I started a blog to write, but I have become disenchanted with the amount of time to takes to “layout” a blog post. I did not set out to become a master-curator for pictures and headlines. I write because I love to express ideas, because I love ideas. Ideas change things.
It was 12:55PM in Manila. I was sitting at home, having already celebrated the new year coming in, hoping to catch the ball drop in Times Square on TV. I was surfing USA TV channels trying to find the least-annoying hosts to watch the festivities. I ended up turning off the TV in frustration. Yes, the hosts were annoying. But what I encountered that caused me to turn off the TV in disgust was not annoying, mindless babble; it was debauchery glorified.
source: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Happy-New-Year-2014_id50789
The belief that an idea is good based solely on its age is what C. S. Lewis called “chronological snobbery”. This idea is very prevalent in the modern evangelical world, and it is as much dangerous as it is available.
The Philippines, my home, was ravaged yesterday by the worst typhoon (hurricane) to ever make landfall. Ever. It was an significant event in history. It’s also a significant event Biblically.
My house was not damaged by the storm – we live in Manila which was out of the direct path. But I have seen, heard, and felt the impact to the Philippines. I have experienced the chaos that the storm caused. In a similar way, you did too. You saw the news reports, the satellite images, the Twitter trends. We are all aware of the impact of storms like this.
There have been other recent weather related events, in the Philippines and elsewhere, that have caused the world to pay attention. Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Sandy, the tsunami in Japan, the recent earthquake in the Philippines, and now Typhoon Haiyan. And that’s not all of the major events recently, just a handpicked few.
So what is the biblical meaning? Is there a reason that events like this are taking place?
This is an excerpt from a book manuscript I am currently working on. The book is about how we have redefined church in the last few decades, in some ways to its detriment. This passage deals with the topic of evangelism and discipleship coexisting in a ministry. It can be done, should be done, but there must be balance. There are numerous opinions on this topic. This is mine.
There must be a balance between evangelism and discipleship. Sometimes, maybe oftentimes, these two can be experienced simultaneously. For example, it is certainly possible for a witnessing opportunity to act as a discipleship lesson, as the discipler models for the disciple how to share their faith effectively. There are certainly other examples.But sometimes these two are mutually exclusive by nature.
In a church, evangelism and discipleship should each be consistently done, yet not so exclusively as to the detriment of the other. There should be balance.
There must be balance in our content. I believe that every sermon should carry the gospel in some form – because the gospel permeates everything we believe. But I don’t believe that every sermon or Bible study can have as its lone subject the gospel. This is what Paul meant when he wrote that we should move on from the basic teachings about salvation and on to deeper things . This is discipleship. If every sermon is focused only on the basic facts of salvation, it would be to the detriment of the believer’s discipleship. On the other hand, if every message from the church is about deeper Christian life and truth, it would be to the detriment of the lost who are present. There should be a balance in content.
There must be balance in our chronology. Balance must be present on a weekly basis as well as a seasonal or yearly basis. This is why homiletics is so important in the life of a pastor or pastoral team. A pastor must understand first how to prepare each individual sermon with this balance in place – so that the Christians are fed and the lost are convicted. Sometimes the message will speak to one group more heavily than the other, but both should receive something from that week. Likewise, planning out the sermons for the season or even the year is also a crucial task. True, it helps the pastor and other ministries (media, drama, small groups) prepare in advance for the coming week’s topics. But there is a more important reason to plan out sermons or series well in advance. Doing so will ensure that the church strikes a healthy balance between evangelism and discipleship on a monthly, seasonal, or yearly basis. And by doing this, the church leadership can be sure that they are maintaining the church’s focus on the lost while also building that focus on the foundation of growing Christians. Failure to build this balanced foundation ministry-wide results in a church that is all but ready to crumble.
Is your ministry a balanced one? How do you maintain balance?
Podium Cue is an iPad app that helps speakers organize their main points for effective presentations. Designed by Pastor Ron Hudson (@ronhudson) for just this purpose, I have found the app to be very useful. If you do public speaking of any kind – especially preaching – this may be the app for you.
3 reasons to consider using this app are:
I use Podium Cue now whenever I speak. It has replaced my highlighted Microsoft Word document (including an electronic version). I highly recommend my readers check it out.
On the App Store
Question: What technology do you use when speaking? Leave a comment!