Tim Harlow

By Tim Harlow

(From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I’ve Ever Received.”)

The best and worst advice I ever received was from Sky Allen, the previous minister at Parkview (then the Tinley Park Church of Christ). I got the same advice from my friend Haydn Shaw, who was a minister in the area. When I asked them whether I should accept the senior minister position here in 1989, both of them very strongly said “NO.” The place was a divided, leaderless, and visionless church that was being held together with duct tape by the area church planting organization. Looking back 24 years, I would have told me the same thing. It was good advice.

However, it was a very definitive call from God when we came to visit. (And Bob Russell had already filled his “preaching understudy” position with that Dave Stone guy.) We are now glad we didn’t listen to their advice, because when God calls, it doesn’t matter what anyone else says. But I have to admit, those early days made me think three days in the belly of a fish might have been a better choice.

Tim Harlow, senior pastor, Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois

By Darrel Rowland

It’s hard to say which was the more unusual sight at this year’s North American Christian Convention: the heavy-metal guitarist with waist-length dreadlocks and arms covered by tattoos as a featured speaker or the video of venerable Ben Merold, now 88, playing the Godfather.

Or was it the appearance of a beardless Duck Dynasty star?

Perhaps the oversized beach balls and foam flying discs tossed into the crowd before several of the services?

Or possibly even the NACC president admitting that his primary prayer to God was “not to screw up the work of his Holy Spirit” during the four days in Indianapolis?

Yes, this year’s NACC was decidedly different—in a good way.

The NACC theme, ReMission, centered on how we need to do things differently if we want to achieve more for God than what has generated often-tepid results—thus the need for a remissioning of individual Christians and churches to be faithful to what Jesus wants from us.

“What we’re going to do this week is to get the church back on its mission,” NACC President Tim Harlow of Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park, Illinois, said on opening night.

One of Harlow’s goals was to make this NACC fun. He sees preachers and church leaders come to the convention who are beaten down from the past year. They need a place to have fun, relax, and unload some of their burdens so they are better able to hear the ReMission message.

From the beginning, this NACC was planned as a departure from those of years past; it was designed to be more attuned to a faster-paced multimedia world, and to Harlow’s admitted ADHD.

The sermons were shorter—styled after the popular online “Ted Talks”—but there were more of them. Live drama was occasionally added, including a haunting opening-night solo by a young woman who kept wondering, Do you see me?

Video was employed frequently—with four screens this year instead of just two—whether it was slapstick of Harlow and company lip-synching kids’ sometimes-accurate versions of Bible stories or moving testimonies of lives changed by Christ from sex trafficking, substance abuse . . . you name it.

The band fronted by Parkview’s team was heavy on bass and scattered a few hymns among the mostly contemporary offerings. Between them and the video, the audience experienced everything from a cappella to ZZ Top, including banjo, hip-hop, and the Mission: Impossible theme.

This year’s NACC experience cannot be shared without mentioning the huge LED backdrop, funded by Parkview, behind the stage. The “video jockey” chose ever-changing high-resolution scenes to make it appear as if the stage were located in a forest, along a country lane leading to a church building, amid falling rain, in front of stained-glass windows, at a seashore, even in outer space before a multitude of stars and galaxies.

Part of Harlow’s talk involved the choice of whether to go through a door, so during that portion of his message the backdrop depicted a large set of doors. (To those who saw the LED backdrop and thought, We’ve got to get one of those for our church! Harlow warns that they are not cheap. Be prepared to give up a youth minister, at least.)

‘Fire in My Soul for Evangelism’

Harlow said the theme to “remission” Christians came because he was “born with fire in my soul for evangelism and missions—to a fault, maybe, if that is possible.”

Harlow shared his frustrations with an “openly dysfunctional” Parkview that had only a modest number of baptisms until 1998, the low point of his discouragement after laboring for eight years with the church. But following its own difficult remissioning, Parkview has seen 6,000 baptisms since.

During his opening message, Harlow was blunt, noting that God says in the parable of the great banquet that he wants his house full.

“How’s that going?” he wondered.

With 195 million unchurched, America is now the fourth-largest mission field in the world. Much attention has been given to polls showing that the fastest-growing religious group in the U.S. can be classified as “nones.”

“Our compassion must be greater than our comfort,” he said to applause. “We don’t see these people the way God does because they’re his lost children and we don’t get that.”

After the convention, Harlow noted he had received criticism for the varied lineup of speakers, including people like Brian “Head” Welch, lead guitarist of the metal band Korn, whose songs would not be classified as Christian. That’s one reason Welch’s appearance was scheduled the same night as that of Cal Jernigan, senior pastor of Central Christian Church in Arizona.

The pattern held throughout the week, pairing a Christian church minister with someone who’s not. So the talk from Merold, now minister-at-large with Harvester Christian Church in Missouri, came the same evening as the one from Craig Groeschel, founder and senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv. Vince Antonucci, senior pastor of Verve Church in Las Vegas, appeared before popular author Liz Curtis Higgs.

‘Encountering God’s Love’

The takeaways from each speaker were varied as well.

Welch, whose book I Am Second tells his unlikely conversion story, was interviewed by Harlow, who observed, “You are the weirdest looking dude we have ever had on the stage of the North American Christian Convention.”

Welch, recounting the 17 vicodins a day, then methamphetamines, he consumed as he lived the stereotypical narcissistic life of a rock star, said, “I was really hating the person I had become.” A guy who built monster trucks invited him to church services.

“I had an encounter with God’s love,” Welch recalled. “Eternity filled the room. . . . I felt like I was home for the first time in my life.”

Now that Korn has reunited and tours with other groups, Welch said he is finding that many of the others have cleaned up their lives too—so many, in fact, that they use one of the tour buses to hold Bible studies.

Alan Robertson’s family is seen by millions each week in Duck Dynasty. What many don’t realize is the Robertsons’ strong church of Christ background, despite some notable stumbles.

Robertson recounted when the family was approached about doing a reality TV series. His father, Phil, sitting in a chair, held up a Bible and asked, “I got one question boys, is this in?”

He was assured it would be, since that’s part of the family.

“If this is in, then I’m in,” Robertson says his father replied.

Robertson said his family is a little like John the Baptist: They eat strange things, wear weird clothes, and point people to Jesus.

“We will not compromise the truth to do that . . . because the Bible is still the Word of God,” he said. “If a crazy TV show points people to that, then I say more power to it.”

‘Putting Up with Things I Don’t Like’

Merold, who appeared as surprised as anyone by his video transformation into the Godfather, had one of the shortest but most pointed messages of the week. He urged young people not to give up on the church, and for his fellow seniors to be patient and continue serving.

“I don’t much like the new music, either. In fact, I haven’t liked it longer than you haven’t liked it,” he quipped. “I will be willing to put up with things I don’t like in order to reach people who are not like me.”

Groeschel took issue with the “failure is not an option” mentality pervading American churches.

“Too many Christian leaders think that failing means missing God,” he said. “What they don’t realize is that failure is often the first step toward success.”

Groeschel recounted several failures on the road to building LifeChurch.tv, regarded as one of the world’s largest churches.

“Fear of failure drives you to stop taking faith risks,” he said. “Fear of failure drives you to lead without faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God. . . .
If you blame yourself for the decline, one day you will take credit for the increase.”

‘Wow, Did They Love Me!’

Higgs briefly recounted a past of petty crime, drug use, and anti-God writings, saying her turnaround into a popular Christian author is proof “God can use anyone.” At least 50 people waited in line later in the convention when she appeared to sign her books.

She credited new Christians who “loved me into the kingdom.”

“They didn’t judge me, but wow did they love me,” she said. “Only God could do such a thing with such unpromising material.”

Love also was the centerpiece of Antonucci’s talk, during which he described encounters with many in Las Vegas who had given up hope. He pointed out that Jesus was a magnet to sinners even though he was perfect.

“He didn’t make them feel worse, he made them feel loved,” Antonucci said. “It’s love that turns a life around.”

Antonucci said he hopes Christians today earn the same “friend of sinners” moniker as their Lord.

“He gave people the truth, but he always led with love,” Antonucci said. “No one is beyond God’s grace, and no one is beyond repentance if they are shown God’s love.”

Kevin Holland, senior minister of Turning Point Church in Burbank, California, said many Christians have compassion in their heart for others, but that doesn’t lead to action, which makes them depressed. He stressed the importance in this day and age of simply talking to people.

“Expressing compassion starts with a conversation,” said Holland, who keeps a “conversation starter” journal. “Every conversion starts with a conversation.”

The convention’s vice president, Daryl Reed, lead minister of DC Regional Christian Church near Washington, D.C., said God’s love means he will correct us at times because it is in our best interests

“Being called to repentance is a blessing,” he said. “The main benefit of repentance is a closer, more intimate relationship with God.”

‘How Many Should Be Left Behind?’

Rick Warren, founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church near Los Angeles, said, “If you want God’s blessing, you must care about what God cares about the most.”

And that is lost people. How much does God care about them? Look at the cross, said Warren, appearing via video because he could not make the convention due to family matters.

The well-known author and speaker said Saddleback has 40,000 meeting in 8,200 small groups. But the question isn’t how big the church should grow, it’s how many should be left behind.

“The church that doesn’t want to grow is saying to its community you can go to Hell,” Warren said.

Jernigan also stressed the value God places on each life, noting the compassion displayed by Jesus in lamenting the sheep without a shepherd.

“It ripped Jesus up inside; it tore up his guts,” Jernigan said.

He described how his son once almost drowned before Jernigan pulled him from underneath a boat—and the joy he felt when his son was saved.

“God’s missing some of his kids, and it’s ripping him up,” Jernigan said.

Lee Strobel said he loved the convention’s theme because “that is where my heart beats.” In fact, he said, the night before he was to deliver the closing message, God moved him to change it from his previous six-point presentation to one he scrawled on the back of an envelope.

“You will never regret at the end of your life, looking back, that you loved what Jesus loved,” Strobel said.

The former journalist who became a Christian after his wife’s conversion caused him to investigate the claims of Jesus, remarked, “It would’ve taken more faith to maintain my atheism than to become a Christian.” He remembers his daughter, who used to automatically shrink back to her room when her father came home, noticing the difference and saying, “I want God to do for me what he’s done for daddy.”

“As you sit here, you have no idea how God has used you,” Strobel said.

But when you see the people in Heaven who are there at least in part due to your influence, “You will know at that moment that it was all worth it.”

Darrel Rowland is an adult Bible fellowship teacher at Worthington (Ohio) Christian Church and public affairs editor of The Columbus Dispatch.

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Overheard

 “NEVER SET ABOUT to build a big church. If you do, you will probably fail. Set about to win people to Jesus Christ, and if you win people to Jesus Christ, a big church may be a very delightful side effect.”
—Ben Merold, minister-at-large, Harvester Christian Church, Missouri

“DON’T YOU LOVE brand-new Christians? They’re just like puppies. They’re so enthusiastic, they’re just looking for someone to piddle on.”
—Liz Curtis Higgs, Christian author

“IF YOU’RE NOT being called a cult now and then, you’re not doing squat.”
—Craig Groeschel, founder and senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv

“DO WE LOVE our traditions more than our children?”
—David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group

“WHEN WE GET on mission, Satan is going to try to stop us.”
—Tim Harlow, 2014 NACC president

—D.R.

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NACC Numbers

9,183* — Total estimated attendance

5,317 — Highest single-session attendance (Wednesday night)

100,000-plus — Livestream web “hits”

9 — Countries represented at peak of online viewership

699 — Attendance at Ladies’ Luncheon

102/403 — Teams, players in National Bible Bowl

261 — Organizations with exhibits

$98,000 — Total offering from main sessions

4 — College or older high school students who will be selected to preach at next year’s NACC in Cincinnati through nextgenpreachersearch.com

*Includes “comps” and an estimate for those who attended but didn’t register

Source: NACC staff

By Tim Harlow

I made a joke the final day of the North American Christian Convention when I appointed my friend Mike Baker as next year’s president. I knighted him with a sword (because Mike and I are weird that way), and then I said, “But I’m keeping the sword—because you might be tempted to fall on it sometime this year.”

In case you are wondering, there is no pay involved in being the president. Actually it’s the opposite; your church or organization will likely have to spend money on it, and it will cost you in many ways.

Tim Harlow “knights” Mike Baker as the incoming NACC president.

Is it worth it?

Absolutely. We need this gathering because we need this movement, and movements need some glue.

The ironic thing about giving my gavel to Mike Baker is that Mike and I joined the Continuation Committee the same year. We knew each other before, but became lifelong friends through this—mainly because we discovered we both had a knack for sitting on the back row and complaining about how dumb the NACC was.

We weren’t even sure whether the Restoration Movement was going to make it. Honestly, the convention was bogged down in some bad management and traditionalism 10 years ago. It seemed to be reflective of a movement that was stuck in the same dimension.

I Said Yes

I can’t stand people who sit in the back and complain but don’t do something about it. So I said yes to 2014. But major strides had been made in the past 10 years, and I believe we’ve learned from some mistakes. I believe every convention has built off the best of the years before and it’s heading in the right direction. The management team of the convention is great, the Board of Stewards is willing to take risks, and people are taking notice. I had several young leaders tell me they wish they had brought their teams to this convention instead of another one they had attended.

I watched God move in a way that was unmistakable this past July in Indianapolis. When Lee Strobel got up and said, “God told me to change my message,” I knew we were experiencing a book of Acts move of God. (You have to know Lee—that doesn’t happen.) When 88-year-old Ben Merold got up and “threw down” his message, telling people to get back on mission, I knew we had a move of God. (I had to twist his arm almost all the way off to get him to do it. I actually put his picture in the publicity before he said yes, just to put the pressure on.)

So, as a repentant, back-row complainer turned president, let me tell you why I’ve changed. There was a famous, old Hair Club for Men commercial where a guy said, “I’m not just the president, I’m a client.” It’s something like that for me.

Why I’ve Changed

Our movement rocks! Everyone wants to play in our sandbox now. I think I have Craig Groeschel thinking about it. Don’t tell the Southern Baptists, but Rick Warren already has one leg in (and, by the way, he promises me he has a document that says his great-great-grandfather was a deacon in Alexander Campbell’s church; he may be more “Christian church” than any of us).

One of the great privileges I had was to preach in some other churches this year. One of them was “our” largest Christian church in the Indianapolis area, which you probably haven’t ever heard about: Northview Church in Carmel.

Northview used to be part of a different denomination and decided it wanted to be independent, but still wanted a “tribe.” I saw how the church identified itself in an Outreach magazine listing and thought it was a mistake, but Northview has identified with us.

Wasn’t that the point of the movement in the first place? Barton Stone and the Campbells’ original intent was that we live out the prayer of Jesus found in John 17. This is why the Board of Stewards gave me so much freedom to bring in people from the “outside.” Not that we don’t have our own great preachers, but because most of you had never heard some of these innovative leaders before. It’s OK. We’re all working together.

We need the NACC. Someone famous (I can’t remember who) said, “If we didn’t have this convention, we’d need to start something like it.” I agree with that. What would identify us if we didn’t have this time to meet together? Maybe most of our churches have loyalties to certain colleges or mission organizations, but if there weren’t a gathering like this, there would be nothing to define who we are.

I love that I’m not part of a denomination. I don’t want to tell you how to run your church. But I do want to know you are on my team. That’s what this is about. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to this convention (only missed four in my life) and walked away ready to go for another season. A pat on the back from Ben Merold, a story about dumb people in church from Bob Russell, a poem from Roy Lawson, a hymn led by a guy with white gloves, and I’m ready to go again.

Our movement and this convention are changing with the world. I hope you are reading this article on the new Christian Standard app on your mobile device. It’s a new world. I believe we’ve demonstrated that the NACC is doing its best to keep up with it. From the Twitter intro to the LED wall to the amazing worship, I don’t think anyone left Indy feeling like we were stuck in the 1980s anymore (there were no white gloves).

North American Christian Convention President Tim Harlow preaches on the opening night of the four-day gathering in Indianapolis on July 8.

“On Mission”

We are “on mission” like no other tribe of churches.

Over and over I’ve felt God impressing on me that the most important thing is to find the lost sheep. It’s been the call of my life, but it’s never been more apparent than during my two years with this convention.

Two years ago, I met with an Executive Committee of the 2014 NACC for the first time. They were mostly people I knew, but I didn’t pick them. It was done by the NACC Board and the Continuation Committee. I said, “Well, I don’t want to control this (which everyone knows is a lie), but my heart beats for evangelism and the Great Commission.”

Then Dick Alexander spoke up, “I’ve been praying for a week that we’d do something on evangelism.” At that moment we all realized the Holy Spirit had been moving all of us in the same direction. We met for a retreat a few days in August, and this theme just rolled out in supernatural fashion. We even had time to try to teach Daryl Reed how to waterski (see my previous article, “Just Hold On”).

ReMission is exactly what God wanted us to focus on. And we did. And we are. We already have dozens of churches signed up to take the next step and do the 40 Days of Mission program in their churches (check out lifeonmission.com). We are one of the fastest-growing groups of churches in the country. If anyone is going to help turn the tide with our “Jerusalem,” it will be the independent Christian churches, working in unison with the other churches on mission to reach those around us. We are already doing it.

I know we live in a post-Christian era now, and we’re all having to change our approach to reaching our culture, but the simple truth is that people are interested in the real Jesus and his teaching. They just reject the sectarian and judgmental spirit of most of the Christians they run into. That’s not who we are! At least it’s not supposed to be.

All to say, I’ve never been more proud to be associated with this convention and movement. If you don’t like something about it—complain all you want—but when you’re called upon to do something about it, get off your back row and do something.

I did. Mike is. Dave Stone will in 2016. We need you. You need us.

I can’t thank you all enough for your support. I’m so grateful to my Executive Committee and my staff, and especially my wife, for making this convention work. It is a lot of work, but it was worth it.

Tim Harlow serves as senior pastor with Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois, and was president of the 2014 North American Christian Convention.

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New Book

Get Tim Harlow’s new book Life on Mission, as well as related study-group material, at lifeonmission.com. Read the first chapter of his book free by downloading the new, free CHRISTIAN STANDARD app, available for Apple, Android, and Kindle.

By Tim Harlow

If you think about it, the whole idea of getting to live in Heaven with God one day, based totally and completely on the grace of Jesus, is a remarkable concept. Most of us have lived in the world of Christianity long enough that we just don’t appreciate it enough.

One day a Christian kid was talking to his friend about the concept of Jesus and Heaven. The other kid was blown away. He said, “Are you telling me that all I have to do is follow Jesus and I can go to Heaven?” 

“Yes, it’s that simple.” 

The friend then asked, “And if my mom wants to go, all she has to do is follow Jesus?” 

And the Christian kid answered, “Yeah, and if you don’t want her there—just don’t tell her.”

Could that be the problem? Will Hell be full of people who chose to rebel against God and reject the message of Jesus? Or will it just be people we didn’t really want hanging out with us in Heaven?

My Problem

I don’t believe I’m personally responsible for the salvation of every lost person with whom I come into contact. God is big enough not to need me. But if I am honest, indifference is a problem for me. Whenever I hear one of those hyper-evangelist preachers talk about sitting next to someone on a plane and leading them to Christ, I feel guilty. When I get on a plane, I rarely pray for God to put someone next to me that I can spend my whole trip talking to about Jesus. I pray for an empty seat, or a racehorse jockey who doesn’t speak English.

It’s not just indifference, I guess, it’s selfishness. It’s a complete lack of compassion. I think having a relationship is a better way to share my faith anyway. But I’m not sure I even care enough about my relationships either.

Jesus did.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:35-38, author emphasis).

This is so important! I score a zero on most spiritual gift tests when it comes to the gift of mercy.

“Let me call the waa-mbulance.” “Should I get out my tiny violin?” (Our church members request that I NOT visit them in the hospital!)

When I see the crowds, I see them as annoying and in my way. Stupid sheep.

God’s been teaching me I have the gift of evangelism, but not compassion. Usually that’s because I just don’t understand how sheep can be so messed up. Lately God has brought some people into my life who have really helped me understand the background of why they are so “helpless.” Sometimes they are harassed and helpless because of bad decisions, but in a lot of cases—I dare say most cases—they are messed up because something or someone messed them up.

My Jonah Issues

I’ve really wrestled with my Jonah issues lately. We tend to think of Jonah as the guy who ran from God’s assignment because he was afraid to go to Nineveh. But the truth is, he actually had SCD (Sheep Compassion Deficiency).

When Jonah resurrects from the fish and finally goes to Nineveh, surprisingly, the king repents and says: “Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish” (Jonah 3:9).

God might have what? Compassion! Why would God have compassion on what may have been the most horribly evil civilization since before the flood? No way that’s happening!

God had compassion “and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened” (Jonah 3:10, author emphasis).

Wait! I thought God was a God of justice? Well, evidently he’s a God of compassion first.

The weird part is that Jonah actually knew that. The real reason he didn’t want to go to Nineveh was because he had SCD and he was afraid God didn’t!

“But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord. ‘. . . I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:1-3).

You see, Jonah knew that God was a God of second chances. God sent Jonah a big fish to give him a second chance. But Jonah didn’t want Nineveh to get one.

God asks Jonah an interesting question that really helps me with my SCD.

“Should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh?” (Jonah 4:11).

Basically God says, “Nineveh has 120,000 children that live there and even innocent animals.” (See how The Message renders the verse: “Nineveh . . . , this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don’t yet know right from wrong.”)

Sometimes when I see the hurt and helpless sheep, I have SCD because of the way they are acting or the addictions or behaviors they have that are destroying them. I don’t necessarily want God to rain down fire and brimstone on them, but I’m not going to be bothered with their junk. But when I realize that, as they say, “hurt people, hurt people,” it gives me a different perspective. 

This messed-up sheep was probably a little lamb that someone neglected, or worse. If they don’t get help, they are going to royally screw up their own children and maybe other people in the world. This helps me with my SCD. It gives me more patience and a greater desire to help them.

I heard a former Third World missionary describe his confusion over the way First World preachers talk about the Samaritan woman in John 4. She was married five times and living with a guy. We assume she was immoral. Hopping from one bed to another without any regard for morality. But as he read that passage in a place where women had no rights, a place where women are property and can’t have a job or any independence (as was the case in first-century Samaria), he didn’t read her situation as immoral, but tragic.

What if her first five husbands just dumped her? What if she was barren and no one wanted her because she couldn’t do the one thing that was important for a woman to do? What if she was living with a guy because she was going to starve otherwise? It wasn’t right, but if you’ve met prostitutes in those cultures, you know that not many of them chose that life for themselves.

That’s a little different perspective, isn’t it? We already know this woman at the well was blown away by the fact that Jesus had enough compassion to talk to her in the first place. She certainly didn’t feel judged by Jesus. No lost sheep ever did.

Your Nineveh

If God was concerned about Nineveh, he’s also concerned about your city. If you are suffering from SCD today, I understand. But what about the children? What about the innocent? Do you understand what happened in that Ninevite person’s life that caused him or her to be so harassed and helpless in the first place?

I know such individuals are difficult and needy and make bad decisions that make you crazy. But I’m praying for an extra dose of compassion for you today. And for me. It doesn’t do any good to pray for the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the field if we all have SCD.

Tim Harlow serves as senior pastor with Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois. Read the first chapter of his book, Life on Mission, free in the Christian Standard app.

By Tim Harlow

I will never forget getting glasses for the first time. I was in fifth grade and was evidently in worse shape than anyone realized, because I was blown away by the clarity I suddenly experienced. I distinctly remember telling my mom, “I can see the leaves on the trees!” Until then, I had no idea there were actual individual leaves on trees. I just thought it was a big green blob on top of a brown trunk.

Clarity was amazing.

I was reading in Scripture the other day about another blind man, and he had an experience something like mine.

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly (Mark 8:22-25).

Wait, what?

Jesus. Jesus missed it by that much?

Did Jesus misdiagnose? Did he not know about the man’s astigmatism? Was he just having a bad day? (I picture my optometrist saying, “One or two? One . . . or two?”)

My theory is this: it’s all about faith.

There are many places in Scripture where Jesus is limited by the amount of faith a person had. In his hometown, Jesus was so familiar to everyone that they couldn’t wrap their brains around the possibility that he could actually be the Son of God. “And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith” (Matthew 13:58).

In other cases, Jesus credits the miracle to the person’s amount of faith (Mark 2:1-5; 5:25-34; and Luke 17:11-19).

Maybe this blind man initially had only enough faith to get him to “walking trees,” but not enough to “see everything clearly.” And then, once he realized Jesus could help him, the rest was simple.

What’s Happened?

I don’t know about you, but that’s a big part of my problem. I believe Jesus is Lord and can handle running the universe and my problems at the same time. But seldom do I get beyond the walking trees, usually because I’ve not stopped long enough to realize that a miracle has already taken place.

It’s made more interesting, at least for me, by what had just transpired in Mark’s Gospel. In Mark 6, when Jesus walked on the water, Mark says the disciples were blown away because they really didn’t have complete faith in Jesus at that point. Even though they had just seen him take five loaves and two fish and feed a giant crowd!

When Jesus miraculously shows up at their boat in the lake, the Bible says the disciples were completely amazed “for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:52).

And two chapters later, when Jesus miraculously feeds another crowd, the disciples still don’t get it.

Jesus asks them, “Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see?” (Mark 8:17, 18).

I almost wonder if the incomplete miracle of sight was a bit of a lesson for the disciples, as well.

What’s Next?

Maybe this is a good day to stop and look around, with whatever walking tree faith you have, and realize what God has already done. Who knows what Jesus might do next?

I love the story of Elisha and his servant being surrounded by Arameans in 2 Kings 6. The servant has only walking tree faith until Elisha prayed for him.

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. 

“Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:15-17).

As a church leader, it’s easy to see the armies of the opposition. Sometimes they are your church’s members! As I look back on what God has done in my life and the life of our church, it’s obvious miracles have happened over and over again. But when the army is at the door, I tend to forget. I tend to have walking tree faith all over again.

I’m praying for us to have “everything clearly” faith today. I’m praying God will open your eyes and let you see the supernatural that is all around you.

Your prayer should be the same as the man who needed a miracle for his son; he said, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

Tim Harlow serves as senior pastor with Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois.

By Tim Harlow

I don’t fancy myself an extreme environmentalist. I’m not a “tree hugger,” but I do respect nature. I have cut down a few trees that were past their prime, and I once accidently killed a small one with a golf cart, but I do love trees. Where I live, the only trees are ones someone planted. So the story of Jesus “zapping” a tree is fascinating to me.

Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “Then he said to it, ‘May you never bear fruit again!’ Immediately the tree withered” (Matthew 21: 18, 19).

Did he gesture with his hands? I mean, all the Bible says is that he spoke the words, but it seems to me like some kind of a “zapping” gesture is appropriate.

I don’t believe this was a moment of low blood sugar rage. I had one child who seemingly became demon-possessed when she hadn’t eaten. Every home video of Lauren shows someone trying to feed her something. That’s not the deal in this Bible incident. Jesus was making a statement. Many times the Bible used the fig tree as a symbol of the nation of Israel.

Mark’s Gospel tells us it wasn’t the typical season for figs, so does Jesus’ action seem harsh to you? No, because it wasn’t uncommon to find figs out of season; some trees produce most of the year. Perhaps Jesus was frustrated by the presence of leaves. Typically a tree with leaves also has fruit. This tree was a “poser.”

Jesus often was baffled at how clueless the religious leaders were. Now when I read these passages I wonder what he’d think about us!

Would he be as frustrated by our lack of fruit as he was back then? The religious system of Jesus’ day had “leaves.” It looked like the religious leaders and followers were doing what God wanted. They had services, followed God’s commands, and observed the rituals.

There were leaves . . . but no fruit.

Identifying the Fruit

What does fruit look like? It’s a good question. The people back then thought they were bearing fruit. They thought keeping the rules and being good and going through the motions of religion was fruit. Jesus essentially said, “No, that’s just leaves . . . it’s possible for you to be a nice white tomb on the outside and be full of dead men’s bones on the inside” (Matthew 23:27). Leaves . . . without fruit.

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit” (John 15:5).

Scholars have argued over what that fruit looks like. Was Jesus talking about the fruit of the Spirit? (Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.?) Or was he talking about the fruit of reproduction?

I believe the answer is both.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

In my opinion, Jesus was upset the tree was acting like it had fruit, but it was deceitful.

The problem with the first-century church was it was acting like it had fruit, but it was deceitful. The problem with the 21st-century church is the same thing.

We’ve got buildings and marquees with nice slogans and welcome signs, and there are people going in and out. But more than 95 percent of all churches haven’t seen a single convert in the past year.

Leaves, yes. The churches are healthy in the sense of the organism being alive. But any organism that doesn’t reproduce is really already dead, even if it looks alive.

In the case of a tree, it can look really good for a generation, but producing fruit is about whether the tree becomes a forest . . . or firewood.

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:8).

Tim Harlow serves as senior pastor with Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois, and was president of the 2014 North American Christian Convention.

By Kent E. Fillinger

To learn more about the state of evangelism in our churches, we asked questions of a dozen ministers from churches of all sizes:

• David Clark, lead pastor, Central Christian Church, Beloit, Wisconsin

• Scott Clevenger, lead pastor, Christ’s Church Camden, Kingsland, Georgia

• Doug Dykstra, lead minister, Adventure Christian Church, Tavares, Florida

• Tim Harlow, senior pastor, Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois

• Jerry Harris, senior pastor, The Crossing, Quincy, Illinois

• Nathan Head, executive pastor of ministries, Southland Christian Church, Nicholasville, Kentucky

• Cal Jernigan, senior pastor, Central Christian Church, Mesa, Arizona

• Patrick Lightfoot, adult minister, Journey Christian Church, Greeley, Colorado

• Mitchell McIntyre, senior minister, Bedford Acres Christian Church, Paris, Kentucky

• Richie Shaw, lead pastor, Real Life Ministries Spokane (Washington)

• Dave Stone, senior pastor, Southeast Christian, Louisville, Kentucky

• Ashley Woolridge, executive pastor, Christ’s Church of the Valley, Peoria, Arizona

How would you characterize the “spiritual openness” to the gospel in our culture today?

David Clark: I continue to be excited by our area’s receptivity to the gospel. There is resistance. But that is no different than it was 34 years ago. How the gospel is presented definitely affects how the gospel is received.

Dave Stone: Generally speaking, I think it’s more difficult; society as a whole is not as open as it used to be. Now, in this postmodern (post-Christian) world, we have to earn the right to be heard. Our big buildings don’t enhance that, but developing one-on-one relationships does.

Jerry Harris: I believe people are more open to the gospel. I personally have never experienced such a contrast between prevailing culture and real Christianity. People are longing for something that works in a world long on promises but very short on delivery.

Cal Jernigan: There is tremendous “spiritual openness” in our culture, but it does not necessarily translate into openness to church. People are still seeking spiritual things, (but) unchurched people would not consider “organized religion” as their first choice to get answers to their spiritual questions.

Barna reports, “Nearly half the U.S. population is churchless.”1 What cultural elements in the church need to change for it to be more effective in reaching the unchurched?

Tim Harlow: We have to lead with compassion. Or as Jesus said, “love your neighbor.” That is the single most important cultural shift that needs to be made if we are going to reach the unchurched and dechurched. The way our compassion surpasses our comfort is by seeing people the way God sees them. We need to get rid of the “us versus them” mentality, and replace it with an “us for and with them” mentality.

Ashley Woolridge: Probably the single biggest thing we could do as churches is to evaluate everything we do as to how it comes across to an “outsider” (someone far from Jesus who has not been a part of a church).

At CCV we ask people to mystery shop us all the time. And we listen. Recently we asked 10 couples who were not Christians and had never attended CCV to come to a service and give us an hour of their time afterwards. We had a professional lead a discussion with them after the service. The results were eye-opening, to say the least. And we’ve had to change many things as a result.

We’ve never changed anything related to the gospel message. But our methods and terminology sure have changed.

Scott Clevenger: I’m afraid too many churches still operate solely from an “attractional” ministry philosophy, where they are attempting to attract more people onto their campus through Sunday morning services, events, etc. We must have a community presence. We must get outside of the church walls in order to make a dent in that 50 percent stat.

With that said, however, I also feel a church whose ministry philosophy is solely “missional” will miss the mark, as well. There must be a balance.

Mitchell McIntyre: I think the church, as a whole, can focus on three things: (1) preach and teach the Word (in a way people can understand); (2) develop authentic relationships within the church and outside it; and (3) serve and reach lost people. This isn’t a question of worship styles or building design; it’s about attitude, mission, and vision.

Doug Dykstra: Methods for evangelism must be changed. Someone once said that people today need a “long, safe engagement period” before they’re ready to hear the gospel. Rarely do we see rapid responses to the gospel. I’ve learned to be more patient than ever before.

What evangelistic strategies is your church using effectively or successfully to reach those far from God?

Ashley Woolridge: One of the biggest evangelistic changes we’ve made in the last 10 years is switching from affinity to geographic small groups. Affinity groups work well for connecting those who are already Christians. Geographic small groups allow you to focus more on evangelism. It has completely changed the evangelism temperature in all of our small groups (which we call “neighborhood groups”).

David Clark: I live in a multiethnic community. So we have a Spanish-speaking ministry and a predominantly African-American inner-city campus. We have an additional campus in a neighboring community 15 miles away. Twice a year we deliver 12,000 door-hangers to the residences in our area. Four times a year we call our people to pray for their lost friends and family, giving them invitational cards to give to neighbors and coworkers. Four times a year we hold “buzz” events designed to attract unchurched people in our community.

This year I’ve decided to do “baptism” weekends once a month.

We serve the poor to validate the authenticity of the love of Christ. Weekly we give away four days of groceries to all hungry people (probably about 150 to 200 people) who ask for help. We do Project Hope (free medical care, eye care, dental care, haircuts, clothes/shoe bank, along with a free hot meal) twice a year. We do a school supply/backpack store and Christmas store to give dignity to those in need.

Richie Shaw: The strategy is to empower disciples to make disciples in real relationship. Most of our equipping revolves around how to be in real relationship with people, because that is where the greatest impact is going to happen.

Scott Clevenger: We’ve realized that the giant events we’ve created in the past yield very little return on investment, from an outreach perspective. We kicked off an all-church vision this year to saturate our community simply by being present in our community. We call it “For Camden.”

We hashtag all of our social media #forcamden, and we set up a simple site, www.forcamden.com, where Twitter and Instagram posts with that hashtag automatically sync up. When someone asks why we’re doing this, we simply tell them, “We’re from Christ’s Church, and we are ‘For Camden.’” That’s giving us a foot in so many doors.

Nathan Head: Over the last several years we have focused our energy on being known more for what we’re for than what we’re against. We are for the marginalized, so we helped start a ministry that engages the jobless in meaningful work. We open our doors every week to shelter homeless men. We are for those who are in poverty, so we opened two free medical clinics to serve them. We are for strippers and adult entertainers, so we send people into strip clubs in our community every week to love them unconditionally. We are for the mentally and/or physically challenged, so we throw a prom for them every year and celebrate them in our community every week. We are for the struggling, and so we give more than $10,000 a week, free and clear, to people in need.

Our singular focus at Southland is to “Unleash a Revolution of Love,” and these are a few ways we do that.

What does your church do to make evangelism a priority?

Cal Jernigan: Evangelism is always our top priority. And to heat it up further, we have made personal evangelism a ministry initiative this year. We realized last spring that we had not adequately equipped our people to share their faith. We are making strides to correct this.

Patrick Lightfoot: Each week we end our services with our mission statement, “At Journey, we love Jesus, we love people, and we have to go to Heaven and take as many people with us as possible, so enjoy the journey but don’t enjoy it alone.” This is a weekly reminder to our people the importance of two things: sharing Jesus with the lost and doing life together (discipleship). Both are vital in moving the kingdom forward, as you can’t have one without the other.

Jerry Harris: Our worship, our teaching, our ministries, small groups, finances, and campus expansions . . . everything we do is designed with evangelism in mind.

How have you changed your approach to evangelism in recent years? How has your church changed its approach?

Richie Shaw: When we planted Real Life Ministries Spokane four years ago, I hadn’t been leading many people to Christ personally. That had to change when we moved to Spokane. If we were going to be a church that reached lost people, I had to be a man, a disciple who reached lost people, before I was ever going to be a pastor who taught disciples to reach their friends and family.

That changed everything for me. As I started praying, Jesus opened up doors of opportunity for me to reach lost people in our city. The culture of our church will be a reflection of my leadership.

Tim Harlow: The big change is leading with our hands instead of our mouths. Back in the day, we thought we needed to convince people about Jesus. Now we need to show people who Jesus is.

Nathan Head: We’ve increased our focus on it. Last year our website contained more than 70 blog posts on evangelism. We pray about it every week as a staff and eldership. We show story after story in our weekend services. We celebrate baptism every chance we get. We’ve worked to normalize evangelism in our culture and empower people to invite their friends into the great life they now have in Christ.

How does your church prepare or equip its members to share their faith with others?

Dave Stone: Periodically I teach a class called Making Connections and Building Bridges. During sermons we also regularly point out suggestions and effective methods we see in the biblical text and from the early church.

Tim Harlow: We just took our church through a book and small group curriculum I produced with Pastors.com called Life on Mission.2 It looks at Jesus’ ministry and how he calls us to live our lives for the sake of people who are far from God. My book challenges people to live a life on mission through connecting, serving, sharing, growing, and praying. It’s simple, but not easy.

How can churches and believers effectively connect with those outside the faith?

Scott Clevenger: At its lowest common denominator, it’s a heart issue. Obviously, you can’t get close to the heart of Jesus without developing a heart for lost people.

Nathan Head: We probably have to own up to our fear about it. It’s not rocket science to love people, but it can be scary to get started. If you treat people as projects, they know it. If you truly love them, they know it. I’d suggest we start with the people to whom we are naturally drawn.

Tim Harlow: I have a friend who likes to say the best evangelistic tools are stuck on the side of your head. If you want to connect with people, all you need are good questions and the willingness to hear someone’s story. Make them feel welcome, even if they are a mess, in your church, in your home, and in your life.

Dave Stone: John Stott talks about “rabbit-hole Christianity,” where believers scurry throughout their day from one Christian get-together to the next. We challenge our people to intentionally have frequent conversations and relationships with people outside of the church and their Christian circle. (The idea isn’t original with us; we actually got it from Jesus!)

________

1“Connection,” Outreach magazine, January/February 2015.

2www.lifeonmission.com.

Kent Fillinger serves as president of 3:STRANDS Consulting and director of partnerships with CMF International, Indianapolis, Indiana.

________

Is It One of Your Spiritual Gifts?

For the first time, our church survey asked lead ministers whether evangelism was one of their primary spiritual gifts. Overall, 64 percent of the lead ministers surveyed said they have the gift of evangelism. The churches led by these ministers baptized more people than the churches led by ministers who did not claim evangelism as one of their primary gifts. 

But interestingly, churches led by ministers who do not possess the gift of evangelism grew faster in every size category except for medium-size churches. For example, megachurches led by ministers who do not claim the gift of evangelism grew twice as fast last year as churches led by ministers who say they have that gift.

—K.F.

By Tim and Denise Harlow

Yes, you can start over. But why not do the work now to create a marriage you can remember with quiet joy instead of sadness or shame?

Tim and Denise Harlow have been married 31 years.

My son-in-law texted me a picture of my grandson during a special moment in our service, right after I’d preached about adultery. It felt like more than a coincidence. It felt like God saying, This is why you stay in your marriage and are faithful to your wife.

I’m in a stage of life where I can spend a little more time looking back, which made this Scripture passage really jump out at me. Solomon says if you follow the path into adultery, you will end up with regret. “At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent” (Proverbs 5:11).

There are basically only two ways to look back on life when you get old (and I know I’m not old yet, MOM!). You can look back with joy or regret. You can groan, or you can rejoice.

No one is going to go to the grave thinking they batted a thousand. I will certainly not close my eyes for the last time without thinking back to some major blunders in my life. And I’m sure I’m not done blundering.

But as I looked at my grandson’s picture, I realized how easily I could have seen it through eyes of regret. If I hadn’t worked so hard on my marriage, or had blown up my marriage and wasn’t still with Charlie’s grandmother, the picture would be bittersweet.

Wendy Plump said it perfectly in her article about adultery in The New York Times:

I look at my parents and at how much simpler their lives are at the ages of 75, mostly because they haven’t marred the landscape with grand-scale deceit. They have this marriage of 50-some years behind them, and it is a monument to success. A few weeks or months of illicit passion could not hold a candle to it.

If you imagine yourself in such a situation, where would you fit an affair in neatly? If you were 75, which would you rather have: years of steady if occasionally strained devotion, or something that looks a little bit like the Iraqi city of Fallujah, cratered with spent artillery?1

Please know that you can start over. David was a “man after God’s own heart,” even after adultery. Your marriage can be saved and end up being better in the long run. But God really wants to save us from all of that.

So I asked my wife, Denise, to write from her perspective, especially as it pertains to physical intimacy . . .

________

Encouragement to Women from a Wife of 31 Years

By Denise Harlow

• First, there is no such thing as a perfect marriage or husband, in spite of what fairy tales may tell you. At the end of fairy tale movies, after the phrase “and they lived happily ever after” appeared, I often told my girls, “because they kept dating and working at their marriage.” Yes, I was quite the killjoy!

Realize that real life just happens and it is the everyday journey that we need to make the best of. No other person can make it better. It has a lot to do with your attitude. Philippians 4:8 says, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable . . . think about such things.” So think long and hard if you want this marriage to work and be truly healed—it is possible!

• Second, go to Christian counseling. I am not telling you anything I haven’t told our daughters. It may be a Christian sex therapist. Don’t let Satan or some abuser win over your life. God can make it wonderful. And it may take some time—it may take years—but don’t think it will just magically get better. Do something to make it better.

Once you are on the other side, you and your husband will have a thriving, flourishing marriage. It is possible. And you will be stronger with the beauty of long memories not only to share together, but to share with your children and grandchildren. Visualize the long-term benefits.

• Third, what are you doing to “water your own grass”? Are you being honest with your mate? Are you doing things that make you feel desirable? Are you helping plan date nights, or are you leaving it entirely up to your husband? Are you making sure your own “gas/emotional tank” is full?

I know we’ve all heard the phrase, “I fell out of love,” but honestly, love isn’t a feeling—it’s a commitment, and you’d be surprised how romantic feelings can return when you are doing something fun together.

I once heard a woman brag that she and her husband had never left their kids with a sitter or with anyone overnight. That is nothing to brag about! That is a shame. Wives and husbands need time away together to rekindle the flames. Since our girls were young, Tim and I committed to spending at least two nights a month on a date (even if it was just a walk and a picnic), and tried to get an overnight away together at least once or twice a year. You can use family, good friends, trade babysitting, buy Groupons, etc. But just do it.

• And last, but not least, pray. Pray for your marriage and for a change of heart. Pray for God to renew your love, your passion, your connection to your husband and marriage. God specializes in the impossible! (Luke 18:27).

________

1Wendy Plump, “A Roomful of Yearning and Regret,” The New York Times, December 9, 2010, accessed at www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/fashion/12Modern.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&.

Tim and Denise Harlow serve with Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park, Illinois.

By Tim Harlow

Where do you go when weariness sets in or you’re up against a problem that won’t be solved without some muscle?

When my oldest daughter was almost 3, I remember her comforting me as I left for work one day. She said, “Call me if you need anything.”

Now I’m sure she meant it more sincerely than the person she had heard the empty phrase from (probably me), but all I could do was laugh.

“OK, Rachel, if I have some trouble in this big crazy world, I’ll give you a call and see if you can help me out.”

If I’m in trouble, I don’t need a 3-year-old’s help. I need some muscle.

Guys Like These

Back in the day when Kurt Warner was the quarterback of the St. Louis Rams, I got to go to training camp and interview him. It was the year after his big Super Bowl win, and his was a tremendous rags-to-riches story.

While I was there, I actually got to eat with the team. It was quite a spread; everything was marked with the calories and fat content, so you could eat what would help you gain weight—or lose it.

But as I pondered my selection, all of a sudden the offensive line thundered in. Have you ever seen those guys up close? They were hungry and they were BIG. So I just backed out of the way.

If you’re a quarterback, you don’t need a 3-year-old on your line. You don’t need me on your line. You need those guys!

The more vulnerable you are—the more protection you need! As much as I respect NFL quarterbacks, I don’t think there is anything more vulnerable than playing on God’s team. Whether it’s your paid job or you volunteer, there is no one who takes more hits than a person who is trying to win the only game that really matters for eternity.

Thoughts Like These

So who is God to you?

As I read Scripture, I find the people who did the most for God were the people who thought the most of God.

If you don’t think God is strong enough, your faith will be weak and you will fail.

I heard of two schoolkids bragging in the school yard. One said, “My daddy can beat up your daddy.” And the other kid said, “Big deal! So can my mom.”

If you have no faith in your Dad—God in Heaven—you will never venture out of your comfort zone.

Evangelist and author Bill Bright said, “The amount of trust you have in God depends on how you view him.”

King David understood.

The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident (Psalm 27:1-3).

Reactions Like This

Moses struggled with it at first. When God called him, he said: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11).

Moses had the same reaction we all have—“Who am I?”

And God said, “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12).

Interesting answer. Basically, God answers Moses’ questions by saying, “Who cares who you are? It’s not about you. I’m talking through a bush right now!”

Which reminds me of the time God let a donkey talk to the prophet Balaam—a real-life Shrek moment. I remind myself of that story every time I get up to preach. It’s happened before, it could happen again.

Who cares who you are? It’s not about you. It’s about God. So who is God to you? Who is it that you’re going to “call if you need anything”?

“I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron . . . so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name” (Isaiah 45:2, 3).

Call on that God. Let that God be your offensive line. Then when the trouble comes, you will be able to stand strong and know you’re going to win in the end. Yes, you will take some hits. I don’t know how you could study the life of Jesus and not realize doing ministry is never going to be easy. But the reason even the Son of God could save the world and start a worldwide movement in three years was because he knew who was on his offensive line.

God doesn’t need me. I’m just a speaking donkey. But he chooses to use me to do his work, and I just can’t imagine disappointing him by being afraid to do what he’s asked me to do.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:30, 31).

Tim Harlow serves as senior pastor with Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois.

By Tim Harlow

When we get ahead of God, we’re getting ready to fall.

Like you, I cringe every time a pastor flames out. For one thing, I know that there, but for the grace of God, go I. I also know my job just got harder. I know that people look at the fallen pastor, and then look at me and wonder what I’m really like. The apostle James warned us of this reality (James 3:1), but it doesn’t make it any easier when another teacher doesn’t make it.

Somewhere, deep inside, we all love hearing stories about someone else’s failure. We subconsciously feel better about ourselves when we hear about someone else who messed up. It’s a weird yet normal part of human nature. What good would the Internet be if we couldn’t find all the dirt?

And, just so you know, I think the scrutiny of clergy is justified. For those of us who are supposedly accountable to God—and get paid from the tithes of saints’ Social Security checks—there should be scrutiny. I accept this.

I try to take heed when I hear a story of failure. I usually stop for a little introspection.

Losing Touch

Lately, some of the bigger stories do not hinge on the typical sins of adultery and addiction, but something one repentant pastor called “hubris.” Hubris is about losing touch with reality and thinking it’s about you, not God.

Obviously, any time you have a lot of people looking up to you and telling you how great you are, pride is waiting. The reason there is evil in this world is because Satan fell to hubris.

But many times, these leaders fell into sinful hubris while they were trying to do good things.

Jim Collins, author of How the Mighty Fall, says the first sign of demise for an organization is “hubris born of success.”

Great enterprises can become insulated by success; accumulated momentum can carry an enterprise forward for a while, even if its leaders make poor decisions or lose discipline.

Stage 1 kicks in when people become arrogant, regarding success virtually as an entitlement, and they lose sight of the true underlying factors that created success in the first place. When the rhetoric of success (“We’re successful because we do these specific things”) replaces penetrating understanding and insight (“We’re successful because we understand why we do these specific things and under what conditions they would no longer work”), decline will very likely follow.

Luck and chance play a role in many successful outcomes, and those who fail to acknowledge the role luck may have played in their success—and thereby overestimate their own merit and capabilities—have succumbed to hubris.
—Jim Collins, How the Mighty Fall1

This is the most troubling part to me. It’s not that these organizations (churches, ministers, etc.) are doing something wrong. They are actually doing something right. They just start thinking they have it all figured out and, in many cases, make decisions that put them out over their skis.

Too Far Forward

When you ski, your boots are locked into skis that are generally about as long as you are, so balance in all directions is important. Obviously, if you’re imbalanced sideways, you will fall. If you lean too far back, you may fall—or worse. You may end up lying down on your skis while you head downhill way too fast. (Incoming!)

However, the phrase “getting out over your skis” means you are too far forward. It’s not something a novice usually does. It only happens when someone is being too aggressive.

In general, it’s not a problem with actually skiing. And it’s not a problem with being on the wrong slope. It’s not even a problem of speed. It’s about balance.

I believe the danger for any of us leading a church is in letting our passion for doing the work of God, coupled with some small victories from God, convince us that we should lean out too far. Then one day we wake up and find ourselves in a crumpled pile at the bottom of the mountain. And, unfortunately, we end up hurting a lot of other skiers on our way down.

It may eventually take the form of an obvious sinful behavior, or it may just turn you into someone who is impossible to work with. But it usually starts with a very small decision to take a very slight forward angle past the place of total dependence on God. Paradoxically, this happens even as you are doing the work of God.

Trust me, I’m no expert. I have an unhealthy human desire to win and be successful. And I have a healthy spiritual desire to help all of God’s children find their way back home. But sometimes, I get out over my skis.

Collins’s words seem appropriate for individuals, as well.

I’ve come to see institutional decline like a staged disease: harder to detect but easier to cure in the early stages, easier to detect but harder to cure in the later stages. An institution can look strong on the outside but already be sick on the inside, dangerously on the cusp of a precipitous fall.
—Jim Collins, How the Mighty Fall

The apostle Paul said it this way,

“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).

________

1Jim Collins, “A Primer on the Warning Signs,” How the Mighty Fall, May 2009, accessed at http://jimcollins.com/books/how-the-mighty-fall.html.

Tim Harlow is the senior pastor at Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois. He is also the author of Life on Mission: God’s People Finding God’s Heart for the World.

By Tim Harlow

My best advice for your ministry: share the Spirit.

So Moses . . . brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. . . . However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. . . . Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!” (Numbers 11:24-28).

I love this. It’s so . . . human nature. We can’t let these people prophesy—they are “out of network!” (Sorry, I’ve been dealing with health insurance lately!)

It’s similar to the New Testament incident when John told Jesus: “Master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us” (Luke 9:49).

I love it when Christians censor each other.

“Moses replied, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!’” (Numbers 11:29).

And, in turn, here was Jesus’ reply to John: “Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you” (Luke 9:50).

I think I’m getting better at this with age. At some point, you have to wake up and realize God doesn’t actually need you to save the world. He doesn’t need my church or your church, either. He doesn’t even need my “tribe.” I love my tribe. This movement of churches we call the Restoration Movement is so attractive; it’s a church magnet. I was recently at a gathering of some of our largest churches and more than 20 percent of the churches joined this conference recently, from outside of the movement. To quote the musical Wicked, we’re “very very pop-u-lar.”

What should “sharing the Spirit” look like?

Our church has adopted the nation of Malawi. Our goal is PEACE.

Plant churches that promote reconciliation.
Equip servant leaders.
Assist the poor.
Care for the sick.
Educate the next generation.

We are partnering with Rick Warren and Saddleback church in bringing a model they’ve pioneered in Rwanda. (They came from a Southern Baptist background.) The beauty of the PEACE plan in Malawi is the unity of the churches working together.

So we’ve started this process in Malawi, and we have already seen almost all of the major churches and denominations come together. It turns out there are only a few religious institutions and seminaries in that region of Africa, so most of these pastors are trained at the same schools.

They already know each other. They have high respect for each other. In most cases, the denominational markers are only on the buildings and the signs. They think and act very similarly.

In Rwanda, from what I’ve seen, when churches work together, then business and the government take notice and join them.

Maybe the problems in Africa are so vast, the Christians have decided that solving the problems outweighs denominational differences.

Working Together

But we don’t have issues in the United States, right?

Let me remind the majority of the readers of this magazine: our movement was birthed in the idea of putting denominational differences aside and “sharing the Spirit.”

I love that Scripture says God actually took “some of the power of the Spirit that was on Moses” and spread it around.

I LOVE that.

Moses had to share. The Spirit of God is limitless in power, but the Bible tells us it can be limited by our “quenching” (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

If we worked together, perhaps the Spirit would flourish.

In my younger days, I wanted to hog the Spirit for my church and the things I thought God wanted us to accomplish. I was jealous of the Spirit in others. Now, I’m trying to learn how to share.

That makes my perspective so much different when one of our leaders leaves to go to a new place and share the Spirit.

New and Exciting Ways

Casey Tygrett served on our staff for seven years and was recently called to the lead teaching role at Heartland Community Church in Rockford, Illinois.

I am sad. Casey will be missed; his family is dear to our family in many ways. But this is good. It’s great, actually, because the Spirit will be able to move through him in new and exciting ways. It’s great for Heartland Church.

Heartland is the church that sent three Spirit-filled couples to Ventura, California, several years ago to plant a church. Parkview partnered with them in that plant. I’m still an “elder” at that church plant.

And then my daughter, Lauren, and her husband, Tommy, decided to take a deeper look into doing ministry and did a residency with Mission Church Ventura. After a year of residency, the church hired them, and my granddaughter is now growing up in that church. I’m sure glad Heartland shared the Spirit!

So put this all together. Heartland shared the Spirit with Ventura, who shared it with my kids. How could I not be excited to share the Spirit back with Heartland?

Heartland didn’t come from our tribe of churches. Who cares? They shared it.

One of the most Spirit-filled moments of my life was when we first gathered church leaders together in Malawi. A group of 60 of the top leaders from the country gathered and selected nine men and women to serve as the steering team for the PEACE plan. There were people with big titles—apostle, archbishop. There were multiple denominations.

As we asked them to come forward for prayer, I thought to myself, it sure would be good to have them kneel as we lay hands on them. But I didn’t know how that would play out culturally. Then, as they came forward, several of them turned to each other and motioned that they should kneel, so they did.

I’ll tell you, if tongues of fire had come and rested on their heads, I would not have been shocked. It was one of those moments!

I agree with Moses. “I wish the Lord would put his Spirit on everyone!”

It may come back to bless me personally; it may not. Who cares? Share it!

Tim Harlow serves as senior pastor with Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois.

By Tim Harlow

I made a joke the final day of the North American Christian Convention when I appointed my friend Mike Baker as next year’s president. I knighted him with a sword (because Mike and I are weird that way), and then I said, “But I’m keeping the sword—because you might be tempted to fall on it sometime this year.”

In case you are wondering, there is no pay involved in being the president. Actually it’s the opposite; your church or organization will likely have to spend money on it, and it will cost you in many ways.

Tim Harlow “knights” Mike Baker as the incoming NACC president.

Is it worth it?

Absolutely. We need this gathering because we need this movement, and movements need some glue.

The ironic thing about giving my gavel to Mike Baker is that Mike and I joined the Continuation Committee the same year. We knew each other before, but became lifelong friends through this—mainly because we discovered we both had a knack for sitting on the back row and complaining about how dumb the NACC was.

We weren’t even sure whether the Restoration Movement was going to make it. Honestly, the convention was bogged down in some bad management and traditionalism 10 years ago. It seemed to be reflective of a movement that was stuck in the same dimension.

I Said Yes

I can’t stand people who sit in the back and complain but don’t do something about it. So I said yes to 2014. But major strides had been made in the past 10 years, and I believe we’ve learned from some mistakes. I believe every convention has built off the best of the years before and it’s heading in the right direction. The management team of the convention is great, the Board of Stewards is willing to take risks, and people are taking notice. I had several young leaders tell me they wish they had brought their teams to this convention instead of another one they had attended.

I watched God move in a way that was unmistakable this past July in Indianapolis. When Lee Strobel got up and said, “God told me to change my message,” I knew we were experiencing a book of Acts move of God. (You have to know Lee—that doesn’t happen.) When 88-year-old Ben Merold got up and “threw down” his message, telling people to get back on mission, I knew we had a move of God. (I had to twist his arm almost all the way off to get him to do it. I actually put his picture in the publicity before he said yes, just to put the pressure on.)

So, as a repentant, back-row complainer turned president, let me tell you why I’ve changed. There was a famous, old Hair Club for Men commercial where a guy said, “I’m not just the president, I’m a client.” It’s something like that for me.

Why I’ve Changed

Our movement rocks! Everyone wants to play in our sandbox now. I think I have Craig Groeschel thinking about it. Don’t tell the Southern Baptists, but Rick Warren already has one leg in (and, by the way, he promises me he has a document that says his great-great-grandfather was a deacon in Alexander Campbell’s church; he may be more “Christian church” than any of us).

One of the great privileges I had was to preach in some other churches this year. One of them was “our” largest Christian church in the Indianapolis area, which you probably haven’t ever heard about: Northview Church in Carmel.

Northview used to be part of a different denomination and decided it wanted to be independent, but still wanted a “tribe.” I saw how the church identified itself in an Outreach magazine listing and thought it was a mistake, but Northview has identified with us.

Wasn’t that the point of the movement in the first place? Barton Stone and the Campbells’ original intent was that we live out the prayer of Jesus found in John 17. This is why the Board of Stewards gave me so much freedom to bring in people from the “outside.” Not that we don’t have our own great preachers, but because most of you had never heard some of these innovative leaders before. It’s OK. We’re all working together.

We need the NACC. Someone famous (I can’t remember who) said, “If we didn’t have this convention, we’d need to start something like it.” I agree with that. What would identify us if we didn’t have this time to meet together? Maybe most of our churches have loyalties to certain colleges or mission organizations, but if there weren’t a gathering like this, there would be nothing to define who we are.

I love that I’m not part of a denomination. I don’t want to tell you how to run your church. But I do want to know you are on my team. That’s what this is about. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to this convention (only missed four in my life) and walked away ready to go for another season. A pat on the back from Ben Merold, a story about dumb people in church from Bob Russell, a poem from Roy Lawson, a hymn led by a guy with white gloves, and I’m ready to go again.

Our movement and this convention are changing with the world. I hope you are reading this article on the new Christian Standard app on your mobile device. It’s a new world. I believe we’ve demonstrated that the NACC is doing its best to keep up with it. From the Twitter intro to the LED wall to the amazing worship, I don’t think anyone left Indy feeling like we were stuck in the 1980s anymore (there were no white gloves).

North American Christian Convention President Tim Harlow preaches on the opening night of the four-day gathering in Indianapolis on July 8.

“On Mission”

We are “on mission” like no other tribe of churches.

Over and over I’ve felt God impressing on me that the most important thing is to find the lost sheep. It’s been the call of my life, but it’s never been more apparent than during my two years with this convention.

Two years ago, I met with an Executive Committee of the 2014 NACC for the first time. They were mostly people I knew, but I didn’t pick them. It was done by the NACC Board and the Continuation Committee. I said, “Well, I don’t want to control this (which everyone knows is a lie), but my heart beats for evangelism and the Great Commission.”

Then Dick Alexander spoke up, “I’ve been praying for a week that we’d do something on evangelism.” At that moment we all realized the Holy Spirit had been moving all of us in the same direction. We met for a retreat a few days in August, and this theme just rolled out in supernatural fashion. We even had time to try to teach Daryl Reed how to waterski (see my previous article, “Just Hold On”).

ReMission is exactly what God wanted us to focus on. And we did. And we are. We already have dozens of churches signed up to take the next step and do the 40 Days of Mission program in their churches (check out lifeonmission.com). We are one of the fastest-growing groups of churches in the country. If anyone is going to help turn the tide with our “Jerusalem,” it will be the independent Christian churches, working in unison with the other churches on mission to reach those around us. We are already doing it.

I know we live in a post-Christian era now, and we’re all having to change our approach to reaching our culture, but the simple truth is that people are interested in the real Jesus and his teaching. They just reject the sectarian and judgmental spirit of most of the Christians they run into. That’s not who we are! At least it’s not supposed to be.

All to say, I’ve never been more proud to be associated with this convention and movement. If you don’t like something about it—complain all you want—but when you’re called upon to do something about it, get off your back row and do something.

I did. Mike is. Dave Stone will in 2016. We need you. You need us.

I can’t thank you all enough for your support. I’m so grateful to my Executive Committee and my staff, and especially my wife, for making this convention work. It is a lot of work, but it was worth it.

Tim Harlow serves as senior pastor with Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois, and was president of the 2014 North American Christian Convention.

________

New Book

Get Tim Harlow’s new book Life on Mission, as well as related study-group material, at lifeonmission.com. Read the first chapter of his book free by downloading the new, free CHRISTIAN STANDARD app, available for Apple, Android, and Kindle.

By Tim Harlow

If you think about it, the whole idea of getting to live in Heaven with God one day, based totally and completely on the grace of Jesus, is a remarkable concept. Most of us have lived in the world of Christianity long enough that we just don’t appreciate it enough.

One day a Christian kid was talking to his friend about the concept of Jesus and Heaven. The other kid was blown away. He said, “Are you telling me that all I have to do is follow Jesus and I can go to Heaven?” 

“Yes, it’s that simple.” 

The friend then asked, “And if my mom wants to go, all she has to do is follow Jesus?” 

And the Christian kid answered, “Yeah, and if you don’t want her there—just don’t tell her.”

Could that be the problem? Will Hell be full of people who chose to rebel against God and reject the message of Jesus? Or will it just be people we didn’t really want hanging out with us in Heaven?

My Problem

I don’t believe I’m personally responsible for the salvation of every lost person with whom I come into contact. God is big enough not to need me. But if I am honest, indifference is a problem for me. Whenever I hear one of those hyper-evangelist preachers talk about sitting next to someone on a plane and leading them to Christ, I feel guilty. When I get on a plane, I rarely pray for God to put someone next to me that I can spend my whole trip talking to about Jesus. I pray for an empty seat, or a racehorse jockey who doesn’t speak English.

It’s not just indifference, I guess, it’s selfishness. It’s a complete lack of compassion. I think having a relationship is a better way to share my faith anyway. But I’m not sure I even care enough about my relationships either.

Jesus did.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:35-38, author emphasis).

This is so important! I score a zero on most spiritual gift tests when it comes to the gift of mercy.

“Let me call the waa-mbulance.” “Should I get out my tiny violin?” (Our church members request that I NOT visit them in the hospital!)

When I see the crowds, I see them as annoying and in my way. Stupid sheep.

God’s been teaching me I have the gift of evangelism, but not compassion. Usually that’s because I just don’t understand how sheep can be so messed up. Lately God has brought some people into my life who have really helped me understand the background of why they are so “helpless.” Sometimes they are harassed and helpless because of bad decisions, but in a lot of cases—I dare say most cases—they are messed up because something or someone messed them up.

My Jonah Issues

I’ve really wrestled with my Jonah issues lately. We tend to think of Jonah as the guy who ran from God’s assignment because he was afraid to go to Nineveh. But the truth is, he actually had SCD (Sheep Compassion Deficiency).

When Jonah resurrects from the fish and finally goes to Nineveh, surprisingly, the king repents and says: “Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish” (Jonah 3:9).

God might have what? Compassion! Why would God have compassion on what may have been the most horribly evil civilization since before the flood? No way that’s happening!

God had compassion “and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened” (Jonah 3:10, author emphasis).

Wait! I thought God was a God of justice? Well, evidently he’s a God of compassion first.

The weird part is that Jonah actually knew that. The real reason he didn’t want to go to Nineveh was because he had SCD and he was afraid God didn’t!

“But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord. ‘. . . I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:1-3).

You see, Jonah knew that God was a God of second chances. God sent Jonah a big fish to give him a second chance. But Jonah didn’t want Nineveh to get one.

God asks Jonah an interesting question that really helps me with my SCD.

“Should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh?” (Jonah 4:11).

Basically God says, “Nineveh has 120,000 children that live there and even innocent animals.” (See how The Message renders the verse: “Nineveh . . . , this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don’t yet know right from wrong.”)

Sometimes when I see the hurt and helpless sheep, I have SCD because of the way they are acting or the addictions or behaviors they have that are destroying them. I don’t necessarily want God to rain down fire and brimstone on them, but I’m not going to be bothered with their junk. But when I realize that, as they say, “hurt people, hurt people,” it gives me a different perspective. 

This messed-up sheep was probably a little lamb that someone neglected, or worse. If they don’t get help, they are going to royally screw up their own children and maybe other people in the world. This helps me with my SCD. It gives me more patience and a greater desire to help them.

I heard a former Third World missionary describe his confusion over the way First World preachers talk about the Samaritan woman in John 4. She was married five times and living with a guy. We assume she was immoral. Hopping from one bed to another without any regard for morality. But as he read that passage in a place where women had no rights, a place where women are property and can’t have a job or any independence (as was the case in first-century Samaria), he didn’t read her situation as immoral, but tragic.

What if her first five husbands just dumped her? What if she was barren and no one wanted her because she couldn’t do the one thing that was important for a woman to do? What if she was living with a guy because she was going to starve otherwise? It wasn’t right, but if you’ve met prostitutes in those cultures, you know that not many of them chose that life for themselves.

That’s a little different perspective, isn’t it? We already know this woman at the well was blown away by the fact that Jesus had enough compassion to talk to her in the first place. She certainly didn’t feel judged by Jesus. No lost sheep ever did.

Your Nineveh

If God was concerned about Nineveh, he’s also concerned about your city. If you are suffering from SCD today, I understand. But what about the children? What about the innocent? Do you understand what happened in that Ninevite person’s life that caused him or her to be so harassed and helpless in the first place?

I know such individuals are difficult and needy and make bad decisions that make you crazy. But I’m praying for an extra dose of compassion for you today. And for me. It doesn’t do any good to pray for the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the field if we all have SCD.

Tim Harlow serves as senior pastor with Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois. Read the first chapter of his book, Life on Mission, free in the Christian Standard app.

By Tim Harlow

I will never forget getting glasses for the first time. I was in fifth grade and was evidently in worse shape than anyone realized, because I was blown away by the clarity I suddenly experienced. I distinctly remember telling my mom, “I can see the leaves on the trees!” Until then, I had no idea there were actual individual leaves on trees. I just thought it was a big green blob on top of a brown trunk.

Clarity was amazing.

I was reading in Scripture the other day about another blind man, and he had an experience something like mine.

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly (Mark 8:22-25).

Wait, what?

Jesus. Jesus missed it by that much?

Did Jesus misdiagnose? Did he not know about the man’s astigmatism? Was he just having a bad day? (I picture my optometrist saying, “One or two? One . . . or two?”)

My theory is this: it’s all about faith.

There are many places in Scripture where Jesus is limited by the amount of faith a person had. In his hometown, Jesus was so familiar to everyone that they couldn’t wrap their brains around the possibility that he could actually be the Son of God. “And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith” (Matthew 13:58).

In other cases, Jesus credits the miracle to the person’s amount of faith (Mark 2:1-5; 5:25-34; and Luke 17:11-19).

Maybe this blind man initially had only enough faith to get him to “walking trees,” but not enough to “see everything clearly.” And then, once he realized Jesus could help him, the rest was simple.

What’s Happened?

I don’t know about you, but that’s a big part of my problem. I believe Jesus is Lord and can handle running the universe and my problems at the same time. But seldom do I get beyond the walking trees, usually because I’ve not stopped long enough to realize that a miracle has already taken place.

It’s made more interesting, at least for me, by what had just transpired in Mark’s Gospel. In Mark 6, when Jesus walked on the water, Mark says the disciples were blown away because they really didn’t have complete faith in Jesus at that point. Even though they had just seen him take five loaves and two fish and feed a giant crowd!

When Jesus miraculously shows up at their boat in the lake, the Bible says the disciples were completely amazed “for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:52).

And two chapters later, when Jesus miraculously feeds another crowd, the disciples still don’t get it.

Jesus asks them, “Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see?” (Mark 8:17, 18).

I almost wonder if the incomplete miracle of sight was a bit of a lesson for the disciples, as well.

What’s Next?

Maybe this is a good day to stop and look around, with whatever walking tree faith you have, and realize what God has already done. Who knows what Jesus might do next?

I love the story of Elisha and his servant being surrounded by Arameans in 2 Kings 6. The servant has only walking tree faith until Elisha prayed for him.

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. 

“Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:15-17).

As a church leader, it’s easy to see the armies of the opposition. Sometimes they are your church’s members! As I look back on what God has done in my life and the life of our church, it’s obvious miracles have happened over and over again. But when the army is at the door, I tend to forget. I tend to have walking tree faith all over again.

I’m praying for us to have “everything clearly” faith today. I’m praying God will open your eyes and let you see the supernatural that is all around you.

Your prayer should be the same as the man who needed a miracle for his son; he said, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

Tim Harlow serves as senior pastor with Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois.

By Tim Harlow

I don’t fancy myself an extreme environmentalist. I’m not a “tree hugger,” but I do respect nature. I have cut down a few trees that were past their prime, and I once accidently killed a small one with a golf cart, but I do love trees. Where I live, the only trees are ones someone planted. So the story of Jesus “zapping” a tree is fascinating to me.

Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “Then he said to it, ‘May you never bear fruit again!’ Immediately the tree withered” (Matthew 21: 18, 19).

Did he gesture with his hands? I mean, all the Bible says is that he spoke the words, but it seems to me like some kind of a “zapping” gesture is appropriate.

I don’t believe this was a moment of low blood sugar rage. I had one child who seemingly became demon-possessed when she hadn’t eaten. Every home video of Lauren shows someone trying to feed her something. That’s not the deal in this Bible incident. Jesus was making a statement. Many times the Bible used the fig tree as a symbol of the nation of Israel.

Mark’s Gospel tells us it wasn’t the typical season for figs, so does Jesus’ action seem harsh to you? No, because it wasn’t uncommon to find figs out of season; some trees produce most of the year. Perhaps Jesus was frustrated by the presence of leaves. Typically a tree with leaves also has fruit. This tree was a “poser.”

Jesus often was baffled at how clueless the religious leaders were. Now when I read these passages I wonder what he’d think about us!

Would he be as frustrated by our lack of fruit as he was back then? The religious system of Jesus’ day had “leaves.” It looked like the religious leaders and followers were doing what God wanted. They had services, followed God’s commands, and observed the rituals.

There were leaves . . . but no fruit.

Identifying the Fruit

What does fruit look like? It’s a good question. The people back then thought they were bearing fruit. They thought keeping the rules and being good and going through the motions of religion was fruit. Jesus essentially said, “No, that’s just leaves . . . it’s possible for you to be a nice white tomb on the outside and be full of dead men’s bones on the inside” (Matthew 23:27). Leaves . . . without fruit.

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit” (John 15:5).

Scholars have argued over what that fruit looks like. Was Jesus talking about the fruit of the Spirit? (Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.?) Or was he talking about the fruit of reproduction?

I believe the answer is both.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

In my opinion, Jesus was upset the tree was acting like it had fruit, but it was deceitful.

The problem with the first-century church was it was acting like it had fruit, but it was deceitful. The problem with the 21st-century church is the same thing.

We’ve got buildings and marquees with nice slogans and welcome signs, and there are people going in and out. But more than 95 percent of all churches haven’t seen a single convert in the past year.

Leaves, yes. The churches are healthy in the sense of the organism being alive. But any organism that doesn’t reproduce is really already dead, even if it looks alive.

In the case of a tree, it can look really good for a generation, but producing fruit is about whether the tree becomes a forest . . . or firewood.

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:8).

Tim Harlow serves as senior pastor with Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois, and was president of the 2014 North American Christian Convention.

By Kent E. Fillinger

To learn more about the state of evangelism in our churches, we asked questions of a dozen ministers from churches of all sizes:

• David Clark, lead pastor, Central Christian Church, Beloit, Wisconsin

• Scott Clevenger, lead pastor, Christ’s Church Camden, Kingsland, Georgia

• Doug Dykstra, lead minister, Adventure Christian Church, Tavares, Florida

• Tim Harlow, senior pastor, Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois

• Jerry Harris, senior pastor, The Crossing, Quincy, Illinois

• Nathan Head, executive pastor of ministries, Southland Christian Church, Nicholasville, Kentucky

• Cal Jernigan, senior pastor, Central Christian Church, Mesa, Arizona

• Patrick Lightfoot, adult minister, Journey Christian Church, Greeley, Colorado

• Mitchell McIntyre, senior minister, Bedford Acres Christian Church, Paris, Kentucky

• Richie Shaw, lead pastor, Real Life Ministries Spokane (Washington)

• Dave Stone, senior pastor, Southeast Christian, Louisville, Kentucky

• Ashley Woolridge, executive pastor, Christ’s Church of the Valley, Peoria, Arizona

How would you characterize the “spiritual openness” to the gospel in our culture today?

David Clark: I continue to be excited by our area’s receptivity to the gospel. There is resistance. But that is no different than it was 34 years ago. How the gospel is presented definitely affects how the gospel is received.

Dave Stone: Generally speaking, I think it’s more difficult; society as a whole is not as open as it used to be. Now, in this postmodern (post-Christian) world, we have to earn the right to be heard. Our big buildings don’t enhance that, but developing one-on-one relationships does.

Jerry Harris: I believe people are more open to the gospel. I personally have never experienced such a contrast between prevailing culture and real Christianity. People are longing for something that works in a world long on promises but very short on delivery.

Cal Jernigan: There is tremendous “spiritual openness” in our culture, but it does not necessarily translate into openness to church. People are still seeking spiritual things, (but) unchurched people would not consider “organized religion” as their first choice to get answers to their spiritual questions.

Barna reports, “Nearly half the U.S. population is churchless.”1 What cultural elements in the church need to change for it to be more effective in reaching the unchurched?

Tim Harlow: We have to lead with compassion. Or as Jesus said, “love your neighbor.” That is the single most important cultural shift that needs to be made if we are going to reach the unchurched and dechurched. The way our compassion surpasses our comfort is by seeing people the way God sees them. We need to get rid of the “us versus them” mentality, and replace it with an “us for and with them” mentality.

Ashley Woolridge: Probably the single biggest thing we could do as churches is to evaluate everything we do as to how it comes across to an “outsider” (someone far from Jesus who has not been a part of a church).

At CCV we ask people to mystery shop us all the time. And we listen. Recently we asked 10 couples who were not Christians and had never attended CCV to come to a service and give us an hour of their time afterwards. We had a professional lead a discussion with them after the service. The results were eye-opening, to say the least. And we’ve had to change many things as a result.

We’ve never changed anything related to the gospel message. But our methods and terminology sure have changed.

Scott Clevenger: I’m afraid too many churches still operate solely from an “attractional” ministry philosophy, where they are attempting to attract more people onto their campus through Sunday morning services, events, etc. We must have a community presence. We must get outside of the church walls in order to make a dent in that 50 percent stat.

With that said, however, I also feel a church whose ministry philosophy is solely “missional” will miss the mark, as well. There must be a balance.

Mitchell McIntyre: I think the church, as a whole, can focus on three things: (1) preach and teach the Word (in a way people can understand); (2) develop authentic relationships within the church and outside it; and (3) serve and reach lost people. This isn’t a question of worship styles or building design; it’s about attitude, mission, and vision.

Doug Dykstra: Methods for evangelism must be changed. Someone once said that people today need a “long, safe engagement period” before they’re ready to hear the gospel. Rarely do we see rapid responses to the gospel. I’ve learned to be more patient than ever before.

What evangelistic strategies is your church using effectively or successfully to reach those far from God?

Ashley Woolridge: One of the biggest evangelistic changes we’ve made in the last 10 years is switching from affinity to geographic small groups. Affinity groups work well for connecting those who are already Christians. Geographic small groups allow you to focus more on evangelism. It has completely changed the evangelism temperature in all of our small groups (which we call “neighborhood groups”).

David Clark: I live in a multiethnic community. So we have a Spanish-speaking ministry and a predominantly African-American inner-city campus. We have an additional campus in a neighboring community 15 miles away. Twice a year we deliver 12,000 door-hangers to the residences in our area. Four times a year we call our people to pray for their lost friends and family, giving them invitational cards to give to neighbors and coworkers. Four times a year we hold “buzz” events designed to attract unchurched people in our community.

This year I’ve decided to do “baptism” weekends once a month.

We serve the poor to validate the authenticity of the love of Christ. Weekly we give away four days of groceries to all hungry people (probably about 150 to 200 people) who ask for help. We do Project Hope (free medical care, eye care, dental care, haircuts, clothes/shoe bank, along with a free hot meal) twice a year. We do a school supply/backpack store and Christmas store to give dignity to those in need.

Richie Shaw: The strategy is to empower disciples to make disciples in real relationship. Most of our equipping revolves around how to be in real relationship with people, because that is where the greatest impact is going to happen.

Scott Clevenger: We’ve realized that the giant events we’ve created in the past yield very little return on investment, from an outreach perspective. We kicked off an all-church vision this year to saturate our community simply by being present in our community. We call it “For Camden.”

We hashtag all of our social media #forcamden, and we set up a simple site, www.forcamden.com, where Twitter and Instagram posts with that hashtag automatically sync up. When someone asks why we’re doing this, we simply tell them, “We’re from Christ’s Church, and we are ‘For Camden.’” That’s giving us a foot in so many doors.

Nathan Head: Over the last several years we have focused our energy on being known more for what we’re for than what we’re against. We are for the marginalized, so we helped start a ministry that engages the jobless in meaningful work. We open our doors every week to shelter homeless men. We are for those who are in poverty, so we opened two free medical clinics to serve them. We are for strippers and adult entertainers, so we send people into strip clubs in our community every week to love them unconditionally. We are for the mentally and/or physically challenged, so we throw a prom for them every year and celebrate them in our community every week. We are for the struggling, and so we give more than $10,000 a week, free and clear, to people in need.

Our singular focus at Southland is to “Unleash a Revolution of Love,” and these are a few ways we do that.

What does your church do to make evangelism a priority?

Cal Jernigan: Evangelism is always our top priority. And to heat it up further, we have made personal evangelism a ministry initiative this year. We realized last spring that we had not adequately equipped our people to share their faith. We are making strides to correct this.

Patrick Lightfoot: Each week we end our services with our mission statement, “At Journey, we love Jesus, we love people, and we have to go to Heaven and take as many people with us as possible, so enjoy the journey but don’t enjoy it alone.” This is a weekly reminder to our people the importance of two things: sharing Jesus with the lost and doing life together (discipleship). Both are vital in moving the kingdom forward, as you can’t have one without the other.

Jerry Harris: Our worship, our teaching, our ministries, small groups, finances, and campus expansions . . . everything we do is designed with evangelism in mind.

How have you changed your approach to evangelism in recent years? How has your church changed its approach?

Richie Shaw: When we planted Real Life Ministries Spokane four years ago, I hadn’t been leading many people to Christ personally. That had to change when we moved to Spokane. If we were going to be a church that reached lost people, I had to be a man, a disciple who reached lost people, before I was ever going to be a pastor who taught disciples to reach their friends and family.

That changed everything for me. As I started praying, Jesus opened up doors of opportunity for me to reach lost people in our city. The culture of our church will be a reflection of my leadership.

Tim Harlow: The big change is leading with our hands instead of our mouths. Back in the day, we thought we needed to convince people about Jesus. Now we need to show people who Jesus is.

Nathan Head: We’ve increased our focus on it. Last year our website contained more than 70 blog posts on evangelism. We pray about it every week as a staff and eldership. We show story after story in our weekend services. We celebrate baptism every chance we get. We’ve worked to normalize evangelism in our culture and empower people to invite their friends into the great life they now have in Christ.

How does your church prepare or equip its members to share their faith with others?

Dave Stone: Periodically I teach a class called Making Connections and Building Bridges. During sermons we also regularly point out suggestions and effective methods we see in the biblical text and from the early church.

Tim Harlow: We just took our church through a book and small group curriculum I produced with Pastors.com called Life on Mission.2 It looks at Jesus’ ministry and how he calls us to live our lives for the sake of people who are far from God. My book challenges people to live a life on mission through connecting, serving, sharing, growing, and praying. It’s simple, but not easy.

How can churches and believers effectively connect with those outside the faith?

Scott Clevenger: At its lowest common denominator, it’s a heart issue. Obviously, you can’t get close to the heart of Jesus without developing a heart for lost people.

Nathan Head: We probably have to own up to our fear about it. It’s not rocket science to love people, but it can be scary to get started. If you treat people as projects, they know it. If you truly love them, they know it. I’d suggest we start with the people to whom we are naturally drawn.

Tim Harlow: I have a friend who likes to say the best evangelistic tools are stuck on the side of your head. If you want to connect with people, all you need are good questions and the willingness to hear someone’s story. Make them feel welcome, even if they are a mess, in your church, in your home, and in your life.

Dave Stone: John Stott talks about “rabbit-hole Christianity,” where believers scurry throughout their day from one Christian get-together to the next. We challenge our people to intentionally have frequent conversations and relationships with people outside of the church and their Christian circle. (The idea isn’t original with us; we actually got it from Jesus!)

________

1“Connection,” Outreach magazine, January/February 2015.

2www.lifeonmission.com.

Kent Fillinger serves as president of 3:STRANDS Consulting and director of partnerships with CMF International, Indianapolis, Indiana.

________

Is It One of Your Spiritual Gifts?

For the first time, our church survey asked lead ministers whether evangelism was one of their primary spiritual gifts. Overall, 64 percent of the lead ministers surveyed said they have the gift of evangelism. The churches led by these ministers baptized more people than the churches led by ministers who did not claim evangelism as one of their primary gifts. 

But interestingly, churches led by ministers who do not possess the gift of evangelism grew faster in every size category except for medium-size churches. For example, megachurches led by ministers who do not claim the gift of evangelism grew twice as fast last year as churches led by ministers who say they have that gift.

—K.F.

By Tim and Denise Harlow

Yes, you can start over. But why not do the work now to create a marriage you can remember with quiet joy instead of sadness or shame?

Tim and Denise Harlow have been married 31 years.

My son-in-law texted me a picture of my grandson during a special moment in our service, right after I’d preached about adultery. It felt like more than a coincidence. It felt like God saying, This is why you stay in your marriage and are faithful to your wife.

I’m in a stage of life where I can spend a little more time looking back, which made this Scripture passage really jump out at me. Solomon says if you follow the path into adultery, you will end up with regret. “At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent” (Proverbs 5:11).

There are basically only two ways to look back on life when you get old (and I know I’m not old yet, MOM!). You can look back with joy or regret. You can groan, or you can rejoice.

No one is going to go to the grave thinking they batted a thousand. I will certainly not close my eyes for the last time without thinking back to some major blunders in my life. And I’m sure I’m not done blundering.

But as I looked at my grandson’s picture, I realized how easily I could have seen it through eyes of regret. If I hadn’t worked so hard on my marriage, or had blown up my marriage and wasn’t still with Charlie’s grandmother, the picture would be bittersweet.

Wendy Plump said it perfectly in her article about adultery in The New York Times:

I look at my parents and at how much simpler their lives are at the ages of 75, mostly because they haven’t marred the landscape with grand-scale deceit. They have this marriage of 50-some years behind them, and it is a monument to success. A few weeks or months of illicit passion could not hold a candle to it.

If you imagine yourself in such a situation, where would you fit an affair in neatly? If you were 75, which would you rather have: years of steady if occasionally strained devotion, or something that looks a little bit like the Iraqi city of Fallujah, cratered with spent artillery?1

Please know that you can start over. David was a “man after God’s own heart,” even after adultery. Your marriage can be saved and end up being better in the long run. But God really wants to save us from all of that.

So I asked my wife, Denise, to write from her perspective, especially as it pertains to physical intimacy . . .

________

Encouragement to Women from a Wife of 31 Years

By Denise Harlow

• First, there is no such thing as a perfect marriage or husband, in spite of what fairy tales may tell you. At the end of fairy tale movies, after the phrase “and they lived happily ever after” appeared, I often told my girls, “because they kept dating and working at their marriage.” Yes, I was quite the killjoy!

Realize that real life just happens and it is the everyday journey that we need to make the best of. No other person can make it better. It has a lot to do with your attitude. Philippians 4:8 says, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable . . . think about such things.” So think long and hard if you want this marriage to work and be truly healed—it is possible!

• Second, go to Christian counseling. I am not telling you anything I haven’t told our daughters. It may be a Christian sex therapist. Don’t let Satan or some abuser win over your life. God can make it wonderful. And it may take some time—it may take years—but don’t think it will just magically get better. Do something to make it better.

Once you are on the other side, you and your husband will have a thriving, flourishing marriage. It is possible. And you will be stronger with the beauty of long memories not only to share together, but to share with your children and grandchildren. Visualize the long-term benefits.

• Third, what are you doing to “water your own grass”? Are you being honest with your mate? Are you doing things that make you feel desirable? Are you helping plan date nights, or are you leaving it entirely up to your husband? Are you making sure your own “gas/emotional tank” is full?

I know we’ve all heard the phrase, “I fell out of love,” but honestly, love isn’t a feeling—it’s a commitment, and you’d be surprised how romantic feelings can return when you are doing something fun together.

I once heard a woman brag that she and her husband had never left their kids with a sitter or with anyone overnight. That is nothing to brag about! That is a shame. Wives and husbands need time away together to rekindle the flames. Since our girls were young, Tim and I committed to spending at least two nights a month on a date (even if it was just a walk and a picnic), and tried to get an overnight away together at least once or twice a year. You can use family, good friends, trade babysitting, buy Groupons, etc. But just do it.

• And last, but not least, pray. Pray for your marriage and for a change of heart. Pray for God to renew your love, your passion, your connection to your husband and marriage. God specializes in the impossible! (Luke 18:27).

________

1Wendy Plump, “A Roomful of Yearning and Regret,” The New York Times, December 9, 2010, accessed at www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/fashion/12Modern.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&.

Tim and Denise Harlow serve with Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park, Illinois.

By Tim Harlow

Where do you go when weariness sets in or you’re up against a problem that won’t be solved without some muscle?

When my oldest daughter was almost 3, I remember her comforting me as I left for work one day. She said, “Call me if you need anything.”

Now I’m sure she meant it more sincerely than the person she had heard the empty phrase from (probably me), but all I could do was laugh.

“OK, Rachel, if I have some trouble in this big crazy world, I’ll give you a call and see if you can help me out.”

If I’m in trouble, I don’t need a 3-year-old’s help. I need some muscle.

Guys Like These

Back in the day when Kurt Warner was the quarterback of the St. Louis Rams, I got to go to training camp and interview him. It was the year after his big Super Bowl win, and his was a tremendous rags-to-riches story.

While I was there, I actually got to eat with the team. It was quite a spread; everything was marked with the calories and fat content, so you could eat what would help you gain weight—or lose it.

But as I pondered my selection, all of a sudden the offensive line thundered in. Have you ever seen those guys up close? They were hungry and they were BIG. So I just backed out of the way.

If you’re a quarterback, you don’t need a 3-year-old on your line. You don’t need me on your line. You need those guys!

The more vulnerable you are—the more protection you need! As much as I respect NFL quarterbacks, I don’t think there is anything more vulnerable than playing on God’s team. Whether it’s your paid job or you volunteer, there is no one who takes more hits than a person who is trying to win the only game that really matters for eternity.

Thoughts Like These

So who is God to you?

As I read Scripture, I find the people who did the most for God were the people who thought the most of God.

If you don’t think God is strong enough, your faith will be weak and you will fail.

I heard of two schoolkids bragging in the school yard. One said, “My daddy can beat up your daddy.” And the other kid said, “Big deal! So can my mom.”

If you have no faith in your Dad—God in Heaven—you will never venture out of your comfort zone.

Evangelist and author Bill Bright said, “The amount of trust you have in God depends on how you view him.”

King David understood.

The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident (Psalm 27:1-3).

Reactions Like This

Moses struggled with it at first. When God called him, he said: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11).

Moses had the same reaction we all have—“Who am I?”

And God said, “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12).

Interesting answer. Basically, God answers Moses’ questions by saying, “Who cares who you are? It’s not about you. I’m talking through a bush right now!”

Which reminds me of the time God let a donkey talk to the prophet Balaam—a real-life Shrek moment. I remind myself of that story every time I get up to preach. It’s happened before, it could happen again.

Who cares who you are? It’s not about you. It’s about God. So who is God to you? Who is it that you’re going to “call if you need anything”?

“I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron . . . so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name” (Isaiah 45:2, 3).

Call on that God. Let that God be your offensive line. Then when the trouble comes, you will be able to stand strong and know you’re going to win in the end. Yes, you will take some hits. I don’t know how you could study the life of Jesus and not realize doing ministry is never going to be easy. But the reason even the Son of God could save the world and start a worldwide movement in three years was because he knew who was on his offensive line.

God doesn’t need me. I’m just a speaking donkey. But he chooses to use me to do his work, and I just can’t imagine disappointing him by being afraid to do what he’s asked me to do.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:30, 31).

Tim Harlow serves as senior pastor with Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois.

By Tim Harlow

“Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you” (Luke 9:49, 50).

When I was fresh out of college, I became a youth minister in Amarillo, Texas. Because of a gracious grant from a Christian foundation, I was able to get my master’s degree for free. This was well before the days of the Internet, so I actually had to go to the class. The only program around was an extension program from Wayland Baptist University. Several of my ministry friends and I took advantage of the program.

I grew up in this nondenominational movement most of you are familiar with, and I had not ventured far beyond my roots. Even though I now laugh at the minute differences with the Southern Baptists, attending a Baptist university was out of my norm.

I had no idea why someone would want to be a part of any denomination, but my eyes were opened to the fact that there are some distinct advantages (including a unified missions and discipleship approach) to go with the disadvantages (the lack of autonomy). I later studied at a Lutheran seminary and did my doctoral work with a lot of Pentecostal pastors.

I still like the way we do it, but I learned that my blinders had been pretty tight. There are many people who are for Jesus who do things differently than I do. They might even be able to drive out demons.

But my point is not about the largeness of the kingdom. It’s about why the disciples, or any disciples, would criticize or work against another kingdom worker in the first place.

A Feeling of Failure

Look at the context of the passage quoted above. Just a few verses earlier the disciples had tried to drive out a demon and failed (vv. 37-40). The guy had to go to the top—to Jesus—to get the demon out of his son. And Jesus was apparently frustrated with the whole issue.

“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here” (Luke 9:41).

The disciples just might have been feeling the sting of that rebuke, as well as the feeling of failure, when they ran into the guy who was actually able to drive out demons.

“Hey, stop driving out those demons!”

Seriously? Who cares whether he was driving out demons in the name of SpongeBob SquarePants; the demons were gone!

Ask one of the demon-free people if they care if the guy’s doctrine was not good enough. I’m pretty sure the answer would be, “We don’t care if the guy worshipped Gozer the Gozerian, we’re demon free!”

I have lower-back issues and see a chiropractor. I’ve found that there are a few major schools of thought in back care. But if I’m traveling and have to find someone to help me, I don’t care if they are from the drop-table school or the twist-you-like-a-pretzel school, I just want to walk upright. I hate looking like proof for Darwin! Just fix me!

And actually, isn’t proof of the true God manifested through the fact that there is power over demons? Jesus said Satan doesn’t cast himself out. So what could possibly be the problem here? Why would the disciples feel this way?

Maybe the disciples had their own demon: jealousy.

So when you are tempted to cut down someone else’s ministry (and I’m guilty of that at times), stop and ask yourself, “Is this really a doctrinal issue or a jealousy issue?”

An Old Problem

Back in the early days of ministry at Parkview, we lost many good people. Changing the focus and re-missioning the church meant making some people unhappy. Sometimes they didn’t tell us; we’d just see their names in another church newsletter under the “Welcome New Members” section. Ironically, I would usually find something else in that newsletter to criticize in some way (in proportion to the financial support we had just lost).

Now I’m on the other side. Megachurch. Mega is a four-letter word to many people.

Master, we saw people baptizing in your name, but we tried to stop them because they are not one of us.

I am so over it. But listen, when you are criticized for doing something because “we’ve never done it that way,” it certainly may be because they are just comfortable and need to be challenged. But perhaps these are people who tried something before and failed, and they don’t know how to deal with it when you succeed.

I wonder how often that is the issue. If I don’t succeed in something related to ministry, I’m going to have a hard time allowing you to succeed. It’s called crab mentality in modern culture. Crab mentality is the idea that any single crab could escape the boiling pot of water if it wanted to, but it never happens because the other crabs keep pulling it down.

Ironically, the answer to this issue may be found in the conversation that happened in between the disciples’ failure and their jealousy.

“An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest” (Luke 9:46).

There it is. The problem (as always).

Tim Harlow serves as senior pastor with Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois. 

Four ministers. One concern: How to find a “band of brothers” for accountability, insight, and help to finish well.

By Eddie Lowen

I was set apart for ministry by the first church that employed me. I was only 19 when they hired me (and 20 when they ordained me), yet they took a chance. They took a chance that I would graduate a year after my ordination. They took a chance that I would mature in many ways.

They also took a chance that I would find a wife! Seriously, at the time, an unmarried pastor was rare. Most of my college peers were married, or at least engaged. Since marriage-before-ministry was the prevailing template, some of the good folks at my church worried that I was so comfortably single.

As true believers always do, they took the matter to God. Church ladies would remind me they were praying for my future wife. During my ordination service, two leaders prayed what I coined “marry-natha” prayers: Come quickly, Lord Jesus, with a woman for Eddie! They seemed to think, With Eddie marriage is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

If eHarmony and Match.com had existed, my ordination gift from the church would have been dual subscriptions. In all sincerity, I am grateful for their prayers because those petitions prompted God to appoint me a huge winner in the game of wife.

Another Brand of Lonely

With this backdrop, you can understand why I misunderstood one of the elders who ordained me when he said, “Eddie, ministry can be a lonely calling, but being alone is a choice.” Because my unattached status was a frequent topic of conversation, I assumed he was trying to light a fire under me in the matrimony department.

Several days later I realized he was not speaking of marriage. He was warning me against the self-imposed loneliness that is common among pastors.

When a thousand pastors responded to a survey by LifeWay, 55 percent reported feelings of discouragement. Interestingly, 55 percent also reported feelings of loneliness. A statistical fluke? Perhaps. A coincidence? I doubt it. I believe the majority of pastors magnify their own discouragement by placing themselves in a voluntary relational quarantine.

Pastors are susceptible to this tendency because church relationships are dangerous. Whom should you trust? How open should you be? How many times do you get burned before pulling back and putting your shields up?

Perhaps we can call it the Elijah Syndrome. The prophet Elijah bottomed out emotionally soon after his victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. (It’s the Old Testament equivalent of resigning from your church the week after a successful building campaign.) Harassed and hunted, Elijah complained to God that he was all in, but all alone. Rather than pity Elijah, however, God offered him perspective: there were thousands of faithful servants of God in Israel. Elijah just hadn’t built relationships with any of them.

Leadership does carry some inherent loneliness. Every person who has ever been promoted above a peer has learned that greater authority, even when received humbly, changes relationships.

But God never intended leadership to be void of connections. If Jesus ever sent a disciple on a lone-wolf mission, I don’t remember it. (Sure, he told Judas to get on with the betrayal, but that’s not an example we want to follow.) Honestly, I don’t think Jesus trusted his followers individually as much as he trusted them collectively. He preferred partnership and collaboration. Jesus invented the buddy system, sending out workers two by two.

Obviously, every local church should develop a team atmosphere. But I’m convinced that every leader—and especially the key leader—needs a group of peers among whom it is safe to say anything.

Choosing to Get and Stay Connected

Fast-forward 17 years beyond my ordination to a gathering of pastors in California. Under circumstances none of us fully recalls, four lead pastors became friends and discussed our mutual need for a band of brothers. Exactly what the group needed to ultimately become, we weren’t certain. But we knew we needed it and believed God would help us discover it.

The Stinklings (adapted from the Inklings, a group of authors that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien) have been gathering semiannually and communicating weekly by text and e-mail for a decade. Our activities, interests, and needs have morphed over time, but our covenant commitment to walk through our final 25 years of ministry leadership together is firm.

Affinity and common interests have helped us bond, no doubt. We all play golf and tennis. We all snow ski and water ski. We all enjoy nature and travel. We all adore our wives and kids. We share similar gifts (leadership and communication), but exercise them in unique ways.

We learn from each other, but leave room for differences. Our opinions are similar enough to place us in the same solar system, but in slightly different orbits. We agree a lot. We disagree for sport. We change each other’s minds. Sometimes.

Most years, the Stinklings schedule two gatherings of several days. We also meet-up for dinner at conferences and events. The group has no leader. Everyone initiates conversations; everyone tries to participate. Some of our e-mail and text message threads are casual check-ins and personal celebrations. Some are just for fun. Some are for sharing burdens and seeking prayers.

It’s important to note that each of us has multiple circles of pastor friends and other close friends. At a recent conference, several of us were in the same restaurant, laughing and eating with separate groups of pastor friends.

Sometimes we pull friends from other circles together. We partner on some church plants and mission projects; we fly solo on others. Freedom and flexibility are key. Discretion and confidentiality are essential.

Reach Out

Providence seems to be a factor in friendships, but our group was mostly an act of will. We all wanted something like what we have, so we chased it. If we hadn’t created it with one another, we probably would have created some version of it with other peers and friends.

If something in you wants or needs a covenant group, suggest the possibility to a leader with similar responsibilities or passions. Plan an overnight getaway with three or four participants. Evaluate the chemistry and keep it going as long as it’s valuable.

Create a Covenant

Our group produced a written covenant. It isn’t profound or polished, so we don’t distribute it. It’s the kind of document any group of leaders could create. Below are some suggested threads and themes for a similar covenant, if you want to establish some group values or practices:

• Call one another to deep humility and authenticity. Establish transparency and truthfulness as an essential value for your group.

• Spell out what you’ve seen in yourself and others that has obstructed the Spirit, hindered ministry, or harmed people. Ask for accountability in these areas.

• Commit to confess and confront secret attitudes and character sins that aren’t discussed among casual friends.

• Articulate attitudes you want to avoid as leaders.

• Open the door to discuss marriage and parenting dynamics.

• Determine the type of confidentiality you want for your group and to what degree it includes your spouses.

• Spell out how you want to steward your influence and authority.

• Establish how you’ll say hard things and hear hard things to/from each other.

• Create the expectation that personal perspectives and biblical truth will be spoken in love and received humbly, even when there is disagreement.

• Identify heroes who’ve modeled what you want to see in yourselves.

• Identify leaders whose lives deteriorated over time or who failed to finish well, then discuss how you’ll help each other avoid a similar path.

• Talk about how you will coach each other through life and ministry transitions.

• Express your devotion to Scripture, but also to a growing understanding of it, which requires that old assumptions be challenged.

• Talk about how you’ll hold each other accountable to foundational spiritual disciplines.

• Identify the deeply personal questions you’ll be free to ask.

• Talk about how you’ll resolve dysfunction between members of the group.

• Discuss whether or not you’ll provide accountability for physical disciplines or goals.

The Stinklings have been gathering semiannually and communicating weekly for a decade. They are, from left: Eddie Lowen, lead minister of West Side Christian Church, Springfield, Illinois; Ben Cachiaras, lead pastor of Mountain Christian Church, Joppa, Maryland; Tim Harlow, lead pastor of Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois; and Greg Nettle, president of Stadia Church Planting, Irvine, California.

• Decide whether or not you’ll have the freedom to challenge and question one another in the realm of personal finances.

• Determine how often you’ll communicate by e-mail, text, phone call.

• Discuss whether or not you’ll invite your spouses to some of your gatherings and how that should alter your approach.

• Determine whether or not your covenant will be confidential.

• Determine how much you’ll tell your staff and elders about your group and your activities.

The longer we’ve done church leadership, the more our group has identified with Paul’s concern for himself in 1 Corinthians 9:27, “I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified” (New Living Translation). As influential and devoted as Paul was, he possessed a healthy fear of his own capacity to blow it. The same is true for each of the Stinklings (thus, the name), but we believe accountability and friendship can go a long way toward keeping us in the game.

Eddie Lowen, lead minister of West Side Christian Church, Springfield, Illinois, writes the “Ministry Today” column semimonthly in CHRISTIAN STANDARD and serves on Standard Publishing’s Publishing Committee.