As a pastor it is not typical for me to write about a beer company, but I’m an observer of culture, and honestly, it would be hard to deny the impact the beverage has had on the culture I watch. (Beer has had an impact if for no other reason than providing cool Super Bowl commercials.) An example of a cultural phenomenon I see occurring now is found in the selling of Anheuser-Busch to the Belgian company InBev. (Has anyone even heard of InBev before a few months ago?)

In addition to being a pastor, I live in the South. People around here take their beer very seriously. That’s why I knew months ago when I read rumors of this sale that tempers would flare. The Internet has been full of stories over the last few days of how distasteful a foreign own Bud really is in the minds of consumers. (http://tinyurl.com/5qjatp) It will be interesting to see how loyal beer drinkers remain after the sale is final. Still, in spite of the protests, apparently the sell will go through. (I wonder if the Clydesdales will remain in America.)

Why does this matter? I think it matters because it is one more example of how small the world has become. We truly are a global economy. Our world has shrunk more the larger it has become. One thing is certain, it is more difficult than ever for a company to remain totally an American company. To really grow a company must think internationally. Don’t be surprised if next year it is Wal Mart, Ford or Starbucks on the international auction block.  Trust me; if it can happen to the “King of Beers” it can happen to anyone.

There’s a coffee shop in Nashville (pastors can surely write about coffee) that has a sign over the men’s urinal (okay, so I crossed another line talking about urinals) that says “Think Globally, Drink Locally”. That phrase has actually become a cultural buzzword for the mindset of many people today. I can’t find a definitive answer of where the phrase came from or even what it means, but basically it appears to mean that we live here, we shop here, we enjoy life here (wherever here is), but we have access to an incredible world at our fingertips with the touch of a mouse or keyboard or through the products that we can easily buy and we should, therefore, always keep the greater world in mind.

As a church we have a similar mission. We are local, but we have been called to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. We worship together, we minister to each other, and we share each other’s burdens. It would be easy for us to get comfortable in our own little world and forget about the world. Discovering how we take advantage of this smaller world culture may be one of the greatest challenges today in the local church, but somehow I think this culture change may work in our favor if we allow it to and give us greater opportunities to grow the Kingdom of God.

(Just to avoid the negative comments or emails because I wrote about beer, let me be clear now that I’m not promoting the sale, purchase or consumption of beer. It’s just an illustration. I hate that I have to put disclaimers on posts like this, but I’ve been there…done that. Don’t have a t-shirt though…FYI size medium.)

Obviously, God builds the church, but He uses people to build it. What kind of people does God use to build a great church? As a pastor, I have noticed some trends among church people who help move the church forward. The following is a list of characteristics of those type of people. Not everyone will have every quality, but it’s the combination of each of them in people that builds a great church.

Great church people:

1. Support the pastor and the church.

1 Corinthians 16:10‑11 When Timothy comes, treat him with respect. He is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am. Don’t let anyone despise him.

A pastor is always looking for someone he can feel is his friend. Great church people are that friend.

2. Are encouragers in the church.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

Great church people are a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. They look for ways to help, invite their friends and neighbors, and help without having their arms twisted.

3. Don’t think everything is about them!

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.”

Did you know everything may not go your way? Great church people are willing to allow the best to be done for the church even when it goes against their own desires.

4. Think outside the walls of the church. They think external not internal.

Acts 1:8 But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me every where‑‑in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 

If we are not careful, our churches could be hard to tell apart from a Country Club. Great church people think of those not yet in a church!

5. Maintain a friendly church.

2 John 6 Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

Great church people make sure visitors never stand around long with no one to talk to. They are welcoming and friendly to everyone.

6. Believe and love God’s Word.

Joshua 1:8 Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed.

Great church people let the Bible guide them.

7. Grow in prayer.

Ephesians 6:18 Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.

Great church people pray more than worry.

8. Build on faith.

Hebrews 10:38 And a righteous person will live by faith.

Great church people are willing to walk by faith as God leads, even through the most challenging times.

9. Put God’s will first.

Mark 3:35 “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Great church people put God’s will ahead of every other agenda.

10. Enjoy meeting with God regularly.

Amos 4:12 says, “Prepare to meet your God,”

Great church people look expectantly for opportunities to worship God and experience Him with other believers.

I’m so thankful to be in a church with so many who make this list easy to write.

What would you add to this list?

My mind started racing Sunday afternoon. I tried to take a nap, but I couldn’t get these thoughts out of my head.  I woke up with the same thoughts again this morning.  I’m trying to figure out how best to reach people in today’s culture.  These thoughts began with a game my family plays each Sunday after church.  Perhaps your family plays the game. It’s called “Name The Missing” and the object of the game is to list as many people as you can who you didn’t see at church that day.  I hate the game personally, but I seem to fall into it and actually win quite often.  If you can name the person and where they were you get extra points.  The most common response lately has revolved around dance competitions or sporting events.  I’m wondering now if there is a better game we should be playing. 

We are living in a culture where Sunday morning is not necessarily reserved for church. It used to be and we could wish it still were, but it’s not.  For years I have tried to figure out how to stop this cultural shift, but I’m beginning to wonder if that is the correct response.   I wonder if we should be considering how we interact with the present culture.  How do we reach people who no longer have the mindset that to find God they must free up their Sunday morning? 

Jesus said, in Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”  Does that command include the dance competitions and the baseball diamond, even if those places are occupied on Sunday morning?  What about the restaurant I passed on the way to church this morning?  Does the absence of a person from my organized time of service mean they have no interest in God or no desire for Him in their life? I’m not sure it does.  I’m wondering if we as the “church” need to rethink our strategy to include those absentees in our outreach. 

I’m not suggesting Tuesday night visitation.  I don’t want unannounced visitors at my house and I’m a paid professional.  I am, however, talking about finding ways to reach people within the schedule the culture is setting for them.  That could mean alternative scheduling of our services or it could mean alternative type of “services”.  I think it definitely means taking the message of God’s love and grace, which is only available through the person of Jesus Christ, (I added the Jesus qualifier just so someone doesn’t think I’m talking about a new “religion”) to them in a ways that intersect with where and how they have currently chosen to live their life, even if that is just through personal relationships.   I guess I’m also wondering if thinking through ways to accomplish this should be occupying my thoughts as much or close to as much as thoughts about how to improve Sunday mornings at my church. 

I don’t have all the answers. I’m just thinking.  I welcome your ideas. 

Have you ever read something and wish you hadn’t?  That just happened to me.  While researching for message prep I stumbled on this blog post.  It’s not “new” information, just compiled in a way I haven’t seen; all in one neat, tidy, sobering place.  What to make of it?  Not sure yet.  I’m still processing it all. 

Check out what stirred my thoughts this morning at: http://faithwalk.wordpress.com/startling-statistics/

Today at Starbucks I encountered someone having a very bad day.  As I sat outside with my friend Rog for our every Thursday morning meeting, listening to the birds chirp as we talked about life, the struggles of ministry and God; there was a very angry and disappointed person working around us.  Apparently someone failed to put a trash liner in the trash can.  People had been throwing coffee cups, most of them with some remaining coffee in them, into this unlined container.  She had to clean up someone else’s mess.  It was obvious to us that she was having a very stressful day. 

My first thought was to criticize her.  How dare she ruin our time of leisure; our time we have reserved to talk about ”God things”!  Why get so upset about spilled coffee?  We were sharing stories of ministry; important stuff!  If she wanted to see stress; I could show her stress. 

Then something seemed to whisper in my ear.  This lady was having a stressful day.  From her perspective, with what she had planned to do today, this was an interuption.  It was unnecessary and stress-producing.  From her perspective this was huge.  I decided rather than think bad thoughts of her that I would pray for God to comfort her and turn her day for good. 

As I pulled away from Starbucks this morning that whisper appeared again.  Maybe my staff feels that way at times. Perhaps the volunteers sometimes get stressed with their responsibilities.  I may look at them and think, “What’s the big deal?”  To me it may seem like trivial stress, but to them it may be major stress.  It’s all a matter of perspective.

Maybe I need to take a lesson in leadership from Jesus.  He could recognize the seemingly little stress times; like running out of wine at a wedding ceremony; and the big stress times, like when a dear friend was facing execution.  He even handled his own stress with confidence; like when an entire ministry held in the balance of His very next move.  Regardless of the size of the stress moment Jesus brought comfort not chaos and handled the situation with a calm assurance; understanding that stress in all of our lives is always a matter of perspective. 

I’ve had the privilege of speaking with numerous young people and couples who are possibly experiencing a call to full-time, vocational missions and ministry. Talking with people at this stage of life is one of my favorite things to do. It fuels me in ministry to help others process their call. Having wrestled through these with two teenage sons experiencing what they believe is the “call” makes this something very personal to me.  Obviously I have personal experience in this area of wrestling.

The counsel I gave my boys came to me rather suddenly one day. I’m not pretending it was inspired, but it certainly is a product of my experiences and time spent with God struggling through this issue for myself. I’ve used this teaching many times since then.

Basically I like to help people understand that the “call”, in my understanding, is not a call to a group of people or a geographic location as much as it is to a person; the person of Jesus Christ. That’s important, because a lot of times people begin to sense a calling after a mission trip to a certain area and feel as if that is the place they must go to serve God. That may be the place, but it could be that God just wants their availability and the place may be elsewhere. With that as a basis, it makes the decision of where to serve Him much easier to make. I’m not saying He doesn’t send people to specific places or groups of people, but I do believe He reserves the right to change that at any time, because ultimately a person is called into a relationship with God.

Then I share these principles, which help a person think through this calling. (Similar to my blog yesterday, these all begin with the same letter “I”.) The person who is sensing a call can usually immediately begin to discern that this IS the call based on the way they respond to these four words.

The call of God on a person’s life is:

Irresistible:

You can’t refuse this kind of call and still live at peace. Something will always eat at you until you surrender to this type of call.

Irreplaceable:

Nothing else will satisfy a person like this call, because it is God’s greatest desire for a person’s life on whom He places the “call”.

Irrevocable:

God doesn’t take this call away from a person once He has placed it on their life.

Immediate:

The call of God on a person’s life begins at the moment of the call. Often people want to get the right degree or start drawing a paycheck before they live out the call God has placed on their life. I don’t believe that’s the call. The call is to “Go” and the time is NOW.  That doesn’t mean the person shouldn’t gain education, experience, or even a paycheck, but if a person has received a call from God on their life the time to get started doing something towards that call is now!

For a Biblical example of this, read Jonah’s story again.

Have you wrestled or are you wrestling through a vocational call to ministry?

What was your experience?

What is God up to these days? I am constantly encountering young people who want to do something of meaning; something that adds value to society and to their life. They want their life to have purpose. It’s more than just missions, although obviously that’s where I point them; towards something with an evangelical purpose. Youth today, though, just want to help. They aren’t satisfied seeing a need and letting someone else address it. They wouldn’t be content just throwing money at the problems. They want to get their hands dirty doing something of importance in the world.

Does anyone see this? How does the church connect this trend to the needs of Kingdom building?

If you have thoughts, let me know.