I keep trying to explain the difference between relational disciple-making and the way church is usually done. Maybe it’s this:
Churches usually want to do it bigger and faster instead of smaller and slower.
You can’t mass-produce disciples any more than you can make pianists by taking people to concerts.
And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve… (Mark 3.13 – 16, ESV)
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. (John 6.66, ESV)
I was going to skip over Numbers 15 – 19 except for the tassels, but chapter 16 brought me up short.
Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” (Numbers 16.1 – 13, ESV)
It sounds so holy, so pious: “All in the congregation are holy…and the LORD is among them.”
The problem is that in a church or even in an organization like The Navigators some of us might be tempted to challenge the leadership: “After all, we are all holy, and the LORD is among us all!” However,
Just because the LORD is among us doesn’t mean we’re in charge.
The pastor and elder team are in charge. In The Navigators, our president and his leadership team are in charge.
God takes a dim view of rebellion. Korah and his co-conspirators didn’t live to see the end of the chapter.
I was just talking with an associate pastor who told me their church leadership had to discipline one of their popular lay Bible teachers. For what? Undermining church leadership. I’m sure his language modeled Korah’s. “The Lord speaks to me as much as he speaks to you!” Except…you’re not in charge.
Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel. They are alert to the condition of your lives and work under the strict supervision of God. Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why would you want to make things harder for them? (Hebrews 13.17, MSG)
Every week I receive an article about current culture from Collin Garbarino of World Magazine. We exchange emails from time to time. Recently, he closed an article with this sentence:
It’s not just missionaries who have to learn the culture and language of the people they want to reach. – Collin Garbarino, World Magazine
It’s a good sentence, encouraging us to stay up on what’s going on around us so that we can relate to all kinds of people. I commended him for the sentence but suggested:
I think that sentence would be improved if we inserted the word “professional” before missionaries. We’re all missionaries.
He agreed and so stated in his next weekly article. Then he told me in an email:
You might be interested to know that one of my readers wrote to complain about your idea that we’re all missionaries. She’s a professional missionary in the Middle East, and she only wants the word to apply to people living overseas.
To which I fired off this mild tirade:
Re the lady overseas, it’s precisely that attitude that limits the number of people on mission, regardless of what you call them. As long as people think there’s a hierarchy:
Foreign missionaries
Domestic missionaries / Pastors
Everyone else
The “everyone else” are content to let the paid professionals do the work. I don’t know your writer, of course, but I’d bet real money that her ministry does NOT involve investing in people so that they can do what she does. I tried to motivate some missionaries once to not only do their job but also invest in individual people in the city they were serving. Most of them didn’t get it.
Once in Haiti, there were a group of Canadians who were there for a month on a short-term work-project mission. They were very sad to leave and go back home and didn’t understand that it’s wonderful to go to Haiti and do a work project for 4 weeks, but what about the other 48 weeks?
This is a non-trivial subject that you can tell I’m very exercised about.
Collin shared with me how he responded to the missionary lady (much kinder than my tirade but right on point):
I wrote to her saying that I believed that if more Christians considered themselves missionaries at home, then there would be more zeal for the gospel. And more zeal for the gospel would lead to more Christians going overseas to become missionaries abroad.
Well said. I wrote about this recently in the story of the great “missionary” hymn “So Send I You,” written by…wait for it…a schoolteacher who learned that her mission field was where she was.
Paul said it:
And 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, NIV)
I like to add: 2 Timothy 2.2…
It’s so easy, anyone can do it…even lay people.
It’s so important, everyone must do it…even Christian professionals.
The Hand Illustration? Bob, didn’t we just have that before Labor Day? Two of them, in fact? Yes and no. Those were “Prayer” hands. THE Navigator Hand Illustration is about the Word:
Let me walk you through it. There are five ways to intake God’s Word, and we should use all five. Note that the picture shows a hand holding the Bible. If we want a firm grip on the literal book, we would do well to use all five fingers, especially the thumb which provides the grip. The thumb represents meditate (Psalm 1.2, 3), which should be used in conjunction with all the other methods.:
Hear, represented by the little finger. (Romans 10.17) It’s the smallest and weakest method. We just don’t remember much of what we hear. But, as I told the folks Sunday, if you’re going to be at church anyway, you might as well pay attention to the sermon! That’s why I take notes, not necessarily because I’ll look at them again, but taking notes helps me pay attention.
Read, represented by the fourth finger. (Revelation 1.3) Reading is the discipline we’re pushing when we’re talking about Daily Time with God or the 5x5x5 New Testament Reading Plan. It’s been said that if we remember 5% of what we hear, we remember 15% of what we read. Again, we want to meditate on we read and hear!
Study, represented by the middle, strongest finger. (Acts 17.11) Bible study is spending more time on a shorter portion, say a chapter or part of a chapter. Some estimate that we might remember 35% of what we study. But don’t forget to meditate for application!
But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards. (Matthew 7.26, 27, MSG)
Memorize, represented by “tip of the tongue” first finger. (Psalm 119.9 – 11) It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway), we remember 100% of what we memorize! And the purpose of scripture memory is have it in our minds so we can meditate “day and night.” I wrote about scripture memory back in 2019 capturing Max Barnett’s methods and this motivation:
Whenever I’m around the old Navigators, like Max, they all say the same thing when asked something like, “Why are you still following Jesus and making disciples in your old age?” They always say, “Quiet time and scripture memory.” In my book Live the Adventure, I tell about Navigators Skip and Buzzie Gray, now in their late 80s, and Jerry White, now in his late 70s saying that very thing. Well-known author Dallas Willard wrote that if he were limited to one discipline, it would be scripture memory. [Skip Gray and Dallas Willard are now with the Lord.]
There it is, The Hand Illustration. It takes just a few minutes to learn and teach, and it’s worth putting into practice.
Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15.16, NKJV)
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4.4, NKJV)
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that after the Israelites’ failure to enter the Promised Land in Numbers 13 and 14, Numbers chapters 15 through 19 are largely filled with more legal details along with rebellion. One of the more interesting rules is the tassels:
The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD your God.” (Numbers 15.37 – 41, ESV)
It’s not a bad practice: something to remind you of the commandments and “not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes…” Which is exactly what they did in Numbers 13 and 14. Scripture memory could be a modern application. I can memorize verses to help me remember God’s Word and keep my focus on him.
That said, I think it’s interesting that the only mention of tassels after this is when Jesus was criticizing the Pharisees:
They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make…their fringes long,… (Matthew 23.5, ESV)
I’m pretty sure no one was concerned about tassels when they were fighting their way into the Promised Land in Joshua’s day.
The point is, when we lose our mission, we often default to in-fighting about leadership (see Numbers 16) or arguments about the color of the church carpet or choir robes.
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. (Philippians 1.27, ESV)
We move to one of the saddest stories in the Bible: the failure of the Israelites to go into the Promised Land. It starts innocently enough: Moses sends 12 guys in to “spy out the land.”
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. And these were their names: …from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; …from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; … (Numbers 13.1 – 15, ESV)
There were 12 men listed: Caleb was #3 on the list, and Hoshea (called Joshua) was #5. There is nothing to indicate that they would be the minority.
The men checked out the land and brought back a “however” report. You know, one of those reports where you can ignore everything that is said before the “but” or “however.”
And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. (Numbers 13.27, 28, ESV)
“It’s a great land, but we can’t take it.” To which Caleb (in chapter 13) and Joshua (in chapter 14) offered a faith-filled minority report:
But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”… And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, …said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” (Numbers 13.30, 14.6 – 9, ESV)
I say, “minority report” since the final vote was 10 – 2, and the people followed the recommendation of the majority (proving, once again, that democracy is not always what it’s cracked up to be). The Lord was not pleased:
And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? (Numbers 14.11, ESV)
The people had experienced some of the greatest visual events in history:
The 10 Plagues, including Passover
The Red Sea crossing
Mt Sinai
Plus, the daily manna, and the miracle of the quail (Numbers 11.31, 32). These people did “not believe…in spite of all the signs…” Bummer. It cost the unbelievers their lives and the nation 40 years.
As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. (Numbers 14.28 – 33, ESV)
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, this will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14.12 – 14, LSB)
The Apostle Paul must have been thinking about a passage in Numbers when he wrote:
Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? (1 Corinthians 14.8, NIV)
Here’s the word from Numbers:
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Make two silver trumpets. Of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp. And when both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. But if they blow only one, then the chiefs, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. When you blow an alarm, the camps that are on the east side shall set out. And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out. But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow a long blast, but you shall not sound an alarm. (Numbers 10.1 – 7, ESV)
Trumpets…for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp.
When both are blown, all the congregation gathers
When only one is blown, then the chiefs only shall gather
When an alarm is blown, the camps on the east side shall set out
When the alarm is blown again, the camps on the south side shall set out.
When a long blast is blown, the whole assembly gathers
Later it talks about using the trumpets to go to war and also for feast days. I’m confused already! No wonder Paul talks about the importance of a clear signal.
Are we sending clear signals in our churches? Or are we telling people it’s all about “out there” while acting like it’s really about “in here”? Do we run the worship service as a show and then criticize people when they treat it like a show? Often when June or I try to explain our work (“We walk with God, invest in people, and help them do the same.”), people are so locked into their image of church as a large gathering, that they have no idea what we’re talking about.
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… (Ephesians 4.11, 12, ESV)
I’ve always taken this passage as a marvelous lesson in living by God’s guidance.
And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. At the command of the LORD the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the LORD they camped…Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the LORD they remained in camp; then according to the command of the LORD they set out. And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning…Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. At the command of the LORD they camped, and at the command of the LORD they set out…. (Numbers 9.17 – 23, ESV)
“At the command of the LORD they camped, and at the command of the LORD they set out.” Sometimes overnight. Sometimes months. That’s mobile…and flexible!
But here’s the kicker: they had to move the tabernacle! That’s where the cloud rested. So it’s not like if they were just going be overnight, they wouldn’t set the tabernacle up. First, they didn’t know if it would be an overnight only. Second, the cloud rested “on the tabernacle,” which it couldn’t do unless the tabernacle were set up.
Can you say “teamwork” and a system? We’re talking about a courtyard 75 feet x 150 feet with the tabernacle itself 15 feet x 45 feet, plus the furniture.
A description of their first move is in Numbers 10.11 – 28. Three tribes moved out first, then the tabernacle moved by the sons of Gershon and Merari. (Numbers 4 outlines their duties). The Kohathites, carrying the tabernacle furniture (on foot) didn’t leave until after another three tribes:
Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before their arrival. (Numbers 10.21, ESV)
I’m impressed. The tabernacle was set up and ready for the furniture by the time the furniture arrived!
There were lots of men (2,750 Kohathites, 2,630 Gershonites, and 3,200 Merarites), and they probably didn’t all work each time so there had to be a way to divide each group into teams and a system for each team to carry out its duties quickly. A LOT of organization. The only thing I could think of that comes close, even at a much smaller scale, is the grounds crew at a Major League Baseball stadium pulling out the tarp when it rains:
If you are sitting at a major or minor league baseball game when a rain delay is called, you’ll see the ground crew jump into action and within about 2 minutes the field has been covered — usually it’s made to look all too easy. But for those of us who have done it, we know just how critical it is for everyone to work together to ensure the tarp is placed properly and safely on the field.
Full infield tarps can be as large as 175′ x 175′ and, depending on material, can weigh about 2,500 lbs for the heavier 10 oz per sq. yd. vinyl material that some major league teams use…The bottom line is a trained tarp staff and an experienced person directing them can make it look easy. – Paul Zwaska: Handling Full Infield Tarps
I’ll bet that the Rules of Baseball do NOT lay out instructions for placing the tarp. It is expected that the teams’ ground crews will figure that out for themselves. In like manner, in a book (The Torah) that has detailed instructions for all kinds of things, there is no instruction on how to organize the tabernacle moving crews. The Israelites were left to figure that out for themselves.
Recently, I was discussing church governance with someone who is deeply involved in the governance of our church. It turns out there are folks who insist there’s “only one way” to do…whatever. We agreed that there are a lot of ways to run a church within Biblical guidelines and that any of those ways can be executed well or poorly.
In the case of the mobile Israelites, it appears that they worked it out. There is no record of any glitches except when King David tried to get creative in 2 Samuel 6. (The ark was to be carried by men on foot, not put on a cart.)
Anyway, our slow pace through the Pentateuch has allowed time for these observations, remembering that these are stories of real people solving nontrivial logistical challenges. Good for them.
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)
How about a feel-good sports story? My son Mark put me on to this one…
What to do if you’re a baseball fan in Philadelphia, home of some of the toughest, most unforgiving fans in baseball, and your star player, signed for huge money in the offseason, isn’t producing?
You give your star, non-producing player a standing ovation.
Trea Turner, Philadelphia shortstop was having a bad year. Nothing he tried was working. Here’s what happened when he stepped to the plate on August 4, as told in this Fox News report which starts:
It’s not every day that one of baseball’s worst hitters gets a standing ovation.
It was early August and Phillies shortstop Trea Turner, he of the $311 million contract and .657 OPS, was suffocating under the weight of heightened expectations. After signing a much-heralded 11-year megadeal in December 2022, Turner had spent most of his first season in Philly grasping at straws and swinging at air.
Despite this, a raucous Citizens Bank Park crowd of over 35,000 greeted Turner with thunderous applause as he strolled toward the plate for his first at-bat of the night. The Fightin’ faithful rose to their feet in a passionate, full-throated display of unconditional support. Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos scaled the dugout, a towel in his hand, emphatically gesturing for fans to continue.
“He needs to feel comfortable. He needs to feel welcome,” Castellanos told reporters afterward. “I know what that’s like. And I think that’s what that standing ovation does, like, hey we have your back.” – Jake Minst, Fox Sports
And what happened after? As of late August…
Buoyed by the Philly Cheer, Turner has completely flipped his season around, posting a 1.150 OPS with eight homers in the 22 games since. He looks like his confident, world-beating self.
Wow. If it were fiction, no one would believe it.
But they should. God often blesses us before our so-called performance, not after. It started with Jesus, did it not?
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3.16, 17, NIV)
This was at the beginning of his ministry! Before he had actually done anything.
As a side note, the idea for a standing ovation came from one guy, a talk-radio producer:
I know he’s making $300 million so it’s unpopular to say that you feel bad for the guy but I legitimately feel bad for Trea Turner. Postgame interview was a tough watch, he’s in the cages until midnight. Just think he’s lost. A standing O on Friday would go a long way IMO. – A Tweet by Jack Fritz on August 3.
So one person can make a difference! One person who decided that praise rather than ridicule might make a difference. Applause for future success, not for boos for past failures.
As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations” in the presence of Him whom he believed–God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did. (Romans 4.17, NKJV, emphasis mine)
Recently, someone on NextDoor began a post with “It bothers me a great deal…” She went on to describe a particular flaw in the way some people speak, dropping the “g” in words like “strength.” (She’d better not move to Alabama where nearly everyone drops the “g” in any word ending in “ing.” Do you see what I’m sayin’?)
Anyway, I’m sad for the person who posted that. It’s one thing to notice something. It’s another to be “bothered a great deal.” I’m reading an excellent book suggested by blog reader Laura: Unoffendable by Brant Hansen. The simple premise is that believers ought to be among the least offended people. He disagrees that Christians are generally more offended than other people. He argues that our whole culture loves to take offense: “It’s the national sport.” (I’ve made the same observation, calling it “outrage.”) But just because everyone is doing it doesn’t mean we should be part of “everyone.”
It’s a 200-page book that I haven’t finished yet, and I’m wondering how he’ll get 200 pages from such a simple idea, but he’s succeeding so far. One chapter explains that Jesus came to give rest, and taking offense at everything makes you tired. Here’s a sample:
Quit trying to parent the whole world. Quit offering advice when exactly zero people asked for it. Quit being shocked when people don’t share your morality. Quit serving as judge and jury, in your own mind, of that person who just cut you off in traffic. Quit thinking you need to “discern” what others’ motives are. And quit rehearsing in your mind what that other person did to you. It’s all so exhausting.
It reminds me of Aibileen’s scene with Hilly in the movie The Help. Hilly is a judgmental, racist, conniving busybody full of religiosity and anger. Aibileen is her friend Elizabeth’s hired help and a wise woman who, when she finally confronts Hilly, is bracingly honest but still, somehow, loving: “Ain’t you tired, Miss Hilly? Ain’t you tired?” – From Unoffendable by Brant Hansen, page 57.
Again, Jesus said it first:
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. (Matthew 11.28 – 30, MSG)
