becoming

…the thought that Jesus intentionally planted and watered into the lives of people, and that He values and even expects His followers to be making disciples as they go in daily life in the same way; by planting and watering into the lives of the people they encounter in their various spheres of living. As planting and watering occurs, both those planting and watering and those being planted and watered into will be ever becoming all that God created them to be. That is, followers who abide in Him, listen to His voice, love like He loves, and blossom the fruits of the Spirit in daily life as they give themselves away into others.

What results, since the church is people (a who, not a what), is that the church (people who follow Jesus together) will blossom into what she needs to be in both a local and global context. Jesus values leaders who give less energy to “growing” their church as a centralized organization and more energy decentralizing the church as people to live sent and pour into the lives of other people (who will then blossom which means the church will keep on blossoming).

Simply stated, followers of Jesus plant and water. God causes the growth.

Therefore, if we give our energy solely into “growing” the church as some programmed organization we simply preserve and manage, we will be attempting something that is not our responsibility and feel the pressures that come with attempting something we are not capable of controlling or accomplishing.

However, if we truly love people like Jesus loves them, we will make disciples as He did. We will see each person as He did, and we will pour into them regardless of what they give back, regardless of whether we see the fruit of “church growth.” The goal and purpose would become to be an intimate part of this harvest work that God lets us in on as He grows people to become followers who BLOSSOM the gospel into and thru daily life (Matthew 10:38-42).

How awesome would it be if the church gave herself away so that people blossomed rather than expecting people to give into “it” so that the church “grew?” How awesome would it be if the so-called 98% would live sent in the daily? Then, the evidence of the movement Jesus started would blossom all over the place and change the very fabric of culture.

If the so-called 98% see the overrated 2% (pastors) doing nothing more than getting people plugged into the church organization, then they will equate making disciples with turning people inward toward church activity rather than turning people outward toward living sent and being the church in their daily activity. That would be as irresponsible and inefficient as if we yelled at our plants to grow. It’s kind of like that old Frog and Toad story where Toad yells at the seeds he planted hoping they will grow.

In Paul’s letter to the church of Corinth, he shared some thoughts concerning this concept. He noted that they had become very inward due to their incessant desire to take credit for their growth. This selfishness was the source of the factions that were stifling them as a church called to live among and love the city. What Paul reminded them of was that growth was never in his or their hands. He and others had simply planted and watered. God caused the growth (1st Corinthians 3:6).

>> I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow.

One leader who committed to plant and water said that the shift in focus was evident in many ways, but one in particular was how they as a church family focused their energies with families. He said, “We had been mobilizing families so we could build the church. Now we mobilize the church so we can build the families.”

What is the bottom line difference? When we focus on planting and watering and letting the church blossom, people no longer are seen as patrons of our work, but partners in the work and valuableparticipants in planting and watering and seeing the church blossom.

5 thoughts to consider as we converse about BLOSSOM:

_make sure you are building a bridge between your philosophy of the church and your practical approach to daily ministry. Be open to processing how to do more than gather people. Ask yourself what would you have to change to equip them to live sent.

_the church blossoms when you equip and unleash people to pour into other people. Let the people be the church by pouring into the lives of people they encounter in the daily, simply listening to them and including them and loving them and speaking the hope of Christ into their lives.

_you hear this blossom stuff, and you might think, “that’s a bit extreme.” We’re not saying dig up the whole plant and throw it out, though, unless of course it just can’t bear fruit anymore. What we and others have actually found is that when you commit to plant and water into lives you end up finding balance in every facet of ministry. You end up valuing people like God values them and seeing life like God sees it and surrendering the things He does not value (things we tend to give too much energy to). Thus, your philosophy of ministry and your theology and your ecclesiology and your missiology and your whateverelseology become focused in Him and are grown to reflect His heart to see His gospel blossom in everyday lives.

_what if the role of the pastor is not CEO, but waterboy? What if we should be doing less of telling people what they should be doing and more of resourcing people for what they could be doing and in many cases are already doing?

_the evidence of success for a church is not determined by how many gather, but by people living sent. Are you doing everything you can as a church leader to help the 98% know how valuable they are and how much wisdom they have in Christ to listen to and speak into others? When we get rid of the 98% mentality and 100% of us trust the value Jesus has declared about us (that we are worth dying for), then leaders will be secure enough to unleash people and all of us will be confident enough to speak and do what the Spirit whispers to us to speak and do. That’s when the church becomes what Jesus intended. That’s when she blossoms.

Find out more about blossom by checking out LiveSent.com and ReproducingChurches.com

with so much talk going on out there about “being missional” or as we describe it “living sent,” it’s very important for us not to fail to mention the significance of grace in this process.

i keep finding that people are stifled in living sent for one basic reason - they don’t think they are worth being sent or have anything to contribute if they are. this feeling is not steeped in God reality, but rather in the perceptions that we create of ourselves. in order for people to live sent, they must understand two basic principles:

1st - that following Jesus does not mean “pleasing” God as much as it means “trusting” God. what most of us tend to do is weary ourselves with attempts to make God as well as ourselves happy about our lives, rather than trusting that what He did is enough. it is so crucial for followers to recognize and actually live as though they believe that they will never become more than Jesus has already made them to be through the restorative work of His selfless death on the cross. No one speaks more adequately on this topic, in my opinion, than John Lynch in the TrueFaced series that he and several others did. if you happen to catch the 1st teaching component from John Lynch on the TrueFaced DVD, it is solid stuff worth putting in the hands of the people you are equipping to live sent.

the only point of disagreement i have with his teaching in that particular message, and remember my opinion is worth the same amount that we paid for this blog site, is when he states that grace allows us to stand with God with our sin before us ready to work on it together. i would suggest that we stand in God’s grace, His arm around us, our sin before us resolved and nailed to a tree so that we are free to live sent in abundance with Him. but i digress.

2nd - that the value of each of us as followers is not appraised, but declared. we live in a very unstable real estate market in Central FL. people are used to appraisers coming and suggesting a value about their home. it sometimes pleases them, and at other times it stresses them with worry over the amount of their mortgage and the potential value of their home. as humans, we treat our spiritual value in this way. we live sent with confidence when we feel confident about the measurement of our behavior. however, it leaves us pleases some days and stressed on others, stifled even. we must remember that Jesus declared our value on the cross - WE ARE WORTH DYING FOR. we have value to plant and water into other people’s lives because we have had the King declare we are more than peasants. so, as we live sent in the daily, in our various spheres of influence, we can listen and love and serve and speak hope into the lives of people who share their hearts and lives with us.

all that to say - don’t forget to stress the importance of amazing grace as it affects followers and compels them to live sent to share that same message of freedom and unleashing and value with others. don’t just say “be missional.” make sure you are telling followers why they should be and what enables them to live sent.

my son is a very profound theologian. understand, now, that i think what makes a theologian profound may be different. it is not the ability to understand systems that explain the totality of God or earned degrees that demonstrate higher learning or the articulation of complex statements that wow a crowd. i think what makes a theologian profound is when their understanding of God and ability to share their thoughts about God go way beyond intellect into the realm of intimate interaction and practical response.

in other words, a theologian is profound when they know that God exists and that He exists within their everyday. i think the author of Hebrews said something like that. my son did, too.

2 stories.

caleb loves to draw. he’s great at it. his art gallery is in my office on the french doors. pretty awesome stuff, maybe even Louvre quality (of course i am not biased). one day while talking with my wife about art and about Jesus, who happens to be a miraculously gifted artist (Jesus that is), caleb wondered about one day being able to see Jesus face to face. he wondered about what He looks like and all. finally, he says to my wife about Jesus, “i can’t wait to see Him. i can’t wait to draw a picture of Him.”

WOW. now that’s an awesome statement about eschatology and soteriology and epistomology and alotofhotairology. more than anything, it is a very profound statement about hope.

2nd story - caleb will undergo surgery this next week to reconstruct his left ureter and make sure his left kidney is still doing okay. he was recently diagnosed with a blockage in his left ureter that has to be surgically corrected. as my wife and i have talked with caleb about it, he has taken it well and is being a brave little boy. he is certainly nervous about it, though. and scared.

while he and i were driving somewhere together the other day, we were listening to a matt redman song called “oh no, you never let go.” itunes it. great song. anyway, he asks me, “daddy, can you play me this song in the hospital?”

WOW. after i cleared my eyes of a few subtle tears, i looked in the rearview mirror and told him we could for sure. he thought that would be good. what a profound statement about hope and faith and overcoming. pretty cool how wisdom and deeper connection is given to those with faith like a child.

that’s my boy…a profound theologian. :o)
i hope he will always be a vibrant one who listens to God instead of just talks about Him. sometimes thelogians who do that can get really boring.

writing is how i contemplate. reflect. think through things. that’s why i stopped to write tonight.

this morning, i heard the news that a friend of mine died of a heart attack in his home last night. his home with his wife and 3 young daughters. he had riden 35 miles on his bike earlier yesterday - something that is common for him. he loves to ride his bike. even broke his shoulder on it a while back because he flew off after he hit a cat. we could not help but tease him about that. the cat did not make it. in Mark’s style, he just laughed right along with us. always thankful to simply be with the people he loved.

i think that’s what hurts the most. how he loved people and served them and poured into them - especially his girls. and now he is gone.

i am being reminded a lot lately how much life is out of our control. in the men’s group that i drink coffee and read the Bible with every Wednesday morning, we are currently reading through Ecclestiastes. you can’t help but read that and be bluntly reminded about the fact that life is so out of our hands.

and then recently, last Wednesday, i had neck surgery. 2 herniated disks removed, replaced with cadavar bones, and held in place with titanium plates and screws. talk about life being out of your control. you don’t wish for surgery, period. you don’t wish for pain that doesn’t stop because your spinal nerve is being compressed. you do wish it would stop. and so, insert titanium.

and then Mark.

we weren’t best friends. however, i think i am like a lot of people. you felt like a close friend to Mark whether you were or not. he was such a true friend to everyone. so warm. so genuine. so brilliant. so discerning. so willing to speak encouragement or challenge into your life, whatever was necessary.

we were working on a project together. dreaming of new ways to encourage and equip leaders to go and be the church in their specific context and then lead others to do the same. it was his passion, outside of his family. his passions and suggestions will mean so much as we move forward with that dream. his friendship meant more.

he was like a brother of sorts to me, simply because of how he loved my Dad and worked so closely with him. they spoke almost daily.

you know - he was 41 years old. you don’t really understand why he’s gone. he was in his prime. had 3 daughters to give away. leaves a now-confused wife. a wife with lots of hope, but who hurts. it has to hurt. it sucks. she goes to bed tonight and he will never lay down beside her there again.

i just tucked my son in bed. i could not help it. i told him what i thought were the 2 most important things in life - to listen to God and to love people, giving everything you have to both. he smiled at me and repeated it.

i am not trying to be all sappy here. promise. i just hurt. and writing is how i express myself best. how i contemplate.

the bottom line is always the same. it’s the same old message every time someone passes away, every time another tornado ravages a town, every time life suddenly turns. ENJOY LIFE. QUIT CHASING IT AND ENJOY IT. we aren’t as invincible as we think we are. and we give all we have to things that don’t last, to things that other people could do probably better than we can.
the author of Ecclesiastes said it well enough to make the cut and show up in the Bible. Here’s how he phrases it in chapter 9:
“Well, I took all this in and thought it through, inside and out. Here’s what I understood: The good, the wise, and all that they do are in God’s hands - but, day by day, whether it’s love or hate they’re dealing with, they don’t know.”

“Anything’s possible. It’s one fate for everybody - righteous and wicked, good people and bad people, the nice and the nasty, worshipers and non-worshipers, committed and uncommitted…”

“[So] Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes - God takes pleasure in your pleasure! Dress festively every morning. Don’t skimp on colors and scarves. Relish life with the spouse you love each and every day of your precarious life. Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange for the hard of work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it, for there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think in the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed.” (The Message)

enough said.

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this coming Sunday, we continue our teaching series called “these ARE my church clothes.” i wanted to continue what we are calling Sunday Conversation - an ongoing conversation based around the teachings from Sundays. this weeks focus - GIVING OURSELVES AWAY.

2 questions:

:: does the church exist for preservation or restoration?

:: can you really follow Jesus and not give yourself away?

i would love to hear your thoughts. love you guys.

Hey gang…here’s THE BOTTOM LINE from this past Sunday, the 28th.

We continued in the teaching series “these ARE my church clothes” by focusing on the importance of doing life together. The question was asked - why do we need to do life together? Here’s the 3 reasons that were suggested:

1 - disciple-making cannot happen without it. According to Jesus’ life and ministry, doing life together is both required and is the evidence of making disciples. We have to do life together with one another and with our culture in order to make disciples, and a disciple made is evidenced by his or her love expressed within the context of true connection and community.

2 - we really need each other. We were designed for connection and community. We were made to speak into each other’s lives. We MUST lay aside “false togetherness” (being polite acquaintances with one another) and truly walk together.

3 - our needs are taken care of when we focus on taking care of one another. We can quit asking “what about my needs” when we are focusing on taking care of the needs of one another as we do life together, because our needs will be taken care as God shows His love to us through the people we are doing life with.

We read about an example of doing life together from the early church in Acts 2:42-47. Doug shared about our DLTs which you can find on the website by clicking this link: learn more about DLTs

The final question was asked - will you commit to doing life together? We can’t be faithful to the mission Christ has given us - to living sent and making disciples - without it!

If you have any desire to do so, you can listen to the various messages from this teaching series by clicking here and then clicking on the MP3 player.

Let’s be doing life together, both in VOX and face to face.

were humans made to do life together? do we actually malfunction when we don’t - not work right, not live right? can we live out the mission and purpose of our lives alone, or do we need each other?

i think we do need each other. i think we can’t operate correctly without one another. what do you think? do you think the church today is living in this kind of community - truly doing life together?

continuing the conversation from this past Sunday’s teaching time, here’ s a basic summary of what we talked about:

Be the church in the daily by listening to God and living in every sphere.

Listening to God involves 2 fundamental elements:

:: PRAYER- praying constantly, ever listening for His voice among the many voices calling for our attention, seeing the stuff of life as interruptions of the ongoing conversation between you and God, interacting with people like He is always a part of the conversation, listening to Him for His promptings to give into the lives around us, listening for His promptings telling us to stop and spend some alone time with Him, listening to His promptings so that we remain unclogged in listening for Him.

:: READING the BIBLE - the living Word, the love story of His pursuit of a relationship with us, the filter that helps us discern which voice among the many is His and which needs to be ignored. Read it to know Him more and to be able to recognize Him as He breaks into the daily all around us. Don’t read it just to know about Him and attempt to systemize Him.

Living in every sphere means LIVING SENT - as a letter from God to your family, to your neighbors, in the marketplace, to the world locally and globally, and on the web.

If we say we follow Jesus, then we must always be listening for Him, faithfully be responding to His promptings, compassionately be loving the people He loves, and freely be giving ourselves away to the people we encounter in our spheres, just like He came to where we were and gave Himself away. We must BE the CHURCH.

Thankful to be in conversation with you guys. Hope this will be an encouragement to you regardless of whether you comment back.

it’s funny how a simple object can often remind you of something so profound.

i meet a lot of people in my home, because my office is there. today was like normal. i typically offer water to the person or persons i am meeting with. today, when i walked into the kitchen to get it, i had a “man, i am really blessed…i am really thankful” moment.

you see, my wife keeps a little basket on the counter supplied with napkins and plastic cups for any guest that comes into our home. it’s a little thing. a simple gesture. but a profound statement about her heart for hospitality. she loves hosting people in our home. and, she has done an incredible job of creating an environment that makes it easy for me to work from home and meet with people in our home.

not to mention that every now and then, this sunshine of a beautiful 2 year old little girl and this 5 year old artist whose masterpieces decorate my french doors in my office - they come and stick their noses on the glass of those french doors just to check on daddy.

pretty cool. very blessed. extremely thankful.

thank you, Jen, for making our home such an awesome and peaceful and welcoming place. thanks for the blue plastic cups.