communion meditation: let us fix our eyes on jesus
TRANSCRIPT
Leaven Leaven
Volume 6 Issue 4 The Small Church Article 13
1-1-1998
Communion Meditation: Let us Fix Our Eyes on Jesus Communion Meditation: Let us Fix Our Eyes on Jesus
Phil Phillips [email protected]
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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Phillips, Phil (1998) "Communion Meditation: Let us Fix Our Eyes on Jesus," Leaven: Vol. 6 : Iss. 4 , Article 13. Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol6/iss4/13
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196 Leaven, Fall, 1998
Communion~-:z:e7tiS . editationII tJur t?fes tJn(lesus
Remarks before the BreadHe withdrew about a stone'sthrow beyond them, knelt downand prayed, "Father, if you arewilling, take this cup from me;yet not my will, but yours bedone." An angel from heavenappeared to him and strength-ened him. And being in anguish,he prayed more earnestly, and hissweat was like drops of bloodfalling to the ground. (Luke22:41-44)1
Who, being in very natureGod, did not consider equalitywith God something to begrasped, but made himselfnothing, taking the very nature ofa servant, being made in humanlikeness. And being found inappearance as a man, he humbledhimself and became obedient todeath=-even death on a cross!Therefore God exalted him to thehighest place and gave him thename that is above every name,that at the name of Jesus everyknee should bow, in heaven andon earth and under the earth, andevery tongue confess that JesusChrist is Lord, to the glory ofGod the Father. (Phil 2:6-11)
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus,the author and perfecter of ourfaith, who for the joy set before
him endured the cross, scorningits shame, and sat down at theright hand of the throne of God.(Heb 12:2)
Prayer before the BreadLord, we are sinners,Sinners deserving nothing less thanthe sentence of death,Yet you have cleansed us as white assnow.Through your sacrifice, through yourdeath, we live.Thank you for saving us.How precious a gift you are;How sweet is your name.We proclaim your death and resur-rection until you return;We claim your death as our life.You are our ransom.
Remarks before the WineTherefore, I urge you, brothers,in view of God's mercy, to offeryour bodies as living sacrifices,holy and pleasing to God-this isyour spiritual act of worship. Donot conform any longer to thepattern of this world, but betransformed by the renewing ofyour mind. Then you will be ableto test and approve what God'swill is-his good, pleasing andperfect will. (Rom 12:1-2)
By Phil Phillips
As we prepare to take of the fruitof the vine, let us consider Christ'sact of surrender. In the garden, afterremoving himself from his disciples,Jesus' human emotions and instinctsclashed with his need to follow hisfather's will: " ... if you are willing,take this cup from me; yet not mywill, but yours be done" (Luke22:42).
I believe one of the primaryreasons that we insist upon worryingdespite Christ's strong and cleardirectives against it is the way webond ourselves to our individualwills. We can trust God to satisfy ourbasic needs for food, shelter, andclothing. We can trust God to provideus peace in our souls. But can wetrust God to make us as comfortablein the world as we want to be? Canwe trust him to give us the life ofluxury that we desire? The answer isno. God does not promise us earthlyluxury. To the contrary, the NewTestament would lead us to believethat Christians should expect trialsand heartache in the world. God hasa will for each of us, but for few of uswould he have a life of luxury. So weworry about how we can achievematerial comfort despite the fact thatsuch comfort is not necessarily God's
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will for us. We do so instead ofsubstituting his will for our own.
Consider the effort and resourceswe use to ensure earthly comfort forourselves-all that we do to orches-trate a career path that will earn usmore and more money. Think of theamount of time each day we devoteto getting our way. Now, considermaking the same effort, expendingthe same amount of resources, toensure that we continually surrenderourselves to God. Are we willing tosacrifice our comfort, our lives, evenas Christ did? Blaise Pascal prayed:
I ask you neither for health norfor sickness, for life nor fordeath; but that you may disposeof my health and my sickness,my life and my death, for yourglory .... You alone know whatis expedient for me; you are thesovereign master; do with meaccording to your will. Give tome, or take away from me, onlyconform my will to yours. Iknow but one thing, Lord, that itis good to follow you, and bad tooffend you. Apart from that, Iknow not what is good or bad inanything. I know not which ismost profitable to me, health orsickness, wealth or poverty, nor
anything else in the world. Thatdiscernment is beyond the powerof men or angels, and is hiddenamong the secrets of yourProvidence, which I adore, butdo not seek to fathom.'
Prayer before the WineAs we participate in your powerful
and cleansing blood,May we be willing to shed our own
blood.Perhaps the blood we need to shed
is our desire for newer cars,better houses, more money.
Perhaps the blood we need to shedis our longing for control andpower.
But we are weak and can do nothingapart from you.
So we ask for your strength, yourpurging;
We ask for your sanctifying work.May our lives be lived as sacrifices to
you.Show us where we need to surrender;Show us where we are grasping to
this world.And change us.
Prayer before the CollectionDespite our sinful attachment to the
things of this world,
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you have blessed us in ways thatare unfathomable.
Virtually every one of us here enjoysgreat wealth:
We enjoy loving relationships;We enjoy our precious children.Once in a while, we stand back and
understand in a real waythat all of these things that weenjoy come from you.
But we forget as quickly as werealize it.
Help us to continually rememberyour gifts.
May we share the abundance youhave provided us;
May we let go of it as though it werenot our own,
For indeed it is not.
Pnn, E. PHILLIPS is a member of theMalibu Church of Christ, Malibu,California. This meditation wasoffered on February 15, 1998.
NotesIAll Scripture quotations are from the
New International Version (NIV).2William James, The Varieties of Re-
ligious Experience (New York: The Mod-em Library, 1936), 281, quoted in PhilipYancey, Where Is God When It Hurts?(New York: HarperCollins, Harper Paper-backs, 1996), 108-9.
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The good news is that,despite some very real
obstacles, small churchescan develop an evangelistic
mindset.
read some resources and visited with other ministers ofevangelistic small churches, and I found that I was notalone. There are other church leaders who do not see them-selves as very gifted in evangelism. The difference be-tween them and me is our approach.
At one time I considered evangelism as a structure, aprogram, or something external that one did. I am nowbeginning to see that the key is lifestyle. Each area of mylife (home, work, relationships with friends, and play) canbe used by God as an instrument for sharing Jesus. Godcan actually use an introverted guy like me to expand hiskingdom!
A second hindrance to small churches in developingan evangelistic mindset can be the members themselves.Steve Bierly, in Help for the Small-Church Pastor, givessome interesting and accurate characteristics of smallchurches that are particularly applicable in evaluating ourchurches' views on evangelism.
Bierly says the small church is a group that is deter-mined to stay together. Most small churches are drivenmore by such questions as, Will this upset anybody? or,Will we remain happy and keep everyone together? thanby the question, Is this the right thing to do? Ministers orothers who want to share some new ideas on evangelismmay wrongly interpret the rejection of their ideas as a no-vote for evangelism. A small church may want to be veryevangelistic minded; however, their unacknowledgedlarger concern is to simply hold the group together andhave everyone get along.
Small churches strive to preserve their traditions-the glue that keeps their identity intact. If evangelism hasalways been approached in a certain traditional way, at-tempts to introduce a new model or idea will be a largehurdle. Often, new ideas are first met with skepticism be-fore any credible dialogue can take place.
Small churches can also be suspicious, if not contemp-tuous, of outsiders (including new members). Visitors arewelcomed, but sometimes only superficially. Most smallchurches want to be open to others and often attempt to
communicate to others that they are friendly, warm, andhave a "family atmosphere." But, in actuality, most tendto be closed to others-new members and visitors alike.Because their larger concern is to stay together and holdon to their traditions, any new variable (be it person oridea) may be seen as a threat to the stability that they haveworked so hard to achieve.
A final potential hindrance to small churches in de-veloping an evangelistic mindset is resources-financialstability and product availability. Most churches view evan-gelism through two lenses: individual evangelism, in whicheach person is called upon to share his or her faith in one-on-one situations; and corporate evangelism, in which themembers invite people in the community to particularevents (Vacation Bible School, for instance, or felt-needor life-issue seminars) so that they can see what the churchis like "inside the front door." However, these activitiescost money, and most small churches have minimal re-sources.
The church where I minister is unique: though small,we have a healthy budget from some property rental in-come. But most small churches around us have minimalresources and budgets. They cannot buy everything or doeverything that they want. It is a balancing act to haveenough funds to pay the minister, fix the broken toilet,purchase glue for the Bible class teachers, and have enoughleft over for one or two major evangelistic events a year.
All is not lost, however. The good news is that, de-spite some very real obstacles, small churches can developan evangelistic mindset. We have tried to implement somehelpful thought patterns in our small church. We have along way to go as we struggle with evangelism, but theseideas are helping us in our attempts to share Jesus withour community.
HelpsCelebrate your smallness. In describing the kingdom,
Jesus metaphorically spoke of such things as a mustardseed, treasure hidden in a field, and one fine pearl. Allthese items, though small, have great value and possibil-ity. Small churches, likewise, have some unique advan-tages that help them evangelistically.
Informality is a blessing. Most small-church gather-ings offer the opportunity to be more relaxed and inviting.There is often less concern about structure and more em-phasis placed on building relationships. Visitors have abetter opportunity to meet us. Church growth consultants
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198 Leaven. Fall. J 998
Book ReviewsEleanor Daniel,Markus McDowell, Editors
Lyle E. Schaller, The Small Church IsDifferent (Nashville: Abingdon Press,1982), 192 pages. Reviewed byEleanor A. Daniel.
One can always count on LyleSchaller to provide helpful, practicalinsight into a specific area of churchlife. This book is no exception.Though it has been around for morethan a decade and a half, it stillshould be on the must-read list forany minister in a small church.
The book contains six chapters,each packed with helpful questions,analysis, insights, and suggestionsfor productive ministry in the small-membership congregation. Schaller'sthesis is that small churches, thoughdifferent, do serve a worthwhile andproductive function in Christendomas a whole.
In his preface, Schaller states:"The normal size for a Protestantcongregation on the North Americancontinent is one that has fewer thanforty people at worship on the typicalSunday morning" (p. 9). He goes onto say: "The small church is the
normative expression of the worship-ing congregation among Protestantdenominations on the North Ameri-can continent" (p. 11). His purpose inthe book, then, is to mark thosedistinctives of the small congrega-tion.
The first chapter is in many waysthe most helpful. Entitled "It IsDifferent," the chapter provides alengthy list of characteristics of howthe small church is different, such as"It manages finances in a moreinformal and less systematic way."That is not to say that none of thecharacteristics Schaller identifies istrue of a larger church. But it is tosuggest that by degree, the smallchurch demonstrates more clearlythese particular characteristics.
The second chapter is entitled"Responding to Four WidespreadConcerns." The four concerns areidentified as (1) congregational self-esteem, (2) youth ministry, (3)finances, and (4) church growth.Schaller provides helpful insightsinto these areas, celebrating what thesmall church can do in each of them
because of its very characteristics.Chapter 3, "Staffing the Small
Church," deals with the financialchallenges of providing ministerialleadership for the small church. Adozen helpful alternatives are ex-plored.
The fourth chapter, "The SundayChurch School," proposes that theSunday school is the center oforganizational life in the smallchurch. With that in mind, theSunday school is explored and a planfor utilizing its relational strengthsproposed. In short, the Sunday schoolin the small church isintergenerational in nature, eventhough it is composed of gradedclasses. This intergenerational natureallows significant Christian educationto occur.
"Ten Questions" is the title ofchapter 5. This section presents briefand helpful answers to ten basicquestions asked about smallchurches: (1) Are there too manychurches? (2) What keeps all of theselittle churches going? (3) What willbe the impact of urban-to-rural
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enemy to growth, career, and accom-plishment. He reminds us that "morethan one pastor has made a shamblesof one small church after another" inan attempt to shape those churchesaccording to "the Lord's will" (p.103). Unconditional love is thestandard for our relationship with thechurch, and it is the only hope forbringing about positive change.
After reading the current re-search-oriented books on ministryand church growth, I find Bierly'swork refreshing. He doesn't comeacross as an ecclesiastical sociologisttossing down bits of data from hisivory tower. As a pastor in a smallnortheastern congregation, he is wellacquainted with the joys and pitfallsof the small church, speaking fromthe trenches of personal experienceas well as a knowledge of the bestliterature on the subject. TakingBierly's book to the office or thecoffee shop is like taking along anencouraging comrade in ministrywho knows your situation better thanyou do.
DONALD W. WHITE serves the Churchof Christ in Lakeview, Oregon. He isthe guest editor of this issue ofLeaven.
Nancy T. Foltz, ed., ReligiousEducation in the Small MembershipChurch (Birmingham: ReligiousEducation Press, 1990), 234 pages.Reviewed by Eleanor A. Daniel.
Nancy Foltz has provided aunique service to small-membershipchurches with this book. Althoughvolumes have been written about
leadership, Christian education, andadministration, much of that workignores the distinctive characteristicsof the small-membership church,leaving those who attempt to applythe principles presented more frus-trated than ever.
Foltz identifies her purpose:"This book is written to encouragethose pastors who are serving andwho want to continue to serve in thesmall membership church. The intentof this book is to encourage pastorsin their role as religious educator.This book is for denominationalleaders who are removing institu-tional barriers so that men andwomen may choose to serve thesmall membership church, not as a'steppingstone' but as 'the place' forministry" (p. 1). Overall, the bookaccomplishes its stated purpose.
The book is divided into tenchapters, each written by a differentauthor. The first three form a contextfor the practice of religious educationin the small church. Although theseven remaining chapters providetheoretical considerations, theypresent many practical guidelines fordeveloping Christian education in thesmall-membership church. (Many ofthose guidelines are equally practicalfor larger churches as well.)
Foltz begins with a chapterentitled "Overview of ReligiousEducation in the Small MembershipChurch." She asserts that "[rjeligiouseducation is not about curriculumresource, building, and position.Religious education is about knowingthat we are the curriculum; we arethe designers of space; and theultimate issue is how we positionourselves to God and others" (p. 8).
She provides a helpful analysis
of what, in fact, is a small church.She contends that the Family Church(35 or less in worship attendanceweekly) and the Pastoral Church(40-100 in worship attendanceweekly) may be accurately defined assmall. The Pastoral Program Church(averaging 75-125 in worshipattendance weekly) is probablymiddle sized. Churches beyond thisare considered, by Foltz' description,to be middle sized or large. Shemakes the point that size alone doesnot define the small church, but acombination of size and characteris-tics.
Foltz then helps to delineate thecharacteristics of the small-member-ship church by helping the reader toanalyze the primary groups andprimary characters. Virtually everysmall-membership church, forexample, has a matriarch or patri-arch, who is the "church boss"; agatekeeper, who controls who is "in"and how; and a candy person, whoprovides the warmth. A helpful chartat the end of the chapter outlines theprimary characters in greater detail.
Chapter 2, "The Small Member-ship Church: Recent Trends inResearch and Program," provides ahelpful overview of research in thearea. It is an important chapter,though it offers limited new informa-tion.
Chapter 3, "Understanding theSociological Perspective," is one ofthe two most beneficial chapters inthe book from this reviewer's pointof view. (The other is chapter 1.) Theauthor presents a schema for helpingthe small-church leader to understandfirst the "outside/place" (communitycontext) and then the internal life ofhis or her congregation. In the
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migration? (4) What is unique aboutthe multi-church parish? (5) Whatabout money-raising events? (6)Enabler or leader? (7) What aboutorganizational structure? (8) Howshould we cooperate? (9) Should wemerge? and (0) What are theexceptions? Schaller celebrates theuniqueness of the small church as heanswers the questions.
The final chapter is "What WillTomorrow Bring?" Schaller againaffirms the "toughness" of the smallchurch:
Finally, the next fifteen years willfind thousands of small congre-gations accomplishing what theyalways knew they could not do.Some will open a Christian dayschool. Others will remodel theirbuilding to accommodate thephysically handicapped. Thou-sands will relocate and constructnew meetinghouses in order toaccommodate newcomers fromurban areas. Some will find thatbivocational ministers areacceptable replacements for thefull-time resident ministers theyhave been accustomed to fordecades. Thousands more willconclude that women can beexcellent ministers. Severalhundred small-membershipchurches will be surprised todiscover how many peopleaccept the Saturday evening orThursday evening worshipservice as a legitimate alternativeto Sunday morning. As themembers respond to thesechanges, their faith in a livingGod as a creative force in theworld will be reinforced.
How good was Schaller atforetelling what would happen? He
was right on many counts. He mayyet prove to be correct in manyadditional ways. But he has clearlyaffirmed the strength of the smallchurch. His work should help minis-ters and leaders in small churches seethemselves and their possibilitiesdifferently.
ELEANOR A. DANIEL serves asacademic dean of Emmanuel Schoolof Religion and as book review co-editor of Leaven.
Steve R. Bierly, Help for the Small-Church Pastor: Unlocking thePotential of Your Congregation(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995),144 pages. Reviewed by Donald W.White.
Help for the Small-ChurchPastor reads fast, but you will wantto slow down as Steve Bierly seemsto reveal firsthand knowledge of yourchurch, your committee meetings,and your true feelings about thechurch under your care. Bierly isfamiliar with the struggles of minis-try and very frank about the kind ofinward changes we must make to begodly leaders: "To be blunt, the sinsof impatience, jealousy, discontent,and walking by sight instead of byfaith are behind some of the frustra-tions that small-church leadersexperience. We want what othercongregations have and we want itnow!" (p. 80).
Even those who prefer to "get tothe point" will find Bierly's manystories of experiences of small-church leaders useful and encourag-
The Small Church 199
ing, describing circumstances thatreaders will recognize in their ownchurches. Readers will often comeaway saying, "Good-ours isn't theonly church that ... "
Bierly did not write a cookbookfor successful growth within thesmall church. His book is moreuseful than that-it emphasizesproper perspectives. He does nottorture the small-church leader withexamples and dreams of megachurchsuccess, but wisely encourages us tofind joy in any progress at all. "Anystep forward is a step in the rightdirection" (p. 79). Just as parentsrejoice at each bit of growth they seein their young child, we should praiseGod for each small step the churchmakes.
We are to consider ourselvesmissionaries in the foreign world ofthe small church, Bierly says, takingalong no preconceptions of what thechurch should look like in ourparticular settings, and spending timelearning the unique culture of ourchurches. Small churches are usuallyled by a few key people, they aredetermined to stay together (and aretherefore fearful of anyone's gettingupset), and they are suspicious ofoutsiders. They also work to maintaintheir traditions, so attempting tochange things too quickly or toodrastically can end in failure, mis-trust, or even a moving van. We werenot hired as experts to fix problems"with prepackaged, ready-madeanswers," Bierly says. "Instead, thepastor is supposed to work with thefamily to find solutions that seemreasonable to everyone" (p. 83).
Bierly also brings up the darkerreality of the minister who fights thechurch, seeing the church as the
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discussion of the outside/place, threesets of helpful analytical questionsguide the reader. The first set ofquestions looks at "your place asplace and its people," that is, thehistory and culture of the community.The second set deals with "yourplace as process"-a look at routines,taboos, and so forth. The third setconsiders "the place of your churchin the place": role, reputation,relationships, resources, what thechurch supports in the community,community leadership positions heldby the members of the church, andwhether the church seeks to serve orto dominate the community. Thesecond focus of the chapter, theinternal life of the small-membershipchurch, is treated more briefly. Thediscussion touches on three areas: thecharacteristics of the small-member-ship church, suggestions for effectiveleadership, and options for staffing.This chapter alone is worth thereading of the book.
The final seven chapters examinepractical processes in religiouseducation: "Educational Ministry, theCCD, and the Sunday School";"Worship-Ministry within theSacred Space"; "Administration:Equipping the Saints for ReligiousEducation Ministry"; "Lay ReligiousEducation Leadership and thePlanning Process: Volunteers";"Curriculum in the Small Member-ship Church"; "Conflicts, Feuds, andBorder Wars"; and "The Future ofReligious Education in the SmallMembership Church." Each chapterdeals well with the theoretical,applying those principles specificallyto the small-membership church.
An added bonus of the book isthe large wall-sized chart included to
help profile churches of six differentsizes. Each is compared and con-trasted in regard to lay leadership, therole of the minister, definition of thechurch, specific religious educationactivities, decision making, planning,communication, and source of newmembers. The chart serves as avaluable tool for reference andanalysis.
In a day of megachurches, thesmall church sometimes develops aninferiority about what it contributesas a part of the kingdom of God.Much of the available literature toutsthe large church as the model andassumes that if small churches wouldonly apply the guidelines presented,they too would grow to be large. Thatmay be true in some cases, butcertainly not in all. This book makesno such assumptions. Its only presup-position is that the small church toocan do effective religious educa-tion-and then it proceeds to provideanalytical tools, guidelines, andsuggestions to assist leaders inmaking that happen.
ELEANOR A. DANIEL serves asacademic dean of Emmanuel Schoolof Religion and as book review co-editor of Leaven.
Perry G. Downs, Teaching forSpiritual Growth: An Introduction toChristian Education (Grand Rapids:Zondervan, 1994). Reviewed byLoren D. Deckard.
Although the subtitle An Intro-duction to Christian Education maylead the reader to think that this book
The Small Church 201
is for beginners in the field ofeducation, that is not so. Downspresents in this work one of theclearest statements of educationaltheory I have read. He does anexcellent job of integrating biblical,psychological, and logical principlesof development into an educationaltheory that aims at reaching spiritualmaturity.
Once understood, this educa-tional theory should help any teacheradapt to differences in culture, aswell as in preparation and back-ground, among his or her students.Understanding the basic makeup ofpersons as intellect, emotion, andwill, Downs incorporates the cogni-tive developmental stages of Piaget,the moral development theory ofKohlberg, and the faith developmentstages of Fowler into his position onthe advancement of the Christiantoward spiritual maturity.
In the first chapter, "Founda-tional Questions," Downs says thatthe operative question for Christianeducation is, "How can we bestenable Christians to grow towardmaturity?" (p. 16). He proceeds tosay: "Scripture speaks of faith inthree different but interacting ways.A proper theological understandingof spiritual maturity includes each ofthese aspects of faith: the cognitive,the affective, and the volitional" (pp.17-18). Downs' aspects address theintellect, the emotions, and the willrespecti vely.
Perhaps the most significantchapter in the book is the one drawnfrom Rom 12:1-2 and entitled "TheRenewal of the Mind." In this chapterDowns draws four implications that,he says, "serve to provide a founda-tion for education that leads toward
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spiritual maturity" (p. 63): (I)instruction in God's Word is essentialto help people renew their minds; (2)adult converts must be taught tounderstand life in new ways; (3)children can be taught from thebeginning to think Christianly; and(4) Scripture is essential to renew themind and must be taught in relationto life.
Noting that the tension betweenChristian education and seculareducation is of great concern topeople in the church today, the authorcites TertulIian's concern about thesame issues in his day. It is Downs'position that the Christian home andthe church can work together to helppeople of alI ages face the secularism
of any age: they can teach biblicaltruths in such a way as to develop aChristian worldview.
An important concept introducedbut not fulIy developed is that oflearning categories. This conceptrequires further study from othersources, but it could possibly openthe door for significant advances inhelping students to grasp new ideas.It might also be an aid in teachingstudents to think more deeply.
FinalIy, in the chapter "Learningand Logical Development," Downsaddresses the implications of alIthese things for Christian education.The implications, he says, are (1)students must acquire biblical andtheological categories for thinking
Christianly; (2) teachers must listento how their students think; (3)information must be presented inways that help students categorizeproperly; and (4) teaching people tothink theologicalIy requires bothexpository teaching and discoverylearning.
I recommend this book to everyteacher regardless of the students'age or the setting for teaching. Itshould be on the must-reading list forevery preacher as well.
LOREND. DECKARDis professor ofChristian ministries at ManhattanChristian College, Manhattan,Kansas.
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