Thank you again for your prayers and support as we continue to prepare for this trip! Before I get into this week’s post, here are some encouraging events that took place this week:
1. My fundraising just reached ¾ towards being fully funded! This is a terrific milestone in the preparation journey, and it looks like I will be on track to be fully funded by launch! If any of you feel led to give, please feel free to donate using the link above.
2. The World Race squad increased by five people to a total of 21 people in the trip group. This has resulted in a very active group chat, and I am excited to get to know the new faces! Furthermore, this week’s Zoom call was the first call that had 10 or more people join at once. This is exciting!
3. The house church network that I am a part of is planning to do an evangelism push in Asheville in a couple of weeks. We are praying for people to come to know Christ and for baptisms to take place. Please be praying over this!
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Last week, I posted about the challenges that the church is facing in America and the path forward as Christians that we are ultimately called to take. That post ended with seven key points that I wanted to elaborate on further to help challenge the church in this time. This post focuses on the first three points. These first three focus on the church as a whole and how we must navigate the times ahead…
I. The importance of moving away from “Cultural” Christianity and towards wholeheartedly following Jesus.
One of the greatest challenges facing the church today is that many people (or even some congregations) who profess to know Christ have reduced the transforming relationship of following Jesus to a mere cultural facet in their lives. Throughout the Book of Acts and in the Gospels- following Jesus is choosing to renounce the desires of the world and embark on the grand adventure of sharing the Gospel and expanding God’s Kingdom to the ends of the earth (starting in the Roman Empire). This path carried a significant amount of earthly risk and hardship- but it resulted in millions of people coming to know and be transformed by Jesus. Yet in much of the American church today- this often gets overlooked. It is easy to reduce the Christian faith to a set of boxes to check (“Did I pray the Sinners Prayer”, “Am I going to church every Sunday”, “Am I stewarding my money appropriately”, etc.)- and thus promote a self-focused works-based religion. This results in many people having a shallow faith- who do not wholeheartedly embrace Christ- and instead try to balance their faith with their worldly lives. While works are a manifestation of being a Christian, salvation is a free gift that comes from placing faith in Jesus Christ. Yet we as a church must examine what it is like to follow Christ- and what sacrifices and surrender the Early Church went through. They led very different lives compared to the world- and this contrast continues to draw many people towards Jesus today.
II. Not putting politics above the Gospel message in America nor using politics to force national / moral transformation that is only possible with the genuine Gospel.
Political struggle has defined this county for centuries. Some of it is orderly while some of it has resulted in tragic chaotic events (like what took place on January 6). Many people see politics as an avenue to affect societal change throughout the country. In fact, many Christians (with good intentions) rely on it to try to influence the government and then America’s citizens with a “top down” approach. While Christian voices are important in government (and every other sector of society), it is wrong to try to replace sharing the Gospel with politics / activism as the main method of changing individuals (and ultimately society). Only the Gospel can accomplish that. One statistic shows that over 90% of American Christians do not share the Gospel with others. Oftentimes, we pray very hard for a revival to sweep this nation and reverse “moral decline”- yet we fail to take the simplest of steps that can lead to revival- outward focused prayer and sharing the Gospel. Yet sharing the Gospel is oftentimes uncomfortable. People do come to Christ from it. Yet people also reject the message as well. One has to be willing to talk boldly and have deep challenging conversations- both with complete strangers and those that they love the most. As the Gospel causes people to follow Jesus and spread the message- that is how nations and ethnic groups can ultimately be transformed.
III. Not fearing the “other side” of politics and where we ultimately fit into politics.
This is an important point that we must reckon with as a church. While there are sizeable contingents of Christians in America on both sides of the political spectrum, a pervasive fear has advanced in the midst of politics. As a church, we have often become afraid of the “other side” of where we vote- and believe that the “other side” has nothing but bad intentions for the country. This is not a Left or Right issue- both sides have had to reckon with this in both 2016 and 2020. When we hate the “other side” of politics and those who espouse political views that are across the aisle to where friendships are severed, this becomes a problem. Over the past five years, I have seen many instances on social media where people have blocked each other because of their political views. Yet the question remains- is there a better way forward? How can we understand each other as Christians (even with different political views) and seek to reorient our views to the Bible? Both the right and the left have policies that align Biblically and others that do not. There is no political party that 100% aligns with the Bible in America- which is why it is crucial for voters to pray and also research each candidate’s positions prior to voting. Politics has become such a “dirty” subject in this country because of the divisiveness. Yet as Christians- I believe that we can conduct ourselves to a higher standard with this topic and be able to discuss the challenges and controversial topics of politics civilly. Civil discourse- even with disagreement- is a terrific thing (and is a foundational building block for this country).
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, and I plan to post Part III in a few days. Thank you again for lifting up this mission trip in prayer, and lets also pray for the American church as it navigates a path forward in the post-Trump era.
2 Timothy 2: 22 – 24- “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.”
Preach, fam.
Forsure! Definitely needed!