I recently spoke with a friend of mine about his ministry of church-planting. He has planted thousands of churches in the Philippines, Indonesia, Africa, South America, and elsewhere. His approach is different. He takes the words of John 17 very seriously, where Jesus talks about his followers being one so that the world may believe that the Father sent Jesus into the world. My friend has taken Jesus' words and applied it to a church planting model: Bringing together believers and pastors from different traditions to plant churches.
As I listened to him I thought to myself, "He takes Jesus' words in John 17 more seriously than I do. To my friend they've got weight. For me, John 17 is nice in an ecumenical service (kind of a Gospel-lite), while he's changing the world with them." Isn't it true that we can read God's Word the way we read letters to the editor? "Yeah, I like that teaching (because I agree with it or it makes me feel good)" or "No, I'll bypass that teaching (since it makes me uncomfortable or doesn't make much sense in my world)".
Well, how about reading it as if it's actually true? God's Word represents reality, and reality bears out the truth of God's Word. My friend is proving it: When believers are one, Jesus is glorified and people are drawn to him. God's Word is far weightier than letters to the editor. Why not let it have its "weight" with us?
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