Ask the Pastor with J.D. Greear

In one of our top two most popular episodes from season one, Pastor J.D. explains that the gospel must be of first importance, both empowering and informing the church. Enjoy this re-broadcast from Ask Me Anything. Season 2 begins this September. A glimpse inside this episode: I actually wrote a book about this, called Above All. The greatest need now is the same as the greatest need 100 years ago. It’s the same as the greatest need 2,000 years ago. It’s to keep the gospel above all. Above all preferences, preferences, priorities, politics, etc. In fact, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that the gospel is of “first importance.” First importance means other things are important, too. But this is of first importance. This means the gospel is what should characterize us 1 Corinthians 2:2: some scholars say an exaggeration? Is that really new, though? Aren’t churches already doing this? Churches haven’t stopped saying they believe the gospel. But many churches are looking elsewhere for the source of their renewal. The gospel, you see, should both empower and inform everything we do. Empowers Spurgeon’s trough back to the gospel. The gospel is the power in all that we do: It’s not just the diving board, it’s the pool Informs The gospel shapes our mission. Jesus described his mission as: To seek and save the lost. It should be our identity: We are a gospel people. When people think about and talk about us, they should think about and talk about the gospel Why we don’t talk about politics: We don’t want to get distracted by secondary agendas that get in the way of gospel proclamation and disciple-making. ________________________________________________ This Episode’s Sponsor: The Overcomer movie has inspired the creation of several resources. For small groups, there is the Overcomer Bible study. For individuals, there is a book called Defined. Both are based upon powerful insights from the Book of Ephesians. Learn more about all the resources at LifeWay.com/Overcomer.

Pastor J.D. discusses some of the major objections to short-term mission trips and how we can participate in and facilitate them wisely. A glimpse inside this episode: Well, I hope they aren’t a huge waste of time and money, because I’m about to go on one for the next few weeks. Actually, I think what I’ll be doing shows the ways that short-term trips can go well. (John Crist video reference) You see, short-term mission trips get a bad rap because so many of them are done very, very badly. Are they a big waste of money, gobbling up money that could just be given to indigenous church planters directly? Don’t a lot of church people use them to scratch their “foreign travel itch”—i.e., “vacationaries”? Aren’t a lot of short-term trips unhelpful to the work on the field—forcing church planters to take time from real ministry to serve as tour guides and babysitters for curious Christians? And why would we go overseas to help there, when our communities are in such need here—isn’t that arrogant? But just because they’re done badly doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be done. Here’s what I’ll be doing: Ministry to missionaries in Thailand and live with a family from our church for three weeks and join their ministry. Here are some of the biggest objections I get to short-term trips, and why I think we should keep doing these trips—wisely—despite the objections: “Short-term trips are a waste of money.” Dollars spent on short-term trips are not zero-sum—that is, every dollar spent on a mission trip is not one less dollar you can give to people serving permanently on the field. Quite the opposite: people who see mission firsthand typically give more in missions offerings. In other words, money spent on short-term trips multiplies itself by creating greater willingness to give in the future among those who go. Plus, an extraordinary number of mid-term (one year or longer) and career missionaries trace their call, in part, back to a short-term mission trip. God often uses what we see and experience on a trip like that to shape the rest of our lives. “Short-term trips are really just exotic vacations for curious Christians: vacationaries.” Sadly, too often true. But it doesn’t have to be. We also use the lead-up to a mission trip as an intense discipleship experience. In preparing for a short-term trip, members read books, memorize verses of Scripture, keep a prayer journal, and share their faith. Ironically enough, many who enter the process with a motivation of simply seeing the world have their hearts changed along the way. I’ve seen it time and time again: potential “vacationaries” have their hearts touched by the global need for the gospel and return with new eyes and fresh vision. “Short-term trips don’t make sense when there is so much need here.” Error of sequentialism, etc. “Short-term trips are more harmful to the field work than helpful.” Again, this is often the case, even for the well-intentioned. One mission agency leader told me that there is a city in Mexico that is a popular destination for American church mission trips, and the number of conversions reported in one year for that city was three times the population of that city. Not helpful. A helpful resource to counteract this problem is Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert’s book, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. They show that much of the “helping” that we do actually ends up being harmful to those we intended to help. When we do for people what they can (and should) do for themselves, it may make us feel good, but it can hinder those groups from developing the leadership necessary to meet their own needs—leadership capacity that God has put in them as much as he has in us. ________________________________________________ Feeling unequipped for marriage ministry? Woo Marriage is here to help. Backed by research and designed with your church in mind, Woo Marriage provides Christ-centered marriage coaching for your entire church. Get your first month free with offer code LEADERSHIP at WooMarriage.com/FreeTrial.

Pastor J.D. shares four important things to keep in mind when responding to instances of sexual abuse. Note: If you heard Pastor J.D. answer this question last week, please go back to make sure you also listen to “What is the greatest need in the American church?” A glimpse into this episode: This is an extremely important question, so much so that after becoming SBC president, the first thing I did was appoint a Sexual Abuse Advisory Group to lead our denomination. They have been leading in dozens of ways—one of the biggest is they’re developing a curriculum to help churches answer this very question. Churches should be a safe haven for the vulnerable, so we need to do everything we can to make our churches safe for survivors and safe from abuse. A few preliminary thoughts: Don’t be shocked it’s happening. Prioritize the protection of victims, not the guarding of your reputations. Your goal is not to meet the minimal requirements–but as a shepherd to protect your flock. This is just the start of an answer, but here are four important things to keep in mind: Disclosing sexual abuse takes an enormous amount of courage, so we should honor that. This may be the least understood aspect of sexual abuse—it results in a huge loss of voice for the victim. Abuse is usually followed by threats not to say anything, and that’s usually what happens. What you need to know is that the first time you hear about an instance of abuse, chances are the person talking to you has been carrying this for years. They’ve been terrified about what people will think. They’ve assumed they wouldn’t be believed. To speak up takes bravery. Now, there are important responses and action steps after you hear of abuse. But don’t be so quick to rush to the action step that you forget your first response—listening to a person, made in God’s image, reveal one of the most hurtful experiences of their lives. Listen, listen, listen. If you know of a report of sexual abuse against a minor, you are legally obligated to alert the authorities. This is not a “Matthew 18” situation. This is a “Romans 13” situation. Because certain sins are not only immoral; they are also illegal. This is never clearer than in the case of sexual abuse against minors. If you know of sexual abuse against a minor, no matter who you are, no matter who they are, your first response is to alert the authorities. Call CPS or call the police. You may not know all of the best next steps. But they do, and you need to bring them in. The safety of more children than you know may be on the line. If an abuser has access to minors at your church, remove the access immediately—and, again, call the authorities. Statistics here are horrifying. Those who abuse minors don’t just do it once or twice. They do it repeatedly, even after they’ve been caught (if given the opportunity). So if you know about one case, you need to see that as dozens of more potential cases. This isn’t a gray area: Bring in the authorities. We need to reject any understanding of grace that puts the vulnerable in harm’s way by giving abusers a chance to do it again Help connect the survivor to other resources. If someone has disclosed to you, that’s an honor. And you will have a key role in their healing process. But you need to know you shouldn’t be shouldering this alone. Questions are going to come up—pretty early—that are best processed through a counseling relationship. So one of the best things you can do for a victim is to get them connected to a counselor. This isn’t a handoff—you need to remind the victim that you are still there and want to process everything with them—but it allows other people more trained in abuse care to do what they do best. Conclusion: It’s a gospel issue ________________________________________________ Feeling unequipped for marriage ministry? Woo Marriage is here to help. Backed by research and designed with your church in mind, Woo Marriage provides Christ-centered marriage coaching for your entire church. Get your first month free with offer code LEADERSHIP at WooMarriage.com/FreeTrial.

Pastor J.D. explains that the gospel must be of first importance, both empowering and informing the church. A glimpse inside this episode: I actually wrote a book about this, called Above All. The greatest need now is the same as the greatest need 100 years ago. It’s the same as the greatest need 2,000 years ago. It’s to keep the gospel above all. Above all preferences, preferences, priorities, politics, etc. In fact, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that the gospel is of “first importance.” First importance means other things are important, too. But this is of first importance. This means the gospel is what should characterize us 1 Corinthians 2:2: some scholars say an exaggeration? Is that really new, though? Aren’t churches already doing this? Churches haven’t stopped saying they believe the gospel. But many churches are looking elsewhere for the source of their renewal. The gospel, you see, should both empower and inform everything we do. Empowers Spurgeon’s trough back to the gospel. The gospel is the power in all that we do: It’s not just the diving board, it’s the pool Informs The gospel shapes our mission. Jesus described his mission as: To seek and save the lost. It should be our identity: We are a gospel people. When people think about and talk about us, they should think about and talk about the gospel Why we don’t talk about politics: We don’t want to get distracted by secondary agendas that get in the way of gospel proclamation and disciple-making. ________________________________________________ Feeling unequipped for marriage ministry? Woo Marriage is here to help. Backed by research and designed with your church in mind, Woo Marriage provides Christ-centered marriage coaching for your entire church. Get your first month free with offer code LEADERSHIP at WooMarriage.com/FreeTrial.

Pastor J.D. talks about the three kinds of faith we see in the Bible and how that faith is a gift in various ways. A glimpse inside this episode: Yes, but in different ways: There are three different kinds of faith in the Bible. Saving faith General trust in God (I think of this as a spiritual fruit) Spiritual gift of faith: A spiritual gift is an empowerment given to all Christians. He gives to certain people the specific gift of faith, and different gifts to each Christian. “There is also what we might call charismatic faith, which I believe is what Paul had in mind when he spoke of the spiritual gift of faith in 1 Corinthians 12:9. How is it different? While all faith is an expression of trust and humble dependence upon a person or promise, this is the experience of faith that arises somewhat spontaneously and unexpectedly in our hearts.” Sam Storms, Practicing the Power How do I grow and develop my faith? Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.” There is a direct correlation between faith and knowing the promises of God. The more time in the Word, the more trust and faith in God. Reading great biographies of faith warriors.

Pastor J.D. shares four questions that are helpful to start a conversation with our atheist friends, neighbors, and coworkers. A glimpse inside this episode: Atheists have many questions for Christians. But they have to answer a lot of questions, too. For instance: Blow the roof off approach (Francis Schaeffer) What about origins? Dawkins says, “Darwin’s theory works for biology, but not for cosmology (or, ultimate origins).” In God Delusion, Dawkins admits this is a problem.  He says, “Cosmology is waiting on its Darwin.” In other words, he thinks that while they have explained how life took shape on the earth, he admits they still have no idea where life itself, or the materials that produced life, came from. We need a theory, he says, as to why anything exists. Because it is self-evident that nothing times nobody can’t equal everything. Then he says, but don’t worry. We’ll figure it out eventually. That’s what we call a blind faith leap! What about design? Goldilocks principle (Our world is ideally designed to sustain life, “not too hot, not too cold, just right”.) CO2 Tilt of the earth Water molecule What about evil? If we are only biology and chemistry, there’s no such thing as true justice, only useful strategies for preserving our kind. For atheists, a statement like, “You really ought to” or “ought not to” doesn’t really have any meaning. (This doesn’t mean they can’t be moral, just that their morality lacks a consistent intellectual foundation.) The only way we can say that something is unjust is if we appeal to a higher vision of how it ought to be. Big deal when it comes to justice? What about personhood and personality? Christopher Hitchens example Steve Jobs example What about Jesus? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pastor J.D. explains why we both should and shouldn’t feel satisfied by our jobs because God created us to work, but our work here on earth is toil. A glimpse inside this episode: Yes and no. YES, God created us to work. God placed Adam in the garden “to work it and keep it” (Gen 2:15). Remember that God said this before the fall, indicating that work wasn’t a punishment inflicted on Adam for his sin, but was a part of God’s original design. The Hebrew word translated ‘abad,’ and it has the connotation of preparing and developing. Adam was placed in the garden to develop its raw materials, to cultivate a garden. Christians can fulfill the created purpose of God in the same way, by taking the raw materials of the world and developing them. In principle, this happens all the time: Architects take sand and cement and use them to create buildings; artists take color or music and arrange them into art; lawyers take principles of justice and codify them into laws that benefit society.This isn’t just an accident; this is God’s plan. Martin Luther, the famous German reformer, put it this way: “When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we ask God to ‘give us this day our daily bread.’ And He does give us our daily bread. He does it by means of the farmer who planted and harvested the grain, the baker who made the flour into bread, the person who prepared our meal.” Another great example of this comes from the classic movie, Chariots of Fire. The movie follows a Christian track athlete, Eric Liddell, in his preparation for the 1924 Olympics. At one point in the film Liddell is confronted with an objection to his career, since there are more pressing matters in life for a Christian than merely running. Liddell responds, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.” At some point or another, while working at something we love or are good at, many of us have had a similar feeling. It is as if we feel inside of us, quite literally: this is what I was made for. NO, because it is toil. I recently read an awesome article in The Atlantic, “Workism Is Making Americans Miserable.” This was a great line: “The modern labor force evolved to serve the needs of consumers and capitalists, not to satisfy tens of millions of people seeking transcendence at the office.” This article is one of those where someone has a brilliant insight the Bible teaches as a core principle: the futility of making work an idol. However, the Bible’s presentation is more complete—man shall not live by work alone, but man was made for work. An idol is a good thing that only becomes a bad thing when it becomes a God thing. Realizing it is insufficient as a God doesn’t mean it is no longer good, however. The ideal society is not, as some people tend to think, that we spend our time trying to figure out what to do with our leisure and where the poor get welfare with no work required. God created us for work. God put man in the Garden to work it, not just lounge in it, which is why life without meaningful employment will in most cases be unsatisfying as well. Work, as the author indicates, makes a terrible idol. But so does leisure. Our idolization of work (seen in comments like “Do what you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life” has produced a generation of dissatisfied idealists who can’t understand why they don’t spring out of bed each morning excited to get to the office. The Bible explains that this is the result of the curse—our work would become toil. Thus, I should expect that even in fulfilling, life-giving work, there will be days I not only feel unfulfilled, but downright weary. Neither idle nor idol. Resource: Good to Great by Jim Collins ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This Episode’s Sponsor: One of the greatest predictors of a disciple’s spiritual growth is regular Bible reading. That’s why LifeWay created the Daily Discipleship Guide. To download four free sessions of the Daily Discipleship Guide, visit BibleStudiesforLife.com/DDG.      

Pastor J.D. discusses the role of the family in the growth and discipleship of children and shares some practical tips. A glimpse inside this episode: God gave the home and family as one of the two “gospel gardens,” the church being the second. The ultimate job of parenting it to let go and to send out. Studies show the quality of the relationship not the depth of instruction is the determiner. Sociologist Vern Bengtson says in his book, Families and Faith, that studies conclusively show that the quality of the child’s relationship to the father is the single-most important factor in whether the child adopts the faith of the parents. But what does this look like practically in the Greear household? When they were young, every day. Now, once a week: Dad, devotion, dessert. Allows me to plan. We study books of the Bible, and I jot down thoughts throughout the week. Try to pray with my kids once a week. I make sure they are equipped for quiet time. The Christian life has to grow from within, so I want to equip them but allow the Spirit to do what only the Spirit can do. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This Episode’s Sponsor: One of the greatest predictors of a disciple’s spiritual growth is regular Bible reading. That’s why LifeWay created the Daily Discipleship Guide. To download four free sessions of the Daily Discipleship Guide, visit BibleStudiesforLife.com/DDG.      

Pastor J.D. shares his advice for newlyweds and we share an important podcast update you won’t want to miss. A glimpse inside this episode: Be as committed to counseling after your marriage as you were before. And note, there’s nothing wrong with counseling! Like going to the doctor. You don’t just do that before you die Enjoy the other as a gift from God but don’t let them replace God: C.S. Lewis: like a ray of sunshine But don’t let them take the place of God! (What I’d write on their forehead with a Sharpie) Lonely, insecure single people become lonely, insecure married people. But realize that one of God’s primary purposes is not to make you happy but to make you holy Regarding honeymoon night and sex, be prepared and lower your expectations. Be patient with sex. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This Episode’s Sponsor: One of the greatest predictors of a disciple’s spiritual growth is regular Bible reading. That’s why LifeWay created the Daily Discipleship Guide. To download four free sessions of the Daily Discipleship Guide, visit BibleStudiesforLife.com/DDG.        

Pastor J.D. discusses why it’s important to remain rooted in your identity in Christ and look for the helpful truth, even in the most mean-spirited critiques, when you’re in a season of heavy criticism. A glimpse inside this episode: For me: Realize it goes with the territory. Similarly, realize it’s usually more about them than you. (Sometimes their critique should elicit compassion from you, not anger!) Listen well to critics. (David and Shimei in 2 Samuel) Don’t let it touch your identity. Who am I in Christ? Do the right people like me? Allow it to expose your idols (we like to be liked). Fear of Man The fear of man means that you depend on people—their opinions, their approval, their presence—as a source of life and happiness. (Ed Welch) Diagnosing the fear of man: Is the thought of social rejection still one of your greatest fears? Was peer pressure a big influence in your life? Does the thought of failure mortify you? Why? Is it because of what others, your parents, your friends, the people you went to school with, will think about you? Are you always competing with others? Does what people say about you and how they treat you really affect your self-image? Do you have a problem lying, especially telling little white lies? Ed Welch, When People Are Big and God Is Small Maybe you feel really good about yourself because you are the winner. That’s the fear of man. You love thinking about how people think of you. You fantasize about conversations people have where they talk about how great you are. Ed Welch says (summary), “The most dangerous form of the fear of man is the “successful” fear of man. Because you think you’ve made it; you’ve got more than other people, you feel good. But your life is still dominated and defined by what people think rather than what God thinks.” The whole problem is that we fear people more than we fear God—we hold people in awe more than we hold God in awe; we give more weight to their opinions, their approval and their love, than we do to God’s opinions, God’s presence, God’s approval, and God’s love. The fear of man is a type of idolatry; we worship people. Not that we bow down to a statue of them, but that we give glory to them that we should give to God. (Hebrew: glory = kabod, or “weight.”). We give too much weight to what men think– we reverence, we bow down to their opinions every day. Realize there can be helpful truth to glean even in the most mean-spirited critiques Closely related: God may be sending a Shimei to you. Don’t be afraid to shield yourself from some of it (don’t read it, have other people read and filter, etc).   This Episode’s Sponsor: With Ministry Grid’s library of over 3,000 training videos, it’s now simpler than ever to train every volunteer and leader in your church. And this is training you can trust. Each Ministry Grid video features an experienced ministry leader who has been where you are now. Learn how to get unlimited access for you and your church at MinistryGrid.com.