Once a year we set aside a Sunday to talk about the state of the Church… to talk about our vision, about the future, and affirm our slate of leaders for this next season. A few of us were reflecting on 2020. In 2020, we did a message called “2020 Vision.” Little did we realize that nobody had “20/20 Vision” in “2020.” By Easter, our whole world got turned upside down! In 2021 our state of the church message was “Hey, we survived!” “We’re still here!” “Let’s keep going!”
So now it’s 2022, what are we to say? I’ve never felt like one of those preachers who has a “direct line” to God. I’d probably be terrified if God spoke audibly to me one day, or if a finger appeared and began writing a message on my office wall. Like you, I have to become still, and really seek God through prayer and through his Word. I’m always suspicious when some leader announces, “God told me to do [some really specific thing].” God humbled a whole lot of leaders in 2020!
One thing that seems to matter less these days is the Church’s physical facilities. Churches have had a “if you build it, they will come” mentality. Well guess what? Church attendance has dropped like a rock. It’s not all because of COVID. We have all these ideological wedges being driven through our faith communities.
In a recent NYT article titled “The Dissenters Trying to Save Evangelicalism from Itself”, David Brooks writes, “Think of your 12 closest friends. These are the people you vacation with, talk about your problems with, do life with in the most intimate and meaningful ways. Now imagine if six of those people suddenly took a political or public position you found utterly vile. Now imagine learning that those six people think that your position is utterly vile. You would suddenly realize that the people you thought you knew best and cared about most had actually been total strangers all along. You would feel disoriented, disturbed, unmoored. Your life would change. This is what has happened over the past six years to millions of American Christians, especially evangelicals.”
Our relationship landscape has been completely disrupted! At first, churches thought that going “digital” would save the day. Just like that, in 2020, all us pastors became televangelists. Online viewership skyrocketed, but then after a few months the numbers came crashing down. Some said, “No, you’ve got to be phy-gital… physical + digital, think physical campus + virtual campus.” At a recent minister’s gathering, some great advice was given: “Imagine you’re starting all over again. Imagine you are a church plant. Imagine you are a lone missionary in a strange new land. How would you start from scratch?”
Let me just say, we’re not starting from scratch. Not entirely. We have a very strong “physical” and “virtual” presence. Physically we are in the process of “regathering.” People and guests are starting to pop in again. Groups and classes are meeting again. Digitally or Virtually, there is small but significant viewership. Honestly, it’s hard to worship behind a screen. The kids are playing, the cat is purring, the dog is barking, the dishwasher is humming, there’s no accountability, you’re easily distracted, notifications are popping up. You’re isolated and alone.
As we’ve studied the gospel of John, I’ve realized there is something more critical than going physical or digital—it’s going personal! You don’t get more personal than God becoming Human… spirit becoming flesh and blood… God tabernacling (camping out) among us in human form… Jesus coming, revealing, exegeting the Father face-to-face. No place was too obscure for Jesus, no person too small or insignificant. He’s in the wilderness, in Nazareth, in Cana, in Galilee, in Jerusalem. He’s among common fishermen, then at a wedding, then meeting Jewish leaders, a Roman official, then he’s talking to that woman of Samaria. Then he’s found spending 2-3 days in Sychar, some Samaritan village.
If we are indeed starting all over again, what better way than to go personal? In the Gospel of John, the gospel spreads person-to-person, individual-to-individual, typically along established relationships. Sometimes it leaps from network-to-network, across geographies, across people groups! But it most always spreads virally, through personal proximity, face-to-face, “whites of the eyes”, life- on-life connection. The gospel doesn’t really spread impersonally.
Allow me to share a three-fold vision for how (we as a church, you as an individual) can make a greater impact like Jesus. First, our vision is to GO WIDER THAN EVER BEFORE. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the World. . .” In Genesis 12:3 God promised Abraham that “all nations on earth would be blessed through your seed (offspring).” In Matthew 28:18 Jesus commanded us to “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Going wider is about helping more people find God than ever before!
The chief strategy Jesus employed to help people find God was personal conversations. In fact, the Gospel of John is an expansive synopsis of one conversation after another. Conversations with Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathaniel, Nicodemus, a Samaritan Woman, a Samaritan village, a father, a paralytic man. We should think of ourselves as a conversational bridge between God and man. We pray and talk to God about people. We witness and talk to people about God. John the Baptist was a witness of God. Jesus was a witness of God. We too are witnesses!
A witness has a testimony. John the Baptist’s testimony was, “behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. I saw the Spirit of God descend upon him. I have seen and testify that this is the Son of God.” Jesus’ testimony was, “Nobody has ever seen the Father, but his One and Only Son has made him known!” Andrew’s testimony was, “We’ve found the Messiah. Philip’s was, “We’ve found the one Moses wrote about in the Law…” Nathaniel’s was, “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Nicodemus’ was, “No one could perform these signs unless God were with him.” The Woman of Samaria said, “He told me everything I ever did.” The people of Sychar’s testimony was, “We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.” What is your testimony about Jesus?
Now, not everyone will accept our testimony. But if we never have a conversation in the first place…how will they hear if no one preaches? How will they hear if no one is sent? Our vision is to GO WIDER THAN EVER BEFORE. Helping people find God. A key strategy is to have conversations.
Second, our vision is to GO DEEPER THAN EVER BEFORE. In John 4:34 Jesus tells his disciples, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” In Matthew 28:18-19 Jesus says, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded.” If going “wider” is about quantity, going “deeper” is about quality. Jesus, what is the greatest commandment? It’s to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, body, soul, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Going deeper is about helping more people follow Jesus than ever before!
The chief strategy to help people follow Jesus is practicing community. Jesus’ first order of business was to surround himself with like-minded disciples. Disciples are people who are energized… whose very food… is doing the will of God! In the gospel of John, the disciples grow to “Believe” just as Jesus believed. Second, they “Become” just like Jesus. They are baptized in the Spirit, born again, and learn to walk according to the Spirit instead of according to flesh and darkness. Third, they “Build” Jesus Kingdom. They baptize others. They teach others. They learn to love one another, to wash each other’s feet, to sacrifice, to serve. Fourth, they “Brave” Jesus’ Mission. Just as the Father sent the Son, and the Son sent the Spirit, so the Disciples are sent. In John 17 Jesus prays they would be in the world without becoming of the world. He prayed that all the world would know they were his disciples by their practice of love.
I think it’s important to amplify what Jesus says in John 4:34. His food is to “do” the will of God. Sometimes people will complain they’re not “being fed” by their church. The assumption is that what most feeds us is listening to sermons, attending Bible studies, learning, acquiring knowledge. Going deep, being fed, isn’t primarily about hearing, it’s about doing. Not just learning but learning to “obey.” Not just teaching content but teaching people “to obey.”
Now in order to practice community you need to create a circle of community around you. Your marriage is a circle. Your family. Within that circle everyone energized to know and do the will of God! But your family isn’t a big enough circle. Families need to be in community with families. Men with men. Women with women. Couples with couples. Old with young; young with old. Iron sharpening iron. Love for God, love for people… love multiplying exponentially as the church builds herself up in love.
Our vision is to GO WIDER THAN EVER BEFORE. Helping people find God. Our vision is to GO DEEPER THAN EVER BEFORE. Helping people follow Jesus.
Third, our vision is to GO LONGER THAN EVER BEFORE. In John 4:34 Jesus tells his disciples, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me AND to finish his work.” As Jesus hung, dying on the cross, he uttered the most profound words ever spoken in death. He cried out, “It is finished.” Jesus died having the satisfaction that he completed the Work God sent Him to compete. Going Long is about helping more people than ever before, Finish their work… Fulfill their Purpose.
The chief strategy to help people fulfill their purpose is co-laboring. Jesus didn’t do the work of the Father alone. He gathered around himself disciples he desired, that he loved, that he enjoyed. And he eventually co-missioned these disciples to be his apostles. They would form life-long bonds serving God, with each other and many others, unto death.
I have no doubt that you can find a meaningful purpose for your life. You don’t need God to be busy, to find a measure of meaning and purpose. But few if any ever discover their capital “P” Purpose… the truly great works God created us in Christ Jesus to fulfill. What would it look like for you to open your eyes, and pray to the Lord of the harvest, to send forth workers into his harvest field? Those who could lead 1s, 10s, 50s, 100s, 1000s to Christ? What would it look like to go longer than ever before… raising up a whole generation of young people whose food it is to do the will of God? What would you sacrifice to help Lakeside go wider, deeper, and longer than ever before?