Today is Christmas. It will be a day filled with activity. Children will open the gifts from under their trees that have taunted them for weeks. Families will gather with those they have not seen in a long time. Others will gather in houses of worship to celebrate the birth of the Savior promised by prophet of old. For the vast majority, the thoughts and focus of today will be on the cultural aspects and traditions of Christmas. They will miss the One who is Christmas. Our generation would not be the first to miss this One. In their song, “While You Were Sleeping’, Casting Crowns wrote of the prospect of missing Jesus at Christmas:

Oh little town of Bethlehem
Looks like another silent night
Above your deep and dreamless sleep
A giant star lights up the sky
And while you’re lying in the dark
There shines an everlasting light
For the King has left His throne
And is sleeping in a manger tonight
Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
For God became a man
And stepped into your world today
Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

Bethlehem physically slept. It was a quiet night in Bethlehem, much like every other night. No one was expecting anything special to happen. While they slept, prophecies that would shape the course of human history were being fulfilled in their quaint little hamlet. While the residents of Bethlehem slept, the Savior of the world was born in a lowly stable with no fanfare, no attention, and no honor due a King. While the residents of Bethlehem slept in peaceful dreaming, the landscape of their world was changed forever. Together the stars and the angels proclaimed the birth of the Christ-child with no applause from man. The residents of Bethlehem secured a place for themselves in history as, “a city with no room for its King.” They go on to write:

Oh little town of Jerusalem
Looks like another silent night
The Father gave His only Son
The Way, the Truth, the Life had come
But there was no room for Him in the world He came to save
Jerusalem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
The Savior of the world is dying on your cross today
Jerusalem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

Thirty-plus years after Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, the people were still asleep. They slept with their eyes wide open. Spiritually cold and indifferent. No concern. No care. No conviction. They slept while the Son of God hung was nailed to a cross. The residents of Jerusalem slept while Jesus died. The residents of Jerusalem slept while the Messiah, the One the religious leaders were looking for, the One they should have recognized, gave His life for the people who cried “Crucify Him.” He came as their writings and witnesses told. He had walked among them, performed miracles, taught, and loved. He testified that to have seen Him meant to have seen the Father. He yielded. He died. While they were mocking, He was forgiving. While they were callous and unconcerned, their eternity was on His mind. While they claimed He was a liar, the Father proved the truthfulness of His testimony. The residents of Jerusalem secured a place for themselves in history as, “a city with no room for its King.” Before we take the residents of Bethlehem and Jerusalem to task on their failure to recognize and worship Jesus Christ, notice again the words of Casting Crowns:

United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we’re sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we’re lying in the dark
There’s a shout heard ‘cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night
America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping
Will we be sleeping

We are a sleeping nation. In broad daylight with the sun shining brightly, we sleep. With the complete thoughts and mind God written for us revealing our sin, pointing us to the cross, and calling us to die to self, we sleep. Lullabies of tolerance, coexistence, and compromise rock our nation to sleep every night. Lullabies of “many paths to God”, “man is his own god”, and “feed what makes you feel good” enable a nation to peacefully sleep. Violence, hate, fear, and greed are the most newsworthy items of our day. We are living in a country where creation is worshiped over the Creator. We live in a country where trees, animals, and other things that do not bear the image of God are elevated above and valued more than human life that does bear the image of God. We live in a country where a person is still judged by the color of their skin. We live in a country where a person is judged by their birthplace. We live in a country where a person is judged based on their economic worth. The most troubling part is that America seems to be sleeping well. What will it take to stir this nation from its sleep? What will happen to our nation if we continue to sleep? How long before God Himself says, “that’s enough” and the Bridegroom splits the sky to receive His own? Will Americans secure for themselves a place in history as, “a city with no room for its King?” We certainly seem to be headed that way.

Today is Christmas. As we spend time with our families, exchange gifts, and share meals together, let’s be reminded of Luke’s words about today.

“Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”.

I hope this collection of thinkers and ministries will further challenge you to live an on-mission lifestyle. Enjoy.

Read:  I recommend Toxic Charity; How the Church and Charities Hurt Those They Help – and How to Reverse It.  by Robert Lupton, Founder of Focused Community Strategies. Through 40 plus years of experience in urban ministry, Lupton asserts most charitable work on behalf of churches and other organizations is ineffective, and even harmful to the one it is intended to help. He offers suggestions and practices on how to help connect the individual organization desiring to help with the individual in need, so the recipient can maintain dignity and take control of their own situation.

Follow:  Tim Rice. Tim is the Missions Mobilization Director for the South Carolina Baptist Convention. He is passionate about assisting individuals and churches to live missionally and engage their communities, state, and the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know Tim personally and you will be both encouraged and challenged by what he shares with others. You can find him at @timricesc

Follow: JR Woodward. JR is the director of V3 Movement – a grassroots church planting movement. He also publishes a very insightful and educational online paper regularly at his site. You will certainly be encouraged and informed by his work. It has been a source of encouragement for me. You can find him at @dreamawakener

Get to Know: The Sunshine Girls – a weekly outreach ministry to women who work in the Adult Entertainment Industry in Savannah, Georgia. Their goal is to shine the life-changing light of the Gospel into these dark places. The mission of the organization revolves around establishing relationships and opportunities for another way of life. You can learn more about them here. Pray for the work these women are doing in some very hard and dark places. I am thankful to know one of these Sunshine Girls personally.

Just the Facts: According to Lifeway Research:

86% of Protestant pastors believe Christians have a responsibility to care sacrificially for refugees and foreigners.

When asked to share which single factor has most influenced their beliefs and opinions about immigration, evangelicals provided the following answers:

• Relationships with immigrants – 17%
• Friends and family – 16%
• Media – 16%
• The Bible – 12%
• Their Church – 2%

Have you ever thought about the things that drive you? Have you ever considered what motivates you to do what you do? The need for shelter motivates and drives us to seek a place to live. The need for financial income motivates and drives us to find a job. The need for higher education motivates and drives us to spend extra years in school beyond the required. The need for a healthier body motivates and drives us to exercise and diet. The need for companionship motivates and drives us to the do hard work building and maintaining relationships.

 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. (2 Cor 5:14-15)

Paul deals with motivation in his letter to the church at Corinth. He was a driven and focused man. Paul tells us the reason for his drive and what motivation, “For the love of Christ compels us”. The love of Christ kept him preaching when no one seemed to be listening. The love of Christ pushed him forward after being beaten and run out of town. The love of Christ kept the churches on his mind while facing his own death. What motivated Paul motivates us today. The love of Christ compels the believer to tell others of a life-changing Savior. The love of Christ compels us to grant and extend forgiveness when the rest of the world simply says, “get even.” The love of Christ compels us to love our fellow man beyond what we can see on the outside. The love of Christ compels us to reach into the darkness of the nations and shine the light of the gospel. This love of Christ looked beyond us while we were lost, rebellious, and indifferent towards God.

Jesus demonstrated what true love looks like. Paul said, “and He died for all, that those who lives should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” Paul alludes to his previous motivation. At one time Paul was motivated by pride, hate, and religious tradition. He was living for himself. However, when the love of Christ spilled onto his life and it became personal to him, he quit living for himself. We are no different. At one time we lived for ourselves and did everything that we thought was right and good. The day Jesus stepped into our lives and made us whole, everything changed. We are now under new management. The driving force that compels, urges, prompts, and pushes us to love, witness, preach, teach, and care is the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.

Living missionally is not about doing missions; it’s about embracing a missionary lifestyle. It is an awareness of your individual circle of influence and seeking to make the Savior known within. It is an understanding of your distinct context and purposefully living out the Gospel within. It is a determination to live in such a way that others will see the difference the Gospel makes by the way we love, care for, and serve others in Jesus’ name. People are watching. They make determinations about the validity, worthiness, and purpose of our faith by the way we live out our faith and not the way we talk about our faith. Christians today are viewed much differently by the world than they were in the first and second century.

“They dwell in their countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all others; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death and restored to life. They are poor yet make many rich, they are in lack of all things an yet abound in all; they are dishonored and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are evil spoken of and yet are justified; they are reviled and bless; they are insulted and repay the insult with honor; they do good yet are punished as evildoers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred. To sum it all up in one word – what the soul is to the body, that are Christians in the world.”

The Epistle to Diognetes, early Christian writing – AD 130

Early Christians understood missional living before missional living was a thing. Early Christians were living on-mission long before living on-mission was a thing. One can only imagine how different our world would be today if the same things were being said of the Christian community the twenty-first century.

Jesus Christ left the task of making disciples to His Church. A disciple is one who intentionally places themselves under the authority of one more experienced, so they may learn from their life and experiences. In context of the Great Commission, a disciple is a person who intentionally places themselves under the teaching of God’s Word with the goal of becoming more like Christ in their actions, attitudes, passions, and priorities. Before a person can place themselves under the authority of Christ for instruction, he/she must first know Him. Knowing Christ and sharing Christ are inextricably linked. Sharing Christ is the responsibility of every believer. Our sharing of Jesus with others is to be a lifestyle rather than an activity. Why should we share our faith with others? Why should we take time to tell others about the message of hope through Jesus? Why should we take time to verbalize the heart-change we have experienced? Let me suggest a few reasons.

1. Jesus left every believer the command to testify of Him. There is something special about the last words a person speaks. At His ascension, Jesus told His disciples, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
2. Lostness is real. Paul wrote in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Real people die a real death and will come face-to-face with a real God who will execute a real judgment. That a person’s lostness will place them on negative side of God’s judgment should frighten us.
3. God’s chosen method for the lost to hear the gospel is for the believer to tell them. I don’t know why God left this tremendous task to us. We are so unfaithful. I am certain God could have found a more productive and effective method of gospel delivery than us. Perhaps His doing so has something to do with the fact that God, through Jesus Christ, redeemed us. Only the redeemed can testify of redemption. Those who have been changed by God’s grace are the most obvious ones to communicate that message to others.
4. Someone once cared enough about us to share Christ with us. Do we care enough about the souls of lost friends and family members to tell them of the hope that Jesus Christ offers? I hope we do. Our actions will tell the tale.

Within every profession, service industry, and organization, there are secret languages understood only by its patrons. For example, walk into a Starbucks and listen to the customers order their favorite drink. You are likely to hear a combination of words and phrases that would lead you to believe aliens had landed from the far side of the moon. My usual Starbucks order sounds like this, “I’ll have a venti bold with no room.” What I am saying to the barista is this, “I will have your largest and strongest coffee, and by the way, I do not need room for cream.” Businesses have created environments that require consumers to learn a language specific to the product they wish to consume. This may or may not be intentional. What they are saying is this, “If you want to be part of our group you need to learn our language.” Sound unfair? Before you answer, think about the church?

Before we blame businesses for requiring us to learn a foreign language, let’s look at how the Christian church is at times guilty of the same practice. I believe most would agree that Christians have a specific lingo and vernacular that we are comfortable with. We use phrases and words that may leave the first-time guest in our services scratching their head and asking, “What are they talking about?” We use words such as advent, apostle, disciple, rapture, righteous, sanctification, elect, trinity, covenant, redemption, and salvation much like we would car, home, cheeseburger, chair, or grass. Phrases such as “washed in the blood”, “give your heart to Jesus”, “profession of faith”, and “walk down the aisle” roll off our church-influenced tongues the same as “turn off the light”, “answer the phone”, and “wash the car.” Think of the questions that must run through the mind of the person who has never been in church before: “Is that going to hurt?”, “You’re asking me to do what?”, “Is that legal?” I may be exaggerating a bit, but I think you get my point.

As a pastor, I believe the church has a responsibility to remove barriers that keep individuals with no personal relationship with Jesus Christ from coming to know Him. Barriers such as personal preferences, fear, and past hurt are hard enough to overcome without imposing a new language for which Rosetta Stone hasn’t even written software yet. I am becoming increasingly aware the guests in our worship services have no idea what we are talking about at times. What should we do? First, it is important to acknowledge the fact that we are guilty of speaking “church.” Second, I believe every ministry leader should ask this question when communicating: “Will the words I have written and spoken be clearly understood by someone who has never been in church before?” We owe it to the first-time guest, the seeker, and the believer desiring to serve the Lord our commitment to remove the barriers that would hinder them – including our church language.

Aristotle once said, “The desire for friendship comes quickly; friendship does not”. Within each one is the desire to share life with others. There is a desire for intimacy. There is a desire to have people in our lives with whom we connect on a deeper level. There is a desire to be part of a community that shares the same beliefs, values, and interests. Building healthy and meaningful friendships requires work. They do not just “happen”. It is real work. When I speak of work, I am not saying that making friends and building lasting friendships is a job. I am saying that it requires giving up time in our already busy lives to the pursuit of friendship.

I believe we structure ourselves out of the opportunity to build authentic and lasting friendships. We learn to make friends at an early age. Remember as a child the times of simply “hanging out” together. Kids would spend the night at each other’s homes where they would get to know the family and vice versa. Tree houses, sandlot football, bicycle riding, fishing, and camping were not just ways to pass the time but were avenues to strengthening and deepening friendships. We don’t see too much of this anymore.

Social media has taken the world by storm. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, and other social media sites are growing in popularity among all ages. The very essence of platforms such as these sites is that of friendship and connection. They offer an avenue of keeping up with established friendships and for the establishment of new ones. These sites allow for the constant and immediate answer to the questions, “Where are you and what are you doing?” Having “friends” on Facebook and “followers” on Twitter assists in connection. The only question that must be answered is this one: Are these social networking sites capable of reproducing authentic and genuine friendships in the lives of people? I would have to say no.

Aristotle also said, “Close friends share salt together”. I believe there is a great deal of truth in his statement. Close friends share meals together. They sit across from each other and share time, struggles, victories, tears, family, hurts, and laughs.  I am not saying that social networking sites are bad. I am not saying that they do not have a purpose. I blog, use Facebook and Twitter too. Is social networking eroding the fabric of genuine authentic friendships? I would say. Social networking sites promote social connectivity. This is not the same as intimate friendships. I see this erosion, or the slow wearing away, of authentic friendships taking place when the preference becomes a computer or smartphone screen instead of a face-to-face conversation. This erosion can be seen when we would rather engage in online chatting instead of in-person communication. Although we hail the progress of technology today, and there have been some good advancements, I believe that making it possible to communicate and never have to sit down face-to-face separates us as people. Instead of saying, “Let’s get together for lunch and talk”, we say “I’ll email you.” Instead of picking up the phone and phone and talking to someone, we text them. If we are not careful, we will forget how to relate to people all together.

Again, let me say that I am not against social networking, or technology for that matter. I believe strongly in the value of face-to-face communication. We should make every effort to maintain personal contact with one another. It is invaluable.

With the Thanksgiving holiday over, our attention turns to Christmas. Among the many things the Christmas season brings, one is the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. The LMCO is Southern Baptists’ annual missions offering which supports the work of our missionaries on the international field. This offering aids in keeping our missionaries on the field. They continue to disciple new believers, teach, preach the Gospel, plant churches, and build partnerships within their people groups without the burden of coming state-side to fund raise. Every single dollar collected directly supports our missionaries and the work in their respective countries and among their respective people groups. This offering is especially close to my heart. Since 1996, I have been a part of seven International Mission Board Short-Term Work and Witness Teams, serving alongside three missionary couples in Honduras and Nicaragua. I have witnessed how the money collected through the LMCO is used in every day ministry. Our missionaries are very mindful of the sacrifices believers back home make to support their calling and work. Not only are they mindful of the sacrifices made, they are incredible stewards of the gifts. Our missionaries stretch every penny knowing that someone they have likely never met, in a church they have likely never been to, decided to give in order to help connect the lost to the Gospel through their efforts. Having witnessed this first hand, I can wholeheartedly champion the cause for their support and advocate for the continuance of God’s work around the world through these selfless individuals.

For 2018, the International Mission Board has selected Every Church. Every Nation. as the theme for this offering. This is a powerful and challenging. It is not possible for every person to serve on the foreign mission field. In addition to those who would go, there are more needed to pray and give. The LMCO allows churches of all sizes, styles, and structures to be involved in funding our missionaries. Because of our cooperative effort, we are all equal partners in this endeavor. We are called to every nation. There is no one, regardless of their remoteness, that does not deserve to hear the good news of the Gospel. The Gospel must reach them in time. The LMCO allows our resources to be pooled in order to reach every people group from every nation. It is a monumental task. It is a non-negotiable commission. It is a gospel-driven responsibility we all have. Together, we can.

Pray. Give. Go.