An idea is the most contagious thing. Jan Wessele and I talked to leaders at the Western Europe Call to All conference this month. Together we encouraged a personalized evaluation of ministry in Europe. We showed how ministry to the Last, Least, and Lost can be used to diagnose the ministries we do. It shows if we are working mainly with Christians, and how focused we are on caring for the needy and marginalized.

Here is how one church planter’s ministries looked:

The three large circles and the yellow fish are the areas of ministry to the marginalized, needy, and those without Christ. The dots are the church planter’s ministries. They spent 15% of their time helping immigrants, 10% at a hospital caring for seniors, 20% doing evangelism/discipleship, and the rest was given to the Christians of the church. You can see that most of their ministry was to Christians. They were only doing a little evangelism/discipleship with friends. Their mercy ministries and justice ministries were focused mostly on helping Christians.  Notice how the red and green dots are only on the rim of the “Lost” circle. Jan encouraged everyone at the conference to chart their ministries on the graphic. “Where does your ministry fit?”

Then we talked about how to apply the three circles to a European context. It can be used to diagnose a part of the city, a town, region, or even country.

One of the most encouraging results of the talk we gave was the number of people who said they would take the concept to their ministries and discuss it. One leader said he would take it to Paris next week and present it at another conference.

The church is here to reach out to the last, least, and lost, to share the good news of Christ and his transforming power. Jesus saves and transforms lives and communities today. That transformational power “is the same as the mighty strength he (God) exerted when he raised Christ from the dead” (Ephesians 1:19-20).

You can get all of the presentation, papers, and handouts from the talk here.

The European spiritual landscape is as diverse as its cities and populations. The gospel of Christ may be simple and straight forward but the context into which we want to bring the gospel is complex spiritually, physically and socially. The complexity of this landscape highlights the need for a robust framework for understanding it.

The 3L framework described in the papers below shows the three areas of the Last (social need), the Least (physical and situational need), and the Lost (spiritual need). They combine biblical principles and European social and demographic data to present a holistic or kingdom approach. This includes Europe’s social settings, the physical and situational needs people have in those settings and their spiritual need in relationship to Jesus Christ. The framework can be used to diagnose European Spiritual need as well as help evaluate ministries.

The Downloads:

Short paper tabloid size: 3l-framework-short-tabloid

Short paper A3 size: 3l-framework-short-a3

Long paper: Holistic Framework for Understanding Spiritual Need in Europe

Infographic/MindMap of the 3L concept: As a jpg or As a png

PowerPoint with Notes explaining the Infographic/MindMap: Here

PowerPoint showing how to use the 3L Framework to Diagnose ministry and map spiritual need: Here

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Super. But how do you get to 211 degrees? If you constantly live your life at 150 degrees then a little extra effort is not what you need…you need a lot of effort.  Michael gives a short list of four things to take you from 211º to 212º sending you to the top. My personal favorite is “Stop planning. Stop stalling. Just get out there and do it.” I knew these church planters in Europe who wrote a 200 page plan before they started to disciple a single person. Get moving is great advice. But it is great advice for someone who is seriously under achieving as well as the person who just needs to give a little more effort.

Here is short TEDx video from a motivational speaker who has some good ideas how to get moving. Think about applying this to how you follow Jesus. “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

Matthew 2:13 – 15
“Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother I night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’”

So, not only was Jesus born in an animals feeding trough, had to be hidden away so people would not kill him, but add refugee status to the list. I do think it’s important to see that Matthew is making a parallel here with Israel. Jesus, being Israel’s king, was also called out of Egypt.

Craig Keener adds to this, “But all four stories in Chapter 2 also surround place names rooted in Scripture; Jesus is ” forced to wander from place to place,” King of the world hostile to him…. The world’s treatment of Jesus likewise promises little better for his followers (10:23 – 25); they must expect hostility, false accusations, and even death for Jesus’ name (10:17 – 39; 13:21; 16:24 – 27; 24:9 – 14; cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Peter 4:12 – 13). This also fits the motif of withdraw from opposition that characterizes Matthew’s narrative and undoubtedly instructs his community.”

Long quote, but you can see why it’s important. This is not the sanitized nostalgic nativity of wealthy suburban America but is more in line with an oppressed majority world poor urban society. I find Jesus’ refugee status more instructive for the persecuted believer in a hostile Muslim or Hindu context than with a 40%+ churched and Christian majority worldview dominated place we live here in Georgia.

I find this quite challenging and it draws me to pray for the persecuted Church and for believers who may be confused about how to live out new found relationship to Jesus in a hostile culture, “… withdrawal from opposition… undoubtedly instructs his community.”

This withdrawal, I believe, is certainly not for contexts where there is no persecution that is physical in nature. In this case I think we should integrate with society, incarnate the life of Jesus among those who do not have a relationship with him and allow them to feel the beauty of Christ’s love. But where physical persecution increases there withdraw from opposition must increase. First the withdraw from open expression of faith to sharing faith quietly, then toward a more physical absence as dangerous persecution increases. Though that makes sense, I struggle with the truths of Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

Why was he told to return to Israel instead Nazareth where Jesus was prophesied to grow up? I can only guess at the answer since I don’t see even a hint at what could be in this part of the story.

Maybe Joseph wanted to take King Jesus to Judah, to Jerusalem, and find a way to make a rebellion in order to place Jesus on the throne. During Jesus’s later ministry his disciples and most of the crowds along with the Jewish leadership either feared this or longed for it. So I think it’s pretty reasonable to say that Joseph thought this as well. From all his dreams, he knew Jesus would be the Savior but, like the others, most likely thought of a political deliverer who would reestablish Israel’s spiritual and political vitality. And like everyone else Joseph would’ve had it wrong.

So why not tell Joseph to go directly to Nazareth? Probably because he would not have understood. Better to tell him to come back and let his own fears prepare him for the next dream telling him to go to Galilee and Nazareth.

So, he got general instructions to go to a country and then, when he was ready, more specific instruction. This shows God working together with Joseph.

I was surprised when it dawned on me that the Nativity story was teaching me about how to follow God. It was teaching me about how to listen to God and how God leads. In the end I pray this prayer:

Father, as you direct me from one ministry to another I commit to paying close attention to where you are specifically leading. I recognize that I may be going to a place of service for one reason, for something that I really do not understand, so that you can place me where I can be most useful for you. That place may not be what I thought or why I thought I should be there but it will be but was planned by you.

He quotes a lot of Bible verses that talk about a knowledge and how the connected to understanding God. Two of those verses are:

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” (2 Corinthians 10:5, ESV)

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31–32, ESV)

So you can see how truth and knowledge are intertwined as far as the authors concerned. he says, “Ultimately it is ideas, not armies, that rule the world” (p. 158). On the next page he says this:

“The fact that the rule of Satan begins in our minds, when we choose to believe his deception, and accumulates in the oppressive political institutions we build, means that untruth is the foundation of slavery. Proclamation of truth, therefore, is a basic means of setting people free from oppression and exploitation. Jesus said, ‘then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’”

He goes on to say, “Often we fail to see that the oppressive and exploitative social structures survive not because of the strength of their institutions or their physical force, but by the spread of faith in the structures. People believe the falsehood and therefore allow themselves to be exploited.”

I know that this needs to be developed more, but I find it fascinating that not only biblical theological truth needs to be taught in a society but also philosophical truth, scientific truth, and economic truth needs to be taught in a society in order to free that society from exploitation and oppression.

The gospel of Jesus Christ sets us free from sin spiritually setting us free to love and obey God and opens us, in the honesty of truth, to begin to explore the truths in science, economics, and society so that large portions or even an entire society can be largely free.

Now I have to admit, that the larger effect and the more global concepts of how Christianity impacts society is something somewhat new to me. For someone trained in theology that’s kind of embarrassing to admit. On the other hand, I think that my training has focused more on smaller Christian communities, churches, and their development rather than on societal reconstruction, community building in a secular context, or larger considerations like that of a whole town, city, or nation. It’s completely fascinating and I look forward to reading more on the topic. And looking forward to sharing with you.

The quote goes like this:

The man was sick, the treatment was free and within sight, yet he could not get it.

Why not? He explained to Jesus that he did not have anyone to help him into the water when it was stirred. No one cared for him.

Jesus told this man who had not stood for almost four decades to pick up his mat and walk. He did! But it was the Sabbath. In Jerusalem you could forget whether it was Tuesday or Thursday, but no on ever forgot it was the Sabbath. It was forbidden to carry your mat on the Sabbath. The Jewish society was so well organized that in no time the authorities found out that this unknown man had dared to break the sabbatical rule by picking up his bed and walking. An on-the-spot inquiry began. How efficient!

Why was a religious establishment which had not cared for a sick man for thirty-eight years so prompt in caring for its own inhuman rules? I find it hard to believe that they were so keen to enforce the Sabbath legislation because they wanted to please God. I am more inclined to think that one of their interests was to impose a fine and collect a little extra revenue! The sick man had complained to Jesus that his problem was that his society had no compassion. It hadn’t even bothered to enforce a basic etiquette of civilized behavior: first come, first served. The resourceful came late but got healed first.

It was not by mistake that Jesus asked this powerless man to challenge an inhuman society by a deliberate act of defiance. God had provided the stirred-up pool of water for the healing of this man. It was the social pool of a stagnant, selfish society that needed to be stirred up for the man’s healing. Stirring the pool is precisely what Jesus did.

Is there a pool of stagnant, selfish society you can stand up to today?

 I think the folks at Indexed do a great job with venn diagrams. This one comparing oranges to apples shows what they do have in common. You just have to think differently about the issue.

There is so much in life that is like that. You come to an impasse in your marriage or you get fed up at work. Your boss is a jerk or whatever. You just need a bit of a different perspective on the issue. Turn it over. Lay it sideways. Bounce it (not your boss) off the wall.

I don’t think we are stuck in our perspectives like optimist or pessimist. You know the joke:
There are twin boys of five or six. Mom was worried that the boys had developed extreme personalities — one was a total pessimist, the other a total optimist — their parents took them to a psychiatrist.

First the psychiatrist treated the pessimist. Trying to brighten his outlook, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with brand-new toys. But instead of yelping with delight, the little boy burst into tears. “What’s the matter?” the psychiatrist asked, baffled. “Don’t you want to play with any of the toys?” “Yes,” the little boy bawled, “but if I did I’d only break them.”

Next the psychiatrist treated the optimist. Trying to dampen his out look, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with horse manure. But instead of wrinkling his nose in disgust, the optimist emitted just the yelp of delight the psychiatrist had been hoping to hear from his brother, the pessimist. Then he clambered to the top of the pile, dropped to his knees, and began gleefully digging out scoop after scoop with his bare hands. “What do you think you’re doing?” the psychiatrist asked, just as baffled by the optimist as he had been by the pessimist. “With all this manure,” the little boy replied, beaming, “there must be a pony in here somewhere” [from Herding Cats]

I do think you can choose how you look at a problem, pain, or puzzle. It can be like apples and oranges or comparing oranges to apples.

Maybe it would help if you got some advice from a friend. Let Christ capture your thoughts. 2 Corinthians 10:5

I believe we Christians ought to be as concerned for the religious freedom of our Jewish or Muslim neighbors and for the rights of our nonbelieving neighbors to live out their lack of religious beliefs as we are for our own religious freedom. If we do not do this, we become like any other special-interest group, working for advantages for ourselves.

In addition, it is irresponsible for us evangelicals, who have a high view of Scripture, to apply the promises and warnings made to the Old Testament nation of Israel to the present-day United States. There is no biblical basis for believing that God has made a special covenant with the United States or named Americans as his chosen people. Today God works through his worldwide church, which is drawn out of “every nation, tribe, people and language” (Rev. 7:9), not through a special, chosen nation. The United States is not the equivalent of Old Testament Israel.

Monsma, Steve (2008-05-16). Healing For a Broken World: Christian Perspective on Public Policy (Kindle Locations 232-235). Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

It seems like we evangelicals often get things mixed up. In our desire for a better America we mistakenly think that America is a Christian nation. It is a nation with mostly Christians in it. Those are different things. We should help our country be the best it can be but we cannot legislate Christianity.

In the context of the story he says this just after Judas leaves to betray him. So, it happens not long before they come to take Jesus away to be killed.

Anyway, I got a commentary with the inventive title: “The Gospel of John, A Commentary” by Craig S. Keener. Brilliant guy. He says that Jesus’ words mean, “…once Jesus has glorified the Father by submitting to the cross, the Father will turn Jesus’ death into a glorification of the Son by exalting him right away.” Found that on page 921.

That just made a lot of sense to me so I thought I’d pass it on to you. I like the way Jesus and his Father treat each other. It is not like they ask for easy things (cross and death, resurrection etc.) but they are also really there for each other. I know it may sound odd to say that about two members of the One True God but there it is.