Deanna and I continue to work with small groups and individuals. I see this as a season to develop pilot projects and training systems which will multiply in the future. We are looking for keys to unlock a viral-type of church growth in the Amazon. One key will be how to get past people’s assumptions about God and Christianity. Jesus said “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
This week I asked one group, “How could fishermen and carpenter’s surpass trained leaders?”
This was a stumper. I let the silence do its work and build pressure. Finally one man responded, “They could try harder?”
After another thoughtful silence I asked, “How could they do that? The religious leaders had studied for many years. They tithed everything, even the herbs from their gardens. They fasted twice a week. How could fishermen and bricklayers try harder than that?” Personally I feel sorry pharisees. They try so hard.
One of the women was thinking out loud. Giving people space to think out loud is healthy as we develop our beliefs by talking about them. “The leaders of the church always dress right and get to the services early because they want to be perfect. It’s hard for ordinary people.” In Portuguese there are two verbs for “to be” or “is”. One is permanent, like your name, and the other is temporary and changeable, like the weather. My name is (permanent) Rick. The weather is (temporary) sunny. This woman used the permanent verb for the pharisees. “They are always trying to be (permanent form) perfect.”
“Are they always trying to BE (permanent) perfect, or trying to APPEAR perfect?” The Holy Spirit was among us. I could see the lights coming on. It was especially cool because BE and APPEAR rhyme in Portuguese. SER and APARECER. I had to ask the question several times as the group thought through the implications of the question. Be the right person or Appear to be the right person? In Brazil we have a saying, “A ficha caiu.” This literally translate as the moment when the quarter falls into the bubble gum machine and the candy gets released. I saw the quarter drop for this small group. We have to BE the right people. Jesus said it is not enough to try to APPEAR TO BE the right people. We cannot talk nice to someone’s face and bad behind their back. We cannot pretend to give money in the offering. We cannot “LIKE” a Facebook sermon just so others will think we actually listened to it and liked it. The motives behind our actions are more important to God than the actions themselves.
A big smile spread across the woman’s face. “Now I get it. I am always worried about appearing right. From now on I will not try to Appear (temporary) the right person, I will Be (permanent) the right person.” I smiled inwardly. Easier said than done. This is a lifelong quest requiring all the help we can get from the Holy Spirit.
This lesson and several others like it have convinced us that encouraging Discovery Bible Studies on all the little parts of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) will play an important role in producing a viral-like Disciple Making Movement here in the Amazon.
Imagine the Trinity before Jesus came to earth. They created the world. They chose Abraham through whom to reveal their ways and through whom to bless the whole world. Finally the Father asks Jesus, “Will you go down there and explain what We mean?” Of course Jesus came to pay the price for our sins, to be the ultimate sacrifice. But He also came to show us the way. Matthew 5-7 is Jesus explaining how God expects His people to live and behave. Learning to walk with God in the way that He wants is so satisfying.
Along with Discovery Groups we also do a weekly Healthy Habits of Catalysts training, and Deanna does Immanuel Prayer several days a week.
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