Valerie Rae Hanneman
Matthew 4:19 ““Come and follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”“(NIV)
John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”(NIV)
John 15:5(b) “for apart from Me you can do nothing”(NIV)
It is hard for me to believe that I am approaching my 10 year anniversary of attending Fresno First Baptist Church. Time flies when you are having fun! Jo Lewis invited me to Fresno First. (Nagged me into it actually.) I really liked Willie’s preaching so I started attending with my children whenever I could (which just happened to be the Sonday’s when the Dallas Cowboys were not playing a morning game). The people at the church were really friendly and always said “hi!” and shook our hands. By the fourth time we attended I was beginning to recognize faces. That was also the time that this little short woman grabbed me in a big ol’ hug and told me how glad she was to see me again. I was shocked to the roots of my hair. I did not voluntarily touch others and thought that my attitude was distant enough to keep others from touching me. But then I had this little frisson of pleasure because this woman (whose face I recognized - no clue on the name) was glad to see me again. The next time she saw me she hugged me again and told me she had been looking for me. After she left I asked Jo Lewis who she was (I figured that if she was going to be hugging me - I should know her name!) Jo told me, “She’s Judi Wright” Now days when Judi and I see each other, we point at each other and say, “I absolutely love you!” We hug each other because we truly do love each other. We are bound together for eternity because our love for each other is a reflection of Jesus’ love for us.
I get a lot of Christian newsletters and stories in my e-mails. I love to read about what is going on in the Church around the world. It amazes me the multitude of different ways that the churches have to reach out. I recently heard of a church that purchased a basketball arena for their new church building. Other churches broadcast their services to satellite sites located in other parts of the city. Some churches that have 6 or 7 services a weekend. Special lighting effects, special sound effects, big screen projections, dramas, big musical productions, moving platforms, lasers are just some of the things I have read about being used by the church. And I think that it is great!
As long as the show doesn’t replace the go.
We have to be very careful that what we are doing and how we are doing it does not replace the why we are doing it. We have to be careful that the “bigger and better production” does not replace the simple good news message of Jesus.
Jesus said, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” He did not say, “If we have more exciting music more people will come to our services.” He did not say, “If our nativity drama has live cows and camels and a star that shoots out multicolored laser rays people will be so impressed they will flock to see it.” He said, “Follow Me.” There is nothing wrong with exciting music, live animals or laser shooting stars as long as their purpose is to encourage people to seek and follow Jesus. But if their purpose is to simply fill the pews or to impress the people then they have no purpose - they are worthless.
Jesus also said that others would know that we are His disciples by our love for one another. We can have the best show in town up on our church platform but if we are not showing Jesus’ love by loving each other then we have nothing. But wait - it goes one step further. We can have a platform full of music and preaching that follows Jesus and reflects His love - but if we are leaving Jesus up on the platform and not bringing Him into the aisles and the pews, then we have next to nothing. Jesus is in the aisles when we greet each other in love. He is in the aisles when we make an effort to identify the visitors and do our best to make them feel welcome and comfortable. Jesus is in the pews when we leave our usual seat and go sit beside somebody new. Jesus is in the aisles and the pews when we demonstrate our love for each other and our love for others. The best show in the world does not compare to our simple love for one another.
Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” We can have all the bells and whistles in our service but if the focus is on the show and not on Jesus - then what do we have? We have the $5.00 that a person has plunked into the collection plate for their admission to the show - and that person has the bragging rights that “Yes, I am a good person - I go to church every week.” If everything that we do - whether on the platform or in the aisles - is not focused on Jesus and only for Jesus then we are apart from Him and we can do nothing.
It is good to explore and use all the technology and ideas available to us. But we must remember that in all of it - we must follow Jesus, love one another and never become apart from Jesus.
I came to Fresno First Baptist because Jo invited me. I came back to FFBC because of Willie’s preaching. I stay at Fresno First Baptist because of Willie’s leadership but mostly because I am part of a church family that loves and supports me and that I love and support. I am part of a church family that reflects the love of Jesus into our community. We have made great advances in our use of technology. Our music is great. The preaching is excellent. Everything that happens on our platform is outstanding (although I am still hoping for the live camels). But the most important thing is that regardless of what is happening on our platform - it is focused on Jesus and His message. Equally important - through our love for each other and for others - we are bringing Jesus into our aisles and into our pews. Because of these reasons we are doing great things for the Kingdom today and will continue to do great things for the Kingdom tomorrow.
As long as we make sure that it is never about the show and always about Jesus.
LORD Jesus, I want my life to be more about You and less about me. I want to follow close behind You - I want to step in Your footprints. I want to love the Church like You love the Church and I want to love others like You love others. Help me to never be apart from You. I surrender my life to be used by You to build the kingdom. And LORD - I absolutely love You.
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Posted by Valerie at July 22, 2005 07:15 PM