response. I am smart. I can learn quickly. Tell me, and I will know something new. In my childish mind, I vowed I would never say that to anyone.

What I didn’t understand is that some topics require not only mental intelligence but also emotional experience. I needed to feel certain things and some of them more than once. My heart needed to be broken by loss. My heart needed to expand as I loved my wife and children. I needed to experience victory and defeat both professionally and privately. Only when I had walked through all the things this life throws at me would I be able to grasp the topic and thoroughly understand it?

Knowledge is so much more than learning some facts from a book or doing a Google search. It contains a depth of information and emotion.

The other day, someone asked me to explain a passage of scripture. I paused for a moment and said, “You will not understand that until you are a Church leader.” They looked at me puzzled as if to say, I am smart, and I can learn this.

I smiled and remembered those childhood conversations. I looked at them again and said, “I know you don’t believe me now, but one day you will understand.”

The Israelites were to cross the Jordan River to move into the promised land. This was going to be an experience similar to Moses leading them through the Red Sea. One significant difference with this story is that the waters of the Jordan were moving.

Priests would carry the ark of the Lord into the Jordan, and the waters flowing downstream would be cut off. God was going to “pile up in a heap” the waters of the river upstream at a town called Adam. By the time the ark reached the middle, the river would be dry ground.

Many scholars suggest the river would have been at flood stage when they crossed. This would have made the river much wider and the current much stronger. One estimate I read said the river might have been two miles wide at the time of the crossing. 

I picture the priests walking out in the water, and about the time they are waist deep, it slowly starts to drop so that they see a change, but it is not immediate like the Red Sea. Still, they walk out in faith until the story unfolds like the Lord said. They reach the middle, and all is dry for the Israelites to cross.

Many times, in the life of faith, we are asked to step out into the waters, and God begins to do his work upstream from us. As a result, the changes we prayed for do not happen immediately. It takes time for God’s work to reach us.

Perhaps it will be tomorrow, next week, or next month before we see all the work God is doing for us upstream today.