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I’ve said before that I read Seth Godin every day, and often his principles apply to ministry, mission, or my life with Jesus. He published a story on April 21, 2019, and I decided to save it without even knowing what I would use it for. But as I was filing it, the application came. See what you think.

Seth wrote,

Steve Pressfield relates this magical story: A Ghurka rifleman escaped from a Japanese prison in south Burma and walked six hundred miles alone through the jungles to freedom. The journey took him five months, but he never asked the way and he never lost the way. For one thing he could not speak Burmese and for another he regarded all Burmese as traitors. He used a map and when he reached India he showed it to the Intelligence officers, who wanted to know all about his odyssey. Marked in pencil were all the turns he had taken, all the roads and trail forks he has passed, all the rivers he had crossed. It had served him well, that map. The Intelligence officers did not find it so useful. It was a street map of London.

Seth applies the Pressfield story: Happy endings come from an understanding of the compass, not the presence of a useful map. If you’ve got the wrong map, the right compass will get you home if you know how to use it.

Often we get exercised because someone doesn’t seem to be using the right map. “They don’t go to our church!” “They’re not in the right denomination!” “Their theology is all wrong!” (Of course, you understand that people from different churches, different denominations, and different theologies are saying that about one another.)

In the middle of all of it, God’s work gets done. People come to Christ listening to preachers I would never listen to or responding to approaches I would never use. People I don’t agree with are feeding the poor or running hospitals in third and fourth world countries. Why? Because regardless of their map, their compass is working: they love Jesus. And God honors and blesses their efforts. (Please see my blog on the Holy Spirit.)

I know this metaphor has limits just as the Pressfield/Godin story and application have limits. But I believe we’d be closer to fulfilling God’s work in the world if we spent less time refining our own or critiquing others’ maps, and spent more time heeding our compass: our day-to-day relationship with Jesus.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13.34, 35, ESV)

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30.21, ESV)

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Navigator Joe Bernardy just wrote about “awestruck” and said that we who are familiar with the Bible don’t experience it as much.

We should be awestruck by the resurrection that we just celebrated Sunday. The early disciples certainly were! As I shared Monday, Andy Stanley pointed out that we wouldn’t have Christianity today if it hadn’t been for the resurrection. There would have been no one to start it!

Years ago, some friends of ours were reading the Bible aloud with another couple, brand-new believers (or “pre-believers,” I don’t remember). Our friends told this story:

We were reading Acts 5, the story of Ananias and Saphira who lied to Peter about how much they had received from the sale of property. When confronted separately they both dropped dead. When those of us who grew up with this story hear it, we think, “Serves ‘em right! They shouldn’t have done that!” But the account closes with, “So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.” (Acts 5.11, NKJV). The response of the couple, unfamiliar with the Bible, was a startled, “Well, I guess!!”

The ability to be “awestruck” or “astonished” is something I’m working at. 

When the Apostle John, good friend of Jesus, saw Jesus in his glorified state as recorded in Revelation 1.12 – 16, his awestruck response was simple:

And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. (Revelation 1.17, NKJV)

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Every now and then I see a vehicle on the road, sometimes a large semi, sometimes just a van, and it has a sign on the back: safety is my goal.

The sign strikes me as weird. If safety were your goal, why don’t you leave it in the garage? Your goal is probably to move cargo from one point to another, perhaps on time, and yes, safely. But the goal can’t be safety. I’m not the first to come up with this objection:

Jesus gave us a mandate in Acts 1.8 that was anything but safe. Persecution started in Acts 4; Stephen was martyred in Acts 7; James, in Acts 12. Paul’s journeys were marked by opposition in every city.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1.8, NIV)

We have the promise of Jesus’ power and his presence, but we have no promise of safety. If safety is our goal, we can’t do the mission.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28.18 – 20, NIV, emphasis mine)

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My friend Henry Brown challenged me on Saturday’s blog entry where I appeared to attribute no value to the Sunday morning service. In case you didn’t see our exchange, Henry wrote:

I’ll challenge you on that point, my friend. Education and training are one of the purposes of the church, but so too is worship and discipline. You know the verse from the Topical Memory System – Do not neglect gathering together, and all the more as the day draws near. Wish I could find it.

I responded:

Good word, Henry, and yours is the second challenge! June’s was the first. I didn’t mean to imply that there was no value to the Sunday morning service. I mentioned inspiration and motivation. There is also education (if people are listening to the sermon) and value in being together. (Hebrews 10.24, 25 is the Topical Memory System verse you’re looking for.) Rick Warren has worship as one of five purposes, which is another way to say that Sunday worship is not the only purpose of the church, the point I was trying to make. Thanks for reading and for keeping me honest!

Speaking of meaningful worship services, we just heard Andy Stanley via video at my son’s church on Easter Sunday. He forcefully made the point that Jesus’ resurrection matters: it’s the foundation of the church. The link above takes you to the version as it was released last year. It’s worth the 30 minutes. And it was fun being in a packed venue with people of all ages–mostly younger–who were enjoying the music and the testimonies of two men, one of whom had been homeless, who were baptized. So, yes, I’m in favor of Sunday morning worship services!

And I’m in favor of you, my readers, challenging me. Let’s work together to build each other up.

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27.17, NIV)

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10.24, 25, ESV)

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I’ve spent extra time this year meditating on both the cross and the events of Holy Week and on the resurrection and events accompanying it. The cross was unimaginably brutal. How Jesus got through it and the scourging preceding it is a mystery.

By contrast, the post-resurrection appearances have a whimsical quality about them. I think Jesus was having fun!

Suddenly, the earth shook violently beneath their feet as the angel of the Lord Jehovah descended from heaven. Lightning flashed around him and his robe was dazzling white! The guards were stunned and terrified—lying motionless like dead men. Then the angel walked up to the tomb, rolled away the stone, and sat on top of it! Matthew 28:2 – 4 (Passion Translation NT)

This had to be a fun day in the heavens. Jesus was already gone from the tomb. The Father said, “OK, let’s put the plan into action. They won’t know he’s gone if we don’t roll away the stone.” So he sent two angels. Fun duty. 

In Matthew 28.5 – 10, the women’s emotions ran the gamut:

• Breathless and terrified (v5)
• Deep in wonder, filled with joy (v8)
• Overwhelmed (v9)
• Still with fears (v10)

Along the way, Jesus suddenly appeared in front of them and said, “Rejoice!” They were so overwhelmed by seeing him that they bowed down and grasped his feet in adoring worship. Then Jesus said to them, “Throw off all your fears. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee. They will find me there.” Matthew 28:9-10 (Passion Translation NT)

Why did he appear to the women first? Maybe because the disciples fled the scene but the women stayed on. John was at the cross, but none of the others.

Real people. Real emotions. Real uncertainty for a time. Jesus is having fun! And he’s always sending. “Go and tell.” He could have done that himself, but he sent the women first.  

Then there’s the story of Jesus’ appearing to the two folks on their way to Emmaus. This is a great story and underscores how much fun Jesus was having since the resurrection! (Luke 24.13 – 35)

• He appeared incognito
• “What things?”
• “Why are you so thick-headed?” Then he walked them through the entire Old Testament. (I wish we had the text of that sermon!)
• He pretended to go on past the village
• He revealed himself in the breaking of bread
• Then he vanished (only to reappear back in Jerusalem after the two returned (on foot!) to Jerusalem

Finally, he meets them in Galilee, “And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.” Then he said to those doubters(!) and to us:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28.18 – 20, NIV)

He is risen! Happy Easter!

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I’ve written the last few days about church: that’s it’s more than grand cathedrals and that its members are to be the church, not just go to church. For some of you, this may be a tough sell. It’s a different message from what you’re used to. For example, a pastor of a large church, bemoaning the drop in attendance because of bad weather, recently wrote:

Nothing can replace being here in person. The purpose of the church is to gather in worship and glorify the Lord together.

Really? “The purpose of the church is to gather in worship and glorify the Lord together” sounds good, but is that the purpose of the church? Not according to the Apostle Paul:

He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. (Ephesians 4.11 – 13, MSG, emphasis mine)

The mission of the church is to train, and there are few, if any, skills that can be trained in a large group environment. For example, we don’t learn to play piano by attending concerts! Concerts are important for inspiration and motivation, but the work of training people to make music happens in the teacher’s studio and the student’s practice room.

The pastor’s ministry strategy is not to put on a worship service every week. It’s to invest in people. And those people (“reliable”–not necessarily ordained, seminary-educated people!) train others. This is the counsel the Apostle Paul gave to the young pastor Timothy:

The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2.2)

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Yesterday I wrote that Jesus didn’t die so we could go to church. He died so we could be the church. And we looked at one description of that in Ephesians 4.1 – 3, which basically tells us how to treat fellow believers.

But, of course, we can’t just stay in our holy huddles and relate to each other; God has put us in the world: our neighborhoods, our work, our schools, our families. And God expects us to be the church there also.

Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. (1 Peter 3.15, 16, MSG)

These commands are directly related to the events of Holy Week:

It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God. (1 Peter 3.17, 18, MSG)

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As we move through Holy Week or Passion Week, it’s worthwhile to remember why Jesus died. The Apostle Peter was clear:

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. (1 Peter 2.24, ESV)

He died to take away our sins IN ORDER THAT we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He didn’t die just so we would have a free ticket to heaven but that we might live a certain way on earth.

Our pastor said Sunday, “Jesus didn’t die so that we could go to church. He died so that we might be the church!”

Here’s one picture of that that might look like. We might look at more in a subsequent blog.

In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. (Ephesians 4.1 – 3, MSG)

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Like everyone, I am shocked and saddened at the fire that caused massive damage to the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. 

However, the extent of national mourning in France is a bit puzzling. John Kass, writing in the Chicago Tribune, observed the current dismal state of Christianity in Western Europe in general (selected snippets):

And [President Macron’s] oratory won’t save Christianity in a modern, left-dominated and secular Western Europe undergoing great cultural change. It is a Europe that is spiritually and culturally adrift, while holding Christianity firmly at a distance. And the European political class wishes that its arms were much longer…According to a Pew Research Center survey published in 2018, Western Europe has become one of the world’s most secular regions…And the wholesale rejection of Christianity by Europeans who say they were born and raised Christian is also part of that equation.

So what explains the strong reactions? Some, to be sure, mourn the damage to a church. But most, I’m afraid, see the cathedral as a great historical monument and a work of art, representing the best of French culture and architectural achievement.

The problem is we tend to get more excited about erecting church facilities than building people. And when we don’t make disciples, especially disciples who make other disciples, a church’s people die or move away, and they aren’t replaced by new believers. 

A headline in The Atlantic, November 28, 2018, says it all:  As Congregations Dwindle, Churches Sit Empty. What Comes Next? The article goes on to describe “America’s epidemic of empty churches…As donations and attendance decrease, many churches struggle with the cost of maintaining their large physical structures.”

God’s real temples are made of people, not bricks:

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2.19 – 22, ESV)

And the work of the church is to build these people:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4.11-13, ESV)

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This is going to be a hard one…I’m still working on the idea and can’t say that I’ve put it into practice, but I want to share it with you. Maybe some of you can provide some additional guidance in the comments.

I was reading Nehemiah and while I had always noted that his first action after hearing about the problem with the broken down wall (Nehemiah 1.4) was to go to prayer. But I never paid much attention to the prayer itself. After opening with a few sentences of praise, he goes to confession:

Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. (Nehemiah 1.6, 7)

This appears to be a different from of confession than we’re used to. You may have been taught the ACTS acrostic as a good way to structure your prayers: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication, and Nehemiah seems to be following this pattern. However, and it’s a big however, Nehemiah is confessing sins of the nation. Daniel did the same thing in Daniel 9.5 – 15 which ends:

And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly. (Daniel 9.15)

Daniel and Nehemiah are confessing sins they didn’t commit! Sins that occurred before they were born. I don’t remember hearing any teaching on this kind of confession. Sometimes in a worship service there is a corporate confession using “we,” but it’s almost always sins that we committed or could have committed, like the standard, “We have done things we ought not to have done, and we haven’t done things we ought to have done.” Or, “We haven’t loved you or others as we should have; we’ve been selfish; etc.”

Many of us, for example, are opposed to abortion, at least to the seemingly unlimited access to abortion that’s happening today. However, I don’t think I’ve ever heard, “Lord forgive us for killing all those babies.” We more often seem to have the attitude of the Pharisee in Luke 18: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” (verse 11)

Maybe our confession, if it were to be more like Nehemiah’s might sound more like this:

• We have cheated to get our kids into certain colleges.
• We have aborted millions of babies.
• We have failed to come up with a compassionate, sensible immigration policy.
• We have failed to balance the budget.
• We imported black African slaves and then when we freed them kept them second class.

As I said, this is a new idea for me. However, the kind of sins that Nehemiah confessed to is inescapable. Perhaps it’s worth considering as we obey Paul’s command to pray for our leaders. Maybe we add confession to his list! And maybe, if we own and confess national sins, we’ll be more motivated to do what we can to eradicate them.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Timothy 1.1, 2)