Daniel Im's Blog, page 15

What Is My Calling as a Christian?

What you do for work is not your calling.

Oftentimes, we confuse our calling with what we do to get paid—with that perfect job or that ideal career. But what if I were to tell you that your primary calling is not what you do to get paid? But that it’s actually something that transcends what you do to get a paycheck?

If you’re a pastor or church leader, there was a point in time (and in some contexts you might be still working on it) where the main goal was to help your church understand the Reformation doctrine of “the priesthood of all believers.”

I believe that today we need to make an even further shift: from priest to missionary.

It’s one thing to help our church members understand that they are the church and that it’s the role of the pastor to equip the saints to do the work of ministry, rather than do it for them (Eph. 4:11–12). So in this sense, every member is a minister or every member is a priest. And in this way, the concept of doing ministry is often seen as an internal matter of caring for the flock, and helping them mature.

But today, in order to reach the nations, we must move beyond priesthood and call people to see themselves as missionaries—the “sent out” ones.

Just imagine if everyone in your church saw their primary calling as being missionaries—wherever they live, work, and play—and their secondary calling as being whatever they do to make a paycheck?

Being a missionary is your primary calling. Your secondary calling is whatever you do to get a…
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I’m not talking about training up overseas missionaries here. Nor am I advocating that you ask everyone to quit their job and become full-time local pastors.

I’m using the word missionary as a noun referring to people who see their primary calling as being sent on God’s mission, rather than their own.

I’m specifically talking about helping ordinary people understand that all of their life is about mission.

This starts by helping others understand that their first and foremost calling is to go and make disciples of all nations, while getting a paycheck from their employer.

In other words, every plumber, poet, pastor, and police officer in your church has the same calling—to go and make disciples. This is our missionary mandate as the church! We are all sent and on mission with God wherever we are and in whatever we do for a living (John 20:21). And this precisely is our primary calling.

Every plumber, poet, pastor, and police officer has the same calling.
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When a church focuses on developing disciples with a missionary mindset, they are not just pushing their pet peeve or peddling some “trend.” Instead, they are starting from a biblical foundation of the nature and purpose of the church, rather than a cheat sheet of the latest models and strategies.

*This was a modified excerpt from my book, No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that will Transform Your Ministry.

Investing In Your City For The Long Haul

I love this paragraph from Rich Perez’s Mi Casa Uptown (there’s a giveaway at the bottom of this article, so be sure to enter!)

I realized that if I was going to contribute to the much-needed reform in culture, personally and as a spiritual leader in my community, I was going to have to plant roots here—a tall order, for sure, and intimidating in some ways. But why does this matter? Because I’m convinced more than ever that in our constantly changing culture, anything that takes root will take time.

“Anything that takes root will take time.”

As I mentioned in my book, No Silver Bullets, our obsession with the quick fix, the instant solution, and the “to-go” option in life and in ministry handicaps the work that God wants to do in us and through us…

…and when the best things in life often require time to mature, marinate, and develop the flavor profiles that aren’t there instantaneously, we cheat ourselves and those around us when we carelessly just go from one thing to the next.

We cheat ourselves and those around us when we carelessly just go from one thing to the next.
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Rich makes a good point about this,

And if we, as kingdom-of-God citizens, don’t look to the long haul, we won’t have a considerable effect. Time will be one of our greatest assets. Risk will be one of our closest friends. Transforming love will be our greatest motivation. Is it worth our time? Is it worth the risk? Is it worth the sacrifice? Ask any kid who doesn’t have a dad or big brother. Ask the parents working long hours to make sure their kids have book bags for school. Ask the young girl who sees no other way to feel accepted and cared for than to give herself away to men. Ask the older gentleman who feels enslaved by his ambition to climb the financial ladder. Ask the immigrants who quietly move about the community, gripped by fear because they’re unable to communicate in a foreign country. Ask them. They will all say that it is worth the time, risk, and sacrifice.

If we don’t look to the long haul, we won’t have a considerable effect. – @richperez729
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So what should we do about this?

Rich makes a stellar point,

Faithful investment in the city now happens as a result of a faithful and hopeful vision of the city’s future. How we see our cities determines how we invest in them.

So how do you see your city?

Is it something to be consumed, used, and thrown away once you’ve got what you wanted? Or is it to be nurtured, cared for, and invested in for future generations? And is this just humanism? Or is this a gospel matter?

In Mi Casa Uptown, Rich addresses questions like these and presents a compelling vision to “plant roots, make homes, build families, love neighbors, trust Jesus, and die well.”

Enter the draw today to win one of three copies of this captivating memoir on the city and learning how to love again.

Enter to Win

Next Steps:

Enter the giveaway to win one of three copies of  Mi Casa Uptown.
Read an excerpt from Mi Casa Uptown on NewChurches.com here.
Follow Rich Perez on Twitter and Instagram.

Is Your Church Making Disciples?



Is your church making disciples? How can you tell?

Recently I filmed a 90 Second Leadership video for LifeWay Leadership on how to tell whether or not your church is making disciples.

I hope you enjoy it!

If you like what you saw on this video, I elaborate on this concept further, and provide audits and templates to help you develop your vision, strategy, and values in my book, No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that will Transform Your Ministry.

Click here to watch other 90 Second Leadership videos by LifeWay Leadership.

A Year (or Two) to Study Timothy Keller

I’ve discovered that if I’m not reading, I’m not learning. And if I’m not learning, I’m not growing. And if I’m not growing, I have no right to be leading.

This was the opening line to an article I wrote a couple years ago on why everyone should be reading multiple books at the same time.

With the number of books I now listen to on Audible (get 2 FREE audiobooks), and the number of podcasts I am subscribed to, the only thing I’d add to that quote (a couple years later) is the word listening.

I’ve discovered that if I’m not reading or listening, I’m not learning.
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As a discipline, I typically read and listen pretty broadly (there are five categories I generally stick to) in addition to my daily Bible reading. However, this year, I wanted to try something different.

I’m going to cut down the volume of reading/listening that I do in other areas to focus on a specific person.

In years past, Lesslie Newbigin has been that guy for me. In the area of missiology and missional life, he is the one who has most informed my thinking and practice. I’m not about to abandon him, but I did want to spend a year (or two) going deep into the theology, thinking, practice, and disciplines of another individual—Timothy Keller.

From a distance, I’ve always respected him. In fact, I’ve led multiple groups through his excellent Reason for God book and small group study. However, a couple months ago, when I met him in person through a leadership event that Ed Stetzer and I convene twice a year (CPLF), I was blown away.

It was like he was on a totally different wavelength.

By the end of our time together, I thought to myself, if I can even just learn a fraction of what this guy knows, I’d be a better leader, pastor, and thinker.

Here are a few things he said during our church planting event on urban ministry:

When you move into a neighborhood and try to make it better, you are a part of gentrifying it.

The last election was a repudiation of cities.

White people don’t realize that the existing rules are white rules.

If you think evangelism is just a presentation, booklet, or done in a set time, then you aren’t urban.

Urban sensibilities are different than suburban sensibilities.

Everyone experiences change as a loss in some shape or form.

More and more so, Christians know the truth in their head, but they’re not allowing it to transform them in their hearts (Rom 12:2).

There’s a lot of wealth out there, and we need more for church planting.

So this year, in 2018, in addition to continuing my discipline of reading/listening broadly, I’m going to try to consume and digest everything Timothy Keller has written, including books I’ve already read. (If I were to also do the same to everything he’s spoken and preached, I’d be doing this for a decade!)

Here’s my list:

Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters
Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical
The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God
The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God
Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work
Walking with God through Pain and Suffering
The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness: The Path to True Christian Joy
Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of the Son of God
Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City
Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just
Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism
Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ

What are your favorites? Are there other articles or books that you could recommend?

The (Hidden) Theology and History of O Come O Come Emmanuel

If anyone had a side hustle or a gig, it was the Anglican priest and hymn writer, John Mason Neale.

Neale (1818-1866) not only founded a nursing order of Anglican nuns, helped social welfare organizations care for orphans and young woman, and was a warden of Sackville college, but he translated early and medieval Greek and Latin hymns in his spare time—focusing on the ancient ones that were written around “the feasts and the fasts of the Christian year.”[1]

He is most notably known for bringing us that beloved carol, O Come O Come Emmanuel.

While the hymn as we find it today was first published in the mid 19th century, its origins are actually found in a Benedictine Gregorian chant from the late 8th and 9th century. History tells us that beginning the week before Christmas, the monks would sing a verse a day to prepare their hearts and minds for Christmas.

What’s fascinating about the original seven verses is that each began with a Messianic title from the Scriptures that prophesied and foreshadowed Jesus’ coming:

O Sapentia (Wisdom)
O Adonai (God)
O Radix Jesse (Stem or root of Jesse)
O Clavis David (Key of David)
O Oriens (Dayspring)
O Rex genitium (King of the Gentiles)
O Emmanuel (God with us)

If you’re interested in how each verse points to Jesus, you can watch the sermon that I preached on this hymn at the bottom of this article.

I did want to highlight the last verse, which is actually the first verse of the version that we sing today:

O come, O come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Emmanuel—God with us.

We see this prophecy about Jesus the Messiah in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.”

Jesus, the son of God, was going to leave it all, leave the right hand of God, to come and be with us, so that we can experience all that is talked about in the seven verses of this hymn…

What’s amazing about this verse in particular, and also the other ones, is that they have a double purpose.

In these seven verses, we realize that through Jesus’ first coming—his birth—he was going to be the ransom paid to set Israel and the nations free. So when we sing these verses, and many of our other beloved Christmas carols, what happens is that we are often seeing the world through the lens of those living in the first century.

You know…little baby Jesus who was born in a manger, on a silent night, with angels singing, and the wise men bearing gifts.

However, if you take a look at each of these seven verses again—with an eye toward Jesus’ return—you’ll discover that they all have a hidden meaning, or a double purpose.

Jesus is coming back.

When we sing the lyrics of this song, we’re not only celebrating the birth of our savior Jesus, but we’re also preparing our hearts and growing in excitement for Jesus’ return, which we may actually witness during our lifetime.

So in a sense, each verse is helping us place our eyes on Jesus’ return by remembering his first coming and then anticipating, yearning, hoping, and aching for his second coming.

I love this quote by John Piper,

The Christian life oscillates between these two poles: the overflowing joy of the “already” redeemed (Ephesians 1:7) and the tearful yearning of the “not-yet” redeemed (Ephesians 4:30). Not that we ever leave the one or the other in this life. We are “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10).[2]

I will be present tomorrow

Now here’s the kicker. Take a look at the first letter of each verse in Latin (after O). As an acronym, it spells, SARCORE.

If read backwards, the letters form a two-word acrostic, “Ero cras,” which means “I will be present tomorrow,” or I shall be with you tomorrow.[3]

Friends, Jesus is God with us. He has not only come in history, but he is coming again…

What a reason to rejoice!

Jesus is God with us. He has not only come in history, but he is coming again.
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End Notes:

[1] https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/ magazine/article/ o-come-o-come-emmanuel

[2] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles /o-come-o-come-emmanuel

[3] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/ resources/history-of-hymns- o-come-o-come-emmanuel

70:20:10 Discipleship



Discipling others while being discipled is actually one of the best ways to get discipled!

We see this in the way that Jesus interacted with his disciples. After all, he did not wait for his death and resurrection to send the disciples out for ministry. He did this early on; in fact, shortly after the disciples saw the Gerasenes demoniac set free, Jesus sent them out in pairs for ministry (Mark 6:6–12).

We also see this in adult educational theory and leadership practice through the 70:20:10 principle…

This principle originated with Dr. Allen Tough in his book The Adult’s Learning Projects and has since been elaborated and expanded by many others.

The principle states that 70 percent of our learning comes by doing. This is informal, on- the-job development that comes through trial and error, and growing in experience.

Next, 20 percent of our learning is through receiving informal feedback from others, or through more formal coaching and mentoring relationships. This is primarily development through interacting with others.

The last 10 percent of our learning is through conferences, seminars, and courses. This is structured formal education.

What’s interesting is that most churches are unintentionally aware of the 70:20:10 principle and are living it out, but their application of it is backward.

Seventy percent of their time is devoted to teaching
20 percent to talking about it
And 10 percent to doing it

Unfortunately in many churches, 70% is devoted to teaching, 20% to talking about it, and 10% to…
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What would happen to your church if you applied the 70:20:10 principle accurately?

What if 70 percent of the time that you spent discipling others was helping them do the very things that made them a disciple? You would then talk about what they’ve done and provide them feedback 20 percent of the time, while only formally teaching them 10 percent of the time. Imagine the transformation that would happen in your church.

In order for us to disciple with the 70:20:10 principle in mind, we need to start with a basic question…What does someone need to do to grow as a disciple?

In other words, what is the 70 percent that people can do that will move them toward maturity as a disciple?

I sincerely believe that discipling others while being discipled is actually one of the best ways to get discipled! However, discipling others is not the 70 percent—it’s a part of it, but not the whole thing. So what else do disciples need to do to become mature and move toward Christ?

Discipling others while being discipled is actually one of the best ways to get discipled!
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To continue reading, pick up a copy of my book, No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that will Transform Your Ministry. This article was a modified excerpt from Chapter 2: From Output to Input.

No Silver Bullets Audiobook

I’m constantly listening to podcasts and audiobooks.

While driving, working out, mowing the lawn, vacuuming the house, or shoveling snow, my earbuds are always in and I’m constantly learning.

———– Don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom of this article ———–

Why? This is because the moment you stop learning is the moment you’ll stop growing (Click here to read more about this).

The moment you stop learning is the moment you’ll stop growing.
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A month before my book, No Silver Bullets, was released, I got a call from Christianaudio.com saying that they wanted to produce an audiobook version of my book! I was stoked, absolutely thrilled. While I’m a co-host on two podcasts (New Churches Q&A Podcast and the 5LQ Podcast), recording an audiobook is a completely different experience.

In fact, I spent 15 hours in the Warner Music Studio in Nashville recording my 8.6 hours long audiobook! It was long, but I loved the experience.

In fact, on the audiobook, I actually elaborate on a few more ideas and share stories that didn’t make it into the book.

So to celebrate the release of my audiobook, I wanted to giveaway three copies! Click the link below to enter the draw.

Enter to Win

Next Steps:

Enter the giveaway to win one of three digital copies of the audiobook version of

No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that will Transform Your Ministry
If you’d be so kind to leave a rating and review of No Silver Bullets on Amazon and Goodreads, I’d be deeply grateful, and for every review you leave, you’ll get an extra entry into this giveaway! Just comment on this blog post to let me know where and when you did it.

The Difference Between Vision, Strategy, and Values for your Church or Ministry



Let’s talk about where your church is going, what it’s going to do to get there, and how it’s going to do what it needs to do.

Recently I filmed a 90 Second Leadership video for LifeWay Leadership on how to distinguish the difference between vision, strategy, and values.

I hope you enjoy it!

If you like what you saw on this video, I elaborate on this concept further, and provide audits and templates to help you develop your vision, strategy, and values in my book, No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that will Transform Your Ministry.

Click here to watch other 90 Second Leadership videos by LifeWay Leadership.

 

Spiritual Growth and the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon

Have you ever noticed what you notice?

For example, if you’re thinking about buying a Volkswagen Golf or a Mazda 3, have you ever noticed that you begin noticing those cars everywhere you go? All of a sudden, your neighbor has one, the streets are filled with them, and every commercial seems to be about them.

Or, when you encounter an obscure piece of information or a particular phrase, have you ever noticed that you begin noticing that phrase over and over again?

This is the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, otherwise known as the recency illusion or the frequency illusion.

Here’s a quick summary of the phenomenon:

In point of fact, coincidences themselves are usually just an artifact of perception. We humans tend to underestimate the probability of coinciding events, so our expectations are at odds with reality. And non-coincidental events do not grab our attention with anywhere near the same intensity, because coincidences are patterns, and the brain actually stimulates us for successfully detecting patterns, hence their inflated value. In short, patterns are habit-forming.

But when we hear a word or name which we just learned the previous day, it often feels like more than a mere coincidence. This is because Baader-Meinhof is amplified by the recency effect, a cognitive bias that inflates the importance of recent stimuli or observations. This increases the chances of being more aware of the subject when we encounter it again in the near future.

What does this have to do with spiritual growth?

When it comes to your children, have you ever noticed that you don’t notice when they grow? Especially if you’re with them on a daily basis? Sure, when you see a child that you haven’t seen in a year or two, you definitely notice how much they’ve changed and grown, but not if you’re with them daily.

Here’s the fascinating thing…

While you may not notice the daily growth of your children, you definitely notice when they’re sick.

After all, what happens when we’re sick? Our fuse is shorter, our ability to make decisions is hampered, our energy is lower, our focus turns inward because we become more self-centered, and the list goes on and on.

The same is true for your spiritual growth.

You may not notice when you’re growing, but it’s definitely noticeable (to others, and hopefully to yourself as well) when you’re not. When you’re digging deep into God’s word (click here to learn 3 Ways to Normalize Bible Reading), the Lord will shape, mature, and transform you. The changes aren’t necessarily immediately noticeable, but they’re happening through the power of the Holy Spirit. After all, as it says in 1 Corinthians 3, what we’re responsible for is not the growth, but the sowing and the watering of seeds. It’s “God who gives the growth” (1 Cor 3:7).

You may not notice when you’re growing, but it’s definitely noticeable when you’re not.
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On the flip side, if you’re not meeting the Lord daily through the Word and through prayer, and if you’re not in healthy biblical community with other believers, you will stop growing spiritually.

You will then begin noticing the symptoms of physical sickness in your spiritual life.

Your fuse will be shorter, your ability to make decisions will be hampered, your energy will be lower, your focus will turn inward because you will be more self-centered, and the list goes on and on.

What do you think would happen in our lives and in the lives of those we’re discipling and leading if we stopped treating the symptoms and instead addressed the root issue?

Let’s stop waiting until we’re sick to make a change; and instead, prioritize the daily disciplines (both physically and spiritually) to keep ourselves healthy.

 

3 Ways to Normalize Bible Reading

Growing up, my favorite sermons were the ones where the preacher would get into the Greek or Hebrew and explain to us common folk what the Scriptures really meant.

In the Greek, this word is translated, pistis, and it means…

In the Hebrew, this word is translated as hesed, and it means..

Those were the moments where I felt like I was being fed “meat,” rather than “milk.” Those were the moments when my ears perked up. Those were the moments that made the sermon worth it…since I couldn’t get that sort of insight on my own. Reading the Scriptures in the “simpleton language” of English just didn’t cut it. Unless I knew the Greek or the Hebrew, I could never attain the level of depth in my relationship with God that my pastor had.

How did that last paragraph make you feel? Did something feel off to you?

In my pastor’s pursuit to be exegetically sound, and to provide “meat,” depth, and insight into the Scriptures, he unintentionally made the Scriptures inaccessible to the congregation.

Without verbally saying it aloud, he was basically saying that the English language wasn’t adequate to understand the true intent of the Scriptures. In his desire to be helpful and shepherd us toward spiritual growth, he was actually going against the point of the Reformation—to make the Scriptures accessible to all.

The point the Reformation? To make the Scriptures accessible to all.
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Ouch.

Who else is guilty of this? As a pastor myself, I know I am…

If you’re like me, the last thing that you want to do is make the Scriptures inaccessible.

After all, as articulated in the discipleship research in my book, No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that will Transform Your Ministry, the frequency of one’s Bible reading was one of the key indicators and influencers toward spiritual growth.

In other words, the more you read your Bible, the more likely you are going to grow in all aspects of spiritual maturity. ALL ASPECTS. Isn’t that incredible?

Reading the Bible heavily influences all aspects of your spiritual growth.
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Unfortunately sometimes, there are things that pastors and church leaders (myself including) unintentionally do that hurt, rather than help.

If reading the Bible makes that much of a difference, what are things that we can do to help our congregations and/or those that we disciple dig deeper into the Word? In other words, how can we normalize Bible reading?

Here are three ways to normalize Bible reading:
1. Don’t use Greek or Hebrew words when preaching.

I know it makes you sound smart, and I know that it makes you feel better that you’re putting those Greek and Hebrew classes to work, but when you do this, you’re actually telling everyone that the English translations aren’t trustworthy or readable. Now don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that you should never consult the Greek or Hebrew texts while preaching a sermon. I’m just saying that what happens in the study doesn’t always have to make it to the pulpit.

If you studied the languages, then by all means, get insight from the original texts (make sure that you’re referencing lexicons and commentaries to ensure that you’re interpretation is accurate), but share your insight in English. Use illustrations to articulate the original intent of the Scriptures. Read the passage from several different English translations across the spectrum and then explain the meaning.

By preaching this way, instead of making the Scriptures inaccessible, you’re teaching your congregation and/or those that you are discipling that they can do what you’re doing. All they need is a few different English translations to dig deeper.

2. When illustrating a point, share about your personal Bible reading.

When preaching or discipling, illustrate your points by sharing what you’re learning through your own personal Bible reading. By doing this, you’re emphasizing the importance of reading the Word without necessarily saying it outright. This is one of the most powerful ways to normalize something.

For example, this past summer, while I was preaching through the Book of James at my church, there was this one particular sermon where I spent 5-10 minutes sharing what I learnt in 1 Samuel 13 that week. You can read more about this specific example here.

By making my personal Bible reading the illustration, I was not only showing my congregation that God speaks through His Word, but I was also teaching them a way to engage with the Scriptures.

Win win.

3. Use the Bible to disciple others.

I love curriculum, study guides, and books. There are so many helpful resources out there that can help you disciple others. Even when I look at my own spiritual life, I can point to several books and studies that have been influential in helping me overcome sin, temptation, and the strongholds of the evil one. However, if these resources aren’t pointing you to the Bible, or helping you read and understand what God is saying through the Scriptures, then what good are they? What power do they actually have to change you and I?

That’s why, when I disciple others, I make reading the Bible the central component. And when I use curriculum, study guides, or books to disciple others, I make sure that they are supplementary to the discipleship process, so that they don’t take the place of the central role that the Bible has in one’s discipleship.

When I disciple others, I make reading the Bible the central component.
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So this week, what can you do to normalize Bible reading in your life and leadership?