SimpleChurch Journal

Who Are Your Peops?

Someone recently pointed out to me that it was others, not Jesus, who referred to him as a “friend of sinners.”  He never used those kinds of labels in referring to the people-in-need that he hung out with.

In fact, Jesus did not classify them at all, except perhaps when he called them ‘sheep without a shepherd.’  To him they were just people who needed to be cared about, cared for, and loved while living among.  He had dinner with them, hung out with them, and naturally experienced life in their midst.

In many ways, the people that others classified as ‘sinners’ were simply Jesus’ peops whom he deeply loved.  Maybe that’s why he had such an impact on them.  And maybe we would have more peops to hang out with if we didn’t have our own labels and classifications that are often barriers to simple, raw love.

Who are your peops?

Note: the Urban Dictionary defines peops as “a common abbreviation of the plural term ‘people’; i.e., peoples; i.e., peops (phonetically ‘peeps’).

Comments?

Resources for the Journey

Videos and More

Running around Africa earlier this month, I ran into some of the people from I Am Second who are regularly doing good things in the least likely places.

If you are not familiar with their videos and materials, this stuff is good and useful in every context for reaching, discipling, and gathering people into groups that equip themselves to go do the same.

Here is just one of many video-testimonies of a changed life by putting Jesus first and becoming ‘second.’

Good Blog Reading

My friend, Michael Hutcheson, blogs here and I enjoy his writings.  Here is a great article on community and discipleship that starts within our own heart and closest sphere from which it spreads to others.

Challenging Book

Stetzer and Rankin have authored the book Spiritual Warfare and Missions that challenges every believer to understand his role in the mission field throughout the world.  They call out Satan’s ongoing strategy to convince Christians that the Great Commission is optional. "Through deceit, he is eroding the authoritative mandate of Scripture, leading believers to tell themselves that international discipleship is a task better left to denomination and mission agencies—not the sort of kingdom work that every believer can do."

Getting Discipleship Right

Discipleship is critical. Discipleship is the means by which it all happens. Unless we get discipleship right, whatever we intend to achieve through the rest of what we achieve in missional movement is never going to happen. If we fail in discipleship, it fails”Alan Hirsch.

Defined correctly, I would even go further: Discipleship is the core functionality of what church is designed to be. Fail in discipleship and, ultimately, the church itself fails. To transform our world, the church must grasp the natural development of discipleship chains.

But, to back up this statement, we must work at a clear understanding of disciplemaking. It is a relationship rather than a program. Yet it is intentional rather than happenstance.

Discipling another means to assist them to become more like Jesus by showing them how to listen, love, and surrender to His purposes for their life. It is centered on helping that person know and follow Jesus through His Word and by His Spirit. Finally, it is helping that person to assist (disciple) others in the same way thus becoming a disciplemaker.

For me, simple/house church is a natural progression that comes out of disciplemaking because disciples gather, worship, pray, and learn from the word and Spirit in simple, participatory ways.

We focus too much on how to get ‘the gathering’ to work right, and not enough on what it means to see discipleship and discipleship chains formed in the context we are serving in.

How are you experiencing this where you hang?

Turning the Church Inside Out

Imagine all of the creative energy that has gone into developing church programs and presentations over the past 30 years: music, dramatic presentations, video clips and movies, stadium events, amazing venues, stunning programs, and much more.

Now, imagine that we take all of that creative, entrepreneurial energy and turn it loose outward on the needs of our communities and Jesus’ passion to see the least and the most marginalized reached. What could happen?

Perhaps something amazing.

Simple/house churches may get us out of the building, but as we also reclaim the apostolic nature of the church that is meant to be a going, sending church, perhaps this creative energy will, indeed, spill out into the streets where it is needed most!