boys who can shave

I try not to constantly post other articles or blogs, but this is just too good. On the 8/21 I posted a link to an article in the New York Times about what experts are calling the new "life stage" of 20 somethings. (basically just an extension of adolescence) Well apparently Pastor Mark Driscoll saw the article as well and has posted a response in the Washington Post! This is just too good to pass up reading. Even if you didn't get to read the article I linked to in the New York Times, reading Driscoll's article will be worth your while.

Here is a direct link.

The world is filled with boys who can shave

The New York Times Magazine ran a story this past week called "What is it about 20-Somethings?" looking at the new life stage of emerging adulthood. The article echoed what other recent studies are showing and something we've been saying at Mars Hill Church for awhile: The world today is filled with boys who can shave.

Historically, a guy would go through two life phases: boy, then man. The transition from boy to man was comprised of five sociological variables that happened almost simultaneously or in very close succession:

1. Leave your parents' home (Gen. 2:24);
2. Finish your education or vocational training;
3. Start a career-track job, not a dead-end-Joe job;
4. Meet a woman, love her, honor her, court her, and marry her;
5. Have children with her.

But here's what's happened. Rather than moving from boy to man by this succession of sociological transitions, we've created something called adolescence. It's a third life stage in the middle between boy and man. We don't know what to call them so we just call them guys. These are boys who can shave.

Today, adolescence starts somewhere in the teen years and continues indefinitely. There is no foreseeable end. The problem with adolescence is guys don't know when they're ever going to grow up and be men, and no pressure is exerted on them to do so.

Is it when you're sixteen and you can drive, or eighteen when you can vote and join the military, or twenty-one when you can drink?

Is it when you graduate from college after you've worked on your undergrad degree for seven or eight years?

Is it when you get married? Is it when you have kids? Is it when you buy a house?

No one knows. So, we are left with indefinite adolescence and a Peter Pan Syndrome epidemic where men want to remain boys forever.

Men in the World: Childish Consumers

The Apostle Paul says, "When I was a boy, I talked like a boy, I thought like a boy, I reasoned like a boy. When I became a man, I put childish and boyish ways behind me" (see 1 Cor. 13:11). A lot of guys don't, as if responsibility is a bad thing and the longer you can prolong it, the more masculine you are. That's the world. It's absolutely childish and it's consumerism.

The marketing sweet spot for many companies is young men ages eighteen to thirty-four. These guys don't know what it means to be a man, and so marketers fill the void with products that define manhood by what you consume rather than what you produce.

The tough retrosexual guys consume women, porn, alcohol, drugs, television, music, video games, toys, cars, sports, and fantasy leagues, as if being a man is defined by how much meat you can shove through your colon, how many beers you can pound, how fast you can drive, how stinky you can fart, how hard you can hit, how far you can spit, how loud you can belch, and how big your truck is.

The artsy, techie metrosexual types consume clothes, decaf lattes, shoes, gadgets, cars (not trucks), furniture, hair products, and underwear with the names of very important people on the waistband. For them, manhood means being in touch with one's feelings, wardrobe, and appearance.

A legion of moms and girlfriends enable these boys who can shave. They pay his bills, pick up his messes, loan him their car, and refill his sippy cup with beer or martinis, depending upon his preference. Girlfriends, gal friends with benefits, and miscellaneous other mannies (nannies for men) need to know this: you want a guy you can marry and have babies with. You don't want to marry a guy who's a baby.

Men are supposed to be producers, not just consumers. You're defined by the legacy, the life, and the fruit that come out of you, not by what you take in. But most guys are just consumers.

Men in the Church: Cowards and Complainers

What happens if you walk into the church and try to find out what a man looks like? First of all, you're not going to find a lot of guys in most evangelical churches. The least likely person to see in church is a single, twenty-something male. He is as rare at church as a vegan at a steak house.

In the world, boys who can shave are children who are consumers. In the church, boys who can shave are cowards who are complainers.

A buddy of mine calls them evangellyfish because they have no backbone. They don't declare a major, church, theology, or fiancé. They don't want to fail and they think if they don't try, then they can't fail. And by definition, that's a failure.

They are, however, endowed with the spiritual gift of complaining. They say, "I hate the church. The church just wants my money." As if the church wants his futon, Xbox, light beer, and computer filled with free Internet porn.

Here's the cold hard truth: it's a lot harder to do something than it is to complain about those who are doing something. The notorious sin of Christian guys is complaining about guys who are doing something rather than doing something.

Real Men: Creators and Cultivators

Paul says a man is "the image and glory of God" (1 Cor. 11:7). He is to reflect the truth, goodness, love, and mercy of Jesus, his God and Savior. He is the glory of God.

I have no hope in guys. But I still have hope for the guys because they are the glory of God. God wants his glory to shine through men. God wants his kingdom to be made visible through them. God wants them be his sons. God wants them to follow, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the example of Jesus.

I don't care if you buy a truck or play some video games or rock out on your guitar. But the problem is when those are prevalent, predominant, and preeminent in your life. Some of you guys would argue and say, "It's not a sin." No, but sometimes it's just dumb. You got fired because you were up trying to get to the next level and become a guild leader. That's dumb. You work one part-time job so you can play more guitar or Frisbee golf. That's dumb. You spend all your money on a new car or truck, or toys, or gear, or clothes, or gambling, or fantasy football. Dumb. Some of you say, "Well, it's not a sin." Neither is eating your lawnmower. It's just dumb. There are a lot of things that Christian guys do that aren't evil, they're just dumb and childish.

Men, you are to be creators and cultivators. God is a creator and a cultivator and you were made to image him. Create a family and cultivate your wife and children. Create a ministry and cultivate other people. Create a business and cultivate it. Be a giver, not a taker, a producer and not just a consumer. Stop looking for the path of least resistance and start running down the path of greatest glory to God and good to others because that's what Jesus, the real man, did.

-Mark Driscoll

(Article is from the Washington Post and was written by Mark Driscoll; http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/mark_driscoll/2010/08/the_world_is_filled_with_boys_who_can_shave.html)

Jesus in the Old Testament

Do you ever feel like the bible is about you? Watch this video about Jesus in the Old Testament.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkNa6tLWrqk&feature=player_embedded

Speaking of Gender Role Confusion

I just found this article on this morning. Several things just made me shake my head. Men don't know what it means to be a man anymore. There is a very real sense of confusion in this article. I think it provides some insight into what I was speaking of in my last post.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/08/20/p.meet.modern.dad/index.html?hpt=Mid

Daddy, what does it mean to be a MAN?

I anticipate that one day I’ll have the privilege of answering this question for my boys. I hope that I will have modeled biblical masculinity for them in such a way that it will take little explanation. I fear that men and women in our culture would have a very hard time defining manhood or womanhood. Feminists have for a long time successfully fought for a society that erases the lines delineating between what makes us distinctly male or female. The results are obvious to the casual observer of our current pop-culture. While reading an article by John Piper on complementarianism I came across this interesting quote:

“The tendency today is to stress the equality of men and women by minimizing the unique significance of our maleness or femaleness. But this depreciation of male and female personhood is a great loss. It is taking a tremendous toll on generations of young men and women who do not know what it means to be a man or a woman. Confusion over the meaning of sexual personhood today is epidemic. The consequence of this confusion is not a free and happy harmony among gender-free persons relating on the basis of abstract competencies. The consequence rather is more divorce, more homosexuality, more sexual abuse, more promiscuity, more social awkwardness, and more emotional distress and suicide that come with the loss of God-given identity.” (A Vision of Biblical Complementarity, pp. 26-27, John Piper)

While the scope of consequences to our culture are shocking, the benefits of a biblical understanding of sexuality are equally pervasive. It will change your entire world view. Truth always does.

For more reading on this topic check out Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by Wayne Grudem and John Piper

Search for For more reading on this topic check out Recovering Biblical ... Search for a map Translate

Source: Attribution goes here

About Bing Highlights

Bing Highlights

Version 1.0.0 (12)

Copyright © 2010 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Support

Source: Attribution goes here

About Bing Highlights

Graduate

“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:11-14

Christians are often too satisfied with their spiritual grade level. This passage in Hebrews speaks of the person who receives all their spiritual food in the form of milk. They cannot seem to grow up. It’s as if they’re stuck in the 1st grade.

DON’T BE SATISFIED

with being a spiritual 1st grader

for the rest of your life!

So what do you do? Move on to the next level of curriculum. This isn’t public school... no one is going to tell you when to graduate and move up to the next level. The bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit is ultimately the One who is in charge of our sanctification. But it seems like this passage tells us that we can stay an infant in our walk simply by choosing to keep feeding on what an infant feeds on. This would be “anyone who lives on milk”.

You may look around and see other Christians who seem to be so “gifted” in their understanding of the bible. But I would argue that most of the time it is those who have made the decision to graduate to that next level in their study of scripture! They have put in countless hours alone with Jesus just sitting at his feet. They have determined that the message they hear on Sundays isn’t enough to nourish their spirit, and so they feast on God’s word every day!

You are probably an expert on some subject. Think about your hobbies. There are things that you have researched, studied, practiced, talked about and dreamed about. You become an expert on whatever it is that gets you excited. You learn without even thinking about it. I heard a great motto the other day. “No bible, no breakfast”. Jesus said,

“Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4)

This is more important than anything you have planned today. It’s even more important that your physical nourishment. Just as the body cannot live without food, the spirit (your new spirit birthed in you when you became a Christian) cannot live without feeding on the Word of God. It’s up to you. Go deeper. Study harder. Graduate.

New Middle Road Francis Chan Video (4 min)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7MdYV8gRws

Know the Lord!

This is what the Lord says:

"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,

but let him who boasts boast about this:

that he understands and knows me..."

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Leader or Manager?

I remember turning 15 and getting my learner’s permit. For a year I drove under the close and constant supervision of my parents. They taught me so much during that year about how to drive a car… but the majority of what I learned came naturally just by being the one behind the wheel. Then on my 16^th birthday I got my driver’s license. I was on my own. My dad handed me the keys to my very own car. I remember taking my dad out for a drive for the first time! It was finally time for me to drive him without needing him in the car. But to my disappointment he didn’t see it that way. He constantly told me when to start braking, or that I was going too fast. I remember being so frustrated that I thought, “either he is going to have to drive or else just get out of the car”. The problem was that as long as he was in the car, he couldn’t let go and trust me to be in control of the car. His lack of trust in me was a killjoy.

I couldn’t enjoy my new level of responsibility

because I didn’t even FEEL like I was the one driving.

No one likes a back seat driver!

Many pastors are guilty of being a back seat driver. They give leadership over to a person in the church but then fail to let go of control. They just can’t trust that God wants to use people who are different than themselves and who do things differently than they would do them. Therefore many pastors begin to micromanage their churches.

MICROMANAGE (verb) - control of every part, however small, of an enterprise or activity.

So what’s wrong with micromanaging a church if you are the pastor, head elder, and vision caster? First of all, micromanagement stifles the leadership of others. And this is a bad thing! God does not want one person to be the all controlling leader of a church, but rather one leader is vision casting while many leaders (under that vision) are leading out in that direction using various styles, methods and giftings. Hopefully the head pastor has a God-given vision for the direction of his church. However, a strong belief in the vision God has given does not come without it’s challenges. The call into pastoral ministry comes with a very strong opinion of the way things need to be done and how things should work. Therefore I believe that many pastors have a real struggle when it comes to relinquishing control. This will not only smother other leaders but will also hinder the Spirit’s control. God does not intend for any church to be one man’s baby, but many pastors see their church as just that. God wants the local church to be a conglomeration of multiple leaders with multiple strengths and inevitably multiple weaknesses. But the point is that we all have our blind spots. Every pastor has blind spots and so churches need multiple leaders all with different blind spots to lead in their respective areas of strength. This is what John Piper has to say about micromanaging;

“I think micromanaging—that is, constantly second-guessing the decisions that your staff is making—will destroy their confidence, morale, and delight in ministry. And besides, they're smart! They know what they're doing in their spheres better than I do. My perspective is limited and flawed.”

Churches need leaders and not managers. The fact is that a pastor who is micromanaging is not leading at all. A leader doesn’t do everything. That isn’t leading… that’s doing. Too many pastors wear too many hats at their church. Delegation of responsibilities only works if after you delegate you take your hands off! Give someone else the keys and then actually let them drive! Don’t try to make them drive the way you do. Get out of the car. Trust in God’s sovereignty! It is His church and not yours after all. Letting go of control takes humility.

I think a lot of people in leadership positions in the church don’t realize that they are micromanagers. George Barna produced a helpful chart contrasting how leaders tend to operate verses how managers operate. This full chart can be found in his book The Second Coming of the Church on page 37. Here are just a few of the more interesting differences between the two:

1.) Leaders tend to favor innovative thinking while managers tend to favor routine thinking

2.) Leaders tend to balance idealism and realism while managers tend to emphasize pragmatism

3.) Leaders tend to encourage revolutionary flair and managers are protectors of the status quo

4.) Leaders clarify the vision and managers implement the vision

5.) Leaders are excited by change and managers are threatened by change

6.) Leaders take risks while managers avoid risks

Encourage leadership in your church by handing over the keys and getting out of the car. Bold, entrepreneurial, risk taking, leaders will be frustrated and the Spirit quenched if one man has his hands in every ministry and decision made within the church. Trust. Cast vision and then watch as others take it and run with it!

For a great book on leadership within the church check out Leaders Who Last by Dave Kraft

DEMONS

"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them." C.S. Lewis

I’ve been thinking about this quote and believe that I tend to err on the side of not giving Satan and demons enough thought. In other words, I ignore an enemy that hates me, wants to destroy me, spends every moment devising new ways to fight me and is smarter than me. Not very wise on my part. And I do agree with Lewis that it would be an equal error to have an excessive interest in them, but in this post I’m just going to address the issues with ignoring their existence.

Scripture explains that Christians are in a constant battle with an unseen enemy. We must not only battle against our flesh and the world, but also against a very intentional, very persistent and very illusive foe. We are not only to know that demons exist, but we must be aware of their tactics and practices and be mindful of their presence and activity in this world. Demons are at work around us, in our own lives. One of the most lucrative tactics used by this unseen enemy is to cause Christians to ignore and even completely forget about the battle waging around them.

WHAT SHOULD I DO?

1.) Study what the bible says about Satan, demons and the ways we should battle them. Know your enemy. It is never wise to go into a fight without knowing what you’re up against. Learn how Jesus stood against Satan and do as he did.

2.) Be alert. Don’t let your guard down. Simply begin to practice an awareness of the spiritual world all around you. Use your spiritual eyes and ears just as often as you use your physical eyes and ears.

3.) Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Fight. Stand firm. Pray at all times. Open your eyes. You are in a battle. Use your offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Replace lies you have believed with the Truth.

GOD or MONEY

Jesus said it, "You cannot serve both God and money". (Matt. 6:24) You will be devoted only to one or the other. Often times people read right over the many verses in the bible about money without giving much thought as to how they apply to themselves personally. Jesus spoke of money more than any other subject. Why is it such a big subject of interest? Isn't Jesus just talking to those greedy, crooked, workaholic businessmen... or to those who spend more than they make and get themselves into huge debt... or to those who lavish themselves with all sorts of unnecessary luxury goods?

Of course that isn't the case. Jesus had all people in mind; even the frugal, sensible, middle class American... especially the frugal, sensible, middle class American!

Jesus wants our trust. Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding". Hebrews 11:6 says that "without faith it is impossible to please God". To put your faith in God is to trust him completely. So it is impossible to please God without trusting God!

“TRUST IN THE LORD

WITH ALL YOUR HEART

AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR

OWN UNDERSTANDING”

The way we use our money shows where our trust is. Are you putting trust in your money? Do you count on your money to bring you happiness? Do you count on money to provide you with security for the days ahead? Imagine yourself with a much lower paying job and a smaller house with less money to spend on the non-essentials... is that person less happy? Do you trust God to satisfy you completely? Do you trust God to provide for your future whether or not you have any money in savings?

It is impossible to serve both God and money. It is impossible to trust in both God and money. If you trust in money, you will be devoted to money... to earning it, saving it, and to the things that money will get you including possessions AND entertainment.

God wants us to spend our money in such a way that it shows the world that our trust and our satisfaction is in Him and not money!

God or Money

Jesus said it, "You cannot serve both God and money". (Matt. 6:24) You will be devoted only to one or the other. Often times people read right over the many verses in the bible about money without giving much thought as to how they apply to themselves personally. Jesus spoke of money more than any other subject. Why is it such a big subject of interest? Isn't Jesus just talking to those greedy, crooked, workaholic businessmen... or to those who spend more than they make and get themselves into huge debt... or to those who lavish themselves with all sorts of unnecessary luxury goods?

Of course that isn't the case. Jesus had all people in mind; even the frugal, sensible, middle class American... especially the frugal, sensible, middle class American!

Jesus wants our trust. Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding". Hebrews 11:6 says that "without faith it is impossible to please God". To put your faith in God is to trust him completely. So it is impossible to please God without trusting God!

“TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART

AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR

OWN UNDERSTANDING”

The way we use our money shows where our trust is. Are you putting trust in your money? Do you count on your money to bring you happiness? Do you count on money to provide you with security for the days ahead? Imagine yourself with a much lower paying job and a smaller house with less money to spend on the non-essentials... is that person less happy? Do you trust God to satisfy you completely? Do you trust God to provide for your future whether or not you have any money in savings?

It is impossible to serve both God and money. It is impossible to trust in both God and money. If you trust in money, you will be devoted to money... to earning it, saving it, and to the things that money will get you including possessions AND entertainment.

God wants us to spend our money in such a way that it shows the world that our trust and our satisfaction is in God and not money!

5 Ways to Know if You’re Really a Christian

This post was taken from TheResurgence.com website.

Owen Strachan Instructor of Christian Theology - Boyce College

Jonathan Edwards sought to promote vibrant Christian faith through teaching people what the “marks,” or signs, of godly living actually are. He did so not merely because he was really smart and liked categorizing things, but because he wanted Christians to experience the joy of true Christianity and then spread that joy to others. In short, he was a missional pastor before the vodcasts and fauxhawks.

1. You Love Jesus

In his 1741 text Distinguishing Marks of a True Work of the Spirit of God, Edwards laid out a number of negative and positive signs that distinguished a true work of God from a false one. Though Edwards focused in this text on revivals more broadly, his words apply to individuals seeking to discern whether they know the Lord.

The first of these signs was a “raised esteem” for Jesus Christ. The point of this first sign is that when the Spirit moves in a person’s heart and awakens them to faith and repentance, their view of Jesus changes. The nominal believer respects Jesus, but does not reverence or exalt him. The true Christian takes delight in Jesus, a delight that is often palpable and contagious. As we serve on mission for God by promoting the gospel, we should expect to see a “raised esteem” for Jesus Christ, the author of our redemption.

2. You Hate Sin

The second sign of a “true work” is an increased hatred for sin and defeat of sinful practices.

When the spirit that is at work operates against the interest of Satan’s kingdom, which lies in encouraging and establishing sin, and cherishing men’s worldly lusts; this is a sure sign that ’tis a true, and not a false spirit… So that we may safely determine, from what the Apostle says, that the spirit that is at work amongst a people… and convinces them of the dreadfulness of sin, the guilt that it brings, and the misery that it exposes to: I say, the spirit that operates after such a manner, must needs be the Spirit of God (Works 4, 250-51).

This point, like the others, is both profound and simple. One of the clear signs of a work of God is increased hatred for sin. Our eyes are suddenly opened to see the dreadfulness of one’s condition. Where before one had spotted weaknesses and flaws, but always had excuses at the ready to cover up those personal blemishes, now the Spirit shows the sinner just how degraded and evil he is.

3. You Love God’s Word

The third sign of a “true work” is a love for the Bible. Edwards tied this love for Scripture not to simple literary appreciation for its contents, but to a Spirit-given hunger and thirst for the Word of God:

That spirit that operates in such a manner, as to cause in men a greater regard to the Holy Scriptures, and establishes them more in their truth and divinity, is certainly the Spirit of God… The Devil never would go about to beget in persons a regard to that divine Word, which God hath given to be the great and standing rule for the direction of his church in all religious matters and concerns of their souls, in all ages. (Works 4, 250)

Many people respect the Bible. It is known as a “holy book,” a sacred text. But few people view it as the actual word of God that God himself “has appointed and inspired to deliver to his church its rule of faith and practice” as “the great and standing rule for the direction of his church.” Where a person’s heart flames with love and holy “regard” for the Scriptures, the Spirit has worked.

4. You Love Truth

The fourth sign that marked the presence of a “true work” was a heightened love for truth and the things of God.

An awareness and responsiveness to divine truth was a clear signal that the Lord had moved in human hearts. So where people came to see “that there is a God” and that he is “great” and “sin-hating,” and that they themselves have “immortal souls” and “must give account of themselves to God,” the Spirit was working true conversion.

Edwards rightly noted that the Spirit does not lead believers into error. Therefore, when we hear news of conversion, whether mass or individual, we need to listen for resonances of the truth in the testimony of the convert. Do they love the truth more? Do they love God more? Do they subscribe to sound doctrine, and root their faith in it? Missional Christians seek to hate sin and to lead others to do the same.

5. You Love Believers

The final positive sign in Edwards’s taxonomy of the Spirit’s “true work” was love for one’s fellow Christians.

Many people who profess Christ lose their footing on this final point. They may well appreciate fellow church members and contribute in some way to their well-being, but they have not been filled by the Lord with a holy love for fellow Christians, and thus they do not serve them. True conversion will cause stable couples to take in young Christians hungry for discipleship. It will lead Christians to give generously to missionaries and fellow believers (see 2 Corinthians 8). It will drive older believers to spend time mentoring younger ones (see Titus 2).

In the end, the way one cares for one’s fellow members says more about our testimony of conversion and our understanding of gospel mission than we might initially think. True Christians serve their fellow members out of love, as a response to the grace of Jesus.

(Adapted from Chapter Three of Jonathan Edwards on True Christianity from The Essential Edwards Collection)

Discipleship

I’ve been discipled in my past and have done some discipling as well. That certainly doesn’t make me a theologian, but it does give me a testimony to the way the Lord has used discipleship in my life. The Lord has rescued me out of a spiritual desert and used a discipleship relationship to revive my walk. My walk was dry and I was living in sin and God used a relationship with a person to pull me out of the desert.

That being said, let’s think about what keeps us from discipleship. I know of a few things that kept me from it for a long time.

1.) PRIDE Maybe we don’t want to ask another person to teach us, because it would mean that we are admitting weakness, or perhaps we aren’t sure that someone else can really add to what we already know.

• If that would describe you, think about this; a student wants to learn what a teacher knows, a disciple wants to live as the teacher lives. Maybe you have a lot figured out about the bible but you need someone to show you how to live what you already know. We don’t need more knowledge… we need a deeper surrender.

2.) COMPLACENCY It is likely that nearly every Christian in America is too content with our relationship with Jesus. Don’t brush that statement off until you ask the Lord if He could stand for you to seek Him harder. Complacency is a silent and sly killer, and almost always goes unnoticed.

3.) NEGLECT I believe that the biggest reason that people who love the Lord have little to do with discipleship is we have lost the vision Christ had for the church. Maybe if we can regain His vision for the church, our pride and our complacency will be crushed by our desire to do what Christ has told us to do… that is, “make disciples”. However, we will fail at making disciples unless we first become disciples. Jesus told 11 men to go make disciples, and He didn’t have to explain what He meant by that because they had been His disciples for over 3 years.

Christ’s Vision for the Church

Have you ever thought about what Jesus spent most of His ministry doing? I would bet that it wasn’t preaching, or private prayer, or even healing. Jesus spent three years with 12 men. He was living life with them. In essence Jesus spent the majority of His ministry hanging out! Don’t think I am secularizing Christ’s ministry. There was nothing worldly about the time Jesus spent with His twelve disciples. Isn’t it widely agreed upon that our God highly values relationships? Who were Jesus’ best friends? Think about this, the disciples spent 3 years with their teacher, Jesus. As we are taught, so we will teach.

Picture the disciples talking after the Spirit has fallen on the day of Pentecost and 3,000 were saved. They must have had a terrifying realization of the responsibility that was now theirs. The church was growing. I can just picture them saying, “What do we do now? We can’t possibly keep up with all 3000 people ourselves.” And it was never intended that they would have to. No pastor can preach the exact message that every person is needs to hear every week. He can’t possibly know the individual spiritual needs of every person. This is why discipleship is so incredibly crucial. Our Lord designed the church in such a way that we are to sharpen each other. “If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another…” (1 John 1:7) This is a simple equation, our relationships with our brothers and sisters will strengthen our relationship with the Lord, and as our relationship with the Lord increases we will grow in our relationships with others.

So going back to the day of Pentecost. Just what happened with the 3,000 believers added to the church? Acts 2:42 tells us,“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to FELLOWSHIP, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Amazingly, fellowship is mentioned along with such important disciplines as study, prayer, and the Lord’s supper! Have we missed the importance of this? Have we missed Christ’s holy vision for the church? The apostles were simply teaching others as the Lord had taught them, through a relationship. “And the Lord was adding to their number day by day.” (Acts 2:47) The early church DEVOTED themselves to fellowship, and I fear that we have simply treated it as something that we can do as of last importance when our schedules allow it. They spent SO MUCH time together! Jesus says that the world will know that we are His disciples because of our love for one another. The early church fellowshipped “day by day” (Acts 2:46) and this is what I’m learning that discipleship is… hanging out. Let’s not allow the world’s view of hanging out, ruin our perspective on it. Instead let’s get a sanctified view of hanging out. When believers who are walking with the Lord hang out, Christ is present and fellowship happens. When believers intentionally fellowship with Christ at the center, discipleship happens. When discipleship happens the church grows in spiritual maturity and as a result God grows his church!

---