In some ways I feel like Darren from Bewitched.

One of the exciting new frontiers being re-explored in the world of missions and ministry is that of the “five-fold ministry”. In Ephesians, the apostle Paul describes how Christ has given the church a palette of leadership that works to lead a church and the lost into the Kingdom of God. The list of “gifted leadership” Paul writes is, “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers”. This is not a complete list - but it does set the stage for a foundation of balanced leadership within a family of faith.

I’m very interested to see how God will use this concept in the communities of faith I find myself in. What do apostles and prophets look like? (Katrina does a great job of describing prophets here.)

Pastors are almost never the leaders of a congregation - they are right in the midst of the flock, smelling keenly of sheep, and loving the tar out of anyone within the fold.

Teachers also work within the relationship matrix of the faith community, instilling a groundwork of God’s Word into the lives of the believers.

Prophets are the misunderstood, wild-eyed proclaimers of what they have seen God doing several miles ahead of the flock. They’ve tasted the “grass that is greener on the other side” and want the flock to leave the barren desert they are in and move on to better things.

Apostles are not quite as far off as prophets, but they are atop the next hill, and they usually live for the whole flock, without knowing many of the flocks specific names. They eat, sleep, drink and live missions, constantly reminding everyone of the big picture God has in store for them.

Evangelists are the go-between in some ways between the inner pastors and teachers and the outer prophets and apostles. Evangelists live in the world, mostly away from the flock. However, when a lost sheep is found, it is the evangelist who kindly introduces him the the rest of the sheep.

I think my wife is a prophet. Just a few hours of conversation with her will show you this. It is a challenge and a joy to live with someone who mourns for a church. She views everything from “God’s lenses” and feels that burning in her heart to tell others about what she has heard from the Lord. Her biggest obstacle (as with all prophets) is sharing what she hears from the Lord with others.

As we finish out the semester, I begin to think about the many things I have learned and been challenged by. This semester it seems more than others, that I have truly been “revolutionized”. At the start of 2005, I was desperate for a spiritual community, and as a minister at a local congregation, I began working within the system to cultivate an environment where such a community could grow.

Over the summer we tried something called “Anchor Teams” which was intended to be a small group devoted to each other, the spiritual disciplines, and hearing the voice of God. As the summer went on however, we found that there was little support from the congregation at large, and little internal motivation to add “one more thing” to our busy-church lives. What was supposed to bring life truly was draining us. We were making this harder than it was supposed to be.

This fall I began going to two churches (sort of). Sundays were committed to the church I worked for, but as partial requirement for a class I was in, I also attended a “simple church” in my professor’s living room. This gathering was different. It focused on personal and communal discipleship with God’s Word, week-long interaction with each other, and mission into a community. Some people call this the DNA of church - Divine truth, Nurturing relationships, and Apostolic mission.

The dichotomy found between the two structures of church was stifling, but Katrina and I still needed time to pray and ask whether God was calling us to living as this kind of “simple” church. Now I know God has called me to throw off all the excess in ministry (committees, building management, etc) and focus on life transformation. I don’t know where this will lead us, but I step out in faith that God will come through.

Spring is a time of renewal and growth. Where will we be at the end of spring? Only God knows. Possibly sitting in the home of another friend who has begun making his house a church’s gathering place - maybe walking and praying around our block, asking God to save one or two of our neighbors, and begin building friendships with them - maybe as simple as starting an LTG with one other Christian brother/sister. We are ready to follow the Lord!

But where does that leave us with the church I work for? I plan to talk to the elders about that very question in the upcoming week. Please be in prayer for us as these conversations unfold.

Last night at my church’s bible study was pretty interesting…

The teacher of the class was trying to facilitate an engaging discussion on evangelism, but for some reason, people weren’t talking. I’m not sure if it is because there was a lack of interest, or fear for saying something wrong among the group, or simply a seasoning of guilt laying thick in the room - maybe all and none of those things.

A statistic was presented to us: a nearby church had done a survey of its members, and discovered that only 4% of its hundreds of members had been involved in leading someone to Christ in the past year. That’s actually better than the national average. George Barna says in his book Revolution that the average American Christian will live and die without leading a single person to faith in Christ. If Jesus seemed to live and die evangelism, speaking the Good News to everyone he came into contact with, are we truly his followers if we do not do the same? What’s the deal here?

After the class had finished, I heard the teacher and another brother talking about the women at the well in John 4. In that story, Jesus says that he brings “living water” that will never leave her thirsty again. But this amazing drink doesn’t stop there, it actually bubbles over, becoming a “perpetual spring” for everyone in proximity. Why aren’t I and so many Christians involved in evangelism? Maybe it is because our “spring water” isn’t bubbling over; we are not drinking Christ’s living water. In other words, if we aren’t being transformed and renewed by the message of God, what makes it such “Good News” that we should share it with anyone else? After the woman had this conversation with Jesus I believe she tasted that living water. I believe this because only a little while later, the woman enters the nearby town and begins sharing the great news that she had found the Messiah! Her spring was bubbling over…

I must be honest; I am exhausted with the Christian faith that says “no transformation, no requirements, no regrets”. I am seeing anemic Christians starving themselves to death even among the most “vital” churches in our world. What has happened to the life that is changed? Where is the “hearts burning within us”? Why is it the NORM to keep our faith to ourselves??? I repent of subscribing to this plastic-faith. I will live my life now on the basis of a genuine outpouring of God’s living water within me. As I go through life, my conversations will find Jesus right in the middle of them. I will speak to the goodness of Jesus in both my actions and my words. Time to stop wasting time with Christianity. Now I’m taking this stuff seriously.