Filed under: Church, faith, Leadership | Tags: church, disciple, Indianapolis, Jesus, the nines
Encouraging challenging post on keeping Christ and His ways center in the church.
Filed under: Community, faith, Love, Serve | Tags: Indianapolis, Indy Metro Church, Jesus Christ, normal
For a while I’ve wanted to share a few thoughts on generosity, the church, and Indy Metro culture. While it’s still raw and fluid, friend and Indy Metro leader Parke Ladd (Visit his blog, Love {All} People, for this and other great posts) and I sat down together to discuss some of this as we head into the Advent season.
To simplify, I’ve broken up into a series of posts and invite you’re participation:
Parke: IndyMetroChurch has been around for 3 years now. What’s been the response to what some might call just another church in downtown Indianapolis? What’s changed? Has there been an impact?
Aaron: It’s evolving. 3 years is a long time, and we are so different today than we were 3 years ago. We have learned so much the past few years, and we don’t even know what to do with all the info. People looking in from the outside may not see much, but the Lord is doing some inspiring things here in Indy.
When I look around and see the people from all sorts of unique backgrounds, it just stirs my soul. I look around and we have single men and women from marginalized backgrounds, living in poverty, yet still worshiping and grateful for every breath they have. We have urban professionals meeting with and sharing life with impoverished, young couples and homeless men and women walking off the street for a coffee and a bite to eat. We have newly married couples and couples who have been married for 40 years. We have college students, high school students, and babies who don’t even know what a student is. All these different backgrounds, coming together as one, crying out praises to the Lord, coming to know who he is…just hits me in a way that I cannot describe.
It’s His Church. He is at work here in Indy. We couldn’t have done this as leaders on our own. We talked about it, but the Lord is doing it. As I shared a few weeks ago from 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” Spiritual disciplines are us doing what we are to do so only God can do what only He can do. God is making it grow! The lives that are being changed in response to the Gospel are all so different.
We would love to read your thoughts on what you think normal Christianity should look like according to the Scriptures?
Filed under: Community, faith, Love, Serve | Tags: Christianity, Idols, Indianapolis, Indy Metro Church, Jesus Christ
For a while I’ve wanted to share a few thoughts on generosity, the church, and Indy Metro culture. While it’s still raw and fluid, friend and Indy Metro leader Parke Ladd (Visit his blog, Love {All} People, for this and other great posts) and I sat down together to discuss some of this as we head into the Advent season.
To simplify, I’ve broken up into a series of posts and invite you’re participation:
Parke: What I’ve come to realize is that the reason I don’t know to what extent the Lord is calling me to be generous is that I don’t spend enough time with Jesus, actively and intimately pursuing his will for my life. The personal relationship is in dire need of attention in my opinion. Would you agree?
Aaron: Yeah, that’s fair. In “all” things. Consider 1 Corinthians 10:31. There is so much duplication out there that is just rehashed information repackaged and labeled as creative which is very effective at stymieing my own God-given creativity. I can pull from so many different sources. I wonder how many times the Lord would say, “Aaron, stop watching and listening to that crap and just come fall on your face before me and spend some time with me! Pray. Read. I will give you what you need to sustain this church and this movement. I will provide. Simply come to me.” I’m not dogging people at all, but I have so much influence from so many mediocre influences in my life that I settle for scraps from the table instead of taking the keys to the Kingdom. You know what I mean?
All the stuff may be good stuff, but I confess that it is so easy to let other “good” resources take away from my personal time with the Lord, engaging him in a heart to heart manner which cannot be replicated through spending time with anyone else or reading any other thing or following any other feed. What is God saying to me? How can I know without spending time with him, every day, on my knees, passionately pursuing his path for my life? While God can speak through special conferences or powerful books, there is a difference between doing those things and making those things an idol where they take the place of God at the center of my life. In a sense they become my source for god instead of going to God himself. That is an idol.
Parke: Sin of omission, right?
Aaron: Yeah, sin of omission. Not doing what we are supposed to do. It’s not simply that I am going out and blatantly doing something immoral and wrong, it’s that I am not doing something which I know I should do. Replacing time with the Lord with other resources and people could be a sin of omission, correct.
Parke: There are so many other sources to run to. So many other books, blogs and people to listen too, have we forgotten our first love?
Aaron: I love what a lot of authors are doing. But, it was never their intention for me to idolize them. It’s our issue. They put out good stuff, and I put it on too high of a platform and allow it to take the place of personal time with Jesus. It’s the challenge of not replacing Christ with culturally acceptable idols, no matter how useful or good they may be.
Parke: When it comes to authentic Christianity, the Lord doesn’t ask for half of anything. He asks us to seek him with all of our heart, to serve him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. Is following Jesus an all or nothing thing?
Aaron: Are we far from what normal Christianity originally looked like according to what we read in the Scriptures? Probably. I mean, it’s not hard to see the example of the early Christian church and then ponder what happened along the way that turned the church into an institution.
If Jesus came back today and saw us for who we are he might not be thrilled, but he is still so gracious! Right relationship with the Lord is the goal. Regardless of what you have–abilities, gifts, talents, jobs, voice–use it for Jesus. Don’t get consumed with legalism or guilt. Your wealth, what you’ve been given, the voice that you have, they’re all tools for the Lord. The goal is to remove anything that comes between you and God, and that is accomplished through not idolizing anything. Listen to the calling the Lord has for you. As Christ followers, we must be willing to follow Him where he leads. One person’s “all” is going to look different from another person’s “all”, but at the center they are both going to be in complete pursuit of God, with no hindrances from things, regardless of how many they may own. Whether you have a lot or you have nothing, things can still be an idol. Regardless of how much stuff you have, the same struggles exist, and the same cure exists, and that is the Gospel. Authentic Christianity looks different for each individual person in their own environments. Meditate on the Gospel, respond wholly to it, and go where He leads you. Nothing we gain is for ourselves. It is all for the Lord. We simply transfer through what the Lord gives us to whom he leads us to give it to when he leads us to give it! If there is anything that gets between us and the Lord, we’ve got to let it go. However, letting things go and serving the poor is not the goal. Right relationship with the Lord is. Out of our pursuit of right relationship with the Lord will our giving and letting go be properly and adequately defined and accomplished.
We would love to read your thoughts on how you wrestle through responding to the Gospel and removing barriers (and/or idols) that prohibit your response?
Filed under: faith, Love, Serve | Tags: generosity, Indy Metro Church, Jesus Christ
For a while I’ve wanted to share a few thoughts on generosity, the church, and Indy Metro culture. While it’s still raw and fluid, friend and Indy Metro leader Parke Ladd (Visit his blog, Love {All} People, for this and other great posts) and I sat down together to discuss some of this as we head into the Advent season.
To simplify, I’ve broken up into a series of posts and invite you’re participation:
Parke: What do we do with all of our stuff? We’ve been given so much while so many others have so little.
Aaron: Well, regardless of how much stuff you have, at the end of the day, it’s all God’s anyway. It’s not ours. If the Lord convicts you to give it away, you’d better give it away. Ha. You should serve your neighbors no matter who they are or how the Lord calls you to do so. Be generous with all of your possessions, not just a percentage.
Whether you have a calling on your life to live amongst the poor of Indy or you have been put in a position of extreme wealth, you should serve, love and reach out to your neighbors with the Gospel. Using stuff to serve people is a practical theology which shows we are willing to put our beliefs in practice.
Parke: Can you give me an example of what you’re talking about?
Aaron: Let’s talk about money. How do I talk about money when at least 20% of our church is marginalized, living in poverty, while another 20% is living in great financial comfort, monetarily stable and well off? The other 60% are all scattered somewhere in between. Or how about generosity? Are the poor not called to lives of generosity as well as the rich?
So often the story of the Widows Offering is used to rebuke wealthy people for giving out of their excess, but Jesus is also praising the widow (whom Jesus affirms dozens of times in the Scriptures- widows, orphans, etc to be receipts of our giving) for their recognition of her willingness to give generously.
Generosity looks different dependent upon the individual’s personal circumstances, but we are still called to a generous lifestyle as a testimony (albeit a private one) of closeness to the Lord. Pastor Rick Warren often shares that, “Generosity is a godly quality when we are acting most like God.” Whether you live richly or poorly on this earth, generosity cannot be ignored. A mark of someone pursuing the Gospel–loving Jesus and loving others–is a generous lifestyle. One characteristic of “normal Christianity” is generosity.
We would love to read your thoughts on what generosity looks like in your life? A struggle or a joy?
Filed under: Community, faith, Love, Serve | Tags: Indianapolis, Indy Metro Church, Jesus Christ
For a while I’ve wanted to share a few thoughts on generosity, the church, and Indy Metro culture. While it’s still raw and fluid, friend and Indy Metro leader Parke Ladd (Visit his blog, Love {All} People, for this and other great posts) and I sat down together to discuss some of this as we head into the Advent season.
To simplify, I’ve broken up into a series of posts and invite you’re participation:
Parke: There are a lot of us wrestling with what normal Christianity genuinely looks like. In terms of generosity and the gospel, how should we respond? What does normal Christianity look like?
Aaron: Well, what does it look like to contextualize the Gospel and not simply try to reproduce (through systems, staffing, etc) what occurred in the early church as found in Acts 2:42-47?
While principles and the example from the early church which apply heavily to the church today, it’s not as if the early church in Acts is inviting us to do literally as they did. Let me explain. Occasionally, what we see in portions of the church is idolization of the text itself, worshiping the text and what was done in attempt to reenact the acts of the early church instead of simply responding to the mercy of the gospel in our current environment and letting the fruit of our response–love, joy, peace–spill out into the world around us.
In terms of generosity, what does this look like to a professional who is making a quarter million dollars a year? Does he HAVE to sell everything he has, move into the ghetto with 4 of his other wealthy friends, and start telling the homeless poor about Jesus? Well, no of course not. Not unless he catches that burden. On the other hand we have couples who are dedicated to doing just what I described, to serving the poorest of the poor right here on Indy’s East side. Two different groups of people, wrestling with the Gospel, attempting to honor their convictions, and yet it looks totally different.
Neither is more holy than the other. The two mission fields or communities are completely different, but neither one is in more need of the gospel or Jesus’ love than the other. The Lord’s heart breaks for all people that are separated from him. Those living and working in one community don’t have the opportunity to impact those living in the other. Whether a person is without Jesus Christ and living in Carmel and someone is without Jesus Christ living on the near east side looks completely different but believers on sent on mission accordingly.
Parke: Jesus spent a lot of time with the poor. Why not imitate him in that way?
Aaron: Jesus spent a ton of time with the poor, as should we. However, Jesus cared for and deeply loved all people regardless of their economic situation. Does the Lord not want to see all people come to Him? On the other hand, does this mean that the rich don’t have an obligation to give or be generous with what they’ve been given? Of course not, but the rich persons primary influence is in a different realm based on where he has been planted as compared to the poor.
Both wealthy and poor believer’s conviction should be: What am I doing to bring the love of the Gospel to the people whom I am currently surrounded by. Not should I leave the people I’m currently surrounded by and go be a part of another group simply because they are poor (or rich). Use your influence for the Gospel where you are and allow the Lord to send you elsewhere from your obedience.
Parke: Essentially what you’re saying is that each person’s response to the Gospel is unique in accordance to their walk with Christ. While it will be fundamentally founded upon the same truths and passions, the response will look different in accordance to what the Lord is calling them to and who the Lord places them amongst.
Aaron: Right, the response will look different and it should look different.
Parke: In light of that relevancy, Indy Metro Church states that it is a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, socioeconomically diverse, church. If so, how do you relate to so many different types of people with unique backgrounds and cultures coming from all sorts of different angles here in downtown Indianapolis?
Aaron: We can’t all be the same. We are simply too diverse as a church. The message of sameness doesn’t apply to the church. The people of Indy Metro Church aren’t all going through the same struggles or joys, and most of them are in completely different stages of life all together. In fact, it’s difficult because the experience of the person sitting directly next to you are probably very different compared to yours.
We would love to read your thoughts on what it looks like in your life to bloom where you are planted?
Filed under: Community, DIY, faith, Love | Tags: church, eastside, Indianapolis, Indy Metro, Jesus, service
As we discussed from the beginning at Indy Metro and during the 40 Days of Prayer specifically, we’ve always been a church for the whole city. Both during our 40 Days of Prayer as a pastoral team and reviewing the many responses we received from the Indy Metro community, it became clear that we are to move forward increasing our commitment to Indy’s eastside.
With great passion and a shared burden by many we are moving forward in faith! The pastoral leadership has begun to make plans towards increasing our emphasis on Indy’s east side initially focused on Community Heights, Emerson Heights, Little Flower, and Irvington.
We want to answer the very basic questions of how we currently are planning to move forward. How will Indy Metro move to expand our presence on the eastside?
The east side needs to see the church in action through SMALL acts of service with a LARGE amount of love! The people of Indy Metro committing to specific acts of service together to be visible servants of the east side’s multi-generational multi-ethnic community. Beginning January 2010, through engaging local artists, serving families and marginalized residents we will serve together as a church. We encourage everyone at Indy Metro, whether residents of the eastside or not, to consider being involved in some form. For our friends online, I certainly hope you will begin to follow us and consider how to support as well.
Establishing a Sunday evening weekly public gathering by Easter, April 4th, 2010 will be a critical component of expanding our presence on the east side. Our first Sunday evening gathering will be Sunday, January 10th with location to be determined. Initially, we will be focused on simply building our relationships together as a CityGroup through learning, playing, and serving together on the eastside.
For people who want to be involved on the eastside with Indy Metro what is your next step?
- Cultivate your spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting and meditating on Scripture. Our commitment to corporate prayer and fasting must continue as a house of prayer of the Lord. Please begin to pray for clarity on how to serve, seeking a potential weekly gathering, identifying the needed resources to prepare the way and provide the needed discipling for the team, and for the Lord to cultivate the hearts of people far from Him to be open to the Gospel.
- Identify yourself to the pastoral leadership before the end of the year. No secret servants, but instead we are establishing the initial team to prepare together. Our desire is to identify 20-25 people who will focus to Indy Metro’s eastside presence in January 2010. If you’re genuinely committed to the east side movement and want to be an intricate part of it please let me know directly. Contact me at aaron@indymetro.org to confirm your commitment or share questions you may have still as we move forward.
Regardless of your own personal involvement, perhaps you know a small business owner, resident, or someone with roots in or near the eastside communities we’re focused on who doesn’t have a church family already. Pray and consider how you might make people aware of Indy Metro’s eastside commitment in January 2010.
If you are passionate about this movement I invite you’re responsive posts. What are your thoughts?
Recently, I started a teaching series at Indy Metro Church in the Book of Ruth. Both a drama and love story, the Book of Ruth is a literary masterpiece. While this is perhaps the most well told story of the overarching purpose of redemption, this takes place in a messy time period in the history of the Lord’s people.
Overall, this is a message of hope during the times of uncertainty! However, one truth which became evident to me from the first few verses is a cycle that can take place in the believer who becomes disconnected from relationships both in and outside of the church.
As the story goes, Elimelek (quite a name, huh?) moved his family into Moab in response to a great famine which had struck Bethlehem. Living in Moab, they were quite potentially the only believers in the land of people living among people who we’re considered enemies of the Israelites.
While this appears on a minor act, it turned out to be quite detrimental to the whole family. Larger than that though is the cycle which occurs that is truly a universal truth.
Regardless of your life stage, age, ethnicity, or economic standard of living this cycle applies. This pattern of sin unfolds: Sins of omission lead to isolation which often leads to sins of commission. This is the cycle of sin
- Sins of omission– For the follower of Christ to not being obedient the essentials of the Christian faith that the Lord clear which will lead you into deeper relationship with the Lord. Simply stated, omitting the actions that the believer knows will lead you closer to the Lord can be sin.
- Most often omission leads to isolation- To not do what you know you need to do as a Christ follower usually leads you to directly to sins of commission but often starts with being in place of isolation. Either perceived isolation (“no one understands this”) or actual separation from people. And to say you can walk with the Lord alone, don’t need a church family, etc. is foolish and only leads you to isolation.
- Isolation nearly always leads to sins of commission– Sins of commission as a believer involve direct rejection of the commands, decrees, etc you know you to be true. It comes in either outright rebellion or passive aggressive rejection. Nothing good comes from allowing oneself to be isolated for any period of time.
I’ve seen this cycle work through hundreds of times in the lives of Christians and seeing in the characters from the Book of Ruth reminded me on the dangers of this cycle for each of us as followers of Christ. Rejecting the commandments and convictions of the Lord when things look impossible will never remedy your situation. It may temporarily remove you from the pain but it will not draw you closer to the Lord.
Elimelek’s sins of omission led his family into isolation and vulnerable, while his sons sinned (married Moabite women). All the men died, leaving Naomi, Orphah, & Ruth in worst situation possible, broke, widowed and isolated. There wasn’t a worse situation to be placed in!
Though tempted to turn from faith when facing life’s challenges, this only leads to isolation and usually to making decisions which only lead to large problems.
“The majority of us begin with the bigger problems outside and forget the one inside. A man has to learn the plague of his own heart before his own problems can be solved.” –Oswald Chambers.
Our journey is first a spiritual journey which require taking the steps to maintain a relationship with the Lord, often while facing insurmountable problems.
Filed under: arts, Community, faith, Love | Tags: art, Guatemala, Indianapolis, Indy Metro
This past August, I and 10 others made the first trip for Indy Metro Church from Indianapolis to Magdelana, Guatemala. What birthed out of this exploratory trip was a 3 year commitment of Indy Metro Church to the people of this village.
One of the exciting partnerships I am personally most excited about is our commitment to a local small art school in the village which currently has 18 students for 2 hours a day. Carlos Lopez, the director of the school, started it 3 years ago to bring hope to the community and teach children the arts. In his own words he, “has been praying for God to send resources to expand.” It was humbling for me to realize such a great opportunity for our church.
As a church committed to the arts community here in Indianapolis, we believe this is a natural extension for Indy Metro. On the first trip was local Indianapolis artist and friend, Casey Jo Allies. From the paintings we returned with from the children in the art school and Casey Jo’s own photography, she pulled together the Five Days in Guatemala display in October.
Five Days in Guatemala is an extraordinary art exhibition of her journey. Casey Jo will not only be showing her photographs from the trip, but also 35 paintings created by the local children. Each painting sold will go back to help support the education and families in this village. Casey Jo’s work can also be seen this month at the Garfield Park Art Center, where she won the best in show award for the Midwest National Abstract Art Exhibition.
Although you may have missed the open house on First Friday, October 2nd, the works remain for the entire month in the ArtSpace at the Athenaeum on 401 East Michigan. The images are very powerful and may prompt you to want to join us in one of our 4 planned trips in 2010!
Filed under: Community, faith, Leadership | Tags: church planting, eastside, Indianapolis, Indy Metro Church, Jesus
This naturally led to lots of conversation over the past few months as a church family in how focused we are together. Are we focused on the hundreds of thousands of people in Indianapolis far from Jesus? What about the thousands of people seeking spiritual answers throughout Indianapolis who haven’t experienced a Gospel-centered loving and serving community of believers?
Consider this analogy: Imagine how silly it sounds if a father were to spend hours every week teaching his son how to drive, taking his son to get his license, picking out the perfect car, gassing it up and then parking it in the driveway and throwing away the keys.
That is what happens if we spend countless hours equipping you and then not taking steps for us a church to “leave the drive way.” Unfortunately, that has been dubbed as “normal” for many followers of Jesus and church. Being on mission with God to love our neighbors and point people towards Jesus often get lost in our beliefs of who and what God is.
This past Sunday, I announced our commitment to enter into a 40 days of prayer and fasting as a community beginning September 1st focused on starting a second weekly public gathering for Indy Metro Church on the eastside of Indy (Catch the podcast at Indymetro.org). The neighborhoods of Irvington, Emerson Heights, Community Heights, and Little Flower are among the most densely populated in the city and together represent a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, socioeconomically urban community with great opportunity for the Gospel.
Whether you’re close or far and you would like to receive our follow up mailer on this 40 Days of Prayer please send your snail-mail address to: Carrie@indymetro.org.
The only thing we are committing to “do” is pray together to see if a shared burden and vision emerge among our community. As a pastor, it is an odd-mix of both excitement and anxiety as we attempt to gain clarity together. Appreciate your prayers as we start this journey!
Filed under: faith, Leadership, Uncategorized | Tags: Acts, Christian, Jesus, morality, Penn
Recently, a Christian friend shared with me, “I don’t talk to people about my relationship with Jesus, but let them see how I live.”
And while I agree with Penn’s (of Penn & Teller fame) recent questioning of Christians who don’t “proselytize,” or specifically Penn’s statement of how much you hate somebody to believe there path is leading to eternal non-existence without your God, my friend makes a good point.
If Christians are living like Jesus, from the inside out truly set free, our lifestyles will reflect such a dramatic contrast to cultural norms that our friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family will see overwhelming external evidence leading them to actually accuse you of being a Christian….
A great example of this is in Acts 11:26, “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” This is the first example of the word Christian being used. In Antioch, the people who followed Christ were first called Christians…. It was a derogatory term meant to imply being just like Jesus. They were called Christians based on the external evidence of living so counter to surrounding culture, and instead following the lifestyle of Jesus.
People who were first called Christians we’re so loving, so forgiving, so grace giving, so generous, so merciful, so surrendered to the Lord’s truth, so committed to people who shared the Christian lifestyle, and just as loving to people who didn’t that it led people around them to realize these people, “Christians” we’re exactly like the Jesus they had seen firsthand or heard about.
Reflecting on this begs many questions to be answered. You may call yourself a Christian, but what do other people call you? And in our culture, both secular and Christian, we have gotten confused about that we are supposed to live in a way that we will be accused of being Christians. Not accused of being church goers. Not accused of being religious. Not accused of being good moral people. Not accused of being political. And defintely not accused of being smug ***holes who act as if we died on the Cross for our own sins.
If you call yourself a Christian, is their consistent overwhelming external evidence which backs it up?
Is it so obvious that people actually accuse you of being just like Jesus (read this last question to yourself slowly for dramatic effect)?
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