Do we need another program?

Now, that’s a loaded question. Many people think that “another program” will solve all our issues. I happen to believe that the answer is not in the program, but in the process. Let me explain.

Do you remember how Jesus boiled down all his teaching? In Matthew, an ill-meaning “teacher of the law” says, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36 - 40 - NIV).

Apparently, Jesus had given this some thought. It wasn’t that He just whipped out any and every command. He’d boiled down His teaching to just a couple of things. One – Jesus says that you should love God. This wasn’t a new concept to the Jewish scholars of the day. In fact, any well-raised Jewish boy or girl quoted this passage as a prayer at least 3 times a day. It was called the shema, and it’s found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” It makes sense. It sums up almost half of the “Big 10.” The teachers of the Law who were there, would probably have said that He did well just to name this one. In other words, Jesus agrees with us, so He must be right. Then – and I can just see the teacher of the law turning to leave Jesus’ presence at this point – Jesus adds something that gives that love for God some teeth. He says, “and the second is like it.” Jesus is telling them that the second part is EQUAL to the first part. In other words, the first part really doesn’t mean much without the complementary second part. This would have fried this teacher’s mind.

Now, I guess the answer to my original question depends on whether or not you agree with Jesus. Jesus said that the essence of discipleship was that we were to love God and love people. We’ve pointed that out in our statement, “a community of faith dedicated to connecting people to God and each other.” We want to do that because we see this as God’s command, and Jesus’ mission. And we should be about Jesus’ mission.

Maybe a better question in the beginning would be: do we have a process for making disciples? The answer to that question, I believe, is “yes.”

The process?
1. Connect to God – we do that in worship on Sunday morning. We do that through study of the word on Wednesday night, and during Sunday School.
2. Connect to others – we do that around tables on Sunday nights, and we do that in small groups where we care for one another like God intended (see Hebrews 10:24-25).
3. Connect others to God and each other. This encapsulates evangelism and service. We bring others to Jesus, teach them His ways, and help them grow in their relationship with God (connect them to God), and then we help them find people who will help them “do life” in Jesus’ way.

Some get stuck in the process. They see that they’re connecting with God at times, and feel like that’s the extent of what their commitment needs to be. But if Jesus was serious, our commitment doesn’t end there. We need to be committed to connecting to others as well. So, what’s the next step for you? Do you need to connect to others? Is Sunday night waiting for you? Do you need a deeper connection to others? Then maybe a small group is the next step for you. Do you need to serve? Jesus did tell us that we’re to be servants. If you do, then perhaps one of those existing programs would work for you. If not, then maybe there’s a mission outside our walls for you. Whatever the case, I pray and hope that you'll take the next steps necessary to be on the path to becoming more of what God wants you to be in this world. And I pray that we can take those steps together!

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kyle