Tag: christian mission

Paul the Missionary (Acts 13:1-12)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Elymas the sorcerer is struck blind by Paul, before Sergius Paulus. painting by Raphael (1483-1520)

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. (New International Version)

Most, if not every, follower of Jesus wants to hear the voice of God’s Spirit. Yet, many don’t. Why? Because they have not yet put themselves in a position to listen and learn.

We can only hear if we are attentive. We cannot hear if we are distracted doing other things.

The Antioch Church heard the Holy Spirit speak to them because they deliberately arranged their Christian lives so that they could learn God’s Word and clearly hear God’s voice. Notice what helped them:

  1. A diversity of leaders. The Church purposely had Christians from various backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and cultures, including Barnabas, a Jewish Levite from the island of Cyprus; Simeon, a Black man from sub-Saharan Africa; Lucius, a Roman from North Africa; and Manaen, an upper class Jew from Judea. They knew that the Spirit’s voice was not limited to one particular group of people, and could come to anyone.
  2. Worship and fasting. Together, the prophets and teachers worshipped the Lord and committed themselves to the spiritual practice of fasting. They knew that focusing on God by abstaining from food for a time, and using that time for prayer, would help them be ready to hear and respond to the Spirit.

As a result, the Church heard the Holy Spirit’s instructions for them to send Barnabas and Saul [Paul] as missionaries to the Gentiles. The Christians obeyed God, blessed the team, and sent them off to do their work.

It was the missionaries practice to find the Jewish synagogues wherever they went. There they would proclaim the good news of God’s grace in Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of divine promises to the people. Early on, Barnabas and Paul encountered Elymas, an esoteric individual who had the ear of the Roman authority in Paphos, a city in Cyprus.

Elymas was, frankly, a spiritual pest who kept interfering with Paul’s ministry to the Roman official. Paul, having many gifts of the Spirit, saw exactly who Elymas was – a windbag who deceived and cheated people for his own advantage.

Paul got down to it with Elymas, bluntly informing him that he has finally come up against God himself, and his trickery is over. Paul declared that Elymas was about to go blind for a good long time. And sure enough, the supposed magician was plunged immediately into a shadowy mist; he stumbled around, begging people to take his hand and show him the way.

It was only fitting that a person who promoted dark ways and crooked paths should be subject to that darkness and have to grope around for a time.

When the Roman official saw what happened, he became a believer on the spot, full of enthusiasm over what Barnabas and Paul were saying about Jesus.

So began years of ministry for the Apostle Paul, missionary to the Gentiles. There never seemed to be a dull moment with him around, making gracious waves of good news for those coming to God; and a tsunami of judgment for people, like Elymas, who were stuck in their selfish ways.

Paul, like Jesus, demonstrated his authority over the forces of darkness. He thus proved himself in Christian mission. The conversion experience and the commissioning of Paul became real and complete at the beginning of this missionary journey.

It is from this point on that the former Saul is now consistently referred to as Paul – signifying his change of status as a person who once opposed Christ to one who is dedicated to serving Christ and making him known throughout the Roman Empire.

Years of mature learning, spiritual growth, and discovering Jesus went into Saul’s life before he then became the missionary Paul. Although Paul was an extremely gifted person with a large intellect, he still needed to go through what we all must go through in the Christian life – put the time and effort into spiritual growth and maturity needed within the church, in order to go out and change the world with the good news of Jesus.

Gracious and almighty God, you have given pastors and teachers to equip us to do your work and to build up the church, the Body of Christ. Help us all together to realize unity in the faith, and knowledge of your Son, so that we will be spiritually mature in Christ, in whose name we are bold to pray. Amen.

Organizational Leadership (Exodus 18:13-27)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Exploring Church Ministry Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Jethro and Moses, by James Tissot, c.1898

The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”

Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.”

Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter because they will share it with you.If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”

Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.

Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country. (New International Version)

I’ll be the first to say that administration is not my gift – much like I think Moses would have said. So, wading out into the ocean of organizational theory might be a bit like a pastoral walking-the-plank for me. Yet, on the other hand, I have found myself time and again in leadership situations where significant organizational change is needed.  

Maybe God has a sense of humor, or maybe the Lord just wants to use somebody who recognizes he isn’t going to get anything done on the organizational level without a lot of divine intervention. Because of this, I like the K.I.S.S. approach to organizing a group of people (Keep It Simple Stupid). For me, that means sticking with a results-oriented organizational system as opposed to task-oriented organization.

In a task-oriented system, everything lives or dies with the “To Do” list. The focus is accomplishing a few core functions. For example, as a church pastor it might mean preparing sermons, visiting shut-ins, and attending meetings. As a hospital chaplain it could mean serving communion to patients, and listening to complaints from cranky staff persons. For an Administrator it might involve overseeing a sizable budget, leading several committee meetings, and keeping track of the organization’s numbers.

With task-oriented organization, church members feel good about attending worship services and putting money in the offering plate. The problem? People are unlikely to see a need for change and a transformation of the heart because these few tasks are simply what they do. It’s a sort of spiritual cruise-control, driving the car of mediocrity.  

Jethro advising Moses, by Jan Gerritsz van Bronckhorst (1603-1661)

Meetings and church services within the task-oriented system tend to be ends in themselves (frustrating and boring!) because the meeting itself is just something that gets scratched off the to do list. Churches that have a hard time making decisions are probably stuck in the task-oriented mode, because there is no over-arching framework from which to decide anything.  

So, people entrench themselves in positions based in personal preferences. It’s the world of heated conversations and worship wars. If motivation and morale is dependent on people getting their way, no one is likely to be happy. The great need for a task-oriented church is a big picture vision that seeks results.

The results-oriented organization focuses on achieving some desired outcomes. This is the kind of organization that Jethro was thinking of when he observed Moses engaged in the endless task orientation of hearing people’s cases.

Tasks and functions are not ends in themselves, but will continually change in order to accomplish the results we want. This is a church or organization oriented around mission.  

Jesus came to this earth to accomplish the salvation of the world. He was on a mission of love – intent on extending grace to lost sinners. In this setting, decision-making becomes exciting. A group of people come up with ideas and tasks about loving people and reaching them with the grace we have received from God.  

A results orientation has personal preferences taking a back seat to the great needs of the community. There is freedom to experiment and imagine together, instead of guilt for not getting something crossed off the “To Do” list.

In truth, I like to create lists; it feels good when everything is scratched off the list at the end of the day. But I make sure that those things are a means to an end, and not the end itself.  

By orienting my ministry around mission (God’s, not mine) I am able to create tasks and functions that contribute to seeing the kingdom of God break into the church and the world. So, here are two K.I.S.S. questions for every leadership team:  

What result(s) would you like to see in your church?  

What kind of tasks will help you get the results you want?

Jesus is building his church, and the gates of hell will not overtake it. We can participate, change, grow, live, and learn, without fear of screwing up the church and making it more complicated than it is. Why? Because Jesus is the One building it.

All we need is a bit of grace with each other to step out by faith and make a difference by focusing and planning for some worthy, good, and just outcomes.

Almighty God, we pray for leaders everywhere in every place, that you will guide them in the ways of freedom, justice, and truth, so that all persons may live in peace. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Amen.

All Who Come and Touch are Made Well (Matthew 14:34-36)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

They crossed the lake and came to land at Gennesaret, where the people recognized Jesus. So they sent for the sick people in all the surrounding country and brought them to Jesus. They begged him to let the sick at least touch the edge of his cloak; and all who touched it were made well. (Good News Translation)

Jesus showed up. That’s all it took. The very presence of Christ emboldened people to act. And these were not just the religious folk. They were on the other side of the lake – which for us means the other side of the tracks. In other words, the people of Gennesaret were poor and needy with lots of sick persons, as well as spiritually pagan.

This wasn’t a place that pious people visited. It was far from being a destination vacation spot. But it was just the sort of place that Jesus would visit. It was for people like those at Gennesaret that Christ came.

Jesus Recognized

In the previous story of the disciples on the lake during a storm, Jesus walked out on the water to them. When they saw him, they didn’t recognize him. But here, in today’s story, a bunch of people who weren’t following Jesus around, knew who he was straightaway.

One of the great ironies of the New Testament Gospels is that Jesus often got a cool reception of unbelief amongst the religious insiders in his own homeland, while tending to receive faith from spiritual outsiders in heathen places. Christ initiated a seismic shift and a great transfer of replacing the insiders with the outsiders. This sort of activity was so spiritually scandalous and cataclysmic that it eventually got Jesus killed.

“Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”

Jesus (Matthew 19:30, NIV)

People Respond

The people of Gennesaret demonstrated their faith by acting on the sight of Jesus amongst them. They sent others out into the surrounding countryside to let them know that Jesus was here. That was all it took for the rural folk to not only come but to bring all their sick friends and family with them. Belief abounded, that this man, Jesus, could do the impossible work of curing and healing.

And this is precisely the sort of mentality and heart attitude Jesus was looking for. In telling his parable of the soils, Christ wanted the response of the fourth soil: To not only hear and acknowledge, but to also take the words and ways of God into one’s life in such a way that growth and development happens, fruit matures, and a harvest of righteousness, justice, and peace occurs.

“The seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23, NIV)

Jesus Makes All the People Well

The most “touching” thing to me in this short account of Christ encountering the people of Gennesaret is that every single person who came to Jesus was made well, without exception.

Such was the faith of the people, that they neither needed nor expected Jesus to come and lay his hands on them or to even say anything. They simply believed that if they could but touch the fringe of his cloak, healing and wellness would happen.

And the people weren’t just seeking their own betterment, but were concerned for everyone they knew who needed help. Whether there was superstition mingled with the faith is really of no concern; just a smidgeon of faith in Jesus is potent and powerful enough to effect a complete makeover of a person.

Moreover, there wasn’t simply individual and isolated instances of wholeness and healing; there was a mass level miracle, a giant group touch of healing and health.

Jesus welcomed them all, and allowed all the people to touch. Most of us don’t want a bunch of strangers touching us or our clothes, at all. That’s too weird and creepy, and likely makes us uncomfortable. What’s more, no respectable person would ever think of touching a rabbi – especially women. That sort of thing was religiously and culturally unacceptable.

Another irony we see is that the crossing of purity boundaries and laws which made people ritually impure is turned on it’s head. Instead, this kind of activity of people touching Christ made the impure folks pure. As something of a rule-breaker at heart, I find this reality refreshing. We need a lot more of it.

Jesus and People Today

Today’s Gospel lesson might seem a nice story that happened a very long time ago. We may also believe it doesn’t have much to do with me today. After all, Jesus isn’t bodily roaming the countryside today. We don’t see mass healings of people. In some places, we rarely see any healing at all from a direct result of faith. So, why even talk about this? Why bring it up? Do you just want to get my hopes up, only to dash them? Isn’t all this stuff pie-in-the-sky thinking, anyway?

Those are legitimate questions and concerns. And we ought not to disparage or make light of anyone asking them. All of us have likely encountered reaching out in faith without any healing or change of circumstance. Rather than going to one of two extremes, by either berating ourselves for a supposed failure of faith, or of discounting God altogether as a figment of the unenlightened mind, we can take a different approach.

The very nature of faith is contact, connection, and care. Faith is up close, relational, and involves touch. Faith is free, yet it is not cheap. Faith always involves a cost: vulnerability and intimacy. If we ever look for faith from afar and have no intention of getting up close and personal – so close as to touch the hem of a garment – then that which we seek will forever be elusive to us.

I’m not talking about a process or a plan that you can predictably access to get the result you want. Rather, I’m referring to real human contact and relationship that can only happen with being open about needs and wants, and is willing to expose one’s inner person to the outside world. I’m talking about putting away the false front we put up for others to see, and let the true self come out. Yes, it’s risky. Yes, it most likely will hurt. And yes, it will lead to healing.

When a person goes to a doctor for a pain they cannot get rid of, and get a diagnosis of needing surgery to deal with the hurt, we willingly allow the surgeon to create more pain for us by cutting into our body. We allow it because we understand that more pain leads to less pain.

And the same is true for our soul. Our broken hearts, our damaged emotions, our racing thoughts, and our hurting spirits need to experience the invisible scalpel of God. Divine intervention is often unpleasant – at least at first – but then later results in wellness for all who invite it’s touch.

May you come with vulnerable faith, confident hope, and active love, to the One who can help you realize your most intimate longings. Amen.

Work Together (Acts 18:24-28)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Priscila and Aquila host Paul and train Apollos, Unknown artist

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. (New International Version)

I really like this story. I like it for two reasons:

  1. Apollos, although a very learned and gifted guy, nonetheless had the humility to listen and accept the counsel of the couple, Priscilla and Aquila. He had a teachable spirit and a submissive heart.
  2. Priscilla and Aquila, a woman and a man, wife and husband, shared equally in taking the initiative to practice hospitality and make a significant contribution to the learning of Apollos. They had teachers’ spirits and caring hearts.

An intelligent mind doesn’t do much good if it isn’t accompanied by humility – a willingness to be taught, and a heart that is open to receive.

And instructing others accomplishes nothing if it isn’t directed by an egalitarian mindset – a desire to love strangers of all backgrounds and walks of life, and give, in any sort of way that is helpful to the other.

Who was Apollos?

Apollos was an educated man from the city of Alexandria in Egypt. He was well acquainted with Old Testament Scripture and familiar with John the Baptist’s teachings. In the middle of the first century C.E. he came to the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) where he began to teach in the Jewish synagogue.

Priscilla, and her husband Aquila, were followers of Jesus in Ephesus and they heard Apollos speaking. They hospitably took him aside and told him the rest of the story. After this, Apollos went to preach in Achaia, having been highly recommended by the Ephesian Christians. His effectiveness was unprecedented.

Apollos was in Corinth (Acts 19:1) where he was useful in watering the spiritual seed which the Apostle Paul had planted (1 Corinthians 3:6). He was such a skilled teacher and so much appreciated by the believers there that, unfortunately, many of the Corinthian believers became attached to him in an unhealthy way, creating schisms within the church, much to the chagrin of Apollos (and Paul). (1 Corinthians 1:12, 16:12)

Who were Priscilla and Aquila?

Priscilla and Aquila were tentmakers native to Rome. After the persecution of the Jewish people under the Emperor Claudius, they made their way to Greece, where they encountered the Apostle Paul and tutored Apollos. Their impact on these Christian leaders – and the bravery they demonstrated within the early church—became legendary, and Priscilla and Aquila are referenced in four different New Testament books.

What’s interesting about the references to this couple in Holy Scripture is the order in which their names are mentioned. In the seven references to the married couple, the wife is mentioned before the husband five times. This is somewhat uncharacteristic of the naming conventions in the Bible and suggests that Priscilla played a leading role in their ministry work.

It was in Corinth that Priscilla and Aquila first encountered the Apostle Paul. They welcomed him into their workplace, providing him with meaningful employment that facilitated his missionary activities. When Paul determined to return to Syria, they accompanied him across the Aegean Sea to Ephesus, where their ministry continued – and it was there that Priscilla and Aquila met Apollos.

In his catalog of greetings to the Roman church, Paul sent his regards to Priscilla and Aquila, indicating that they eventually returned to Rome – which was quite a risky thing to do considering the political climate of the time. Paul notes that Priscilla and Aquila stuck out their necks for him. (Romans16:3)

What do we learn from Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos?

The story of Priscilla and Aquila holds out a cache of important truths. For one, it demonstrates the added value of men and women partnering over the long term for the cause of Christ. It’s important to collaborate and be willing to consult each other and accept instruction and even correction.

The interaction of these early believers points to the importance of true Christian hospitality. When Paul arrived in their community, they gathered in a worn-out traveler. They provided shelter, company, and income for him, advancing his missionary ventures.

In Ephesus, they followed the same template with Apollos, perhaps sharing what they had learned from Paul to strengthen the witness of this remarkable young preacher. Their table and living room became sources of encouragement and instruction for those who would teach the church at large.

Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos are good models for all men and women called to Christian mission and service. They longed to serve Christ and the Church in whatever ways they could. They sought to help the next generations of believers in their walk with Christ. And they displayed the sort of qualities needed for the burgeoning church to work together and reach the world with good news.

God of grace and might, who gave to your servants Apollos, Priscilla, and Aquila gifts of zeal and eloquence to make known the truth of the Gospel: Raise up, we pray, in every country, heralds and evangelists of your kingdom, so that the world may know the immeasurable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.