I’ve wanted a Jeep Wrangler my entire life. In 2017, the stars seemed to align when I found the perfect Jeep and also stumbled across an argument that convinced my wife the time was right. I dreamed and I schemed and I justified the purchase to her (and myself). The deal wouldn’t last long, so I found myself rushing to pick up my kids and get to the dealership.
I was halfway across town when I began to get cold feet. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea? Maybe I had worked too hard to justify things? What if we couldn’t afford the new Jeep?
I began praying, “God, if I shouldn’t buy this Jeep, please make it obvious.” At that exact moment, I heard a muffled thump from the engine and the car died completely. Using the full extent of my mechanical knowledge, I turned the key, cranked the engine, stomped harder on the gas, and sure enough . . . the engine fired again. I again took off for the dealership, now convinced that it was absolutely imperative I trade away this old Toyota.
Just a mile down the road, I heard another, much louder thump as smoke began pouring into the cab of the car. I’m not going to say God sent fire from heaven, but it sure felt like my prayer had been answered!
I stood in the ditch with my kids, watching as our car burned, wondering what to do. I was feeling the full effect of fatal indecision. Do I call 911? Do I call the fire department? Do I call my insurance?
“God, if I shouldn’t buy this Jeep, please make it obvious.”
Right then, a black Ford F150 pulled up. As the window slowly rolled down, I looked in to see a man in a cowboy hat leaning toward me. “What seems to be the problem?” he asked.
“Well, it appears my car is on fire.”
He took his time before offering a thought-out question, “Did you call 911?”
I stuttered and stammered, “I thought about calling 911 but I wasn’t sure . . . do you call 911 for a car on fire? I didn’t have a wreck, and no one is hurt so I just don’t know. . . .”
He cut me off with a swift shush and spoke with a slow drawl, “Son. If your car’s on fire, you call 911.” With that, he rolled up his window and drove out of my life.
I took his advice, called 911, and no, I didn’t buy a Jeep that day.
Do you ever find yourself frozen in indecision? Maybe a little overwhelmed with options? Possibly suffering from information overload?
After all, as a church leader, there are so many choices to make. Which Bible study do you begin? Printed curriculum, videos on DVD, bestselling books with study guides, RightNow Media? How do you choose a Bible translation? NIV, KJV, ESV, NASB, NLT? What about an evangelistic method? The Romans Road, the Four Spiritual Laws, the Three Circles, the Five Finger Method?
“After all, as a church leader, there are so many choices to make.”
It seems as though every aspect of Christianity is loaded with options and decisions to make. And when presented with an overwhelming smorgasbord of options, we easily find ourselves standing in the proverbial ditch, watching our church slowly burn while feeling powerless to make even the simplest of decisions.
In those moments, we desperately need a friendly voice to pull up and deliver a timely instruction. I’m not a cowboy in a black Ford, but I am a guy who has learned some hard lessons. And through those lessons, I have discovered the power in these three simple steps.
Pray.
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” (Colossians 4:2-4, NIV)
Prayer movements always precede Kingdom movements. In fact, I would argue there has never been a successful Kingdom movement that didn’t begin with a deep investment in prayer. Peter prayed. Paul prayed. The church as a whole prayed. And, of course, Jesus prayed.
If you want your church to experience an authentic move of the Holy Spirit ushering in the Kingdom in your community, you must schedule time for your people to pray. At my church, we were recently convicted of this principle so we’ve begun scheduling regular times to pray, not just individually but also collectively. If you don’t intentionally schedule times for prayer, you’ll probably never begin to pray.
“If you want your church to experience an authentic move of the Holy Spirit ushering in the Kingdom in your community, you must schedule time for your people to pray.”
Preach.
“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:1-2, NIV)
Random acts of kindness are kind, but they are rarely transformative. I frequently hear St. Francis of Assisi quoted: “Preach the Gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.” That’s a memorable line! However, Francis never actually said it, and all too often, Christians use it as an excuse to avoid speaking the gospel to others. In my book, that would make the mis-quote both inaccurate and counter-productive.
If you want your church to experience an authentic move of the Holy Spirit ushering in the Kingdom in your community, you must teach your people to preach. They don’t have to be on a stage to preach. They don’t have to work at a church to preach. They certainly don’t need a megaphone on a street corner.
Simply, if someone is a follower of Jesus, and they know a person who doesn’t follow Jesus, they should tell them about Jesus. The Bible calls that preaching! If you don’t intentionally teach your people to preach the gospel, they will rely on you to be your community’s sole mouthpiece for the Word of God, and your voice isn’t nearly loud enough for that task.
“If you don’t intentionally teach your people to preach the gospel, they will rely on you to be your community’s sole mouthpiece for the Word of God, and your voice isn’t nearly loud enough for that task.”
Persist.
“You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” (1 Thessalonians 1:5b-7, NIV)
“We lived among you” implies that Paul did more than just “stop by.” He’s not referring to passing relationships. These are people Paul had invested in. He had lived among them. He knew their children and grandchildren. This is the type of relationship that bears lasting Kingdom fruit.
If you want your church to experience an authentic move of the Holy Spirit ushering in the Kingdom in your community, you must call on your people to persist. Fruit doesn’t grow overnight, and results don’t often show up after a 5-minute passing conversation. As followers of Jesus, we are called to root ourselves in our community, to work for the better of our community, and to be known by our community. If you don’t intentionally commit to your community, you’ll never convince them to commit to God’s Kingdom.
