Seed Projects Planning
Overview Statement:
Planning is biblical. Seed Project planning is a simple model for identifying, planning and carrying out small-scale Kingdom projects in local communities.
Main ideas:
1. Planning reflects our Creator. He is a God of order.
2. Seed Projects reflect God’s concern for a specific area of brokenness in our communities. Seed Project planning identifies one small step we will take toward that concern.
3. Good planning helps us to identify the sequence of steps and responsibilities needed to achieve the final goal.
4. The plan must intentionally consider all Seed Project characteristics.
Outcomes:
1. Now:
a. To grasp and express the main ideas of the lesson in their own words.
b. To identify an area of God’s concern in their communities outside the church and plan one Seed Project during the lesson.
2. Beyond:
a. To recognize the need for ongoing, balanced and focused seed projects being done in their communities, and to commit to plan additional Seed Projects as a form of wholistic evangelism.
b. To work as leaders to complete one Seed Project with a group in their local churches in the next month.
Seed Projects Reporting
Overview statement:
Seed Project reporting enables local churches to learn from their completed Seed Projects, plan future projects that demonstrate God’s love and concern for the communities needs, and grow in a lifestyle of wholistic service.
Main ideas:
1. Reporting and reflecting on completed Seed Projects helps us learn how to better honor and glorify the Lord and help others see His love and grace.
2. Evaluation of completed Seed Projects includes what was beneficial, what was problematic, what could be improved.
3. After reporting and evaluation, plan the nature and timing of future Seed Projects so that they will be ongoing, balanced and focused on the same people over a period of time.
Outcomes:
1. Now:
a. To grasp and express the main ideas of the lesson in their own words.
b. To talk with one person in the next week about the importance of doing Seed Projects that minister God’s full intentions to the same people over a period of time.
2. Beyond:
a. To recognize the importance of, ongoing, balanced demonstrations of God’s love, and to commit to plan, carry out and evaluate all Seed Projects done in their communities.
b. To commit as leaders to make time to report, reflect and evaluate their first Seed Project within the following three months.
SEED PROJECTS PLANNING and REPORTING
Participant Outline
I. Introduction
II. Key Verse - Luke 14:28-30
Write out the main idea of this verse in your own words.
III. Seed Project Planning Guide
A. Heading Section
1. Problem: ___________________________________________________
2. God’s Intention: _____________________________________________
3. Scripture: ___________________________________________________
4. Seed Project Title: _____________________________________________
5. Primary Impact: _____________________________________________
6. Secondary Impact(s): __________________________________________
B. The Plan Section (see the Handouts at the end of the outline)
Project Steps People to Consult Resource Needed Person Resp. Finish Day
Project Steps People to Consult Resource Needed Person Resp. Finish Day
1.
Prayer & decision
God
Time, reflection
Church leaders
Day 1
12.
Build Urinal
Church/ Community
Free weekend
Project Committee
Day
16-17
IV. Checking the Plan
A. Impact Areas
1. Wisdom
2. Physical
3. Spiritual
4. Social
B. Characteristics
1. Motivated by God’s Intentions
2. Covered in Prayer
3. Simple and Short
4. Well Planned
5. Local Resources
6. Does Not Manipulate
7. Done for those Outside the Church
8. Beneficiaries Participate
9. Intentionally Plan Wholistic Impact
10. God is Praised
IV. Adjust and Do the Seed Project - (Don’t forget to take pictures)
V. Evaluating the Project
A. Narrative description
B. What worked
C. Problems
D. Lessons learned
VI. Seed Project Reporting
A. Celebrate with your Church
B. Report to Harvest
Please tell us about your completed Seed Projects. See our website for details: www.harvestfoundation.org
Take pictures
VII. Long-Range Planning
A. Review of Three Principles for Long-Term Effectiveness
1. Balanced
2. Focused
3. Ongoing
B. Planning the next Seed Project
1. Pray
2. Select problem
3. Choose and plan the next project
4. Compare with Seed Project characteristics
5. Adjust and do the plan
6. Evaluate and report
7. Plan the next Seed Project, and so on
VIII. Kingdom Multiplication of your Seed Projects
A. Share/teach Seed Project principles and methodology to another small group and/or local church.
B. Share your Seed Project Reports with others – with pictures!!
1. Harvest
2. Community Leaders
3. Other local churches
Handout
Sample Plan #1
Heading
1. Problem: Public urination at the market
2. God’s Intention: To live in a clean environment. 3. Scripture: Lev. 11:36
4. Seed Project Title: Building of a public urinal
5. Primary Impact: Physical 6. Secondary Impact(s): Social + Spiritual
The Plan
Project Steps
Persons/Inst. We Need to Consult
Resources Needed
Person(s) Responsible
Completion Day
1. Prayer & decision
God
Time, reflection
Church leadership
Day 1
2. Community leaders opinion Mayor and/or assemblymen
Appointment
Project Committee
Day 2-4
3. Develop questionnaire Project Committee Ideas Project Committee
Day 5
4.
Prayer
Church
---
Project Committee
Day 5
5. Survey of interest Community & Assemblymen
Questionnaire Project Committee
Day 6
6.
Develop construction design & plan *Engineer for plans
*Assemblyman for urinal location
Expertise
Permission
Project leader and engineer
Day 8
7. Raise funds from church and community
Pastor and assemblymen
Time
Project Committee
Day 9-10
8.
Procure materials
Project Committee Cement blocks, sand, stones, cement, tools
Project Committee
Day 11-12
9. Announce date of construction
Project Committee
Posters
Project Committee
Day 15
Handout
10.
Arrange for food
Church and community women
Menu and
Volunteers
Project Committee
Day 15
11.
Prayer
Church
Time
Pastor
Day 15
12.
Construction
Church and community
Free weekend
Project Committee
Day 16-17
13. Celebration and thanksgiving
Pastor and Mayor
---
Project Committee
Day 17
14. Evaluation and report Project Committee
Reflection Project Committee
Day 18
15. Prayer and planning for next Seed Project
Project Committee
Reflection
Project Committee
Day 25
.
Footnotes
Impact Areas Planned (for project recipients or church):
List the steps where the following
Impact Areas are reflected.
• __5___ Wisdom
• ______ Physical
• ______ Spiritual
• ______ Social
Seed Project Characteristics in the Plan:
List the steps where the following Characteristics are reflected.
• ______ Motivated by God’s Intentions
• 1,4,11,15 Covered in Prayer
• ______ Simple and Short
• ______ Well Planned
• ______ Done with Local Resources
• ______ Does not manipulate
• ______ To those Outside the Church
• ______ Those Who Benefit Participate
• ______ Wholistic impact
• ______ God is praised
Handout
Seed Project Planning Guide
Heading
1. Problem: ________________________________________________________________
2. God’s Intention: __________________________________________________________
3. Scripture: _______________________________________________________________
4. Seed Project Title: _________________________________________________________
5. Primary Impact: __________________ 6. Secondary Impacts: ____________________
The Plan
Project Steps
Persons/Inst. We Need to Consult
Resources Needed
Person(s) Responsible
Completion Day
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Project Steps
Persons/Inst. We Need to Consult
Resources Needed
Person(s) Responsible
Completion Day
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
Add additional rows as needed
Footnotes
Impact Areas Planned:
List the steps where the following
Impact Areas are reflected.
• ______ Wisdom
• ______ Physical
• ______ Spiritual
• ______ Social
Seed Project Characteristics in the Plan:
List the steps where the following Characteristics are reflected.
• ______ Motivated by God’s Intentions
• ______ Covered in Prayer
• ______ Simple and Short
• ______ Well Planned
• ______ Done with Local Resources
• ______ Does not manipulate
• ______ To those Outside the Church
• ______ Those Who Benefit Participate
• ______ Wholistic impact
• ______ God is praised
SEED PROJECT PLANNING and REPORTING
Lesson Narrative
The Importance of Planning: It is wise to make plans, implied Jesus, to complete a tower or win a war. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?” (Luke 14:28-31)
Scripture is filled with examples of planning. The ant prepares for winter by gathering food. The walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt by careful plans. Even God has plans! “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer 29:11 NIVA) A Seed Project is simple and small, but its success also requires planning. “Thoughtfully planned” is, in fact, one of the characteristics of Seed Projects. Churches that carefully plan Seed Projects greatly increase their potential to do them well, honor the Lord, and grow in the ability and grace to serve.
Some local churches need to be convinced of the benefit of planning. Some fear that planning eliminates the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Some want to make plans, but do not know how to begin. For many, planning is simply not a part of their culture. Some need to be reminded that planning is only the beginning—and that the end goal is a demonstration of God’s love. Because planning has been difficult for many churches, we have developed a Seed Project Planning Guide. It has been used for more than twenty years, in many cultural contexts. Churches have appreciated it because it keeps them focused on God’s focus. They have also appreciated the tool’s step-by-step format. It helps them think about details, delegate work, and check responsibilities and progress quickly. Other unexpected benefits from planning were recently expressed by an African pastor.
Planning is not culturally African. Culturally, we do things as they come. But planning has become valuable to our cell leaders. They have seen that Seed Projects that are thoroughly planned bear tremendous results and leave great community impact. Planning has become extremely relevant to us. Not only is it helping us to bear good fruit with Seed Projects, but it is also helping our leaders plan their own lives. Leaders have seen that planning is important for fruitful ministry and productive lives.
Steps in Seed Project Planning, Implementation, Reporting, and Evaluation: Seed Projects are best done by small groups—in fact, any small group of believers can plan and carry out a project that reflects God’s love and concern for community people. Here are suggested steps to help your small group members plan and implement a Seed Project:
1. Pray for guidance. Together, ask the Holy Spirit’s direction.
2. Choose a need. Choose an area of need that you think reflects the area where God would want you to do your Seed Project.
3. Plan your project. Together, complete the Seed Project Planning Guide. Be in a spirit of prayer during the entire planning and doing of the Seed Project.
• Describe the problem or need.
• Summarize God’s intentions concerning that problem/need (with Scripture).
• Describe a ministry activity/project (in the form of a project title) your group can realistically do with local resources that expresses what you believe represents God’s intentions.
• State the area needs that will be met by the project - both primary and secondary
• List project steps.
• For each step, then list the people you needed to consult, resources needed, the persons responsible for that step, and completion date for each step.
• Check the plan to see where each Seed Project characteristic is reflected—or have a good reason to exclude the characteristic.
4. Present the plan. Meet with others for review, input, improvement, and encouragement.
5. Implement. Together, prayerfully, carry out the Seed Project plan.
6. Report. A basic report gives group data, project data, and key information. It can be done in a report format or a narrative format. To make a report format, write the three sections on paper and provide the following information:
• Group data: What is the name of the group or the church? Where is it? Who is the contact person for the project?
• Project data: What is the project’s name or title? What city or area was served? What Scripture informed you of God’s intentions? What were the project’s dates? What were the primary and secondary impact areas?
• Key information: What was done in this project, in summary? Whose idea was the project? How many days did it take to organize the project? How much time did it take to do the project? Who participated in doing the project? Who were the primary beneficiaries of the project? How did the beneficiaries participate? What resources were needed? Where did you get them? What resources were contributed by the people who were being helped? What indication was there that God blessed the project?
The information can also be put in a narrative, or story, format. Here is a real example:
A middle-class church had served its neighbors in a nearby slum for several years, encountering every kind of need. The terrible condition of a small outdoor restroom sensitized them to the living conditions of the slum-dwellers. The church members wondered, “What will their lives be like in the winter? How will they stay healthy, especially the children?” Hebrews 13:3 inspired them: “Remember those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” They donated their time and resources to rebuild the restroom. Construction workers offered one workday. Merchants provided discounts on materials. Enthusiastic community residents helped. Approximately fifteen adults and six children were beneficiaries. Another benefit was that church members better understood that God was using them to reconcile their neighbors with the environment, part of God’s big agenda. Through it all, God was glorified.
When a small group prepares a report, it can help the group evaluate its service and plan for the future. It can keep small groups accountable to the church for service. It can be used to encourage the whole church—to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Finally, reports can be used for celebration! This is not to celebrate people’s goodness—but that God has empowered people by His Spirit to be the kind of ambassadors He wants. Reports can be shared in the worship services, small groups, or communication tools of the church. A church can display mementos of service activities—something to help the church rejoice and remember what God has done through its efforts.
.
7. Seed Project Evaluation: Here are several suggestions to help a church or small group evaluate a recently completed Seed Project:
• In what ways were God’s intentions for the community furthered? How did God work in the lives of the participants? How did God work in the community?
• What lessons did you learn through the process of planning and implementing the Seed Project? About God? About yourselves? About the community? About God’s Kingdom?
• What follow-up steps are necessary after the Seed Project? What are some areas where participants need further training? What do you think God wants you to do next?
“Evaluated by Kingdom standards” is another one of the characteristics of Seed Projects. This is critically important if our Seed Projects are to be more than well-intended human efforts. Here are some “Kingdom-standard” questions to explore after a Seed Project:
Was God seen as “author” of this act of service?
Did God receive honor and praise from the observers? Did He receive more credit than the people who did the project?
Did God multiply the resources? Did Kingdom Mathematics take place?
Have people—other than those who are serving—been blessed or favorably impacted by the project?
Was God’s love evident? Were His intentions demonstrated?
What is the purpose of evaluation? Some of it is to see how to move ahead and continue to serve. Some of it is to help us see if we are being led by God in our service. Some of it is to change our course, if necessary. Much of it is to measure our own faithfulness and obedience. We may or may not see big results from our faithful acts of loving service. The writer of Hebrews said many of God’s people did not see the results of their faithfulness. Yet, God honored those steadfast people. He brings results in His time, not ours. Like the heroes whose faith is catalogued in Hebrews 11, we are called to be faithful, whether we see fruit or not.
There are a variety of report and evaluation methods. Choose a report style that is good for your group, and work on it together. Share it with the church, if appropriate. Pray, evaluate, and plan ways to continue to tangibly express God’s love.
Please share your project report with Harvest www.harvestfoundaiton.org. Send pictures of your project. We would like to share your experiences with churches around the world.
One final question: Can this be said of your service? “The service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” (2 Corinthians 9:12-13)
Remember, demonstrations of God’s great agenda and love should be part of the ongoing lifestyle, or the way of ministry, for every local church.
By Bob Moffitt, Harvest Foundation
Last edited by Nadia Chandler and Karla Tesch, August, 2007.
Copyright 2007 by the Disciple Nations Alliance
701 N. 1st Street Phoenix, AZ 85004
email: bmoffitt@harvestfoundation.org
www.harvestfoundation.org and www.disciplenations.org
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided you do NOT alter the wording in any way, you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproducing, and you do not make more than 1,000 physical copies. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by the Disciple Nations Alliance.
Suggested Resources:
Moffitt, Bob, If Jesus Were Mayor. Monarch Books, 2006, chapters 12 and 13.
Disciple Nations Alliance website: www.disciplenations.org/resources/course. Section: Wholistic Ministry
SEED PROJECTS PLANNING and REPORTING
Seed Projects Planning
Overview Statement:
Planning is biblical. Seed Project planning is a simple model for identifying, planning and carrying out small-scale Kingdom projects in local communities.
Main ideas:
1. Planning reflects our Creator. He is a God of order.
2. Seed Projects reflect God’s concern for a specific area of brokenness in our communities. Seed Project planning identifies one small step we will take toward that concern.
3. Good planning helps us to identify the sequence of steps and responsibilities needed to achieve the final goal.
4. The plan must intentionally consider all Seed Project characteristics.
Outcomes:
1. Now:
a. To grasp and express the main ideas of the lesson in their own words.
b. To identify an area of God’s concern in their communities outside the church and plan one Seed Project during the lesson.
2. Beyond:
a. To recognize the need for ongoing, balanced and focused seed projects being done in their communities, and to commit to plan additional Seed Projects as a form of wholistic evangelism.
b. To work as leaders to complete one Seed Project with a group in their local churches in the next month.
Seed Projects Reporting
Overview statement:
Seed Project reporting enables local churches to learn from their completed Seed Projects, plan future projects that demonstrate God’s love and concern for the communities needs, and grow in a lifestyle of wholistic service.
Main ideas:
1. Reporting and reflecting on completed Seed Projects helps us learn how to better honor and glorify the Lord and help others see His love and grace.
2. Evaluation of completed Seed Projects includes what was beneficial, what was problematic, what could be improved.
3. After reporting and evaluation, plan the nature and timing of future Seed Projects so that they will be ongoing, balanced and focused on the same people over a period of time.
Outcomes:
1. Now:
a. To grasp and express the main ideas of the lesson in their own words.
b. To talk with one person in the next week about the importance of doing Seed Projects that minister God’s full intentions to the same people over a period of time.
2. Beyond:
a. To recognize the importance of, ongoing, balanced demonstrations of God’s love, and to commit to plan, carry out and evaluate all Seed Projects done in their communities.
b. To commit as leaders to make time to report, reflect and evaluate their first Seed Project within the following three months.
SEED PROJECTS PLANNING and REPORTING
Participant Outline
I. Introduction
II. Key Verse - Luke 14:28-30
Write out the main idea of this verse in your own words.
III. Seed Project Planning Guide
A. Heading Section
1. Problem: ___________________________________________________
2. God’s Intention: _____________________________________________
3. Scripture: ___________________________________________________
4. Seed Project Title: _____________________________________________
5. Primary Impact: _____________________________________________
6. Secondary Impact(s): __________________________________________
B. The Plan Section (see the Handouts at the end of the outline)
Project Steps People to Consult Resource Needed Person Resp. Finish Day
Project Steps People to Consult Resource Needed Person Resp. Finish Day
1.
Prayer & decision
God
Time, reflection
Church leaders
Day 1
12.
Build Urinal
Church/ Community
Free weekend
Project Committee
Day
16-17
IV. Checking the Plan
A. Impact Areas
1. Wisdom
2. Physical
3. Spiritual
4. Social
B. Characteristics
1. Motivated by God’s Intentions
2. Covered in Prayer
3. Simple and Short
4. Well Planned
5. Local Resources
6. Does Not Manipulate
7. Done for those Outside the Church
8. Beneficiaries Participate
9. Intentionally Plan Wholistic Impact
10. God is Praised
IV. Adjust and Do the Seed Project - (Don’t forget to take pictures)
V. Evaluating the Project
A. Narrative description
B. What worked
C. Problems
D. Lessons learned
VI. Seed Project Reporting
A. Celebrate with your Church
B. Report to Harvest
Please tell us about your completed Seed Projects. See our website for details: www.harvestfoundation.org
Take pictures
VII. Long-Range Planning
A. Review of Three Principles for Long-Term Effectiveness
1. Balanced
2. Focused
3. Ongoing
B. Planning the next Seed Project
1. Pray
2. Select problem
3. Choose and plan the next project
4. Compare with Seed Project characteristics
5. Adjust and do the plan
6. Evaluate and report
7. Plan the next Seed Project, and so on
VIII. Kingdom Multiplication of your Seed Projects
A. Share/teach Seed Project principles and methodology to another small group and/or local church.
B. Share your Seed Project Reports with others – with pictures!!
1. Harvest
2. Community Leaders
3. Other local churches
Handout
Sample Plan #1
Heading
1. Problem: Public urination at the market
2. God’s Intention: To live in a clean environment. 3. Scripture: Lev. 11:36
4. Seed Project Title: Building of a public urinal
5. Primary Impact: Physical 6. Secondary Impact(s): Social + Spiritual
The Plan
Project Steps
Persons/Inst. We Need to Consult
Resources Needed
Person(s) Responsible
Completion Day
1. Prayer & decision
God
Time, reflection
Church leadership
Day 1
2. Community leaders opinion Mayor and/or assemblymen
Appointment
Project Committee
Day 2-4
3. Develop questionnaire Project Committee Ideas Project Committee
Day 5
4.
Prayer
Church
---
Project Committee
Day 5
5. Survey of interest Community & Assemblymen
Questionnaire Project Committee
Day 6
6.
Develop construction design & plan *Engineer for plans
*Assemblyman for urinal location
Expertise
Permission
Project leader and engineer
Day 8
7. Raise funds from church and community
Pastor and assemblymen
Time
Project Committee
Day 9-10
8.
Procure materials
Project Committee Cement blocks, sand, stones, cement, tools
Project Committee
Day 11-12
9. Announce date of construction
Project Committee
Posters
Project Committee
Day 15
Handout
10.
Arrange for food
Church and community women
Menu and
Volunteers
Project Committee
Day 15
11.
Prayer
Church
Time
Pastor
Day 15
12.
Construction
Church and community
Free weekend
Project Committee
Day 16-17
13. Celebration and thanksgiving
Pastor and Mayor
---
Project Committee
Day 17
14. Evaluation and report Project Committee
Reflection Project Committee
Day 18
15. Prayer and planning for next Seed Project
Project Committee
Reflection
Project Committee
Day 25
.
Footnotes
Impact Areas Planned (for project recipients or church):
List the steps where the following
Impact Areas are reflected.
• __5___ Wisdom
• ______ Physical
• ______ Spiritual
• ______ Social
Seed Project Characteristics in the Plan:
List the steps where the following Characteristics are reflected.
• ______ Motivated by God’s Intentions
• 1,4,11,15 Covered in Prayer
• ______ Simple and Short
• ______ Well Planned
• ______ Done with Local Resources
• ______ Does not manipulate
• ______ To those Outside the Church
• ______ Those Who Benefit Participate
• ______ Wholistic impact
• ______ God is praised
Handout
Seed Project Planning Guide
Heading
1. Problem: ________________________________________________________________
2. God’s Intention: __________________________________________________________
3. Scripture: _______________________________________________________________
4. Seed Project Title: _________________________________________________________
5. Primary Impact: __________________ 6. Secondary Impacts: ____________________
The Plan
Project Steps
Persons/Inst. We Need to Consult
Resources Needed
Person(s) Responsible
Completion Day
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Project Steps
Persons/Inst. We Need to Consult
Resources Needed
Person(s) Responsible
Completion Day
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
Add additional rows as needed
Footnotes
Impact Areas Planned:
List the steps where the following
Impact Areas are reflected.
• ______ Wisdom
• ______ Physical
• ______ Spiritual
• ______ Social
Seed Project Characteristics in the Plan:
List the steps where the following Characteristics are reflected.
• ______ Motivated by God’s Intentions
• ______ Covered in Prayer
• ______ Simple and Short
• ______ Well Planned
• ______ Done with Local Resources
• ______ Does not manipulate
• ______ To those Outside the Church
• ______ Those Who Benefit Participate
• ______ Wholistic impact
• ______ God is praised
SEED PROJECT PLANNING and REPORTING
Lesson Narrative
The Importance of Planning: It is wise to make plans, implied Jesus, to complete a tower or win a war. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?” (Luke 14:28-31)
Scripture is filled with examples of planning. The ant prepares for winter by gathering food. The walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt by careful plans. Even God has plans! “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer 29:11 NIVA) A Seed Project is simple and small, but its success also requires planning. “Thoughtfully planned” is, in fact, one of the characteristics of Seed Projects. Churches that carefully plan Seed Projects greatly increase their potential to do them well, honor the Lord, and grow in the ability and grace to serve.
Some local churches need to be convinced of the benefit of planning. Some fear that planning eliminates the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Some want to make plans, but do not know how to begin. For many, planning is simply not a part of their culture. Some need to be reminded that planning is only the beginning—and that the end goal is a demonstration of God’s love. Because planning has been difficult for many churches, we have developed a Seed Project Planning Guide. It has been used for more than twenty years, in many cultural contexts. Churches have appreciated it because it keeps them focused on God’s focus. They have also appreciated the tool’s step-by-step format. It helps them think about details, delegate work, and check responsibilities and progress quickly. Other unexpected benefits from planning were recently expressed by an African pastor.
Planning is not culturally African. Culturally, we do things as they come. But planning has become valuable to our cell leaders. They have seen that Seed Projects that are thoroughly planned bear tremendous results and leave great community impact. Planning has become extremely relevant to us. Not only is it helping us to bear good fruit with Seed Projects, but it is also helping our leaders plan their own lives. Leaders have seen that planning is important for fruitful ministry and productive lives.
Steps in Seed Project Planning, Implementation, Reporting, and Evaluation: Seed Projects are best done by small groups—in fact, any small group of believers can plan and carry out a project that reflects God’s love and concern for community people. Here are suggested steps to help your small group members plan and implement a Seed Project:
1. Pray for guidance. Together, ask the Holy Spirit’s direction.
2. Choose a need. Choose an area of need that you think reflects the area where God would want you to do your Seed Project.
3. Plan your project. Together, complete the Seed Project Planning Guide. Be in a spirit of prayer during the entire planning and doing of the Seed Project.
• Describe the problem or need.
• Summarize God’s intentions concerning that problem/need (with Scripture).
• Describe a ministry activity/project (in the form of a project title) your group can realistically do with local resources that expresses what you believe represents God’s intentions.
• State the area needs that will be met by the project - both primary and secondary
• List project steps.
• For each step, then list the people you needed to consult, resources needed, the persons responsible for that step, and completion date for each step.
• Check the plan to see where each Seed Project characteristic is reflected—or have a good reason to exclude the characteristic.
4. Present the plan. Meet with others for review, input, improvement, and encouragement.
5. Implement. Together, prayerfully, carry out the Seed Project plan.
6. Report. A basic report gives group data, project data, and key information. It can be done in a report format or a narrative format. To make a report format, write the three sections on paper and provide the following information:
• Group data: What is the name of the group or the church? Where is it? Who is the contact person for the project?
• Project data: What is the project’s name or title? What city or area was served? What Scripture informed you of God’s intentions? What were the project’s dates? What were the primary and secondary impact areas?
• Key information: What was done in this project, in summary? Whose idea was the project? How many days did it take to organize the project? How much time did it take to do the project? Who participated in doing the project? Who were the primary beneficiaries of the project? How did the beneficiaries participate? What resources were needed? Where did you get them? What resources were contributed by the people who were being helped? What indication was there that God blessed the project?
The information can also be put in a narrative, or story, format. Here is a real example:
A middle-class church had served its neighbors in a nearby slum for several years, encountering every kind of need. The terrible condition of a small outdoor restroom sensitized them to the living conditions of the slum-dwellers. The church members wondered, “What will their lives be like in the winter? How will they stay healthy, especially the children?” Hebrews 13:3 inspired them: “Remember those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” They donated their time and resources to rebuild the restroom. Construction workers offered one workday. Merchants provided discounts on materials. Enthusiastic community residents helped. Approximately fifteen adults and six children were beneficiaries. Another benefit was that church members better understood that God was using them to reconcile their neighbors with the environment, part of God’s big agenda. Through it all, God was glorified.
When a small group prepares a report, it can help the group evaluate its service and plan for the future. It can keep small groups accountable to the church for service. It can be used to encourage the whole church—to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Finally, reports can be used for celebration! This is not to celebrate people’s goodness—but that God has empowered people by His Spirit to be the kind of ambassadors He wants. Reports can be shared in the worship services, small groups, or communication tools of the church. A church can display mementos of service activities—something to help the church rejoice and remember what God has done through its efforts.
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7. Seed Project Evaluation: Here are several suggestions to help a church or small group evaluate a recently completed Seed Project:
• In what ways were God’s intentions for the community furthered? How did God work in the lives of the participants? How did God work in the community?
• What lessons did you learn through the process of planning and implementing the Seed Project? About God? About yourselves? About the community? About God’s Kingdom?
• What follow-up steps are necessary after the Seed Project? What are some areas where participants need further training? What do you think God wants you to do next?
“Evaluated by Kingdom standards” is another one of the characteristics of Seed Projects. This is critically important if our Seed Projects are to be more than well-intended human efforts. Here are some “Kingdom-standard” questions to explore after a Seed Project:
Was God seen as “author” of this act of service?
Did God receive honor and praise from the observers? Did He receive more credit than the people who did the project?
Did God multiply the resources? Did Kingdom Mathematics take place?
Have people—other than those who are serving—been blessed or favorably impacted by the project?
Was God’s love evident? Were His intentions demonstrated?
What is the purpose of evaluation? Some of it is to see how to move ahead and continue to serve. Some of it is to help us see if we are being led by God in our service. Some of it is to change our course, if necessary. Much of it is to measure our own faithfulness and obedience. We may or may not see big results from our faithful acts of loving service. The writer of Hebrews said many of God’s people did not see the results of their faithfulness. Yet, God honored those steadfast people. He brings results in His time, not ours. Like the heroes whose faith is catalogued in Hebrews 11, we are called to be faithful, whether we see fruit or not.
There are a variety of report and evaluation methods. Choose a report style that is good for your group, and work on it together. Share it with the church, if appropriate. Pray, evaluate, and plan ways to continue to tangibly express God’s love.
Please share your project report with Harvest www.harvestfoundaiton.org. Send pictures of your project. We would like to share your experiences with churches around the world.
One final question: Can this be said of your service? “The service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” (2 Corinthians 9:12-13)
Remember, demonstrations of God’s great agenda and love should be part of the ongoing lifestyle, or the way of ministry, for every local church.
By Bob Moffitt, Harvest Foundation
Last edited by Nadia Chandler and Karla Tesch, August, 2007.
Copyright 2007 by the Disciple Nations Alliance
701 N. 1st Street Phoenix, AZ 85004
email: bmoffitt@harvestfoundation.org
www.harvestfoundation.org and www.disciplenations.org
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided you do NOT alter the wording in any way, you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproducing, and you do not make more than 1,000 physical copies. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by the Disciple Nations Alliance.
Suggested Resources:
Moffitt, Bob, If Jesus Were Mayor. Monarch Books, 2006, chapters 12 and 13.
Disciple Nations Alliance website: www.disciplenations.org/resources/course. Section: Wholistic Ministry
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Our Target, God’s Glory
Part 1
by
Bob Moffitt, PhD, WEA Global Partner representative for Disciple Nations Alliance
President of the Harvest Foundation
Last November I was speaking to a group of indigenous Indian church leaders in southeastern Brazil. I asked the audience if they thought the Gospel should result in the transformation of individuals, families, and communities. They agreed that it should. I then asked if they observed that the spread of the Gospel in their tribes had brought the kind of transformation which they expected. The audience responded with a clear “No.”
Hanging on the wall of the assembly room where I was teaching, there was a bow and arrow from one of the tribes. I picked the bow and arrow from the wall and asked if there were any young warriors in the audience who knew how to use them. Several hands went up, and I asked for a volunteer from among those men. As one came forward, I asked if he could shoot the arrow I was holding and hit a target I would choose. He affirmed that he could. Next, I told him and the audience that I wanted to try an experiment.
I pulled a scarf from my back pocket and tied it around his eyes as a blindfold. I then pointed out an imaginary target to the audience—a place on the wall directly behind me. Then, I asked my blindfolded volunteer to hit the target. He protested that he couldn’t see the target. I told him that I would like him to aim the arrow in the direction that he believed was the most accurate. His first aim was directly at the gasping audience! I told him he was off and to try again. This time, his aim was in the general direction of the target but far enough away that he wouldn’t hit it if he released the arrow. I then took off the blindfold and asked the audience to point out the target. They did. My volunteer marksman again complained that, if he couldn’t see the target, it was unlikely he could hit it.
After my young volunteer took his seat, I explained that this illustration could reflect why our efforts at evangelism and church planting have not achieved the transformation we expect from the Gospel we proclaim. I proposed that we have not seen the transformation we hope for in individuals, families, and communities—when we have succeeded with evangelism and church planting—because we have misunderstood the target, the task Christ has given us.
The Target, God’s Glory
There are more than three-hundred uses of the word glory in Scripture. The majority of these refer to God’s glory. To understand what God’s glory can and should mean to us, we need to take a fresh look at our mission through the prism of the Great Commission. First, let’s examine the cosmic setting of the Great Commission. This context, or setting, is God’s glory as it is expressed in creation. David reminds us that the cosmos itself declares the glory of God. How does it declare His glory? At every level!
Near our home is one of the world’s largest ground-glass telescopes. Each time I visit the observatory’s museum, I am overwhelmed by the infinite scope of the universe. On the earth, the human neighborhood of this universe, we gaze in awe at the glory of sunsets. At the micro-level, we are amazed at the complex and interdependent molecular interactions that sustain life. Yes, David was right:
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.”
(Ps 19:1-4 NIV)
Scripture reveals that God’s ultimate purpose is to reveal His glory—a reflection of His incredibly wonderful character. Glory is an attribute given to acknowledge supremacy, worthiness, honor, distinction, beauty, majesty, and splendor. C.S. Lewis compares glory to weight—something of great substance. When I think of God’s glory, additional terms come to mind—absolute purity, holiness, justice with mercy, patience, infinite strength, and voluntary-sacrificial love. Oh, how we need these attributes in our broken world!
Without a biblical understanding of the incredible winsomeness of the glory of God, the goal of His glory could be misinterpreted as the egomania of a capricious sovereign who demands the worship of his/her subjects. However, when we understand God’s glory from the perspective of what is revealed in Scripture, we see this glory in a totally different light. God’s glory is so loving, so protective, so self-giving and sharing, so pure and holy, so without deceit or hidden agenda, that when we encounter it we want to be as close to it as possible.
As I write, the chimes at a nearby mission appropriately play a hymn by Joachin Neander (1863). The opening words flow through my mind: “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation, Oh my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation.”
Reflecting God’s Glory
As the moon reflects the light of the sun, the creation is only a reflection of God’s glory. Try for a moment to imagine what it would be like to directly see God’s glory. It would be like looking directly into the sun. Isaiah was directly exposed to God’s glory in a vision. In this word picture (Isaiah 6), God’s glory is pictured as holiness and purity. In the face of that glory, sinful Isaiah fell on his face as a dead man. If we try to imagine God’s glory, we cannot. It is far beyond our capacity. Yet, incredibly, God created human beings to reflect His glory!
God wanted His people, Israel, to be a priest to the nations around them, living in such a way that other nations would see his glory and be drawn to Him (Deuteronomy 4:5-8). At the individual level, Jesus told His followers to let their lights shine so that those who observe would give glory to God (Matthew 5:13-16).
Paul reminds us three times that we actually are to be God’s glory. In Ephesians 1 He says we are adopted “to the praise of his glorious grace (verse 6). In verses 11 and 12 he tells us that we were chosen for the praise of his glory. As if to ensure we understand this incredible truth, Paul tells us we are marked for redemption for “the praise of his glory (verses 13 and 14). Elsewhere, Paul tells us to do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Peter said to live so that those who observe us will glorify God (1 Peter 2:11-12).
In other words, when we live the way God asks, we glorify God. And, God is our glory. Isaiah wrote that “…the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory” (Isaiah 60:19). There is more! When we live the way God created us to live, we become God’s glory. Isaiah said, “You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God” (Isaiah 62:3). God’s glory is reciprocal. Amazing!
This circular glory is a reflection of the self-giving love of the Trinity, reflected in Colossians 1:15-20, John 16:13-14, and John 17:4-10. The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus. Jesus glorifies God. God glorifies Jesus. We glorify Jesus. And so it goes, on and on.
I believe the reason God changed his evaluation of the creation as “good” (Genesis 1:1-24) to “very good” (Genesis 1:31) is that—between the “good” and the “very good” —God had created the crown of creation, human beings. Human beings have the capacity to reflect His glory more than all of the rest of creation. How can humans do that? We do it as we reflect His image in the care of His creation—including our care for one another. Through this care, we extend the knowledge of God’s glory until “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9 NIV). Many theologians call this the “cultural mandate.”
Human sin vandalized this vision—this purpose of God—but Christ restored our birthright of bringing God the glory He intended. Paul powerfully reinforced this truth in Colossians 1:15-20 when he summarized God’s plan to deal with sin and enable us to participate again in His cosmic purpose: “through him [Jesus] to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace thorough his blood shed on the cross.”
Because of the cross, we human beings can reclaim our birthright to glorify God by living as he intended and still intends us to live. Isaiah 58 tells us that living the way he intends is true worship. The cross represents grace—God’s undeserved favor toward us. But this grace is more than God’s undeserved favor. It is the enablement to know how God calls us to live and the supernatural strength to do His will, bringing Him glory by the way we live (Philippians 2:13). When we glorify God by right living, we are His glory! This truth is also reflected in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “And we…all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord….” John 15:8 says simply that “this is my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit.”
God’s Glory and the Great Commission
In the practice of our evangelical faith we have gotten away from the full implications of this understanding of God’s ultimate purpose. We have studied the Great Commission, and we have been careful to implement the mandate of evangelism and church planting. But, we have generally missed its ultimate purpose, or its target. Because we have missed its target, I submit that we have also largely missed God’s intended consequence—the transformation or healing of our lands.
Let’s look closely at the Great Commission. This is not an exact study of each part of the Great Commission, but we will look at it from the perspective of common evangelical compartmentalization. The primary references to Jesus’ last marching orders to His followers are in Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:19. In these passages, evangelicals typically find the following emphases:
1. Evangelism – “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15). “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19a). (Italics were added and will be discussed below in #4.)
2. Church Planting – “Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19b)
3. Teaching – “and teaching them” (Matthew 28:19c)
4. Discipling – “to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19d)
In #1 above, we see Christ’s commission to go into the world to evangelize and to see souls saved from hell and for heaven. We evangelicals have been good at fulfilling this part of Jesus’ commission.
In #2, we read that we are to baptize new believers as a form of sealing them into the Body of Christ, the church. An implication of this is the gathering of believers into an intentional assembly—a local church. In other words, baptizing can be seen as one aspect of planting local churches. We evangelicals have been good at fulfilling this part of Jesus’ commission.
In #3, we see another strength of evangelicals. Evangelicals have recognized the importance of teaching people about our faith. Thousands of denominations and parachurch ministries have written their own discipleship materials, but most of them—like many Sunday sermons—do not make a great difference in the way followers of Jesus relate to the creation and each other.
You may have wondered why I separated “and teaching them” in #3 from “to obey everything I have commanded you” in #4. I did so because, even though we evangelicals know this is a part of the Great Commission, we don’t put appropriate effort into teaching our people to obey, or apply, what Jesus taught. We have somehow fallen into the trap of the cognitive behaviorists who propose that knowledge leads to changed behavior. The idea that good education will produce the right kind of society is a reflection of this secular lie. Ideas produce consequences only if they are applied. As good evangelicals, we tend to think that when people fill their minds with Scripture they will be transformed.
The last element of the Great Commission (#4) is often, tragically, the missing piece of our response to Jesus’ marching orders! The other elements of the Great Commission are essential but, if we don’t teach obedience, Christ’s purpose for His followers—the Church— is severely weakened. We may be thoroughly familiar with the cross and the atonement. We may be deeply touched by the forgiveness that has come our way because of Christ’s sacrifice. But unless that awareness leads to a reflection of that sacrificial obedience on our part, there will be few visible consequences to this central Biblical truth.
I have the privilege of teaching pastors at conferences and students in Bible schools and seminaries around the world. I often ask participants to share the Great Commission in their own words. Most of the time, they mention the elements of going, evangelism, baptism, church planting, and teaching. Sadly, they often miss one critical element: teaching people to obey Jesus’ teachings. It is not surprising that this element is also often missing in their denominations and parachurch ministries.
John Thacker, Head of Theology of the Evangelical Alliance in the UK, said in a recent issue of Theological News that teaching content only peddles a “partial gospel, if not a false gospel” (WEA Theological News, April 2008, Vol 37, No2). Teaching nothing more than content is a tragic flaw. Teaching followers to obey is the final but essential step of Jesus’ command to us. It is the means to reaching the target. Unless we teach the means to reaching the target, the glory that God created us to reflect will be greatly diminished. People who are converted under such incomplete ministry may be saved, but they risk bringing God dishonor rather than honor.
Most of us are familiar with research that shows little difference between the values and lifestyles of nonbelievers and those who claim to be Christians. I propose that this inconsistency is the reason why my indigenous Brazilian brothers did not see the transformation in their communities that they expected. And I suspect that it is the reason we see vast numbers of reported conversions and churches planted without the consequent transformation we believe the Gospel should produce.
Hitting the Target
In an article in Evangelical Missions Quarterly (October 2005), I argued that transformation is not something that followers of Christ accomplish. Scripture makes it clear that biblical transformation is something God accomplishes as a result of His people living the way He has called them to live. A familiar verse quoted by those engaged in Christian transformational activities promises: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
My paraphrases of this verse read, “If my people will live the way I designed them to live, I will transform their brokenness into my shalom.” Or, “If the people who are My Church will obey the instructions I have given them—if they will live out the final element of My departing instructions—I promise to transform them, their families, their communities, and their nations.”
The promise of this verse is conditional. It is also supernatural. The condition is humble repentance of disobedience—followed by obedience. The assumption of the Gospel is that, without Christ, we are dead. Being “dead,” we cannot heal ourselves, irrespective of the intelligence, money, or manpower we apply to our brokenness. The healing of our broken lives and societies is something that requires supernatural intervention. When God’s people obey, when they live as He has called them to live, He supernaturally intervenes in their realities—using their intelligence, their money, their manpower, and other resources to bring His healing. But, unless we live God’s way, the promise is voided.
In short, the Matthew rendering of the Great Commission is to disciple our nations. Evangelism, church planting, and teaching about our great faith are essential activities along the path that leads to the final step of teaching obedience. Although these elements of the Great Commission are essential, they do not, by themselves, allow us to glorify God as He intended. Using the earlier analogy of the bow and arrow, evangelism and church planting is like stringing the bow. Teaching is like pulling the arrow back against the string. Aiming and releasing the arrow is the final step, or the means to hitting the target. If the arrow is not appropriately aimed, it flies through space without hitting the target! Nations will not be discipled for the glory of God until God’s people glorify Him by living His way—by doing what He commands—every day and every hour.
Biblical transformation is not immediate, nor will it be complete before the full establishment of Christ’s Kingdom. But history shows us that transformation can be a significant reality now. Social scientist Rodney Stark traced the incredible social transformation of the pagan Roman Empire during the first three-hundred years of the early Christian church (The Rise of Christianity, Princeton University Press, 1996). There were similar transformations during the Reformation and the Wesleyan Revival. In each of these eras, there was a remarkable demonstration of obedience—identified by an outpouring of Christ’s sacrificial love by the people who are called by His name.
I belileve it is possible to experience the same transformation today, but that possibility is conditional. God clearly laid out the conditions in 2 Chronicles 7:14. There are two conditions: (1) God’s people must humble themselves before Him and seek His face; i.e., come repentantly before Him and learn His will; and (2) God’s people must turn from their wicked ways; i.e., do His will. When God’s people meet these two criteria, there are also two promises. In His glory, God (1) forgives and (2) heals.
How Do We Know When We Have Hit the Target?
How do we know when we have hit the target? What does it look like when we— as individual disciples and as local churches—glorify God? Scripture helps us answer the question:
A passion for restoration of the broken
“Go and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor” (Matthew 11:4-5).
Jesus said that He came to do the will of His Father (John 6:38). What did that mean? We see one answer in Jesus’ reply to John’s disciples, above. I also find it helpful to see the topic headings in the book of Mark in my NIV Bible. Examples include: “Jesus Drives out an Evil Spirit, “Jesus Heals Many,” “Jesus Heals a Paralytic,” “Jesus Calms the Storm,” “The Healing of a Demon-possessed Man.” “Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand,” “The Healing of a Deaf and Mute Man,” “The Healing of a Blind Man at Bethsaida,” “Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight,” and “Jesus Clears the Temple.” There are implications for us, as followers of Jesus:
1. God seems passionate to heal brokenness. Question: What are we doing individually and corporately to heal the brokenness of those around us?
2. We see evidence of God’s sovereignty over the cosmos. Question: What are we doing individually and corporately to reflect God’s concern for the brokenness of our physical environment?
3. We see evidence of God’s concern for the desecration of sacred places. Question: What are we doing individually and corporately to heal the brokenness in our families, in our churches, in our communities?
4. We see overwhelming evidence of supernatural intervention to heal human and cosmic brokenness. “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:12). Question: Is the observing world astonished to see evidence of God’s supernatural intervention in our lives and in our service to others?
When we began our ministry in Haiti, a group of Christian young people in the worst slum in Port-au-Prince were challenged to do God’s will. As they prayed, the Spirit drew their attention to an sick elderly man who barely survived in a filthy shack. They went to this man’s shack. They bathed him, put him in clean clothes, fed him, and cleaned up the filth in his tiny room. Slum residents passing by were astonished and said, “These could only be Christians!”
Suffering
“But we behold him who hath been made a little lower than the angels, (even) Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for every (man). For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:9-10 ASV).
There is a way in which suffering can reflect the glory of God. Jesus suffered sacrificially—not for himself, but for others. When we suffer for others, we reflect what Jesus did for us.
Questions: When we look at the individual followers of Jesus in our churches, do we see God’s glory as they suffer for others? When the people in our communities look at our church, do they see followers of Jesus who “give until it hurts” to heal the brokenness in their community?
One of the cell groups of an African church saw the needs of the Muslim children in their community for food, clothing, and school. They sacrificially gave of their own meager resources to bathe, feed, and teach the children in their own homes. The initially suspicious parents were touched when they saw this demonstration of God’s glory. Some of those neighbors are now becoming people who reflect the same Glory that astonished them.
Love for one another
“And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:44-47, KJV).
Another evidence of God’s glory is illustrated by the loving care that the first believers had for one another.
Question: What do the people of our respective communities see and hear in terms of our care for one another?
Generosity toward those we don’t know
“Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own” (2 Corinthians 8:2-3 NIV)
Scripture celebrates this reflection of the glory of God. For example, in 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, Paul commends the Macedonians for giving beyond their ability to needy believers in Jerusalem—believers they had never met.
Three years ago in my own country, we suffered one of the greatest natural tragedies in our history, Hurricane Katrina. It was God’s people—far more than our government with its billions of dollars—who responded with immediacy, love, aid, compassion, and manpower for cleanup and rebuilding. (Heralding Unheard Voices, Homeland Security Institute, US Government, December 2006). Three years later, many churches continue their involvement
An extension of this service is hospitality—an expected characteristic of those who are named in Christ. See Romans 1213; I Timothy 3:2 and 5:10; Titus 1:8; and 1 Peter 4:9.
Questions: Do the people whom we have never met see God’s glory in our generosity? Are the people of our respective neighborhoods touched by God’s glory through our hospitality?
A transformed community
“Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17 NIV).
If Jesus were mayor…if the will of God were done in our families and neighborhoods…if there were no corruption in government…if business were honest…if there were peace between classes and ethnic groups…if the disenfranchised were treated with dignity and justice… Any or all of these would be what we would expect to see if we are being God’s glory.
These are not goals that we can accomplish in human strength, however. They are the consequence of supernatural intervention in our broken world. We will see them…if. The if is dependent on our meeting the conditions God has set out, in humble obedience to Him.
We long to see the above “ifs” become reality, but they are primarily a by-product of living as God intends. If we work toward these results as our target without teaching God’s people to live the Gospel in their daily lives and worlds, our communities will not be transformed. The Body of Christ should engage both in personal reflections of God’s glory and in corporate efforts to advance justice and mercy. But corporate efforts and programs—without the obedience of individual followers of Jesus to live as He taught—will not produce transformation.
Question: Do we believe transformation is dependent on obedience?
Part 2
How do we equip them?
If the end task of the Great Commission—the means to glorifying God—is to equip disciples to know and do the will of the Father, the question that follows is “How do we equip them?”
There are probably as many discipleship programs and strategies as there are denominations and parachurch organizations. These programs most often have goals like these:
1. Personal piety—the vertical relationship between the disciple and God
2. Knowledge of Scripture
3. Training disciples to evangelize and/or to plant churches
Each of these is a necessary step in discipleship, but they are not the full biblical goal. By themselves, these emphases cannot hit the target. The goal can only be attained as we equip God’s people to do the things that Jesus commanded.
Some pastors expend great energy, encouraging their people to become doers of the Word—but they don’t see results. Why? There are multiple reasons. One reason I frequently hear is that the people being discipled really don’t want to do what Christ asks. That may be partially true, but I think what is often seen as unwillingness to do the will of God is more (1) a fear of what obedience might mean; (2) a lack of practical knowledge about how to obey in the individual believer’s context; and (3) the absence of a cohesive strategy for realistic and practical application. If the believers’ confession of Jesus as Lord is genuine, I believe most will at times join Paul in his cry: “Oh wretched man that I am…” (Romans 7:24). At his deepest level, Paul wanted to obey.
There is another reason we don’t see Christians living in obedience to Jesus’ teachings—the worldviews from which we teach Scripture are often influenced by the lies of our cultures. In my culture this is reflected by the non-biblical influence of secularism, materialism, and relativism. These cultural lies are often clothed in assumptions, and often we are not even aware of them. We need to practice the discipline of recognizing lies and helping our people distinguish lies from Truth.
Seven Principles
If God’s glory is the goal and if equipping our people for works of service is an essential means to that end, it is possible to hit the target. How? There are different discipleship scenarios that are effective. The purpose of this paper is not to propose strategies. I believe there is something more important than a good strategy. It is the embrace of principles on which the strategy is built. While strategy needs to be contextualized, biblical principles are non-negotiable and are essential for whatever strategy is employed. These principles could be articulated in various ways, but I will share those that, when applied, appear to work in any cultural or generational context. I will suggest seven principles.
Principle 1: Reliance on enabling grace
“But if you stay in me and obey my commands, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! My true disciples produce bountiful harvests. This brings great glory to my Father…. When you obey me you are living in my love, just as I obey my Father and live in his love. I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your cup of joy will overflow!” (John 15:7-8; 10-12 TLB)
The first principle is helping or coaching disciples to find and maintain their relationships with Jesus. Unless disciplies are abiding in Christ, other principles for equipping will not produce disciples who bring glory to God, nor will the disciples be His glory. Their efforts will be man-powered. They may look good to an outside observer, but their “service” will have little lasting and/or eternal impact.
Not only must disciples have solid connections to their Lord, they must also learn constant reliance on enabling grace—the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit—to do what they cannot do in their own strength. Consistently doing the Father’s will in one’s own strength is impossible. But, “Thanks be to God— through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25), obedience is possible. It is in the continuous practice of obedience that service moves from obligation to joy, from legalism to freedom, from religion to grace.
Principle 2: Integrity and modeling
“Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19).
The second most important element in equipping is the integrity between the messenger and the message, the discipler and the disciple. Equippers must be modelers. Jesus demonstrated and taught that doing comes before teaching. In other words, equippers must develop the spiritual DNA of sacrificial servanthood in their own lives before they encourage their disciples or mentees to develop and practice the same.
When I was writing discipleship materials for my doctoral studies in the early 1990s, I was convicted by the Spirit that the discipleship material I was developing would have no power unless I was writing from personal experience. Thus began an intensive year of exploring the spiritual discipline of sacrificially loving others. That year shaped the rest of my life.
For example, a small discipline I regularly practice begins before I leave home for the office. I put a plastic grocery bag—sometimes two bags—in my back pocket. As I walk the two blocks to and from my parking space to the office, I pick up trash and often subconsciously hum “This is My Father’s World.” I don’t talk about it, and I don’t do it to be noticed. Actually, I’m shy about this strange-looking behavior, but I do it anyway. Whether this or my other expressions of service are noticed or not, they allow me to teach and mentor others about small and larger demonstrations of our Father’s love.
Principle 3: Ongoing teaching
“But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Heb 5:14 NIV).
“And I have been a constant example of how you can help the poor by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive' " (Acts 20:35 NLT).
The third principle is ongoing teaching—the continuous reinforcement and coaching of the centrality of what can be called faith-praxis. What is “faith-praxis”? It is the disciplined, intentional lifestyle of allowing Christ’s spirit of sacrificial servanthood to flow through our every thought, word, and action. This principle can be introduced through curricula or a teaching series. However, faith-praxis is not sustainable in a local church unless it permeates the teaching, discipleship, and mentoring of the membership. If the teaching and modeling of sacrificial servanthood is not explicit, it must be intentionally implicit throughout the equipping process in order to maximally impact the ministry lifestyle of a local church. Why? Living our faith in a way that reflects what Jesus modeled and taught—sacrificial servanthood— is a critical vehicle for reaching the goal of glorifying God and of being His glory.
There is a large church in East Africa that integrates this kind of teaching and practice throughout the church. The themes that are developed in the sermons, the Bible studies, and the cell groups constantly remind the members that the principal call of God is to live out His Kingdom, both individually and corporately. The call to faith-praxis in this church is explicit—or intentionally implicit—in all of the church’s equipping process. As a result, this church is known—from the neighborhoods where its people live, to the halls of the national government—as a church of people who sacrificially invest to see their society healed of its brokenness.
Principle 4: Application**(see last page)
“Little children, let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions. Then we will know for sure, by our actions, that we are on God's side, and our consciences will be clear, even when we stand before the Lord” (1 John 3:18-19 TLB”)
The fourth principle is application. Wherever possible, discipleship must lead to present—not future—action. Obedience to God’s commands is to be done now. It is not merely a good idea to be carried out sometime later.
Unfortunately, disciplers sometimes see application as something for the mature disciple. Jesus told the rich young ruler to obey first and then follow Jesus. I wonder how the results of our evangelism and discipleship would change if we first asked seekers to do what Jesus commands as a sign that they want to follow Him?
Guiding the application process is not easy, especially for those who have not developed the needed skill. Leading a group of Christians to application is like learning to drive. In the beginning, there are jumps and stalls. After awhile, the maturing driver coordinates starting, steering, and stopping with grace—without thinking.
Unless they apply what they learn, little will change in the lives of church members and the people of their respective worlds—the people they are called to serve. Leading or facilitating lesson application requires skill, humility, patience, persistence, a deep love for Jesus, and a commitment to obey by discipling others to obey. Other than evangelism and spiritual discipleship, the skill of leading disciples to live lifestyles of “doing” what Jesus commanded is not often modeled or taught in Bible schools, seminaries, or church-based teacher trainings. Like driving, this skill is best learned through experience, but it is one of the most important arrows in the quiver of one who has a passion to hit the target.
Principle 5: Accountability
“When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them” (Acts 15:4 NIV)
The fifth principle is accountability. A well recognized management mantra is, “Regardless of written policy, employees pay attention to what the boss notices.” Our people need to see that their leaders see and acknowledge sacrificial service—that they expect service to be the principal mark of membership. Opportunities to share the joys, questions, and frustrations of application should have a regular and reserved place in worship services, small-group settings, and accountability groups. This is another way to provide structured and spontaneous opportunities for our people, giving testimony to what God has done and what people are learning as they serve. Opportunities for accountability need to be expected, positively anticipated, regular, and frequent—a part of our worship. Isaiah 58 reminds us that the demonstration of God’s sacrificial love is the essential form of true worship.
Principle 6: Encouragement
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV)
“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose” (Philippians 2:1-2 NIV)
A sixth principle is encouragement. Encouragement is especially important for the inexperienced disciple. Sustained joy of serving comes naturally when service as a lifestyle is so practiced that it becomes unconscious. The follower of Jesus who is just learning true discipleship needs the encouragement that comes from recognition, group interaction, and coaching. Such encouragement and recognition should not lift up the disciple, but the Lord the disciple serves.
Principle 7: Celebration
“Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together” (Ps 34:3 NIV)
Finally, we come to the seventh principle—celebration. When I see what people celebrate, I have a good idea of what they value. What we celebrate reflects our values. If we value numbers over obedience, we will celebrate the number of people who have “been evangelized,” the number of people who were baptized, the number of churches planted, or the number of new church members. We can legitimately celebrate these things. But if the end goal of our efforts is to bring glory to God as our people serve in His name, our celebrations should primarily reflect that value. When we see our people serve, let’s celebrate! Let’s glorify the Lord who enables us to be His glory.
How? We can tell stories. We can talk about the struggles, the surprises, and the evidence we have seen of God’s supernatural intervention. Numerical growth is good, but saints who serve are a greater evidence of fruit than numbers.
Implications
The above examples reflect how the watching world sees the glory of God in and through us. What are the implications for the churches we plant and the people we disciple…
• If God’s ultimate propose is to reveal His glory?
• If we express His glory by doing His will?
• If we are God’s glory by reflecting his character?
Let me propose three implications.
1. We must keep not only the initial steps of the Great Commission in mind, but, most importantly, we must never lose sight of the relationship between our obedience and the glory of God, “on earth as it is in heaven.”
2. Whatever discipleship strategy is employed, we need to creatively ensure that the strategy is built on essential biblical principles for developing disciples who glorify God in their lives.
3. We need to evaluate our evangelism, church planting, teaching, and discipling—not by numerical measures but by the evidence of God’s glory in the lives of disciples.
Our Father
Forgive us for our unfaithfulness to Your full intentions. Help us to not only evangelize, plant churches, and teach Your commands. Help us to teach those you bring under our care to do Your will. Your goal is that Your name would be honored. Grant that we may increasingly make Your glory our goal. And, in the process, may we increasingly be Your glory. We ask this in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done…” Amen.
END
**
I know a young African man who was unemployed when I met him. God used him as a catalyst to provide schooling for hundreds of children in an impoverished community. Through our teaching, he came to know that Scripture’s command to demonstrate God’s love did not depend on his convenience, his resources, or his perceived abilities, but on obedience in his present reality. He says, “I was a good Christian. I knew how to tell people about Jesus. But there was one thing that I did not know. I did not know that obeying Jesus was not an option. It is a must!”
Understanding this, he acted in faith. For eight months he and his friends voluntarily taught local children to read and do arithmetic, without any personal compensation. God supernaturally intervened in this young man’s slum community and began a process that has resulted in multiple elementary schools, one secondary school, and the planting of several local churches populated by people who saw the demonstration of God’s love for their children. Note that evangelism and church multiplication were not the goal, but they were a consequence of the demonstration of God’s love, His glory.
Many wonderful discipleship curricula are available, but they seldom lead to tangible application other than personal spiritual discipline or content-oriented evangelism. Suggestions for lesson applications are often so vague that they seldom result in action. For effective applications, lesson instructions should nurture specificity, planning, and joyful accountability for service. For example, instead of the lesson leaving participants with an instruction to “go and love your neighbors,” the group leader could ask, “Which of your neighbors has a need you could meet before our next meeting? What is that need? What will you do to meet that need? When will you do it?” The application should be realistic in the sense that it can be completed within the context of other obligations and before the next session.
Ideally, the disciple or learner should seek God and decide how he or she will apply the lesson before leaving the session. Of course, the Holy Spirit may bring an opportunity to serve that isn’t anticipated. That unanticipated opportunity becomes the priority. But, making a specific decision to act develops both resolve and creativity. The chosen application should be something beyond what the disciple would ordinarily do, in order that the disciple will grow. Finally, the application should require personal sacrifice on the part of the person who is doing the service.
Wherever possible, the application of a given teaching should be an intentionally planned element of every Bible study or discipleship lesson. This takes time—perhaps as much as one-third of the time available. Some teachers or disciplers are reluctant to give that much time to application. My response is a question: Which do you prefer—disciples who know more but don’t apply what they know, or followers of Jesus who know less but apply what they know?
For more information and help with these principles, go to the Disciple Nations Alliance and/or Harvest web sites – www.disciplenations.org and www.harvestfoundation.org
Questions for the Round Tables
1. Do you agree with the propositions presented this morning that God intends that the Church must do more than evangelism, church planting, and teaching content-oriented discipleship?
2. Does the Great Commission require the teaching of obedience?
3. To what degree do you think that teaching obedience is related to transformation?
4. Can the Church fulfill the Great Commission by dong more of what it has been doing? If not, what needs to change?
5. What are we doing individually and corporately to heal the brokenness of those around us?
6. What are we doing individually and corporately to reflect God’s concern for the brokenness of our families, our churches, our communities, and our physical environment?
7. Is the observing world astonished to see evidence of God’s supernatural intervention in our lives and in our service to others?
8. When the communities in which our churches minister look at our church, do they see people who “give until it hurts” to heal the brokenness in our community?
9. Do the people of our communities see and hear us carrying for one another? What do they observe?
10. Are the people of our neighborhoods touched by God’s glory through our hospitality?
11. To what extend do we believe that biblical transformation is dependent on obedience?
SEEDS AND SEED PROJECTS
Overview statement:
God multiplies small acts (seeds) of obedience to extend His Kingdom. Seed Projects are a simple and effective tool that enables local churches to express God’s Kingdom in their communities through loving service.
Main ideas:
1. The biblical parables involving seeds provide key principles for ministry.
2. Seed Projects are small projects done by local churches with their own resources for the purpose of demonstrating God’s love to the people outside the church.
3. Benefits of Seed Projects include people being drawn to Christ, a broad range of community needs being met through the love of Christ, freedom from dependency on outside resources and experience being gained for larger future Kingdom endeavors.
4. There are ten overall characteristics of a Seed Project.
5. Seed Projects are most effective for bringing about transformation (long-term effectiveness) when they are focused on the same people, balanced in all areas of life and ongoing over a period of time.
Outcomes:
1. Now:
a. To grasp and express the main ideas of the lesson in their own words.
b. To explain the idea of Seed Projects and their ten characteristics to one other person within the next week.
2. Beyond:
a. To identify at least one way to meet a community need that would demonstrate God’s love and concern for those outside the church.
b. To work as leaders to teach a group about seed projects in the next month.
SEEDS AND SEED PROJECTS
Participant Outline
I. Introduction
II. Seed Principles for Local Church Ministry
A. John 12:24 – A seed falls to the ground and dies
Example: Fruit requires sacrifice.
B. Matthew 11:31-32 – Parable of the mustard seed
C. John 4:37-38 – One sows and another reaps
D. I Corinthians 3:6-9 – One plants, another waters and God makes it grow
E. II Corinthians 9:6-13 – Sowing generously
III. Elements for Growth
IV. Personal Illustrations of Seed Principles
V. Seed Project Purpose and Definition
A. Three Principle Benefits
1. Wholistic Evangelism
2. Freedom from Dependency
3. Experience and Confidence for Larger Activities
VI. Characteristics of Seed Projects
A. Motivated by God’s Intentions
B. Covered in Prayer
C. Simple and Short
D. Well Planned
E. Local Resources
F. Does Not Manipulate
G. Done for those Outside the Church
H. Beneficiaries Participate
I. Intentionally Plan Wholistic Impact
J. God is Praised
VII. Reinforcement – Which statements would be good examples of Seed Projects based on the characteristics of Seed Projects? Explain why this is a good example or not.
A. Game day for community children as an evangelistic outreach
B. A picnic for hungry children based on a community needs survey
C. Latrine repair at the home of a church member
D. Paint and clean up of local senior care center or hospital
E. A government sponsored literacy program covered in prayer
F. A garbage clean-up day the day following the decision to do it
G. One day marriage relationship seminar for the community
H. A seminar on nutrition, where the organizing committee serves so well that the community participants don’t have to help in any way
I. Media coverage of the seed project so the church gets greater publicity
J. Development and operation of a child-care center
K. Community meeting to discuss the operation of a child-care center as a result of a time of seeking God’s intentions for the community
VIII. Three Principles for Long-Term Effectiveness
A. Balanced
B. Focused
C. Ongoing
SEEDS AND SEED PROJECTS
Lesson Narrative
Seeds are one of the word pictures Jesus used in Scripture, and they have great implications for service. In fact, we have designed something called “Seed Projects,” based on two important principles we learned from seeds.
Principle 1: Seeds have great implications for service—especially as they illustrate sacrifice. The first and most important principle about seeds comes from Jesus’ prediction of his own death: “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24). Seeds illustrate sacrifice. They die in order to do what they were created to do—produce fruit. They are small but, when they die, they produce great multiplication.
One of my favorite illustrations of this comes from India, where I had the privilege of teaching a group of pastors. One was from a very poor rural area, where he and his congregation lived as an oppressed minority. He knew his church needed to demonstrate God’s love to the people among whom they lived. After our conference, he returned home and asked the women of the church to look for needs among their Hindu neighbors. The next Sunday, the women reported that several of their Hindu neighbors had only one sari (dress). Since it was summer—very hot and humid—the women needed to wash their saris after every day of hard work. Those who had only one sari had to stay indoors while their sari dried in the sun. The pastor asked how many women in the congregation had three saris and would be willing to give one to a Hindu neighbor. One by one, the women of the congregation raised their hands. The next morning, the women from the church visited their needy neighbors and gave them saris. The Hindu women were deeply touched. Some even asked the Christian women to pray to their God for their unborn babies. This sacrifice impacted the Hindu community—and the church people, who realized they were not as powerless as they believed.
I have often wondered. Would the impact be different if a Christian NGO had come to the village and distributed free clothing to everyone? The gift would have been larger. It would have met a greater physical need. But I doubt if an NGO would have nearly the impact that was made by the few saris that were sacrificially given by the church women. What came from the Christian women represented real sacrifice. Small seeds, when they represent sacrifice, have great influence. When our demonstrations of God’s love are sacrificial, I believe the impact will be far greater than if our service comes out of our surplus. “Unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground . . .” In fact, I believe that the impact of service is most often proportional to sacrifice—the less the sacrifice, the less the impact; the more the sacrifice, the greater the impact for the Kingdom.
Principle 2: It is God who brings the harvest. We obediently plant the seeds, but it is God who brings fruit. Jesus reminded us that the impact of our service is not something for which we can take credit: “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor” (John 4:38). God is already at work in the hearts of those to whom we minister. Whenever there is an impact for the Kingdom, the credit belongs to God—not to us. The apostle Paul wrote: So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor” (1 Corinthians 3:6-8). The purpose of our service is the expansion of Christ’s reign—the will of God, done on earth as it is in heaven. The objective is the extension of the Kingdom, not numerical church growth.
Based on these principles, we have discovered a way to demonstrate God’s love in a community—Seed Projects. Seed Projects are small projects in which churches sacrificially use local resources to demonstrate the love of God and Christ. Seed Projects are done by small groups in the church—by families, home fellowships, cell groups, Bible studies, and Sunday School classes. (Small demonstrations of God’s love, when done by individuals, are called Disciplines of Love, which is discussed in another lesson.)
I could tell you story after story about how God has blessed the sacrificial obedience of local congregations as they have done Seed Projects! Instead, please visit our Web site—www.harvestfoundation.org—to see hundreds of Seed Projects stories from around the world. (Select “Stories”)
Purpose of Seed Projects:
1. To use a simple, effective and proven tool to help a local church to begin to demonstrate God’s love to people outside of the body of Christ.
2. To enable local churches to be proclaimers of the gospel in deed.
Definition: A seed project is small, short-term ministry by a local church. It is done with local resources to demonstrate God’s love to those outside the faith community. It can be illustrated by the following diagram.
Benefits of Seed Projects: There are many benefits of Seed Projects, but at least three have emerged as most significant in our twenty-year practice of Seed Projects.
1. Wholistic evangelism. Seed projects enable the churches that practice them to see the power that the simple and consistent demonstration of God’s love has in drawing people into the Kingdom.
Many evangelical and/or orthodox churches have experience with evangelism through proclamation. One of the problems with evangelism-by-proclamation is that it is often separated from the experience of God’s incarnational love. The biblical model is to live in such a way that those in relationship with us see God’s love and then are receptive to the proclamation of the Gospel’s content.
2. Freedom from Dependency. Many of the churches we have had the privilege of working with since the early 1980s are grassroots churches in the developing world. They are often materially poor. Their idea of ministry to physical and social needs is based on large projects, with funds coming from outside the community. Seed Projects help these churches see that God uses small, locally-resourced activities in powerful, lasting ways.
3. Experience and Confidence for Larger Activities. After thousands of Seed Projects, we have been amazed at how these small, locally-resourced, activities have built experience and confidence for much larger activities.
Seed Project Characteristics: Over the years, we have evaluated the components that make Seed Projects effective. There are ten characteristics that appear related to achieving this kind of wholistic witness in a community. These characteristics serve as valuable guidelines in planning and carrying out Seed Projects. (They are not rigid rules, but should characterize most Seed Projects.) When we train church leaders in Seed Project planning, we ask them to see that their planned project reflects each of the guidelines, unless there is a good reason for an exception. The characteristics can be stated as follows:
1. Seed Projects are motivated by God’s intentions. Christians may often be caught in the trap of doing good works that are motivated by human compassion, carried out in human strength. Traditional projects are often undertaken when a need is seen, felt, expressed by local people, discovered in a survey, and/or when outside resources are available to meet that need. Christian ministry should be different. Christians should be compassionate people, but our strongest motivation should be a desire to reflect God’s intentions for people—above human compassion for a felt need. Seed Projects should be chosen by seeking God’s will—through praying, studying Scripture, and becoming familiar with the community.
One of our early experiences was with a small, very poor, rural village in central Mexico. There were many, many pressing needs in this village. The elders of this village had become converted as a group. They retreated into the mountains to fast and pray for three days, asking the Lord what their first action should be as new followers of Jesus. As they searched the Scriptures and prayed, they believed God was telling them to do something that was completely counter-cultural—build houses for the seven widows in their village. They did just that. As the news of this action spread through the entire region, a revival broke out! Professional development strategy would have been to work on sanitation, water, health, education, or employment. But God knew what would most demonstrate His love for the people. The leaders responded in sacrificial obedience to what they believed they had heard from God, and God’s Kingdom was extended.
2. Seed Projects should be covered in prayer. Through prayer, the Seed Project is identified, led, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The project should be done in conscious response to the commands of Jesus. It must be done in the power of Christ's Spirit—and that power comes only as we initiate and carry out our service of obedience in the labor of prayer.
3. Seed Projects must be simple and short, small and uncomplicated. The projects themselves should take no more than one or two days, though planning and preparation may take longer. Small projects have unique benefits: (a) Scripture shows that God honors and multiplies faithful, small works. (b) People grow in faith and ability as they attempt and complete small projects. Small projects allow people to fail, learn, and serve again—without major consequences. (c) Together, several small projects can make a large impact on communities. (d) Small projects provide experience for larger activities.
4. Seed Projects should be well planned. When Jesus spoke of “counting the cost,” He referred to planning as normal action for a successful project. Planning phases include preparation, prayer, writing, implementation, and evaluation. A planning tool is presented in a separate lesson, Seed Project Planning and Reporting.
5. Seed Projects are to be done with local resources. Many development plans are for projects that can only be completed with outside resources. Outside resources can be helpful, but the timing and conditions in which they are provided are key. If the local church has not learned to sacrificially invest its own resources in ministry before it uses outside resources, local powerlessness is reinforced and local initiative almost always is more difficult in the future. Outside resources are best used when the following conditions are in place: (a) People have demonstrated willingness to sacrificially use their own resources. (b) Outside resources are not a substitute for local resources. (c) Outside resources cause a multiplication—not addition—of local resources. (d) People understand that God ultimately provides resources.
6. Seed Projects do not manipulate. They should reflect God’s heart of compassion for brokenness. They are not a way to manipulate conversions or win souls. Seed Projects give us the opportunity to obey Jesus’ command to unconditionally love our neighbor, regardless of the response. Of course, we fervently desire to see the lost come into a personal relationship with Jesus and, consequently, see our churches grow. However, if conversion and church growth are the principal motives for our obedience, then our efforts become manipulation. Jesus never manipulated people. He healed them because addressing physical needs honored and reflected his Father's heart. Some of those he healed responded by acknowledging him as Lord and others did not, but Jesus did not withhold ministry, even when He knew there would be no spiritual response. Jesus knew that only one of the ten lepers would respond, but He healed all ten.
7. Seed Projects are directed toward those outside the church. Ministering to the needs of those inside the church membership is good and necessary, but Seed Projects are designed to help churches demonstration God’s love to those outside the church. We are light and salt in the world, not only in the church. We serve community members because we are obedient to Jesus’ command to love our neighbor as ourselves.
8. Those who benefit from the Seed Projects should also participate in them, as possible. When those who are being helped are involved in the process of planning and helping, they have the dignity of participating in their own healing. Doing things for people who are capable of participating—but are not involved—is paternalism. In fact, we are foolish if we do not utilize their first-hand knowledge and concerns about the problems. People who benefit and participate in a ministry project also have a greater sense of ownership—they are more likely to use, maintain, and improve it.
9. Every Seed Project will have a primary impact area, but Seed Projects are to be intentionally wholistic including a plan for impact in each area. When the nature of a Seed Project is social or physical, it is common that the mechanics of the activity become so intense that a spiritual emphasis and/or other areas of emphasis are forgotten—usually by oversight, not by intention. In each Seed Project plan, it is essential to ask if and where each impact area should be included and then intentionally written into the overall plan.
10. A Seed Project should bring glory to God, so God is praised. Just as thoughtful planning is important, so is thoughtful evaluation—but by Kingdom standards. Evaluation tools are presented in a separate lesson, Seed Project Planning and Reporting. The primary evaluation standard is who gets the credit. Is it those who do the project or God? It should be the One who calls us to love our neighbor – God.
Three Principles for Long-Term Effectiveness: Doing one isolated Seed Project is a good way to start demonstrating the love of God to a broken world. However, these three principles will help to provide the most impact in one community.
1. Seed Projects should be balanced. They should be designed to express God’s concern for all areas of human need. A paradigm we use for service is Luke 2:52. The four categories of Luke 2:52 are wisdom, physical, spiritual and social. As an example, church members in Carapita—a barrio in Venezuela—intentionally structured Seed Projects to reflect the Luke 2:52 categories.
• Wisdom: Church members gave lectures about drug prevention at a public school. They were invited to return to provide additional lectures.
• Physical: Twenty-five members of the church joined community members in repairing toilets, the electrical system, desks and a sewage ditch for a public school.
• Spiritual: The church organized multiple approaches to evangelism out in the community.
• Social: The church repaired a basketball court and organized community-based basketball games and competition. This activity healed division between two groups of young people.
3. Seed Projects should be focused. The same people need to see God’s concern for them in all areas. A local church doing focused ministry would not meet physical needs in one community, spiritual needs in a second community, social needs in a third community, and needs for biblical wisdom in a fourth community. The church would be ministering with balance, but the beneficiaries of its ministries would see God’s concern demonstrated in only one area. Focused ministry demonstrates God’s concern for each kind of need to the same people.
2. Seed Projects should be ongoing—a lifestyle of ministry. Demonstrations of love should not be something that happens once or twice a year. God’s love should be a part of the continuous ministry and way of life for individual Christians and for their churches over a period of time.
We have seen an important correlation between these concepts and effective wholistic ministry. Yet, even if all of the guidelines are properly carried out, the Seed Project will not advance the Kingdom of God if it is not led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Do not assume God’s guidance and empowerment. Actively and intentionally seek it! May His Kingdom come and may His will be done—in the community of your local church.
By Bob Moffitt, Harvest Foundation
Last edited by Nadia Chandler and Karla Tesch, August, 2007.
Copyright 2007 by the Disciple Nations Alliance
701 N. 1st Street Phoenix, AZ 85004
email: bmoffitt@harvestfoundation.org
www.harvestfoundation.org and www.disciplenations.org
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided you do NOT alter the wording in any way, you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproducing, and you do not make more than 1,000 physical copies. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by the Disciple Nations Alliance.
Suggested Resources:
Disciple Nations Alliance website: www.disciplenations.org/resource/course. Section: Wholistic Ministry.
THE DISCIPLINE OF LOVE
Overview Statement:
The Discipline of Love is a spiritual discipline that is an effective discipleship tool designed to help followers of Christ practice demonstrating God’s love by serving others. The image of God is best reflected in man through sacrificial servanthood. Believers should become more aware of the need to personally reflect Christ’s character in four areas of God’s concern (wisdom, physical, spiritual and social) in the world in which they live (family, church and community).
Main Ideas:
1. We were created in the image of God. Servanthood is the highest reflection of God’s image in man.
2. Jesus is the incarnation of God’s love as expressed through servanthood. We are to be conformed to Christ’s image – that of a willing, obedient, and loving servant.
3. God’s love is demonstrated through our obedience in serving others in all areas of life.
4. Discipline is necessary for training and growth in godliness. We have to train ourselves to serve.
5. We can intentionally plan, act, reflect and be accountable in our serving.
Outcomes:
1. Now:
a. To grasp and express the main ideas of the lesson in their own words.
b. To plan and carry out one Discipline of Love in the next 24 hours.
2. Beyond:
a. To recognize that loving servanthood is the highest expression of the image of God and to commit to complete at least one full cycle of the Discipline of Love in the next 3 months.
b. To work as leaders to teach, encourage and lead others to live a disciplined lifestyle of loving others.
THE DISCIPLINE OF LOVE
Participant Outline
I. Review
II. Introduction
III. Key Verse: I Timothy 4:7b-8
A. How do people train to be godly?
B. What other words are associated with training?
C. Is discipline necessary for growth?
IV. Does God want His children to be like Christ?
● Romans 8:29
V. What is our role in being conformed?
• Philippians 2:12b
• II Timothy 4:2
• John 15:4-5
VI. What is God’s role in our being conformed?
• Philippians 2:13
• Ephesians 3:20
VII. What does it mean to be created in God’s image? Genesis 1:27
A. Ability to create
B. Ability to use words
C. Purposeful relationships
D. Moral choice
E. The aspect of the image of God we most wants reflected in us.
o Matthew 20:28
o Philippians 2:5-9
VIII. Development Begins with Me
A. What is the relationship between service and love? (I John 3:16-18)
IX. Key Ideas Reinforcement
X. Application Plan
• New
• Realistic
• Specific (4 W’s)
• Share
Small-Group Leaders’ Guide for the Discipline of Love
1. Review this Small-Group Leaders’ Guide and Lesson Handouts.
2. Before leading a group, complete and journal at least one Discipline of Love in each category—Family, Church, and Community.
3. Use the teaching time of one meeting to introduce the Discipline of Love (DOL) to your small group. (See Lesson Handouts 1-4.) Give each member the assignment to plan, do, and journal one DOL before the next meeting.
4. Modify the suggested schedule for your group’s needs but be sure to include sufficient time during the subsequent meetings to debrief the DOLs that were done and to plan for the next DOLs.
5. Facilitate discussion among group members of their DOLs and encourage them to give each other suggestions and encouragement.
6. Provide guidance only if group members are not giving each other suggestions and encouragement.
7. Keep a record of each member’s practice of the DOL. (See “Small-Group Leaders’ Record” on next page.)
8. Personally practice the DOL at least once between each meeting.
9. Contact each group member between meetings to encourage and affirm.
Suggested Two-Hour Schedule for a Small Group
30 minutes Fellowship
30 minutes Teaching
15 minutes Testimonies of Disciplines of Love
15 minutes Peer Support and Prayer
15 minutes Planning Next Application
15 minutes Sharing and Prayer
--- Between-Meeting Contact by Group Leader
--- Intercession and Application by Group Leader
Small-Group Leaders’ Record
Attendance and Journal Record Start Date _________ End Date ________
Leader: _____________________________________ Group: __________________________________
Member 1 ____________________________
Meeting # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Attendance
DOL
Member 2 ____________________________
Meeting # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Attendance
DOL
Member 3 ____________________________
Meeting # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Attendance
DOL
Member 4 ____________________________
Meeting # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Attendance
DOL
Member 5 ____________________________
Meeting # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Attendance
DOL
Member 6 ____________________________
Meeting # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Attendance
DOL
Member 7 ____________________________
Meeting # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Attendance
DOL
Member 8 ____________________________
Meeting # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Attendance
DOL
Member 9 ____________________________
Meeting # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Attendance
DOL
Member 10 ____________________________
Meeting # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Attendance
DOL
Member 11 ____________________________
Meeting # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Attendance
DOL
Member 12 ____________________________
Meeting # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Attendance
DOL
Lesson Handout #1
THE DISCIPLINE OF LOVE
KEY VERSE 1 Timothy 4:7-8
. . . train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
1 Timothy 4:7b-8
DISCOVERY QUESTIONS
1. How does one train to be godly?
2. What are other words associated with training?
3. Is discipline necessary for growth?
SUPPORTING VERSES & DISCOVERY QUESTIONS
1. Why do you think God wants His children be conformed to Christ’s likeness?
Read: Romans 8:29
2. What is God’s role, and what is our role in being conformed to Christ’s image?
Read: Philippians 2:12-13; Ephesians 3:20; John 15:4-5
3. According to these verses, what aspect of the image of God and Christ, who perfectly reflected His Father’s image, should be reflected in us?
Read: Matthew 20:28; Romans 15:8-9; Philippians 2:6-8
4. What is the relationship between service and love?
Read: 1 John 3:16
APPLICATION PLAN
Exploration and Reflection
Review Participant Handouts #2 through #4.
Decision and Intercession
Share your commitment with one other person. Then pray for each other.
APPLICATION REPORT
Be prepared to report at the beginning of the next class session.
Lesson Handout #2
Sample Matrix
AREAS OF NEED Wisdom Physical Spiritual Social
CONTEXTS FOR SERVICE
Family
1. May 2
Discuss one Proverb and how to apply it in family devotions each day this week 2. May 10
Wash dishes after evening meal three times this week 3. May 16
Ask a different child to lead family prayer each day 4. May 27
Go with my spouse on a date without the children
Church
5. June 3
Focus my devotions this week on applying this week’s sermon. 6. June 10
Volunteer to help in the church office on the weekend. 7. June 17
Take 15 min. each day this week to pray for our pastor and elders. 8. June 24
Take a child of one of our single parents on an outing.
Community
Your World
or a
Culturally
Different World 9. July 1
Visit elected leaders to learn about community needs and ask how I can help 10. July 9
Pick up trash on the streets each day this week as I walk to work 11. July 16
Ask my Jewish co-worker how I can pray for her son & pray for him each day this week 12. July 25
Take doughnuts and a note of thanks to the police station
* In Acts 1:8, Jesus told His followers they would be His witnesses
in Jerusalem (where they were) and in Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth—in progressively widening geographic and cultural circles.
Family includes spouses, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, extended family, roommates, close friends. Church includes all members of the Body of Christ, including pastors, church groups, the church building. “Community” includes our work, school, daily activities, neighborhoods—places where we spend much of our time—but excludes our family, church, and fellow-believers. “Culturally Different World” includes people with special needs (orphans, prisoners, aged, unreached people groups) and local/regional/national/international issues.
Write the date completed on the line ____. Check the box when an exercise is done.
Lesson Handout #3
Sample Plan
Entry No: 1 Date: July 5
Context/Area: Family - Wisdom
1. What is the need and what will I do?
I need to lead my family in regular devotions. I will begin Monday with a devotion on a verse in Proverbs.
2. With or for who? My family
3. When? Monday
4. Where? At home at dinner
Plan
Entry No: ___ Date: ____
Context/Area: ______________________
1. What is the need and what will I do?
2. With or for who?
3. When?
4. Where?
Lesson Handout #4
Journal
Date: __________ Context/Area: _______________________
1. What did you do?
2. What were the results?
3. What did you learn?
Exercise Steps
1. Pray—prepare spiritually
2. Identify the need
3. Meet the need
4. Reflect and journal
5. Record the exercise
Exercise Guidelines
1. Point to God’s concern, rather than bring attention to yourself
2. Not impose something that would not be welcomed by the one being served
3. Cause you to go beyond what you would normally do
4. Require sacrifice but not divert you from your other high-priority responsibilities
Lesson Handout #5
DISCIPLINE OF LOVE
AREAS OF NEED Wisdom Physical Spiritual Social
CONTEXTS FOR SERVICE
Family
1. _____
2. _____
3. _____
4. _____
Church
5. _____
6. _____
7. _____
8. _____
Community
Your World
or a
Culturally
Different World 9. _____
10. ____
11. _____
12. _____
* In Acts 1:8, Jesus told His followers they would be His witnesses
in Jerusalem (where they were) and in Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth—in progressively widening geographic and cultural circles.
Family includes spouses, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, extended family, roommates, close friends. Church includes all members of the Body of Christ, including pastors, church groups, the church building. “Community” includes our work, school, daily activities, neighborhoods—places where we spend much of our time—but excludes our family, church, and fellow-believers. “Culturally Different World” includes people with special needs (orphans, prisoners, aged, unreached people groups) and local/regional/national/international issues.
Write the date completed on the line ____. Check the box when an exercise is done.
THE DISCIPLINE OF LOVE
Narrative
All parts of God’s creation reflect His glory, but He placed the richest reflection of Himself—His image—in us! As He created people, God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground” (Genesis 1:26-27). So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.
Created in God’s Image
The uniqueness of bearing the image of God has staggering implications. Because of God’s image in us, we are involved in restoring “all things” (Colossians 1:20) and in making known the manifold wisdom of God through the church (Ephesians 3:10). We also carry characteristics of His image in us. His creativity is reflected in our ability to make something new, to shape the future, to bring order out of disorder/chaos, and to work as God worked and works. With our linguistic ability, we are able to communicate ideas and abstractions through words. We are relational beings; we know how to form intentional and purposeful interaction with people, nature, and work. We have been given moral choice, which animals and nature do not share; we have capacity to discern and choose between the constructive and destructive, between beauty and non-beauty. And we have the ability to act in intentional selflessness towards others: sacrificial servanthood.
Loving and sacrificial servanthoodthe last characteristicis the most important mark of God's image. Why? Without it, the other attributes can become corrupt. We have plenty of examples in our world; creativity has been used to produce an atomic bomb. Our linguistic ability has produced pornography. Relationships can become tyrannical. Moral choices have been used to justify ethnic cleansing and partial birth abortion.
Created for Servanthood
God intended that people use His attributes in the context of service, but—from the time that Adam and Eve believed the original lie—people have turned the attributes of God's image to selfish advantage and have distorted the image of God. Romans 1:22-32 graphically describes what happens when people exchange the eternal image of God for a corrupted image: Our societies are full of sexual impurity and worship of the creature rather than the Creator. We are prone to envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip and slander. There is constant God-hating, insolence, arrogance, boasting, evil intent, and disobedience; living in ways that are senseless, faithless, heartless and ruthless. And we’d rather approve others who do the same rather than helping each other to live better lives according to God’s intended purposes. We have become fools.
In the Old Testament, people were never fully able to see what it means to bear the image of Godespecially the attribute of loving and sacrificial service. In the New Testament, though, God revealed His image in two clear ways—in Jesus and in the church.
At the appointed time, God sent His Son, the perfect and complete image of God (Hebrews 1:1-3b). For the first time, people could see what God is like. They could see not only divinity, but also humanity as God intended it—humanity that perfectly models what it means to be made in the image of God. Now, when we look at Jesus, we see the most important attribute of God's image. We see more than perfect spirituality, physical stamina and strength of a carpenter, wisdom that exceeded that of the Pharisees, and relational skills that endeared Him to the humble and silenced the proud. We see in Jesus that most important aspect of God’s image—servanthood. Jesus Himself described service as His purpose, saying “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28).
Consider, also, Paul's strongest description of Jesus’ servanthood:
“[Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
God is a servant, and Jesus modeled that servanthood! As the passage continues, we see that God exalted Jesus as He fully expressed the highest expression of God's image—voluntary and sacrificial servanthood.
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name . . . and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
Servanthood is seen in other passages, as well. God told the people of Israel that He was pleased by their sacrifice of service to the oppressed (Isaiah 58). Jesus told His disciples that the distinguishing mark of those in the Kingdom is their service—they feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit those sick and in prison (Matthew 25). Pure and perfect religion is summarily defined as serving the widow and the orphan—those who need protection (James 1:27). Elsewhere, Jesus emphasized the priority of loving and serving our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31).
God now invites His children to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29)—including servanthood. Only as servants can we fulfill the role God gives us. Created in God's image, we were also created to serve sacrificially. When we sacrificially serve as Jesus did, we most fully bear the image of God. And as we reflect God’s image and glorious nature, He is honored. God also revealed His image in the church. The church expresses the fullness of God: “the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Ephesians 1:22-23). The church, the Body of Christ, is a community of servant-believers who bear His image and carry out His agenda by facilitating the process of new birth, discipleship, equipping, and sending people into the world as servant-ambassadors.
Many Christians—especially those who are economically and politically disadvantaged or historically abused—are often offended by the idea that they should be servants. In their frame of reference, servanthood is degrading and involuntary. Indeed, involuntary servitude can be outright slavery. It can be degrading action that is, required by economic hardship. It can be servitude forced on the unwilling by those who are powerful. But this is not the willing, sacrificial servanthood of which the Bible speaks. This is not the image of God that is the birthright of His children.
God does not command service for its own sake, but because it demonstrates and is motivated by His greatest attribute—love. Love was not listed as an expression of God’s image because the love of God is most reflected through the church and its people as they serve. In fact, John asked how the love of God could be in someone who says he loves but does not serve a brother in need (1 John 3:17). God wants to so fill us with His love that onlookers will know that the love we express to them is God’s love. Scripture shows that the principal way to demonstrate our love for God is by loving others (Luke 10, Isaiah 58, James 1, James 2, 1 John 3). We must never diminish our consciousness of God’s plan that we, the Body of Christ, are the primary instruments through which God’s life-transforming power is channeled!
Loving and sacrificial servanthood is perhaps the most difficult characteristic of the image of God. Why? Serving others as Christ did means giving up our rights and positions. It means denying ourselves for other persons. Serving as Jesus served is impossible except by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, but serving as Christ served is possible. Not only is it possible, its practice results in the fulfillment of God’s intentions when He created us in His image.
The church needs to help its people reclaim the biblical understanding of servanthood. What are we to do if we have not been servants in the biblical sense? Where we have served our self-interests, we must turn and walk in the other direction—serving the interests of others. Biblical servanthood is not possible without the indwelling Christ, but it is possible through the power of God's Spirit. Paul reminded his readers that God and man work together to achieve the purposes of God:
“…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:12b-13).
Discipline and Practice
If all this is true, how do we reflect this aspect of the image of God? One way is to develop what God has placed in us. Obviously developing Christ-like character requires new habits and new skills. To develop new habits and skills, we have to be disciplined. Why submit to a discipline? Athletes who want to become professionals must discipline themselves to rigorous schedules of training and endless hours of practice. All students who want to finish at the top of their class and get the best jobs possible discipline themselves to study hard for years. Ultimately, people submit themselves to a new discipline because their desired outcome is very important to them.
Similarly, discipline and training are necessary for growth in godliness. Paul called his young protégé, Timothy, to spiritual exercise. “Bodily exercise is all right, but spiritual exercise is much more important and is a tonic for all you do. So exercise yourself spiritually and practice being a better Christian because that will help you not only now in this life, but in the next life too” (1 Timothy 4:8, LB). Yes, discipline requires sacrifice and effort, but it is good! It is good for those who are being served, and it brings us closer to what God created us to be.
The Discipline of Love
We propose an exercise to help discipline us in becoming more conformed to the servant aspect of God’s image. This exercise—The Discipline of Love—is a spiritual discipline. It is designed to help followers of Christ practice demonstrating God’s love by serving others. In other words, it trains us to serve! Other spiritual disciplines—such as prayer, Scripture reading, meditation, memorization, and fasting—have a vertical emphasis, strengthening the relationship between disciples and their Lord. This discipline has a horizontal emphasis—so that the infusion of God’s love in us that comes from abiding in Christ is expressed outwardly, to others.
The Discipline of Love is, essentially, simple. Those who use it prayerfully look for opportunities to serve—and then serve! This discipline requires commitment and a close relationship to God, so His strength can work through us. Though simple in concept, practicing this discipline will change one’s life.
The Discipline of Love is also very practical. It helps believers personally reflect Christ’s servant character in four areas of God’s concern (wisdom, physical, spiritual and social) in the world in which they live (family, church and community). God’s love and His intentions are demonstrated as we serve others in different contexts and areas of life! The people we serve most frequently in this discipline are the people we know and normally encounter in daily life—the people in our families, churches, workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods. Our service to them can be very simple. We do not need great amounts of money, time, talent, personality, or expertise. We simply need to reflect the image of Christ by sacrificially serving them. Think of the impact that servant-believers, one by one, can make on the world around them—and then think of the impact that many obedient and loving individual believers could make as they serve the people God brings across their paths!
People who practice the Discipline of Love experience growth in several ways. They show sensitivity to others’ needs. They learn to obediently respond to the needs of others in a broad and balanced manner. They are creative in their service. They display ability to intentionally point to God as the source of our love. Their service to others is marked with grace. They are developing a lifestyle of loving service. And most importantly, they experience increasing intimacy with God.
The Discipline of Love Exercise
The Discipline of Love uses a matrix to and record small expressions of service to our families, fellow-believers, and non-Christian ‘neighbors’. The matrix gives us a wide spectrum of opportunities for service. Afterwards, each service is recorded in a short journal, so we can prayerfully reflect on our service and be accountable to a mentor or small group. We use its principal tool to plan, act, reflect and be accountable
May God use The Discipline of Love to help us and those we disciple to become more Christ-like—more of a reflection of God’s loving, sacrificial, willing service. May it enlarge our ability to see and respond to the needs of those in our respective worlds, and may it help us develop lifestyles of service that reflect the image of God. May we grow in intimacy with our Father when we love others with the power and abundance of His love in us and when we obey the greatest commandment—to love God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds by loving our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-38). And may those we serve experience a fresh and more complete understanding of God and His love—through His image in us.
Please see the accompanying lesson to participate personally and encourage others! The Discipline of Love has been a helpful tool for followers of Christ around the world who have walked this path of discipleship and service. Hear from some of them and read their stories of service by selecting Stories at www.harvestfoundation.org.
By Bob Moffitt, Harvest Foundation
Last edited by Nadia Chandler and Karla Tesch, August, 2007.
Copyright 2007 by the Disciple Nations Alliance
701 N. 1st Street Phoenix, AZ 85004
email: bmoffitt@harvestfoundation.org
www.harvestfoundation.org and www.disciplenations.org
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided you do NOT alter the wording in any way, you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproducing, and you do not make more than 1,000 physical copies. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by the Disciple Nations Alliance.
Suggested Resources:
Harvest Website: www.harvestfoundation.org . Sections: Materials – LDTP II, Stories, Disciplines of Love
Moffitt, Bob and Karla Tesch. If Jesus Were Mayor. Monarch Books, 2007.
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