People loved to be discipled. We enjoy it when people truly see us and want to pour into us. I think all of us desire to have other people teach us the Bible, guide us in faith, and have meaningful conversations about things that matter.  

Very few want to disciple others. We have a long list of excuses. We don’t have the time and are so busy. We don’t believe we know enough about the Bible to teach someone else. We think we have not been a Christian long enough to guide another believer. If we are honest, down deep, we know that our lives are a mess, and we don’t want to let anyone see the truth of our struggles.

You do see the quandary this creates. Many people want something that few are willing to offer.

Until people are willing to assist others in growing their faith, the Church will always have a problem.

My family has a membership to both Costco and Sam’s Club. We have had the Sam’s Club for over ten years, and last year, we found a Christmas deal on Costco, so we joined to see if they had anything new or different.

I love walking through the big box store and picking up items in bulk. One trip can yield supplies for the Church, items to share with my four boys, holiday supplies, and a year’s worth of trash bags for personal use. Because their products are in bulk and sold at wholesale prices, it is a place to get a lot of merchandise at a lower cost.

Several years ago, I saw an article from another minister who called the Church he was leading “Grace Wholesalers.” He envisioned a community of Christians who offered grace to one another in bulk.

The image has always stuck with me as a fantastic metaphor for the Church. It is a place where people who have committed public sins that everyone knows about can find grace. It is a place where people who have confessed “big” sins can find mercy. It is a place where people who have deep, dark secrets can bring them into the light without fear of judgment. It is a place where everyone can experience the love of God and one another no matter what they have done.

When people ask me, “What is your vision for the Church?” One of my primary responses is that I want us to be Grace Wholesalers. Eventually, everyone requires more grace, mercy, and love than they thought they initially needed. And the Christian community can meet that need in abundance.

All of us have weirdness locked inside that we only let out occasionally. We save it for family, best friends, and spouses. The rest of the time, it is under lock and key. However, at times, it pokes out a hand or foot before we shove it back inside while apologizing to those who witnessed it.

Then, there comes this moment of breakthrough. You start talking to someone, and you realize they see things the same way, think similar thoughts, and act in equally strange ways. Suddenly, you realize they are weird … like me.

I am convinced that one of the most significant steps forward a person can take for their mental and spiritual health is finding another person with whom they identify. Each of us needs someone who sees us, understands us, and accepts us with all our quirkiness.

Listen, we all have our closet craziness – even Christians. The healthiest thing you can do is find someone to share it with. You will both be better for it.

Relationships in the Church are not optional. The goal is to find “your” people and spend a lifetime together.

The stories people tell you may not be the complete truth. Their public stories and their personal lives may not line up exactly.

I have spent my entire adult life surrounded by Church leaders. Almost all of them appear to have their personal lives together. The stories they tell when teaching, share in conversations, and present to the world reinforce the idea that their life is functioning flawlessly for Jesus.

Then, when you get to know them away from the public eye, and they are honest, they begin to tell a different story.

The Pastor is struggling with addiction. The always submissive Pastor’s wife is secretly battling depression. The Elder is fighting with people at work. The Elder’s wife is unforgiving of that person in the Church. The Deacon likes to drink too much. The Deacon’s wife is a known gossip. The real-life horror stories I have heard and encountered could fill books.

It is not that they are trying to deceive people for personal gain. In fact, it is quite the opposite. They believe they need to paint a picture for everyone for the gain of Jesus. These people have come to think that living as a positive example of faith will do more for the kingdom of God than being brutally honest about their struggles.

The tricky part is that people begin to believe the stories they tell are entirely truthful. Slowly, Church members begin to think of their Church leaders as having no personal issues.  

The hard truth is that everyone is fighting their own private battle. EVERYONE.

Recently, I shared my war with my tongue in a sermon. I have spent a lifetime trying to defeat my use of cuss words and inappropriate phrases. I am better now than I have ever been, but it is still an internal battle I fight daily.

Since I shared that story, numerous people have told me how much they appreciated my comments. They told me how they felt the same way. They have shared with me in honest conversations about real issues they face as believers. It is both heartbreaking and invigorating to hear people drop the facade and speak honestly about what is really going on in their lives.

Often, the most challenging thing to do and the healthiest thing to do is to share our dark side. We need to drag the ugliness into the light so that we can find help and that others will find the courage to address their darkness, too. I am not asking you to spew all your darkest secrets on every person you encounter. However, each one of us needs to learn to share our battles with other people whom we trust.

So the next time you are tempted to share only positive stories from your spiritual life, remember that sometimes the negative ones have more power because we all need the grace of Jesus and the help of the Holy Spirit. All of us.

This has become a common expression to explain experiences, photos, and videos. As people share their stories, they realize that not everyone will identify with the events or understand the humor. But, if you have experienced it too, you will immediately know the situation. On social media, the letters are simply IYKYK.

Some knowledge you only get through a shared experience.

This is true not only for the things we share online but also for the Bible. Some passages you will never understand until you have lived through something similar. Scholars and preachers can try to explain them, but only incidents will truly bring the concept to complete understanding.

For example, Psalm 51 is King David’s prayer after he has committed adultery and been called out by Nathan the prophet. It is the cry of a broken heart before God. While you can have a basic head knowledge of sin and shame to know what the passage means, it takes on a whole different level of meaning when you have made an enormous error in judgment and then have to confess it. The shame, heartbreak, emotional pain, and spiritual weight become tangible and identifiable.

This is just one example out of hundreds. The truth is that while the Bible needs to be read with the head. It is also understood with the heart. If you know, you know.

I walked in and saw a perfectly organized room. There were pegboards on the walls, and tools were hanging perfectly straight by size and use. The workbench was clean, and every item was in its proper place.

Then I walked outside to find the yard a mess. There were limbs everywhere, leaves piled up that needed raking, and hedges that needed trimming.

There is no correlation between having a well-stocked and organized toolshed and the use of those tools.

The same is true for Christians. You can have all the Bibles, concordances, commentaries, theological books, and Biblical tools and still have a messy life lived far from Jesus.

Maintaining an organized tool shed doesn’t mean you use those tools regularly.

So, the next time you feel proud of your tools, remember that other people will look at your lawn or your life and know the truth.

The words came on the screen as the movie ended, “And they lived happily ever after.”

Do you believe that?

Do you believe that two people living in a relationship experience happiness every day after the events that brought them together?

I highly doubt it.

No relationship, marriage, friendship, or business partnership has experienced “happily ever after.” When two people are together, there will be conflict, frustration, and often anger. The challenge for a follower of Jesus is not to run away but to stay and engage one another with kindness, compassion, grace, and forgiveness.

I don’t think people live happily ever after. But I do believe people can be “happy after everything” if they are willing to work through their issues.    

There are two types of freedom.

“Freedom From.”  This is the concept of being set free from something that was holding you back. My favorite preacher called it quiet freedom. The chains are taken off, and you walk away free from your past.

“Freedom For.” This is the idea that we can do whatever we desire. There are no restraints to keep us from specific behaviors. This is a loud freedom that comes down the street with a marking band in a parade.

Scripture says that the work of Jesus gives us both of these. We have freedom from our sins. The old has gone; the new has come. We also have the freedom for us to approach the throne of grace with confidence and receive help in our time of need. We have the freedom to worship God without fear and in the confidence of his mercy.

I am happy to live in a country where we celebrate freedom. I will celebrate today. But I am even happier to live on this side of Jesus’ work, where I can experience freedom for my soul because of his death, burial, and resurrection.

What’s it like to be involved in ministry?

It doesn’t matter whether you are a full-time paid employee of a religious organization or volunteer at one. The work you do is still done for God. He is in charge, and we are his servants.

What is that like? It is like having a boss who always has your back.

Recently, the Sunday morning program was filled with issues. People did not speak up, mics did not work, the video didn’t have sound, and a baby was coughing. It was not my idea of a perfect morning in worship. Yet, someone responded to the gospel message, and people expressed their appreciation for the sermon.

Everything was not perfect, but God took our efforts and brought about a fantastic result.

One of the most significant benefits of serving the Lord is that he takes our flawed gifts and uses them for his glory. In fact, he prefers it. That way, we are continually reminded that it is about him and not us.

The Church community must be a place that values questions. People need to be able to ask those things that hinder their faith and growth. The hard questions should not be avoided but engaged. Skepticism and doubts are welcome. No one has everything figured out, and we are all learning together.

However, we also need to be clear that biblical answers are highly valued. It is not enough to ask questions; we need to find the answer. Once the answer is known and secured, we change our lives to align with the truth we have discovered. While no one person has it all figured out, the group has someone who has reached the proper biblical understanding, and we need to accept their response.

Asking questions can be a great way to learn, but it can also be a way to avoid certain truths we find uncomfortable. Having an open mind to explore the unknown is an asset. Having a closed heart to accept the answers you find is a detriment.

Why you ask something is as important as what you ask.