Tag: love god (Page 4 of 5)

The Call to Tear Down the Church’s Four Walls

April 29, 2015 / Bruce Pagano II / 0 Comments

In recent years, the idea of getting outside the church walls has become the mantra of the millennial church goer. There’s this open air tension between traditional vocational pastors and the new (actually been around forever) “trendy” house church leaders. On the house church side you have some leaders that insist that the idea of a church building is wrong and that we need to get back to the Acts 2 church, which consequently gathered mainly in homes; mostly because they were a new religion and didn’t have a building. Oh, but they did actually go to the temple, which is THE building, so they could worship together. On the traditional church side you have leaders becoming defensive and feeling the need to justify the fact that they meet inside of a large, high-tech, church building. The argument is silly and for both groups saying, as often as they do, that “they aren’t saying their way is the right way, just a way,” they seem pretty adamant that their way is the right way. So they argue back and forth about a building

In reality it has little to do with not having a building. Very few churches don’t have some sort of a structure. If you meet at home, you have a building. In a community center? Building. Movie theater? Building. At the Krispie Kreme? That’s a building. In the public restroom of a city park? That’s gross; stop doing that. You get the point. But in truth, it’s so much less about meeting in a building and so much more about what focus you give the building as part of your ministry.

In the church my friends and I just started, right now our building is our homes; which actually means we have two buildings. We’re only a couple months in, but we’re already talking about where we’ll meet for larger gatherings. The most obvious and cost permissible way is the elementary school in our neighborhood. We’re not afraid of having a building. We’re not even afraid of what happens when we do move into a building. We’re actually so confident in the call that God has placed in us that we’re excited for the time that we get to meet in a larger group.

I think one of the biggest confusions with churchies (shout out to my girl Sheri) is what the word “ministry” actually means. There’s an assumption that ministry only happens behind the walls of an actual church building. It’s almost like there’s some secret method to conducting “ministry” and only a select few have the ability to administer it. In reality, when you “minister” to someone, you’re simply “attending to their needs” or “giving aid or service to” them. It’s by that definition that we are called to be ministers of The Word. And just so we’re clear, everyone’s “need,” whether you’re a believer or not, is Jesus. When we minister to each other and others, we’re attending to our need for Jesus. In our church, we’ve made a very specific distinction about what type of ministering happens in which place. For the sake of this article, we have two spaces: The Communal Space and The Open Space.

The Communal Space

The Communal Space is for the believer. Inside the communal space, we will gather corporately to attend to the needs of the believers that are part of our community of faith. We will gather as a body of believers and equip each other for the work of attending to the needs of those outside the communal space. We’ll minister to each other until we have attained unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God; until we all reach mature manhood and womanhood and grow into the fullness of the character of Christ. (Eph 4:11-13) We will gather with other believers to celebrate all the good things that God has done, is doing and will do. We will gather together to seek God in prayer. We’ll gather to grieve our losses, as one body. We’ll gather to encourage those that struggle. We’ll gather to worship and sing God’s praises. We’ll gather to break bread and participate in Holy Communion, that we might remember our Savior’s sacrifice and imminent return. We’ll gather to make much of Jesus and in doing so, minister to each other’s continual need for Him, so that we’re able to minister to others’ need for Him, so that they may make much of Him.

The Open Space

The Open Space is for the unbeliever. We live life in the open space with both believers and unbelievers. This is where we do life. Inside the open space is where we allow others to see how messy and un-put-together our lives really are. This is where the glitz and polish of “I’m great and just keeping busy” turns into the bedraggled mom that’s told her 5 year old one too many times to put their shoes on or the dad that has a bad day at work and instead of leaving it there, takes it home to his family in the form of shortness and snappy remarks. This is where others get to see that being Christian doesn’t mean you have it all together, but that Jesus is strength in our weakness. It’s where other see that following Jesus isn’t about perfection, it’s about progress. The open space is where you get to be the love of Christ to those that don’t know Him. In the open space you get to be with others to celebrate and to grieve loss. You get to be with others to encourage and counsel. You get to be in real life with others, without exception to who they are. That means we be with them regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender, economic status, or religious belief. We do so without placing expectation on them, even that they might be “saved.” You hope they come to know Him, but it isn’t a contest of conversion, it’s a long walk of revealing Him, in hopes that they meet Him. The open space is where we get to love God by loving others and we get to love each other so they know we’re His.

That’s how Bucknell Neighborhood Church has decided to minister to each other and others. There is value in gathering corporately with other believers, in a building. Right now, because there’s like 12 people in our church, we attend a corporate gathering at National Community Church. They have 7 campuses and the lead pastor is Mark Batterson. We love it, but eventually we’ll start our own corporate gathering and stop going to NCC. But, all the value that corporate gathering brings equals nothing if it doesn’t equip you to operate in the open space. That’s where Jesus sent us. That’s where the command to “make disciples” was intended to be acted out. We gather together with those who depend on Him, to be in life with those who need Him, but don’t know it yet. In that, we are Him, to them.

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Are We Getting The Gospel Message Right?

April 20, 2015 / Bruce Pagano II / 0 Comments

One thing that has always been difficult for me to reconcile, as a Christian, is the way we try to “win” converts and the way that Jesus actually taught. Traditionally we go to unbelievers with a list of things they’re doing wrong, tell them that they’re going to end up in hell because of it and that by believing in Jesus and what He did on the cross, they can be forgiven and get into heaven. When people do accept that message and convert, we tell them to just read their bible, go to church, pray and tithe and Jesus will take care of the rest. Then we call it the Gospel, or Good News. While that’s mostly true and I know that the heart behind it, for a majority of people, is good, it’s kind of a poor “selling” technique and really it isn’t at the heart of what Jesus was getting at.

In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus said,

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

If we take serious this command to teach all nations to observe all that He commanded, we have to look at what Jesus actually taught and commanded. As we look through scripture we see a majority of Jesus’ teaching points to things like the meek inheriting the earth, that we’re the salt and light of the earth, that we ought to love our enemy, that lust is the same as adultery, and hate is the same as murder, that we should treat others like we want to be treated and that we need to give to the needy. If you want to see what Jesus was all about, The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is a great place to begin learning Him.

When we start considering that teaching “all that [He] has commanded,” really starts with that kind of stuff, it’s then that we’re able to put into action His commission to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as yourself. When we look at “sharing” the Gospel, it ought to start there. It has to start with the way WE obey His command to love God and others, to which He provided us a whole sermon about what that should look like in practical terms. To be clear, it isn’t a checklist. You can’t simply print off Matthew 5-7 and run down it checking off your good deeds, though many of us might benefit from that approach. Instead it’s the outworking of seeking Jesus and allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us into doers of His word. It’s a process that lasts a lifetime.

Going to people, who don’t believe in Jesus, with a list of all the ways they’re living their life wrong and how they’re offending God, might seem like the same message that Jesus taught, but it’s actually not. Did Jesus talk about hell? Yes. In Matthew 13:41-42 he said, “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” But this was an explanation to His disciples, in private, after He taught a parable to the larger crowd. He didn’t sugar coat the fact that humanity was fallen, broken and would be eternally separated from God, if not for Him, but He also didn’t open with that. The Gospel message was never a set of rules. Instead, it was the story of God forgiving us and inviting us in.

I’ve said it before, numerous times, in John 16:9 Jesus points out that “The world’s sin is unbelief in [Him].” That should clue us into the fact that Jesus was telling us that we needed to break through that barrier first. It’s a far harder thing to convince people that they need Jesus when you open with, “you’re a drunk, so you’re headed to hell.” Instead, we see Jesus teaching truths about what it looks like to live as a citizen of the Kingdom, which looks a lot like serving and loving those that at first glance you would say didn’t deserve it. The only criteria He sets for entry into the Kingdom is that you believe in and follow Him. He invites the sinner (which FYI is you) to dine with Him and learn from Him. It’s in that process that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of their sin of unbelief, again it’s not us. Once they’re “in,” it’s the Holy Spirit that deals with the person’s righteousness.

Let’s gain some perspective here. We act like the best way to get people to follow Jesus is speaking to their specific sin acts. Then if they accept that we load them down with a list of things they shouldn’t do anymore. Then, when they leave we wonder why we can’t keep them. Could it be because they don’t actually see the genuine love of Jesus acted out by His people? Thomas spent three years WITH Jesus, in His company, and still doubted that He was who He said He was. Why do we just expect people to take our word for it and not understand when they don’t?

The gospel is not about calling out sin. It’s about pointing to Jesus, in word and deed, telling others how He sacrificed for the collective sins of the world, showing how His redemptive love transforms, allowing the Holy Spirit to move and convict, so others acknowledge their own sinfulness and surrender to their need for a savior. It’s about preaching Jesus as God, Him crucified for mercy sake, resurrected for grace sake and His return for love sake.

Paul resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Maybe it’s time that we refocus and resolve the same thing. We can present the cross in one of two ways. As a showcase for others’ sin or as a declaration of His love. They seem similar, but they’re worlds apart.

A Letter to the Church

April 18, 2014 / Bruce Pagano II / 0 Comments

*I originally wrote this post in 2014, but for some reason unpublished it. I'll eventually go back and update it a little, but it's still what I desire for myself and my people.

Letters to Christians

If you’re familiar with the New Testament you know that it is separated into a number of different book groups. The largest one of those groups is called the Epistles. Epistle is just a fancy word for a letter that is intended to provide instruction. Books like 1^st & 2^nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, James (complete list HERE) are all actually letters that Apostles of the early Church (i.e. Paul, Peter, James, John, Jude) wrote to various Christian churches and new converts to the Christian faith. Here’s the thing I want to point out about these letters; they were all written to Christians, whether individually or as a congregation, to address issues that did not reflect the character of Jesus. Not one letter was addressed to unbelievers. That little piece of knowledge should turn your head. Think about the issues that these letters address: sexual sin, drunkenness, gossip, lying, coarse talk, and the list goes on. These were sins that the Apostles saw CHRISTIANS participating in and were written as an appeal to get them to stop.

These letters were not written to Christians as a means for them to use as ammunition to call out unbelievers’ sin. The contrary is actually true. These letters were written to instruct Christians how they’re to follow Jesus, so that we are able to live a life glorifying to God. The Epistles were written as a means for calling out the sin in the Christian’s life. Collectively these letters are God’s manifesto to the Christian Church; His public declaration for His intent for how we’re to live our life. This does not excuse us from not calling sin what it is, sin. That’s necessary and good, but we should take care of where we direct that message. The first place it should be directed is toward the Church. Sunday morning sermons that preach that adultery is a sin should be directed at believers so that those believers that might be engaged in that can be drawn by the Holy Spirit to repentance and restored to God. Telling someone who doesn’t believe in God that they are breaking the heart of God is an exercise in futility. It may work occasionally, but more often than not, it won’t.

This also doesn’t eliminate our ability to complete The Great Commission; in fact, it frees us to become more fully engaged in the work of it. In making disciples, we are creating followers that are willing to be subject to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and accountable to Christian brothers and sisters. Jesus said that the world’s sin is their unbelief in Him. When we preach Christ and Him crucified, telling the world who Jesus is and what He did for us, we’re placing the knowledge in the unbeliever, which is necessary for the Holy Spirit to come and convict them of their unbelief. Then and only then are their hearts open to God’s call to righteousness. Only when someone becomes a follower of Jesus are they subject to the writings and teachings of the Apostles.

Again, this doesn’t eliminate our ability to preach or witness. In Acts 2, when Peter gave the very first sermon of the new Church, his entire recorded message revolved around who Jesus was and how the Jews’ unbelief resulted in His death, but how it was all ultimately part of God’s redemptive plan. Then he wrapped up his sermon by saying, “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!” Then told the crowd to repent of their sin (that was their unbelief in Jesus as the Messiah) and do you know what happened? “Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.” Not those that stopped getting drunk. Not those that stopped being sexually immoral. Not those that stopped lying or being selfish, prideful. Those that believed were saved. They repented of their sin of unbelief and were saved. No doubt there was work that the Holy Spirit had to do in them, but they had become disciples, followers, of Jesus and were willing to (hopefully) live according to what He taught.

So here’s my letter to the church…

To the Saints of God, called to righteousness by His Holy Spirit and saved by our LORD, Jesus Christ, may His grace and mercy be on you.

Learn what it means to really love God. Spend time with Him in fellowship. Allow Him to draw you to His side and cultivate your relationship with Him. Become accountable to His written Word, who is Jesus, and let Him sink deep into your heart. Be committed to growing with Him.

Learn what it means to really love others. Spend time with them in fellowship. Draw close to the hurting and abandoned. Feed the hungry. Give water to those that thirst. Clothe the naked. Visit and comfort the impoverished and imprisoned. Don’t just say you love others; show others that you love them.

Learning what it means to really love God and really love others happens inside of a community of other faithful and loving believers. So love each other, this is how the world will know we belong to Jesus. Spend time in fellowship with each other. Serve each other. Draw close to each other. Be accountable to each other as you’re each accountable to The Word. Be committed to growing with each other.

Call sin what it is inside of your community; be hard on it and merciful with each other. Be forgiving. Stop trying to hold people who don’t know Jesus accountable to our credo. Instead, let the focus of our witness be who Jesus is and what He did for us so that the world would believe in their Savior. Then when they believe, invite them to learn with you.

I’ll end my letter with the words that Paul ended his letter to the church in Ephesus.

Peace be to the brothers [and sisters], and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

Tag: love god (Page 4 of 5)