• Our hope-filled future is bound up in sharing the story of Jesus, in discipling others, in bringing those disciples together into communities of believers, and in developing and releasing those believers to create other communities... till Jesus the King comes again!

A missional DNA

Posted on August 6, 2015 by wtdavid

For an upcoming conference, I have been asked to talk about ‘how to make mission part of a disciple’s DNA’. I have been tossing around a number of practical ideas over the past week or so. However, to be honest, at a given moment, I got stuck. I got stuck on the ‘how to’ part.DNA

The answers to the ‘how to’ question certainly help another believer know what mission might be about. However, it doesn’t ultimately point us to who sends us forth in mission, or who is the source or drive of our going.

To be honest, it’s that assurance, deep in one’s heart, that one has been sent and that the God of the universe goes with him/her that will make mission part of any disciple’s life.

Looking back at Matthew 28:18-20, one saint from long ago wrote: “Never, certainly, would the Apostles have had sufficient confidence to undertake so arduous an office, if they had not known that the Protector sitteth in heaven, and that the highest authority is given to him; for without such a support it would have been impossible for them to make any progress.”

If the Gospel brings us into fellowship and relationship with Jesus, then the Gospel would also push us out to intentionally move towards others because as Jesus said: ‘just as the Father has sent Me, so I send you’ (John 20:21).

Your thoughts?

Filed under: Gospel, Mission | 8 Comments »

The power of words

Posted on June 24, 2015 by wtdavid

Words have a ‘power’ that we often underestimate.  They can bring joy to a heart (Proverbs 12:25) or distress to one’s soul (Proverbs 15:1).  They are capable of building a person up in the faith (Ephesians 4:29) or ‘devouring’ the good name of another (Galatians 5:15)words bis

Words have a ‘power’ that we often underestimate.

The Bible is replete with verses “about how to speak and listen, how to use words and not abuse people.”  Yet, in my day to day conversations I seemingly overlook and forget these truths.  I can create conflict and mistrust, rather than a safe context for others.  I can stifle, by my words, the growth of others.

Words have a ‘power’ that we often underestimate.

This is why gossip is so insidious. It appears harmless at first view: “Have you heard about what happened to John?  I don’t think he would mind me sharing with you as we should really be praying for him right now.”  Yet, information (sometimes false or distorted information) is shared which diminishes the other; that tears down instead of builds up; and that creates an opening for the evil one to further attack our consciences.

We all know it is wrong and hurtful. Why cannot we not stem its tide?  Why are Christian agencies and churches some of its more fertile soil?

One main reason is because we love ourselves more than Christ.  We love being the one with privileged information.  The act of letting others in on that information, we think, builds us up in their eyes.  It’s warped thinking.

One look back at Jesus would make us feel the pain of those words and would melt our hearts at the forgiveness Jesus extends to us over and over again (1 John 1:9).

One word from another might pull our eyes off of ourselves and put it back on the One who took our wrongs upon Himself.  The simple question of: are you sure that is true? might awaken our hearts to turn towards our Redeemer.

Filed under: Communication, Gospel, Power | 6 Comments »

Call it for what it is

Posted on May 22, 2015 by wtdavid

If we found ourselves dealing with a conflict between several disciples that we were working with, we would quickly move to get those disciples into the same room so that they could listen to one another.  We would not tolerate them ‘talking behind one another’s back’.  We would not let them walk away from each other without having addressed the issue that was creating the conflict between them.

In the book, Crucial Conversations, the authors provide numerous helpful guidelines to creating a context of trust and shared pool of knowledge for people to be able to share what may be burdening their hearts and causing relational conflict.gossip_1900288b

I sometimes observe another strategy, used by us workers, when the conflict involves us.  Another worker creates relational tension, which I perceive as a conflict, and then I choose to share my disappointment or frustration with a different worker, rather than the person concerned.  It always sounds innocent because ‘I’m looking for someone to help me process’ or because ‘I don’t feel like that person hears me’. 

It may also sound spiritual, but we need from time to time to call it for what it is: gossip.  Gossip is when “a person who has privileged information about people and proceeds to reveal that information to those who have no business knowing it.”  It is actually a form of self-justification as we seek to make another appear to be at fault by sharing their ‘faults’ with others.

Paul describes the damages that can be caused by this strategy: “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”  (Galatians 5:14-15)

The way to address this wrong strategy is twofold.  First, drive deep into our hearts the truth that grace creates or brings forth effort.  The more we appropriate the love and acceptance we have in Jesus, the more willing we will be to go to the person with whom we are in conflict.  Second, take a neutral person with you for such a conversation.  Such a person can help you ‘hear’ the other person well and can serve to remind you of the Gospel at each moment in the conversation.

Filed under: Communication, Community, Gospel, Listening | 5 Comments »

Laying hold of it

Posted on May 19, 2015 by wtdavid

It seems self-evident that a movement such as ours would have to have the Gospel as a central driving value.  However, when we say that the Gospel is one of our guiding principles, what we actually mean can be less than clear and ‘interpreted’ differently by various workers.heart affection

The Gospel is certainly the message of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus which delivers us from the guilt, the power and the pollution of sin. When we say the Gospel is one of our central driving values, we mean more than just that definition.  We mean that we are ‘Gospel centred’.  We mean that more than anything else, Jesus is ‘the joy of our desiring’.  We mean that Jesus has displaced all other things that might capture our heart: our reputation, our ministry, or our success in ministry.

Thomas Chalmers in his message: “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection” put it this way: “Its [our heart] desire for one particular object may be conquered; but as to its desire for having some one object or other, this is unconquerable.  Its adhesion to that on which it has fastened the preference of its regards, cannot willingly be overcome by the rending away of a simple separation.  It can be done only by the application of something else, to which it may feel the adhesion of a still stronger and more powerful preference.”  What Chalmers was trying to express was the difficulty we have in being ‘Gospel centred’.  Our hearts resist the shedding of one affection, one desire, or one focus if there is not something more powerful, more important that will push out of the way what currently captures our heart.

We often talk about the reality of spiritual warfare in the task of bringing the Gospel to those without Christ.  Perhaps that same reality exists in our hearts when we allow other ‘affectations’ to capture our hearts rather than Christ.

To be as concrete as I can, living as a ‘Gospel centred’ worker would mean asking another worker to pray with me for Jesus to become again the ‘joy of my desiring’ as something else may have become much more important to me at this point in my life and ministry.

It’s a fight, it’s a struggle to live as Gospel centred workers.

 

Filed under: Gospel, Jesus Christ, Prayer | Leave a comment »

What’s most important?

Posted on April 24, 2015 by wtdavid

Last week I was in Asia to meet with leaders of a house church network who are sending workers to one of our ministries.  As part of the preparation, I had asked a brother in Christ for some insights as to how to approach discussions with these leaders. This brother is from that part of Asia and is a member of the local French church where we worship.

This brother gave me crucial insights into how to address issues where our expectations and values might be different.  However, the main piece of advice that he gave me was about how to create a context where these leaders would feel safe and heard.  There were cultural insights in play, no question about it.  Creating a strong relational safety net was also in play.  In fact, that ‘safety net’ would greatly influence the outcomes we were hoping to achieve through these talks.safety net

A few lessons I picked up in this process:

  • It is extremely helpful to ask for help from others, and particularly from those of the culture in which you find yourself.
  • In such discussions, intentionally seek to create a strong relational ‘safety net’ that gives freedom to all to share honestly and openly in robust dialogue.
  • Don’t avoid addressing the tough issues, but do it in a context where people feel safe and heard

The day after our meetings ended, I sent a note to the brother in Christ in France.  His response was telling: “I’m so happy to hear this good news.  May God be glorified and may we give Him glory with all our heart.  His steadfast love endures forever!”  It’s exciting to be a part of the universal Body of Christ!

 

Filed under: Listening, Partnership | 3 Comments »

Have you grown any?

Posted on April 15, 2015 by wtdavid

The question kind of startled me: “Are you a happier person than you were two years ago?”  I might have been able to shake that one off if the speaker hadn’t continued with several other likeminded questions:happier

  • Are you harder to discourage?
  • Do you worry less?
  • Do you take criticism better?
  • Are you growing in grace?

There was the rub as we say.  All those questions centred on how the new life implanted in one’s heart works itself out in one’s life.  Growth comes from a life that finds its happiness more and more in Christ.

However, the question can still be bothersome as it can easily reveal how little tangible growth in grace is evident in one’s life.  We may be able to talk more deeply about grace, but is that very grace running deeply in our lives to the point of making us different people than we were two years ago?

Are you (am I) a happier person than you were two years ago because ‘you are seeing more and more the truth of who you are and the beauty of what Christ has done for you’?  May that be our prayer this month: that we would find our happiness more and more in Christ, and that His love would make us ‘happier’ people, less discouraged people, less worried people.

Filed under: Gospel, Grace | Leave a comment »

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