We Can Do Better…
Americans spend $700 billion on all Christian causes.
Of that number, $45 billion goes to any kind of work overseas.
That amounts to 6% of money that the church gives. Of that 6%, only a fraction of that money ($450 million) is sent to ministries working among those who are considered unreached. This is roughly the same amount Americans spent in 2015 on diet programs. It’s just over what we spend on Halloween costumes for our pets.
What these numbers reveal is that a staggering amount of the money we give to God ends up being spent on us. It stays within the church for the benefit of the church. It pays for pastors and buildings and programs for people who largely know and hear the Gospel. And very, very little goes towards people who have never heard of Jesus.
In fact, for every $100,000 that Christians give to the church, $1 goes to the unreached.*
Statistics, especially good ones, are our friends. They show us where our priorities are. They are like a mirror being held up to our faces so we can see what we look like. My point in sharing these statistics is not to be critical. It’s not to say that even some of the things we’ve spent money on aren’t good.
But friends, we can do better.
If we’re going to do better, it will require all of us to say no to some of the “good” things in order to say yes to better things. It will require we take a hard look at family budgets and church budgets and say “What does this line item in the budget say about our priorities?”
What good things are you committed to? Your building? Your pastoral staff? Your worship experience? Or are you committed bringing the good news of Jesus to the ends of the Earth? As it is written “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news.”
When Jesus came to the Earth, He didn’t ask for a tenth of what we had. He came and asked that we give our all to Him. This is not just a reality for individuals, but churches as well. And we have to decide if we are going to give everything to Him and let Him decide what we keep.
What would it take for giving to the unreached to move up higher in our spending priorities? What if instead of the money to the unreached being a fraction of 1% of our budget, it was 20%? What would that require you and your church to sacrifice? And would the rest of your church tolerate it? And what would everyone’s reactions say about their priorities?
We can do better. But we must change. Will you change with me?
Photo Credit: Macro Dollar by Chris Dlugosz
*Most of these statistics can be found on http://www.thetravelingteam.org/stats
The Bible’s Cure for a Weary Soul
Weariness
It affects all of us, no matter what type of denomination, organic church vs. traditional, involved in ministry or not, we all get tired. While we all get tired physically, the weariness that strikes so much harder is the weariness of soul that comes on believers in busy or difficult seasons of life. So often the well-meaning church (like Job’s friends) offers us advice for how we are to handle that weariness:
“Take more time for yourself.”
“You need a retreat to spend more time in prayer.”
“You need to reprioritize your schedule and quit a few things. You’re doing too much.”
“Maybe you just need to take your mind off of things.”
The list can go on.
But, like the advice of Job’s friends, while this may be good advice it doesn’t get to the root of what’s going on. How do I know? I’ve watched friends fall into weariness and try various versions of this advice. I’ve fallen into weariness myself and tried them. In each case, the person who was weary gets some kind temporary rest, but the long term problem is never dealt with.
The Bible has a solution for the weariness of the soul so many of us go through. It’s called looking at Jesus:
…let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor besides God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.
Friends, the writer of Hebrews says that if we spend time looking at Jesus and considering His example, it will strengthen us against weariness. Jesus is the one who initiates and completes our faith. He is responsible for the starting it and He is responsible for getting us to the finish line.
More importantly, I find that when I am truly discouraged and weary of soul, it’s because my life or the service God has called me to hasn’t gone the way I wanted. Whenever I get into that place, instead of lamenting how much better someone else has it or grumbling and complaining, I remind myself that the Son of God left His Father and came down to Earth. I remind myself that He was persecuted, beaten, mocked, and killed for the same Gospel I’m trying share with others.
When I think about Jesus remaining faithful and steadfast in the midst of such pain and difficulty, it strengthens my heart to keep going. His example of patience and trust in the Father and His love for me in spite of the difficulty around Him refresh my heart and help me keep going. The weariness fades when I see Jesus enduring faithfully in worse situations than I am in.
Depending on your level of weariness you may need to take active, physical steps. You may need to take some time to go on a retreat. You may need some time in prayer away from the things in your life that stress you. But I guarantee at the base of your weariness is letting your issues and problems seem so much larger than Jesus’. If instead we can take the time and look to Him, we will avoid being weary and giving up.
If you’re weary today, make the time. Look at Him. Remember the hostility he endured. Let His example strengthen you to obey in tough circumstances.
He will do it.
Photo Credit: Christ! by Babak Fakhamzadeh
Why You Should Know How to Share the Gospel and Disciple Others
Several years ago I had a friend who I started talking to about discipleship. I looked him in the eye and asked him, “If you lead someone to Jesus today, would you know how to help that person grow in the Lord?” A kind of glazed look came over my friend’s face as he realized that he really didn’t know what would come next if he lead someone to Christ.
My friend isn’t alone. In fact, my experience in Christianity in the West tells me that very few people know how to share Christ and fewer know how to disciple those they lead to Christ. This hinders the spread of the Gospel.
Before we go too far, I feel like it’s important to say that I understand not every Christian is going to be an evangelist. I don’t primarily consider myself an evangelist and many of the people I know who share the gospel regularly aren’t evangelists either. But every believer should have a basic understanding of how to share the gospel and disciple new believers. This is part of what Paul means when he says that “we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” (Ephesians 4:15). Every believer is called to be a witness and a disciple (and therefore a disciple maker), but not every believer is called to be an evangelist.
You are called not just to be a Christian and pursue your calling, but regardless of your calling to lead people to Christ along the way. And as you lead them to Christ, you will need to baptize them and instruct them in following Jesus. Don’t settle for anything less than that.
If you are an elder or teacher in the body of Christ, make sure that those around you can articulate the gospel and know how to respond when someone says yes to it. This can make the difference between leading one person to Christ and many more people coming to Christ through the testimony of a new brother or sister.
For those of you who don’t know how to share the Gospel with those around you, here is a clear, simple, reproducible way to share it that we’ve used many times with those we know:
Many times, though, leading people to Christ is the easy part. Teaching them to obey the Risen Christ and helping them to lay aside their old lifestyle is much harder. So next week, we’ll look at a process we’ve used here to raise up disciples.
Until then, what do you think is the main difficulty you have in sharing the gospel and discipling new believers? Let me know in the comment section.
Photo Credit: The Bible by Chris Yarzab
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 