In the early 2000’s there was a fictional TV show Lost. It started out about a rag tag group of survivors on a mysterious island who had to learn to get along in order to survive. There was a doctor by the name of Jack Shepherd who uttered the famous line, “Either we will learn to live together or we will die alone.”
In preparing for today’s blog, I found out that a once well-known Christian musician known as Carman, died in Las Vegas on February 16th due to complications from hernia surgery.
He came into his own not long after I had rededicated my own life back in 1984. So his music had strong influence in keeping me walking the walk in the midst of a very secular college that seemed like was out to derail my faith. I found some of his songs very inspirational and then there were others that I was not so sure of regarding their theology. But that was ok, I am sure there are many readers to my own blog that find they love certain blogs but then there are blogs that may leave you scratching your head wondering “Where did he get that from?”
One of those songs that I have issues with is his song 1955. Not because it is a bad song, but it does reflect a huge disconnect between the perception of ministry and what makes a ministry successful.
- Once all this had ended up to the microphone
Stepped the man of God himself, strong, alone and prone
With a furnace in his eyes and no time left to play
This human locomotive right there began to say
If any of you are regular readers to my blog then you may have already picked up on the issue, Stepped the man of God himself, strong, alone and prone. More evangelists have fallen over the years due to their attempts to go at it alone. The unspoken theology is that I do not need others to be who God wants me to be.
Thinking that building a team is not necessary for ministry is quite frankly, delusional. Jesus himself built a team of disciples / apostles to assist him with fulfilling his call as Messiah. If the Son of God needed others by his side to fulfill his call how much do we need others!!! Then when Jesus sent them out he did so at the very least in groups of twos.
- Luke 10:1 NASB – 1 Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.
And then he did not have them sequestered by themselves but had them stay in the homes of people they were reaching.
- Luke 10:7 NASB – 7 “Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house.
I realize there was not Motel 6 back then and so staying in someone’s home was not unusual. But notice he did not want them to keep moving around. He wanted their lives to be open to the scrutiny of others. Transparency to others was essential for success. Paul had Barnabas, John-Mark, and Luke when he set out on his ministry journeys. Yes, they did butt heads from time to time, but that never stopped Paul from taking others with him to succeed.
Remember, the evidence of your love for Jesus is our love for one another.
- John 13:35 NASB – 35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
If you are by yourself, how will others see your love in operation?
- 2 Corinthians 3:2 NASB – 2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men;
People are watching. The best witness is not just words, but actions to go along with those words. If we do not learn to minister together, then our ministries will die alone and lost, and those we attempt to reach will also remain lost.
As always, love much my friends . . .
Unspoken Theology 