The longer I lead as a pastor, the more I realize how significant our call to make disciples really is. Jesus left us no room for misinterpretation. This is our greatest commission.
Collectively, we’ve done a great job at creating programs, studies, events and processes for just about every angle you want to study Scripture or increase in knowledge. Every age group and demographic is represented. I’m thankful for the Gospel-centered pursuits of the church today. It’s just plain biblical.
The more we dig into Scripture and the life of Jesus, the more we see the necessary connection between what we learn and how we live. His life painted a beautiful picture. What we’re learning is a true Disciple proclaims the Gospel in both deed and creed.
Our struggle is (see the New Testament) and has always been (see the Old Testament) our ability to move from knowledge to application. Fortunately, the surge toward missional/incarnational community has been a huge step forward for the church and has offered an appropriate place for mission to happen through community.
The argument is no longer about whether or not this is something we should be doing. The conversation is now more about how we do it in our current context, how we balance the gathering and scattering, and how we do it in a way that proclaims a pure image of the Gospel.
One of the greatest challenges is found in how the church responds to our culture’s call and concern for social action. We’ve been here before … and it ended poorly. A historical social gospel scares all of us, and it should—social action should never become our gospel.
But it should be a huge part of the life of a Disciple.
Church leaders, here is my proposal: As we make disciples, it is our responsibility to teach our people to serve outside the church.
It’s as simple as that. We have to empower them, equip them and release them. We have to help them understand why we’re calling them to serve others. We have to explain the reasoning, the hope and the impact it will have on us, those we serve and the collective posture of the church.
But most of us simply tell our people to go serve, and assume they know how.
Here’s what I’m learning: Most of our people don’t know how. Neither do most of us. The number-one question I hear as I spend time with church leaders around the nation is, “Where do I begin?”
So let me propose an eight-step process to begin leading your people to engage need.
This is the process we use at Austin New Church. And it’s proven to be pretty productive. It’s from the study I wrote based on the book Barefoot Church: Serving the Least in a Consumer Culture, called the “Barefoot Church Primer: An 8-week Guide to Serving through Community.” The Barefoot Church Primer is designed to walk small groups, community groups and/or missional communities through the discovery process of understanding, discovering and engaging in their context. In it we spend a week on each topic listed below.
Whether you are a church leader or a church attender, you can apply these to both your life and your processes. This process gives permission to learn and offers a biblical foundation before it gives a task. It intentionally walks through a discovery process that, if ignored, I believe will inevitably fall in on itself. I think the best part is it isn’t a program, it’s a process. It’s up to you to figure out how to apply it in your context. I hope it proves helpful to you.
1. Embrace Social Action as a part of the Discipleship Journey.
Jesus knew exactly what he was doing when he told us to serve the least. The most beneficial impact will be on those serving and the community that serves together, not just those being served. Embrace the learning process as a part of the journey. You’ll be amazed at how much we learn when we’re confronted face-to-face with poverty, brokenness and disorder. (Barefoot Church Primer Week 1: The Journey)
2. Settle your Gospel Theology in regards to Social Action.
Go ahead and press into Scripture. It holds up. If you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself wondering how you missed it before (you may even do some repenting). There is a very sound reason we serve, and Scripture is clear. Even so, your serving will eventually come into question, either you’ll self-doubt or someone else will. If you do not settle this in advance, it will leave you reeling constantly. This is one of the main reasons I wrote Barefoot Church and is the entire focus of the second week of the Barefoot Church Primer. Tim Keller’s book Generous Justice is also an amazing resource. (Barefoot Church Primer Week 2: Becoming Good News)
