Author: Seaborn

  • Letter #62 (The Local Shepherd–2)

    Dear Small Church Congregation,

         I mentioned in the last letter the concept of a spiritual umbrella that needs to exist in Christ’s body.  We know the Father sent the Son, who, in turn, asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to His (Christ’s) body.  There is a spiritual covering that exists because of the work of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that covering must be present in order for the Body of Christ to function properly.  We know Jesus is the Head of the Body, and it is His presence, His covering, His spiritual authority, that must be present for the Body to be complete and operating as He desires it to operate.  That presence, covering or authority is what I am referring to when I speak of the spiritual umbrella needed by every part of the Body of Christ, by every congregation and, by direct implication, every individual part of that body.

         I also mentioned that the local shepherd, the pastor, provides a spiritual covering and first line of defense against the devil for the local congregation.  Allow me to explain this statement.  God gave certain “people gifts” to the overall body of believers.  These include apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.  Each of these gifts has a particular function to perform within the Body of Christ.  The function of the pastor is to be the shepherd for the local group of disciples who gather for worship.

         The local shepherd is God’s gift to that individual congregation.  However, the congregation is not in charge of the pastor.  They do not “own” the pastor.  They should not dictate His duties, nor should they supervise him like a committee supervises someone under their authority, because the shepherd is not under their authority.  He is under the authority of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  God is his umbrella of spiritual authority if he is not part of a fellowship or denomination that has governance over its members and provides them with ministerial credentials.  If he is part of such a group, then that larger group will be his spiritual umbrella, and the group will be answerable to God for how they lead, protect and guide the pastor.

         Regardless of whether the pastor is covered directly by God or by a group that provides an umbrella of covering, the pastor is responsible for providing the spiritual umbrella for the local congregation.  If you can picture this—God’s umbrella covers the pastor or the credentialling group, and then the pastor covers the congregation.

    (It would be a good idea to read Psalm 23 now before continuing.)

         As the one who is the spiritual umbrella and leader for the local congregation, the pastor serves the people in a manner that is similar to how Jesus led his disciples by being a shepherd to them.  The pastor doesn’t simply teach the people.  He guides them to the best spiritual food possible.  He leads them according to a shared vision for their future.  He helps them grow spiritually and makes sure they are drinking from the spiritual fountain flowing from the presence of the Holy Spirit.

         The pastor also protects the congregation (his flock) from the devil’s attacks.  He goes before them as they journey with Christ, finding the safest, best places for them to graze and bed down for a season until the Holy Spirit leads him into new territory spiritually, and possibly physically.  Additionally, the shepherd corrects the sheep (disciples) when necessary, and, when necessary, he disciplines those who attempt to go on  their own path, instead of remaining on the path God indicates they should follow.

         The pastor helps the flock increase by helping the sheep (disciples) to create new disciples through fulfilling the great commission.  It’s not the pastor’s job to make disciples for the flock by himself.  (A shepherd cannot have the sheep the members of the flock are supposed to have.)  He helps the sheep make new disciples by encouraging them to go out of the building and tell people about Jesus.  When a new person arrives because some member of the flock has led them to Christ and brought them into the fold, the pastor can then care for and help that new sheep to grow spiritually.

         If a congregation’s members have chosen to submit to the leadership of a pastor, instead of desiring that weekend evangelist who visits the sick for them, they have chosen their spiritual umbrella, their guide, the one who is responsible for their spiritual and physical well-being.  They should not expect the pastor to seek to please them.  They should seek for the pastor to help them become as mature spiritually as possible, and that will include times when the pastor does not please them, because pleasing the flock is not the shepherd’s job.

         Their choice of a pastor is a reflection of how much they should be willing to submit to God’s leadership through the pastor.  If they will honor the pastor and get a good understanding of what the local shepherd is supposed strive to achieve, then that congregation will experience spiritual and, probably, physical growth.  It’s not a given that they will fill their building to overflowing, but it is given that they will mature spiritually and become more like Jesus as they follow their local shepherd, their pastor.

         We’ll look at what can potentially happen spiritually and physically when a congregation does follow their pastor in the next letter.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor

  • Letter #61 (The Local Shepherd)

    Dear Small Church Congregation,

         I have a question for you.  Do you want a pastor (a local shepherd), or do you want a weekend evangelist who leads people to Jesus for you and visits the sick?  The answer to that question will determine how far you grow spiritually.  It also will determine how long any numerical growth will last in your congregation.

         May I be honest and blunt with you?  If you are seeking the weekend evangelist, you have doomed your congregation to failure.  The desire for a weekend evangelist often reveals that the congregation does not understand the role of a pastor as opposed to that of an evangelist.  The spiritual and physical growth you expect the weekend evangelist to bring to your congregation will probably not last when that dynamic minister decides to leave your presence.  Allow me to elaborate for a moment.

         If the leader is the only one bringing in more sheep (more disciples) to the fold, too many times those sheep are connected only to that leader.  More often than I like to recall, I have witnessed a great preacher lead numerous people to Jesus and encourage them to become involved in the ministry of a congregation, but the congregation had not accepted those new people as an integral part of their group.  They loved to see them at services so the numbers were higher, and they would let them do as much work as they wished to do, but the “core group” of the congregation simply did not accept them into their number.    

         The core group had not been involved in the “birthing” of the new sheep.  They had wanted, even expected, the weekend evangelist to do that.  When the time came for the leader to move on to the next season of ministry, the new sheep too often left with the leader or shortly thereafter.  Their connection to the congregation had been severed, and they didn’t feel like they were part of the “core group.”  And, in reality, they never were.

         If a congregation desires to have a local shepherd, a pastor, and understands the Biblical role of a pastor, then the dynamics for spiritual and physical growth have the opportunity to change dramatically.  People who want a pastor (shepherd) must be willing to fall under the pastor’s authority, which exists spiritually and physically.  They must be willing to be corrected and guided as much as they want to be encouraged. 

         There’s something else about those who want a shepherd to lead them.  They understand that they are the primary ones to birth new sheep into the fold.  (As a disciple of Christ, the pastor will work to lead people to repentance and forgiveness, but the shepherd should never be responsible for birthing the sheep that the sheep are supposed to birth.  That’s not his job description.)  They understand the shepherd’s primary focus is to guide, feed, water, protect, correct and nurture the sheep.

         A congregation that honestly seeks a pastor has a much better chance of growing spiritually and physically.  They know the shepherd will be led by God to be committed to them, and they, in turn, will commit to the shepherd’s leadership and authority.  They have come to understand that, in order to succeed as a congregation, they will have to be under a spiritual umbrella, and that umbrella, that protection and first line of defense against evil that wants to harass them, is provided by the pastor.

         I’ll speak more about the local shepherd and the connection between the congregation and the shepherd (pastor) in the next letter.  Until then, it is my prayer that your congregation has sought a pastor and not a weekend evangelist.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor

  • Letter #60 (The Body’s Head–3)

    Dear Small Church Congregation,

         You begin to feel rough and sluggish.  You decide to go see your doctor and discover that you have gained too much weight and are taxing your circulatory system to the point that it has affected your overall physical abilities.  Your doctor suggests a change in diet, more exercise and regular checkups to keep a watch on your progress toward better health.  You now have to decide if you are going to follow his suggestions or continue doing what you have been doing that has created this poor health.

         Now your brain takes over, and you have to choose to ignore the warning signs of a possible heart attack, or even a stroke, or are you going to do what the doctor suggests.  The situation now becomes a matter of your will, your ability to choose.  You know the consequences of each choice.  Why in the world would you choose poor health over improvement when your brain is trying to get you to make a good choice?  Why would you ignore your doctor?

         Suppose that, instead of poor physical health, that rough, sluggish feeling, we are talking about your spiritual health.  Maybe you don’t feel like you’re as close to God as you once were.  Maybe you know you have slacked off on reading your Bible and you seldom pray.  Perhaps you have not attended a worship service or Bible study in a week or two, or a month or two.

         And then it happens—the Holy Spirit nudges your spirit and reveals to you that you need to do some correcting in your spiritual disciplines so you can gain spiritual health again.  A friend tells you he has missed seeing you in the congregation, and you respond with, “I’ve been really busy lately,” knowing that is not really why you missed worship services.  The pastor sends a text or calls to check up on you, and you begin to feel like “they’re harassing me.”

         It’s at this point that your spiritual brain (the will of God being presented to you through Jesus) lets you know what you’re going to have to do in order to regain your spiritual health.  I have to ask the same questions I did about your physical health—Why in the world would you choose poor spiritual health over improvement when your spiritual brain is trying to get you to make a good choice?  Why would you ignore the will of God for your life?

         In the physical realm, we ignore our doctors because we simply do not want to do what it will take to improve our health.  We like potatoes with plenty of butter and sour cream.  We enjoy the chocolate-glazed donuts.  We see no reason to have to do without the foods we have always relished.

         And exercise?  Why would I exercise when I know I already walk plenty at work?  I’m active.  I’m no sluggard.  I’m not a morning person, and I can’t see myself getting up an hour early to go to a gym.  And in the evening, can’t a guy (or gal) simply rest in the lounge chair after a good supper?

         In the spiritual realm, we ignore that spiritual nudging because we simply do not want to do what it will take to improve our relationship with Jesus.  We’ve always enjoyed our favorite singers, regardless of the song lyrics.  I relax while I’m watching  those sit-coms that present all of life as one long laugh, regardless of their themes.  I see no reason to change what I’ve always done when it comes to entertainment.

        Spiritual disciplines?  Why would I attend every worship service possible when I can tune in on the net without having to get out of my pajamas.  Bible study?  I get bored reading the Old Testament.  Prayer meetings?  I can pray at home. (But will I?) 

         If we make a poor choice when it comes to our physical health, the result can be devastating.  If we make a poor choice when it comes to our spiritual health, the result can be just as devastating, only this devastation can last for all eternity.  If we refuse to listen to our spiritual brain, if we reject God’s will for our lives, if we choose to reject a close relationship with Jesus, we have chosen spiritual death over life. 

         It has often been said that people do what they want to do.  When it comes to your spiritual life, what do you want to do?  Do you want to listen to your spiritual brain and act on the will of God that the Jesus reveals to you?

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor

  • Letter #59 (The Body’s Head–2)

    Dear Small Church Congregation,

         In the last letter, I challenged you to take a serious look at your relationship with Jesus to see if there is anything that separates you from following the will of God for your life.  If there is, name it.  This is the first step in overcoming whatever obstacle could interfere with your fulfilling God’s will.

         That obstacle could be anything form self-righteousness to basic selfishness to outright disobedience to scripture and the teachings of Christ.  How might you now overcome this obstacle?  Now that you know what it is, the only way to overcome it is to choose to set that obstacle aside by dying to your self-will, repenting of falling to the temptation to disobey God and seeking His forgiveness.

         Let me be absolutely clear about this—Jesus has taken care of the obstacle already on the cross when He shed His blood so you could be forgiven.  Any obstacle, temptation, trial, or disobedient choice you have made has already been defeated through the shed blood of Jesus.  When Jesus died, was buried and rose from the grave, He conquered every work of the devil.  In fact, Jesus destroyed the works of the devil so you can have victory over the enemy of your soul.  Jesus has already won the victory over sin and all its evil consequences that separate members of His Body from Him.

         Obstacles to our relationships with God, our neighbors and even ourselves have been dealt with by Christ.  The Head of the Body has already done what was necessary for you to get back into right standing inside the Body of Christ.  By doing that, Jesus has given you the pathway to fulfilling God’s will.

         When you admit an obstacle exists, name it, repent of it and seek forgiveness, and choose to live according to God’s instructions on how to live in holiness before Him, you have won.  Allow me to repeat myself—And you have won because Jesus did what was necessary for you to win through faith in His name.  Jesus, the Head of the Body that you belong to because you belong to God now, won the spiritual battle first a very long time ago so you can win your battle today.  (If you feel like shouting a praise to Jesus, now would be a good time to do that.)

         Understand that you will need to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you daily live for Christ.  Understand that you will continually need to examine your life, defeat any obstacle that tries to interfere with your relationship with Christ and choose Jesus over the obstacles.  In other words, your walk with Jesus is an ongoing journey in which you intentionally choose to examine yourself to be sure you are fulfilling the call on your life that God has placed in you as part of the Body of Christ.  As you do that, you will win victories over the enemy of your soul, and you will complete your function in the Body.  And you will stay connected to the Body’s Head.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor

  • Letter #58 (The Body’s Head)

    Dear Small Church Congregation,

         Our brain directs the functioning of our physical body.  Without a properly operating brain, the body will cease to function as it should.  Our five physical senses are centered in our head and send signals to the brain so we can experience the world around us.  Hence our head can be considered the source of all the other functions our body performs.  It is the source of directions that are sent to the rest of the body.  Without the head, which contains the brain, the body ceases to function.

         The spiritual body of Christ has a head, too, that contains a “spiritual brain.”  That head is Jesus Christ.  That spiritual brain, if you will, is the will of God, the direction toward which God desires Christ’s Body to go.  If the Body of Christ is separated from Jesus and His direction (God’s will), it ceases to function, just as the physical body ceases to operate if the head is severed from it.

         If Jesus is building His church (the Body), one might ask how is it possible for the Body of Christ (the church) to be separated from its head?  Allow me to give an illustration of how I have seen this occur in the spiritual realm as demonstrated in the physical realm.

         If an individual ingests a sufficient amount of alcoholic beverages, the function of the body is altered because the brain housed in the head reacts to the chemical elements found in the alcoholic beverage.  Alcohol is naturally found in the body, but only in very minute amounts in the digestive system.  Ingested alcohol becomes a contaminant to the body and alters its operation.     

         Should that happen, the senses are dulled, the hand-eye motor coordination slows, speech can be slurred, memory becomes “fuzzy,” and inhibitions about proper behavior can stop controlling emotional and rational responses to surrounding circumstances.  The alcohol affects the brain and the senses housed in the head, whether mental, emotional, or physical, resulting in a breakdown of the operation of the body.

         The same kind of thing happens spiritually when the body ingests spiritual contaminants.  Jesus, as the head of the Church, delivers His desires for how His body is to operate through scripture, prayer, anointed messages from his servants, and any other method He chooses to communicate with His Body.  When Satan is able to disrupt the flow of Christ’s communication with His Church, when he is able to interject spiritually unhealthy contaminants into that flow, the head ceases to have its intended effect on the functioning of the Body of Christ. 

         Doubt, fear, stress, persecution, personal preferences, men’s traditions, unbiblical denominational demands, carnal lusts, pride, anger, jealousy, gluttony, greed, cruelty—and any number of other physical, emotional, mental or spiritual obstacles—all act as contaminants that cause Jesus’s Church to reach a point of malfunction.  The devil will use anything he can to keep Christ’s will from being performed within His Body.

         In order for the physical body to stop the detrimental effects of alcohol, the consumption of the alcohol has to be stopped.  Sometimes that comes through a choice made by the consumer.  At other times, incarceration caused by improper behavior occurs, and the access to alcohol is stopped for some period of time.  The bottom line is the body must stop having the alcohol introduced so the bad effects can cease.

         In order for the spiritual Body of Christ to stop the detrimental effects of spiritual contaminants, those contaminants must be dealt with, too.  In order to deal with something the devil is using to hinder the Body, whether it involves the overall Church or one specific congregation, the people involved must be willing to admit that the hindrance exists.  They must be willing to examine their lives, their spiritual status in the Body, their functioning, and then choose to take the steps necessary in order to overcome the obstacles that are interfering with how the body is operating.

         The motivational speaker Zig Ziglar often said that the first step in overcoming a problem is to admit a problem exists and then identify the problem.  When the members of a congregation, or individual disciples of Christ, for that matter, are willing to admit there is a problem that is causing them to stray from the will of Christ, then the problem must be identified.  It must be named.  Only after being named can the obstacle be overcome.  Only after overcoming the obstacle can the Head of the Body, Jesus, regain proper spiritual nerve signals to His Body.

         We’ll look at how to overcome the obstacles, the contaminants that obstruct God’s will, in the next letter.  Before that letter, allow me to encourage you to take a long, serious look at whether or not your life is reflecting the will of God for your life.  Ask yourself if there is anything that could interfere with how you function as one of Jesus’s disciples.  Ask the Holy Spirit to point out to you anything that the devil is using to interrupt the flow of Christ’s will into your life.  If there is something revealed to you, name it.  Identify it.  Then ask God to help you reconnect to the Head of the Body.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor

  • Letter #57 (The Body’s Members–4)

    Dear Small Church Congregation,

         Okay.  You’ve repented of your sins, asked God to forgive you and placed your eternal future into the hands of Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  You’ve decided to become a participating part of the Body of Christ.  You’ve decided to seek the anointing of the Holy Spirit to determine your gifts, talents and calling from God.  You’ve found a local congregation with which to worship.  Now what?  Now I challenge you to make the commitment that you will regularly associate with the other disciples in that local congregation.

         I ran into a rather disheartening statistic recently during a forum designed to instruct and equip pastors of small churches for ministry in their respective communities.  Across all Christian denominations in this country, an attender to worship services is considered a regular member if he/she is present 1.6 times a month.  Let that number sink in—1.6 times a month.  That’s obviously less than half the time if the local congregation meets an average of four times monthly.  (Many meet more often than that.)

         This brings into focus a very serious question—Why do people who claim to be disciples of Jesus not earnestly seek every opportunity available to worship God in a corporate setting?  The answer to this question could be presented as being quite complicated.  However, allow me to present one approach to the answer that might be simpler than expected.

         At the end of the first paragraph of this letter, I challenged you to commit to something.  That something was to regularly associate with other disciples in a local congregation.  I do not mean to say that regular association involves attending worship services 1.6 times a month.  In fact, I mean to challenge you to attend more often than that.  Associate with other disciples of Christ every chance you get.

         Why would I urge you to do this?  Associating with disciples of Jesus does more than place you in an atmosphere of worship.  It brings encouragement into your life from people who are experiencing the same trials and joys you are experiencing.  It gives you a place to ask questions, receive advice and to give advice to others.  It opens to you new opportunities to serve in the local body.  It also puts you in a position to experience new things in life in general as you interact with folks who know things you don’t know or do things you don’t usually do.

         Worship is great and should be experienced every time possible.  Joining in with other disciples to be encouraged in your faith and to receive ministry or to be a blessing to others should never be underestimated.  Worship is essential to your Christian walk.

         Meeting with other disciples of Christ for worship and other activities is important as you all learn to live for Jesus in a world that does everything it can to keep you from doing that.  Be aware that the devil wants to keep you from joining others in worship, Bible study or just living life together as Christians.  He will distract you, put more to do in a day than you can do while awake, place numerous temptations in your path, bring persecutions against you and delay answers to prayers whenever he can.  Satan will do anything he can to keep you away from other disciples of Jesus.

         He wants to isolate you from any source of spiritual strength.  Satan knows isolation yields spiritual weakness.  He knows worship, Bible study, prayer meetings, etc. bring you victory over him.  He knows corporate spiritual strength spreads to the individuals present and becomes personal spiritual strength.  And Satan does not want you to be spiritually strong.

         This is why I challenge you to commit to do the associating that will give you the faith and spiritual power to overcome the enemy of your soul.  This is why you need to do everything you can to be in attendance at the local congregation more than 1.6 times a month.  Be in attendance on a regular basis that surpasses that statistic.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor

  • Letter #56 (The Body’s Members–3)

    Dear Small Church Congregation,

         When you are born again, you become part of the overall body of Christ, the body which makes up the church Jesus is building.  As part of that body, you have been chosen by God, called through the drawing of the Holy Spirit and given a new spiritual birth through the cleansing, creative power of the blood of Jesus.  The same Holy Spirit that drew you to Christ also places in you gifts, talents and anointings that are to be used to bring glory to the name of Jesus.

         God doesn’t bring salvation into a life and stop working in that life.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God gives you the abilities and opportunities to expand your ability to bring Jesus glory through what you do and say.  That doing and saying is where the gifts, talents and anointings come in.

         Some people are given special skills that develop into ministries that include being an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher so the overall body of Christ can be built up, developed and empowered to go into the world and share the good news about Jesus.  Others are given special abilities to give generously, to administrate and direct others, to sing, to speak God’s message to others through unlearned languages or interpretations of those languages, to bring healing to the sick, to be encouragers for the hurting, to perform miracles in unusual circumstances, or to do any other number of activities as directed and anointed by the Holy Spirit.

         Let me make something clear at this point in this letter.  No gift given by the Holy Spirit to a member of the body is more important than any other gift.  Our physical bodies operate properly when all the parts operate properly.  The lungs need the nose for the flow of oxygen.  The stomach needs the teeth for properly chewed food.  The eyes need the eyelids.  Each part, regardless of how small, is important.

         This same concept holds true for the body of Christ in the local congregation.  Each member operating properly adds to the proper operation of the whole congregation.  The person who cleans the front sidewalk after mowing the grass is just as important as the one who prepares the music selections for a service.  The intercessory prayer group leader is just as important as the pastor.  They have different responsibilities, but they all are needed for the congregation to fulfill its calling in its community.

         Another reminder at this juncture—All of these gifts, talents and anointings come from God’s Holy Spirit that is in complete agreement with God the Father and God the Son.  The Holy Spirit has other responsibilities, but He is the one who gives individual disciples these gifts as He chooses.  Men do not give these gifts to other men or women.  They come from God and are to be used to bring glory to God as the members of Christ’s body fulfill their individual callings.

         As each member becomes actively involved in the operation of the body, the body operates as it should and will bring Jesus to the forefront of everything that happens because of the words and deeds of the individual members.  This holds true for the overall, worldwide body of Christ, His church, and it holds true for the individual congregations that are made up of members of that body of believers.  Each congregation that is operating with its members fulfilling their callings from God will have the same result as the overall body of Christ when it does its world-wide job.  Jesus will be lifted up.  Lives with be changed  through faith in the creative power of Jesus.  The Kingdom of God will increase.  This happens in the local congregation, as much as it happens throughout the world.

         One of the primary reasons for a member of the local body to seek God’s anointing, power, gifts, talents, wisdom, discernment, etc. is so that member can help the local congregation become all God intends for it to be.  When the individual members are operating under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the local body matures, grows and becomes highly effective for the cause of the Kingdom of God.  Without the local member operating and fulfilling his/her callings, the local body becomes ineffective, and that hinders the overall body of Christ being effective on a larger scale.  

         The individual member can discover his/her gifts, talents and anointings through prayer, fasting, studying God’s word and simply listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He directs his/her life.  Seeking the Kingdom of God in one’s own life will help a person to discover just what his/her job is in the local body of disciples.  No two people will have identical gifts, just as no two people will have identical ministries and no two congregations will have identical ministries.  Some things may be similar from one local body or member to the next, but they will not be identical.

         Allow me to encourage you to invest some serious time in asking God to reveal to you what He wants you to do as one member of the local body.  Look for opportunities to apply your skills and talents in ministry within your local congregation.  Talk to your pastor about your interests and seek his guidance in filling a need within the local congregation if it falls in your areas of interest.  Talk to mature disciples and ask them how they became involved in ministry within the local congregation.  And as always, pray, pray, pray, and then listen and let God speak to you.

         Remember that God doesn’t necessarily call the qualified.  He will qualify the called.  (God will get you ready for what He wants you to do as an individual member of the local congregation.) 

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor

  • Letter #55 (The Body’s Members–2)

    Dear Small Church Congregation,

         Once a disciple chooses to not be simply a worship spectator but to become an active participant in the worship, that disciple adds to the body’s ability to take on its intended functions, which are to fulfill the Great Commission and to live out the Great Commandment.  Active disciples do not merely gather for a worship service.  Actively participating members of the body of Christ go out into their world carrying the light and hope of Jesus, and they prove they belong to Jesus as they demonstrate His love to those who are fellow disciples and to those who do not know Him.

         They are individuals who have been chosen, called and anointed by the Holy Spirit to fulfill their individual roles within the body of Christ.  No two disciples will be exactly alike in their physical characteristics, and they will not be exactly alike in their spiritual gifts, talents and anointings.  Each one has been chosen and gifted so that person’s gifts, talents and anointing will combine with all the other disciples’ gifts, talents and anointings so the complete operation of the spiritual body can be accomplished.  When the whole body is operating as it should, then everything Jesus wants to happen will happen.

         When our physical bodies are properly functioning, we are able to accomplish fantastic things.  We don’t simply exist.  We move.  We perform complex operations.  We solve problems.  We cook and eat and clean dishes.  We think and dream and bring dreams into reality.  We work and play and rest.

         And we do all these things because each individual part of our physical body is doing its work as it was designed to do.  The lungs, heart, kidneys, stomach, ears, eyes, nerve endings in our fingers, muscles and tendons, and all the other parts, work together so the physical body can achieve its intended purposes.

         When the body of Christ as a whole, or when one part of that overall body operates properly (when a specific congregation of disciples operates properly), then Christ will be glorified, the Great Commission will be fulfilled and the Great Commandment will be actively demonstrated for all to see.  When the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers do their jobs, the body is built up and encouraged.  When the administrators, musicians, prayer warriors, generous givers, deacons, custodians, cooks, singers, money counters, and all those other gifted people function as the Holy Spirit directs them, the spiritual body will thrive and successfully represent Jesus to this world that desperately needs Him.

         In order for this to occur, the disciples of Christ have to become active participants in worship.  Remember that worship is not just singing some songs during a service.  Worship involves everything that we think, say and do that is designed to bring glory to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  Worship is not designed just so we can sit back and enjoy a worship service.  Worship is designed so we can enjoy being involved actively in everything that is happening as we express our love, commitment, and adoration to God.  (We’ll look at worship in the body in a future letter.  The next letter will deal with the individual gifts, talents and anointings the various members possess.)

         Allow me to encourage you to become an active participant in your local body of disciples.  Your contribution as a part of that body cannot be overstated when it comes to whether or not the body is properly functioning.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor 

  • Letter #54 (The Body’s Members–1)

    Dear Small Church Congregation

         If you are a disciple of Jesus, you belong to His church, His bride, His body of believers.  As a member of that chosen group, you have been called to operate in much the same fashion as the various parts of a physical body operate.  Paul compared the relationship that exists between the members of Christ’s body to that between the members of our human body.

         Allow me to remind you that, as a member of Jesus’s body, each of you has been designed, chosen and anointed in a different fashion from the other members so the whole body will function correctly as each different member accomplishes the purpose for which it (he/she) is designed.  When people gather for the purpose of worship, every person present has a particular function in that worship.  But there is something I pray you will realize—none of the body’s members is designed to be just a spectator.

         Spectators watch what is happening and respond emotionally to what is happening, but they are not involved in what is happening.  They are not part of the process of actually creating the worship experience.  I’ll restate that—A spectator does not help create the worship.  They simply observe the worship, without any direct connection to the worship.  As the Bible study “Not a Fan” by Kyle Idleman indicates, they’re in the bleachers, so to speak, not on the field of play where all the action occurs.

          I have seen that it is possible to enjoy hearing good singing, hearing fervent prayer, donating to the financial responsibilities of a congregation and listening to an inspiring message without intentionally being involved in the worship experience.  It is possible for a person to enjoy being in a worship service without actually becoming part of the worship that is happening.  When that happens, that individual, the spectator, is not experiencing worship.  The person is experiencing entertainment that originates in a religious service and makes no spiritual impact on the person other than to help him/her “feel good.”  (I’ve run across the term “worshiptainment,” and I must agree with the intent of the term.)

         The person who is made to feel good through worshiptainment is not functioning as a member of the body of Christ.  That individual is not fulfilling his/her function as a disciple.  A disciple of Jesus was not designed to be entertained. 

         Disciples are designed to operate together as a unit that produces glory directed toward God.  Disciples are designed to fulfill their individual calling so the whole body can magnify Christ through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  Disciples, learners of Christ, have been chosen and anointed to share the good news about Jesus before, during and after a worship service.  When each disciple is fulfilling his/her intended function, worship does occur as the whole body operates with a common purpose.

         You, the individual member, have a special reason for existing.  That reason is to help create a whole group of disciples who fulfill the Great Commission and complete the Great Commandment.  You are part of that church Jesus said He would build.  You are one member of Christ’s Body.  Refuse to be a spectator.  Get out of the bleachers and onto the playing field.  Be a member. 

    (I pray you will forgive the repetition used in this letter.  The concepts are that important.)

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor

  • Letter #53 (The Body of Christ)

    Dear Small Church Congregation,

         I have one of those “duh” questions for you—Who makes up the body of Christ?  Your first inclination might be to say—the church.  And you would be correct.  But who or what constitutes the church?  Who or what is identifiable as belonging to the church?  (Keep in mind that I am not referring to a building.)

         If Jesus is building His church, then the who or what makes up His church would be someone/something He brings into existence.  That means people are not the ones who create the church.  My science teacher long ago showed me that people can manipulate matter, but people cannot create matter out of nothing.  Since we cannot create something out of nothing, like God can do, then we cannot claim to be the ones who create or own the church.  (Letter #52)

         We are told in scriptures that the body of Christ has many members and that each member has its place and usefulness in the body, just like our physical bodies are made up of many parts that are all quite important to the overall function of the physical body.  But these members are not brought into existence by people.  They are created and placed into His body by Jesus as He puts His body together, as He builds it.

         If Jesus is putting His body, His church, together and placing the individual members where He wants them to be and giving them their functions inside His body, it would be Jesus who is empowering those members to perform their functions in His body.  He would be the one who decides what their functions would be and how they would operate within His church.

    (Bear with me.  I’m going somewhere with this basic stuff.)

         People generally consider anyone who places his/her eternal future into the hands of Jesus by believing He is Messiah and Redeemer of mankind, asks for forgiveness for sins and strives to live according to Jesus’s teachings to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  These individuals have been born again spiritually through their faith in Jesus and have publicly declared their allegiance to Jesus.  They would then be considered a member of Christ’s church, His body.    

         This whole process of believing, having faith, being born again spiritually, etc. is something Jesus accomplishes in individuals so they can become part of His body.  If you are a disciple of Christ, this process has occurred in your life.  You are now a member of the church Jesus is building.

         When a person says he/she is a member of a particular church that belongs to a particular denomination or fellowship, the membership is a concept we mortals have developed to indicate where the people attend worship services and the organizational structure with which the people identify.  That kind of church membership is man-made.  It is created by people to group or classify people according to doctrines and traditions developed since the creation of the original group of disciples, a group which was chosen by Jesus Himself.

         Humans, being what we are with all our preferences and fallacies, have a tendency to identify ourselves as belonging to that man-made church system, rather than to the church Jesus is building, to the body of Christ.  When this happens, when we say, “I belong to __________ Church,” we put our membership focus on the man-made church system, and not on the universal spiritual church (ekklesia = assembly; called out ones) Jesus owns.  We have an inclination to become faithful to and promoters of that physical group in which we call ourselves members instead of the spiritual body into which we are placed when we were born again spiritually.

         There is absolutely nothing amiss in belonging to a particular group of disciples.  I encourage anyone who has faith in Jesus to seek out and connect with a local group of Jesus’s followers who regularly worship together.  I also recommend you read a little book by Thom Rainer entitled I Am a Church Member.  It speaks to belonging to a local body of believers.

         However, please, please do not become so wrapped up in your local church that you forget that it is a small part of the very large church Jesus is building.  His church is made up of many millions of disciples who gather in homes, in small and large buildings, under trees, along meadows and sitting on rocks around the world.  His church, His body, is His creation.  Remember where your church membership really lies.  Please remember you are a part of the body of Christ.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor