Missional Leadership

God is beginning to raise up some of you as "Missional Leaders" in our congregation. I am encouraged to see how God is doing a work in some of you as you begin to comprehend what being the church is all about. One person who we all know and love, Lisa Harris, aka "The Cheerleader" is one of those that God has been working on. Lisa sent me an e-mail about how God had been revealing some great things to her through his Word about how to "become all things to all men." I enjoyed her thoughts so much that I asked her permission to post her thoughts. Here they are...(I put them in pink text in honor of her multi colored e-mails!:))

I have been meditating on the "BECOMING ALL THINGS TO ALL MEN" post and also on Acts 2over the past week. In putting them together-a passage in Acts 2(4-21) struck me so boldly that I wanted to share it. I think it relates to the idea of "changing" who we are in order to connect with those who simply...don't understand our burden for them. Here's the passage (some verses were left out without changing the context):

“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. When [the God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven (verse 5)] heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in their own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our own language? We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues! Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean? Then Peter stood with the eleven and addressed the crowd: ‘Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
”Acts 2:4,6,7,11b,12, 14,16,17, 21

Here's what the Lord allowed me to see:
God has filled all believers with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit living in us is the same Spirit living in Peter and the others in this passage, that Spirit will enable us to become something "other" than what we are comfortable being. The "other tongues" represent our need and ability to "change" in order to become "all things to all men". Those we try to approach with the gospel, by changing our method (but not our message) might become curious when they see us in their "environment"...especially if they know we are Christians, in the same way the Jews knew those men were all Galileans.

Since most non-believers have this "RELIGIOUS" idea of Christians and Christianity, instead of the "RELATIONSHIP" we Christ Followers want to promote, it may open a door for them to accept a dialogue with us. If they can "HEAR" us in their own language at their level and not as some "stuffed-up-holier-than-thou-Bible-thumpin'-judge-of-the-sinner",(as their preconceived notions about us tend to be)they may let down their guard against "us"!! When that door IS open it will be because of the genuine love of Christ we showed to them. Then we will be able to declare the wonders of God by our testimonies - that could in fact be more in line with their current "language" or life situation than they could have ever imagined, aligning us with them in a personal, and more than likely, unexpected way. Then they can ask us..."What does this mean?" There it is, an open invitation to share the TRUTH of the gospel. "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Acts 2:21

I hope I explained that the way the Lord revealed it to me....and didn’t make it too complicated?

Acts 2 in further verses goes on to say that we are all witnesses of the risen Christ (32). We must get the word out that Christ died for the sins of the world and the world is who nailed him to the cross (23 & 36). The passage says that when the people heard this they were "cut to the heart" (37)...That brokenness is what leads to genuine conversion and the realization of their need for a Savior.

I want to encourage Wakefield, as a member of this body, that OUR hearts should be BROKEN over the lost...here, there and everywhere. Can we be pliable enough to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us in a way most appropriate to "impact the lostness" we live among daily? I'm up for the challenge!!

Lisa Harris

Thanks Lisa!

If anyone elsa has any thoughts they would like to post let me know. Have a wonderful day.