This morning, I'm reminded of the words of one of my favorite hymns.
I pray so often, as Paul did, that we may be rooted and established in love and may grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, to know this love that surpasses knowledge (see Ephesians 3:17-19).
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
It was 3rd-century Rome. Emperor Claudius was engaged in deadly and unpopular military campaigns. He needed a strong fighting force, but in this time of political turmoil and crisis he was having trouble recruiting and keeping people in his army. Married men made bad fighters, he reasoned, since they were concerned about the wives and families they left behind. His logic: Unmarried men=Better warriors. So, he outlawed marriages and engagements for young people in Rome.
Enter Valentine.** This young priest believed marriage was a God-ordained sacrament and important for God’s purposes in the world. He wanted to preserve God’s picture of men and women committed in a marriage relationship for life. So, he began performing illegal marriages for the young people in Rome. In these secret marriages, he was upholding what he believed was important in the faith, at the risk of betraying the emperor and his government. Marriage was that important.
Read moreI keep having a recurring conversation—a troubling one. It ends with the statement that it would appear most churches leave us with the choice of prioritizing good theology or good Kingdom living, that it appears we have to choose between orthodox doctrine and this-earth Christ-like engagement. I find this dichotomy to be tragic and frankly un-Christian, but for so many I’ve been talking with lately it is a very real felt choice as they consider which church community to commit themselves to. Let me explain.
These friends hold fast to the traditional beliefs of the Christian faith. They uphold the profound destructive nature of sin, which severs our right relationship with God, and the exclusivity and sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ to atone for that sin and mend that relationship. They value the work of the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts and enliven our lives to become more Christlike. They love the Scriptures and believe them to be accurate and true, working as our lifeline for instruction and knowledge of God. They see the message of the Gospel to be our only hope in this world and for the one to come. This is the good theology and orthodox doctrine piece, and it’s typically emphasized by conservative Protestant circles.
These friends also believe that we are not saved only in an otherworldly, future, spiritual sense. Jesus also teaches us the best way to live in this life because this world and our work in it are important. They see that Christ’s work in announcing and bringing the Kingdom of God was not only in saving people’s souls (though this was certainly key!) but also in healing their bodies, feeding their hunger, and mending their relationships.
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Yesterday I shared about the idea of a “frontline.” If you haven’t read yesterday’s post, give this one a pause, and take a moment to read it here.
Are you left wondering what to do with your frontline or how you can be faithful in it? That’s what today’s resource is about.
Mark Greene’s book Fruitfulness on the Frontline (another LICC resource) lays out a “6M” framework for fruitfulness on your frontline. Please note that I am simply pulling the basic framework of this resource and sharing it with you. For a much more in depth exploration, get a copy for yourself. The adapted 8-week DVD series would be great for a small group to study and discuss together.
When we talk about our frontlines, it’s easy to reduce their importance to one thing—who can I share the Gospel with? While this is important and definitely something we should consider with more boldness, this is only one piece of how God can be using us and working in us on the frontline. He can use us in ways beyond just a simple sharing of our testimony.
Read moreWhat role do you have in the mission of the church?
Does this question immediately make you think about what you do related to specifically church sanctioned activities and ministries? Does it make you feel guilty that you aren’t “doing enough”?
If so, you probably aren’t alone.
Traditionally, we have focused on the "gathered" church. We focus on the Sunday morning worship gathering. We focus on the paid church workers and the programs sponsored and run by the church. Being a part of the mission of the church comes to mean volunteering leisure hours to join what church workers are already doing.
But seeing the mission of the church only in this gathered sense becomes stunted. This is why Neil Hudson, in Imagine Church, urges churches to reclaim a vision for the scattered life of the church. This is the Monday to Saturday life of the church—individual believers scattered into their homes, workplaces, and leisure spaces. This is where ordinary mission happens in the every-day. It’s not about doing more (joining more church-related activities) but about doing everything in “normal life” through the lens of mission. We are sent out to our “frontline”. This is the scattered life of the church.
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