The following is an article by Gary on the nature of a missional church.... Your Gaze Reveals Your Passion Have you ever been talking to someone who wouldn't look at you in the eyes? They look down, or from side to side. But they don't engage your eyes. You wonder if they're really listening. You wonder if they really want to know what you think. Or sometimes when you're talking to someone they are looking at you, but you can tell their mind is elsewhere. They aren't all that interested in you and in what you have to say. They nod occasionally, they're looking at you, but their attention is somewhere else. I want to talk about your gaze. Jesus came saying, "I have good news!" Today he comes to you through his Word and says, "I have good news for you." But sometimes when Jesus presents himself our gaze is elsewhere. There are other more interesting things. Or we look at him but our mind wanders to things that seems more important. Our interest is elsewhere. Like when I go into Office Depot to buy ink. The ink is behind the counter so you have to ask for it. But when I ask for the ink, I really don't look intently at the person behind the counter. In fact the person would probably feel funny if I gazed intently at him. I give the expected nod and then on to the business of what I really want. I'm afraid that's how we often approach God in prayer: the perfunctory nod in his direction using one of the standard opening phrases, like, "O Lord." And then on to the list of needs and wants. Our gaze isn't so much on him as it is on the things we want from him. (See Pratt's Pray With Your Eyes Open for a similar argument) I want to talk about your gaze. Jesus comes and says to you not only that he has good news. He also says, "I am the Lord of Glory." The word "glory" means something weighty and impressive. Something that captivates your imagination. Something worth paying attention to. Has your gaze been captivated by his glory? Have you ever looked at one of those 3-D optical illusions? When you first look at it you just see a mass of color. Nothing very interesting. But as you gaze at it intently in a certain way, suddenly a 3-D figure appears. Suddenly it looks like you're looking through a window, and that you could reach right in and pull something out. And you are amazed. It captivates you, if only for a moment. Someone might come up to you and wonder what's so captivating, because all they see is a jumble of shapes. But you see it because you've been gazing intently. And every time you look away, and then look back, you lose it. You can't see it anymore, until you start gazing intently again. I want to talk about your gaze, because your gaze reveals what you are passionate about. Your gaze reveals what has captivated you because it's so impressive. The Christian is one whose gaze is fixed on Jesus because he or she has been captivated by the beauty of his glory. King David says, "One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple" (Ps. 27:4). We often think that this sort of passion about the Lord's glory is for super saints and not for ordinary believers like you and me. But Jesus expects all of us to be passionate about him. Jesus describes the response of someone who has been captivated by his glory this way: "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field (Mt. 13:44). This is the normal reaction of those who believe in Jesus. But the Bible calls all of us to fix our eyes on Jesus and to gaze upon him. The Indispensable Ingredient This gaze upon Jesus is the indispensable ingredient in the life of the church. One of the typical dishes of Chile is called "Pastel de Choclo" (corn pie). There are many different variations in the recipe. You can make the salty version, or the sweet version. You can use beef, or chicken, or both. But there is one ingredient that is indispensable: the corn. Without corn it would no longer be corn pie. In the life of the church there is also an indispensable ingredient: a passion for God's glory that leads us to worship the Lord of glory. It was less than a week before the crucifixion. Jesus had recently raised Lazarus from the dead. A man named Simon the Leper had probably been healed. At the house of Simon, in Bethany, there was a dinner in honor of Jesus. Maybe they wanted to thank him for healing them. Jesus, the 12, Lazarus, Mary, and Martha were there. During the evening Mary took some expensive perfume and anointed Jesus' head and feet. Then she dried his feet with her hair--normally the task of a servant. The disciples were horrified and indignant. Judas was the first to calculate the value of the perfume: a year's wages. The other disciples agreed: this perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. What a waste! Think of how much money you make in a year. That's how much the perfume cost. Where did she get that kind of money? Maybe she had been saving for a long time. We don't know. But we do know that she poured it out on Jesus--all of it. And the disciples got upset. Evidently they thought Jesus would agree with them. After all, they had been with Jesus day in and day out for three years--long enough for a good seminary education. They were the disciples. They had seen him reveal his glory again and again, and the Bible says they put their faith in him. What did this woman know? But Jesus rebuked them for rebuking Mary and defended her. He said that through this anointing she was preparing him for his burial. Jesus had told his disciples he was going to die, but evidently it went over their heads. If he were to die, what would come of all their hopes to return to the glory they had under David and Solomon? And what would happen to them? But Mary is the same one who was sitting at Jesus' feet when her sister Martha complained that she wasn't helping in the kitchen. She knew--at least to some extent--that this Jesus who had revealed himself as the resurrection and the life before raising her brother Lazarus from the dead, was going to be put to death. As it turns out, Mary had actually surpassed the disciples in spiritual growth. Why? She had the indispensable ingredient. Her gaze was fixed on Jesus because she had been captivated by his glory. And so she worshipped him. The disciples were looking at Jesus, too, but also at other things: like who was the greatest among them, what kind of thrones they would be sitting on, who would be sitting on Jesus' right side, who on his left side, and when Jesus would make his move to become king. Jesus added that wherever the gospel would go, this act of worship in response to it would also go. He is telling the disciples--and us--that there is only one correct response to the gospel: worship. Our gaze must be captivated by the Lord of glory. And if it is, we will worship him. That is, we will say he is worth more than anything else in the world. You can't get a missional church just by changing the church's structures, by creating new programs, or by rearranging the old ones. There are books on the best practices of missional churches. But simply changing practices isn't going to produce a missional church. It's the gaze that makes the difference. As we are captivated by his glory we will see specific things that might need to be changed. What has been captivating your gaze lately? What are you passionate about? The Heart of the Matter When I talk about your gaze and your passion, I'm not just talking about the things you do for the Lord. I'm not just talking about your understanding of the Scriptures. I'm not simply talking about our love for others, or emotional expressions of praise. Not just your knowing, your doing and your being, but what is behind them. Don't misunderstand me. Don't think I'm simply urging you to have a more lively and emotional worship service. Don't think I'm saying you simply need to go out and do more things for the Lord. Don't think I'm saying you simply need to get a better grasp on doctrine. What I'm talking about is what the Bible calls your heart. Proverbs says that heart controls what we do, what we understand, our emotions, and how we relate to people. What is the gaze of your heart? The heart is the very center of our identity. Since God made us as beings that grow and develop, and since we aren't fully developed yet, we can't really know who we are if we only look at ourselves. We need something/someone stable in which to anchor our identity. Believers are anchored "in Christ." Our identity may not be fully clear to us now, but we know it is tied to him. But God made us with a longing to become more than we could possibly become using the resources available to us in this world. I call this a longing for glory. We long to be glorified--to have an identity that is glorious. We long for greater knowledge and authority. We long for greater control and power and wealth. We long for friendship, love and intimacy. These are all longings for our glorification. Just look at all the movies that portray people with extraordinary abilities--some more fantastic than others. They range from the mission impossible team of Tom Cruise to Spiderman, Batman, and Superman. We all long for glory and this longing to be somebody greater comes from the heart. Because of this longing, and because we are beings-in-process, we must anchor our identity--our heart--in something/someone. Christ vs. Idols As far as anchors go, there are only two alternatives: Christ or idols. The Bible says we won't find glory by looking for it. He who seeks his life will lose it. No, our glory comes, not by looking for it, but when we are captivated by the Lord of Glory and anchored in him--because when we are captivated by his glory, we become like him. Augustine put it this way: "You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You. Psalm 115 contrasts the Lord and idols. This passage teaches us that when it comes to the gaze of your heart--the anchor for your identity, idols are not a good option. It also teaches us that you become like what you worship. If your heart is set on an idol you become just as powerless and dull as it is. But if you set your heart on the Lord, you become like him who created the earth. Idolatry is not just another sin among many. No, idolatry is the sin beneath all other sins. Why? Because idols pretend to take the place of Christ. They are pseudo-Christs. They pretend to give us the glory we long for. They pretend to give us the glory that only Christ can give. They deceive us into thinking they can provide the longed-for glory. They capture our passion for glory and set it upon something other than Christ. That's why John, after presenting the glory of Christ in his first epistle, apparently out of the blue, ends with this warning: "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." (1 John 5:21). Of course, in our culture we don't bow down to statues. But we do try to find the fulfillment of our longings for glory apart from Christ. Every time we worry, for example, what we're saying in effect is that Jesus cannot fulfill our longings for glory. Our hope is elsewhere. Worry shows the existence of some idol. It could be getting good grades, getting a promotion, receiving recognition, achieving harmony with others or just having fun. Idols are often not bad in themselves. But when we have fixed our longings for glory on something in creation we have made an idol. Then we either worry that our idol won't bring us the glory we long for, or we become proud because it seems to. And so with all sins. Underneath every sin is the sin of idolatry. It is a failure to believe in Jesus, and a setting of our hopes for being somebody or achieving something, on some part of creation. Though believers are no longer under the dominion of idols, the flesh constantly tempts us to acts as if we were. It constantly tempts us to acts as if we needed something in addition to Christ to be fulfilled. So, for example, when we put off personal devotions, or prayer with one's spouse, or family devotions because it's more fun or fulfilling to go to work, to play a video game, to spend time with friends or to surf the internet, there is an idolatrous tendency in operation. When we put off the hard work of investing in people because it's more fulfilling to do things for them (it makes us feel needed), there is probably an idolatrous tendency in operation. When pastors and elders put off the work of equipping the saints because people seem to appreciate you more when you do the ministry for them, there is probably an idolatrous tendency at work. When we consistently put off inviting people over who don't reach out to us--because it's more fulfilling to be with people who appreciate you--there very well may be an idolatrous tendency in operation. When we regularly put off witnessing to neighbors and friends because we're afraid of being seen as strange or intolerant, there is probably an idolatrous tendency at work. Your Passion Controls What You Have Time For With regard to the above examples, I often find myself thinking "I just don't have time to do all these good things." And I've heard other people say this as well. But the response of Scripture seems to be: "You have time for what you are passionate about." When we are captivated by the glory of Jesus, we find time to pray and read his word. We find time to witness, to invest in people and equip them for ministry. We have a greater ability to discern the things that take priority because when you are passionate about Jesus it changes your priorities. Listen to God's people when they are captivated by his glory:
Collective Idolatry Most churches I'm familiar with are filled with people who are true believers and who are not consciously harboring idols in their life. But we are all affected by--even pressured by--the idols of our culture. After all, this is where we grew up, and the idols of our culture have a certain "normality" about them. Because we have been surrounded by them from infancy, they have a tendency to seep into our lives like water seeping into a ship. And when they do they weigh us down by subtly capturing our passion and our gaze. The materialism, the consumerism, the individualism, the efficiency orientation of our culture surround us like a thick fog. Unless we use the "fog-vision" glasses of God's Word, these collective idols will begin to capture our passion. Here are some of the ways I see this affecting the church as general tendencies. 1. Our wealth, compared to the rest of the world, has blinded us to the fact that we are pilgrims heading home. We have put our roots down. Like the church in Laodicea, we are in danger of being called "neither cold nor hot" (Rev. 3:15). I often wonder if there would be a revival in the church if the stock market were to crash and our economy collapse. Of course it's always good to have money to give to missions and such. But the comfort of the wealthy lifestyle tends to lull us to sleep spiritually. One of the evidences of this is the unwillingness of people to become long-term cross-cultural missionaries. They think they would have to give up too much. 2. Our wealth combined with our technological know-how and resources tends to produce an air of superiority. Christians in other countries often comment on this. We tend to think we can fix everything by throwing money and other resources at the problem. One time a church sent a short-term missions team to a foreign country where they were supporting missionaries. After a couple of weeks when they returned to their church they reported hundreds of conversions. They couldn't understand why their supported missionaries were having such a hard time. Later someone followed up on their claim and found that not one of the "converts" was involved in a church. They hadn't realized that in much of Latin America people will often "accept Christ" if you ask them to, because they don't want to offend you. 3. In our society there is a strong tendency to make "religion" a private matter of personal preference. You can believe anything you want as long as you don't call it a "fact" that everyone should believe. So when we witness to people, are we challenging the materialism, consumerism and individualism of our culture? Are we challenging the secular worldview? Or are we just asking them to add a "religious component" to their lives--a component that will require certain ethical behavior and church attendance? Christians often distinguish themselves by avoiding some of the more obvious ills of society, but when materialism and such are so much a part of our daily lives, it is hard for us to present to our society an alternative worldview. 4. Churches in our society tend to be viewed as dispensers of spiritual goods and services. Unfortunately, the church often buys into this perspective. One of the primary results is that the pastors and staff--and sometimes the elders--are viewed as the ministers, while everyone else is a consumer. The pastors are kept so busy providing spiritual goods and services that little goes on in terms of equipping the saints for ministry. 5. Elders are often not involved in real pastoring. 6. The church as dispenser-of services model means that churches end up competing with each other by offering a better worship experience, better and more comprehensive nursery care, a program for every age group, etc. They multiply programs in order to attract people. When people come for this reason, they are unlikely to want to take the time necessary to be equipped for ministry. Rather, they want to be served and will often keep looking in the "church market" until they find one that meets their needs. 7. On this view of the church, growth is accomplished primarily through excellent marketing skills. I once heard some elders of a church talking about a new church motto. One of them suggested, "Come, grow with us." Another said he didn't like it because people would think they are small and struggling. He said they needed to project a more attractive image if they wanted to grow. 8. A church that is trapped in this mindset can't see what is wrong. It comes to accept the dullness of church life as normal. It views the exuberant expressions of passion for the Lord that we find in Scripture as more or less unusual experiences of especially spiritual people. 9. A church in this mindset often has prayer meetings that are ill-attended. 10. A church in this mindset often has a hard time reaching out to unbelievers in their own community. There will be few recent converts in the church. Most growth comes from other churches or from Christians who have strayed. 11. A church in this mindset will be overly sensitive to those who challenge these idolatries. Confronting unbelief head on would be seen as inappropriate for Christians, who should be nice. 12. A church with this mindset will be uncomfortable about people confessing their sin or admitting weakness. 13. Gossip often replaces fellowship. 14. Newcomers will often receive a smile and a welcome packet, but not the kind of concern that would require sacrifice of time. All these things, I believe, come from a misdirected gaze. They come from looking at Jesus half-heartedly because there are so many other things that have captured our passion. They come from the water of our cultural idols seeping into our boat so that it drags us down and tames our passion for Christ. Our Glorious Lord The disciples were apparently concerned about the poor. Of course, it's good to be concerned about the poor, as Jesus was on many occasions. But the gaze of their hearts was set on their own glory, so they were blinded to what Jesus was up to. They no doubt thought, "This is money that could be used to further our cause. We could use it to help bring in the kingdom. Maybe we could use it to purchase our thrones. At least give it to the poor instead of just dumping it out! What a waste!" Can you imagine how those words must have hurt him? It would be like finding the woman you love, taking her out to a romantic restaurant, telling her how much you love her--and all the while she is flirting with the waiters and men at other tables! He had come, not to buy them thrones, and not even primarily to alleviate the poverty of the poor. He had come to conquer death, give us eternal life, reveal his glory, and make us like himself. Jesus pointed out their lack of discernment when he said, "you will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." If it weren't for what Jesus was going to do, the poor would lose even the little they had--and they would die without hope. Why would they not always have him? Because he would be taken away in death. The disciples were so caught up in gazing at their future glory that they failed to see what Isaiah had predicted about the Messiah. He would be the poorest of the poor, and the most oppressed man that ever lived. Isaiah had predicted that he would be despised and rejected. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not. Why? On the one hand it was because he dared to challenge the idols of the Jewish society in which he lived. He challenged the self-glorying of the Pharisees, the desire for wealth of Judas and of the Rich Young Ruler; the desire to overthrow the Romans of the freedom fighters; the Sanhedrin's longing for honor; the people's desire for a bread-provider. Because he refused to fulfill their idolatrous longings, they put him to death. They put him to death because he didn't play their idolatry games. No, his gaze was not set on any idol, and he didn't offer an alternative idol. Rather, his gaze was fixed on pleasing and glorifying the Father--even though it meant the hell of separation from the Father on the cross. This is what idolatry deserves. His death was all part of God's plan to rescue his people from the captivity to that idolatry. He became poor that we might become rich. The Lord laid on him our iniquity so that by his stripes we might be healed. He suffered the hell that idolaters deserve so we might be freed from a ruinous captivity. Isn't he captivating? Maybe someone would die for a good man. But God sent his Son to die for us while we were rejecting him in favor of idols--while we were trying to get him to make us more respected, more successful, and more recognized for our gifts. The Bible is the story of Jesus--the greatest hero of all time--who defeated the villain that seduced his fiancé. In order to rescue her he had to give his life. According to Hosea, he is the husband who wooed his unfaithful wife. Has he captivated you yet? Repentance and Faith We have time for what we are passionate about. If we find that our actions, thoughts and relationships do not reflect a passion for Jesus, it is very possible that something else has captured our passion. When our passion is captured by some idol, no amount of behavior modification or self-discipline can make any significant difference. Two things are required to rekindle the passion for Jesus and keep it going: 1. Repent of letting yourself be captured by other (maybe good) things. This involves recognizing you've allowed yourself to be captured, and that this keeps you from making any significant impact for the kingdom. It involves recognizing why you've allowed yourself to be captured by asking yourself something like this: "What perceived benefit do I get from this idol? It involves giving it up. 2. Let your actions flow from what you believe about God's Word. Ask yourself something like this: "If I give up this idolatry, is Jesus' love and power and faithfulness enough for me? Can I really trust him? I will trust him." The influence of cultural idols and the temptations of the flesh are such that repentance and faith should be a way of life, not an occasional course adjustment. (See Repentance and 21st Century Man by C. John Miller.) A missional church, then, is one that is being increasingly liberated from the captivity of cultural and personal idols through being captivated increasingly by the love, power, and faithfulness of God demonstrated in the hero Jesus. It is a church that is passionate about Jesus because of the beauty of his glory. Because of this captivity, it offers a clear alternative to the surrounding culture. It resists the captivity of idolatry because it is captivated by the Lord of Glory. And thus being captivated it glorifies God by pointing to Jesus as its hero. "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace." Gary T. Waldecker
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