Two reoccurring themes in the Bible are the ideas of being faithful and being fruitful. We are to be faithful and fruitful.
The word faithful occurs over two hundred times in the Bible and shows up in most of its books (41).
The word fruitful occurs thirty-one times in eleven books, spanning both the old and new Testaments. (The word fruit—which can mean something to eat or the results of our actions—is as common in the Bible as the word faithful.)
Furthermore, the command to “be faithful” appears in eight verses, as does the command to “be fruitful.” It seems that God wants us to be both faithful and fruitful.
Be Faithful
Jesus talks about being faithful and his parables support this. Don’t we all want to hear him say, “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23)?
In the New Testament, the word faithful occurs most in the book of Revelation, both in some of the letters to the seven churches and in John’s vision where he commends God’s faithful witnesses.
In the Old Testament, the book of Psalms tops all others with seventy-one mentions of the word faithful.
Though some verses address God’s faithfulness to us, others talk about our faithfulness to him: a faithful servant, faithful people, faithful ones, and faithful to him and his covenant (that is, his commands, Psalm 78:36-37).
Be Fruitful
We should note that the instruction to be fruitful in the Bible always relates to biological reproduction and the growth of a population.
However, it isn’t a stretch to apply this metaphorically to other actions that produce spiritual growth, that is, spiritual fruit.
Consider the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Paul implicitly tells us to pursue these characteristics.
Be Faithful and Fruitful
Too often I’ve heard people who—after working hard to serve God but achieving little—shrug and say, “Well, at least I was faithful.” Yes, they were faithful, but they also failed.
God doesn’t want us merely to be faithful, he wants us to produce fruit in the process.
He wants us to be faithful and fruitful. Working hard and failing, is simply failing. Working hard and producing fruit is what God desires.
James writes that faith without deeds (which we can call fruit) is dead (James 2:26). As we pursue God and seek to serve him, we must be fruitful and faithful.
God expects nothing less.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
In the book of Deuteronomy, a book of the Bible that most people skip, God explains his relationship to his people. He starts by saying that he didn’t choose them because of their numbers or greatness as a nation.
In fact, they started out as the smallest of all peoples.
It was just Abraham and Sarah when God chose them.
Instead he chose them because he loved them. And he continues to choose them because he made a promise to them, and he keeps his promises.
His love lasts over the centuries, despite their unfaithfulness to him and in the many ways they reject him over and over.
We can take great comfort in this.
God Loves Us and There’s Nothing We Must Do to Earn It
The people of Israel didn’t need to earn God’s love and attention. He gave it to them freely. In the same way, there’s nothing we need to do to earn his affection.
We don’t need to do good things, love others, or even obey his commands to gain God’s love.
Instead, he loved us first, and in response we may opt to react to his love by doing things that please him.
Too often, we get this backwards. We don’t behave better to earn God’s love; we behave better because he loves us.
God Loves Us and There’s Nothing We Can Do to Lose It
God loved the people of Israel first and continued to love them despite their many missteps. In the same way, God doesn’t withhold his love for us when we screw up.
He maintains his love. It’s always there. There’s nothing we can do to push him away or cause him to withdraw his affection of us.
We often get this backwards, too. We assume that when we mess up, he will withhold his love and punish us.
Yes, sometimes there are consequences for what we do—punishment, if you will—but this is a result of his love and not the withdrawal of it.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
When It Comes Time to Change Churches, Attitude Is Everything
Last week we talked about when not to change churches, instead of looking to find a new church. Too often people treat their church as a commodity and behave as a consumer, switching their loyalty over trivial things.
Most of the time, however, the best action is to view your church as a marriage and try to make things work. Seldom should you divorce your church and seek a new one.
Even so, sometimes we need to find a new church home. Maybe we just moved, or our church closed. Perhaps we do it for the sake of our kids, seeking a church community to encourage them in their faith and support our efforts at home.
Sometimes newlyweds decide it’s best to not subject one of them to the other’s home church but to find a new one where they can start their life together with a new church family.
If you find yourself in a situation to change churches, here are some tips to do it wisely and enjoy the best outcome. In doing research for my book 52 Churches and subsequent works, my wife and I visited over a hundred churches.
In doing so we learn how to visit churches, both the right things to do and the wrong things. But before you go church shopping, first ask, “Is changing churches necessary?” If the answer is, “Yes,” then take these steps:
1. Research Options Online
Look online to learn about the church before you visit.
When considering church websites and social media pages, be aware that some are more like dating profiles, showing you what they want you to see, obscuring reality, and ignoring faults. Others are more realistic.
Look for what to expect and how to get the most from your experience there. Note their location and service times.
Sometimes it’s worth double-checking this information, as more than once a church’s website gave us wrong information. Then schedule a time for your visit.
But what if the church isn’t online? If a church today doesn’t have an online presence, it’s unlikely they’ll be around tomorrow. Save yourself the grief, and skip them.
2. Pray Beforehand
In visiting fifty-two churches, my wife and I prayed as we drove to each one. And once we finished visiting churches, we continued this practice each Sunday.
These prayers often vary, sometimes focused on our own struggles and other times on our desire to learn what God would have us to learn.
Often, we pray we’ll have a positive impact on others, and sometimes we ask for an openness to receive what others would give to us.
More than once I’ve had to pray for my attitude. But the key is to pray, and let the Holy Spirit guide those prayers. Prayer makes all the difference.
3. Look for the Positive and Expect Good Things to Happen
If you visit a church looking for what’s negative, you’ll find it. If you seek things to criticize, you’ll uncover plenty. The key is to arrive with God-honoring expectation.
Every church has something positive to offer, just as every church has its struggles.
No church, just as no person, is perfect. Look for the good and celebrate it.
4. Arrive Early and Be Prepared to Stay Afterward
It’s hard to connect with people at church during the service. And even those churches that allow for connection time as part of their service, often fail to do it well. I
nstead, plan to arrive early so you can interact with people before the service begins.
And don’t schedule anything afterward, so you can stay as long as you want without the pressure of time.
Sometimes my wife and I would hang out for five or ten minutes after the service and leave because we weren’t able to talk with anyone.
Other times we’d be there for an hour or two after the final “Amen,” enjoying rich Christian community. Often this involves food, which is in added benefit.
Finding Christian community is the main reason we should not give up meeting together (Hebrews 10:25), which most people think means going to church.
If you can connect with the church community, it makes all the difference.
5. Adapt to Their Practices
Visiting a church is like visiting someone’s home. You want to respect their practices. This means if you’re a raise-your-hands or jump-up-and-down type of person, but the church isn’t, follow their practice.
Don’t stand out in a bad way.
This distracts from your experience, as well as their worship. However, if their style is more exuberant than you’re comfortable with; feel free to be yourself.
6. Look for Ways to Contribute
Whether you’re visiting once, making a follow-up appearance, or attending as a regular, look for ways to give back to the church.
This might mean offering encouragement, looking to pray for people (either out loud or silently), or being a positive influence anyway you can.
Though my wife and I didn’t contribute monetarily to the churches we visited, you may feel differently. In which case you can also give financially.
7. Make Repeat Visits
Visiting a church once makes an initial first impression. This may be accurate, but it might not. One church encouraged us to come back twelve times before deciding.
Of course, they knew anyone who came back that often, would form a habit and stick around after the three months was over.
I’m not sure if you need to visit twelve times, but certainly more than once is needed. When my wife and I moved, we faced finding a new church home.
For those churches that we revisited, our first experience often differed from our second.
Sometimes it was better, and other times it was lacking. Regardless, one visit isn’t enough.
This means avoiding notions of consuming, attending, and criticizing—which are all too common at most churches.
Instead the goal is to be engaged on Sunday morning.
This requires that we be active, adopting three alternate perspectives: we need to give instead of consume, we need to be active not an attendee, and we must be a disciple and not a critic.
This simple change in attitude will alter everything we experience at church.
If you find yourself needing to switch churches, follow these tips to get the most from the experience and home in on your new church community.
My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
One definition of ecumenical means “relating to the worldwide Christian church.” A broader understanding is “establishing and promoting unity among religions.”
More generically, ecumenical simply means “worldwide; universal.”
In simple terms, I understand ecumenical to mean unifying. So that means ecumenical guidelines are advice to unify us. Yes, we need some ecumenical guidelines in our world today.
Towards this goal, three ecumenical guidelines—that is, unifying guidelines—advance our understanding:
“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things charity.”
Though the author of this brilliant advice is in debate, its wisdom is not.
May our list of essentials be short, our non-essentials held loosely, and our mercy and tolerance without limit.
[This quote is often attributed to Augustine, but that cannot be confirmed. John Amos Comenious advocated this in the 1600s, and he may have been citing Peter Meiderlin.]
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
When We Go Church Shopping We Behave as Consumers and Don’t Honor God
In today’s practice of retail religion, we pursue faith has a consumer and miss the purpose of church. We’re quick to change churches over the smallest of issues. Yet, usually the best action to take is no action: Don’t change churches.
Yes, there’s a right time and a wrong time to change churches. We need to discern between the two and act accordingly. Here are some reasons not to change churches.
Don’t Change Churches If You’re Angry
Did your church do something to hurt you? Are you angry over something that someone did or said? Though the impulse to change churches is understandable, this is the wrong time to do it.
Don’t leave mad because you’ll hurt others in the process.
And don’t leave hurt, because you’ll carry baggage to your new church. Instead, seek reconciliation with your church and its people. Then you can switch with a clear conscience, but if you patch things up, why not stick around?
Don’t Change Churches If You’re Not Being Fed
It sounds spiritual to say you’re switching churches because you’re “just not being fed.” This sounds virtuous, but it’s really a sign of laziness. It’s not church’s job to feed us spiritually. This is the wrong expectation.
Yes, church aids in spiritual growth, but they shouldn’t be the primary provider of our faith nourishment.
Spiritual growth is our responsibility. We need to feed ourselves and not expect a minister to do our job for us. Changing churches so we can be fed only masks the real problem.
Don’t Change Churches If You’re Not Getting Anything Out of It
In today’s culture, too many people view church participation as a transaction. They put in their time expecting something in return.
They donate their money and look for a return on their investment. This, however, reduces church to a commodity that we shop for.
The truth is, we only get out of church what we put into it. So, if you’re not getting anything out of church, the problem falls on you and not church.
Don’t Change Churches If You Fear Heresy
Another spiritually-sounding complaint about church is heresy. Yet disagreement over theology is why we have 42,000 denominations in our world today and not the one, unified church that Jesus prayed for.
When we charge our minister with heresy, the implication is that we know what is correct and they don’t. We need to embrace the possibility that we might be wrong.
Instead, we squabble over things that don’t matter and leave the church. What does matter? Jesus. Everything else is secondary.
We need to acknowledge that we can have differences of opinion over matters of faith and still get along.
Don’t Change Churches If You Don’t Like the Music or the Message
Another side effect of retail religion is changing churches because we don’t like the worship service or the sermon. Again, this is consumerism infiltrating church.
All music can praise and worship God. Just because we don’t like the tone or tempo—or volume—it isn’t worth changing churches. Instead, seek to worship God regardless of the musical style or the performers’ ability.
Remember, we’re not there as consumers seeking entertainment; we’re there as followers of Jesus to worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24).
The same applies to the message. Yes, some speakers are gifted, and others aren’t; some presenters are entertaining, and others are boring. But every message has something we can learn from it, if we’re willing to listen and look for it.
Don’t Change Churches If You Have No Friends
If your church lacks community or you have no friends there, who’s fault is that? Yes, some people are easier to connect with then others, but that’s no excuse to give up.
In fact, the problem might be in us. If we have no friends at church it might be because we’re not approachable or don’t make ourselves available.
The best time to make friends at church is before the service starts and after it ends, but too many people miss these opportunities by arriving at the last moment and leaving as soon as possible.
If you have no friends at church, seek to change that.
There are many reasons to change churches, but most of these are selfish, shortsighted, and reflect a consumer mindset. This displeases God and serves to divide his church.
If you don’t like your church, the better approach is to stick around and be a catalyst for change.
Seek to make the church where you’re at become a better one and don’t take your problems someplace else.
My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
From my research for 52 Churches I learned a great deal about the larger faith community I’m part of. This includes having charismatic experiences at some of the churches.
Perhaps the most significant so far is courtesy of the United Methodist Church and their document “Guidelines: The United Methodist Church and the Charismatic Movement.”
It’s a bit formal, but contains some profound principles that when followed will allow charismatic and non-charismatic believers to peacefully coexist, realizing the unity that Jesus prayed for and desires from his followers.
Though it was written by the denomination for itself, the truths it contains are applicable to any Christian group.
Consider some of the document’s headings:
“Guidelines for All”
“For Pastors Who Have Had Charismatic Experiences”
“For Pastors Who Have Not Had Charismatic Experiences”
“For Laity Who Have Had Charismatic Experiences”
“For Laity Who Have Not Had Charismatic Experiences”
Some observations:
The first guideline is foundational: “Be open and accepting of those whose Christian experiences differ from your own.”
The two sections for pastors are virtually identical.
The two sections for laity are quite instructive and helpful,
These principles are applicable to just about any polarizing disagreement in the church over doctrine or practice.
The main point of all this is we need to be ready and willing to accept those who may have different faith perspectives and experiences.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Throughout the Bible We See Examples We Can Apply in Our World Today
As we move toward the end of the book of Numbers, we see God allocating Canaan—the Promised Land—to the twelve tribes of Israel. First, God gives Moses the western, northern, eastern, and southern borders of the nation.
Then he indicates which tribes will live east of the Jordan and which will reside to the west.
But he doesn’t give any details for tribal boundaries within this area. Instead, he says to divide the land by lots. That is, to conduct a random drawing.
Though this seems akin to a game of chance, the people likely believe God will direct the results.
However, instead of relying only on lots to make the selection, God designates one leader from each tribe to be involved in the process (Numbers 34:18).
This wise step provides the people with assurance that the drawing occurred properly, and nothing interfered with the selection of territory as God intended.
Though Moses could have simply drawn lots himself to assign territory to the twelve tribes, having representatives from each tribe present to witness the process, helps give the people confidence that everything happened as it should.
Though this seems like an unnecessary step, it’s also a wise step. Likewise, we are wise to follow this perspective in the proper management of our local church and the administration of our denomination or association.
At one level we can equate this additional level of oversight to poll watchers during an election. At another level this is like a check and balance in government.
In an ideal world, neither one of these is necessary. However, in a fallen world this is a wise precaution to take. And in all we do, we must be wise.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
A Vibrant Spiritual Faith Looks Inward and Shares Outward
I have a Sunday morning routine. This gives me structure to how I start my day, and it provides me with the best opportunity to make it be a great one. Aside from attending to the normal needs of life, there are two parts to my Sunday morning practice.
Between waking and heading off to church, I spend an hour or two each Sunday morning writing. But this isn’t just any writing. It’s writing about God, the Bible, and church. And that writing ends up as a post on this blog.
For the past several years, I wrote ninety-five percent of everything you’ve read here on Sunday morning.
Some days this writing time feels a bit too much like work, but most times it flows with effortless joy. But every Sunday, the effort draws me closer to God. It’s great preparation for what happens next.
Then I segue into the second part of my Sunday morning routine. I go to church. Unlike writing, however, sometimes I enjoy this experience and other times I don’t.
Sometimes it draws me to God and other times not so much. The biggest value of church for me, however, is in connecting with other people before and after the service. Church is about community.
In simple terms, the two aspects of my Sunday morning routine are spiritual introspection and spiritual community.
Spiritual Introspection
When I write about God, the Bible, and church, it’s a time of deep contemplation about these three topics, what they mean to me, and how they might connect with others.
Spiritually and intellectually this is a time when insights develop, hopefully with Holy Spirit guidance. It’s a time when God helps me take raw thoughts and move them toward clarity. And I get to share it with you here.
I relish this time of introspection. It’s personally rewarding, both comforting and confronting. Often this stands as the spiritual highlight of my week.
As an introvert, it’s tempting to stay in this place, just God and me, with no one else to distract us or pierce my time of connection with the Almighty.
But spiritual introspection is also an isolating experience. It can be lonely.
This isn’t to imply that a relationship with God isn’t enough, but he created us for community. And this isn’t just community with him; it’s also community with the other people he created.
That’s why it’s important I then move into the next phase of my Sunday morning routine. I go to church.
Spiritual Community
Church means different things to different people: an obligation, a habit that they’d feel guilty breaking, a chance to partake in Holy Communion, an opportunity to praise God and worship him, and a time to learn more about God, the Bible, and faith.
It’s been all these things to me at one time or another.
However, the one thing missing from this list is community. I wonder if community isn’t the real point of going to church—the ultimate reason to be there.
The music and message have value, but I think they stand in second place behind community.
Our Sunday morning community should look up to God and look out to others.
He created us for this: to be in relationship with him and in relationship with others. He never intended for us to pursue life alone but with others: with him and with other people at our side.
Spiritual Introspection Can Fuel Spiritual Community
Though my time a spiritual introspection occurs in isolation, it’s not meant for me alone.
Yes, I share the insights God gives me with you on this website, but I feel it’s even more important that I appropriately share it with others in person.
When is the time to share it with other people?
It’s when I’m in community with them. This is where we can enjoy meaningful, spiritual interaction, such as before and after church on Sunday morning.
Of course, it can happen other times as well, but we must be intentional in forming these times and open to opportunities as they present themselves.
This, however, doesn’t mean I need to spew forth by blog post to everyone I see. But this doesn’t mean that the words God gives me are just for me alone.
Instead, I need to be alert for appropriate opportunities to share what he reveals to me to others who might benefit from it.
Fortunately, this is not for me to determine alone. All I need to do is listen and obey the gentle prompting of the Holy Spirit. When I do this, it makes the time of community with others more meaningful and deeper.
When this happens, it enhances the community we all need. My Sunday morning routine starts with a focus on God, which helps me to better share with others.
Of course, we shouldn’t just look for times to share our insights with other people.
We should seek to connect with them in other ways, too. We can pray for one another, we can share our joys and burdens, and we can simply enjoy each other’s presence.
This is the community God created us to crave and that we need to move into.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and Making Church Matter
By Michael White and Tom Corcoran
Reviewed by Peter DeHaan
Are things not working at your church? Is your congregation aging and attendance dwindling? Are people just going through the motions and not engaged? Do folks arrive at the last minute and scurry off as soon as the service ends?
If any of these questions connects with you, then this book, Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and Making Church Matter, can provide insight to bring about positive change and produce a different outcome for your church.
With refreshing candor and an appropriate layer of humor, authors White and Corcoran share their journey in turning around and reinvigorating their dying church.
Though written by two Catholics about a Catholic parish, this book reaches far beyond Catholicism to provide useful information for any Christian church, including all streams of Protestantism.
In fact, many references in this book cite Protestant leaders, perhaps more so than Catholic sources. As such this is a book for all Christians who care about their church and want to make it better.
Another refreshing benefit of Rebuilt is the dual perspective of its two authors. Michael White is a Catholic pastor, while Tom Corcoran is a lay leader.
This allows them to share contrasting views of their church, one from the eye of a trained clergy and the other one from a caring staffer. Interestingly, both White and Corcoran arrived at this parish planning for a short-term situation, but they ended up staying for the long-term and turning around the dying church.
Rebuilt provides practical ideas of what to do in reinvigorating a struggling church and how to make it work.
The authors also share why things worked. But even more insightful are the honest and sometimes painful initiatives that didn’t work.
Here we can learn even more from their failures than their successes.
The transition that this book documents didn’t happen quickly. It took time, a lot of time, along with many moments of discouragement and frustration.
But the outcome was worth it. And this gives everyone encouragement that a struggling church can change to impact its members and its community.
[Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and Making Church Matter, by Michael White and Tom Corcoran. Published by Ave Maria Press, 2012, ISBN: 1594713863, 292 pages.]
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
