Three Things We Need to Know…and Do

Several years ago, my executive pastor walked into my office to give me a report on a recent survey we had conducted in our church. We were looking at our ministry calendar and trying to discern what our programming asked of our people and was the programming effective in achieving our stated goals. Who did we want to be involved in the program, how much time did we require and in the end, did it make our members and their families deeper disciples of Christ?

To our horror, we discovered our church was one of the most anti-family organizations in our community. In any given week, we wanted the parents at the church on one night, their adolescent children on another night and their younger children on yet another night. Throughout the week, we would scatter Bible studies for men, women, couples, singles, senior adults, and any other subgroup we could identify. If our people were “good church members,” they were never home together as a family.

On one hand, we were telling parents they were the disciplers of their children. We wanted mothers and fathers directly and passionately involved in the lives of their sons and daughters. On the other hand, we were telling them to be at church every night of the week. When were parents supposed to lead their children into a deeper relationship with Christ? When did our members have time to get to know their neighbors when they were going to church all the time? When was a married couple supposed to pray together? When were our members supposed to actually do anything about the pain and suffering around them when we were constantly telling them to come to another meeting at church to talk about the pain and suffering in our communities?

One of the things I’ve noticed since I started working with churches and pastors is how many programs, ministries and meetings churches have in trying to carry out the Great Commission. For all of this effort, we seem to be doing a very poor job of spreading the gospel. By every recent survey, fewer and fewer Americans are following Christ and those who do, fewer of those are attending church. Too many of us – pastors and churches alike – confuse programming with ministry. They aren’t the same thing. Programming is necessary, but programming is a means to an end. It’s never the end in and of itself. Most churches are doing too many things. Too many churches are doing too many things that simply don’t make any difference. That’s a hard word, but it’s the truth.

The Christian life is simple. Notice I said simple, not easy. Easy means without effort. Simple means without complication. Following Christ is hard, but it’s not complicated. Think about it. When asked, Jesus summed up everything in two commandments – Love God. Love your neighbor as yourself. That’s it. Of course, trying to live out those commandments is a lot more difficult than reciting them, but it’s not hard to understand what Jesus requires of us. It’s just hard to do it.

We make it harder to do than it needs to be. As Jesus shows us, there are three things we need to know and there are three things we need to do. These three things are the only things required to keep a disciple’s relationship with Christ growing and vital.

The first is worship. Our first response to the reality of God in our life is worship. We respond to His presence with awe and reverence. Everything in our life finds its bearing from this point. Because God is God and we’re not, we limit what we expect of ourselves. He’s God and we’re not. Because He’s God and we’re not, that means things are the way He says and not the way we imagine or hope. The Word of God defines reality.

That means we’re loved simply because God said so. We don’t have to spend our time trying to earn love or proving to anyone else we are worthy of love. We are loved. God has said so.

Worship drives us to discipleship. We have to know more about this God who has encountered us. Who is He? What does He desire from my life? How do I discern the truth? How do I find out what matters? This is all written in His word and as we study, we learn more about the author Himself.

As we study, we begin to understand what breaks the heart of God and we begin to see the world around us in a new way. Thus, we become engaged in some kind of ministry or mission. Our world is broken. The church is sent to fix things. Our mission may be anything from a local school to feeding hungry to leading chapel in the local jail or prison. Here’s the thing – when we show up to serve God, He shows up as well.

Which drives us back to worship as we celebrate what God has done. That, of course, drives us back to discipleship so we are better prepared to serve. With that, we are more and more eager to serve.

Worship, discipleship, and ministry – three little things that will demand the entirety of our lives to fully live out. We don’t have time to waste on anything that takes us away from these three things.

This essay was first posted in Scot McKnight’s newsletter.