Unity in the Church of Turf Shepherds

It was at least 25 years ago that I was introduced to the concept of “turf shepherds,” that is people in church who guard their little area of “service” within the church. I use the word “service” carefully, because to me implied in service is servanthood. But a ‘turf shepherd’ has their name written all over the area of church life in which they are involved.

It takes all shapes and sizes, and it is not tied to any age bracket or economic strata. I have seen people who seemingly love the Lord get all bent out of shape whenever someone new gets involved in what they have had the responsibility for in the past. It can be as simple as who sits in a particular place, and as complex as who serves as the chairman of some ministry team.

Two brothers asked Jesus one day, “Grant it Lord that when You come into Your Kingdom, we may have the seats of honor, one on your left, and one on your right.” It stirred up quite a controversy among the apostles. The others were not so angry at the audacity of these two as they were jealous wanting that position for themselves.

As early as the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve at the forbidden fruit in a quest to be their own “god”, or to be “gods” themselves, there is this bent toward selfishness that comprises our sin nature. Thus, Jesus said, “If any one wants to come after me, let them deny themselves…”

Jesus prayed for unity in the church.(John 17). If there is to be unity, we must all die to self. We must be willing to take the most humble of responsibilities, such as washing feet. We must be willing to let others receive places of recognition to our own detriment. We must place others before ourselves. Paul wrote to the Ephesians and said, “Be diligent to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” He told the Corinthians they were acting like a bunch of babies because of their divisions.

We don’t mind embracing change so much, until it impacts our “turf”. But if the Kingdom of God is to take priority, we must surrender everything, including our little territories and let God receive all the glory.

What Will You Do in 2012?

It is hard to believe that 2011 is almost gone. Completely gone. Did you spend it, waste it, or invest it? And now that 2012 is here, what will you do with it? Let me tell you what I have determined for me.

I am going to spend 2012 the way that I want to spend the rest of my life, committed to two priorities in my ministry: Discipleship and Missions. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and make disciples.” Discipleship is a lifetime process, but disciples are made, not born. Jesus didn’t say, “Go make converts.” He said, “Make disciples.” A disciple is one who follows Jesus, is transformed by Jesus in character, and who adopts the mission of Jesus in this world.”

Missions is not geographical. It is up to God to determine where on the map, but it is intentional. For me missions is twofold: It is about engaging lostness with the Gospel, and planting churches. It is doing what Christ called us to do.

We made a fresh start in the church I serve as pastor this year. In October, we relaunched as Church Unleashed @ Beulah. We are the same, but different. We are still a denominational church (Southern Baptist), but that is not foremost. Foremost is our commitment to the Lordship of Christ, the authority of Scripture, and Advancing the Kingdom of God. We have chosen the vehicle of the SBC as our transportation in this journey. That does not mean we do not have strong convictions about how we do what we do. We are who we are by choices based on our convictions.

In a sense you might say, “We are not your grandmother’s Baptist church.” I do not mean anything offensive at all by that statement. Grandmother’s church was great for grandmother’s day. We must never compromise the Word of God and the misison of the church.Those essentials never change. But we must adjust our methodology to reach our current generation. We have have embraced our heritage deeply and securely, but we are determined to appreciate it, not worship it. We will build on our history as we engage our future.So in saying that we have changed, we have not compromised truth, but we are seeking to engage our contemporary Gospel with the truth with methods of ministry that are authentic, engaging, and even fun.

Some may have struggled with this transition. If you are one of those, we invite you to embrace the God given vision of impacting this community and reaching the ends of the earth. Join us in that effort. If you cannot do it through Church Unleashed, if you feel God has lead you somewhere else to serve we will love you, pray for you, and consider you our common workers in the mission of God.This is an exciting time and opportunity before all of us. Already we are seeing God move in our church and community in a powerful way. SO how will you greet 2012? Will you spend it, or will you invest it? I am confident you will not waste it. God bless you.

Surprised by Joy

When Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt to find food during a time of famine, it was quite a surprise to discover their younger brother Joseph as prime minister there. They had, after all, sold him into slavery. They were afraid. But Joseph said, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” (Gen. 50:20)

I received a less than nice email yesterday from someone upset about changes that were being made at church. As a parting jab they said, “Our church will never be the same.” My immediate thought was, “Please God, I hope that is true. Let us never be the same again. Our community needs to hear the Gospel. Give us Your heart. Give us Your desire for this world.”

They intended it as a hurtful comment as they shared their longing for a past “good ol’ days” approach. But God means it for good. Let us never be the same. Let us grow and improve everyday.

One change I long for is that our congregation be “surprised by joy.”
The scripture says that in God’s Presence is the fullness of joy. Seems to me that means those who spend time with God are going to exhibit joy. Those who don’t live with joy in their lives, well, that speaks for itself.

Joy attracts others. Joy is contagious. “O God replace all complaining and criticizing with your joy.In Jesus’ name.”