Jesus has one fundamental way of evaluating the success of any individual or any local church: Are we fulfilling His command to be disciples and to make disciples? Simply put, do we look like Jesus? Do we, as individuals, and does our church produce people who look like Jesus? Do we forgive like Jesus forgave? Do we love like Jesus loved? Do we pray like Jesus prayed? Do we value what Jesus valued? Do we do what Jesus did?
From the earliest days of my Christian faith, I knew that God has only one family because I read passages like this one: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (1 Peter 2:9-10).
Do you know anyone whose life goal it is to become a better servant? 21st century America has all but eliminated the concept of being a servant from contemporary understanding. The waiter at your favorite restaurant may be called a "server," and we still speak about civil servants and public service; but for the most part, this language is a holdover from a by-gone era.
The Jesuits famously boasted: “Give me a child for the first seven years, and I will give you a man!” They understood that the easiest way to shape a person for a lifetime is to impact them while they are still young.
(The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming book with Insoo Kim titled Both-And: Living the Christ-Centered Life in an Either-Or World.)
One survey said that 95 percent of Christians have never led another person to Christ. I know there are people who live and breathe evangelism. But the vast majority of Christians do not share our faith with others on a regular basis. In Matthew 28:18-20 we read Jesus' words that have been labeled the Great Commission: 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." The truth of the matter is that we have to talk about our faith because of this Great Commission. Jesus' call on the church to make disciples of all nations is not merely a suggestion. It is not just a good idea or a recommendation. It is a command!
I'll keep this brief, but another thing that I’ve done to encourage my own prayer life is to keep a little prayer journal listing all the people and situations that I am praying for. I know myself and when I say that I will pray for someone, if I don't write it down, I will forget and not remember to pray for them.
A great way to engage in prayer is by praying the Scriptures, and one of the ways to do this is by praying as a response to a psalm or another meaningful passage of Scripture. Some work better than others, but one that I've really enjoyed praying is The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13.
This weekend I spoke about the importance of prayer and keeping our "lamps lit" with the oil of prayer. Over the next couple days, I'm going to post 3-4 ways that have been helpful for me in my prayer life.
Back in the early 1990s, Vineyard Columbus experienced extraordinary growth. In some years we grew by over 40 percent. But while we had a growing crowd, we did not have a discipled church. One day I was praying for the church and I said: "Lord, you say in your Word that 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to fling out workers into his harvest field.' So I am asking you, Lord, to give us leaders to care for the 2000 people that you have given to us." The words were barely out of my mouth before I experienced a strong conviction from the Holy Spirit. I felt that the Lord responded this way: "Rich, you will not be able to reap where you haven't sown!"