"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out." (Luke 14:34-35)
I once heard somone say that Christians can be a lot like manure. Spread manure out and it is good to fertilize the soil, but pile it up and it does nothing but stink. There may be some truth in that analogy. Over the weekend we generated some discussion about what may have happened to the church over the years and whether or not we have radically departed from Jesus' original plan.
Last year at a church planting conference, I heard Vince Antonucci (I Became a Christian and All I got was this lousy T shirt) say, 'Only 2.2% of the churches in the United States are growing by converting non-believers into followers of Jesus Christ." That is a staggering statistic. Since Jesus Christ says, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men", if we are not fishers of men, then who are we following?
So here is the question I want to raise today and see if anyone is interested enough to discuss or debate. What is missing in the 21st century American church that keeps us from impacting the world with multiplication speed like the church in Acts 2 and Acts 4 and through the first century?
I am going to suggest my perspective is that at least two ingredients seem to be typically missing in the average American church, accountability and reproduction.
The average Sunday School class, small group, or Bible Study is often built around dumping a load of information on the students. Typically there is little dynamic that produces life change. Maybe we have made it comfortable for ourselves so that we do not have to deal honestly with God's Word impacting our lives. Maybe we have grown numb to the current situation and do not even notice. What do you think?
Monday, May 11, 2009
What Kind of Soil Are You? (Devotional)
"As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." (Matt. 13:23)
One of the dangers of reading the parable of the sower is for those of us active in our church to assume that we are the good soil. It is so easy to be a Christian in many ways in the United States. We don't typically face outward persecution where someone is threatening to take our job away, or even kill us.
JJ moved from the village to the city to find work to care for his mother and siblings. He has been through several jobs because the Islamic employers are uncomfortable with his witness to Jesus Christ. They mock him and torment him and eventually fire him.
Out in the village the Islamic majority taunt the handful of Christians with words like this, "When you die, we will let your body rot in the fields because we will not bury you." Some of us might say, "So what, I won't be there." But it is a challenge to these young believers.
Jesus speaks of the seed being the Word of God, and it is constant in each type of soil. The elements are the same. The only variable is the soil. Are you hardened ground, that the seed cannot penetrate? Are you rocky soil, that is shallow, and does not allow for roots to nourish the new life over the long haul? Are you ground with weeds and thorns that choke out the truth? Or are you the soil that bears much fruit for God? Read Matthew 13 and ask God's Spirit to reveal to you God's perspective on which one you are today.
One of the dangers of reading the parable of the sower is for those of us active in our church to assume that we are the good soil. It is so easy to be a Christian in many ways in the United States. We don't typically face outward persecution where someone is threatening to take our job away, or even kill us.
JJ moved from the village to the city to find work to care for his mother and siblings. He has been through several jobs because the Islamic employers are uncomfortable with his witness to Jesus Christ. They mock him and torment him and eventually fire him.
Out in the village the Islamic majority taunt the handful of Christians with words like this, "When you die, we will let your body rot in the fields because we will not bury you." Some of us might say, "So what, I won't be there." But it is a challenge to these young believers.
Jesus speaks of the seed being the Word of God, and it is constant in each type of soil. The elements are the same. The only variable is the soil. Are you hardened ground, that the seed cannot penetrate? Are you rocky soil, that is shallow, and does not allow for roots to nourish the new life over the long haul? Are you ground with weeds and thorns that choke out the truth? Or are you the soil that bears much fruit for God? Read Matthew 13 and ask God's Spirit to reveal to you God's perspective on which one you are today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
