For Church Leaders: Relevance is defined by how relevant the experience is

Tags

Connected Disciple, Digital Ministry, Discipleship, Jesus

Why are you so skeptical? ~~Jesus (Mark 2:8-12 The Message)

There are a lot of skeptical religious leaders when it comes to embracing the digital aspects of our ministries and churches.

For the connected disciple (church member), the journey is evolving (albeit very, very fast). That shouldn’t surprise you but it is good news. Your ministry hasn’t been left behind completely. Disciples (your church members) have changed though.

Their experience of you and your ministry may not be what any of us would want it to be. In this case, relevance is defined by how relevant the experience is in a world where we can be connected anywhere, anytime. Passion for the ministry is a part of amazing experiences which includes digital aspects that are core to the ministry and not “add ons”.

How you personally decide to react or lead is up to you. It, of course, is not about technology. What is the journey of getting closer to disciples and staying relevant really about? Here are some ideas:

• Creating a culture built around the discipleship experience of Jesus and His followers being the focus of all you do. It will include digital experiences as the norm.
• Empowering ministry staff to do what it takes to create amazing experiences for the connected disciple.
• Opening up the floodgates of innovation for God including all aspects of digital experiences.

Just saying we want to get closer to the disciple won’t get your senior team on board. While a connected discipleship revolution is at your door, someone (meaning you) needs to convince the senior Pastor that change is imperative. Without that we will fail.

You know that most Ministers don’t use social networks personally. While they have smartphones, their primary utilization is for email, reading the Bible and looking at the calendar to know where to go to next. Trying to make a case that this is about technology will be a losing battle.

What is the future of your ministry built on? It isn’t about how Facebook, Twitter, iPhones, tablets or real time-time geolocation check-ins evolve. The future of your ministry does depend on the power of God to help you create relevance and the ability to at least understand technology to be able to make decisions about new opportunities. It does require the ability to strategically adapt to the new opportunities to create a compelling advantage for Jesus. Have you conducted a weekday morning video worship service on Google+ Hangouts or GoToMeeting?

But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. ~~Jesus (John 4:23 The Message)

Hmm. “Where you worship will not matter.”

So much of this is about change. There is a technology revolution occurring. Other ministries are beginning to understand this. But it is also about a whole series of real-time revolutions that are seizing how our connected disciples (church members) live which impacts their experience with us and with God. Expectations are moving fast. We can’t afford to get left behind.

The kind of change we are talking about involves three things:

• Listening
• Learning
• Adapting

 

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“If you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple.” ~Jesus

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Discipleship, Jesus, Jesus Sayings, Luke 14, Plans

Jesus has a way of being clear. He leaves no doubt. In God’s world, God comes first. That is all there is to it. I can’t negotiate with Him. God is God. I need to get clear on that.

So, I can kiss everything else goodbye if I want to follow Jesus. Is something near and dear to me? Am I ready to give it up? Will I kiss it goodbye? That is what Jesus is challenging me to do. Will I do it?

Yes, I heard it right. Jesus said it and Jesus meant it.

Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple.”  Luke 14

 

May I have the courage to kiss all my plans goodbye.

May He come first always.

“God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser.” ~Jesus

Tags

Discipleship, Jesus, Jesus Sayings, Matthew 13, Treasure

Am I ecstatic about what I have found in God’s new plan? Am I prepared / willing to sell everything I own to follow Jesus? What is so precious in my life that I won’t give it up for Jesus?

Questions that Jesus asks that demand an answer.

God’s world is a treasure. I will give up everything for it. I must remember that the treasure isn’t mine. I just found it when I was trespassing one day.

God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.” ~~Jesus (Matthew 13:44)

"Our Lord never requires the same conditions for discipleship that he requires for salvation." ~~Oswald Chambers

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Discipleship, Oswald Chambers, Salvation

Discipleship

God brings salvation to us as an unconditional act. A disciple is a student who is learning. That is a continuous act of our life with Jesus.

Jesus challenges to be disciples and learn from him.

Our Lord never requires the same conditions for discipleship that he requires for salvation. ~~Oswald Chambers

"Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them." ~Oswald Chambers

Tags

Discipleship, Oswald Chambers, Salvation

God has a mission for us to disciple.

We are to create a learning environment where people learn to do what Jesus challenges us to do. It is not about salvation.

It is about discipleship.

Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them. ~Oswald Chambers

“The Bible is a dangerous book of religious dogma used for centuries to oppress people” ~27% of Millennials agree

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Baptism, Barna Group, Bible, Dangerous, Discipleship, Instruct, Matthew 28, Millennials, Scripture

Do we hang out with Christians too much?

Is our “religious language” irrelevant to most others?

Do we use jargon that is confusing?

Are we willing to commit to Jesus and risk ourselves totally to reach a new generation of disciples for Jesus?

Jesus commands us to go out and train everyone we meet in what it means to follow Jesus. Our message is one of liberation not oppression. We have good news to share.

Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.

Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:16 – 20

Now would be the time to change.

Non-Christian Millennials, unlike their Christian counterparts, are much more likely to believe the Bible is just another book of teachings written by men that contains stories and advice 45%. Only a combined 27% of non-Christians say the Bible is the inspired or actual word of God. A significant disparity between Christian and non-Christian beliefs about the Bible is to be expected, of course; however, non-Christian views of the Bible often tip from benign indifference toward strong skepticism.

While a plurality of non-Christian Millennials relegate the Bible to merely a “useful book of moral teachings” 30%, nearly half agree with more negative characterizations: About one in five say the Bible is “an outdated book with no relevance for today” 19% and more than one-quarter go so far as to say the Bible is “a dangerous book of religious dogma used for centuries to oppress people” 27%.

via Millennials and the Bible: 3 Surprising Insights – Barna Group.

Millennial Non-Christian Negative Views

The Digital Ministry: Are our discipleship experiences intentional?

Tags

Digital Ministry, Discipleship, Intentional, Isaiah 43, Jesus

What does the future of your ministry look like? Is it focused on the good news (Gospel) of Jesus AND design?

The premise of this manifesto is all about being intentional about the experiences Jesus’ disciples are having.

How many programs and services do you have? How many channels (Web, Social, Mobile, Call Center, Direct Mail, etc.) are you focused on? Do they all have a unified design and experience?

Good News (Gospel) + Design = Intentional disciple experiences

We are clear about the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus. Are we clear about our design? So you are thinking, what does Jesus care about “design” for? I am thinking Jesus spent a lot of time on “intentional design”. Why did he create so many parables? Why did he want a donkey to ride into Jerusalem on? Jesus is intentional.

If not, we aren’t ready to be the digital ministry of the future. If we aren’t ready to be a digital ministry, we aren’t ready for the future. If we aren’t ready for the future, will we be relevant 5 to 10 years from now? Tough questions I know but worth considering.

This may be very new for you. God is intentional that we need to be open. Consider this:

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

Isaiah 43:18-21 TNIV Bible

So here are a couple more of intriguing questions:

• How do we ensure that Jesus’ disciples are having an amazing experience?
• Why make disciples cope with the ordinary?
• Why aren’t disciples more engaged with both our mission and revenue opportunities?

Our focus and day to day work should be about creating “discipleship experiences” in this new age of the connected disciple. What is going on in the rest of the digital world isn’t lost on Jesus’ disciples. They are evaluating our ministry based on those experiences. We can bury our head in the sand. That will only get the message of Jesus left behind.

Disciples expect more from ministries than ever before. So our mission, programs and services have a level of expectation that our ministry may not be aware of. The support of Jesus’ disciples, contributors, members and volunteers have is not necessarily drive by our mission. It is driven by their experience of the ministry and the relationships they have with us. Does God expect us to reach the world? Has He given us the tools (think digital) to do it? Are they being fully utilized in your ministry?

Here is the harsh reality. Jesus’ disciples not only expect better experiences with your ministry, they believe that God wants them to have them. Will we be intentional in delivering on those expectations? Are we ready to get left behind with stagnant growth if we don’t deliver those disciple experiences? We may not be ready for that but it may already be happening. I encourage you to please think about it. It is a good question to ponder.

There is a unique opportunity to create amazing and positive experiences at our services, on the web, on the phone (do you have a call center?), on smart phones and in our direct mail pieces. Are all of those unified? Is the experience amazing?

That amazing or ordinary (or perhaps even bad) experience will be how our ministry is measured in terms of engagement or even our fundraising success. Do we know how Jesus’ disciples feel about the experience they are having with your ministry? If we don’t know, why don’t we? Are we being intentional about that experience they just had with at the service? Is it consistent with the experience they want on your web site?

Here are the key ideas:

• Design intentional discipleship experiences
• Listen to disciples to hear what kind of experience they are having
• Serve others by delivering the amazing