Discipleship Archives - Page 23 of 167

The way that some churches try to “minister to homeless people” is by driving up to the park where all the homeless people gather, opening the side door, throwing out a bunch of crates of food onto the sidewalk, and then peeling off down the road to get out of there as quick as possible.

Then they give a report at church the next Sunday at how they served and fed the homeless… just like Jesus.

Such ministry is “Hit and Run Christian Service.” We drive up, hit some homeless people with food and Gospel tracts, and then get get out of there with tires squealing.

Or maybe it is closer to Christian drug dealing. We pull up in a windowless van, and handout sandwiches and gospel tracks from the back, and then tell them we’ll be back next week.

Part of the problem is this whole “ministry to” idea. Loving others is not exactly when we do something “to” people. Loving like Jesus means that others serve and minister to us just as much as we serve and minister to them. Or maybe more.

True Christian ministry begins with developing relationships with others, and more often than not, we find that we are the ones ministered to, rather than the ones doing the ministry. That’s why I put “minister to homeless people” in quote marks above.

Christian service actually means loving people and being loved. Christian ministry is not something we do to people, but with people.

Showing love to the homeless people often means receiving love back. Love from Jesus.

14 Practical Ways to Love Others Like Jesus

By Jeremy Myers

34 Comments

One of the most popular forms of ministry today is the ministry that makes a big splash, garners a lot of attention, and possibly gets reported in the news.

And while good does come from “Go Big” forms of ministry, there are other ways to love others like Jesus. If we think the big splash ministry is the only way to minister, then we will ignore all the small, effective, practical ways of loving others that might actually make more tangible and lasting impact on the lives of others for the Kingdom of God. This is partly why Jesus spoke of giving a cup of cold water in His name (Matt 10:42) and liked the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed (Matt 13;31-32).

It is often the small, easy, cheap, affordable, insignificant, simple acts of love and kindness that do the most to help people experience the love of Jesus through your life.

What sort of things? Below are 14 practical ways to love others like Jesus. There are thousands of such ways, but the following are 14 of the things that my family does to try to show love to others. They are not things you necessarily have to do, but are simply offered as examples.

If we want to simply love others, then we can love others simply.

Please feel free to share some of your own suggestions in the comments below.

14 Ways to Love Others Like Jesus

Love the person right in front of you. There is so much pain and loneliness in the world, you can be pretty sure the person next to on the bus or the checker at the grocery store could use a kind word, a smile, or a helping hand. Get off your cell phone and talk to them. Get to know them. Ask them how their day is going… and mean it. Remember their name.
Take food to your neighbors. Like what? Nothing fancy… a plate of cookies, a loaf of fresh-baked bread. When you give it to them, don’t drop it in their arms and run. Stand and talk for a bit if they seem to want that. Don’t invite yourself in and don’t invite them to church. Just be friendly.
Have neighbors over for dinner or dessert. Don’t make it formal or fancy. Just pizza and pop. Or BBQ and beer. Don’t try to turn it into a Bible study. Just laugh, tell stories, and listen.
Hand out homeless bags to people you see on the street. We carry 2-3 bags around in our car and hand out them out when we see people begging on street corners. The ones we hand out contain a tarp, a pair of socks, some non-perishable food, a bottle of water, a scarf, and whatever else we can find.
Watch the children of single mothers so they can go shopping alone. Or, men, offer watch all the kids so your wife and the other woman can go get some coffee and chat.
Take up gardening so you can talk to your neighbor who is all alone.
When you take your kids to activities, don’t retreat to your car and listen to the radio or text on your cell phone. Stick around and talk with any other parents who are there.
Do the Twelve Days of Christmas for a friend or neighbor. What is this? It’s Twelve Days of “Secret Santa.” Every day, you sneak over, leave a gift or present on their doorstep, ring the bell, and run! If you have children, they LOVE doing this around Christmas time.
Put together Shoe Boxes with Samaritan’s Purse.
Help raise money to rescue girls in slavery. Sell candy or treats, not for a band trip to Hawaii, but to raise money to rescue girls from slavery or some other human need.
Help a missionary family overseas by doing things they cannot do where they are. Download podcasts and load hundreds of them on a CD and send it to them. Help them set up and run a blog. Send them clothes and crafts they cannot get overseas.
Pack and deliver boxes of food and presents on Christmas Eve to families in the community that are less fortunate. Just give them the presents. No gospel tracts.
Volunteer to help feed the poor and homeless in your area. Bring crafts to do with the children.
Buy food for a homeless person on the street, and then sit and talk with them while they eat (If they don’t mind). Hug them!

The bottom line is that simple (not big and glorious) acts of kindness are effective ways of loving others like Jesus. None of these are glamorous. None of them will get you recognized in church. None of them will get you interviewed on television, BUT they don’t cost an arm and a leg and they won’t burn you out either. They are just simple ways to be kind every day to friends and strangers so that we can offer light and love and hope to the people around us.

Oh…. And please, please, please, do not ever do any of these things with the intention or goal of getting people to attend your church. This is where most Christians screw it up BIG TIME. If we go help our neighbor mow his lawn because he broke his leg, and then after you’re done you invite him to church, he is going to know that you don’t really care about him at all. All you really care about is getting his butt in a pew on Sunday morning so you can brag to all your Christian friends about how you mowed his lawn and rescued him from the fires of hell.

As I have said before, Christian love does not consist in asking someone to come to church with you. If your only reason for loving people is to get them into church, just stay home and watch TV.

Jesus is Too Busy for You

By Jeremy Myers

18 Comments

I thought this picture was kind of funny…

It is an advertisement put out by some Christian organization to encourage people to think about their eternal destiny rather than put it off until tomorrow. Yet the designers of the advertisement messed up a bit, and put the texts of Jesus on the wrong side.

If you have a cell phone which shows those bubble texts, you know that your texts are on the right in the green bubbles, and the texts you receive are on the left with the grey bubbles and the name of the person sending the text is at the top of the screen.

But in this picture, the designers of the advertisement reversed the bubbles so that it looks like Jesus is saying He is too busy to talk…

It’s a simple oversight, but still a little funny. Nevertheless, it kind of reminds me of a time I watched a video about how to study the Bible, and the creators of the video were talking about how important it was to use Greek and Hebrew in your study of Scripture. The video showed images of Greek and Hebrew text, and ironically, the Hebrew text was upside down! It obviously showed that despite the teacher’s claim that he used Hebrew in his study of Scripture, he didn’t even know which way was “up” when it came to Hebrew.

Does this mean that everything we do as Christians needs to be perfect? Of course not. Nearly every post I write on this blog has typos. (If you ever see one, please let me know about it in the comments or send me a note with that “Ask a Bible or Theology Question” section on the sidebar.)

But anyway, back to the subject of the image…

Is Jesus too Busy?

Most of us probably feel at times that Jesus seems too busy to talk to us. But the exact opposite is true. Due to the fact of the indwelling Holy Spirit and that God is everywhere all the time, God is able to treat each of us as if we were the only person in the world, the only one He needs to listen to, the only one He needs to care for.

God is never too busy or too distracted to listen to you. He is always with you, and always interested in what you are doing, thinking, and feeling. So talk with Him! When you rise up and when you lie down, when you eat your meals and when you drive to work, when you work out and when you watch a movie, remember that God is present with you, and loves to be part of your every conversation.

Praying to the Unbusy God

I think one of the great disservices of the church is how we teach children to pray with their heads bowed, eyes closed, and hands folded. I know why we do this — to help avoid distractions when praying — but it gives the impression that this is the only way we can pray.

But prayer should be similar to talking to a friend who is standing right next to you. When talking to a friend, do you close your eyes, bow your head, and fold your hands so that you can focus 100% on what you are saying and what they tell you in return? No, probably not. If the conversation is serious, you might turn to face them and drop what you are doing, but for normal, average, everyday stuff, you can have a good conversation with someone while you are doing your work, watching TV, going for a walk, driving your car, or eating a meal.

So also with prayer. If you can imagine God by your side all day every day, then you can also begin to hold conversations with Him in your head as you go about your day, just as you do with any other friend or family member.

This is the way I have been trying to pray for the last 10 years or so, and find it extremely helpful. It has gotten so that I sometimes find that it is hard to differentiate between prayer and my actual thoughts.

Rather than thinking, “I need to remember to stop by the store today after work,” I think, “Lord, help me to remember to stop by the store today after work.”

Rather than thinking, “What am I going to do about this bill I can’t pay?” I think, “Lord, what am I going to do about this bill I can’t pay?”

Rather than thinking, “What is wrong with my daughter’s throat and this pain she is experiencing? Should I take her to the doctor? Should I wait some more? Should I give her ibuprofen?” I think, “Lord, what is wrong with my daughter’s throat and this pain she is experiencing? Should I take her to the doctor? Should I wait some more? Should I give her ibuprofen?”

You see how this works?

I am not saying this is the way you have to pray. It is just something that has worked for me over the years. I think there are thousands of ways of praying, and each person prays a little bit differently. The key is to find a way that is natural, normal, and helps you develop your relationship with God, and talk with Him regarding the things that concern and interest you.

How do you pray? If you feel like sharing, leave a comment below.

All Religions Are the Same

By Jeremy Myers

23 Comments

It’s true what they say: all religions are the same.

And make no mistake, I am including the Christian religion in with that. All religions are the same, including the Christian religion.

All Religions are the Same

All religions have at their core the idea that God is mad at the world and people have to do certain things to make God like them again. Usually, the good things that God wants us to do involve wearing silly hats, eating certain foods, and listening to some person talk for an hour before we give him money. This is true of any religion, whether Jewish, Muslim, Rastafarian, Santeria, Moorish Science Temple, Hindu, or… dare I say it? …Christian.

If you took away the hats, the robes, the names on the buildings, and some of the titles for “God” that different groups use, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between most of the world religions, …including Christianity.

The objection to the claim that all religions are the same is that “Christianity isn’t a religion; it’s a relationship! It’s a way of life!”

Right.

Few Think They are Religious

But do you know that this is what almost every person of every religion says? Almost nobody of any “faith group” thinks they are in a religion. If you ask the average “religious” person if they are in a religion, no matter what “religion” they follow, almost all of them will say, “No, I am not not in a religion, I practice a way of life.”

Nevertheless, almost everybody is in a religion, including most Christians. Most people believe God is mad at them for something they did or said, and they are doing certain things to try to make God happy again. The core of religion is that we can somehow pleas or appease God by our own good behavior or beliefs. If you believe that, then you are part of a religion, even you bear the name “Christian.”

Of course, I do consider myself a “Christian” in the sense that I am a follower of Jesus. I just think there is a vast difference between what has come to be known as Christianity, and what Jesus actually intended.

And when it comes down to what Jesus intended his followers to be and do, and what the religions of the world do (including the religion of Christianity), there are a few major differences. There are things that sets Jesus and His followers distinctly apart from all religious groups in history, including those religious groups that bear the name “Christian.”

What Separates Jesus from All Religions?

So what sorts of things separate Jesus followers from all other religions in the world?

Well, I will tell you one thing that doesn’t separate us…. good works. You sometimes hear Christians say, “We are more generous, loving, kind, and forgiving.” That’s crap.

Sure, it’s true sometimes. But in my experience, some of the most forgiving, kind, and generous people I know are of some religion other than Christianity. Many of them are atheists.

You can always find another religious group that is behaves better than many Christians.

So, it seems to me that the main difference between Jesus and every man-made religion in the world (including the Christian religion) boils down to one word: grace. But not the watered down grace you hear preached from pulpits and described in books.

No, the one thing that separates what Jesus revealed to the world and what we see in all religious groups is one thing: indiscriminate, scandalous, shocking, outrageous, senseless, irrational, unfair, irreligious, ridiculous, absurd, offensive, infinite grace.

If you don’t hold to this kind of grace, it might be because you are part of a man-made religion, even if you call yourself “Christian.”

I am someone who came out of the Christian religion and now follows Jesus on the way of grace.

As a reader of this blog, you are probably similar. Together, we challenge some of the ideas and practices of Christianity. We raise questions about what Scripture really teaches, what God is really like, and what it means to be the church in the world today. We look for ways to reveal the scandalous grace of God to the world, raising questions about justice, righteousness, forgiveness, and love.

All religions are the same, which is partly why I am not part of any religion. I do follow Jesus, but try to do so in a religionless way. How about you?

I Support a Woman’s Right to Choose…

By Jeremy Myers

47 Comments

I am not talking about abortion. …Not yet anyway.

I support a woman’s right to choose between paper and plastic at the grocery store.

I support a woman’s right to choose what kind of light bulb she uses at home.

I support a woman’s right to choose whether or not she and her family have health care.

I support a woman’s right to choose what kind of food to put her children’s lunchbox.

I support a woman’s right to choose whether or not to carry a gun.

I support a woman’s right to choose when, where, and how to discipline her children.

I support a woman’s right to choose her religion and whether or not to talk about it in public.

I support a woman’s right to choose how she defines marriage.

I could go on and on about all the ways I support a woman’s right to choose.

But what I find so sadly ironic is that the same people who support a woman’s right to choose about whether or not to terminate her pregnancy are often the same people who do not support a woman’s right to choose all the things listed above. They want to give women the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion, but they don’t want to give women the right to choose between paper and plastic.

You know a great business idea for somebody? A puppy abortion clinic. Or maybe a kitten abortion clinic. You know how many stray dogs and cats there are on the world? Wouldn’t it be great if a pet owner could take their pregnant cat or dog into a clinic and have all the little puppies or kittens aborted? Then they wouldn’t have to deal with the mess of delivery, and standing outside Walmart for hours on end trying to get rid of puppies and kittens to strangers.

I am jesting of course, but do you know what would happen if somebody started an abortion clinic for puppies and kittens? There would be outrage! You might even get arrested for cruelty to animals. Who knows? Maybe someone from PETA would come and bomb your clinic.

And yet most people think nothing of it when we talk about aborting children. A woman has a right to choose what to do with her body.

But that’s just it. It is not her body. It is someone else’s body. A child’s body. It’s a little girl or a little boy. Do not they have the right to choose what happens to their body? Tell you what…. I support a woman’s right to choose as long as that same right is extended to the little girls and little boys. Let them be born and then when they are old enough to understand, give them a choice about whether they want to live or die.

People talk about how conservatives wage a war on women. I think it is time to start talking about the war on children. And unlike the so-called war on women, the war on children has millions of casualties.

Millions of babies have been killed, slaughtered, burned, and destroyed.

In this ongoing war on children, more children have been killed than all the Jews killed in the Holocaust.

Are you “Pro-Choice”? This post probably won’t convince you to change your mind. But if you want to remain “Pro-Choice,” please start to be consistently “Pro-Choice” and let women (and the rest of us) have the right to choose in the other areas of life as well.

Hit and Run Christian Service

14 Practical Ways to Love Others Like Jesus

14 Ways to Love Others Like Jesus

Jesus is Too Busy for You

Is Jesus too Busy?

Praying to the Unbusy God

All Religions Are the Same

All Religions are the Same

Few Think They are Religious

What Separates Jesus from All Religions?

I Support a Woman’s Right to Choose…

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