Some say the glass is half Empty. Others say it’s half Full. Pessimism and Optimism abound in extremes these days. Both in the world…and in the Church. People casually viewing life through foggy lenses of new-fangled philosophies, fickle feelings, popular pundits, personal preferences and prayerless “prophesies”. In an age of information overload, we can get bogged down with endless input, incessant analysis and circular reasoning. We usually end up on the same comfortable couch….doing nothing. Stuck in neutral gear. Untethered sails flapping in the wind: making spiritual noises…but going nowhere. Just drifting along in a spiritual lazy river. Waiting for the Rapture. In an armchair with our commentaries in hand. Heaping up teachings and teachers. And for that, we have been admonished…
“Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, Rebuke, Exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be Watchful in all things, Endure afflictions, Do the Work of an evangelist, Fulfill your Ministry.”
Those are stark words…with no room for prayerless Pessimism or Optimism. Just stone cold REALISM. The Time…is at hand. Now is the time to Engage. With care, caution and stewardship…but never timidity, procrastination or double- mindedness. The “kingdoms of this world” are moving ahead with their agenda. It’s time we make an Impact regardless of what we see. Time to focus on God’s Summary Singular Mandate for us… “make Disciples”
Not converts. Not believers in a spiritual system. Not church members. But living, breathing, mature and active Christ-followers. Men and women disciplined in the ways of Jesus Christ. For His Purposes.
This appears a daunting task. We are often overwhelmed with the minutia. The plethora of options, methods, strategies and steps. What curriculum to use? (Answer: the Bible) What people group to focus on? (Answer: the ones in your midst) What venue to use? (Answer: the one at hand). What message to convey? (Answer: the whole counsel of God). On and on we can go. Truth be told, our Reluctance to Engage is often of our own making.
In times of war (and this is a War!), we make boys into soldiers at Boot Camp. Frills and thrills are jettisoned. Personal Preferences ignored. The Lord’s Army needs to strip away some carnal nonsense…and get back to Boot Camp Basics: Repentance, Salvation, Maturity in the Word, Personal Holiness, Love, Selfless Serving, Sacrifice, Courage, Multiplication.
We don’t have the luxury of waiting for more amenable Circumstances. It’s “Game On!” whether we’re ready or not. We can’t wait until “seekers” show up at our church. Or “prodigals” come back home. Or “lepers” cry out as we happen to walk nearby.
Then Jesus said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many… ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they…began to make excuses. …’I have bought a piece of ground …I ask you to have me excused.’ ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen …I ask you to have me excused.’ ‘I have married a wife…I cannot come.’ Then the Master of the house, being angry, said… ‘Go out quickly into the streets… bring in the Poor and the Maimed and the Lame and the Blind. …Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.’ “
It’s easy to be Distracted by the misery around us. The apathy. The desperation. The magnitude. I understand those Distractions all too well. Ministering amongst the Poorest of the Poor, in the urban slums of Africa. And after 22 years of ministry, I can honestly say, things are much worse now in slums than ever before.
The temptation to be discouraged lurks continually. Do I ever feel like quitting? Yes. Several times each day. I share that not to evoke sympathy. But rather to inject Reality. Our Flesh will never agree with what the Spirit of God is doing in and through us. Our Flesh will always find excuses, push back, complain, and contradict our walk with Jesus.
That’s why it’s a Discipline to be
Disciple of Jesus Christ.
“Jesus said to His disciples ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’ ”
As Disciples, we are called to Endure hardships. Perhaps the greatest hardship is watching others go through hardships. Especially loved ones…friends… and fellow Christians. The Pastors and Ministry Leaders we serve know this all too well. They minister to the destitute, the hopeless, the diseased, the abused. These Pastors have no practical ability to effect the material, financial, practical destitution of their people. Much less their own. But those Pastors understand that those Temporal needs pale in comparison to the Spiritual need to be reconciled unto God. That’s unfiltered Reality.
We’re in a War. It’s not a War against Injustice, Human Trafficking, Poverty, Disease, Inequality, Corruption, Climate Change or Hunger. It’s not a War against wasted Human Potential, lack of Education, Opportunity or Livelihood. And it’s not a war for Equality of Outcomes, Equal Access, Human Rights, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, the Second Amendment or Preferred Pronouns. The Conflict is Supernatural. The Outcome is infinitely more important. The Cost immeasureable. The Call…Unchanged.
And so our Pastors trudge on…literally. Through the raw sewage, along the muddy alleyways, and into the rusted sheet metal shacks. Immersed in a panorama of Hopelessness. It’s not glamorous. These are forgotten ministers and ministries. Far below the radar screen. Tucked away in remote corners of epic squalor. Horrid conditions that will never go away until Jesus comes back. But therein resolve is made to answer His Preeminent Call:
“make Disciples”
You’ll hear the Pastors well before stepping across the threshold of the DSM Bible Schools. We open at 6:15am with Prayer. We begin Worship at 7am. It’s heartfelt, it’s alive, it’s unplugged…and it’s Real. We teach from 8am til 5pm. We close with another 45 minutes of Praise and Prayer. And in the interim, nothing Material has changed for the better. But something Eternally Significant has shifted. A beachhead has been secured…in enemy territory. A tiny handhold grasped…on the climb to see Him face to face. A Biblical Insight revealed. A Correction received. A Promise from God anchored deep within a heart. This is where the Lord’s Army is Educated, Equipped and Encouraged. This Boot Camp causes the Enemy to tremble.
Disciples are being made. In spite of the desperate circumstances of their lives, the Pastors of the Least keep coming! For many years we averaged 225 Pastors and Ministry Leaders on a continual enrollment. Last year it exploded to 325. That’s a huge increase for this little Ministry with only 7 Bible Teachers. This year, God kicked the doors open. Enrollment just passed 400!
The pinnacle is always Graduation Day each December. Six months ago we graduated 67 Pastors and Ministry Leaders, including 13 in Tanzania. None of them had been with us less than 2 years. Most take 3 years. Just like the Disciples with Jesus. Then they are promoted out of Boot Camp…different than they came in…
Disciples transformed into
Disciple-makers.
It is out of the Ash Heaps of desperate circumstances that God’s most marvelous work is done. Let’s remember that…lest we focus on removing Ash Heaps.
After all, He makes Beauty out of Ashes.
