Holding the Rope (Part 3)

We see clearly in the Bible that there is a command for some to (in the context of missions) "Go...and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:16-20). We recognize this as a clear and direct command from Jesus. We also know that not all are called to go. But what does that leave for the rest of us to do? Dr John Piper often says  "There are only three kinds of people:goers, senders, and the disobedient". When those who are not missionaries are faced with this statement they are left with a choice of sending or disobeying. When we think about this, we are faced with 3 questions:

1. Is this concept Biblical, or is John being too harsh?
2. If it is Biblical, does sending really play a role in world missions?
3. If it is Biblical, how do we (the non-goers) send our missionaries well?

By now, we have figured out that (1) we as Christians are commanded by God to either go to the nations or support those who do, and that to do otherwise would be disobedient. And (2) that supporters (we will call them rope holders) play just as crucial (if not more crucial) of a role as the missionary who is "swinging on the end of the rope". But what does faithful sending look like? What does it mean to send somebody in a manner worthy of the gospel (3 John 1:6)?

How Do We Send Well?

When we hear "support a missionary" most of our minds go right to giving money. This is the most obvious way to support a missionary, and it is also the easiest. However I would argue that it is the least important. While money is needed to do the work, there are other more powerful and practical ways. Now before I go on, let me be clear: we do need to be giving to our missionaries. If nobody gave, we would be letting go of the rope, allowing the missionary to fall to their death. So please, do not take this as me telling you not to give, but as me encouraging you to continue to give, and to also take steps to send our missionaries better.

Prayer is often the second thing that our minds go to when we hear "support a missionary". And of course, I would say that it is the MOST important way of them all. Why? Because it involves us, going to the God who spoke everything around us into being, and asking Him to work. And when God works....awesome things begin to happen. The sick are healed, the dead are raised, the blind see, the lame dance for joy and SO MUCH MORE! How can we NOT go to our great God and cry out for Him to work among the nations through our missionaries?

The last way to support our missionaries is by loving them. This can mean a lot of things. It can mean writing letters, meeting practical needs like books, meals (when they are home). It can mean a phone call or or conversation with a webcam. It can mean visiting them in the area they are working in or so much more! When we love and serve our missionaries, they will know that we love them and have not forgotten them. And they will be reminded that as long as they are down in the mine, they do not need to be worried about the rope slipping.

So now let me give you a little bit of insight into one last reason to hold the rope: You begin to become a global Christian. You begin to develop a deep love for the lost peoples of the world, and you begin to love the glory of God all the more as you see His name praised throughout the nations.

How do I know this? I've experienced it. Some very dear friends of mine (you know who you are) recently went on a short term trip to a sensitive location in the world to work among an un-reached people group. I was originally supposed to be on the team, however, God had a different plan for us as a team. God decided to work in such a way that I was unable to be there with them. And God whispered to me "You must send them". So I did. Before they left, I wrote them letters, I gave rides from place to place, and I spent time figuring out how to best love each of them. When they were there, I prayed every night, for each of them by name. And now that they have returned, the prayer continues for them as they process all that God did.

I will warn you, sending is not an easy task. It involves a lot of sleepless nights, tearful goodbyes, and moments when you wish you could see your loved ones again. However, God is good and gives you a deep joy in the midst of the difficulty. He gives you a deep love for those who are away, for the people they are serving, and for Him. As hard as it may be, it is something you will never regret.

May you hold the rope well,

Brandon

Holding The Rope (Part 2)

We see clearly in the Bible that there is a command for some to (in the context of missions) "Go...and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:16-20). We recognize this as a clear and direct command from Jesus. We also know that not all are called to go. But what does that leave for the rest of us to do? Dr John Piper often says  "There are only three kinds of people:goers, senders, and the disobedient". When those who are not missionaries are faced with this statement they are left with a choice of sending or disobeying. When we think about this, we are faced with 3 questions:

1. Is this concept Biblical, or is John being too harsh?
2. If it is Biblical, does sending really play a role in world missions?
3. If it is Biblical, how do we (the non-goers) send our missionaries well?

Last time, we answered the question "Is it Biblical to say that one must either go as a missionary, send (support a missionary), or be disobedient?". What we discovered is that God is fairly clear: He commands those of us who are not on the field to support those who are. I think we can all agree that to not follow a direct command is called disobedience. So by now we are left to wonder what role sending has in global missions? It is not as if we are over there telling people about Christ! Can something so simple really be that important?

What impact do senders have?

While supporting somebody else may not seem as if it can make a huge difference for Christ's fame in the world, I am here to tell you that it can. When William Carey, the father of modern missions, was preparing to leave for India, he gathered his closest friends together and began to speak about the people he was going to bring the gospel to. He compared them to miners trapped in a caved in mine. He said "I will go down, if you will hold the rope". He then made them swear, that as long as they were alive, they would never let go of the rope.

Let's stay with this image for a moment. Carey was willing to risk his life, to go down into a dangerous mine, to save the lives of the miners who were trapped. However, he needed one thing, somebody to keep him from falling and becoming trapped himself. Obviously, if you put weight on one end of a rope, but do not have something (or in this case somebody) to grab the other end and hold on tight, you WILL fall. Without supporters, William Carey and missionaries would fall and be lost.

So if we think about it from this angle, who has the more important job? The man on the end of the rope, helping people to begin the climb up, or the people up top, holding the rope which bears the weight of not just the missionary, but of everybody the missionary has helped onto the rope? OF COURSE IT IS THE ROPE HOLDERS! Without them, the missionary would simply fall to their death! Therefore supporters play just as big of a role (if not a bigger one) than the missionary who is out on the field! While it may seem insignificant because we are not able to see the results in this life, I am here to tell you, that supporting a missionary is one of the biggest ways to play a role in global missions, because without faithful rope holders, the missionary would not make it past the mouth of the mine.

Holding the Rope (Part 1)

We see clearly in the Bible that there is a command for some to (in the context of missions) "Go...and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:16-20). We recognize this as a clear and direct command from Jesus. We also know that not all are called to go. But what does that leave for the rest of us to do? Dr John Piper often says  "There are only three kinds of people:goers, senders, and the disobedient". When those who are not missionaries are faced with this statement they are left with a choice of sending or disobeying. When we think about this, we are faced with 3 questions:

1. Is this concept Biblical, or is John being too harsh?
2. If it is Biblical does sending really play a role in world missions?
3. If it is Biblical, how do we (the non-goers) send our missionaries well?

Is "Go, Send, or Disobey" Biblical?
 I think that it is safe for us to say the pretty much all Christians can agree that there is a command to go to the nations and teach of what Christ has done, so we not spend time establishing that. There is however a little less clarity on the Biblical command to send. Not once do we hear Jesus explicitly say "Go and give missionaries your money" or "Go and pray for your missionaries", however I still believe that supporting missionaries is a command that is given to us by God. I have chosen a few examples that I feel show us that God calls those of us who He does not send to a far away place, to support those who he does send to far away places.

Matthew 10:5-15
These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgement for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town"

So right about now you may be asking, Brandon..."How does that tell us that we need to support missionaries? He commands His disciple to go not to give!" You would be right in your statement, He does not say that. He does however, show us that He wants these missionaries (people that He sent out to spread His name) to be supported by somebody else...not by any wealth that they may have brought with them. He wanted them to live of the food that they earned for their labors.

3 John 1:7-8
For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

This command is a little more explicit, John tells the recipient of this letter that they ought to support the those who have gone out for the sake of the name (missionaries). He says that we should support them because they have gone out for the sake of Christ's name! We should not need any other reason!

1 Corinthians 9:3-14
This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain." Is it for the oxen that God is concerned? Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right but we endure everything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the alter share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the LORD commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel

Now, I want to close a door to possible confusion right away. The reason that Paul does not make use the right that he has to claim money from them, is to set himself apart from the false teachers that are among the Corinthians. They were in it for the money, and Paul wanted to show that he was in it only for the sake of the gospel. Therefore he is not saying that the church should not support him (their missionary), he is saying just the opposite.

Paul is quite clear here that because of his work in the gospel he has a right to take payment from the church. In fact he says that God commands that those who work for the gospel get paid for their work in the gospel. Paul had a right to be paid for his work, but the people of Corinth were not treating him as if he had this right.

So, is Pastor Piper's statement of "There are only three kinds of people:goers, senders, and the disobedient" backed up by the Bible? I believe that it is. We all know the command for some to go and we have seen that we are commanded to support those who have gone out for the name, therefore to do neither of these, would be disobedience.

The Most Important Part of Easter

It is the Easter season once again. A time where we as Christians gather to celebrate what Jesus did for us on the cross. But I think that a lot of the time that is where it ends for us. It seems like we praise Jesus for what He did on the cross, but don't ever stop to think about the significance of what happened 3 days later, we seem to think to ourselves "Oh He did this great thing on the cross" and we go on and on about the cross and when we come to the resurrection we simply think "and then He rose". We stop there. That's a problem. The resurrection is more important to our salvation than the cross! This may sound a little bit crazy, but let me explain.

In 1 Corinthians 15:17-22, Paul tells us

"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." (ESV)

If things were the way we sometimes act as if they were (that is, Christ had died and was not resurrected) our faith would futile, we would still be hell bound! Without the resurrection, Jesus' death is meaningless. He would have died for no reason!

But, Christ has been raised from the dead! Verse 21 tells us that by a man (Jesus) all men shall be resurrected! His physical resurrection has given us an eternal resurrection, praise God!

Now let me be clear, I am not trying to downplay what was done on the cross, by all means, this makes it more important and praise worthy. Not only did it allow Jesus to pay a blood debt that we never could, but it got Him to the tomb, it got Him to the resurrection. What I AM saying, is that we need to remember the most important part, His resurrection.

He is risen!
He is risen indeed!

God's not done yet!

We all know that sometimes life can be hard. Money vanishes, property gets destroyed, loved ones pass away, our health fails, the list goes on and on. Sometimes in these situations, we begin to feel that God has left us, or that He is mad at us. It can be difficult to see, but as Job will show us in a moment, this is not the case.

Job 1:1-5 tells us that Job was the "greatest of all the people of the east" (Job 1:3). He had a family, money, and servants. In verse 1 we find that Job "feared God and turned away from evil". In modern terms, Job was a Christian. One would think that this would mean that Job would have a easy life. WRONG!

Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”  While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”    Job 1:13-19

So basically, in the span of a few minutes (I say minutes, because it tells us that the each servant came in before the previous servant had finished speaking) Job found out that he had lost everything. He lost his animals(which in that day was the source of income), much of his property, and his children. Talk about a bad day! To make things worse, we find in chapter 2 that Job's health began to fail him.

The rest of the book goes on to tell us about how Job's friends try to convince him that he must have done some foul act for this to be happening. In other words, they thought that these awful events were happening because God was mad at Job, but this was not the case. The real reason this happened is because God was allowing the devil to test Job. We find in chapters 1 and 2 scenes where Satan asks for God's permission to test Job to see if he will curse God. Now you're probably wondering why God would allow this. Good question (I will address this in a moment)! At the end of the book, we find that in spite of all of the trials Satan threw at Job, he never sinned against God.

So, why would God allow his faithful servant to go through trials such as what Job faced? The answer can be found in Isaiah 48:10-11: "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another" In other words, God did it for His glory! He did it so His name would be made great (and not be profaned), He did it so that the glory would not go to another, but to Him!

So right now you may be asking yourself "What's the point?". My point is the God is not done yet. God is working in such a way that will glorify His name, so hope in God.

I leave you with a sermon by Pastor Sam Crabtree. In his sermon he talks about hope, which we all need when times get tough.

Jesus Was a Carpenter, Not a Rock Star.

     Recently I have seen a trend in churches. Some churches are starting to treat Jesus as if He were a rock star. What I mean by this is , they are getting so caught up in making the building look nice, or adding things to the service that they believe would really "wow" an attender into coming to faith. The more I think about it, the more I realize that this is not what Christ was about. After all, he came as the son of a carpenter, instead of a high profile celebrity. I came to this conclusion by asking myself the questions, "what does a rock star look like?", and, "what did Jesus look like when he was here on Earth?". Once I answered these questions, it became clear that Jesus was no rock star.

What does a rock star look like? 

      There are several common traits that I found in rock stars. This is simply a general profile, not all of them match 100% with what I am about to write.

• Rock stars are rich, and have large, expensive houses (sometimes more than one)
• Rock stars spend most of their time with the "in" crowd. When they travel, they stay in fancy hotels where the "cool" people hang out.
• Rock stars always want the best of everything. (For example, the best cars, clothes, and electronic devices)
• Rock stars tend to make themselves seem better than they really are.
• Rock stars are typically loved mainly for their money

     All in all, rock stars tend to be self centered people, mainly concerned with gathering riches and fame for themselves.

What did Jesus look like?  

The Bible gives us a very clear picture of the kind of man that Jesus was.

• Jesus had no place to call His own. Luke 9:58 tells us "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head" He relied on the generosity of others to provide somewhere to stay. Which leads to my next point.
• Jesus spent His time with the outcasts of His society. They were the ones who He would most often stay with when He went from place to place. The most famous example of this is Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Zacchaeus was a tax collector. Tax collectors were viewed as traitors to their own people, nobody "cool" would be seen spending time with them, much less staying in their house.
• Jesus didn't need the best of everything. He used what people had. An example of this is the entry into Jerusalem. He rode a donkey, when He really deserved to ride a mustang (the horse, not the car) into town. 
• Jesus left the glory that He deserved and became NOTHING. He did this by doing everything that I mentioned above, in addition to bearing the cross, which was a punishment reserved for the worst criminals around.
• Jesus was loved for His love and His works. Jesus was popular with the people for two main reasons (There are more, but I feel that these are the two major ones) His love and His works (which he did BECAUSE of His love). All through His ministry, Jesus was performing acts of love. He healed people, raised the dead to life, told people about the love of God, and ultimately died in our place.

     Jesus was others oriented. His main focus in life was meeting the needs of the outcasts. He left the glory that He deserved, and dwelt among us to perform acts of love and kindness that would draw us to Him.

Was Jesus a rock star? 

Based off the "profiles" of a rock star and Jesus, it is easy to see that they are nothing alike. In fact, they are polar opposites. Rock stars are self oriented, Jesus was others oriented. Rock stars make themselves look good using any means necessary, while Jesus removed glory from Himself in order to become nothing. Jesus had every right to be a rock star type person, but He decided not to, in order to draw us to Himself.

So what?

What does this mean for churches today? It says that we should stop trying to draw people to Jesus by wasting time, effort, and money to spruce up our building, or adding an extra flare to our services, and use those same resources to do what Jesus did.....love and serve others. Doing this in the name of Christ will draw more people to Him than the best rock concert ever could.

The Hero

     What is a hero? A person with powers who runs around in tights and colored underwear? A man or woman in the military? A police officer or fire fighter? A volunteer at a homeless shelter? All of these people are heroes , but what makes somebody a hero? Having some kind of power? Serving others? Facing death so somebody else can live? Yes. Any of these things could make a person a hero, but THE HERO, Jesus Christ, did all of them.

Having Some Kind of Power:
     In all of the gospels, we have examples of Jesus' power. He gave blind men their sight (Matthew 9:27-31), walked on water (Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:15-21), raised people from the dead (John 11:1-44), and MUCH MUCH MORE! If He had the power to do all of that, He had to power to do anything.

Serving Others:
     Jesus was a servant. The most well known example of this is when He washed His disciples' feet. John 13 tells us:

     "Jesus got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and wipe them with the towel with which He was girded."

     This was an amazing example of service. In that time, it was the duty of the lowest ranking servant of the house to was the feet of the guests,  but  Jesus, humbled himself, and served His friends. The Son of God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, made Himself the lowest of the low, and served others.

Facing Death So Others May Live:
     We have all heard the story of how Jesus died for our sins. We all sin, and to pay for sin, somebody has to die. Jesus (being a servant) went to the cross, and died in our place. It's plain and simple. He died, so we could have life in Heaven forever. He died SO WE COULD HAVE LIFE!!! Do you get this? Jesus, who had never done anything wrong, choose to die for the people who DID deserve to die! There is no way that I can explain how amazing that is! If I was in His place, I would have just let the people pay the price for their sins, but because He loved us so much, He choose to die an excruciating death on a cross, one of the most painful ways to die. Now THAT, is what I call a hero.

Final Thoughts:
     So this Easter, remember the hero, Jesus Christ, and what He did for you.