The Pure-Hearted Church

WHAT WE’RE FOR: OUR FOURFOLD REASON FOR BEING 94

The shape of leadership

Summer 2021

Why we need integrity to see God at work

Summer 2021

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The shape of leadership influencemagazine.com

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CO NTE NTS

Issue 35 | Summer 2021

F E AT U R E S

38

Why we need integrity to see God at work | RYAN POST

46

Ministry Without Walls Biblical evidence for women in leadership DEBBIE LAMM BRAY

When the Comeback Seems Impossible

56

Four lessons from the widow of Zarephath HERBERT COOPER

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Summer 2021

D E PA R T M E N T S

FROM THE EDITOR

8

Boldly and Without Hindrance

What made Paul special was a quality that came

from outside himself. | GEORGE P. WOOD

FROM THE HEART 10 Fueled OF THE GS

Leading with a full tank after COVID | DOUG CLAY

MAKE IT COUNT 112 Avoiding Ministry Pitfalls: Lessons From 10 Biblical Leaders | STEPHEN BLANDINO

THIS IS MY STORY 128 A Fight to Forgive

The overwhelming fear and anger I felt were as agonizing as my wounds. | KEVIN RAMSBY

L E A D E R S H I P

Faithful Service

PROFILE 14

Army Chaplain Delana Small is following

God’s lead . | CHRISTINA QUICK

Give Me a Break!

How to ask for a SELF 18 sabbatical | KENT MANKINS

Fighting Fair

HOME 22 Four ground rules for ministry couples | PAMELA CROSBY

Fishing on the Other Side of the Boat

Making the most of online PRACTICE 26 evangelism | SHAILA VISSER

Justice … or Reputation Management?

ETHICS 30 Responding to sexual abuse allegations against church leaders | SAEHEE DURAN

• Evangelism and Compassion in Missions REVIEWS 34

• Consuming News Christianly • Plus recommended reading | GEORGE P. WOOD

Summer 2021

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M I N I S T RY

Planting in Small Places

PROFILE 64

How one Missouri church is reaching rural communities | CHRISTINA QUICK

Preaching and Lived Experience

PREACHING 68 Three ways to make your messages more inclusive | SHANNON POLK

Designing Your Worship Space

WORSHIP 72 Four questions ministry teams should ask | KRISTI NORTHUP

Ministry to the Grieving

COUNSELING 76 No one should have to navigate bereavement alone. | MARY BETH WOLL

Using Digital Tools to Reach Kids

KIDS 80 How to bridge the gap from Sunday to Sunday | MICHAEL LENAHAN

Purposeful Discipleship

Helping youth discern and use their YOUTH 84 gifts | KARA POWELL and BRAD M. GRIFFIN

Three Reasons to Befriend Skeptics

Building bridges to ADULTS 88 nonbelievers | PRESTON ULMER

SPECIAL SECTION

What We’re For: Our Fourfold Reason for Being 94

Introduction |

GEORGE P. WOOD

96 EVANGELISM Good News On Time | DOUG CLAY

100 WORSHIP Moving Forward |

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DONNA BARRETT

104

DISCIPLESHIP Becoming More Like Jesus | RICK DUBOSE

108

COMPASSION Crossing Divides and Meeting Needs | CHOCO DE JESÚS

Summer 2021

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FROM THE EDITOR

Boldly and Without Hindrance

By GEORGE P. WOOD

T

he Acts of the Apostles ends on an ironic note.

Four years elapse between Acts 21 and 28, and Paul experiences, in succession, riot, arrest, attempted flogging, Sanhedrin hearing, attempted assassination, night flight under armed guard, multiple Roman hearings, attempted extortion, extradition to Rome, shipwreck, snakebite, and house arrest.

And yet, the final sentence of Luke’s account of these events states that Paul “proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ — with all boldness and without hindrance” (Acts 28:31).

It takes a special kind of person to walk a long obedience in the same direction when the road is hard and dangers are on all sides.

Paul was that kind of person, though not because of any qualities within himself. He was well-educated, to be sure — by no less an eminence than Gamaliel, grandson of Hillel. And Paul had zeal in spades, both before and after he began to follow Christ.

But Paul lacked rhetorical eloquence and a powerful mien, and he was frequently sick and poor.

No wonder so many Corinthians felt ambivalent about him! The gospel of a crucified Savior was already a tough sell. It didn’t help that its salesman was unimpressive in speech and appearance.

No, what made Paul a special kind of person was a quality that came from outside himself: He had seen the Lord. Acts 9:1–19 records that encounter with Christ on the Damascus Road, but

What made Paul a special kind of person was a quality that came from outside himself: He had seen the Lord.

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it’s not for nothing that Paul retells the story twice in his long Roman custody: Acts 22:2–16 and 26:12–23. That encounter was the key to unlocking Paul’s boldness and without-hindrance ministry in the face of adversity.

This past year, many of us have experienced significant adversity because of COVID, among other things. Has it gotten the best of us, or are we, like Paul, serving God and others boldly and without hindrance in the midst of it?

I cannot help but think how we answer that question depends on whether we, too, have experienced Jesus afresh through the power of the Holy Spirit.

ERROR : The print issue of “In Step With the Spirit” by Dr. Beth Grant (April– June 2021) inadvertently deleted transitional words between Pages 43 and 44. The corrected passage reads: “Thus, the kingdom of darkness and its evil manifestations do not intimidate them. Under the anointing of the Spirit, they stand with courage and lean into the battle in His authority when facing spiritual opposition.”

We regret the error.

GEORGE P. WOOD is executive editor of Influence magazine.

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Summer 2021

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FROM THE HEART OF THE GS

Fueled Leading with a full tank after COVID

By DOUG CLAY

I

share the excitement about public health officials lifting restrictions and life returning to normal. However, I am also concerned for the spiritual and emotional well-being of ministers in the Assemblies of God. Many of us are still trying to figure out what the “new normal” of ministry looks like post-pandemic.

Some seasons of ministry are more stressful than others, especially those of interruption and change.

This past year has been an energy-draining season. Leading people through unprecedented times has taken a toll on those of us who are called and empowered to shepherd God’s flock.

With that toll in mind, we need to keep an eye on the fuel level in our spiritual and emotional tanks.

Just as pushing the pedal to the metal drains your car’s gas quickly, so restarting in-person ministry after a long season of Zoom-ing can rapidly deplete your spiritual and emotional reserves.

In this regard, I love how The Message paraphrases Paul’s advice in Romans 12:11: “Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame.” As one pastor to another, let me offer seven suggestions for pastoring with a full tank after COVID. 1. Know your limits. As public health restrictions on in-person ministry end, your temptation will be to resume everything all at once. It’s understandable that you want your church’s ministries to return to pre-pandemic levels right away.

However, keep in mind that you have limited time, focus and energy. Scripture says, “A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed” (Job 14:5). Resuming everything all at once exceeds those limits.

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Think of it this way: Your church’s ministries didn’t start overnight, so they aren’t going to restart overnight either.

To stay fueled and aflame, put your limited time, focus, and energy on the most crucial ministries, and rebuild slowly but steadily.

2. Manage your media input. It’s important for ministers to be informed about current events. It’s another thing entirely to be addicted to social media. Your spiritual and emotional wellbeing demand that you keep your soul free of toxic stuff that will hinder your effectiveness in ministry.

How toxic is social media? In an article for Psychology Today, Dr. Loren Soeiro writes, “The persons who use social media platforms most often have been shown to be three times as likely to harbor feelings of depression and anxiety.” Soeiro says they also report “feeling worse about themselves” and having “reduced life satisfaction overall.”

By contrast, I recently talked with someone who fasted social media for a season. This individual told me the result was a clearer mind, better sleep, stronger relationships, and a greater receptivity to hearing the Spirit’s voice.

The takeaway is obvious: Your input determines your output. As Scripture says, “A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash” (Proverbs 15:14, NLT).

3. Practice healthy rhythms of socializing. As we all have learned over the past year, it’s difficult to socialize when you are socially distanced.

Public health orders kept church members apart, of course, but it was far worse for family members who were unable to see one another. Social

Resist the tendency to expect things to return quickly to pre-pandemic levels.

Don’t expect others or yourself to perform at the prior level.

distancing is hard on relationships. None of us is sad to see it go.

In life and in ministry, friendship is not optional.

It is essential. “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). We need constant contact with others … in person!

So, in this new season, make sure to be intentional about resuming the regular “fellowshipping” that ground to a halt during COVID. You need other people, and they need you.

4. Set realistic expectations. Restrictions on in-person ministry are lifting, but that doesn’t mean your ministry will return to pre-COVID levels right away. As I noted previously, you need to set reasonable limits regarding your time, focus and energy.

The same is true for your expectations about what’s going to happen in your church the next few months.

The Bible says, “Desire without knowledge is not good — how much more will hasty feet miss the way!”

(Proverbs 19:2). Be smart about the relaunching of your church’s ministries. Resist the tendency to expect things to return quickly to pre-pandemic levels. Don’t expect others or yourself to perform at the prior level.

You are likely exhausted. So are your volunteers and church members. Show grace to yourself and others.

5. Control what you can. For many people, the pandemic took away the belief that they alone controlled their own destiny. Government shut down business

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as usual and required everyone to mask and social distance — whether we wanted to or not. And those who suffered badly with COVID realized how precious and fleeting life itself can be.

In ministry, as in life, so much stress comes from trying to deal with and steward the things you can’t control.

God has sustained us through this crisis. He will guide us effectively out of it.

Instead of trying to control what you can’t, stay focused on influencing what and whom you can. In the words of Ecclesiastes 4:6, “Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.”

6. Step up your private worship. Psalm 147:1 begins with an exhortation to worship. “Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!”

Worship is an intrinsically good thing, of course.

We do it because God is inherently worthy of our praise. But worship is also a good thing instrumentally; it is good for our spiritual and emotional well-being.

Worship is our weapon against worry. Why? Because worship reminds us of who God is; He is all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful. It also reminds us how small Satan and our circumstances are by comparison. There is no problem so big that God is not bigger still.

Moreover, worship reminds us of who we are becoming. When we praise God for who He is and what He has done, is doing, and will do, we have a better understanding of where He’s leading us. And let me tell you, our final destination is glorious!

So, in the words of “Raise a Hallelujah,” that popular worship song, “Sing a little louder!”

7. Stay hope-filled. In an article titled “Our HopeFilled Future,” theologian David Murray writes insightfully about hope’s relationship to both the present and the future: “Christian hope sees reality, faces it, feels it, accepts it, and yet rises above it on the wings of faith.

“What most dread as the end of time, we desire as the beginning of eternity,” Murray says. “But our present-energizing hope is not just looking to the ultimate solutions in the eternal tomorrow.

Our hope in God also calls us to look for temporary solutions in much nearer tomorrows.”

Whether we’re looking at the near tomorrow or the eternal tomorrow, we can have confidence in that which is certain. And here’s what is certain: Jesus said, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). It is our privileged opportunity to participate in His great work.

So take heart! “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

May that be our reality in this new season of ministry after COVID!

In ministry, as in life, so much stress comes from trying to deal with and steward the things you can’t control.

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DOUG CLAY is general superintendent of the Assemblies of God (USA).

CELEBRATING A CENTURY OF WORLD CHANGERS

Since 1920 Orange County, CA vanguard.edu Summer 2021

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LEADERSHIP | PROFILE

Faithful Service Army Chaplain Delana Small is following God’s lead.

By CHRISTINA QUICK

W

hether she is running at 5 a.m., attending an administrative meeting, conducting a counseling session, or leading a chapel service, Army Chaplain (Capt.) Delana Small views every aspect of her work as ministry.

“Even the mundane tasks are ministry moments,” says Small, an Assemblies of God chaplain serving in AGUSM Chaplaincy Ministries. “All of it should be an outflow of my calling. I’m trying to be faithful at every step.”

Small traces that commitment back to her childhood when she accepted Christ as her Savior and promised to follow wherever God led. At 15, Small sensed a call to ministry — and felt drawn to military chaplaincy specifically.

When she saw people going to war after 9/11, Small knew Delana and the armed forces would one Lucas Small day be her mission field.

“It confirmed my call to serve those who serve,” Small says. “I didn’t know what that would look like, but I was certain God had called me. I was just following.”

After attending Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, as an ROTC student, Small went on to earn a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, graduating in 2011.

She then reported to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where she joined the Screaming

Eagles, the previously all-male 101st Airborne Air Assault Division. She later became a member of a special forces group. The Army had just opened the door for women to serve in combat arms units, and Small was the first female chaplain assigned to a combat arms battalion.

Small brushes off the notion that she is a trailblazer. She insists God simply brought her to the right place at the right time.

“I felt like Esther, there ‘for such a time as this,’” Small says, referring to Esther 4:14. “It’s not that there weren’t other women who were willing to do these things. I just happened to be coming into the Army at a time when the rules for women in combat units changed.”

Small says she is grateful for the opportunity to advance gender equality and honor God through her service.

“I’m happy to be the first if it eliminates barriers for other women,” she says.

“But I think for all of us in ministry, we have to make sure whatever we’re doing is for God’s glory — not for our own glory or to make a name for ourselves.”

In 2013, Small deployed to Afghanistan as part of an artillery unit. She traveled to various remote outposts, providing counseling, conducting services, performing baptisms, and checking in on the morale of the troops.

Small saw it as another way to represent Jesus.

— Delana Small

“Wherever my ministry takes me, I want to be fully present.”

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“A chaplain does incarnational ministry by putting on the uniform and being there in deployment, in the hard times,” Small says. “Wherever my ministry takes me, I want to be fully present.”

Small was assigned to the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, in 2018, where she was the only female chaplain. She provided spiritual support for cadets as they transitioned from high school to military life, juggled classes and training, and navigated the pressures of young adulthood. During the pandemic, most of the ministry happened remotely as cadets returned to their homes.

“Many days I was doing counseling anytime from 6 in the morning until 9 or 10 at night to accommodate time zones and schedules,” Small says.

Small is used to maintaining a demanding pace. She balances her chaplain duties with parenting an infant and a 2-year-old and working on a Ph.D. Her husband, Lucas Small, is an Army Reserve chaplain.

“Like other ministers, I have to intentionally make time for my family,” Small says. “It’s about integrating vocations and callings. I don’t stop being a mom because I’m a chaplain, or vice versa. If God has called me into the Chaplain Corps and called me to be a mother, it doesn’t stop because I’m busy.”

Women make up nearly 17% of active-duty military personnel, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. However, the share of women within the ranks of the Chaplain Corps is much smaller.

Small says she used to bristle at being identified as a female chaplain. She wanted to be known simply as a good chaplain. Yet Small recognizes the diversity she brings to the job adds value.

“I didn’t want the nuance of, ‘She’s good — for a girl,’” Small says. “But I’ve learned to see my femininity as an asset. It does influence the way I lead and minister, and that can be a positive thing.

Of course, gender shouldn’t be our focus. Jesus Christ should be our focus.”

Nevertheless, as a Pentecostal woman, Small often feels like an outsider. Many of the conservative denominations represented in the Chaplain Corps do not endorse women in ministry. As a result, most of the women serving as chaplains come from more liberal traditions.

“There are male chaplains out there who see that I’m a believer, but they’re struggling with why I’m in the ministry,” Small says. “And sometimes the female chaplains are the furthest from me theologically. I have been confronted by people on all sides continuously.”

— Delana Small Theological differences aside, Small says other chaplains often welcome her gifts once they get to know her. And she has little time to worry about those who don’t accept her.

“As people see what I’m made of, they’re more willing to have me on the preaching roster or ministering alongside them,” Small says. “Still, I’ve made choices not to serve at certain chapels when someone was uncomfortable with me being there.

Again, this is not about me; it’s about Christ.”

Small recently transitioned from West Point to the Religious Support Operations Center at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. She will be working in the office of the U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains, Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Solhjem, who is also an Assemblies of God chaplain in AGUSM Chaplaincy Ministries.

“A chaplain does incarnational ministry by putting on the uniform and being there in deployment, in the hard times.”

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CHRISTINA QUICK is assistant editor for Influence magazine.

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LEADERSHIP | SELF

Give Me a Break!

How to ask for a sabbatical

By KENT MANKINS

A

s our board meeting was ending, I made a tearful and humbling confession: “I feel like I am driving down a dirt road behind a truck. I can see nothing but a cloud of dust. I am struggling with vision and direction for our church.”

For more than a year, our staff had scrambled to adapt to evolving COVID-19 mandates. I was so consumed with keeping my head above water I had little margin for planning our next steps. I had prayed for a fresh vision, but nothing was clear.

I felt discouraged and incompetent. I was even beginning to question my calling.

After that emotional moment with my board, I debriefed with a trusted colleague. I admitted I had been working at a pace that was not sustainable. Since the start of the pandemic, I had not taken a regular sabbath, much less a vacation.

I also realized it had been seven years since my last sabbatical. I knew I needed to get one on the calendar.

Perhaps you recognize the need for a sabbatical but are not sure how to ask for one or whether your church even offers one. If that’s you, stay tuned.

What Is a Sabbatical?

In addition to a weekly sabbath and annual vacations, a sabbatical is part of a comprehensive approach to stewarding a ministry calling. A sabbatical may include rest, education, travel, study, and prayer.

It is a good practice to schedule a sabbatical every five to seven years, with each one lasting between one and six months.

Our church provides all pastors with a onemonth sabbatical every seven years. Sabbaticals have not always been a part of our Assemblies of

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God tradition, but a growing number of ministers, churches and districts are recognizing their value.

Why You Need It To become better leaders, pastors may attend conferences, read books, and even engage coaches.

It is past time for an extended break when vision is lacking, energy is waning, joy is fading, and depression is rising.

However, many of us ignore the need for rest and reflection.

People expect pastors to be on call 24/7. They expect us to be scholars, counselors, anointed preachers, visionaries, general contractors, authors and caregivers. After years of carrying the

weight of all these expectations, many ministers burn out.

After my confession to our board, I realized I had been depleted for quite a while. It is past time for an extended break when vision is lacking, energy is waning, joy is fading, and depression is rising. If you’re questioning your calling, that is a clear sign you need to get away and seek God. A sabbatical benefits not only the leader, but also his or her family and church. Even those who are skilled at separating work and family inevitably carry home some of the stress. A sabbatical provides an opportunity to reset and refocus on what matters most, including family.

The church’s ministry is more effective when leaders are healthy, and getting adequate rest is a vital part of maintaining good health. A sabbatical can also enhance longevity. Often, a pastor will return with renewed passion and vision for ministry. And leaders who take time to rest set a positive example for other members of the congregation.

Requesting Time Away How do you ask for a sabbatical if your church does not offer one? The tension surrounding such a request causes some pastors to remain silent and continue down a path toward burnout.

Perhaps you recognize the need for a sabbatical but do not want to appear self-serving. Remember that rest is not just a human concept; it’s God’s idea (Genesis 2:2; Leviticus 23:3).

Consider your relationship with the board and their personalities when deciding whether you or another person should request the sabbatical.

If you make the request, be humble and avoid an entitlement or martyr mentality. Pastoring comes with a unique set of challenges. However, it is counterproductive to communicate to board members that your job is more demanding than theirs.

There may be value in asking and preparing another person to advocate for your sabbatical.

Your spokesperson should have a relationship

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with the board and a personal interest in your health and effectiveness. A board member or church leader could make the request.

Alternatively, another pastor or presbyter could speak on your behalf. Many district leaders are willing to help you address this topic with your board. Input from leaders outside the church carries weight and may help relieve some of the tension.

If no one is available to present your case, a letter or an article outlining the benefits of a sabbatical could serve a similar purpose.

Preparation and clear communication will significantly influence the outcome of your request.

Be ready to negotiate, but present your board with a proposal from which to begin discussions. Here are six considerations to keep in view: 1. Present a policy, rather than a one-time request. A new policy for all pastoral staff members will appear less self-serving and will benefit future pastors.

2. Settle financial questions. Typically, pastors continue to draw their full salary during sabbaticals. Churches may also provide compensation for education or travel.

Our church provides an honorarium in addition to the pastor’s salary. Some churches offer nothing, and others cover all expenses.

If any of your responsibilities will require compensating someone else while you are away, you will also want to include this in the discussion.

3. Identify the purpose. Since a sabbatical is different from a vacation, clearly communicate the reason for taking one. Ideally, a sabbatical should incorporate elements of rest, study, reflection, dreaming, and most importantly, deep communion with God. 4. Put together a plan. A leadership vacuum can lead to chaos. During your initial request, you may not have all the leaders in place, but outlining each of your responsibilities demonstrates you have thought through the implications of your absence.

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When I took a sabbatical while serving as lead pastor of a smaller church, I was the only full-time staff member. A board member who had recently retired offered to take over the management of daily operations. A local retired pastor agreed to preach each Sunday I was gone, for a small honorarium. We empowered key volunteers to step in as leaders and cover other responsibilities. This had a lasting and positive impact on our church.

5. Establish your exit and reentry strategy.

Inviting a board member to communicate the sabbatical policy to the congregation will help curb assumptions. A formal send-off is a good way for the congregation to participate in the sabbatical process. In blessing you and praying for you, they are a part of creating a healthy church.

The plan for your reentry is also important.

Upon returning, you might want to present a brief report to the congregation and board to demonstrate accountability and the value of a sabbatical policy.

6. Express gratitude — but don’t apologize — for the time away. Taking a sabbatical is good stewardship.

When I realized the benefits of a sabbatical, I no longer felt like it was self-serving. My prayer is that you will arrive at the same conclusion. If your church doesn’t offer a sabbatical policy, it may be time to start a discussion about the value it could add.

A sabbatical is an investment churches make in pastors, so pastors can continue investing in the kingdom of God.

KENT MANKINS, Ph.D., M.Ed., is a licensed counselor and lead pastor of Valley Assembly (AG) in Spokane Valley, Washington.

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LEADERSHIP | HOME

Fighting Fair Four ground rules for ministry couples

By PAMELA CROSBY

I

can still remember our first argument as newlyweds.

My husband, Robert, said, “I’m afraid we’re going to get a divorce if this fighting keeps up.”

My response was, “Are you kidding? This is nothing. We’re just warming up.”

As a middle child who grew up between two brothers, I was used to debating and making my voice heard.

Robert, the firstborn in his family, just wanted to keep the peace.

Our dating relationship had been free of major conflicts, but that first year of marriage as youth pastors made up for it.

One of our pastor friends described his experience with marriage conflict this way: “I taught her how to fight, and she taught me how to fight fair.”

For us, it was reversed. In any case, we’ve learned over the years that disagreements happen in every marriage, and navigating them well is crucial.

Just because you’re in ministry together doesn’t mean your union will be paradise. In fact, ministry can multiply the pressures couples face — and increase the temptation to direct all that stress toward each other.

Clearly, we need some ground rules for fighting fair.

Here are four important ones:

1. Keep the End in Mind A list of rules can be difficult to remember in the heat of the moment. But no matter how quickly things heat up, if we embrace this first guideline, it might save the day.

When words start flying like foils during a fencing match, consider the rest of the day. Were you planning something fun or heading to an event? Is this issue really worth damaging the joyous atmosphere of your home? Is it worth scaring your kids? Is your opinion worth devaluing

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your spouse and destroying the potential of a day together?

Consider the consequences of your anger and whether you can save the disagreement for a less stressful time, or a time when you’re alone.

Keep your words, attitude and volume in check at all times. As Proverbs 10:19 says, “Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues.”

Harsh words have a way of magnifying stress and insecurity. When someone is already feeling like a failure in leadership, dealing with a disgruntled board member, or struggling with the embarrassment of people leaving the church, unloving

2. Stop, Think and Listen Many disagreements arise from miscommunication or words that trigger past pain. This quickly leads to fear and anger.

Amid such emotions, people hear and understand through a muffled filter, usually a red-hot one. Each word sounds personal. Each argument can feel like a test of their worth.

Be the one who chooses to stop the emotional escalation. Concentrate on listening calmly without being defensive. Repeat what you hear your spouse saying, and ask whether you understand correctly.

This often de-escalates the tension and opens the door to more constructive communication.

If you’re both on the defense or your spouse is stonewalling, it might be wise to say, “I’m too upset right now, and I’m concerned I’ll say the wrong thing. I need to come back to this in 10 minutes.”

Before leaving the room, agree on a time to return to the conversation. Take a short break (no more than 20 minutes) to calm down and consider your spouse’s point of view so you can listen with a more open mind.

When two people learn to pause, listen, and work toward solutions together, they both win.

3. Resist Name Calling It should be obvious that insults are beyond the pale, but in the heat of the moment, it can be easy to say things we’ll later regret.

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words from a spouse can hit especially hard.

You can’t take back what comes out of your mouth.

Once that horrific word or devaluing phrase flies out like a sharpened arrow, it will do damage. And in some cases, the wound may take years to heal.

love you and want to do and say what brings you value and confidence. When you shut down, it shuts down something in me too. I will do my best to remember and do what I’ve promised you. In fact, I’ve started using that reminder app you told me about. I was putting the restaurant’s number in right before I left the church. Let me follow through and see if we can still make dinnertime at our favorite place. I already scheduled a reminder for our next three date nights. It’s a priority.

You’re my priority.”

Spouse 2: “I have been looking forward to being together. You’re the highlight of my day.”

Ministry couples have their differences like everyone else, but these things don’t have to pull them apart. The key is working through the issue at hand without attacking each other.

Even when we don’t see eye to eye, our words should reflect the love of Christ. According to 1 Corinthians 13, love is “patient” and “kind” (verse 4). It “does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs” (verse 5). “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (verse 7). That’s the kind of love that “never fails” (verse 8).

Love doesn’t always have to agree. But love fights fair.

When the smoke settles after a fight, take positive steps to become stronger as a couple.

4. Apologize and Grow When the smoke settles after a fight, take positive steps to become stronger as a couple.

This is a time to bridge any communication gaps, make and accept apologies, offer reassurance, and learn from the disagreement.

The goals include discovering and communicating personal insights, perspectives, and triggers, and renewing a calm and safe atmosphere.

It might look something like this: Spouse 1: “I’m sorry I forgot to make the reservations for our dinner tonight. I really have been looking forward to going out, just the two of us. Just before I left the office, I heard about the Smiths leaving the church.

They said my preaching isn’t deep enough. I thought about it all the way home and completely forgot to make the call. I really was looking forward to being with you — just you — tonight. I was thinking about it all day until that phone call came in.”

Spouse 2: “I forgive you. I’m sorry I flew off the handle. I can get wrapped up in church concerns, too. I thought for sure you just forgot about our plans again, but I hear you.

Now that I think about it, it probably pushed a disappointment button from my childhood.

My dad used to tell me he was going to pick me up from school to spend time together.

Then he’d get a call from the office, and that was the end of our plans. I felt like something was always more important than me.”

Spouse 1: “I’ve heard you tell that story before, and I never want to disappoint you. I

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PAMELA CROSBY is executive director of culture and development at Emerge Counseling Ministries. She and her husband, Robert, are co-authors of The Will of a Man & The Way of a Woman: Balancing & Blending Better Together.

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LE ADE RSHIP | PR AC TICE

Fishing on the Other Side of the Boat Making the most of online evangelism

By SHAILA VISSER

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E

ven before the pandemic and the accompanying transition to virtual ministry, times were changing for churches. Many young people were leaving, the ranks of the unaffiliated were growing, and fewer Christians were engaging in personal evangelism.

The old ways of doing church don’t always translate to a new generation. Perhaps it’s time to reframe evangelism so all Christians feel they have a role to play in helping their friends and family members come to Jesus.

I like this definition of evangelism by author Darrell Johnson: “Evangelism is joining a conversation the Holy Spirit is already having with another person.”

I believe the Holy Spirit is inviting today’s Church to join Him in digital evangelism. We saw the potential of online ministry during the pandemic. In the midst of multiple crises, people were asking the big questions about life, faith and God — some for the first time — and turning to online communities for answers.

In John 21:6, Jesus told His disciples to throw their net over the other side of the boat. When they did so, they brought in a huge haul of fish. We can think of this digital landscape as a new place to cast our nets.

It seems Jesus is telling us to try something

Our job is not to replicate what worked in the past. It is to follow where God leads and trust Him to maximize our gospel impact.

different in our assignment as fishers of people. And if we open our eyes to what is happening around us, we’ll see where we can join the Holy Spirit in the work He has already begun and enter conversations He has already initiated. This perspective restores freedom and joy to the task of evangelism.

Our job is not to replicate what worked in the past.

It is to follow where God leads and trust Him to maximize our gospel impact.

Integrated Churches already have many of the elements in place for successful online evangelism. In a recent report from Barna Group, 86% of churchgoers surveyed said their pastors articulated the gospel in ways nonbelievers could clearly understand. More than half (55%) said their pastors had preached a specific sermon focused on salvation in the previous month.

Over the past year, many unchurched individuals watched an online service, searching for hope in a time of fear and isolation. This may be the only way some people will hear the gospel. The Barna survey found that 16% of non-Christians prefer to engage in spiritual conversations online rather than in person.

However, even in digital spaces, relationships are vital. In fact, 45% of non-Christians dislike impersonal social media posts about Christianity, according to Barna. Yet 4 in 10 say they’re open to participating in faith conversations if the experience feels friendly.

And among non-Christians who report having had a digital discussion about Christianity with a friend or family member, 90% say the exchange went well.

Relational Can you imagine how many more people we could reach if we proactively engaged in evangelism using all the tools available to us today? Certainly, a great opportunity lies before us.

Here are four ways to expand online evangelism: 1. Cast the vision. Help your congregation understand that there are people in their digital networks who would be open to having a friendly spiritual conversation, if only someone approached them with love and a willingness to listen.

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2. Be specific. Clarify what digital evangelism is — and what it is not. For example, merely posting a Bible verse or religious meme is unlikely to change lives. Encourage congregants instead to engage in gracious discussions with friends and welcome their questions.

3. Equip. Teach people how to pray, start organic spiritual conversations, and join the Holy Spirit in what He is doing online and in their communities.

4. Create space. Provide a place online where people can invite their friends. This can be a digital discussion area that accompanies the online church service or a virtual small group setting.

As more congregations move toward a hybrid model between traditional and digital church expressions, there are opportunities for both in-person and online evangelism. To skip digital evangelism is to miss a great moment in history to reach friends and family members who are geographically separated from us.

Among churchgoers who are extending invitations to digital church experiences, 17% have invited nonlocal friends, and 15% have invited nonlocal family members. We need to encourage more of this kind of interaction. After all, personal relationship is more vital to evangelism than physical proximity.

In recent months, I have invited friends from across the country to experience online Christian community with me. I have known some of them for more than 20 years and never previously had this kind of invitation opportunity. The pandemic helped pave the way for online evangelism, and I was able to witness firsthand the power of taking the gospel to the digital “highways and hedges” (Luke 14:23, ESV).

Not everyone I invited came, but many did, and I had the enormous pleasure of leading some of them to the Lord. Even my self-proclaimed atheist friend said, “The door is open to Jesus. I am just not there yet.”

The story continues with all of them, as Jesus continues to work in their hearts through online ministry and relational connections.

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Cultivating friendly and safe digital environments for nonbelievers has never been easier.

Amid the pandemic, people became accustomed to doing everything online — from work and school to grocery shopping.

From the comfort of their own homes, many are also willing to share their hearts with strangers like never before. In fact, 40% of respondents told Barna they are more open to talking online with people who have opposing views on controversial topics than they would be in person.

Providing an environment for these conversations can yield eternal results.

Spirit-Led People today are used to going to the internet with their questions. And according to Barna, 1 in 3 non-Christians has unanswered spiritual questions.

Many are looking not only for answers, but also for friends who will walk beside them on their journey.

What if the Church provided both? What if those who are searching encountered Christian friends on the internet who could point the way to the greatest Friend of all? What a gift it would be to meet them where they are, in the power and partnership of the Holy Spirit. Let’s not miss this opportunity to do just that.

As the Church, we have a calling to go wherever there are people in need of Jesus. It is evident that the Holy Spirit is already working in digital spaces.

He is inviting us to participate with Him in the proclamation of the gospel. Are we willing to try new ways of reaching people for Christ in this changing landscape? Are we ready to fish on the other side of the boat?

SHAILA VISSER is the national director of Alpha Canada and global senior vice president for Alpha International. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

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LEADERSHIP | ETHICS

Justice … or Reputation Management?

Responding to sexual abuse allegations against church leaders

By SAEHEE DURAN

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n February 2021, an investigative report verifying Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias had sexually abused multiple women shocked the evangelical world.

When allegations first surfaced several years ago, Zacharias’ ministry associates, friends, and family members had rallied around him, insisting his victims were falsifying their accounts. Months after the popular minister died in May 2020, the truth finally came to light.

Sexual harassment, abuse and misconduct can happen anywhere, including in the Church. The #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements shined a spotlight on this sad reality. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), 1 in 5 women experience rape or attempted rape in their lifetime, and 81% are sexually harassed or assaulted.

So why are the voices of victims often dismissed

or silenced, while the lies of sexual predators go unchallenged?

The Sin of Reputation Management When preserving the credibility of the guilty takes precedence over seeking justice and truth, sin multiplies. Longitudinal data indicates false allegations account for just 2–10% of all sexual assault reports, the NSVRC notes. In other words, 90–98% of sexual allegations are legitimate, which necessitates urgent and careful investigation of each case.

In 2018, 75% of sexual assaults were not reported to law enforcement, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey. Such an alarming figure speaks to the danger of perpetuating hidden sin and untold injustice. The victims who do report often do so long after the incidents occurred, often due to fear of retribution, shame or denial.

Unfortunately, delayed reporting makes prosecution more difficult and allows others to be violated. When victims are silent or sidelined, it is easier for the guilty to justify their vices and maintain their positions of power instead of acknowledging their sin, repenting, and pursuing life change in humility.

While vulnerable sexual victims suffer in silence, people with positional authority often benefit from their perceived credibility. Some churches and Christian organizations hastily disown their obligation to stand for the weak and vulnerable, while scrambling to clear the names of their ministers or ministries. Such a self-seeking response may quiet the scandals momentarily, but wrongdoing will not escape God’s notice. The Lord loves truth and justice, and so should His people (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 33:5; Proverbs 21:15; Ecclesiastes 3:17; Isaiah 61:8; Colossians 3:25).

Hence, managing individual or organizational reputations should never be the driving force when dealing with sexual allegations. God hates abusive behavior (Proverbs 6:16–19). As the Church, we have the divine responsibility and obligation to represent Christ properly by standing up for what is right, just and holy. The crisis mode of reputation management only hurts the body of Christ and distorts Christ’s redemptive work in this broken world.

It does not matter who the offender is. Even if it is a global influencer with a long track record of fruitful public ministry and seeming integrity, Christians must circle the wagons around victims, hear their stories, and seek justice and truth as Jesus would.

A Voice for the Voiceless Proverbs 24:24–25 says, “Whoever says to the guilty, ‘You are innocent,’ will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations. But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them.”

Here are four ways to give a voice to the voiceless and promote safety, accountability and justice in your church:

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1. Create a policy addressing sexual harassment and assault, and follow it in every case. Providing clear definitions and guidelines makes it easier for people to identify and report any violation when it occurs.

Offer an option to report confidentially through a third party (e.g., a counselor or HR director) since many victims are hesitant to come forward for a variety of reasons, including fear of losing their employment. Be sure the policy is transparent about the investigation process for both parties to prevent any favoritism or false accusations.

Include information on relevant state laws, such as mandated reporting for clergy members. Instruct pastors to notify the police any time there are allegations of criminal behavior.

Do not just create a policy and then file it away. Be sure all staff members know about it and understand their rights, responsibilities, and the consequences for violations.

Victims will remain voiceless unless you take steps to protect them and follow through on your policy.

2. Be aware of your biases. A Korean adage says, “Your arms bend inward.” It means we have a natural tendency to stand up for people who are closest to us.

James, the half brother of Jesus, warned the Jerusalem church about the sin of favoritism (James 2:1–9). He argued that when Christians favor the rich and powerful because they share the same social status or aspire to it, the weak and marginalized suffer the consequences of discrimination.

Likewise, if we fail to check our biases, we can fall into the trap of siding with the wrongdoers who have a social status we share or desire. The vulnerable and the abused need us to courageously bend our arms outward to stand up for them in their weakness.

3. Listen proactively, not reactively. Too often, an organization’s first response to sexual allegations is one of public image damage control.

Rather than hearing and protecting the powerless, they scramble to protect the reputations and

The vulnerable and the abused need us to courageously bend our arms outward to stand up for them in their weakness.

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platforms of the powerful. As a result, the abuse may continue.

This is not the way of Jesus. Throughout His ministry, He paused to hear and respond to the voices of the marginalized and the weak. Jesus’ proactive listening led to many divine interruptions for healings and miracles.

The disadvantaged state of sexual victims makes it extremely challenging for them to defend themselves unless someone is willing to listen to them and advocate on their behalf.

4. Be observant. Since many victims hesitate to report voluntarily, leaders should watch for any signs of sexual harassment or abuse.

Address inappropriate behavior immediately, including sexist or sexualized jokes and comments, which have no place in the Church.

Pay attention when staff members or parishioners avoid or seem uncomfortable around certain people. If something seems wrong, trust your instincts.

Follow up, and ask questions. As you build rapport with people, you will be in a better position to hear their desperate cries for help.

Follow the example of Jesus, and listen to those whom others seek to silence. He calls us to walk blamelessly and exercise wisdom as we pursue the work of ministry (Matthew 10:16). We will ultimately be accountable for our treatment of the powerless and vulnerable — people Jesus called “the least of these brothers and sisters of mine” (Matthew 25:40).

SAEHEE DURAN is the lead pastor of Life360 Intercultural Church in Springfield, Missouri, an AGUSM missionary associate, and a member of the AG U.S. Missions Board.

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LE ADE RSHIP | REVIE WS point. For Winter, both “the denomination and the local congregation” are examples of a modality, while a “missions agency” or “missionary band” are examples of a sodality. Modality and sodality together constitute “the New Testament church.”

Winter’s distinction is not without controversy, but Ireland points to Acts 13 as an illustration of it.

That chapter distinguishes “the church at Antioch”

By GEORGE P. WOOD from “Barnabas and Saul,” whom the Antioch church “set apart” for “the work” the Spirit had called them hat is the relationship between evangelism to perform (verses 1,2). That work involved proand compassion in the Church’s mission?

Historically, Pentecostals prioritized evangeclaiming the word of God among Jews (verses 5,14) lism. Pentecostal missionaries and Gentiles (verses 46–48). All believed the Spirit called and this took place under the guidempowered them to proclaim ance and empowerment of the the gospel and plant indigHoly Spirit (verses 2,4,9). enous churches in cultures For Ireland, a modality like where Christ was not known. the Antioch church has broader Pentecostals more recently responsibilities than a sodality have advocated a holistic like the Paul and Barnabas misunderstanding of missions sionary band. A local congregathat puts evangelism and comtion performs both evangelism passion on equal footing. This and compassion within its culunderstanding of missions tural context. Missionaries, on focuses on Christ’s proclamathe other hand, cross cultures to tion of the kingdom of God, establish indigenous churches which touches on the whole of where Christ is not known.

Evangelism and Social Action in human existence — spiritual In other words, the modality Pentecostal Missiology and material. practices holism, the sodality In The Missionary Spirit, prioritism.

Jerry Ireland argues that PenUnderlying this distinctecostals need to reclaim priortion about who does what is a itism. He is a professor of theology and intercultural nuanced theology of the Holy Spirit as the driving studies at the University of Valley Forge in Phoenixforce in missions. In Acts especially, the Holy Spirit ville, Pennsylvania, an ordained Assemblies of God calls and empowers missionaries to cross cultural minister, and a former missionary to Africa. boundaries, proclaim Christ, and establish indigIt is easy to mischaracterize prioritism as advocatenous churches. Ireland points at “the missionary ing evangelism at the expense of compassion. That nature of tongues” throughout Acts and argues that is not Ireland’s position, nor was it the position of glossolalia “orients the church to the nations and historic Pentecostal missiology. For Ireland, prioremphasizes its proclamational role.” itism is less about what should be done than about Ireland concludes The Missionary Spirit by who should do what. arguing that prioritism leads to more effective comIreland draws on Ralph Winter’s distinction passion than holism. Too often, international combetween “modality” and “sodality” to make this passion ministries breed dependence on Western

Evangelism and Compassion in Missions

W

JERRY M. IRELAND

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donors rather than empowering indigenous peoples to meet their own needs in culturally appropriate, sustainable ways. Ireland argues that missionaries prioritizing evangelism and discipleship solve this problem by preparing indigenous believers to become the primary agents of compassion in their own contexts.

I have friends on both sides of the prioritismholism debate, including Ireland and many of the Pentecostal thought leaders he critiques through this book. Because of this, I hesitate to put my thumb on the scale in favor of either position.

That said, I found The Missionary Spirit to be a theologically nuanced argument for prioritism that is well worth reading.

Consuming News Christianly

By GEORGE P. WOOD

A

Pew Research Center report about U.S. media polarization and the 2020 election found that “Republicans and Democrats place their trust in two nearly inverse news media environments.” Tell me whether a person watches Fox or CNN, in other words, and I’ll tell you how they likely vote. Victor H. Lindlahr said, “You are what you eat,” but when it comes to media, you are what you read or watch.

The fact that partisanship and news sources track so closely is worrisome. Are our opinions shaped by which channels we watch? Then we are too passive. Do our opinions decide which channels we watch? Then our problem is confirmation bias. Either way, we need to engage media more critically.

As Christians, that means we need to engage it

In the end, whether you or I agree with Ireland, he is asking the right questions. As Pentecostals, are we flagging in our efforts to proclaim the gospel and plant churches in cultures where Christ is not known? And do our compassion ministries unwittingly breed dependence rather than empower indigenous peoples?

If the answer to either question is “yes,” we’ve got work to do.

Book Reviewed Jerry M. Ireland, The Missionary Spirit: Evangelism and Social Action in Pentecostal Missiology, American Society of Missiology Series, No. 61 (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2021).

more theologically. In Reading the Times, Jeffrey Bilbro outlines “a practical theology of the news.”

He focuses on three themes in particular: attention, time and community.

According to a 2021 Nielsen report, the average U.S. adult spends 10 hours daily on media of some form. The amount and variety of information consumed forces the first question Bilbro asks, “To what should we attend?” We cannot read the news theologically without determining what’s worthy of our attention.

A second theme revolves around the question, “How should we imagine and experience time?” Greek distinguishes between kairos (“propitious time”) and chronos (“quantifiable duration”). Bilbro argues that Christians need a “figural imagination” that interprets chronos in terms of kairos. As Karl Barth advised his students, “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.”

The final question a theological reading of the news asks is, “How should we belong to one

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another?” Bilbro argues that “media technologies and institutions have reconfigured social belonging.” Thus, Fox-watching Republicans may feel closer to other Fox-watching Republicans they’ve never met than to their next-door neighbors who are CNN-watching Democrats. (And vice versa.)

“If the problem is that our belonging to one another has become increasingly mediated through the media and the public sphere,” Bilbro writes, “the solution may be to root our fundamental commitments outside this space.” A good start would be simply to turn off the TV and go talk to your neighbor.

At 200 pages, Reading the Times is a brief book, but don’t mistake brevity for shallow analysis. Bilbro mines the Bible, theology, classic literature, and history to explain why our media consumption

is hurting us, how we came to this crisis, and what Christians can do differently to help make things better.

Book Reviewed Jeffrey Bilbro, Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2021).

GEORGE P. WOOD is executive editor of Influence magazine.

Recommended Reading for Leaders No Longer Strangers

Love Them Anyway

Becoming All Things

Eugene Cho and Samira Izadi Page, editors (Eerdmans)

Choco De Jesús (Charisma House)

Michelle Ami Reyes (Zondervan)

Christians in America send missionaries around the world.

Increasingly, the world’s immigrants and refugees are coming to America. This presents Christians with an evangelistic opportunity. To practice “effective, healthy, and restorative discipleship and evangelism,” the authors urge Christians to understand the “cultural, social, and economic dynamics” of the immigrant experience. Such evangelism and discipleship incorporates mutual relationships, compassionate help, and organic spiritual conversations.

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By INFLUENCE MAGAZINE

Summer 2021

“The currency of the kingdom of God isn’t prayer, Bible study, missions, or service; it’s love,” writes Choco De Jesús. “All the disciplines are means to put us in touch with the love of God so it overflows into the lives of those around us.” De Jesús explains why American culture has become deeply polarized and offers Bible-based, experience-tested advice about how to see and treat people on the other side of issues as Jesus would — with both grace and truth.

According to the apostle Paul, Christian missions requires cultural adaptability: “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).

Michelle Ami Reyes explains what cultural adaptability is, why it’s necessary, and how to do it well. “To be all things to all people means showing Christ in ways that make sense to the other person, not in whatever makes us most comfortable,” writes Reyes.

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the Why we need integrity to see God at work

By RYAN POST

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Summer 2021

By RYAN POST

Somewhere around the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, a massive crowd begins to gather around Jesus. Reports of His miracles have been spreading.

Jesus pulls away from the throng and climbs a nearby mountain. Finding a suitable place, He sits down to signify He is about to teach. With His newly chosen disciples assembling around Him, Jesus begins what would become known as the Sermon on the Mount.

This is no ordinary teaching session. It is the most complete sermon of Jesus recorded in Scripture. It is His manifesto. And for those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ, we must pay special attention to this famous discourse. We must not ignore it, soften it, or domesticate it in any way.

Through this magnificent sermon, Jesus reveals God’s true intention for human life and society. He shares His vision for a new culture of Jesus people.

Jesus opens His sermon by giving a collection of eight statements we call the Beatitudes. Contrary to popular understanding, the Beatitudes are not advice or instruction. They are not commands. Nor are they formulas for success. The Beatitudes are simply announcements.

Through these eight statements, Jesus identifies the kinds of people who will receive the arrival of this Kingdom as good news. And right in the middle of them, Jesus makes an announcement that will become a recurring theme throughout His entire ministry: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8).

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God at Work in Jesus

Essential to orthodox Christian faith is the confession of the divinity of Christ. Jesus of Nazareth was not merely a religious guru, a prophet, an enlightened teacher, or an ideal moral example to follow.

The consistent claim of the New Testament is that He is the unique, eternal, divine Son of God. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Hebrews 1:3 affirms Jesus is “the exact representation” of God’s being. Paul put it this way: “The Son is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).

Our English word “incarnation” comes from the combination of two Latin words: in (meaning “in”) and carnis (“flesh”). It is from the Latin word carnis that we get the modern Spanish word carne (“meat” or “flesh”). Jesus is God in the flesh — God incarnate.

As Jesus launched His ministry and began traveling throughout Galilee, people marveled at the unusual work of God that was happening through this mysterious man. Not quite sure what to make

of Jesus, the crowds were always speculating about His identity and role within the scope of Israel’s prophetic story. Many quickly concluded the hand of God was upon Him. But not everyone was able to see God at work in Jesus. There was a particular religious party in first-century Israel known as the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a sizable faction who promoted moral and religious purity within the Jewish world.

They believed this state of purity would somehow be the impetus for God to deliver Israel from enemy occupation and restore its sovereign identity. In all of Israel, the Pharisees were held in the highest regard for their commitment to honoring God. Yet oddly enough, when God incarnate showed up in their midst, they fiercely opposed Him. In a particularly memorable example, the people brought to Jesus a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. According to Matthew 12:22–24, “Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, ‘Could this be the Son of David?’ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, ‘It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons, that this fellow drives out demons.’”

Consider the irony here. The accusation that Jesus was demon possessed revealed the spiritual blindness of His accusers. And it happened in response to Jesus curing an actual demoniac of physical blindness.

How could this group with a reputation for religious devotion fail to recognize the work of God through the divine Son?

Just as zipping up a suit cannot turn a person into a circus animal, merely putting on the trappings of religion never made anyone godly.

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What kept the Pharisees spiritually blind was not sin, per se. After all, everyone who encountered Jesus was a sinner in some fashion. In fact, many who were considered sinners celebrated His arrival and received the good news of the Kingdom. What blinded these religious experts from seeing God at work in Jesus was a particular category of sin. Theirs were sins of externalism: hypocrisy, judgmentalism, and religious pride.

Religious Externalism

There is a funny story about a man who was searching for some way to supplement his income and save his farm during the Great Depression.

One weekend, a traveling circus stopped in his town. The farmer went to the circus manager and said, “I’ll do anything you need. I just need some extra money.”

The circus manager didn’t hesitate.

“I’m going to turn you into a star,” he said. “Our gorilla died last week. He was a big part of the show.

And in these tough economic times, we cannot afford to import another one. So, we would like you to wear a gorilla suit and perform the gorilla act.”

Desperate for cash, the farmer agreed.

Every night a rope hung near the lion’s cage. At the climax of the show, the fake gorilla was to grab the rope and swing over the lion several times while throwing bananas. The crowds loved it.

After a couple of nights, the farmer was beginning to enjoy the applause. One evening, he decided to improve on the act and beat his chest like a real gorilla. But the gesture caused his hand to slip from the rope, and he tumbled to the floor of the cage. The lion immediately pounced on him and let out a roar.

The terrified farmer screamed, “Help! Get me out of here! I’m going to die!”

Then the lion leaned forward and whispered, “Shut up, you fool! You’re going to get us both fired!”

Just as zipping up a suit cannot turn a person into a circus animal, merely putting on the trappings of religion never made anyone godly. The ever-present danger for those who begin the journey of faith is the

potential to embody a sort of imitation Christianity, in which one bears all the external markers of Christian commitment but neglects to pay attention to the deeper issues of the soul. To follow this route is to venture off the path of Calvary and onto the broad road of religious pride and hypocrisy.

This shift into externalism is nearly imperceptible to the person involved, but it is toxic. While everything may look exactly as it should on the outside, there is a latent virus beneath the surface. And once it takes root, it can be spiritually devastating.

Jesus had a habit of exposing the externalism that existed in the lives of many of the Jewish leaders of His day. Each of His stinging rebukes were loving attempts to awaken them to their blind condition: Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee!

First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.

In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness (Matthew 23:25–28).

Jesus similarly talked about externalism in the Sermon on the Mount. At one point, He applied the term “hypocrites” to those who drew attention to their practices of prayer, fasting, and generous giving so other people would praise them (Matthew 6:1–8,16–18).

In Matthew 15:7, Jesus used the word “hypocrites” to describe leaders who elevated religious traditions over the supreme responsibility of loving others.

He then quoted from Isaiah: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules” (verse 8).

Jesus’ clashes with these leaders over their

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objections to His acts of healing on the Sabbath repeatedly expose this deadly virus of religious hypocrisy. Jesus taught that the sum of the “Law and the Prophets” boils down to the commands to love God and love our neighbors (Matthew 22:37–40). Yet these leaders used adherence to religious standards to promote their own interests at the expense of others.

This condition of spiritual blindness is not something God had inflicted upon them. On the contrary, Jesus — who perfectly embodied God’s will — kept pleading with them in hopes they would eventually recognize their sinful state and repent.

Spiritual Sight

Imagine your inner life as having a window. Windows accomplish two things. First, a window lets in light. Second, a window provides a view of the world beyond the building’s walls. Thus, a window allows us to see both inside and outside.

But if the window is never cleaned, and grime is allowed to accumulate to the point that it eventually becomes caked over with filth, it will no longer serve any useful function. The inhabitants will live in darkness and will be unable to see through to the outside.

What we learn from Jesus’ interaction with these religious experts is that hypocrisy, judgmentalism, and religious pride keep us in spiritual blindness.

In John 9, one such confrontation occurred after Jesus healed a man who had been blind from birth.

In that culture, it was commonly assumed blindness was a sign of God’s judgment. (See verses 2 and 34.)

When some of the Pharisees learned of this man’s healing, they attempted to discredit Jesus and even called Him a sinner (verse 24).

In response, Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind” (verse 39).

This entire incident illustrates Jesus’ point. The man who was born blind received new sight, both

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physically and spiritually (verse 38). Yet the Pharisees who claimed to have pristine spiritual perception were unable to identify the Son of God even when He stood right in front of them.

Once the virus of religious hypocrisy takes root in a person’s heart, it has the potential to thoroughly destroy his or her ability to perceive and cooperate with the work of God. What makes this virus particularly insidious is that as it grows within an individual’s inner life, everything may look exactly right on the outside. Meanwhile, the incongruence between the interior and exterior life widens.

Seeing God at Work

A number of years ago, our church launched a longterm residential program for men with addictions.

It has since become an incredibly fruitful endeavor that God has blessed in many ways. Once a man enters our program, we provide him with food and lodging for an entire year, equip him through lifeon-life discipleship, and train him in vocational skills with the goal of placing him in a suitable job and living arrangement upon graduation.

Early in our program, one of the young men participated in the filming of an informational video on behalf of the ministry. Sitting in front of a beautiful cross, he briefly shared part of his story. For several years, he had struggled with addiction. He lost his job, became estranged from his family, and spent time in jail. Out of desperation, he finally made a decision to seek help. After spending a year in our program and accepting Christ as his Savior, the trajectory of his life began to change dramatically.

If the windows of our hearts are clean, we will be able to perceive the work of God in others.

But if our hearts have become polluted with pride and hypocrisy, all we will notice are their faults.

In the video, this man could hardly contain his excitement as he described the restoration that was happening in his personal life. He beamed as he gave thanks for God’s mercy. He then expressed a desire for God to use him to help others.

When we shared the video on social media, most people who commented were thrilled to hear about the change in this young man.

However, one individual had an objection. This person was known in the local community as a selfstyled theological watchdog. He had a reputation for barking at other Christians, preachers and churches who didn’t happen to agree with his view on seemingly any issue. (Of course, the trouble with watchdogs is they often can’t tell the difference between a thief and a mailman.)

Upon watching the brief two-minute video, this critic noticed what he felt was an apparent flaw in the reformed addict’s expression of faith — specifically, the lack of terminology like “repentance,” “blood of Jesus,” or “born again.” Therefore, though he had never met the man in the video, the faultfinder wrote a lengthy post publicly questioning this new believer’s walk with Christ.

The intent of the video was simply to promote

the program. The men in our ministry have other opportunities to share their testimonies, most notably at their baptisms. The video fulfilled its purpose of spreading awareness about the program so other individuals and families suffering through addiction could find help.

To this day, the man in that video is walking in freedom from addiction. He is still young in Christ, but the glory of God continues to shine through his life. He may not be as theologically articulate as some, but the work of God in his life has been amazing to witness.

There is so much more gospel hope found in stories like this young man’s than can ever be found in the smug judgmentalism of those who are able to define terms like “atonement” and “propitiation” but cannot see the work of God happening right in front of them.

Over the years, I have been grieved to witness friends and acquaintances who, for whatever reason, latch onto unhealthy and toxic preaching that propagates a similar form of religious externalism.

While all the external markers may be present, the fruit that is produced bears no resemblance to the life exemplified by Jesus hanging on the cross praying for His executioners.

Near the end of His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus issued this warning: “Watch out for false prophets.

They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit” (Matthew 7:15–17).

Jesus was drawing upon a common motif from Isaiah, who frequently used fruit-related imagery in his prophetic declarations. And according to Isaiah, the fruits that God longs for are righteousness and justice (Isaiah 5:1–7).

In other words, God calls us to live in right relationship with Him and with one another. This is exactly the subject matter of the entire Sermon on the Mount, encapsulated by the Beatitudes.

There are false prophets working against the value

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system set forth in the Beatitudes. These “ferocious wolves” mercilessly ignore the cries of the meek and the oppressed, seeking to gain power and influence by demonizing other leaders. And their distinguishing characteristic is religious pride.

The sixth Beatitude teaches us that our capacity to see God is connected with the purity of our own hearts.

Jesus warns us to beware of those whose lives display a veneer of religiosity but do not produce the fruits of righteousness and justice. If we constantly feed on influences that are contaminated with self-righteousness and legalistic pride, the virus of religious arrogance will take root in our hearts and even begin spreading among the people around us.

Take a few moments to reflect on the following questions: • Who are the primary influencers in my life (authors, preachers, leaders, podcasters, etc.)?

• Do they inspire me to crave more of God’s presence, or do they just beat me down?

• Are they capable of seeing God at work in other churches, ministries, and leaders, or have they confined God to their own rigid boxes?

• Do they empower me to live a contented life with Christ, or do they inject anxiety and insecurity into my spiritual life?

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• Do they encourage me to follow Christ’s way of living humbly, walking in mercy and loving my enemies?

• Do they motivate me to live a more others-oriented life?

In the interest of spiritual health, we must intentionally surround ourselves with humble-hearted, life-giving people, who are genuinely committed to Jesus, and who share His burden to reconcile all things and all people to the Father.

The sixth Beatitude teaches us that our capacity to see God is connected with the purity of our own hearts. If the windows of our hearts are clean, we will be able to perceive the work of God in others. But if our hearts have become polluted with pride and hypocrisy, all we will notice are their faults.

It requires no keen spiritual perception to look at other people and point out their deficiencies. To use Jesus’ term, any hypocrite can do that.

Spiritual sight is the ability to look at other people, other places, and other churches and identify the handiwork of God. As we allow the Holy Spirit to purge our hearts of spiritual pride, we will begin to see the redemptive work of Jesus with fresh eyes. And every place He is at work will become a beautiful, panoramic vision of the glory of God. Adapted from Jesus People: Communities Formed by the Beatitudes by Ryan Post. Copyright ©2021.

Used with permission of the author.

RYAN POST is an ordained AG minister and lead pastor of Village Church in Burbank, California.

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Biblical evidence for women in leadership

By DEBBIE LAMM BRAY

T

he Western Wall in Jerusalem is a sacred gathering place not only for prayer, but also for Jewish ceremonies, such as bar mitzvahs. But some have to watch from afar, because a partition keeps men and women on separate sides. To see the family bar mitzvah, women must stand on chairs and peer over that wall.

This reminds me of a sad reality here at home, in the Christian Church: Some have built walls that hold women at a distance from the work of God. The Assemblies of God affirms that God calls women and gives them gifts for ministry. We find support for this view in Scripture, where women serve in a wide variety of leadership roles.

This is not the conclusion of all Christians, however. In recent years, a number of influential evangelicals have voiced strong objections to women leading, preaching and teaching. They claim the Scriptures require women to live in submission to men in all realms of life.

So, how do you respond when someone says women should not teach adult men, serve on your staff, or qualify for credentials? How do you answer those who ask why we believe the call of God is for both men and women?

Honest questions are not threatening to God, and we shouldn’t be afraid of them either. Such questions call for sound interpretation of Scripture, which is God’s story of redemption.

With a redemptive view in focus, there are three other lenses that help frame the discussion regarding women in ministry: creation, Jesus, and Paul.

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Creation In Genesis 1, God created the natural world and saw that it was good. But in Genesis 2, something was “not good” (verse 18). Adam was alone. So, God created a “helper suitable for him.”

In Hebrew, those words are ezer kenegdo. Ezer means “strong help.” This word is used in the Old Testament many times, usually of God. Psalm 121:2 is one example: “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Clearly, this is not referring to help from a lesser being or a person who is subordinate to the one receiving help.

The other word here, kenegdo, means “corresponding to,” or “face-to-face.” It suggests one who is like the other. These words tell us God designed women and men as equal partners. Partnership is what God intended.

But then sin entered the picture. The curse of sin includes brokenness in our relationship with God, one another, and even nature itself. Genesis 3 is where we see, in the curse, the equal partnership between men and women broken. This is a result of sin.

Jesus Jesus redeems, restores and reconciles our brokenness, including our broken relationships. Rules that had developed to prop up fractured structures and relationships did not stop His mission. Jesus healed on the Sabbath, ministered to lepers, touched the dead, and ate with tax collectors.

His interactions with women were among His

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most countercultural. Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well in John 4 would have been shocking to the original readers. Jesus discussed theology with a woman, who was also a Samaritan, and who was further marginalized by the fact that she had been married five times and was living with someone outside of marriage. Yet it was to this outcast woman whom Jesus first identified himself as “I am,” revealing He is the God of Moses (verse 26).

Jesus also had a significant theological discussion with Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, even though such discourse normally happened only between men (John 11:21–27, 39–40). The Gospels record many more instances in which Jesus interacted with women in ways that contradicted the culture’s typical valuation of, and limitations upon, women.

Perhaps the clearest demonstration of Jesus’ perspective on women’s roles in His mission is that He commissioned a woman to be the first to tell people about the most important event in human history: His resurrection. Women at that time were not allowed to act as witnesses, because they were considered unreliable. But the risen Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene and entrusted her to witness to His male disciples that He had just defeated death itself (John 20:11–18).

If we are to be Jesus-centered and follow Him, we must take note that Jesus commissioned women, telling them to speak in the assembly of His followers and proclaim the good news.

Paul Many people think of Paul as the biblical author who barred women from ministry. But in Galatians 3:28, Paul made a sweeping statement that defined a whole new worldview for followers of Jesus: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

As Paul saw it, the Cross had changed everything.

In Genesis 3, the curse disrupted the equal partnership between men and women and fractured human relationships. But Jesus broke the curse.

Of course, this does not mean we no longer acknowledge any differences. But it does mean race, status and womanhood do not disqualify us from being full heirs with Christ.

Paul’s broad theological foundation for God’s people should inform our interpretation of other New Testament passages that relate to women.

to the priest and other leaders (2 Kings 22:14–20); and Esther, who saved the Jewish people (Esther 8).

In the New Testament, Anna is called a prophet (Luke 2:36). And while some note that Jesus’ disciples were men, Mark 15:40–41 names women among those who followed Jesus and supported His ministry. Indeed, the Twelve were men, but they were also Jewish. So if the template for leadership was based on the identities of the Twelve, all Gentiles would be excluded as well.

Priscilla taught theology to apostles along with her husband, Aquilla.

When they are mentioned in their teaching function, Priscilla’s name appears first.

In Greek, name placement signifies the order of emphasis. It is likely, then, that Priscilla was the primary teacher.

In Romans 16:7, Paul greets another pair, Andronicus and Junia, and says they are “outstanding among the apostles,” thus naming a woman (Junia) as an apostle.

Objection No. 2: “Paul did not allow women to preach or speak in church.” Except that he did.

Consider Phoebe the deacon. Romans 16:1–2 reveals she was the courier for Paul’s letter. Several scholars have noted that couriers had the responsibility not only of delivering letters, but also of reading them aloud, explaining them, and answering questions. In other words, Phoebe was the first to preach, teach and exegete this important text.

Paul also expected women to pray and prophesy in the church. In 1 Corinthians 11:5, he wrote that “every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head.” Paul’s concern was not that women were verbally participating in

It was to an outcast woman whom Jesus first identified himself as “I am.”

Common Objections Despite the compelling biblical evidence for women in ministry, there are four common objections that create walls for many female followers of Jesus.

Objection No. 1: “There are no examples of women leading or preaching in the Bible.” This is false. Beginning with the Old Testament, the list of female leaders includes, among others, Miriam, a prophet who led the Israelites along with Moses and Aaron (Exodus 15:20; Micah 6:4); Deborah, a prophet, judge and military leader who served as commanding officer to Barak (Judges 4:4–10); Huldah, a prophet who proclaimed God’s message

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the gathering, but that they were doing so without their heads covered — a cultural issue unique to that time and place.

Objection No. 3: “Paul told women to be silent in church.” First Corinthians 14 is a familiar passage for Pentecostals because of its instructions on maintaining order in services while exercising spiritual gifts. Within this context, verses 34–35 address a problem of some women speaking in the church service.

Some cite this as evidence that Paul intended to silence women in all places, at all times, limiting their service in the church to nonpublic roles. However, this could not have been Paul’s meaning. After all, three chapters earlier, Paul assumed women were praying and prophesying aloud in church and did not tell them to stop.

Many scholars believe Paul was referring in Chapter 14 to Corinthian women asking questions in a disruptive way. They point to the lack of education for women in antiquity, which may have led to comprehension gaps in church gatherings. Talking and asking their husbands questions during the service would have been disruptive. Since the context of this passage is orderly worship, and given Paul’s statements elsewhere, this interpretation makes sense.

Objection No. 4: “Paul did not allow women to lead men.” Some have interpreted a few of Paul’s statements as blanket prohibitions against women leading men. The implications of this view — which would disqualify half the Church from using their gifts in leadership — call for careful, honest evaluation.

In 1 Corinthians 11:2–16, Paul instructed men not to cover their heads when they prayed or

prophesied, and women to do the opposite when they prayed or prophesied. Again, Paul assumed and expected that women would be verbal participants in the worship gathering.

Verse 3 says, “The head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” Interpretations of this passage that conclude women should not lead men rely on the phrase, “the head of the woman is man.” The Greek word translated “head” here is kephale. This word does not normally mean “authority” or “boss” but rather “source.”

Paul mentions three relationships: Christ and man, man and woman, and God and Christ. If kephale means “authority,” the definition must apply to all three examples. It makes sense to say Christ has authority over men. But if we apply this meaning to God and Christ, we have a problem.

Historically, orthodox Christianity has held that all three Persons of the Trinity are equal; there is no hierarchy of authority. If kephale means “leader” or “authority” in verse 3, Trinitarian theology needs revision.

However, if it means “source,” the verse makes sense, and orthodox Trinitarianism remains intact.

In this case, the passage means Christ is the source of man; man is the source of woman (since God formed Eve from Adam’s rib); and God is the source of Christ (not as a created being, but as One who came to the world from the Father, as John 1:14 states).

There is also another clue in the context. Paul appealed to creation, the chronological order of which was man first, then woman (verses 8–9). This

If the Spirit is giving gifts, who are we to say some people do not get to use them?

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is not a prominence argument, but merely a chronological argument — which also points to the likelihood that Paul was using kephale to mean “source,” not “leader.”

All of this is really beside the point, though. This passage is not about leadership but head coverings.

Anyone who believes this passage prohibits women from leadership for all times and in all places needs to take literally, for all times and in all places, the instructions about head coverings. Of course, verse 13 leaves the conclusion on this culturally specific matter to readers, inviting them to “judge” for themselves whether it is “proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered.”

Ephesians 5:22–6:9 is another text people often use to argue for female submission. Despite what the section title placement suggests in some English versions, the passage includes verse 21: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” The instruction to submit applies to all, as mutual submission.

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Further, this long Greek sentence begins in verse 18, tying all of the actions (singing psalms and hymns, giving thanks to God, submitting to one another, and wives submitting to husbands) to being filled with the Spirit. Daily living in the fullness of the Holy Spirit looks like this, Paul seems to suggest.

Verse 22 does begin a familiar literary form from the ancient world: a household code. Outside of the New Testament, household codes outlined the responsibilities of each member of the household to the head of the household, who was typically male.

(It is worth noting that not all men were in positions of power, and women often exercised authority over men, including male household servants.)

Paul would have surprised readers with his version of the household code, which addressed responsibilities not just for those who were subordinate within that system, but also for those in power. Paul also defined “submission” as “respect” in verse 33, which was a new way of understanding submission.

Paul wrote in a cultural context quite different from our own. But the spiritual principle of this passage still applies — that is, living in step with the Spirit should result in loving, respectful treatment of one another.

Finally, there is 1 Timothy 2:8–15. Paul called on men to stop arguing and start praying, and implored women to avoid flaunting their economic status.

Then, in verses 11–12, he wrote: “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.”

On the surface, this appears to be an unequivocal prohibition against women speaking in the church and teaching or leading men. However, Paul did permit women to teach and have authority. He allowed and commissioned Phoebe to carry his letter to the Romans, which would have included reading it (aloud) and explaining it (preaching) to the whole group, including men. Paul praised the teaching ministry of Priscilla and her husband, Aquilla.

Paul recognized women as apostles and deacons, including Junia and Phoebe.

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In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul assumed women would pray and prophesy in church. And, in Galatians 3:28, he declared women equal to men through Christ. Did Paul contradict himself?

“Authority” here is translated from the Greek authentao, which is uncommon in any ancient source. This is the only use of the word in Scripture.

The scarcity of its use complicates the task of determining Paul’s meaning.

Outside of Scripture, authentao usually meant to usurp authority or assume a role, but it could also signify authority by legitimate means. When Paul wrote elsewhere about authority in any hierarchical context, he used the word exousia. Paul's choice of a different, uncommon word here suggests he had a different kind of authority in mind.

The setting of Timothy’s work in Ephesus offers some insight. Theological problems had surfaced in the church there, and Paul was guiding Timothy in the work of responding to heresy. Paul returned to the problem of false doctrine several times in both his letters to Timothy.

The women in the church were particularly vulnerable to false teaching, as Paul indicated in 2 Timothy 3:6. There was a problem with false teachers convincing uneducated women their heresies were true.

The difficulty of this passage — the lack of clarity regarding word meanings, the contradiction to clear statements the author made elsewhere, and a mysterious statement about childbirth — suggests the context is the key to understanding it. If indeed

women accepted false teaching and then attempted to teach others in the church, that would have been devastating to Paul’s mission. It had to be stopped.

Those women needed to be silent and learn, and not take upon themselves the authority to teach.

Paul’s clear support of women in leadership and ministry in other passages tells us this unclear passage is an exception. This instruction is situation-specific. The principle here is to stop disputing and arguing, and to seek training and understanding before teaching others.

Without Limit Within the redemptive story of God — His intention in creation, His character as revealed in Jesus, and the meaning of the Cross — these passages are exceptions to general principles stated elsewhere. The exceptions address specific situations, and are not binding on all of God’s people in all places and times.

Some may feel this is irrelevant. It is not the core of the gospel, they may argue. But if Jesus has broken the curse of sin and redeemed us, and if He reconciles us to himself and one another, the Church should reflect that reality. The redemptive work of God should be on full display in our lives, relationships and ministries.

As Pentecostals, we believe the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to all. If the Spirit is giving gifts, who are we to say some people do not get to use them? Gifts such as teaching and leadership are not biblically limited to one sex. Women who are gifted

The Bible does not say women who are gifted should teach and lead only children and other women.

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teachers should teach. Women who are gifted leaders should lead. The Bible does not say women who are gifted should teach and lead only children and other women.

What would happen if the body of Christ exemplified Galatians 3:28, including redeemed relationships between men and women? What impact would that have on the world?

What if the generation of women coming after us finds no walls to climb? If they do not have to scale a wall, where else in the Kingdom could they spend their time and energy and gifts? What eternal difference might that make?

God gives the Spirit without limit (John 3:34). So, let’s live without walls.

This article has been adapted from a message Debbie Lamm Bray delivered at an event for women in the Oregon Ministry Network.

DEBBIE LAMM BRAY, Ph.D., is an ordained AG minister and program dean and instructor in Bible, Theology and Calling at Northwest University Oregon in Brooks, Oregon.

Five Resources That Affirm Women Ministers

W

omen have served as credentialed ministers in the Assemblies of God (AG) since the founding of the Fellowship in 1914.

The following five resources make the case for egalitarianism or provide networking opportunities for women ministers within the AG: 1. “The Role of Women in Ministry” is an AG position paper. “The Bible repeatedly affirms that God pours out His Spirit upon both men and women and thereby gifts both sexes for ministry in His Church,” it concludes. Read the entire position paper at ag.org/ Beliefs/Position-Papers/The-Role-of-Womenin-Ministry.

2. The mission of the Network of Women Ministers (NWM) is “mobilizing women to fulfill their ministerial call” through advocacy, collaboration, and training at both the national and regional levels of the AG. Learn more at womenministers.ag.org.

3. Discovering Biblical Equality is the best single-volume defense of egalitarianism currently available. Written and edited by evangelical and Pentecostal scholars, it examines the biblical, theological, cul-

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tural, and practical aspects of male-female relationships in church, home and society. The third edition is forthcoming from IVP Academic in November 2021.

4. Women in the Mission of the Church by Leanne M. Dzubinski and Anneke H. Stasson is a global survey of the often forgotten history of women in ministry.

“Women’s contributions to the spread of Christianity have not been sporadic or insignificant,” write the authors. Their survey unfolds in three eras: early Christianity, the Middle Ages, and post-Reformation.

5. Priscilla Papers is the quarterly academic journal of Christians for Biblical Equality, a leading evangelical parachurch ministry that promotes egalitarianism. The journal publishes up-to-date scholarly articles about biblical, theological, historical, and cultural aspects of the relationship between women and men in home, church, and society. Learn more at cbeinternational.org/ publication/priscilla-papers-academic-journal.

GEORGE P. WOOD is executive editor of Influence magazine.

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Four lessons from the widow of Zarephath

By HERBERT COOPER

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W

e all love a good comeback story.

Think of Rocky, where Rocky Balboa starts from behind, trains hard, looks headed for defeat, but at the last moment comes out on top and wins.

As a pastor, I especially love spiritual comeback

stories, where a person moves from sinner to saved, from hurt to healed, from defeated to victorious. The gospel is the ultimate comeback story — life, death, resurrection! Everyone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ will one day have a comeback like His!

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But in this life, the comeback doesn’t always happen. If we’ve learned anything from the pandemic, it’s that family and friends die. Jobs are lost.

Relationships fracture but don’t mend.

Even in church, comebacks don’t always happen. Recently, Lifeway Research reported that more U.S. Protestant churches closed than opened in 2019. The data for 2020 wasn’t complete, but Lifeway predicted that the pandemic would only accelerate the trend of church closures.

Maybe you’ve suffered a personal loss during this COVID year. Or maybe, as a pastor, you’ve experienced a ministry loss. Your church-plant launch failed. Your congregation closed its doors. Support dried up, and you had to return home from the mission field.

Through many years of ministry, I’ve seen people respond to setbacks the wrong way. They get bitter and lose faith. They walk out on church, and then they walk out on God. So, how should we respond to setbacks? What should we do when the comeback seems impossible? We start by turning to Scripture.

IN THIS LIFE, THE COMEBACK DOESN’T ALWAYS HAPPEN. IF WE’VE LEARNED ANYTHING FROM THE PANDEMIC, IT’S THAT FAMILY AND FRIENDS DIE. JOBS ARE LOST. RELATIONSHIPS FRACTURE BUT DON’T MEND.

T H E W I D O W O F Z A R E P H AT H First Kings 17:7–15 tells the story of the widow of Zarephath, who had experienced three major setbacks in life.

First, her husband died. He had been her friend, her lover, and the father of her child. He had been the breadwinner, the provider, the one who took care of the family. But now he was gone!

Then famine struck. According to 1 Kings 17:1,

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God sent drought against the region because of King Ahab’s sins (16:29–33). When the rain doesn’t show, the crops don’t grow, and when crops don’t grow, people get hungry. Over time, the famine became “severe” (18:2).

Finally, the woman’s cupboard was bare. When we meet the widow, she is gathering sticks at the city gate. Elijah asks her for a cup of water and a slice of bread. Her reply reveals her desperate straits: “I don’t have any bread — only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it — and die” (17:12).

Death, famine, and poverty stalked the widow of Zarephath. She appeared to have no help and no hope. She wasn’t even looking for any.

But God was looking out for her.

GOD KNOWS AND CARES When we experience a setback, we feel alone. Proverbs 14:20 says, “The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.” Isn’t that awful? At the very moment we most need other people, they abandon us. We internalize our loss and start to feel like losers.

I imagine that’s how the widow felt. After all, where were her family, friends and neighbors? Were none of them able to help her?

Even worse than the feeling of isolation from others is the feeling of isolation from God. We begin to believe He doesn’t know how horrible our situation is — or, worse, He doesn’t care. So, we start praying desperate prayers: “Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help” (Psalm 22:11).

Trouble is near. God seems far. No one can help.

Such thoughts arise naturally when we experience loss, but there’s a supernatural dimension in play, too. Ever since the serpent slithered through the Garden of Eden, our enemy has been deceiving us about God, questioning His commandments and motives (Genesis 3:1,4).

So when we experience a setback, the devil whispers lies in our ears. He plants seeds of doubt in our minds: “God doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t love you. That’s why you’re going through this setback. You’re so insignificant. You don’t matter. God doesn’t even know where you are.”

Lies, lies, all lies!

The truth is God knows exactly where we are, and help is already on the way. “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there,” He told Elijah.

“I have directed a widow there to supply you with food” (1 Kings 17:9).

Geography and culture separated Elijah from the widow. The story opens in Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, where Elijah is hiding (verse 5). Zarephath is northwest of there, along the Mediterranean coast.

Today, traveling from Kerith Ravine to Zarephath involves a long journey through desert, valley, hills and mountains across three international borders — Jordan’s, Israel’s and Lebanon’s.

The cultural distance was much longer. A powerful male compared to a poor female. A prophet compared to a widow. A Jew compared to a Gentile.

Could God care about the circumstances of such a socially insignificant pagan? Even Jesus marveled at God sending Elijah to this widow in that place (Luke 4:25–26).

God knew about the widow’s dire straits before she did. Help was on the way before she met Elijah outside Zarephath’s city gates. If God knew and cared about her, He knows and cares about you!

When we experience setbacks and feel isolated from God, we need to remember first and foremost that God always knows exactly where we are and exactly what we need.

OUR LAST MEAL Interestingly, when Elijah finally meets the widow, his first words to her concern his needs, not hers.

“Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” After a long journey through a drought-ridden region, Elijah’s thirsty request is not surprising. But in a famine, his next request seems especially audacious: “And bring me, please, a piece of bread” (1 Kings 17:10–11).

I imagine the widow fixed the prophet with the look of a woman who’s been rudely importuned by a man. Let me paraphrase her response: “Are you crazy? I’m already starving, and you want to snatch the bread right out of my mouth and my son’s? I’m dying, and you want our last meal?”

Yes, that’s exactly what Elijah wanted. “Don’t be afraid,” he replied to her. “Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me” (verse 13).

When we experience setbacks, not only do we feel isolated, but we also feel emptied. We have no one to help and nothing to give. God wants us to give Him our “nothing.” He wants our losses, our broken relationships, and our disappointments.

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But God also wants our “something.” Even after the widow complained, Elijah still asked her for a piece of bread. When the comeback seems impossible, God wants our last meal.

The widow’s last meal wasn’t just a jar of flour and a jug of olive oil. It was her faith in the God who promised to supply her needs: “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land” (verse 14).

When we’re at our lowest point in life, we need to keep trusting God. That means being generous with our last meal. It’s foolish to hold onto the jug of flour and jar of oil. They need to be used to meet others’ needs.

When we’re generous that way, we’re not just helping others; we’re helping Jesus. According to His sheep-and-goats teaching, when we feed the hungry, show hospitality to the homeless, care for the sick, clothe the naked, and visit the incarcerated, we’re doing those things to Jesus: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).

We need to give Jesus our last meal.

In our natural hands, the flour and oil produce only what we provide. In Christ’s supernatural hands, they produce whatever He can provide, and His supply is limitless. In Jesus’ hands, our last meal becomes a lasting meal, for ourselves and others.

“So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family” (1 Kings 17:15).

GOD’S WORD Now, I know what you’re thinking at this point: This is a comeback story after all! Despite the odds, the widow perseveres and beats the famine!

In fact, throw in the second part of the story, when her son dies and Elijah resurrects him (verses 17–24), and Rocky Balboa’s triumph pales by comparison!

I can see why you think that, but the widow’s story isn’t a winner’s story. She’s a survivor, not a thriver.

Her story is not about winning any more; it’s about not losing anymore. The widow doesn’t leap ahead in life; she just stops stumbling further behind.

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At the start of the story, Elijah tells the widow to make bread from what’s in her jar of flour and jug of oil, and that’s how the story ends, too: “For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry” (verse 16). She uses the same two vessels throughout the famine, which lasted three years (1 Kings 18:1).

But while the widow’s story is not a comeback story, it is a come back story. Every morning, she woke up, went out and gathered sticks for a fire, returned to the kitchen, and came back to the jar and jug to make enough bread for three.

She did this out of obedience to God’s word through Elijah. He told her, “Go home and do …

(1 Kings 17:13). So, “she went away and did as Elijah had told her” (verse 15). According to Aristotle, every story has a beginning, middle and end. The Word of God itself is the beginning (verses 2,8), middle (verses 14,16), and end (verse 24) of the widow’s story.

When we experience setbacks, we often let our experience shape our theology rather than God’s Word. In pain, we stop believing God cares for us. Because of loss, we start hoarding spiritual, emotional and material resources. Our theology becomes self-centered and ungenerous.

This is understandable. Pain turns us inward. In 2010, I lost my mother; my brother followed her in 2017. There was no comeback at their funerals. It was a difficult time.

And self-care is undoubtedly important. Going through loss isn’t about caring for others versus caring for ourselves; we must do both. The widow certainly did, feeding Elijah, her son and herself.

Here’s the moral of the story, though: The widow obeyed the word of the Lord, and the Lord kept His word. She survived “in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah” (verse 16).

When a comeback seems impossible, we need to come back to God’s Word. That’s the moral for our lives’ stories, too. We must practice that “long obedience in the same direction” Eugene Peterson talked about. God’s Word, not our experience, charts the direction for our lives.

IN JESUS’ HANDS, OUR LAST MEAL BECOMES A LASTING MEAL, FOR OURSELVES AND OTHERS. When we want to turn in, we need to turn out and turn up. Keep going to church, keep loving people, keep serving others, keep praying, keep obeying God’s commandments, keep trusting His promises!

Daily obedience to the Word of God will help us get through when there is no coming back.

GRACE FOR EVERY SEASON Still, daily obedience is hard. Thank God there was food every day, of course, but couldn’t God have provided more than “a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug” (verse 12)? I understand there weren’t refrigerators back then and the widow didn’t have a large pantry, but isn’t God bigger than a “handful” and a “little?

If I were the widow of Zarephath, I’d want more than one jar-and-jug’s worth of food. I’d want a whole Costco nearby with supersized containers full of tasty treats, not to mention some meat and potatoes. And throw in some sweet tea, while you’re at it!

All God provided the widow was enough flour and enough oil to make enough Signs-and-Wonder Bread every day. Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). Daily bread was all that was on the menu — all day, every day — and it was enough.

Enoughness is the issue, isn’t it? We feel less than when we experience a setback. We want a comeback so we can have more than. What God actually gives

us is sufficient. He gives us himself when the comeback seems impossible, and at the end of the day, He is all we need.

Jump with me from Zarephath to Ephesus, and from the eighth century B.C. to the first century. Paul is writing the Corinthians (again) to correct their errors (again), and in doing so, he tells them about “surpassingly great revelations” he experienced (2 Corinthians 12:7). Enthusiastic charismatics though they were, none of the Corinthians had been “caught up to paradise” or “heard inexpressible things” as Paul had (verse 4).

These revelations showed that Paul was a morethan-enough Christian, a more-than-enough apostle — certainly more than those troublemaking Corinthians ever would be!

God knew that more-than-ness could easily go to Paul’s head. So, as Paul put it, “in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me” (verse 7). Talk about a setback!

Worse, there was no comeback. “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’” (verses 8–9).

We don’t know how long Paul suffered. For all we know, he carried this setback to his grave.

The question Paul’s example poses is, “What is enough?”

When we experience setbacks, the answer to that

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GOD’S WORD, NOT OUR EXPERIENCE, CHARTS THE DIRECTION FOR OUR LIVES. question seems to be … more. We want Jesus + _______. You can fill in the blank with whatever you want. Health, wealth, love, power, influence.

Sadly, it seems, we are not satisfied until or unless we have more than even Jesus himself.

Perhaps that is a reason we find life so hard when the comeback seems impossible. We want more than Jesus. We think Jesus is less than we need.

Friends, Jesus is all we need. Let me repeat that: All we need is Jesus. If we have His grace, we have enough. If we have His power, we have enough.

If, like the widow of Zarephath, we come back to the jar and jug daily, we will find our daily bread.

“I am the bread of life,” Jesus declared. “Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35).

For now, for some, a comeback seems impossible.

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Someday, of course, The Comeback will happen because Jesus Christ himself will come back (Acts 1:11)! Then, there will be no more setbacks, “‘no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

Until then, whatever our circumstances, God knows where we are. So let’s give Jesus our last meal.

Keep obeying the Word of God, for Jesus is enough, and He gives grace and power in every season of life.

HERBERT COOPER is the founding and senior pastor of People’s Church (AG), a multisite congregation in Oklahoma City.

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M I N I S T RY | P R O F I L E

Planting in Small Places How one Missouri church is reaching rural communities

By CHRISTINA QUICK

P

lato, Missouri — an unincorporated village with a population of 109 — may not seem like an obvious place to plant a new church.

Yet that’s what Pastor Kevin Larsen says God called him to do.

Average attendance has yet to top single digits since the church’s soft launch last January, but Larsen isn’t focusing on numbers.

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“If you don’t have a lot of patience, rural ministry is not for you,” says the Detroit native. “It can be tough. That’s where faith comes in — realizing God builds the Church, not me.”

Larsen’s congregation is one of 17 parent-affiliated Assemblies of God churches Life360 Church has planted across southern Missouri.

“Our approach is to plant in smaller, rural towns that have public schools and no AG church,” says Ted Cederblom, vision pastor of the multisite church and lead pastor of the main Life360 campus in Springfield, Missouri. “You’d think anyone in their right mind would go where there are a lot of people, but God has given us a heart for rural America.”

Cederblom, the son of Assemblies of God missionaries Larry and Dorothy Cederblom, grew up on the mission field in Panama. When Cederblom became the pastor of Park Crest Assembly of God in 2003, he wanted to see it become a multiplying church.

The congregation changed its name to Life360 to reflect the vision of moving beyond Springfield’s Park Crest neighborhood and taking the life-giving message of Jesus in all directions.

Although some of the early church plants did not last, Life360 persisted — and finally found its niche in rural ministry.

“We’ve always had a permission-to-fail approach,” Cederblom says. “Our failures are where we learned and grew.”

Today, Life360 has about 1,200 attendees — 400 at the main campus and 800 across the other 16 locations. Each church has a lead pastor and associate, with full-time salaries provided through the Life360 network. Every planting team receives a church van and building, as well as ministry training and support. Lead pastors preach their own messages, and tithes stay in the local congregations.

All the leaders come together weekly to share stories, swap ideas, celebrate wins, encourage one another, and pray.

Cederblom believes those connections are vital.

“Every one of our new church planters moves into the town and lives there.”

— Ted Cederblom 1

2

4

Opposite: Pastor Kevin Larsen volunteering at a school in Plato, Missouri. Above (clockwise from top left): 1) Ted Cederblom with Sloan and Erin Parker in Neelyville, Missouri; 2) Sam and Christina Gunn in Benton, Missouri; 3) A training event for church planters at Life360 in Springfield, Missouri; 4) Block party trailers used in community outreach.

During the 1990s, he discovered how isolating ministry can be while leading a small congregation in inner-city Los Angeles.

“My wife, Robbin, and I were all alone there,” Cederblom says. “I would have given my right hand to have had an associate and a team of people beside me.”

Gaining trust in a small town, where people are often wary of outsiders, takes time, Cederblom says.

The first priorities for planting teams are putting down roots, forming relationships, and serving the community.

Rural areas often have high rates of poverty. The churches work closely with local schools to provide feeding programs and other services, often in partnership with Convoy of Hope’s Rural Compassion.

3

Sam and Christina Gunn, co-pastors of the Life360 church in Benton, Missouri, arrived in the small town at the beginning of 2020. They had intended to wait until later in the year, but the Gunns felt a sense of urgency they believed was from the Holy Spirit. So they loaded up their belongings the day after Christmas, left their home state of Vermont, and drove through a snowstorm with their two young children.

It was a leap of faith. The Gunns didn’t even have a home address in Missouri when they pulled out of Vermont. It was not until they were on the road that the couple finally located a place for their family to live in the town of 863 people.

“We believed God had a plan for us and a location for us,” Christina Gunn says. “It was pretty incredible to see Him make a way like that.”

When pandemic shutdowns happened that spring, God’s guidance became more evident. The ministry team quickly mobilized to help the community, serving thousands of meals to school children and distributing milk and other staples to needy families.

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Life360 church planters in Missouri.

“We realized this was why it was so urgent that we get there,” Christina Gunn says. “Being there during the pandemic, we really got to know people.”

The team has formed relationships not only through compassion, but also by fishing with neighbors, hosting small group Bible studies, taking sports drinks to the police department, working with city leaders, and participating in community life.

Last fall, Life360 leased a former school building in Benton as a meeting place for the new church.

While remodeling, workers found trophies and other items dating back to the 1930s. The Gunns hope to restore the memorabilia and incorporate it into a decorative display that honors the heritage of the facility and the town. They see it as another way to build relational bridges.

For Erin Parker, planting a church in Neelyville, Missouri, with her husband, Sloan, meant coming home. She grew up in the community, which has a population of 483. The Parkers were ministering in the Chicago area when they sensed God calling them back to Missouri.

Having a history in the community has been helpful, but the Parkers are also intentional about serving, attending ballgames, and forming friendships.

The church is in a hub of small-town activity. It is in the same building as the post office and is close to city hall, the community center, and the schools.

“Everything happens where we are,” says Sloan

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Parker. “We get a lot of traffic. I’ll see people going into the post office and run out to introduce myself.”

The Parkers have also tapped the power of social media to make connections. Last spring, they reached out to families of the class of 2021 and used the church’s Facebook account to spotlight a graduating senior each week. Within a few weeks, the number of followers exceeded the town’s population.

Cederblom says showy events aren’t as important in rural communities as showing up and showing an interest.

“Jesus didn’t commute but came to live among us” he says. “Every one of our new church planters moves into the town and lives there.”

In fact, pastors typically spend six months to a year living in the community before launching a church.

“Before trying to become a church with a little steeple and cross, we’re getting in the community and loving on it,” Cederblom says. “Jesus said, ‘I will build my church,’ but He started with impacting individual lives.”

CHRISTINA QUICK is assistant editor for Influence magazine.

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Preaching and Lived Experience Three ways to make your messages more inclusive

By SHANNON POLK few years ago, I was talking with a male colleague about the need for gender-inclusive language in the pulpit.

He shook his head and said confidently, “Shannon, some things are gender neutral, like preaching.”

I gently asked one question: “Have you ever preached while pregnant?”

I wasn’t trying to be flippant, but I wanted my friend to realize many of his congregants have lived experiences that are quite different from his own. Failing to see that means missing opportunities to connect with them through the message.

It takes intentionality to engage the group and compel the one.

Sure, you can use an NFL analogy when talking about teamwork, but you could also draw from soccer, a sport girls and boys play around the world. Likewise, you could talk about hunting with your son to illustrate parenting, or you could choose a scenario to which more moms and dads in your congregation can relate, such as teaching a child to ride a bike.

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The purpose of storytelling in preaching is to help listeners understand and apply the truth of Scripture to their own lives. Jesus was a master storyteller.

From parables to analogies, Jesus used imagery that captivated minds and changed hearts.

Jesus knew there were a variety of lived experiences wrapped in human flesh listening to His stories. He addressed religious leaders and foreigners, political opponents and friends, men and women, adults and children, rulers and slaves, devout followers and skeptics. Jesus’ stories and illustrations reflected the diversity of His listeners.

Here are three ways to follow Jesus’ example and preach more inclusively: 1. Be intentional. If God has assigned a variety of people to your congregation, you need to become comfortable speaking to each of them in your sermons. Jesus had never been a Samaritan traveler (Luke 10:25–37), a widow facing an unjust judge (Luke 18:1–8), or a woman cleaning a house to find a lost object (Luke 15:8–10), but He used such examples to illustrate points His wider audience could appreciate.

Be careful about asking others to discuss issues related to their identity, especially if you aren’t also inviting them to preach on more general topics. You may have women and ethnic minorities on your preaching team, but don’t limit their pulpit assignments to Mother’s Day or a racial or ethnic heritage month.

My lead pastor is a 60-year-old Italian man from New York who has learned to quote Maya Angelou in his sermons and use illustrations that are not related to his beloved Yankees. If he can do it, you can do it.

2. Be creative. In John 16:21, Jesus compared the pain and subsequent joy of childbirth to the feelings His disciples would experience at His death and resurrection. Jesus had obviously never been a woman in labor, but He used His imagination, acknowledged a uniquely female experience, and appealed to universal human emotions.

Plenty of sources are available for creative and inclusive illustrations. Start by reading biographies and works of fiction by authors with diverse

If God has assigned a variety of people to your congregation, you need to become comfortable speaking to each of them in your sermons.

identities, life experiences and perspectives.

Learn from preachers who are master storytellers. When these ministers describe what’s going on in the text, they draw people in using all the senses.

Their listeners smell the animals in the stable as Mary places her newborn in a manger. They feel the tension in the room as Moses confronts Pharaoh.

They hear the surprised gasps of the Philistines as

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David slays Goliath. That kind of tangible storytelling brings people to the edge of their seats and opens their hearts to the presence of God. 3. Be observant. Pay attention to those individuals who are on the margins of your congregation.

Look for the overlooked.

In New Testament times, the social status of widows placed them in the category of the nearly invisible. However, Jesus observed the poor widow in Luke 21:1–4 and pointed to her actions as an example of true generosity. Even though Jesus’ comments

know what it is like to be a widow, navigate life with a physical disability, and, yes, work while pregnant.

Jesus told stories from those on the margins of society in His day. He was able to tell those stories because Jesus spent time with people on the margins. He hung out with tax collectors, Samaritans, and people with illnesses and disabilities.

As Jesus interacted with these people, He not only ministered to their needs, but He also heard their stories.

Danielle Strickland, former Salvation Army social justice coordinator, said telling stories of those on the margins helps everyone see their own humanity.

I would add that it helps everyone see their need for Jesus.

When you reflect on your most recent sermons, do they speak to the women in your congregation?

What about single adults, the childless, ethnic minorities, senior citizens, and the poor? You get my point. Our goal as preachers is to tell people the good news in such a way that they can relate to it and receive it. We want them to know God sees them and wants to be in relationship with them.

Follow Jesus’ lead by telling stories in creative, imaginative, and inclusive ways. I’m not suggesting you change your style completely or stop sharing illustrations from your own experiences and areas of interest. But it is worth the effort to include stories that will help everyone find their place in the greatest story of all — the story of redemption.

Go ahead. We’re listening.

We must bring in stories from the margins, and draw illustrations from the spaces parishioners occupy. were unexpected, each of His listeners could easily comprehend the lesson Hewas teaching.

Including the stories of the marginalized sends a message that there is a place for everyone in the kingdom of God. Be careful not to lean on stereotypes, however. Reading one book on the Asian American experience doesn’t make you an expert. If anything, it gives you just enough knowledge to be offensive.

Develop friendships with diverse people. Then share your illustrations first with these friends so they can provide feedback and let you know whether there are any landmines. If you don’t yet have such relationships, consider using a direct quotation from someone who understands that lived experience.

For example, if you want to talk about living with a disability, quote an author who uses a wheelchair.

You might also share an illustration from the life of someone in your congregation, but always get permission first.

We must bring in stories from the margins, and draw illustrations from the spaces parishioners occupy. There are individuals in our churches who

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SHANNON POLK, D.Min., J.D., is an ordained AG minister, attorney, and nonprofit consultant on staff at Riverside Tabernacle (AG) in Flint, Michigan.

M I N I S T RY | WO R S H I P

Designing Your Worship Space Four questions ministry teams should ask

By KRISTI NORTHUP

I

am a fan of home buying and remodeling shows.

I enjoy seeing the creative use of space and keeping up with design trends. Of course, I can’t help but roll my eyes at how little some things change — like the perpetual desire for an open concept, stainless steel appliances, and granite countertops.

Church stage design is equally predictable. For

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more than two decades, the same look has been almost universally popular: a black auditorium, a large, minimalist platform, and big screens. Then there is the ever-present concert lighting — predominantly in shades of blue and purple — with moving beams and subtle fog.

This look and feel has its place, but is it the right direction for every worship space? There is more to consider than just looking relevant.

Before investing time and resources in creating a cookie-cutter aesthetic, there are four questions ministry teams need to work through together.

This discussion should include the pastor, a creative

arts director or production leader, and the worship leader.

1. Where is the focus? It may help to start with a historical perspective. From the Middle Ages, every element of cathedral design was rooted in Christian symbolism.

In 1958, Rudolf Schwarz published The Church Incarnate to help European churches rebuild and restore their sacred traditions after World War II. Many of these principles were incorporated in American Lutheran and Catholic churches constructed in the post-war era.

There is no clear focal point in many Pentecostal sanctuaries.

In many liturgical congregations, the Eucharist, or Lord’s Supper, has long been the focal point of the service. The altar, which holds the Communion elements, is often in the center of the room. If the structure is an older cathedral design, the Eucharist remains at the front of the altar.

In the Anabaptist tradition, preaching is the focal point of the service. Everything comes back to the Word and the proclamation of the gospel.

A wooden pulpit dominates the front, while the musicians and singers might be to the side or on the main floor. This continues today in traditional evangelical circles.

Our Pentecostal and charismatic churches take a more pragmatic approach. Untethered from tradition, we have resisted heavy symbolism in favor of spaces that are simple and economical.

To accommodate big productions that were popular in the 1980s and ’90s, many larger churches adopted a theater-style stage. Eventually, the choir lofts disappeared, leaving vast, empty platforms.

Stage lights, fashioned after the rigging at music events, became popular for worship settings in the early 2000s.

There is no clear focal point in many Pentecostal sanctuaries. Instead, there is simply a wide-open platform. This could suggest the performance of music as the focal point, placing the emphasis on the worship leader. Failing to create a focal point that goes beyond this encourages a performance-driven culture.

I believe neither the preaching nor the music should be the focal point of Pentecostal worship settings. The most appropriate emphasis is the altar.

An altar is not just the physical area around the front of the platform. It also is an expectation of participation. There should be spiritual engagement between the congregation and the platform, forging an atmosphere where life change can happen in the room.

2. What makes this a sacred space? I’m in a Facebook group for church design. It is alternatingly

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entertaining and brilliant, silly and interesting.

I often see stages that would look great at a health coach conference but lack any sacred intention.

Our creative arts director recently went to Ireland, and his travels had a profound impact on how he understood sacred spaces. He saw little chapels with white walls and natural light, as well as grand cathedrals with stained glass. He gleaned insight that helped us reimagine what a sacred space can look like within our Pentecostal context.

There are many features that can make a space seem sacred. These can include traditional symbols, warm lighting, biblical imagery, and wood, stones, and other materials from the natural world.

A more contemporary example is an oversized sermon illustration that makes the main point come alive.

Of course, the cross is the most basic sacred symbol. It is deeply meaningful to people from a variety of church backgrounds — and perhaps even some with no church background.

In our circles, we typically rely on visual and auditory cues. But what if we engaged all the senses?

The smell of candles. The taste of Communion.

The weight of the Bible in hand. We can’t always implement every sense in every service, but we can look for ways to keep it sacred and try new — and old — things in the process. Think about what makes a space sacred, and let it impact the ambiance of the room.

3. Does it work for this building? Don’t work against your building; work with it. Sometimes I grimace at the awkward mismatch between the platform and the rest of the room. A traditional space can receive a fresh look without losing its character.

We have two physical campuses that are very different. Our newer campus features a palette of mostly greys and browns with some natural light.

There are beautiful rugs on the stage, and Edison bulb lamps cast a soft glow.

By contrast, the main campus building is

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essentially a windowless, metal box. This calls for a cleaner, more modern look. As much as I love the design of the new campus, it wouldn’t work here. It’s important to have the right fit for the space.

Don’t try to force it. Work with what you have.

4. Whom can we consult? It’s easy to recognize a design that came from the church board instead of a professional. It generally consists of bland variations on the same color.

Before jumping into a project, start with a Pinterest board. Look at hundreds of pictures to generate ideas. Join a few social media groups to learn about areas in which you lack knowledge. And if possible, hire someone to help you. It will be worth the expense.

If you can’t afford to hire an interior designer, tap your network and ask people who have more experience to come take a look.

Let’s be intentional about creating a spiritual place where people can connect with God. Do the work of thinking through what your worship space communicates. Whether your church runs 50 or 5,000, create a beautiful room that facilitates a sacred meeting.

Think about what makes a space sacred, and let it impact the ambiance of the room.

KRISTI NORTHUP is executive pastor and worship leader at Saints Community Church (AG) in New Orleans, where she serves alongside her husband, Wayne. She is director of CMN Women and writes a regular column for Influencemagazine.com.

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Ministry to the Grieving No one should have to navigate bereavement alone.

By MARY BETH WOLL

G

rieving people travel a different journey than the rest of the congregation. And on this difficult path, they need special care and consideration.

Two years ago I lost my husband, Bob, an Assemblies of God minister. After nearly 39 years of marriage and 20 years of shared ministry, Bob received a devastating diagnosis. Three months later, he was gone — and I was shattered.

I had been a therapist for 14 years. I had counseled many clients through grief. But when it was my turn, grief felt more excruciating than I ever imagined and lasted much longer than I thought I could bear.

Thankfully, I did have an important lifeline: my church, family and friends. Many others do not have this support.

Though pastors want to help, many are not trained to care for those who are walking through their personal valley of the shadow of death.

The Grief Process When someone dies, those left behind may experience the five classic stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance — though the process seldom happens in a neat and orderly fashion.

In GriefWork, Fran Zamore and Ester R.A. Leutenberg describe a three-stage grief journey: shock, disorganization, and reorganization.

However grief manifests, mourners need commensurate levels of support from their communities. Church leaders cannot do it all — nor should they try. Yet pastoral care is critical to the recovery of the wounded.

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What Not to Do Don’t fail to be there. Grief is raw, painful and messy. Mourners may initially feel numb. But as reality settles in, every emotion will take on a heightened intensity, even as coping abilities decline under the strain.

As a result, grieving people are exquisitely sensitive and will always remember how others responded to them during this time. They will be forever grateful for their pastor’s loving care — or hurt by the lack of it.

Don’t minimize the loss. People who aren’t sure what to say often resort to clichés: “At least he’s no longer suffering.” “She is in a better place.” “At least you have other children.” “You can always marry again.”

Such words are not only unhelpful, but they can also leave grieving people feeling isolated in their distress. Even faith-based platitudes — such as, “Trust God” — may come across as dismissive of the deep anguish the person is feeling.

Almost 40 years ago, my dear friend suddenly lost her fiance to a heart attack.

He was in his 20s and the only child of a widow. My Pastoral friend sat in terrible shock care is as a parade of people from church came to comfort critical her and the young man’s to the mother. I was astonished when one prominent recovery church lady walked in, of the loudly clapped her hands, wounded. and exclaimed, “Well, praise the Lord!”

My friend jumped up and ran from the room, wailing, “I wanted a wedding, not a funeral!”

The grieving mother remained, patiently enduring the inappropriate response of this misguided visitor. It was excruciating to witness.

The Bible says there is a time to weep and mourn

(Ecclesiastes 3:4). Trying to put a happy spin on a devastating loss is not the way to help people cope with their reality. Instead, we need to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). That requires empathy. Sometimes the best response is to weep with people in their sorrow, as Jesus did with Mary and Martha (John 11:35).

Don’t forget. After the memorial, grieving people often feel alone, forgotten and invisible in their pain.

While others return to their routines, those who are closest to the loss will be anything but normal for at least the next two years. They will need ongoing support as they begin to reorganize their lives and rediscover their purpose as individuals.

What to Do Do show up. James 1:27 says the Church should “look after orphans and widows in their distress.”

This requires time and presence.

In my ministry, I am in contact with approximately 100 widows and widowers every week. I recently asked some of them, “What would you like every pastor to know about caring for people in your situation?”

Their most frequent reply was, “Be there!”

Many pastors want to be there but struggle to find the time. Nevertheless, time is exactly what grieving parishioners need. Make it a ministry priority, and put it on the schedule at regular intervals.

A pastor friend of mine uses this strategy for ministering to the bereaved in his care: • Call immediately.

• Make an appointment to meet as soon as possible.

• Try to visit in person every day for three weeks.

If in-person interaction is not possible, call or text to ask how they are doing. Don’t miss a day.

• After the third week, contact them weekly — no matter how long it takes — until they indicate they are at peace.

Do acknowledge the pain. Reassure the bereaved

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The more resources one brings to the grief process, the sooner healing will come. that what they are feeling is understandable. It is OK to feel sad, overwhelmed, confused or angry.

Sorrow doesn’t offend God. In fact, Jesus promised special blessing and comfort for those who mourn (Matthew 5:4).

The pain is real, and the journey toward acceptance can be long and hard. Give people all the time and emotional space they need.

Do remember. Grieving people naturally want to know their deceased loved ones will not be forgotten. Find ways to honor their memories. Share and listen to stories. Ask to see a wedding album or family photos. Recognize anniversaries and other important dates.

Next Steps Sometimes people need the guidance of a professional to work through their grief. Recognize when a parishioner’s needs exceed pastoral counseling, and refer him or her to a Christian therapist or psychiatrist.

Don’t be afraid to ask critical questions. The bereaved are vulnerable to depression and suicidal thoughts. It is normal for grieving people to miss their loved ones and want to be with them in heaven.

But if they express suicidal ideation, help them

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get immediate mental health care. As a mandated reporter, don’t hesitate to call 911.

Consider starting a grief support group in your church. Partner with a parachurch organization, such as The Widows Project or GriefShare, that specializes in long-term grief ministry.

The devastation of bereavement is a crisis no one should have to navigate alone. People need support as they try to build new lives without their loved ones.

Grief is a process that will take its own course.

It is best not to fight it. But the more resources one brings to the grief process, the sooner healing will come. The bereaved need a combination of pastoral care, family, friends, parachurch ministries, and professionals to help guide them into the new lives God has for them.

MARY BETH WOLL is a licensed mental health counselor with Meier Clinics and author of Don’t Lose Heart! A Widow’s Guide to Growing Stronger (2021).

She is a national leader with The Widows Project and lives in Lake Stevens, Washington.

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Using Digital Tools to Reach Kids How to bridge the gap from Sunday to Sunday

By MICHAEL LENAHAN

W

hen our church closed amid the pandemic in March 2020, we had two days to put together a digital service for Sunday. Like churches across the nation, we had to adapt quickly as a kids’ ministry. Our adult service has been online for more than 12 years. However, our children’s service had never been online.

Suddenly, the only way to connect with our church family was online. But as we came together from a distance, we also gained new skills. We learned to minister in ways we previously had never even considered. COVID brought us out of our comfort zones and forced us to think creatively.

At least for a time, COVID changed the way we do church. At the start of the pandemic, I helped the Assemblies of God National Office put together a relaunch program for churches.

One thing we stressed to children’s pastors was this: Don’t stop!

Don’t stop your online presence. Don’t stop

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connecting with kids and families who can’t show up for in-person services. Don’t stop thinking outside the box when it comes to digitally connecting and discipling through online resources.

COVID helped children’s pastors answer a question that was always there: How do we connect with kids and families through the week, and how do we keep them connected when they miss a weekend service? The bigger picture is that churches need to bridge the gap between Sundays for all kids, and not just because of COVID. For a variety of reasons — divorced parents, vacations, transportation challenges, sports travel, illnesses, and more — many children can’t make it to our physical building every week.

Kids can become lost in the shuffle when we don’t have the opportunity to check in with them on a weekly basis. There are so many other things competing for kids’ attention, they can easily get out of the

habit of participating in church activities.

There will also be families who choose to continue attending church online even after this season of COVID is over.

So, what’s the answer? How do we bridge the gap from Sunday to Sunday? How do we connect with those kids and families who can’t be with us every week, and those whose parents choose to stay online only? The answer is through digital media.

We created a strategy for COVID, but we ended up with a sustainable plan for the future of our children’s ministry. This plan facilitates online interaction with the kids and families of our church every day. It reinforces discipleship with a variety of digital content, such as visual posts, videos, and livestreams. Most importantly, it makes kid-friendly gospel presentations accessible to any family with an internet connection.

The possibilities for online children’s ministry are endless for those who are willing to use their imaginations. Here are some things to keep in mind when putting together a plan:

Consistent Schedule Create a schedule, but be sure it is something you can actually maintain. It’s easy to become overly ambitious and make big plans that are not realistic. Consistency is key.

You are building an audience that is taking time to interact with your content each week. People expect things to happen according to a schedule, whether it’s television programing, sporting events, or church services. Digital ministry must

be consistent and dependable if we want to keep people engaged.

Posts On Mondays, we post a Scripture verse or an inspirational quote on Instagram and Facebook. We create shareable images using Canva, a graphic design platform that offers both free and paid accounts.

This can be a way to interact with families on social media and even provide discipleship. For example, at the start of shutdowns, we created a series of posts teaching kids and parents about prayer. Each one had a Scripture verse and prayer starter that encouraged families to begin seeking God together.

Sneak Peek Another resource we created during the pandemic is a video called the Midweek Download. It offers a sneak peek into what we will be talking about on Sunday so families can begin the conversation in advance. This is a great way to partner with parents. It shows them that discipleship starts at home.

Such a video is easy to create; no fancy equipment is needed. We just stand in front of a nice background and briefly preview what’s ahead for the upcoming kids’ service, including a synopsis of the Bible story and a reading of the key verse.

We also offer a short time of worship and a game. Each installment is no more than 15 minutes in length. Anything longer is unlikely to hold a child’s interest.

Livestreams We wrap up the week with a livestream on YouTube and Facebook. This may be anything from a

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Bible study to a fun activity.

One of our most successful livestreams is our biweekly Family Game Night. We use a game show format that allows families to compete against other families. We then present an award to the winning family on Sunday.

Again, our tools are simple and inexpensive. We use a basic webcam and a free program called Open Broadcaster Software (OBS).

Weekend Services Even as we reopened, we knew some families might not return to our building — at least not right away.

So, we opted to keep providing an online service.

Churches can do this in a couple of different ways.

One approach is to prerecord a short version of the service to post online. This can be a 30- to 40-minute video highlighting everything you are covering

Digital ministry is one more way to make young disciples for Jesus. that Sunday. This will keep kids who can’t attend the in-person service connected to your ministry.

A second option is to livestream your Sunday service. We do this and have seen great engagement with children watching online, even though we are back in-person.

Pulling off a livestream is not difficult. With a computer, a camera, and OBS, it’s possible to broadcast live to Facebook, YouTube, or even a church website.

Creative Connections Digital ministry makes it possible to reach kids and families between Sundays, and when they can’t show up on Sunday. The key is tapping into your creativity and thinking of unconventional ways to make connections and grow relationships.

Find ways to participate in the things your kids are interested in. One thing I do is livestream myself playing video games. This has been a great way to connect with kids and their parents, and it has opened doors for sharing the love of Christ and the Word of God. I have even used this to raise money for Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge (BGMC).

Digital ministry is one more way to make young disciples for Jesus. Even as life returns to normal following the pandemic, I encourage you to keep using all the tools you have to engage your families and grow the Kingdom.

MICHAEL LENAHAN is children’s pastor at Winston-Salem First (AG) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

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M I N I S T RY | YO U T H

Purposeful Discipleship Helping youth discern and use their gifts

By KARA POWELL and BRAD M. GRIFFIN

T

he pandemic cancelled most everything for her senior year in high school. Volleyball.

The bowling club she had started the previous year. College visits. Prom.

Even her youth group had to move to Zoom. While seeing her Christian friends every week on screen felt like a lifeline, it wasn’t the same as being shoulder to shoulder for weekly worship and teaching.

The cancelled activities meant she had more free time. She just wondered what to do with all those extra hours. She felt lonely and restless, with no real sense of purpose.

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Then her youth pastors, Perry and Julia, asked her to volunteer in the high school ministry as a social media intern. They knew she not only had the time to help, but that she also had Instagram skills and social media savvy far beyond their own.

Julia started meeting with her every other week, planning promotions and livestreams. While many high school students, especially seniors, drifted from the Church during the pandemic, this student was more engaged than ever.

Kara had a front-row seat to this, because that student is her 18-year-old daughter, Krista. Their church gave Krista — and Kara — a place to use Godgiven gifts to advance His Kingdom.

Why Purpose Matters While Krista and the students in your life and church may have less free time this year as the world around

tension of seeing unlimited roads to the future, while simultaneously feeling pressured to follow specific lanes prescribed to get into a good college or find the right job. Other times, increased certainty comes as young people finally figure out what they are good at doing, after years of knowing only what they are not good at doing.

them gets back on track, they have no less need to explore their purpose. In fact, one of their most fundamental questions is this: What difference can I make?

We often think of purpose as our contribution to the world. Like a compass pointing north, purpose provides each of us — at any age — with life direction. Despite the value of this orientation, 4 in 10 Americans do not report having a “satisfying life purpose,” according to a 2010 study published in Applied Psychology.

Though our sense of purpose evolves over our lifetime, adolescence and young adulthood bring the big question of purpose to the front burner and turn it up to a rolling boil.

As we conducted research for our new book, 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager, we heard story after story of students figuring out how their lives matter and what kind of difference they can make.

Sometimes that clarity comes from resolving the

The Pursuit of Purpose In our research, we interviewed a diverse sampling of students from youth groups across the country. We asked them questions about purpose, identity and belonging. When it came to purpose, these students Like a felt a universal impulse to help others. compass Every teenager we met pointing expressed a desire to help at least once during our north, three extended interviews. purpose In fact, they talked about service and helping others provides more than any other path each of to purpose.

One teenager said he us — at tried to “help as many any age — people” in his Boy Scout troop, church, and famwith life ily “in as many ways” as direction. possible.

“Whether it is talking to someone who needs to get something off their chest or helping someone move stuff out of their house, I find purpose any time and any place I can help someone else,” he said.

Helping is certainly an admirable pursuit and undoubtedly provides meaning in all of our lives. But we also noticed an underside to this drive to help.

Teenagers often helped others at the expense of their own well-being, and sometimes sought validation through their good work for others. The positive feelings generated by helping were sometimes undercut by exhaustion, burnout or self-doubt.

Those of us who disciple students can put the

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pursuit of purpose in a bigger context — a better story — that helps counteract the negative impact of overhelping or overemphasizing works.

Our best Jesus-centered answer to the question, “What difference can I make?” is that our lives matter because we are part of the ongoing plot of what God has done, is doing, and will do in our world.

As much as God works through us, it’s ultimately God who does the work. We have purpose in knowing and following God’s lead — even when He reveals just one step at a time.

God’s story is the bigger story in which all of our individual stories find meaning. And that story can reframe our quest for purpose in light of being faithful to who God has created and called us to be.

Whether students feel clear or uncertain about their gifts, try discussing the following questions with them: • What do you like or love to do?

• When do you feel most alive?

• What gifts or talents do others see in you?

• What are you normally doing in those moments when you feel most connected to others?

• What are you doing in those moments when you feel closest to God? • What are you interested in doing in the future?

• How can you get some practice in those interests?

Once students identify their superpowers, they can ask God how He wants to use those gifts right now as part of His unfolding story.

For Krista, it was as a social media intern for her high school ministry. A 13-year-old who is great with technology can serve on the church’s tech team. A 17-year-old who loves to bake can bless senior adults with homemade treats. That 22-year-old who is majoring in business can partner with a mentor from church to launch a local business featuring ethically sourced products.

Pandemic or no pandemic, the good news is that God is constantly working around us — and through us. With the right conversation, you can help the young people in your church discern their unique page in God’s unfolding story.

Guiding Students Toward Purpose The effects of 2020-21 will linger throughout the lives of young people, so this year is the perfect season As much as God to help those who works through us, feel like they’ve lost time, opporit’s ultimately tunities or experiGod who does ences regain their sense of meaning. the work.

A starting point is to talk about their “superpowers.” Young people need help learning to unwrap, and then offer to the world, their unique gifts — or superpowers — from the Holy Spirit.

KARA POWELL, Ph.D., is executive director of the Fuller Youth Institute and chief of leadership formation at Fuller Theological Seminary. She is the author or co-author of a number of books, including 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager (releasing August 2021).

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BRAD M. GRIFFIN is a volunteer youth pastor and the senior director of content for the Fuller Youth Institute, where he develops research-based training for youth workers and parents. He is the co-author of more than a dozen books, including 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager.

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Three Reasons to Befriend Skeptics Building bridges to nonbelievers

By PRESTON ULMER

Y

ears ago, an atheist friend and I started a gathering called The Doubters’ Club. The idea was that a Christian and a non-Christian would model friendship and pursue truth with one another, all in front of people who don’t think alike. Our uncertainties about faith and life would become our common ground.

We offer a set of conversation guidelines and free coffee. Our topic for each meeting is whatever the group chooses by majority vote at the previous session. Since its inception, The Doubters’ Club has multiplied to include more than 40 locations around the world.

Sarah* is an example of who The Doubters’ Club exixts for. At her first meeting, the young woman listened with interest as we discussed the Golden Rule.

Her legs were crossed, and she bounced one foot impatiently. It was clear she had a thought ready to share.

“When it comes to issues *Name has been changed.

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we disagree on, I do not think we should live by the Golden Rule,” she said at last. “The whole do-unto-others thing isn’t always good.”

I was shocked. This was the first time I had ever heard anyone disagree with these words of Jesus. It’s common for people to argue against the Bible, but few take issue with Jesus’ teaching on neighborly love. And rarely does anyone oppose Matthew 7:12.

“Do you think there is a better rule of thumb to live by?” I asked.

“Actually, I do,” she said enthusiastically. “I heard this years ago, so it’s not original to me. Someone once told me about the Platinum Rule.”

“What’s the Platinum Rule?” another asked. Even skeptics are curious about how anyone can claim to one-up Jesus.

“Do unto others as they would have you do unto them,” she replied. “How I want someone to treat me is not always how they want to be treated.

If I learn to listen to them first, I can treat them how they want to be treated. For example, Christians evangelize because if they were lost and going to hell, they would want someone to tell them about Jesus.

Therefore, they feel that, according to the Golden Rule, they should be telling others about Jesus.”

Sarah wasn’t wrong on that point. We Christians do have a tendency to befriend skeptics and atheists for the purpose of converting them.

Since starting The Doubters’ Club, I have heard hundreds of stories from people who used to have faith in Jesus and regularly attended a Christian church. Their skepticism of Christian doctrine and Christian community now manifests in a variety of ways, ranging from mere disengagement to radical activism. No matter where they fall on that spectrum, each is skeptical about why I want to be his or her friend.

What’s my motive? What’s in it for me? Does the friendship end if the person never goes to church or comes around to my way of thinking?

In many cases, the incentive for friendship is under interrogation more than Christianity itself.

This calls for personal reflection among Christians.

What are our motives when befriending skeptics?

Although we certainly want everyone to come to know Jesus and enjoy fellowship with Him for eternity, entering relationships with ulterior motives promotes more skepticism. Perhaps conversion shouldn’t be our first and only objective in getting to know non-Christians. After all, drawing a person to Christ is ultimately God’s job, not ours (John 6:44).

Here are three reasons to befriend skeptics, regardless of whether they become Christians: 1. Instead of defending the reputation of the flock, we learn to be more like the Shepherd.

Skeptics have some terrible stories that are worth hearing — stories of abuse, trauma, error and hypocrisy in church. In fact, I have never met a skeptic who left Christianity for purely intellectual reasons. There is always a story.

When we hear these stories, we have a decision to make: Do we defend the reputation of the flock, or do we advocate for the skeptic when we can?

In the Gospels, Jesus seemed to do the latter.

I can’t help but wonder who would have become a skeptic had they not encountered the love and compassion of Jesus.

Consider the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:3–11). Male religious leaders harshly condemned the woman for having sex outside of marriage, while ignoring the transgression of her partner. (There are many such stories from women today who have become deconverted skeptics.) Rather than siding with her accusers, the

Pressuring people to think like we do may be the barrier, not the bridge.

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Good Shepherd held ground for the accused. He then invited her to turn from her life of sin and experience a new life with God. 2. Instead of insisting skeptics think like us, we learn to consider their perspectives.

Pressuring people to think like we do may be the barrier, not the bridge.

Evangelical parents often approach me about adult children who have left the faith, asking, “How can we have a relationship again with our kids?”

They have tried to convince their sons and daughters to vote pro-life, oppose gay marriage, and believe the Bible, but pushing these issues only seems to deepen the divide. Many want to know which they should hold more tightly: their doctrine or their children, as if they must choose one over the other.

Rather than doubling down on what we have to say, Christians can start the conversation by listening empathetically to other perspectives. This is not about changing minds so much as opening our hearts to people who don’t agree with us.

We don’t have to share all the same views to believe another person is sincere. Allowing others to think differently, and being willing to love them anyway, can help pave the way for them to encounter Christ.

3. Instead of being a tour guide, we learn to be a detour guide. Tour guides have a predetermined route to a predetermined destination. As Christians, we have unwittingly become tour guides in our friendships with skeptics. We have equipped ourselves with the best arguments, prayers, or outreaches to see our skeptic friends go from nonbelievers to believers. The problem is that life is not a tour. Life is full of detours.

Marriages end. Businesses fail. Betrayal happens.

Everyone needs friends who stay close when life goes awry.

Being a detour guide means helping people get to where they need to go, while also understanding there isn’t always a predetermined route.

Yes, Jesus is the only way to God. But the journey to Jesus can look different for each individual. Having someone walk with them through the detours of life may be the most compelling and convincing gospel skeptics have ever experienced.

Sarah now has a group of Christians as her community.

She is growing in her knowledge of who Jesus is — mostly by experiencing His love and commitment through her friends. She may make Jesus her Lord and Savior. Or she may not. All I know is that the closer we get to God, the closer He will ask us to get to the prodigal, the skeptic, the atheist, and the spiritually wounded.

We are glad Sarah is in our lives.

Everyone needs friends who stay close when life goes awry. Being a detour guide means helping people get to where they need to go, while also understanding there isn’t always a predetermined route.

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Adapted from The Doubters’ Club: Good-Faith Conversations with Skeptics, Atheists, and the Spiritually Wounded by Preston Ulmer. Copyright ©2021. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries.

PRESTON ULMER is director of network development for the AG Church Multiplication Network in Springfield, Missouri.

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Our Fourfold Reason for Being

By GEORGE P. WOOD

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O

n Dec. 26, 1960, the Philadelphia Eagles won the NFL Championship Game, beating the Green Bay Packers 17-13. The next summer, when the Packers started training for the 1961 season, coach Vince Lombardi took a back-to-basics approach, telling his players, “Gentlemen, this is a football.”

For the next two months, Lombardi rebuilt his team from the ground up. On defense, the Packers relearned how to block and tackle. On offense, they relearned how to run plays.

“Uh, Coach, could you slow down a little?” joked Max McGee, the team’s veteran wide receiver.

“You’re going too fast for us.”

Lombardi’s approach worked. Under his leadership, the Packers won five championship games in seven years (1961–62 and 1965–67), including the first two Super Bowls (1967 and ’68). They remain the NFL’s only threepeat championship team (1965–67). When Lombardi died in 1970, the league appropriately named the Super Bowl trophy in his honor.

In ministry, as in football, leaders need to revert to fundamentals on a regular basis.

This is especially true in difficult seasons, such as the one we’ve just passed through.

COVID played a mean offense the past 18 months.

It knocked us back on our heels as we tried to figure out how to respond to government mandates closing our churches.

We learned many valuable lessons, of course, like how to livestream worship, how to facilitate small groups via Zoom, and how to collect offerings online. The list of new skills we acquired is long and varied. But in the midst of learning new things, it’s easy to forget the fundamentals, especially when our learning is on the fly and just in time.

So, 60 years after Vince Lombardi uttered his immortal words, it’s time for post-COVID American churches to have a this-is-a-football moment.

The Assemblies of God names its “football” in this passage of our Constitution: … the priority reason for being of the Assemblies of God is to be an agency of God for evangelizing the world, to be a corporate body in which many may worship God, to be a channel of God’s purpose to build a body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son, and to be a people who demonstrate God’s love and compassion for all the world.

Our purpose, our reason for being, can be stated in four simple words: evangelism, worship, discipleship, and compassion. That’s what we’re for as a Fellowship.

In this theme section of Influence, I’ve asked the executive officers of The General Council of the Assemblies of God to reflect on these four words. What do the terms mean? And how do they reorient our ministries after COVID? My prayer is that reverting to fundamentals will prepare you and the ministry you lead for a winning season beginning this fall. If the Packers rebounded from their 1960 title game loss to become champions the next year, we can rebound, too. After all, in Jesus Christ, we’re more than champions (Romans 8:37).

In ministry, as in football, leaders need to revert to fundamentals on a regular basis.

GEORGE P. WOOD is executive editor of Influence magazine.

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Why and how to share the gospel personally

By DOUG CLAY

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he gospel is good news with eternal significance. It is the message that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again so that we might live forever with God (1 Corinthians 15:3–8). But as theologian Carl F.H. Henry said, “The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.”

Evangelism is delivering that good news in a timely manner to the people who need it most. It is neither a suggestion for the Church nor a side hobby, but a mandate from Jesus Christ himself (Matthew 28:19–20). Paul describes evangelism as a ministry priority: “my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me — the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24).

In the Assemblies of God, evangelism is the first of our fourfold “priority reason for being,” the others being worship, discipleship and compassion.

Our Fellowship came into being as “an agency of God for evangelizing the world.” And in 1914, the year of our founding, we committed ourselves to doing “the greatest evangelism that the world has ever seen.”

For all these reasons, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ is our privileged opportunity.

Fear, Hostility, Apathy

Why are Christians often hesitant to engage in personal evangelism? For some of us, the thought of evangelism conjures up negative emotions. We may worry that we won’t know what to say, that our religious devotion will embarrass us in front of our peers, or that friends will reject us.

There are also larger social forces at work. Contemporary culture spurns authority and embraces authenticity. There’s no absolute truth, only my

truth or your truth. And how dare anyone attempt to impose their truth on me!

Additionally, there has been a massive change of religious affiliation. The majority of Americans in previous generations believed in a personal God and moral absolutes. They respected the Church and believed Christianity was good for individuals and society.

That respect for Christianity is dissipating. The fastest growing religious group in America today is the so-called “Nones,” people with no religious affiliation whatsoever. According to Pew Research Center, Nones accounted for 26% of the U.S. adult population in 2019 — up from 17% just a decade earlier.

A minority of the Nones express open hostility to Christian faith and practice. Typically atheists or agnostics, they believe Christianity is irrational and immoral. They reject traditional Christian moral views as bigoted, especially those regarding human sexuality.

The majority of Nones are what author Kyle Beshears calls “apatheists,” however. He describes them as “cognitively indifferent and emotionally apathetic” to religion. Apatheists don’t know whether God exists, and they don’t care.

Fear, hostility and apathy go a long way toward explaining why many believers find evangelism difficult.

Value, Capability, Significance

Difficulties aside, how does God see evangelism?

How does He see the person who needs to hear the gospel?

Genesis 1:26 teaches that God created humankind in His image. The image of God includes our intellectual, moral and social design. He gave us reason to discern truth from error, right from wrong. God gave us the ability to live according to His commandments. And socially, He created us for fellowship with Him and with one another.

In fact, God invites us into the fellowship the Father, Son and Spirit eternally enjoy in the Trinity (John 15:9). Precisely because God is love,

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He created us to love and be loved (John 15:12).

When we realize love is what motivates God and should motivate us, our perspective on evangelism changes. Love shows us the value, capability and significance of other people.

Every person matters to God. He created them and loves them, so they are valuable in His eyes. This is true regardless of their race or ethnicity, economic class or social standing, sexuality or gender identity.

It’s true regardless of nationality or partisan affiliation. God loves “the world” (John 3:16) — the whole of it and every person in it. There is no person you meet whom God doesn’t love.

Every person can respond to God. Scripture says God “set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). He created us in His image, so we have an in-built God consciousness, a capability to respond to Him. That capability reaches its fulfillment only when we worship and obey our Creator. As Saint Augustine famously prayed, “You have made us for yourself, O God, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

Every person has significance before God. God created us to exercise “dominion” over creation (Genesis 1:26, KJV). Dominion means acting as stewards, using the gifts God gave us to bring His world to its full potential. When we use the gifts God gave us, however small or seemingly insignificant, we are doing the Lord’s work.

Evangelistic Method

Not long ago, Barna Group reported that 47% of practicing Christian millennials think evangelism is wrong. That stunned me! The social forces I mentioned above may explain part of the reason for this.

Most people come to Christ because they have a personal relationship with a Christian. Relationship is the soil in which the fruit of the gospel grows. Rote methods of evangelism don’t require that you know anything about the other person. A real relationship does.

If every person matters to God, can respond to God, and has significance before God, personal evangelism should be personal. To that end, we need to do four things in particular:

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1. Ask effective questions. Jesus posed dozens of questions in the Gospels. We often think of evangelism as giving answers, but asking questions is valuable, too. When we ask effective questions, we invite others to join us on a spiritual journey rather than just providing directions.

2. Listen without judgment. When you ask an unbeliever a question, you probably will hear an answer with which you disagree. That’s OK. It helps to understand what experiences led to another person’s beliefs. And the more willing you are to listen to others, the more willing others will be to listen to you.

3. Pace the conversation. Maintain eye contact and an open posture. Don’t think about your answer when someone else is talking. Use reflective language (e.g., “What I hear you saying is … .”) so those who are sharing feel heard and understood.

At a deeper level, know when it’s the right time to invite people to trust in Jesus for salvation. If you’ve been talking with an unbelieving friend about football, it would be forced and awkward to say something like, “Hey, would you like Jesus to be the quarterback of your life?” But if you’ve been talking about the meaning of life, a door may open for a spiritual discussion.

4. Give the Holy Spirit room to work. The Holy Spirit is the most effective evangelist, not you. When we are filled with the Spirit, we will know what to say and when to say it. The Spirit’s words will become our own.

Every person has value, capability and significance in God’s eyes. People reach their fullest potential when they put their faith in Him, who “loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). So, let’s commit ourselves anew to sharing the good news, whether across the street or around the world. And let’s do it on time!

DOUG CLAY is general superintendent of the Assemblies of God (USA).

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Enduring principles to guide how we worship

By DONNA BARRETT

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fter months of COVID restrictions, it has been good to see Christians worshipping together in person again.

As Hebrews 10:25 teaches, there is a deep connection between “meeting together” and “encouraging one another.”

I hope churches don’t just return to the way things used to be, however. We don’t want to go backward.

Instead, let’s apply the lessons we learned and move forward — especially in our worship.

Crises have a way of forcing us to review the basics, to look at contemporary practices in light of enduring principles. What principles should guide how we worship going forward?

Corporate Worship The first enduring principle is the importance of corporate worship. It is so vital that the Constitution of the Assemblies of God lists it as part of our Fellowship’s fourfold reason for being: “to be a corporate body in which man may worship God.” The Constitution goes on to detail what should happen in our services: “the members of the Body, the Church (ecclesia) of Jesus Christ, are enjoined to assemble themselves for worship, fellowship, counsel, and instruction in the Word of God, the work of the ministry, and for the exercise of those spiritual gifts and offices provided for New Testament church order.”

I hear echoes of Acts 2:42–47, 1 Corinthians 12–14, and Ephesians 4:7–13 in that statement.

Those passages emphasize that the local church is a fellowship of spiritually gifted people. Just as a body has many parts that operate in unity, so the local church has many gifted people working toward “the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7).

Spiritually gifted people are neither independent

of one another nor dependent on others. Independent people say, “I have everything, so I don’t need what you have.” Theirs is the attitude of people who go to church only if they’re in charge.

Dependent people say, “I have nothing, so I need what you have.” Theirs is the attitude of consumers who are content to be spiritually fed, rather than of producers who desire to feed others spiritually.

Instead of being independent or dependent, spiritually gifted people are interdependent. They say, “I have what you need, and you have what I need, so let’s share.” Only an interdependent attitude can uphold the importance of corporate worship. We really do need one another.

We also need more. We need the Holy Spirit most of all. Having ascended to the Father, Jesus baptizes us in the Spirit (Acts 2:32). Spiritual gifts are thus an expression of Christ’s victory (Ephesians 4:7–8) and the means to accomplish “unity in the faith” (verse 13), which is also “unity of the Spirit” (verse 3). The Trinity is the ultimate source of all spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4–6), but the gifts are nonetheless the Spirit’s specialized ministry, which is why they can be called manifestations of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7–11).

All Christians believe in the Holy Spirit, of course, but spiritual gifts such as tongues, interpretation and prophecy are hallmarks of Pentecostal worship.

They manifest God’s presence among us in powerful, life-giving ways. When we come together, our prayer should be, as the song lyric goes, “Holy Spirit, You are welcome here!”

As we fully reopen our churches for corporate worship, let’s first make sure our hearts are fully reopened to one another —and especially to the Holy Spirit!

Both/And Mentality COVID disrupted the way we worshipped and forced us to find new ways of doing ministry. We streamed Sunday morning services live on Facebook. Small groups gathered on Zoom. We collected tithes and offerings via apps. These new ways of worshipping

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made it possible for our churches to thrive during a difficult time.

Now that our churches are fully reopening, we may be tempted to stop what we started. I believe that would be a mistake. We shouldn’t go backward to our pre-pandemic normal. We should move forward into a new, post-COVID normal.

This means adopting a both/and mentality rather than an either/or mentality. An either/or mentality values in-person corporate worship and sees virtual ministries as a necessary accommodation to COVID restrictions. When the restrictions lift, the accommodation goes away. It’s either in-person or virtual.

A both/and mentality also values in-person corporate worship. In addition, however, it values the opportunities virtual ministries give us to reach more people for Jesus.

This past year taught us that new ways of doing worship and ministry allow us to reach new people. Many in our communities work weekends and evenings. Some children in our congregations come from broken homes and may be with a nonattending parent during our scheduled services. Others in our circles of influence are homebound due to age, physical infirmity, or mental health problems.

If we want to reach them, we must expand the worship and ministry opportunities we offer. We adopted virtual ministry out of necessity. Now we need to continue it because we recognize it as an opportunity to reach more people with the gospel.

New opportunities for outreach require new ways of doing worship and ministry. That’s the second enduring principle to keep in mind as we fully reopen after COVID.

Beyond the Walls The third enduring principle is that worship must move beyond the walls of our church buildings.

Church leaders typically use the word worship as a synonym for “singing.” The “music minister” of a decade or two ago has become the “worship pastor” of today. When we invite people at the start of a Sunday service to “stand and worship with us,” we are asking them to sing.

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Of course, we also describe what we do on Sunday morning as a “worship service.” In a sense, then, everything we do during a weekend service can be considered worship, not just the singing. Testifying, preaching, collecting the offering, baptizing, partaking in the Lord’s Supper, and praying at the altar are forms of worship, too.

That’s how I’ve been using the word worship so far in this article. But defining worship in terms of what happens in a Sunday morning or Wednesday evening service is still too limiting.

In Romans 12:1, the apostle Paul said, “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship.”

Paul also wrote, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23). Even the humble tasks of eating and drinking should be “for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Our everyday lives can inspire others to worship God as well. Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Do we worship God when we’re at church? Yes. When we’re doing overtly spiritual things like prayer, Bible study, personal devotions, and corporate worship? Yes. But Scripture reminds us we also worship God at home, on the job, and through our leisure time. We can bring honor to Him when we’re doing spiritual things, but also when we’re doing mundane things, such as talking with a friend, eating a meal, or rocking a baby. For the Christian, all of life is worship.

As we emerge from the pandemic, let’s value corporate worship, embrace new ways of ministry, and glorify God beyond the church walls! Our post-pandemic culture needs a forward-moving church.

DONNA BARRETT is general secretary of the Assemblies of God (USA).

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Teaching people how to live for God and why

By RICK DUBOSE

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n the early days of our Movement, Assemblies of God leaders declared their intention of undertaking the “greatest [work of] evangelism the world has ever seen.” More than a century later, we remain committed to that vision.

Another emphasis from the beginning was upholding the Bible as the complete and authoritative Word of God and rule of faith and conduct in all things. Again, those founding principles are still guiding us.

All our reasons for being started with an end in mind. In the case of discipleship, the goal has always been developing devoted followers of Jesus who reflect His teaching and lifestyle and who will ultimately reproduce that pattern in others.

To accomplish that end, we focus on seven Christian life practices: Bible engagement; continual surrender to the Holy Spirit; the ministry of reconciling people to God; prayer; worship; service to others; and generosity.

Disciples aren’t perfect people. The concept of practicing a discipline suggests there is room for improvement. In sports, the point of practice is to become better and stronger. In the Christian journey, the point of practice is to become more like Jesus.

Discipleship is all about developing and reinforcing Christlike habits. It involves three different but complementary parts: a relational example to imitate, Bible teaching and learning, and practice under the guidance of a mentor or coach.

Demonstrating

The relational example part of the process is foundational for the rest of the discipleship experience. We are all natural-born imitators. We learn language and culture, develop habits, and form values by

watching and listening to those around us. We imitate without trying and become like those we respect without even knowing it.

The examples of parents and teachers have more influence than any curriculum. In fact, curriculum without an example has little impact. That’s why connected relationships beyond the classroom are a necessary part of any true discipleship process. Paul’s charge in 1 Corinthians 11:1 should serve as the template of every discipleship strategy: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

Jesus practiced relational discipleship. He didn’t just call the Twelve to attend a teaching seminary.

Jesus called them to follow Him and spend time with Him. Programs like Royal Rangers and Girls Ministries are effective not just because of the curriculum and activities, but also because of the relationships. Those times together — laughing, working and playing alongside Christian adults who are leading by example — are cornerstone discipleship moments.

True discipleship can’t happen from a platform, or at distance. It requires a relationship. Whether we are discipling our own child at home, a student in the youth group, or an adult in a newcomer’s class, curriculum and events can never replace healthy relationships.

The discipleship process breaks down when leaders live different values than they teach, forcing disciples to choose between the two. The duplicity leaves people feeling confused, conflicted and discouraged. Ultimately, the life example will almost always have the greater impact.

As a pastor, the first question I asked myself when considering a candidate to fill a youth or children’s leader position was this: Is this person the kind of person I want our young people to become?

I knew the person was more important than the programming he or she would provide. When building a discipleship pathway, remember it is first and foremost about relationships.

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Like Jesus, we show our disciples how to live for God by our examples and teach them why through the Scriptures.

Teaching

Of course, verbal instruction is still important. Jesus not only lived out the truth in front of His followers, but He also sat them down and taught them. Jesus taught in formal settings, such as the synagogue, and in informal ones, such as homes and outdoor spaces. He taught on the way to ministry assignments and from a boat anchored just off the shore.

Jesus taught using parables and stories to illustrate life lessons. He taught in ways that were appropriate for His listeners, whether it was a Jewish leader who came to Him by night or a Samaritan woman asking questions at a well. Even after His resurrection, Jesus was teaching, interpreting the Scriptures at length for two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:27).

Like Jesus, we show our disciples how to live for God by our examples and teach them why through the Scriptures. If they do not know why, they will not be able to stand their ground, resist temptation, and say to the devil, “It is written,” as Jesus did (Luke 4:1–13).

If we want to make disciples who follow Jesus, imitate Jesus, remain with Jesus, and pass the knowledge of Jesus on to others, we must be sure they have a solid Bible foundation.

Bible engagement is key to healthy discipleship.

It’s not enough to share stories and principles from the Bible; we also need to teach people how to interact with Scripture, interpret the text, see the big picture, and apply God’s Word to their lives.

There is no shortage of voices vying for attention in today’s world, but the Bible is the only completely dependable voice of truth. Never has it been more urgent for leaders to correctly handle the Word of God and entrust it to others, who will likewise pass it on (2 Timothy 2:2,15).

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Practicing

How do we know our disciples have it right? How can we be sure they will live correctly beyond our reach and without our support? How will we know when they are equipped to pass it forward?

Jesus knew He was going to return to the Father and that the future of the Church and the Kingdom would be in the hands of His disciples. Jesus knew He needed to provide opportunities for them to practice Bible engagement, surrender to the Holy Spirit, the ministry of reconciling people to God, prayer, worship, service to others, and generosity while He coached, corrected, and encouraged them.

When Jesus called Peter to come to Him on the water out in the middle of a lake where only He and the other 11 could see, Jesus was allowing Peter to practice his faith. Peter failed. Jesus, however, used Peter’s sinking as a teaching moment. And the same disciple who lacked the faith to stay above water later stood and boldly declared the Word of God, leading 3,000 to salvation in one day (Acts 2:41).

Discipleship requires an example to imitate, Bible teaching, and practice under the watchful eye of a good coach. As you develop your plan for making disciples, be sure all three of these elements are in place and functioning at a high level.

May we still be pursuing the greatest work of evangelism the world has ever seen when Jesus returns!

RICK DUBOSE is the assistant general superintendent of the Assemblies of God (USA).

2021 ASSEMBLIES OF GOD

SENIOR ADULT CONFERENCE Sept. 2–4, 2021 Branson Convention Center Branson, MO

YOU’RE INVITED!

Discover the important role God has for you during this season of life. Register today!

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Doug Clay

General Superintendent

Donna Barrett General Secretary

Alton Garrison

Director Acts 2 Journey Initiative

Rick Allen

National Director Men’s Ministries & Light for the Lost

Special musical guests: Steve Green, Joel & Rose Perales, The Harvesters, The Kelleys

Registration Cost: $85*

Includes 2 Breakfasts, General Sessions, Breakout Sessions Ticket to see Jesus at Sight & Sound Theatre Summer862-2781, 2021 For more information, visit SAMconference.ag.org or call (417) ext.107 4004.

*Registration cost: $85 through September 1, 2021. $95 Onsite. Hotel reservation not included.

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Responding to our nation’s deep divisions and great needs

By CHOCO DE JESÚS

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mericans today are divided and in need.

The divisions are deep and obvious.

People often see themselves in adversarial terms: red vs. blue, conservative vs. liberal. Social media algorithms deepen the divisions by creating an online bubble where users encounter only people like them with opinions like theirs.

And the needs are great. After a year of social distancing, many feel isolated and alone. Some lost loved ones and experienced overwhelming grief.

Others lost their jobs and struggle to regain an economic foothold.

As Spirit-filled Christians, how should we respond to these divisions and needs? The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37) provides the answer. It shows what can happen when we love our neighbors by crossing the divide and meeting their needs.

Neighborliness When a lawyer asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life, Jesus turned the question back on him: “What is written in the Law? … How do you read it?”

The lawyer responded with Scripture: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (verse 27, cf. Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 6:5).

The legal expert wasn’t finished, however. He asked, “And who is my neighbor?” (verse 29).

Jesus answered with a parable, set on a real-life road between Jerusalem and Jericho. This winding path declines 3,000 feet in 17 miles. Pilgrims traveling between Galilee and Jerusalem used the road, but so did bandits, who attacked travelers from the many dark corners and sharp turns.

In the parable, bandits preyed on a Jewish man.

They beat him, robbed him, and left him for dead on the side of the road. A priest and Levite saw the victim but passed by on the other side (verses 31–32).

Yet a Samaritan acted with compassion. Not only did he administer first aid, but the Samaritan also provided for the injured man’s long-term care and recovery (verses 34–35). That is why we call him a good Samaritan.

Jews in Jesus’ day did not consider Samaritans good, however. Second Kings 17:24–40 reveals the origins of the Samaritans. They descended from Gentile groups the Assyrians forcibly resettled in Israel after conquering the Northern Kingdom.

Samaritans practiced a religion that mixed biblical teachings and pagan beliefs. As far as Jews were concerned, Samaritans were foreign invaders and heathens — the opposite of good!

That is what makes Jesus’ parable so startling.

Jesus defines neighborliness in terms of compassion, not in terms of ethnic or religious similarity.

In other words, a neighbor is a person who crosses deep divides and meets great needs.

So, when Jesus says, “Go and do likewise” (verse 37), Christians have their marching orders.

People of Compassion According to our Fellowship’s governing documents, our “priority reason for being” has four elements: evangelism, worship, discipleship and compassion. Regarding compassion, we are called to “demonstrate God’s love and compassion for all the world.” Crossing divides to meet needs is a hallmark of our Pentecostal faith.

But these four elements, while distinct, are also inseparable. The Assemblies of God = evangelism + worship + discipleship + compassion. These things go together.

How, specifically, does compassion relate to evangelism, worship, and discipleship? Compassion is the context of our evangelism, the test of our worship, and the fruit of our discipleship.

1. The context of evangelism. The text of evangelism is what we say to nonbelievers about Jesus. The context of evangelism is what we do. Our good works

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prepare nonbelievers to receive the gospel.

Jesus himself connected compassion and evangelism: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Similarly, Peter wrote, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12).

Nonbelievers today are less interested in whether Christianity is true than whether it is good. Obviously, Christianity is both. But in a divided, needy country, we must practice an apologetic of good works, not just an apologetic of good ideas. As the saying goes, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

2. The test of worship. Jesus contrasted the Samaritan with a priest and a Levite. The law of Moses declared that anyone who touched a dead body was unclean (Leviticus 5:2–6). Priests especially had to avoid contact with dead bodies (Leviticus 21:1–4). Levites, who served alongside priests at the Temple, also had to be ceremonially clean. This probably explains why the priest and Levite passed by the victim on the Jericho road; he appeared “half dead” (verse 30).

But the priest, and presumably the Levite, was going “down” from Jerusalem to Jericho (verse 31).

In other words, they had finished their temple work and were headed home. They used the ceremonial law as an excuse for disobedience to the moral law.

Like the Old Testament prophets, however, Jesus prioritized the moral over the ceremonial. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” Jesus said in Matthew 12:7, quoting Hosea 6:6.

Because the Lord is “the compassionate and gracious God” (Exodus 34:6), the test of authentic worship is whether our character is becoming more like His. Without love, our worship — even if it is characterized by tongues and prophecy — amounts to nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1–3).

3. The fruit of discipleship. The Great Commission is a mandate from Jesus to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Part of that mandate is

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“teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (verse 20). If we teach disciples correctly, they will become compassionate people because compassion is one of the things Christ commanded.

Consider just three of Jesus’ commandments in Luke’s Gospel: • “Be generous to the poor” (11:41).

• “Sell your possessions and give to the poor” (12:33).

• “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed” (14:13–14).

Notice how the Early Church obeyed Jesus’ commands in the Book of Acts: • “They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need” (2:45).

• “And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need” (4:33–35).

• “After an absence of several years, I [Paul] came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings” (24:17, cf.

Galatians 2:10).

These are just six passages among hundreds like them in the New Testament. Moreover, compassion responds to all kinds of human need, not just material poverty. Nevertheless, the point is clear: Disciples of Jesus Christ are compassionate people.

Pentecostals must be Good Samaritans.

A divided, needy country needs a compassionate Church. So, as Jesus commanded and the Spirit empowers, let us go and do likewise!

CHOCO DE JESÚS is general treasurer of the Assemblies of God (USA).

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August 3–6, 2021 Summer 2021

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MAKE IT COUNT

A 10-Week Study For Leadership Teams

What Is Make It Count?

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ake It Count is a leadership development resource for use individually or with staff, volunteers, or board members.

Each installment is also available online as a downloadable PDF, along with interactive pages for group member use. The underlined words and phrases in the following text correspond to fill-in-theblank sections on team member pages. Access these free resources at influencemagazine. com/Downloads.

These lessons are written by Stephen Blandino, lead pastor of 7 City Church in Fort Worth, Texas, and the author of several books.

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I N T RO D U C T I O N

Avoiding Ministry Pitfalls: Lessons From 10 Biblical Leaders

By STEPHEN BLANDINO

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ccording to research conducted by author Steve Moore, there are 1,181 leaders named in the Bible, and more than 13,000 others who are mentioned but not named. In addition, Moore notes there are 1,090 leadership conversations in Scripture.

J. Robert Clinton suggests that of the biblical leaders on whom we have enough information to follow their lives, approximately two-thirds did not finish well.

What lessons can we learn from the leaders in the Bible — whether they finished well or not? That’s the focus of this edition of Make It Count.

We’ll look at 10 biblical leaders and consider lessons we can glean from each of them.

1. Joseph: Leading With God’s Favor. Though Joseph was tossed from one hardship to another, he experienced God’s favor. Favor is a sovereign act of God, but it is also something Joseph learned to position himself for throughout his lifetime.

2. Joshua: Leading With Perspective. Joshua and Caleb were the only leaders who returned to Moses with a good report after exploring the land of Canaan. Forty years later, that same perspective gave Joshua the courage to lead God’s people into the Promised Land.

3. Deborah: Leading With Resolve. God used Deborah to help lead Israel to a military victory.

Afterward, Deborah praised God, saying, “When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves — praise the

Lord!” (Judges 5:2). Leaders lead in the face of opposition.

4. Nehemiah: Leading With Vision. When Nehemiah heard about the condition of Jerusalem and its people, God birthed a vision in his heart to return and rebuild the wall.

5. Esther: Leading With Courage. Esther had every reason not to leverage her position for the rescue of her people. Yet Esther ditched the excuses and courageously took action that would lead to their deliverance.

6. Daniel: Leading With Cultural Influence.

Daniel was an outsider, but God gave him great influence under four different kings. By modeling commitment, character, competence, courage and consistency, Daniel positively influenced the culture of his day.

7. Mary: Leading Through Devotion. Mary of Bethany led through devotion at the feet of Jesus. In that posture, Mary learned from Jesus, found comfort in Him, and offered worship to Him. 8. Priscilla and Aquila: Leading Through Partnership. The apostle Paul described Priscilla and Aquila as “co-workers in Christ” (Romans 16:3). This couple understood that leading through partnership provides encouragement, support and the ability to multiply ministry.

9. Peter: Leading Through Failure. Although Peter experienced multiple failures throughout his ministry with Jesus, the Lord restored Peter. Effective leaders choose to own their failures, learn from them, and lead through them.

10. Paul: Leading Through Hardship. Paul endured countless difficulties and intense persecution, but he never quit. Paul’s example teaches us the value of endurance in leadership.

As you read, reflect on, and apply these lessons with your team, you’ll harvest insights that will equip you to lead effectively and avoid common pitfalls in leadership.

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LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM 10 BIBLICAL LEADERS

Joseph: Leading With God’s Favor

Assess

What does it mean to experience God’s favor in leadership?

Insights and Ideas

J

oseph experienced one hardship after another. From being sold into slavery by his brothers to spending years in a lonely prison, Joseph’s life was filled with suffering. Yet, in the midst of it all, Joseph encountered God’s favor.

Author Steve Moore observed, “Giftedness and training are not enough; to be effective as leaders we need the favor of God.” But favor is a sovereign act of God. So, what can we do about it? Some people pray for favor, like Nehemiah did when he went to King Artaxerxes with his vision to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:11). But Joseph took a different approach. He positioned himself for favor. How? Moore suggests three ways: 1. Joseph lived with purity. Potiphar’s wife tried to convince Joseph to sleep with her, but Joseph resisted time and again. Genesis 39:10 says, “Though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.” Joseph passed the purity test and maintained his integrity.

2. Joseph grew his capacity. While gifts and abilities are not enough in leadership, we still have a responsibility to steward and grow those gifts to their full capacity. That was Joseph’s approach. He proved faithful with his gifts, and God honored Joseph because of it. Eventually, Joseph was elevated to second in command over Egypt.

3. Joseph walked with humility. It’s easy to take credit for our leadership results, but Joseph recognized the value of humility. When Pharaoh was searching for someone to interpret his dream, Joseph said, “I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires” (Genesis 41:16).

Nineteenth-century minister and writer Andrew Murray once said, “Faith and pride are enemies. Faith and humility are allies. We can never have more of genuine faith than we have of genuine humility.”

Joseph didn’t earn God’s favor, but God gave it to him. We need God’s favor today, and God may choose to give it to us when we position our lives in a posture of purity, capacity and humility.

Reflect and Discuss

1. Why is God’s favor so important for a leader?

2. How does Joseph’s story inspire you to position your life for favor?

3. Which of the three ways Joseph positioned himself for favor most speaks to you? Why?

Apply

Do a self-audit on your life and leadership by reflecting on two questions: 1) How much do you rely on your own giftedness versus the favor of God? 2) What steps do you need to take to grow in purity, capacity and humility?

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LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM 10 BIBLICAL LEADERS

Joshua: Leading With Perspective

Team Review

What did you learn as you reflected on positioning your life in a posture that attracts the favor of God?

Assess

How does having the right perspective impact your effectiveness as a leader?

Insights and Ideas

O

ne of the most important qualities of a leader is perspective. Author Bobby Clinton once said, “The difference between leaders and followers is perspective. The difference between leaders and effective leaders is better perspective.”

How you see is always more important than what you see.

Joshua understood the value of perspective. When the 12 spies came back to Moses with their report after spending 40 days exploring the land of Canaan, they described the beauty and bounty of the land. However, 10 of the spies also said, “But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large” (Numbers 13:28).

Then, when Joshua and Caleb wanted to take the land, the 10 spies countered, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. … We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Numbers 13:31,33).

What’s the value of having the right perspective in leadership? Consider three benefits: 1. The right perspective helps us glean lessons. When we find ourselves in difficult situations, it’s easy to become so focused on getting out of them that we fail to get anything from them. Our perspective becomes skewed, and we lose the lesson in the middle of our loathing. The giant might be what you see, but how you see it determines whether you seize the opportunity before you.

2. The right perspective increases our faith in God. A.W. Tozer believed a low view of God is the cause of a hundred lesser evils, but a high view of God is the solution to 10,000 temporal problems. In other words, our biggest problem may not be what we see, but how we see it.

3. The right perspective helps us make better decisions. Rather than being reactionary in our decision making, perspective helps us see further and respond with greater wisdom.

It gives us the insight to seek long-term solutions rather than short-term relief.

This kind of perspective gave Joshua what he would need to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land after Moses’ death.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What most strikes you about the story of the 12 spies?

2. How have you allowed your perspective of your problems to skew your perspective of God? 3. Brainstorm three ways you and your team can gain better perspective in leadership.

Apply

Create two columns. In one column, list the qualities of a problem-focused perspective; in the other, list the qualities of a God-focused perspective. Then, read the God-focused perspective each morning for the next 30 days. As you do, reflect on how it impacts your view of God and leadership.

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Deborah: Leading With Resolve

Team Review

How is your outlook improving as you read the qualities of a God-focused perspective?

Assess

What’s the hardest part of leadership for you?

Insights and Ideas

D

eborah was a judge and prophet. In Judges 4:6–7, she delivered this message to Barak, son of Abinoam: “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulum and lead them up to Mount Tabor. I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”

Deborah didn’t just sit on the sidelines, however. She ultimately stepped into battle, and Jabin, king of Canaan, was destroyed.

After this victory, Deborah rejoiced with song: “When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves — praise the Lord!” (Judges 5:2).

Leaders lead when the pressure is on. This is especially important in three critical moments: 1. Leaders lead in the face of fear. Author Clay Scroggins observed, “Every time we respond in fear, we miss an opportunity to lead, and this failure of leadership is an issue of identity.” Deborah’s identity was established in the Lord, and with bold resolve, she entered the battle and led in the face of fear.

2. Leaders lead in the face of pain. Author and consultant Sam Chand says, “You’ll grow only to the threshold of your pain.” That means when you face difficult and painful decisions, you have to lean forward and lead forward. That’s what Deborah did. Despite the pain associated with battle, Deborah chose to boldly lead as she told Barak, “Go!” (Judges 4:14).

3. Leaders lead in the face of battle. Deborah said to Barak, “This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” (Judges 4:14). With that, 10,000 warriors followed them to the battle. When it was over, not a single member of the enemy army was left alive (Judges 4:16).

We are in a spiritual battle, and when faced with resistance and opposition, leaders do not retreat or relinquish the victory. They lead when the stakes are high, looking to the Lord to give them the victory.

John Maxwell often says, “Leaders don’t have two good days in a row.” Whether good or bad, leaders lead every day. They step up and step out, and they steward their leadership for the good of others and the glory of God.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What does the statement “leaders lead” mean to you?

2. In which situation is it hardest for you to lead: in fear, pain or spiritual battles? Why? 3. In what area of your ministry have you been hesitant to lead with courage?

Apply

Take a moment to pinpoint the area where you need to stand up and step out to lead. Then, determine the first step you’ll take to lead forward, and when you’ll take it. Finally, pray and commit to follow God’s lead in this critical moment.

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LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM 10 BIBLICAL LEADERS

Nehemiah: Leading With Vision

Team Review

What step have you taken in the past week to lead in the face of fear, pain or spiritual battle?

Assess

What vision are you leading toward right now?

Insights and Ideas

L

eadership is all about leading people to a better and brighter future. Author Michael Hyatt observed, “Vision, as I see it, is a clear, inspiring, practical and attractive picture of your organization’s future.”

With vision, leaders take people into a God-inspired tomorrow. Nobody knew this better than Nehemiah.

Vision came alive in Nehemiah’s heart when he asked Hanani and some other men about the Jews and the condition of Jerusalem. They said, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire” (Nehemiah 1:3).

When Nehemiah heard these words, he wept and prayed. In fact, the prayer recorded in Nehemiah 1:5–11 is believed to be a summary of what Nehemiah prayed over the next four months before he finally appeared before King Artaxerxes with a vision to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. From Nehemiah’s vision, we discover three important truths for leaders: 1. Vision is the solution to a problem. The stimulus for the formation of Nehemiah’s vision was the question he asked Hanani and the other men. That single question presented a problem — a people in disgrace and a city in ruins. With that question, a vision was born for a people with dignity and a city with walls.

What problem does your vision solve?

2. Vision is spiritual, emotional and practical. Nehemiah’s vision was spiritual. It came about through prayer and fasting. Nehemiah’s vision was emotional. He wept and mourned for days. And Nehemiah’s vision was practical. It addressed a real need.

What about your vision? Is it spiritually inspired, emotionally engaging, and practically helpful?

3. Vision requires the help of God. If vision can be realized solely in your strength and wisdom, your vision may not be from God. As Nehemiah prayed, he knew he needed the king’s help. So, what did Nehemiah do? He prayed to the Lord, “Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man” (Nehemiah 1:11). And God answered Nehemiah’s prayer by giving him the permission and resources he needed so the vision could move forward.

Leaders lead with vision. They allow the Holy Spirit to birth a picture of a brighter future in their soul, and then they courageously pursue it.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What problem does your vision solve?

2. Which is weakest in your vision: the spiritual, emotional or practical aspect?

3. How are you seeking God’s help to see your vision fulfilled?

Apply

Take some time to reflect on your vision for your area of ministry. Do you need to dream bigger? Is your vision spiritual, emotional and practical? Does your vision meet a specific need or solve a specific problem? Take some time to prayerfully answer these questions and allow the Lord to form a clearer vision within your heart.

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LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM 10 BIBLICAL LEADERS

Esther: Leading With Courage

Team Review

How has your vision become sharper and bolder?

Assess

What difference does courage make in leadership?

Insights and Ideas

E

sther’s story is an amazing journey of God raising up an orphan girl to deliver His people. It all started when Esther courageously risked everything to go before the king and reveal Haman’s evil plot to have the Jews annihilated. She led courageously, and God honored Esther’s faith.

From Esther’s story, we discover three important lessons about the importance of courage in leadership: 1. Courage confronts your resistance. When Mordecai challenged Esther to plead the case of the Jews before the king, she said, “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king” (Esther 4:11).

But Mordecai wouldn’t take “no” for an answer, and eventually Esther found the courage to confront her excuses before her excuses turned into disobedience.

2. Courage is connected to your calling. Mordecai went on to tell Esther, “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13–14).

We are not courageous for the sake of normalcy or complacency. Courage is only needed when God calls us into a better tomorrow. Courage is for such a time as this.

3. Courage compels you to take action. Author Lance Witt observed, “Courage is not an issue of wiring, but of willingness. It’s not an issue of DNA, but of heart.”

When you have the willingness and heart, you’ll do more than make incremental tweaks or slight adjustments. Instead, you’ll muster the bravery to take initiative on a bold idea.

That’s what Esther did, and delivery came to the Jewish people.

Leading with courage doesn’t feel natural, but it is essential. It’s the difference between dreaming and doing. It’s the difference between talk and action.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What resistance are you facing right now that is trying to snuff out your courage?

2. How does your calling require courage?

3. What courageous action do you need to take this week to move forward with the call or vision God has birthed in your heart?

Apply

Craft a plan to feed your courage and starve your fears. Your plan might include focusing on God, surrounding yourself with positive people, and meditating on the truths of Scripture.

Once you create your plan, revisit it for a few minutes each day to help you cultivate the courage to take action.

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LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM 10 BIBLICAL LEADERS

Daniel: Leading With Cultural Influence

Team Review

How has your courage grown as you’ve fed your faith?

Assess

What does it look like for followers of Jesus to influence culture?

Insights and Ideas

W

hether it’s in business, education, government, arts, media, science, the Church, or the social sector, God is raising up leaders in every channel of culture to use their influence to meet needs, solve problems, and make a difference.

Daniel was a man who led with cultural influence in the midst of a culture that was hostile toward God. What was his secret? Daniel 6:3 says, “Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”

How exactly did Daniel distinguish himself? Here are five qualities: 1. Commitment. After King Darius decided to elevate Daniel over his entire kingdom, Daniel’s fellow administrators and satraps tried to find grounds to discredit him. But after careful consideration, they said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God” (Daniel 6:5). And when an edict was issued to pray solely to King Darius, Daniel continued to pray to God three times a day (Daniel 6:10). Daniel demonstrated uncompromising commitment to God. 2. Character. Daniel 1:8 says, “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.”

Rather than eating food that had been offered to idols, Daniel maintained his character and integrity. Moral conviction superseded momentary convenience.

3. Competence. Daniel possessed “aptitude for every kind of learning,” and he was “quick to understand” (Daniel 1:4). Furthermore, “In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom” (Daniel 1:20). Simply put, Daniel exhibited the highest levels of competence. He led with excellence.

4. Courage. When Daniel interpreted the handwriting on the wall for King Belshazzar, he had the courage to speak the truth (Daniel 5:25–28). And when King Darius issued his narcissistic prayer challenge, Daniel had the courage to remain faithful to God (Daniel 6:10–11).

5. Consistency. Daniel modeled these qualities consistently, from the time he was 16 years old until he was in his 80s. As a result, Daniel slowly built influence step by step, day by day, year by year, and choice by choice.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What most inspires you about Daniel’s story?

2. Which of the five qualities in Daniel’s life and leadership most challenge you?

3. What would it look like for you to lead with cultural influence today?

Apply

Do an honest evaluation of the five qualities Daniel modeled. To which ones do you most need to give attention? How could you intentionally grow in these qualities? How might such growth make you more effective for Christ in today’s culture?

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LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM 10 BIBLICAL LEADERS

Mary: Leading Through Devotion

Team Review

After reflecting on the qualities in Daniel’s life, how have you been challenged to grow in cultural influence?

Assess

What does “leading through devotion” mean to you?

Insights and Ideas

C

hristians can lead through their example of devotion to Christ. Mary of Bethany was a woman who modeled such devotion. When Jesus visited the village where Mary and Martha lived, Mary, “sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made” (Luke 10:39–40).

Three times in Scripture, we find Mary at Jesus’ feet.

1. Mary learned from Jesus. Sitting at Jesus’ feet went against the cultural norms of the day. This was the posture of a disciple with a rabbi, a teaching arrangement that normally excluded women. Despite the cultural barriers, Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus, taking in everything He had to say. Therein lies an important lesson: Sometimes you have to defy what the culture says so you can hear what Jesus says.

Luke 10:41–42 records Jesus’ response to Martha after her objection to Mary’s unwillingness to help in the kitchen: “Martha, Martha … you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed — or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus didn’t criticize Martha for her hospitality. He simply pointed out that of the many things a person could be doing, one thing is most important: spending time in His presence.

2. Mary found comfort in Jesus. When her brother Lazarus died, Mary sought comfort in Jesus. John 11:32–33 says, “When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” Jesus went to the tomb and raised Lazarus from the dead.

3. Mary showed love to Jesus. At a dinner prepared for Jesus, Mary showed love for Him through her worship. John 12:3 says, “Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”

For Mary, the desire to draw close to Jesus was a regular theme. May the same be said of us.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What inspires you about Mary’s commitment to learn at the feet of Jesus?

2. How often do you find yourself, like Martha, distracted by good things while missing the main thing?

3. What step could you take to grow in your devotion to Jesus?

Apply

Take a few minutes to create a personal growth plan. Identify the training, resources, coaching and experiences you could pursue to help you grow in your devotion to Jesus.

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LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM 10 BIBLICAL LEADERS

Priscilla and Aquila: Leading Through Partnership

Team Review

How have you been leading through devotion in the last week?

Assess

What partnerships in ministry have made the biggest impact in your leadership?

Insights and Ideas

T

hroughout Scripture we find several references to Priscilla and Aquila. In Acts 18, Paul met this couple, “and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them” (verse 3).

After a man named Apollos came to Ephesus and began teaching about Jesus, Priscilla and Aquila heard him and “invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately” (Acts 18:26).

And when Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy, he said, “Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus” (2 Timothy 4:19).

Why was Paul so close to Priscilla and Aquila? Because they were partners in ministry. In Romans 16:3, Paul said, “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus.” There was obviously a special relationship between them, and the partnership brought encouragement and support in their ministry efforts.

Partnership is a powerful quality in leadership. As Mother Teresa noted, “You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.”

There are three advantages to leading through partnerships: 1. Partnership offers mutual encouragement. One of the benefits of partnership is the relational value of mutual encouragement. Leadership is tough, and a good partnership allows you to celebrate together during mountaintop experiences and offer words of encouragement in the valleys.

2. Partnership leverages strengths and minimizes weaknesses. A good partnership is a win-win. Whether it’s a formal agreement or simply a leader you work with closely, such a relationship will leverage your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. As a result, your ministry or organization should grow in effectiveness and impact.

3. Partnership multiplies progress. When you work with others, you tend to accomplish more and go further than you could alone. Rather than resting solely on your abilities, skills, money and time, you can multiply all these resources through the power of partnership.

Progress is greater and longer because you’re not limited to what you or they can do alone.

Instead, working together, you multiply your efforts.

Partnership requires intentionality. In the beginning, you may feel like you’re moving slower than if you went it alone. But if you stick with it, you’ll go further than you ever dreamed possible.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What are some examples of formal and informal partnerships in ministry and leadership?

Why do we tend to resist partnerships?

2. Can you think of an example where partnership made a real difference in your ministry or organization?

3. What partnerships do you need to strengthen or initiate in your leadership?

Apply

With whom can you partner to accomplish more in ministry? How could this partnership be a win for you and a win for the other person or organization? What steps do you need to take to discuss the possibility of this partnership?

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LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM 10 BIBLICAL LEADERS

Peter: Leading Through Failure

Team Review

What progress have you made toward strengthening or developing partnerships in leadership?

Assess

How do you typically respond to failures in leadership?

Insights and Ideas

A

uthor Erwin McManus said, “We can become so afraid of death that we never live, so afraid of failure that we never risk, so afraid of pain that we never discover how strong we really are.”

Peter had a résumé full of failures. He also took risks and faced fear. Consider these lessthan-stellar moments in Peter’s life: • Peter sank when he walked on water (Matthew 14:22–32).

• Peter was rebuked by Jesus (Matthew 16:21–23).

• Peter declared he would never deny Jesus (Matthew 26:31–35).

• Peter fell asleep in Jesus’ greatest hour of need (Matthew 26:36–46).

• Peter cut off a man’s ear during Jesus’ arrest (John 18:2–11).

• Peter disowned Jesus three times (Matthew 26:69–75).

Though his failures were numerous, Peter learned to move past each of them. So, how do you lead through failure? Consider these three keys: 1. Own your failure without letting failure own you. When Peter denied Jesus, his failure became a cloud over his life. But when Jesus met Peter in his failure, Peter found the strength to own the failure without letting the failure own his future.

As leaders, owning failures means choosing to be responsible for our mistakes. It’s apologizing, making things right, refusing to cast blame, and leading forward rather than languishing permanently in the failure.

2. Harvest the lessons in your failure. Every failure has a lesson to offer — often multiple lessons. The only way to harvest those lessons is to slow down long enough to reflect, ask questions, and dig for the truth. If you move too quickly, you’ll leave behind the gold you were meant to take with you. Leading through failure allows you to learn lessons so you don’t repeat them in the future.

3. Practice the three C’s in the middle of your failure. If you’re going to lead effectively through failure, you have to put into practice the three C’s: clarity, communication and courage.

First, gain clarity about the failure. Ask why, what went wrong, and what you need to do next. Second, communicate. Take time to communicate clearly, honestly and compassionately to those the failure affects. Finally, have the courage to make the tough decisions so you can move past the failure into a better future.

Failure isn’t easy, and it often comes with layers of pain. These three steps will put you on the path to lead through the failure.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What is a failure you’ve experienced in leadership or ministry?

2. Which lesson above do you most need to embrace when dealing with failure?

3. What additional lessons would you add to the list to lead through failure successfully?

Apply

Take some time to reflect on a recent failure. Did you own the failure without letting the failure own you? What lessons did you learn? Did you put the three C’s into practice? Do an autopsy on your failure, and pinpoint how you can respond better in the future.

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Lessons in Discipleship from the New Testament Church

12 - Part Video Series and Study Guide

The Foundations series steps back 2,000 years into the world of Asia Minor.

Encounter the spread of the gospel. Learn the challenges that early believers faced and how God’s message applies to your life today.

Summer 2021

Find out more at thechls.org/foundations

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LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM 10 BIBLICAL LEADERS

Paul: Leading Through Hardship

Team Review

What lessons did you learn after diagnosing a recent failure?

Assess

What has been one of the most difficult seasons for you to lead through?

Insights and Ideas

L

eadership is a pain magnet. The apostle Paul certainly understood this reality. Here’s a snapshot of the hardship Paul encountered as he led in the Early Church: I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:23–28).

Despite all of this, Paul didn’t quit. What was his secret?

1. Paul’s purpose was greater than his pain. Paul revealed why his hardship was worthwhile. In Colossians 1:24, he said, “Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you.” Then, Paul said of Christ’s body, the Church, “I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness” (verse 25). Then Paul said of Christ, “He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me” (verses 28–29).

Paul was able to endure so much suffering because he kept his purpose in focus.

2. Paul’s prize motivated him to keep going. In Philippians 3:14, Paul described the prize that kept him moving forward: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Knowing Christ was Paul’s highest aim.

When your purpose is clear and your prize is in focus, hardship is worth it in the end. As Mark Batterson observed, “God doesn’t always deliver us from our difficulties, but He does deliver us through them.”

Reflect and Discuss

1. How does Paul’s testimony inspire you to trust God through tough times?

2. Why do we expect leadership to be easy, and what does God want to do in our lives through the hardship?

3. What purpose and prize are driving you?

Apply

Take some time to prayerfully process any hardship you are experiencing. Ask God to speak to you through the pain, and then invite Him to protect your heart from growing cold or jaded.

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A Fight to Forgive

(Continued from Page 128)

I wish I could say I awoke from a coma with forgiveness welling up in my heart. In reality, the overwhelming fear and anger I felt as I remembered the attack were as agonizing as my physical wounds.

At some point, I said the words “I forgive” out of a sense of Christian obligation, but I knew it wasn’t sincere. Every day was a reminder of something the stranger had stolen from me: my health, my sense of security, my family’s finances, my children’s innocence, my ministry.

I fantasized about hunting down the man. I contemplated suicide. But amid the turmoil, I sensed the Lord’s beckoning call: “Kevin, you have been forgiven much.”

Confessing my inability to move past the hatred, I invited Jesus to work in my heart.

Three years after the attack, I attended the offender’s sentencing. I was nervous as I stepped into that courtroom, but I was also confident of

Confessing my inability to move past the hatred, I invited Jesus to work in my heart.

what God had done in my life. I shocked the court when I refused to share a victim statement.

Instead — inspired by the Old Testament story of Joseph forgiving his brothers and giving glory to God — I chose to share a life statement. I explained that I was now a better man because of the attack. I had become a better husband, father and pastor. The pain had given me an opportunity to become more like Jesus.

The man received a prison sentence of 18 to 40 years. I am free to live my life without the shackles of unforgiveness.

Now I see people differently. I am more aware of the wounds they carry, not just the baggage those wounds create. I’ve traveled the nation sharing my story and helping people understand the forgiveness of Jesus and what it means for them.

My mission is to point people to a God who heals and restores.

I once thought I had nothing in common with my attacker. I saw him only as a monster who cost me everything — a worthless addict who thought a substance was more important than my life.

Over the past eight years, we’ve corresponded via prison email. I now see him as a man who had moved across the country to reconnect with an estranged daughter, only to face rejection from her. I see a man who turned back to drugs to deal with a pain he was ill-equipped to face. I even see a man who is not entirely aware of what he’s done to my life and family. And then I hear Jesus saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

And when I let myself hear those words, I see a man in need of a Savior — just like me.

KEVIN RAMSBY is the founder of FightToForgive, an evangelistic outreach ministry created to lead people to forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus.

He is a national speaker and author of A Fight to Forgive.

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T H I S I S M Y S T O RY

A Fight to Forgive

By KEVIN RAMSBY

O

n Aug. 3, 2009, I woke up at 3 a.m. to the sound of breaking glass downstairs. I wasn’t afraid.

Many homes in Detroit are vacant, and drug addicts often use them as places to get high. I figured someone just needed to be frightened off our property.

I sprang from my bed, grabbed a tennis racket, and started down the stairs. As an inner-city pastor, I had interacted with plenty of junkies, drug dealers, and gang members over the years. I understood the dangers of living and ministering in this community, but I also knew it was a mission field to which God had called me.

We had just finished a long week of outreach ministry at Revival Tabernacle (AG) in nearby Highland Park, and my wife and children had gone to visit family members in another state. It was just the intruder and me.

Turning on the lights and banging the tennis racket against the walls, I yelled, “This is my house! Get out!”

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, a man came around the corner and immediately stabbed me in the abdomen with a 10-inch chef’s knife from my own kitchen. I fell forward off the last step, and the knife jerked upward, creating a seven-inch wound.

For the first time, I locked eyes with the stranger I believed would take my life. His dilated pupils and vacant gaze revealed he was high on crack cocaine.

He plunged the knife into my body again and screamed, “Where are the keys and the money?”

I was unable to speak as the man searched the house and returned to deliver more blows. He stabbed me 37 times before finally losing interest and leaving me to bleed out on the kitchen floor.

Expecting to die at any moment, I began to pray. I pleaded with God to protect my family and not let them become bitter over my murder.

I asked Him to be a father to my children as they grew up without me.

As I finished praying, I began to lose consciousness.

I woke up a week later in the hospital to the beautiful sounds of friends and family. It was a joyous reunion. Yet my journey toward (Continued on Page 127) healing was only beginning.

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The overwhelming fear and anger I felt were as agonizing as my wounds.

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