from 21flavorsofsplendor.com
For some years now, our denomination and our conference especially, entertained and invited several experts in church growth to come and share with us what I came to call the flavor of the month. These men had some good ideas and were paid very handsomely to come and share with us their ideas and suggestions as to what would make our churches grow as they should. These gentlemen also brought along their own language and jargons borrowed from the business world. And that's not wrong in and of itself, for the business world has borrowed from our language quite freely. Evangelist was a term first used by such giants as Apple and others, who hired professional aggressive persons to share their message. To evangelize meant the task of luring away sold PC users to Mac. Some borrowed the word gospel, as in their product was "good news" to those who needed it, and buying their product would bring satisfaction. (Please note even corporations did not use the word "salvation"). More recently I have heard that the business world has hired professional story tellers to tell their stories of vision and success to help them achieve a better bottom line. But I digress, it came to the point where I personally did not like sitting in meetings of the church hearing about "wheel houses," "silos," "band widths," and others that thankfully God has erased from my memory. I longed to hear the words evangelism, as in our sense of sharing the gospel with the lost; I longed to hear about prayer, outreach, witness, testifying, and mission. Mission and vision, were also those church words borrowed from us by the business world.
Here's an ancient idea to help the church truly become "The historic church making His story new;" Jesus as our flavor of the month. Yes, Jesus, the Son of God as in what John 3:16 states, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." Yes, Jesus as Savior, as in the one who takes away our sins and hurts and makes us new. Just this morning on a social media app I saw a picture of a park bench with the question: "If you could sit and talk for one hour with one person, who would it be?" The answers, for the most part, were sincere. One woman shared it would be her husband, who died in a Marine Military aircraft crash. Another woman listed her six week old son who died at that age. A man said his dad. Another said his grandpa. But most of the answers shared a longing to sit with God or Jesus, just to be held and to hear that everything would be alright. "My Father God just to feel his arms around me and to hear His voice. I need this soooo much right now...The world is so cruel." Another wrote, "My Savior! Jesus Christ to hug Him. He has been always by my side... My husband passed away 5 months ago for cancer but I know he's in a good place without pain." This is the Jesus we should preach; the One who can and does hold us and speak to us words of encouragement and hope.
Jesus, the Redeemer, the One who can lead us into faithfulness and fruitfulness.
Why would the psalmist share this invitation? "O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him." (Psalm 34:8)
Jesus. The Flavor of the month! No, make it Jesus the Flavor for All Eternity.
Be blessed!
