Effectiveness

We just finished holding a Creativity Conference in Orlando; it’s the sixth time we’ve done this conference. We do it in partnership with a group of very committed Christian Disney employees, creative pastors, and church leaders. It is a very helpful event. You can visit our our website to read some of the conference evaluations.

I studied the Disney Company extensively over the years and certainly all of us are impressed with the creativity of Disney World and the Disney movies. So much of our culture has been influenced by the excellent entertainment, experiences and stories. Disney has influenced the world’s culture in some very positive ways. In the midst of all the excitement of Disney productions, movies, and stories it’s easy to miss one of the most significant contributions of this organization in our society.

That is - simple effectiveness. The church needs to realize that our purpose is to be effective.

• We need to lead worship that is effective in leading people to the presence of God.
• We need to provide education that really works in teaching children values to live by.
• We need to provide an understanding of prayer in a way that can be effectively used in people’s daily lives.
• We need to be an effective church, an excellent church.

In studying Disney I’ve realized that Disney is effective because of their clear goals, high standards, rules, and disciplines. For instance, if you work at the Disney theme park as an employee (a.k.a.“cast member”), whether you’re in a good mood or a bad mood you’re required by Disney to perform at your best and to present a mood that serves your customers and accomplishes the goal.

As a pastor, many times I would excuse a poor job in preaching, neglected pastoral care responsibility, or a failed church program on the lack of dedication of my church members, the bad mood I was in, or the family issue with which I was dealing. Disney expects their employee to put those things aside and do their best to accomplish the goal. Working for Jesus ought to be as important as working for Disney. It should demand our complete loyalty, our willingness to put aside our own cares and problems with the determination to do the best we can for His church.

Effectiveness has to do with discipline, loyalty, clear goals, and the desire to do things right. After being around Disney employees, I am impressed with their loyalty and determination to be effective. Sometimes I am ashamed that I have not been as loyal and determined in working with Jesus as they seem to be working for Disney. Effectiveness is our goal.

The Great Commission

We’re not doing what He told us to do. The mainline Protestant church is declining and has been for years. Jesus in Matthew 28 told us clearly to reach more people. We’re not doing what Jesus told us to do. It’s as simple as that. It’s the great commission, not the great excuse. It’s what Jesus told us we must do.

Any study of statistics of the mainline Protestant church today will make it clear that in the next 30 years we will not exist because the majority of our members will have died. This is scary and ridiculous that we cannot do the mobilization to reach new people that the leaders of our various denominations have done in starting the denominations. It is ridiculous that we have put other things as priorities and not followed Christ’s clear direction to make disciples. It’s time for us to mobilize our efforts to do what Jesus said.

Go to our website to find more information about what you can do. I’ve published two books on how to reach new people for Christ: Needs-Based Evangelism (The Good Samaritan Church) and TELL: How to Share Your Faith. I’m going to be doing training all over the country. I’d love to come to your area. Go to our Facebook  page and join in sharing comments about our lack of evangelistic effectiveness today and what we can do about it.

89 Days With Jesus

Recently, I sat in a denominational meeting. The discussion was about a particular program, organizational structure, and the implementation. In the middle of the heated discussion, the argument was interrupted by my friend, Vance, who said, “What we have here is a Jesus problem.” Then he proceeded to deal with what I believe is the basic problem that the Church must face: How do we place Jesus Christ at the center of all that we’re doing and trying to do in the Church today? There are strategic plans, goals, programs, staff; there is complaining about someone’s leadership or another group’s theological position; the laity complain about needing a better pastor, and the pastors complain about needing a better congregation. 

Vance is right – what we have is a Jesus problem. Somehow, in the midst of all of our highly developed and sophisticated solutions, we need to get back to following Jesus Christ. That’s not a simplistic, evangelical criticism of the Church; it’s just the point that we must let the main thing be the main thing. If what we do is not based upon a clear commitment to Christ, an understanding of His teachings, and willingness to follow Him, we become hypocritical, confused, and ineffective.

Certainly, though it may be hard to say, it’s not always easy to ascertain the Christ-centered approach, but that’s our job. As I wrestled with how to get this clear for us as the Church, it seems that the simple answer is to begin by reading, studying, discussing the four Gospels. There are other things we can do to get on track – prayer, retreats, change of priorities, clearer responsibilities, better loving relationships. It seems to me, however, if we don’t remember clearly what Jesus Christ taught and who He is, we can continue to emphasize the wrong things.

There are 89 chapters in the four Gospels. Why not spend the next 89 days with Jesus? Join me, the Christyle Community, and Christians all across the nation in reading through those chapters as a start to getting our priorities in personal life, church life, business life, and the life of our country back on track. Follow along with our Facebook event (you will need a Facebook account to access the information).

I also have developed some free materials to help guide the study. Email me if you are interested!

Accountability

One of the hardest things in life is to deal with the issue of accountability. Certainly, God has promised us His forgiveness and love. God has placed in our world so many blessings and so many things to enjoy. Part of that is to enjoy God’s loving forgiveness. At the same time, the Bible is clear about accountability. In Galatians 6, Paul writes in vv. 7-9,

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

This interesting statement about reaping what we sow makes it clear that there is accountability. So much is said in our society today about our culture being a kind of “entitlement culture”; that is, we feel entitled to get so many benefits without ever doing the work or putting forth the effort for them. Matthew 25 is very clear in three stories that Jesus told that there is an accountability for what we do. It seems to me that this simple idea of reaping what we sow is not a harsh thing but a healthy thing for all of us to understand. We teach our children to study their lessons for school so that they learn. Yet, we, as adults, often skip responsibilities, don’t follow the teachings of Jesus, and expect there to be no accountability or consequences.

In Matthew 25, Jesus says that there is a judgment day. We will be separated: sheep from goats. In the same chapter, He tells us that we will be judged on what we do with what we have been given, that we will be allowed into the feast only if we are prepared. I know this sounds like your mother telling you to pick up your clothes, your teacher telling you to do your studies, or the highway patrolman telling you to slow down.

I pray that we remember that accountability is a good thing for governments, church leaders, and average, ordinary people like me and you!

Final Instructions

Our culture in the United States has shifted significantly in the last 15 years. There was a time when we truly were a nation that celebrated being “under God.” Today, while we may historically be a nation under God, our culture is much more non-Christian, agnostic, or atheistic. We claim to practice freedom of religion, but there are a lot of negative comments toward the Christian in our culture today. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the average Christian to share the faith. Yet, when you read Matthew 28:18-20, there is no question about it. Jesus’ final instructions were to go make disciples. It wasn’t a choice; it was a commandment. Since that time, theologians have called it the Great Commission. Whatever we call it, these were His final instructions.

I have struggled greatly with this understanding throughout my entire ministry. Making disciples is so important. Yet, as our culture has changed in the last 15 years, I have come to realize that sometimes it is very difficult for a Christian to share his faith. The criticisms are great; the lack of concern is significant. Still, we are called to make disciples.

It is out of this concern that I have written a book called TELL. It is about how to share your faith in a very secular time – how to tell the story of Jesus Christ in a sometimes agnostic world – how to share the faith with your skeptical nephew who hasn’t been to church since he was three; how to explain your beliefs without getting into arguments or creating confusion about the differences of denominations and the points of view of individual Christians.

The fact that the culture has changed and it’s difficult to share is not a valid excuse for not sharing our faith. It is simply a description of where we are called to share and work. The book TELL deals clearly with four ideas that are absolutely necessary for us to be effective in telling others about Jesus Christ. The the publisher finished the book last week; it is available through our website or by emailing us here. See our website for more details about the book and read some very motivating endorsements from church leaders across the country! 

If you would like me to speak on evangelism in your local church, please email us here. Like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter!

Photo Credit: Busy Nation Under God Contemporary Flag Oil Painting by Laurie
painting by artist Laurie Justus Pace taken from http://www.dailypainters.com/paintings/69654/Busy-Nation-Under-God-Contemporary-Flag-Oil-Painting-by-Laurie-Pace/.

Methodist Tsunami

Lovett H. Weems, Jr. - UMC Realities from Lewis Center on Vimeo.

What Lovett Weems says in his presentation on the status of the United Methodist Church is powerful and scary. The statistics are clear. We have been declining and we will decline more with the death rate of older Americans.

Lovett discusses the financial adjustments that need to be made. Certainly, that is powerful and realistic, but the real answer isn’t in financial adjustments; it is in evangelism, enthusiasm, and making disciples of Jesus Christ. It isn’t in a membership campaign or effort to save the institution by recruiting a few more young members.  It is imperative to do what Jesus taught, follow the Great Commission, and make disciples. Somehow evangelism has become a topic that is hard for persons to deal with.

I’m teaching on evangelism all across the United States, speaking in every geographic section, large churches, small churches, districts, other judicatory gatherings. There is probably no American clergy today speaking more on evangelism than I am. What I am finding is encouraging. I am excited about the response of the laity and clergy across the Church. We are ready to do something about this. We are ready to reach people for Christ. But we desperately need more training, understanding and, practical help. I would love to know your response, questions and ideas!

Preaching Conference

We just finished holding a three-day event that we called an Evangelism Conference and Preaching Academy.  It was held in Dallas, and the response to it was fantastic.  Particularly exciting is the response to the preaching part of this event.  We had two of the best-known preachers in the country who spoke to us about preaching, John Ed Mathison and Jim Moore.  We also had the associate pastor at First Church Arlington, Estee Valendy, a 28-year-old clergy in her beginning years of preaching, who spoke to us about preaching to the younger generation.  Alyce McKenzie of Perkins School of Theology, Bill Lawrence, and David Mosser spoke about preaching today in a variety of ways.  We held panel discussions and had numerous workshops.  One of the really helpful aspects was a workshop with noted speech and drama teacher, Diane Stamper, who really provided coaching.  The response by the participants was fantastic, and the evaluations showed how helpful this was. 

I want to do it again, and I’d like your ideas.  We’re currently working on getting a brand new, redesigned website up and running, so check back with us soon here and let’s dialogue about what is needed to help all of us to do a better job of preaching in this highly secular world.  Even better, let us know on our Facebook page or email me.