mission Posts

The Preeminence of Christ

13 Aug , 2010 4 Comments

“But what about you?” He asked, “Who do you say I am?” Matthew 16:15

The first followers of Jesus encountered Him in a profound and life-changing way.  But with successive generations, it’s possible for this encounter to fade like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy.  What begins as a revolutionary, life-altering encounter with Jesus, eventually subsides into a codified religion and is then incorporated into normal social life.  The “YOU say” is contextual. Each new generation, every culture is given a “you say”.  And if we get our “you say” wrong, we get everything wrong.  It was W. A. Tozer who said, “What comes into our minds when we think of God is the most important thing about us.”  I would say that what comes into your mind when you think of Christ is the most important thing about you.

Jesus did not come to be the Founder of a religion.  Rightly understood, Christianity is decidedly anti-religion. Through His life, death, and resurrection Jesus ushered in a whole new way to experience the God of Israel- which later became known as Christianity.  Christianity is not a religion but a relationship.  In fact, Jesus eliminated the need for religion. But for most Christians, Jesus is simply part of the American life and not the guiding, defining center.  A vibrant, ongoing, and exciting relationship with Christ is reduced to just going to church.  We receive Christ as Savior of our sins but not Lord of our lives.  And this is what I want us to talk about today.  After all is said and done, and after all the opinions of Jesus are offered…He remains the Risen Lord!

What is Christianity?  It is Christ.  Nothing more, nothing less.  In his book, “Jesus Manifesto”, Leonard Sweet has noted, “Christianity is not a religion, it is not an ideology, or a philosophy.  Neither is it a new type of morality, social ethic, or worldview. “  Christianity is the “Good News” that life, beauty, redemption, and all that is good and right, and made right is found in a Person, whose name is Jesus.  And true humanity and community are founded in and experienced by connection to that Person.  I’ve heard people say they want go deeper and move on to other things.  Deeper? What “other things”?  Other things beyond Christ?  Is there anything deeper than Christ?  If you think you can move on beyond Christ, you’ve never really encounter Him.

In Colossians 1:15-23, Paul sets forth one of the greatest revelations of Christ in all of Scripture.  He says Christ is supreme in creation, He is supreme in authority, and He is supreme in redemption.  All things were created by Him and for Him, including you. You’ll finally discover ultimate freedom and joy if you’ll allow Him to be supreme in every area of your life.

Lighten Up

16 Jul , 2010 1 Comment

I never grow tired of this sequence from “The Mission”- a powerful reminder that we have been set free in Christ.  If you have received Christ’s forgiveness you are now completely loved, fully pleasing, totally accepted by God.  You don’t have to pay the price for your failures.

Think about your own life for a moment. What burdens are you carrying around?  What failures from your past continue to beat you down?  John Mark McMillan’s lyrics from, “How He Loves”: “I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us.”  Life is too short to be burdened by sin that Christ has taken to the cross.

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

http://vimeo.com/12127228

A Vision of City Transformation

24 May , 2010 1 Comment

We’ve decided to “paint the town”.  At FBC McKinney we’re discovering much about how God moves to transform a city.  As God’s people we must first realize that His plan is for the whole Church to take the whole Gospel to the whole world.  We must start where we are.  Does a church exist unto itself?  An externally-focused church will bring it’s time, talents, and resources to the mission of God in the world.  A church that determines to impact it’s local community will ask a series of questions in order to the discover God’s specific mission for that unique body of believers.  How are we uniquely gifted?  What has God called us to do in our unique Jerusalem?  How should our specific resources (of people, talents, passions, experiences, etc.) be used by God in our community? How does Christ want to transform our culture through us?  How can the people of God join Him in the transformation of our city?

God is calling us to bring the Gospel into every domain of culture (education, government, recreation, media, public safety, medical, business, etc…). Recently I challenged our people to determine their primary mission field.  It is there that God is calling them to live out the “Jesus life”.  We placed four different canvases and paint around our campus, each representing different domains of culture (wherever we may find ourselves primarily).  Each person was given a brush and encouraged to paint his/her name on the canvas as a commitment to “paint the town” with God’s love.  In so doing we’ve decided to paint the kingdom- a better story for our city.  The canvases together form a giant display of our mission: Christ and His love shining brightly through each of us in our specific areas of passion and influence. We’ve learned that God has blessed us to be a blessing to others.  We desire to love God so passionately others that are blessed and to love others so passionately that God is blessed. We’re learning that when we decide to show up (incarnationally- “in the flesh”) and simply serve others, Jesus shows up.  They see Him in us.  We have experienced, what we believe, are transferable principles as we have impacted the domain of education in our city.  Through 3e McKinney we have adopted the Title 1 schools in McKinney.  We have hundreds of our people investing in others at Finch Elementary School where we have simply shown up to serve them.  We know that God loves every child (and family represented) at Finch, so we do too.  As a result we are partnering with God in what He’s already doing there.  It has been amazing.  Now we’re asking some bigger questions: How does God want us to show up and bless other people in every domain of our culture?  THAT’S how Christ transforms a city (a state, a nation, a world)- through His people who simply decide to show up and serve.  Join us in the transformation of our world by serving someone- intentionally in the name of Jesus- today.

“…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28

“Go and Be” the Church

07 May , 2010 No Comments

This past weekend our church family (FBC McKinney) decided not to come to worship services but to worship through service.  We had 1,600 volunteers serve the Lord by serving our community through our “Go and Be” initiatives.

Why such an effort? Because we’ve decided to take Jesus’ words, “love your neighbor as yourself” seriously (Matthew 22:39).  He said we love God when we love others.  He said, “If you love me you will obey my commands” (John 14:21).  He said that others will know we love Him by our love for them (John 13:35).

A large church of spectator Christians tends to produce more of the same.  We have enough of those churches.  It’s important to “come and see” what God is doing “at church”.  But the Church for which Jesus died is actually on the move out in the world as His followers “go and be” the Church 24/7.  Taking one Sunday away from our gathering continues to hold high the value or serving our community as Jesus has called us to.  We have been blessed to be a blessing.

Watch this video: Go and Be video/results

Core vs. Non-core (Part 2)

26 Mar , 2010 No Comments

In Part 1 I noted that a church devoted to the Gospel as the core message and proclamation will be a church in which grace is central in all things.  We noted a progression that takes place in churches devoted to the Gospel:

Grace -> Inclusion -> Diversity -> Differences/preferences -> Conflict

The more grace is offered the more diversity a church will experience and logically, the more conflict will follow.  Now, I use the word conflict, not as a negative one, but as a positive (or at least necessary) outcome and means toward even more grace.  Think about it: the greater the diversity, the more grace is necessary.  So it becomes grace upon grace.  Grace abounds in a church like this.

So, pastors- and the people of the church- are called to a difficult challenge (that only God can accomplish).  In a diverse congregation the pastor must lead in a way that honors the Lord and brings unity to the Body.  However, too many people (pastors included) believe this means that we simply maintain status quo.  Certainly this is the easiest way, but it is not God’s Way.  As a pastor, I know that when God speaks to me regarding my congregation, I must obey- regardless of what I think.

Here’s how I describe the constant role of the senior pastor:

Preserve the core AND (at the same time) stimulate progress and innovation.

I’m indebted to Jim Collins for helping me grasp this coexisting task of great leaders.  First, the role of the pastor is to constantly preserve the core.  By definition, to be core, to be essential means that it is not be open to change- never.  It means it never has been changed and never will be. If it is non-core, however, it must be open to change (or it has, by default, become core).  This is the stuff heresy is made of- either core issues becoming non-core or non-core issues becoming core. This is how the Church has moved forward for 2,000 years: Preserving the core while stimulating progress and innovation.  Any great church will be devoted to the core (and be united around the core) and we will not allow non-core issues to divide.  This is a Spirit-led strategy of leadership for a pastor and the leaders of any great church.

Of course the challenge comes when we start talking about what is core and what is not core.  How do you define what it is core?  And we all respond in unison: “The Bible is our authority!”  How do you know (biblically) what is core and what is not core?  Let’s look at that in Part 3.