09 Jan Reflecting on the Last Two Years (Part 1)

Wow, 2008 already. I have been reflecting over the past two years of my term as bishop. People often ask me if I enjoy what I do. I usually laugh and tell them I am not sure this job is supposed to be enjoyed. That is, however, not altogether true. I then explain that some aspects of my work are very enjoyable. They have included:

• Opportunity to ordain a pastor.
• Seeing congregations decide to become healthy.
• The National Conference 2007, where God showed up!
• Speaking in many of our churches, meeting some great people.
• Working with a fine staff: Pat, Gary, Steve, Marci, Tom, Donna, Marilyn, Cathy, Darlene, Phylis, and Mabel. They truly have a heart to serve you.
• Seeing some sparks of renewal in a few places and trying to fan those sparks into an inferno.
• The privilege to serve the United Brethren in Christ, USA
• Serving on the Huntington University board of trustees.
• Talking with pastors who have a passion and vision for the ministry God has given them.
• Working with our leadership teams.
• Helping to develop and participating in our weekend assessments of various congregations.
• And probably a lot more if I just thought about it.

However, certain aspects have been very challenging. When thinking about the challenges, I can’t help but think of that great “theologian,” Pogo, who once said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

There are two issues that I would like to discuss with you. I’ll post one today, and the second one on Friday.

1. The number of our churches that are being openly disobedient to the Great Commission.
The Great Commission is a command that our Lord left for his church. It is not something an individual Christian or a church can vote on. It is only something we can choose to obey or not. Do we really believe Jesus meant it when he said to go into the entire world and make disciples? Or was that just for those guys in the book of Acts? I think he really did mean it when he said we were to make disciples.

It could be that some are not clear about what the Great Commission involves. As a result, they might suffer from “Great Commissionitis” (Dr. James Engel, *Contemporary Christian Communication*, pg 27).

Dr. Engel says Great Commissionitis is “when evangelism is defined as the sum and substance of both individual and corporate Christian life.” Reaching those who do not know Jesus is certainly a big part of the Great Commission, but it also involves seeing the new believer become a fully devoted follower of Jesus. Thus the Great Commission does include evangelism, but it also involves training them to walk as mature believers. If a church is unhealthy, neither evangelism nor maturity is taking place. It is very simple: if Christians are maturing to become fully devoted followers of Jesus, they will also be developing contacts and relationships with individuals who do not yet know Jesus.

It really saddens me when pastors argue with me about this. Listen, every person we meet is somewhere on a continuum of become a fully devoted follower. Some may be far, far from God. Others might be closer. Some might be nearly ready. But if we do not engage them where there are, how can we ever move them closer to accepting Christ and continuing on the path to becoming a fully devoted follower?

So, whenever I use the term Great Commission, I am referring to the entire process–engaging persons who are far from God, helping them reach the point of trusting Jesus as their Savior, and then beginning the exciting process of becoming a mature follower.

I don’t get it! I mean, I really don’t get it! Why do so few pastors and churches seem to have the foggiest idea of what I’m talking about? I mean, this isn’t rocket science. Even those ignorant, smelly fishermen that Jesus called finally got it.

Let me ask you pastors and church leaders who might be reading this: what systems does your church have in place to allow this to happen? I mean, if a total stranger walks into your church this Sunday, what would you do? Do you have an assimilation system? An evangelism system? A discipleship system? Are any of the systems you have age-related, or do you just treat everyone the same? I can hear someone say, “Well, we don’t have any strangers that just walk into our church.” Probably not! I’ve found that most “strangers” that came to our church came on the arms of people who attended our church regularly. They may have been strangers to me, but not to the persons that brought them. God wants us to have individuals in our heart and on our arm.

This is not place specific. Even in the smallest of communities there is someone around that doesn’t know Jesus, whether it be strangers, friends, or relatives. What is your strategy to reach them in 2008?

That leads me to the second issue of concern: the amount of conflict that exists in so many of our churches. Check back on Friday for that.