{"id":30901,"date":"2022-09-10T15:09:02","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-changes-id-make-if-i-could-start-ministry-over\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:09:02","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:09:02","slug":"4-changes-id-make-if-i-could-start-ministry-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-changes-id-make-if-i-could-start-ministry-over\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Changes I’d Make If I Could Start Ministry Over"},"content":{"rendered":"
Patrick Fore photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By David Putman<\/em> <\/p>\n

More than 10 years ago, I offered some advice to a group of ministry leaders that I believe still rings true today. In some ways, I was at the height of my professional ministry career, but I was about to make a move that would radically change my ministry trajectory. Ten years and one pandemic later, I don\u2019t regret that decision. <\/p>\n

I was standing on the stage of our brand-new worship center for the very last time. I was speaking to hundreds of young church planters who were aspiring to accomplish what our team had accomplished. There were four things I told those church planters that I would go back and do differently if I could. <\/p>\n

1. I would focus on His church over my church<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n

“All you want to do is build a platform.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

I will never forget an experience I had following my second church plant.\u00a0My\u00a0mentor\u00a0was\u00a0coming to see me. I couldn\u2019t\u00a0wait to connect with Dan and show him our progress and\u00a0a\u00a0potential meeting\u00a0space for the church, and\u00a0I knew Dan\u00a0could help\u00a0fund this space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As we drove up to the building, I shared the vision for how we would use this space to reach the many unchurched people in our community. As we entered the building, I pointed out all the key locations where our \u201cFirst Impression\u201d team would be strategically placed to calm the fears of the unchurched. I explained how a space down the hall was perfect for quality children\u2019s programming that would make Sundays the best day of your child\u2019s week. As we walked into the largest space, I laid out the worship center\u2014perfectly designed to accommodate a large band that would play contemporary music. Finally, we stood together where I envisioned there would one day be a podium from which I would preach relevant and practical messages. I was intoxicated with my vision of a great church.<\/p>\n

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The gospel is about people. It\u2019s not about religion, technology, stuff, or building my platform. It\u2019s about\u00a0the least, the lost, and the lonely. \u2014 David Putman Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t wait to hear Dan\u2019s response, but he was mostly silent on our drive back. When he stopped in front of my house, he took a deep breath, looked at me, and said, \u201cDavid, all you want to do is build a platform.\u201d I couldn\u2019t believe what I was hearing. I walked into my house venting to my wife and vowing I was done with Dan. How dare he say or even imply that I was more focused on building my church or platform over people?<\/p>\n

But Dan was right. It took me about 20 years to realize it, but the gospel is about people. It\u2019s not about religion, technology, stuff, or building my platform. It\u2019s about the least, the lost, and the lonely. There is a sense where we, or at least I, have made it all about the weekend gathering and all the stuff that goes into making the weekend happen. Sure, the weekend is important, but it\u2019s not about the weekend. In many ways, COVID has reminded us that it can\u2019t be about the weekend. The church and the gospel are about so much more than a weekend service.<\/p>\n

A church is a family of disciples, on mission together advancing Jesus\u2019s\u00a0kingdom by making disciples who make disciples.\u00a0\u2014 David Putman Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

A church is a family of disciples, on mission together advancing Jesus\u2019 kingdom by making disciples who make disciples. This simple definition has radically changed the way I see the church. I no longer see it as a simple gathering, even though it may gather, but rather as a movement of disciples. I\u2019ve come a long way since my encounter with Dan, and if I had a do-over, I would focus on His church over my church, but I wouldn\u2019t stop there. <\/p>\n

2. I would focus on Christ\u2019s mission over my mission<\/strong>. <\/h3>\n

I spent a year reading through the Gospels as a one-year focus. Once I got through all four Gospels, I would reread them. At the end of that year, I felt compelled to read them one more time, this time paying close attention to anything Jesus said explicitly about the church. I was shocked; I only found two passages where He spoke of the church \u2014 Matthew 16 and 18. Matthew 16:13-18 was most relevant to my journey. <\/p>\n

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, \u201cWho do people say that the Son of Man is?\u201d They replied, \u201cSome say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.\u201d \u201cBut you,\u201d he asked them, \u201cwho do you say that I am?\u201d Simon Peter answered, \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.\u201d Jesus responded, \u201cBlessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. (Matthew 16:13-18, CSB). <\/em><\/p>\n

In Matthew 16:13-18,\u00a0Jesus makes a promise; He\u00a0will build His church.\u00a0It is not my responsibility to build Jesus\u2019s\u00a0church,\u00a0but\u00a0it is my responsibility to\u00a0make disciples. \u2014 David Putman Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

In this passage, Jesus makes a promise; He will build His church. It is not my responsibility to build Jesus\u2019 church, but it is my responsibility to make disciples. Jesus is clear about this in the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19-20. \u201cGo, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age\u201d (CSB). <\/p>\n

It is as if Jesus is saying, “You go make disciples, and I will build my church.” Mike Breen put it this way in Building a Discipling Culture<\/em>, \u201cIf you make disciples, you always get the church. But if you make a church, you rarely get disciples.\u201d\u202fOur goal in church planting should be to plant the gospel, make disciples, and then form churches around those disciples. <\/p>\n

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See also  The Group Most Likely to Still Be Missing From Your Church<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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3. I would focus on ‘the least of these’ over more of those<\/strong>. <\/h3>\n

A few years back, I had the opportunity to go to Uganda with a large mission organization committed to caring more about the most vulnerable people on our planet\u2014children in developing nations. One day, we took a road trip to a remote village. We were the first western visitors this village had experienced. We took a small basket of food as a gift for each home we visited. We arrived at one mud hut just in time to save a nursing baby\u2019s life. Due to the lack of food, the mother\u2019s milk was drying up, and the baby was literally starving to death. But we were too late for another. When we arrived, a baby had just died. When we asked what the cause was, they said natural causes. The baby starved to death. When is starvation a natural cause?<\/p>\n

At the time of our visit, I was working on a project to fund our third building in 10 years. We were spending millions of dollars on a building to offer religious services for middle-class families in America while babies in Uganda were dying from \u201cnatural causes\u201d\u2014starving to death. This is not to say we should never construct buildings, but we should never construct buildings at the expense of the most vulnerable in the world. Are we focusing on the least of these?<\/p>\n

This is not to say we should never construct buildings, but we should never construct buildings at the expense of the most vulnerable in the world. \u2014 David Putman Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

On a later trip, I took a close friend with me, a businessman named Paul. It was obvious God was working in his life. When Paul returned home, he sold his business and went to work for the organization that sponsored our trip. When we departed on our trip, we had a vision for sponsoring 2,000 of the most vulnerable. Ten years later, people like you and me have sponsored approximately 100,000 of the most vulnerable because Paul did something radical and decided to focus on the least of these over more of those. <\/p>\n

4. I would focus on being the church, not simply doing church.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

During the pandemic, I met with a pastor who reached out seeking some ministry advice. He was 63 years old and pastored a church of 60 people. “I know what you say about disciple-making is right,\u201d he told me, \u201cbut all I know how to do is run programs. Can you help me? Can you teach me how to make disciples?\u201d <\/p>\n

I quickly scrolled through my toolbox and realized my tools were way too complicated to provide the help he was seeking. I asked him for a week, with the promise that I would help him. I spent that week asking God to give me the simplest disciple-making tool possible. At the end of the week, I had a tool we call The Gospel Disciple Life<\/em>. It\u2019s a simple disciple-making process built around three rhythms: daily Gospel readings, weekly triad meetings, and frequent multiplication. I trained the pastor on how to use this tool, and more importantly, I started using it in my own home with my family.<\/p>\n

What\u00a0would\u00a0it look like for God to catalyze a disciple-making movement in and through\u00a0your church in\u00a0your own community? Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

God began to transform our lives through this simple disciple-making process. We started making disciples who make disciples. What started in my home began to spread like yeast in the dough through our relational network. We began to pour into others in our community. Before we knew it, we started becoming a church without doing the things we usually associate with starting a church. <\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t have a place to meet, nor did we want one. We didn\u2019t have any paid staff, nor did we need any. Yet we were more church than anything I had experienced in my life. As we continue to shepherd this disciple-making movement, we are committed to four simple structures we call no-group, micro-groups, small groups, and large groups.<\/p>\n