INDOCTRINATION OR INCARNATION?

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

Growing up in a very strict Baptist background, I was thoroughly indoctrinated into being a Baptist. Baptist was our identity. We weren't just any kind of Baptist; we were a certain kind of Baptist. We were more rigid in our set of rules than most of the Baptists and we were proud of it. We took a definite stand against a list of sins and sinners to be our kind of Baptist.
I never chose to be a Baptist, but grew up in a home where my parents were Baptists and they had me in some sort of Church experience several times per week. We went to Sunday School, then the main Sunday morning worship service, Sunday night service, Wednesday night prayer meeting and quite a few potluck dinners that were attached to some fellowship group within the Church. Thursday night was Visitation, where a few people went out door to door to invite people to come to Church on Sunday. And, if you were in one of the choirs or youth groups, you were required to be at more meetings at the Church.

It was clear to me as I grew older that the strategy was to keep you in as many Church meetings as possible, so you had no time to misbehave. That was exactly the strategy! Welcome to the strategy of indoctrination. Indoctrination is directing people into a system of programs. The idea is to get each person to follow the program and fit into the mold. It's all about molding a person's behavior so that he or she is a good Baptist or whatever religious persuasion.

This, then, is presented to the world. In my small hometown we had made it clear that we Baptists didn't go to movies. So, whenever a Baptist was seen in line at the movies, he was criticized for not being a good Baptist. These non-Baptists weren't criticizing Baptists for doing something wrong; they were criticizing them for violating their own Baptist standards. These weren't biblical standards; these were Baptist standards. These weren't God's rules; they were man's rules. This is the essence of being indoctrinated by the man-made traditions and Baptist way of life looked like.

Indoctrination is strong. When I went to Dallas to attend a graduate seminary, I encountered all sorts of groups that were doing very good work for God.

Whenever I shared what I was doing, my mother would pose the same question every time. It was, "Is this group Baptist?" Instead of trying to explain it or argue with her, I would say, "It's not strictly Baptist, but it is Baptistic!" I don't know why, but my mother was comforted by my answer.

A few years ago I accompanied a Muslim friend of mine to speak before a group of staff and volunteers at a mega-Church. He shared his story of how he had come to know, love and follow Jesus. He explained how he was a follower of Jesus within his Muslim cultural background. His love for Jesus was presented so passionately that this Baptist group was obviously impressed. Then, one of the pastoral leaders asked this question: "When you share Jesus with others, do you baptize others as Jesus commanded?" My friend was shocked by this question and looked at me. He said, "Did Jesus command us to baptize people?"

I turned around and faced the pastor saying, "You know Jesus never commanded us to baptize anyone. He commanded us to make disciples of all nations. Then he offered three participles with this command-by going, by baptizing and by teaching. Our problem is that we don't make disciples of Jesus very well, so we tend to go, baptize and teach really well, instead." The pastor got the point, but it was a bit uncomfortable in the room. Then, my Muslim friend shared with them that he had been baptized in the Jordan just a few months earlier. When he made it clear that he asked to be baptized and was baptized while on a trip to Jordan, the room nearly broke into applause! At first my friend didn't quite fit into their box-their indoctrinated mold, so there was some hesitancy and tension in the room. But when they discovered this Muslim follower of Jesus had been baptized, he finally fit into their mold as a Baptist.

Indoctrination has little to do with Jesus; it has a lot to do with shaping people to conform to a certain standard of living. This occurs when the well-meaning faithful spend more time cussing and discussing more about the Scriptures than they do seeking the One to Whom the Scriptures refer. Jesus speaks to this when He says, "You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." (John 5:39-40)

When Jesus commanded His followers to make disciples, He was speaking of making disciples or followers of Jesus, Himself. He was referring to making disciples who were just like Jesus in every way possible-to walk, talk, think and love like Jesus. He was not into indoctrinating anyone in order to fit a person into a mold or box. Jesus was all about incarnation. Incarnation is fleshing out Jesus in your life. It's being Jesus to others. Hearing what Jesus says and watching what He does and do the same!

You don't want to be indoctrinated--to be like some man-made system of do's and don'ts. You want to make it your focus to be into incarnation--to be like Jesus Himself.

JESUS REVOLUTIONARIES DON'T CONVERT OTHERS

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

Jesus always stood with the common, disenfranchised, non-religious people in His world. He never castigated the sinners in any way. This brought on all kinds of criticism and anger from the religious community. He embarrassed the super-religious community, challenged them, criticized them and was relentless in pointing them in a different direction and emphasis. 

Jesus made them very uncomfortable. He even warned His disciples that the world will hate them as much as they hated Him. Then Jesus described their actions of hate, which included disagreeing with the followers of Jesus to the point of throwing them out of their religious assemblies. When followers of Jesus genuinely follow Jesus-doing what He says and does, they will also make the super-religious uncomfortable.

Jesus was so upset with the super-religious that He gave an extensive denunciation of them in Matthew 23. Matthew records eight woes or warnings against them. They are not nice or super-sensitive. Jesus was ticked off and He didn't hide His feelings. A couple of the woes are of interest to me, when it comes to the urge to convert others into your religious system or experience.
Jesus says, "For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and then you make that convert twice as much a child of hell as you are."

As I've shared earlier, in the past I have participated in the acts of shutting the door of the Kingdom on a few of my friends and many others. I've also participated in traveling far and wide to win converts-to convert people to my particular religious system or way of thinking about God.

I grew up in a Baptist Church and our goal was to convert everyone into becoming a Christian, not only a Christian but a Baptist Christian, and not only a Baptist Christian but our kind of Baptist Christian. We sent people all over the world to convert people into our faith. We believed that's what God wanted us to do. That was our end game in life-to convert or change the world.

If you think you must change the world, you will create an agenda for every person you approach. If a person is from a different religious persuasion, then your agenda is to talk them out of their religion and into yours. If a person believes in evolution, then your agenda is to argue with him about creation. If a person is doing something you want him to change, then your agenda is to figure out a way to change him. If you think you must change the world, you believe you are "right" and disrespect all others from different backgrounds. If you think you must change the world, then you may not include the only one who can change those in your world of influence-Jesus. If you think you must change the world, then you tend to think you are in charge of the results and actually making the changes happen.

When we observe the life and teachings of Jesus, we see a very different approach. Note this vital interaction between Jesus and His disciples: When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of death will not overcome it." (Matthew 16:13-18) NOTE no one taught Peter that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God, but the Father revealed this to him.

NOTE who it is who supernaturally draws people to Jesus: "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me." (John 6:43-45)

If the Father is the one who reveals to people who Jesus is and actually draws them to Jesus, then it is the Father who is doing any converting work. And, if the Father is the only one who can do the converting of a person's life, then what role do we play in the process? It seems the end game of the Father is to draw to Jesus and reveal Jesus to those who have ears to hear and eyes to see.

As followers of Jesus, what ought our end game be? Two observations come to mind. FIRST-The role of converting people has already been taken by the Father, therefore we are not to be into the conversion business. NOTE the Father has no interest in converting anyone to become a part of any religious system or theological set of beliefs. His end game is converting-transforming their lives-to be related to Jesus. The Father's end game is all about Jesus.

SECOND-Since we can't function in the conversion business, we are to be about introducing Jesus to all who are interested in Him. Followers of Jesus need to focus on advancing the conversation of Jesus in every way we can. We are not to concern ourselves whether someone is a Baptist, Buddhist, Christian, Catholic or Muslim; the end game for all followers of Jesus is to introduce people to Jesus. We are to make this our total and only agenda.

THE CHURCH OF JESUS CANNOT BE STOPPED

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

Although local religious establishments may come and go, the church or movement of Jesus-the gathering of His followers that He builds-will continue and thrive. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, "I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."
The "gates of Hades" means death, specifically the coming death of Jesus will not prevent the church or movement of Jesus from growing and thriving. The church of Jesus is built by Jesus and based on Jesus, the master of the followers who gather in His name. Jesus holds His movement together and will perpetuate it throughout the nations of the world. He is building His church and our responsibility is to be His church-His gathering-His movement.

What's interesting to me here is that the active agent is not the gates of Hades. It's not that the "gates of Hades" is the attacker of the church that Jesus builds. The active agent here is the church of Jesus-the Jesus movement itself-is so active and powerful that not even the gates of Hades-the power of death-can successfully withstand its penetration of light into the darkness.

This kind of power is not political power to legislate morality and righteousness. It's not a mega organization of any kind. Jesus is the only one who can activate this kind of power. He is the one who is able to empower His followers as they gather together in His name-Jesus. Note it's not the power of the membership of followers; it's the power of Jesus living and moving in and through His faithful followers.

The Jesus movement may appear small-just a few gathered together, but it's within the power of the few that the church of Jesus finds its greatest growth. Jesus taught this when He was describing what the Kingdom is to look like.

Matthew records this teaching in the 13th chapter, He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." So, it looks small, yet the Kingdom-the Jesus movement-the church of Jesus-will experience incredible growth. It can't be stopped!

Jesus goes on to say in this same setting, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened." Here Jesus uses the illustration of a woman who puts a little yeast into about 60 pounds of dough and it permeates throughout the entire dough. No matter what you do, you cannot reverse this process. You cannot remove the yeast, once it is introduced into the dough. What He is teaching here is that the Kingdom-the Jesus movement-the church of Jesus-will experience irreversible growth. Again, once the Jesus movement is introduced into a community, it can't be stopped from spreading!

Within that same context of parables Jesus speaks of sowing seed on a variety of soils. The good soil is representative of a heart that has ears to hear and eyes to see. The good soil brings forth massive amounts of fruitfulness-some thirty, some sixty and some one hundred fold! What this says to me is that your focus on Jesus-making Jesus central to every dimension of your life-will naturally produce great fruitfulness in all you do.

Jesus speaks to this progressive increase in fruit when He uses the metaphor of the Vine and the branches. Jesus refers to those who have no fruit, then those who have fruit, then more fruit and much fruit. The whole dynamic of fruitfulness is directly correlated to your focus on your relationship with Jesus-whether you are abiding in Him or not.

All of these images-the mustard seed's incredible growth, the irreversible growth of the leaven, the highly productive nature of seeds planted in good soil and the "much fruit"-have to do with the spreading of the good news message of Jesus and the Kingdom. After Jesus spends His last forty days with His disciples to prove Himself to them and to teach them the principles of the Kingdom, He promises the coming of His Spirit to give them power. This power coincides with the spread of the good news message of Jesus and the Kingdom. He says, "When the Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power to be witnesses of Jesus in Jerusalem (local), Judea (a little further out), Samaria (to the most unlikely people in your world) and to the uttermost parts of the world (around the globe).

I had a fascinating meeting today with a brother, Vip Patel. Vip has a vision for introducing people to Jesus throughout the world-especially to the non-religious, atheistic parts of the world. He calls this action "making Jesus central to your life." Making Jesus central to your life has a natural built-in viral dynamic within it. If you are making Jesus central in your life, you will naturally want everyone, everywhere to know Jesus, too. This Jesus is just too incredible not to want to share it with the whole world! It's like the early disciples who said, "We can't stop talking about what we have seen and heard." We can quibble over the many differences within the religious groups of our world, but there is a huge number of people who have no thought of who Jesus is and have never even heard His name. Vip's passion in life is to introduce everyone, everywhere to Jesus and he is doing just that through his website: www.jesuscentral.com.

There's no stopping the spread of the church or movement of Jesus. The Kingdom of God is on the move everywhere. So, whether you are attending a local religious establishment or not, always look for the Jesus movement in your community. You can be sure He is there and active in people's lives. So, pray that you will be aware of Jesus sightings around you, then do everything you can do to encourage the movement and embrace it for yourself. See what Jesus is doing and get there as soon as possible!

THE CHURCH OF JESUS IS LIVING OUT THE KINGDOM

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

As I mentioned yesterday Jesus only mentions the term "church" on two occasions. The "church" was not even close to the primary theme of Jesus' teachings. Jesus had a much bigger idea. What Jesus emphasized more than anything else was the Kingdom.
The parables Jesus taught were about the Kingdom. Frequently, Jesus referred to what it takes to "enter" the Kingdom and He takes pains to point out those who will not "enter". Jesus believed it was necessary to hang out with His disciples after His resurrection for 40 days to prove Himself as the resurrected one and He taught them during this time thoroughly about one thing-the Kingdom. This is recorded in the first chapter of Acts. Then, in the last chapter of Acts Paul spends two years teaching and conversing about two things with those who came to visit him in Rome-Jesus and the Kingdom.

The Kingdom is the rule of God on planet earth both personally and in community. The church is a simple gathering together of Kingdom kids. Remember, the term "church" is not a special or holy word as many believe and teach. It literally means "called out ones" and was used to describe city council meetings or any kind of assembly where people are called out to meet for a purpose. It simply is a gathering of followers of Jesus. This church or gathering or assembly can exist within any religious culture. I know of a gathering of Jesus followers who meet in a Mosque to pray and study the teachings and principles of Jesus. What makes the gathering significant is the purpose for gathering, assembling or churching.

The simple gathering of followers of Jesus on any day and at any location is a church. These gatherings revolve around four ingredients-fellowship, food, prayer and the apostles' teachings. The only one of these ingredients that might throw you a bit might be the apostles' teachings. We see this as what had been passed on through the early disciples about Jesus and the Kingdom. They're His teachings.

So, since the kingdom is the rule and presence of God on planet earth, you could also think of it as wherever the King is, there is the Kingdom. The King and the Kingdom are inseparable. Therefore a good way to view the Kingdom is Christ-likeness universalized. Or, I like to say the Kingdom is Jesus actualized! The Kingdom is living out the principles and teachings of Jesus together.

The Kingdom is universal and everywhere. The church is a local gathering of followers of Jesus who are seeking, sharing in and spreading the good news of Jesus and the Kingdom. The Kingdom is everywhere and unlimited in its impact on society. The Kingdom is not waiting for a local gathering to be established in order to have its effect. The Kingdom is already there in every country and in every culture.

Now, take the same three characteristics of the preeminent Jesus we discussed and apply them to the Kingdom today-where the King is: FIRST-The example of character. The Kingdom is the only moral authority with any kind of power to change society. The facts are that the big C Church, Mosque, Temple or Synagogue are not capable of it. The organized Church, Mosque, Temple or Synagogue change from time to time. Sometimes it is effective in the community and sometimes it's not. Leaders are morally good and leaders become morally flawed. So, at any given time, these local religious gathering places will not be able to deliver a moral authority to the community. The Kingdom is constant. It's power and effectiveness depend upon its leader-Jesus. Therefore living in the Kingdom and inviting others to share in it is the only solution to transforming a broken culture.

SECOND-Jesus' teachings lead to fulfillment and meaning. Jesus is the ultimate standard and the Kingdom is the lifestyle of living this out in society. The lifestyle of Kingdom living is where ultimate fulfillment and meaning reside. They are the laws of the universe. You cannot break the laws of the Kingdom, but they can break you. For instance, one of the laws of the Kingdom is to forgive those who have hurt you. If you refuse to live out this Kingdom principle, you will pay dearly for it. You will be bound by your lack of forgiveness. You will be eaten up with this unforgiving heart. By breaking the principle, you are broken. When living within the Kingdom, you are safe and free and most fulfilled.

THIRD-The presence of God. Where better to discover a personal relationship with the God of gods than where He lives in His Kingdom. Most people only go to local religious establishments for special holy days in their religious calendar. It's been said that most go for baptisms, marriages, and funerals-only to be hatched, matched and dispatched. As followers of Jesus, we are to practice the presence of the Kingdom, the church (a gathering of followers), going to the people in our world rather than always inviting the world to come to us. With this kind of practice our culture will be changed.

Here's how it works. FOLLOW THE KING AND YOU'LL DISCOVER THE KINGDOM; EMBRACE THE KINGDOM LIFESTYLE AND YOU'LL DISCOVER THE KING AS YOU GATHER TOGETHER IN THE NAME OF JESUS. The church of Jesus-the Jesus movement-is living out the Kingdom principles in society wherever you are.

THE CHURCH OF JESUS IS BASED UPON JESUS PLUS NOTHING

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

Since Jesus has been so universally and narrowly identified with Western Christianity, I have found it vital to lift up Jesus out of the Christian box. When Jesus is lifted up out of this box, then all of the religious and non-religious people of the world are welcome to Him. In our experience, when Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Christians and agnostics are able to reframe Jesus high and lifted up above all others and without any religious baggage attached, there is a freedom to genuinely check Him out and follow Him.
Separating Jesus from being owned by any particular religious system seems to be the most important truth that I share. I get more positive responses to this than anything else. Since Jesus was born into the Jewish culture, it might be possible for the Jews to claim Him for themselves, and some do. Since Jesus is the only prophet Mohammad raised up as supernatural, the only one referred to as the "word of God" seven times, the only one born of a virgin, the only one identified as the "clear sign of God" and the only one who is still alive and coming back to earth again, Muslims might be tempted to say that they own Jesus for themselves, and some do. Since the most prominent Hindu leader, Gandhi, held up Jesus as the most holy and complete man who ever lived, Hindus might tend to claim the ways of Jesus as their own, and some do. Since the leader of the Buddhist world, the Dalai Lama, holds up Jesus higher than himself and reveres Jesus in his teachings and writings, Buddhists might claim to be following the ways of Jesus, and some do. Since Jesus has been so closely identified to Christians, it is so easy for Christians to believe that they own Him for themselves, and some do.

But here's the truth. No religious system or culture owns Jesus exclusively. None. The name of Jesus is above all names. And, if Jesus is lifted up, He will draw all men to Him.

What's most encouraging to me is when I meet with a Christian pastor, a Muslim Imam or Sheik, a Buddhist or Hindu monk or nun, or a Jewish Rabbi, their response to my personal story of the spiritual journey I've been on is most often very positive. It's the same with all of them. The simplicity of Jesus is so irresistible and refreshing, IF Jesus only belongs to the God of gods.

Growing up in a very strict religious community with all of its legalistic lists to follow in order to keep God happy, to make certain of heaven and to avoid going to hell, I always felt the heaviness of the religious system. It didn't make sense in so many ways that God would be harsh and demanding to those of us who were brought up on "Jesus loves me". I always felt there must be something more to a relationship with God. Then, in graduate school I came to understand the freedom we all have been given in Jesus. This freedom blew my mind. I was free!

It was through this understanding that I entered into one of the great struggles of my life. Still trying to shed the feelings of guilt from my legalistic past and trying to understand who I was in this new-found relationship with God, I discovered that God made me and wanted me to be exactly who I am with all my weirdness. I felt so "out of place" in the ministry as I compared myself with others-so out of step with the norm. And on a very late-night walk in the snow in Washington DC I had an emotional conversation with God and found the freedom I needed just to be uniquely who God made me. From that day forward I have been on a journey to relate to God "personally" and uniquely.

Several years ago Jesus apprehended my heart in a fresh way and poised me toward taking this same "Jesus plus nothing" message into the 7 major cultures of the world. The more I pondered how to relate Jesus to the cultures of the world, the clearer picture I was given of Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life-so much more so than I ever thought! Jesus is preeminent.

The attraction of Jesus is His simplicity-Jesus plus nothing. Jesus, simply Jesus, is the foundation of the church or gathering He intended to launch. We tend to complicate Jesus too much. We throw up all sorts of obstacles for people. The better approach is to advance the conversation of Jesus so that people can get to know who this Jesus really is. He's not the scary, weird, otherworldly man you often see in movies. Jesus is for real. People have to get to know Him.

There are three things about Jesus that make Him compelling to anyone who is leaning in with interest: FIRST-Jesus' character is impeccable by all standards. Many people will be attracted to Jesus in this way. Years ago I argued the famous C. S. Lewis chart and reasoning that Jesus was a liar, a lunatic or the Lord. I gave no one room to begin to follow Jesus as a good example. But today I realize this is wrong thinking. His character is a wonderful attraction to people in this world and many times it is the first step in showing a person's interest in following Jesus.

SECOND-Follow the principles of Jesus and you will find meaning and fulfillment. The fundamental principles of life rest with Jesus in the presence of the Kingdom. Most every self-help book or seminar is chocked full of these principles without giving Jesus the credit. Even the highly praised book, The Secret, is straight out of Jesus' game plan for living your life on purpose. In this particular case, the principle is stated and then you're told to focus on and pray to the "universe". This is just another well-intentioned highjacking of Jesus' Kingdom principles. Instead of praying to an impersonal "universe", why not keep the principle in its proper context and pray to the person of Jesus?

THIRD-Continue to follow Jesus and you will find God. The primary example of this is found with the early disciples. It took them several years of following Jesus before they believed He was the Son of God. By the way, this means that there are lots of people out there who are leaning in on following Jesus and His Kingdom principles, but haven't yet come to the conclusion that He is the Son of God. Give them room to follow. In fact, affirm them in their spiritual journey and don't be in a hurry to close the deal with them.

To add anything to Jesus is to complicate Him to the point where He can't be known. Jesus plus anything is actually the spirit of anti-Christ. Anti is literally "instead of", so when you add something to Jesus, it becomes the "instead of" Jesus and diminishes who Jesus really is. The church of Jesus is the movement that revolves around Jesus plus nothing. That's zero, zip, absolutely nothing that can possibly dilute the irresistible Jesus.