My Santa Muerte Friend

I decided to visit a part of the city that I have not been to many times. This area is only about 5-10 minutes from my house and is a very impoverished area. As I drove through this neighborhood I noticed that there were a lot of people who varied in "wealth". Some were living in shacks where as others who either had more money or possibly more time to build (maybe both) had homes that were considerably nicer despite the fact that the area I was in was filled with dirt roads full of chug holes, trash and stray dogs. The wind was blowing pretty hard and being that I live in very semi-arid region south of the border the dust was terrible. After taking about 20 minutes to talk to a very kind gentleman and his wife who were in their late 50's, I drove to a tienda (a tienda is basically a house that has a room that sells sodas, candy, bread etc...) to buy a Coke. I picked this particular one because there was not any people around which would provide me more time to visit with the owner of the tienda so that I could ask questions and learn about that barrio.

I had not been inside more than a couple of minutes when I heard a derogatory word used to describe a white guy from the U.S. When I turned around there were three men at the front of the store. Not thinking too much about it nor being too worried about it I turned around and bought what I went in for and turned around to leave.

Because the lighting was not real good (many Mexican people do not use lights during the day time in order to save on their electric bill) when I saw the three men the first time, I was taken aback somewhat when I could see them a little more clearly as I was heading for the door. One of the men (about 35) had a pint bottle of beer in his hand and was clearly intoxicated. Another who appeared to be the youngest (maybe 20) had a black shirt with a bright green marijuana leaf on his shirt. The last, was the one who was concerning. He had a Santa Muerte tattoo on each of his arms as well as various other demonic tattoos and a scattering of Aztec tattoos. However, the tattoos were not what had shocked me since we have lived in both Vancouver, B.C. and Seattle. What had shocked me was the angry red and purple scar that went from one of his ears to the other. Someone had slit this young man's throat and some how, by the grace of God, he had survived.

Immediately I started asking this guy about his tattoos because I knew that he took great pride in them. He was NOT friendly at first at all. However, I persisted. He briefly answered a question when the drunk man started talking to me. He talked to me for several minutes about basically nothing.

As many of you know, I love to do "magic" tricks by making coins disappear as well as other silly little tricks. I can not remember what my bridge was in order to show the guys how I can "make" a coin go from one hand to another but the drunk guy said something that allowed me to show them the trick. The cool thing was, as it usually does, the guys relaxed and actually laughed and wanted me to do it again. I repeated the trick and showed them a few more that allowed me to ask deeper questions of these guys.

I found out what I already knew about Santa Muerte and why he had the tattoos. I also found out a little about his Aztec tattoos. Heck before I left, the guy had raised his wife beater so that I could see a tattoo on his stomach/chest, which lol I was not really that interested in seeing for obvious reasons.

The opportunity to tell the guys about how Levi (Matthew) had become a follower of Jesus and what his response was to Jesus calling him (banquet) came and as I told the story, you could see my friend with the tattoos was keenly listening. It seemed that the idea that Jesus would call someone of Levi's (Matthew's) character and then to eat with him was a revolutionary understanding of just who Jesus was/is.

Later, the drunk guy had to pull up his shirt and show me his eagle tattoo. He went on and on how the eagle represented freedom. I then asked him about that freedom and he told me that the eagle represented being set free from slavery. Soon after he wandered off and my tattoo friend asked me what freedom meant for me.

I happily shared that true freedom was being set free from one's sins and that God had set me free. I was free. Again, he paid close attention to what I said. I then handed him a tract and as he read it he would say, "This is good.", "Yes" and would look up and look me in the eye. Then he would go back to reading. When he had finished he tried to hand the tract back to me but I told him that it was for him. In a very humble manner he thanked me. He looked me in the eye and said in broken English, "Thank you. Thank you VERY much".

The Church I Pastor: The Missional Triad

Missional Triad

Here is what I call The Missional Triad (a tweaked version of this by Joe Thorn and this that Joe and I fleshed out together). Forgive the handwritten sloppiness, but it's what I have for now. It's essentially a missional paradigm for our church to think through what we do and where we do it. The mission is a very central part of the paradigm. (Click the diagram for a larger version.)

If you are familiar with Joe's paradigm the next few points will help you see the changes I've made for my version, as well as explain a few things I thought you might have questions about.

1. The order of the shapes is different. I changed them to a left to right flow for unbelievers and right to left for believers.
2. I've changed the titles of each shape. I have included something of each shape in the name (example: tri-formed discipleship). I can still use "table, pulpit and square" as designations, and have done that, but I felt it helpful to give each a name that is slightly more descriptive. That also allows my "table" to lose the Lord's Supper confusion.
3. The "Circles of Friendship" is fleshed out so that hospitality is seen in three different spheres:
neutral >> semi-private >> to private
It also moves beyond the home into third places (why?).
4. Under Tri-Formed Discipleship I have used "Equipping Ministries" to explain all discipleship, from one-on-one to seminars, short-term classes, membership class, leadership training, etc.
5. Our small groups are transitioning toward being "Missional Communities." These will be more than small groups but less than house churches.

If you want to know something more, let me know. It's basically still the same three shapes, the same basic approach, the same goal of simplicity.

A Meal with Jesus: Discovering Grace, Community, and Mission around the Table

The full article can be found HERE

The Crossway blog has a fascinating interview (reprinted below) with Tim Chester about his new book, A Meal with Jesus: Discovering Grace, Community, and Mission Around the Table.

You can read the introduction to the book online.

What does food have to do with grace, church, and mission?

Everything! Just think about how often food figures in the Bible story or how much of church life involves meals. I don’t think this is incidental.

Food expresses our dependence on God and on other people.

Meals embody friendship and welcome.

So food is a powerful way of doing mission and community. The Son of Man, Jesus says in Luke 7, came eating and drinking—this was the way Jesus did mission.

What do you mean when you say the way Jesus did meals was “radically subversive?”

Meals in Jesus’ day were highly stratified.

Roman meals expressed the social order Jewish meals were similar (think of the jockeying for position in Luke 14) with the added twist that Levitical food laws made it all but impossible for Jews to eat with Gentiles. So meals expressed who were the insiders and who were the outsiders.

Jesus turns all of this upside down or, perhaps I should say, inside out! Outsiders become insiders around the table with Jesus.

How do the meals of Jesus image the gospel?

Let’s take one example. Jesus ate with tax collectors. Tax collectors were collaborators with the Romans, the people who were occupying God’s promised land. This meant they were not only betraying the nation, but they were enemies of God. God sits and eats with his enemies. That’s what happening in the meals of Jesus. It’s an amazing expression of gospel grace.

You would not believe it if it were not in the Scriptures. The Pharisees certainly could not believe it. And that is without considering how the feeding of the 5,000 points to the messianic banquet of the future or how the last supper points to the cross.

How would you practically encourage readers to begin associating with the marginalized?

No doubt there are lots of ways to begin, but in the book I highlight the importance of eating with people.

There is a danger that if we only “do” things “for” people then we communicate by our actions “I am able and you are unable.” Then the message we convey is not the welcome of God, but the message “become like me.” We may talk of grace with our words, but our actions communicate the need for social or moral improvement. But when we sit and eat with one another then we are together round the table. Then we can speak of grace as fellow sinners.

You say that our meals actually express our doctrine of justification. Can you explain that?

Paul’s great exposition of the doctrine of justification in the letter to the Galatians is sparked by a meal, by Peter’s refusal to eat with Gentiles. This is where a false doctrine of justification led: to broken table fellowship. Why? Because meals are such a central and powerful expression of community (and the withdrawal of community).

It was the same with the meals of the Pharisees. Their sense of how we are made right with God was reflected in their meals; their meals expressed who were insiders and outsiders on the basis of moral and religious respectability. The ladder of self-righteousness was represented in the positions of honor around the table.

But Jesus freely eats with tax collectors and sinners. He expresses God’s grace through his willingness to eat with everyone—even self-righteous Pharisees!

I’m not saying justification is merely about who we eat with. It is about how we are made right with God through faith in the finished work of Christ. But this will then be reflected who we associate with and on what basis. Our meals will mirror our doctrine.

How do your “missional communities” work?

That’s a big question! Our meetings always involve a meal. Plus we encourage people to share lives throughout the week as well as involving unbelievers in that shared life—and that often involves sharing food.

But meals don’t make community. They embody or express it . . . and I can’t imagine doing community without meals. But it’s the gospel that creates community. This is what makes communities “work.”So in fact we called our missional communities “gospel communities.” (But then you can’t talk about the gospel story for long without bumping into a meal!)

Do you have practical steps readers can take to encourage them to grow in initiating missional meals?

The great thing about using meals to do community and mission is that it doesn’t add anything to your busy schedule. We already have 21 ready-made opportunities each week. Nor do you have some kind to special missiological training. You just need to love Jesus, love people and enjoy eating!

It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Sometimes you may want to make a special effort and celebrate the goodness of creation in a fancy meal. But most of the time it is just a question of sharing an ordinary meal with people.

Invite members of your Christian community for your evening meal.

Meet up for breakfast with someone on the way yo work.

Use lunch in the canteen to get to know your colleagues.

If you’re single, then entertaining families might be difficult, but invite them for dessert or cake.

Try to invite unbelievers together with believers so your unbelieving friends are introduced to the Christian community and get to see how Christians relate.

How can meals express a vision of the kingdom of God?

Once you start looking for it, it’s amazing how often food is used to express both judgment and salvation.

A meal in the presence of God is the goal of salvation.

The first thing God does for Adam and Eve in the garden is given them a menu, the fruit of every tree (except one).

The climax of the exodus (an act of salvation commemorated in a meal) is when the elders of Israel eat with God on the mountain in Exodus 24.

Isaiah promises a messianic banquet of rich foods that will never end in Isaiah 25 and Jesus anticipates this perpetual meal with God in the feeding of the 5,000, a meal with more food at the end than at the beginning.

The last supper looks forward to the time when Jesus will eat with his disciples in the kingdom of God.

And the Bible story ends with a meal as we celebrate the wedding supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19.

Every time we eat together as Christians we are anticipating this hope.

How to evangelize according to Joe Thorn

Expresses urgency, but be willing to take your time; preach the law and gospel; know what parts of the law, or what blessing of the gospel they most need to hear; share your life with the person you are trying to reach.

But here it is in a bit more detail.

1. Evangelism should include law & gospel.
Most of you know this, but much of our evangelism in the twentieth century dropped the Law of God as the means by which sinful men and women are made aware of their spiritual condition. Instead of beginning with who God is in nature - Holy, or who we are - sinful, we have begun with “God’s wonderful plan” for our lives, his offer of help and hope, or Jesus as the solution to problems people are no longer asking. I wont spend time here, for once we believe souls must be prepared through humility to embrace the Gospel, the preaching of the Law is the only way to go.

2. Evangelism should be dialogical.
The church has excelled at the canned, gospel presentation. We memorize diagnostic questions, and treat every mark the same, presuming that people all have the same struggles and questions. I am convinced the canned approach to evangelism became necessary as our churches lost their grasp on theology and discipleship. They are helpful in that they can move people forward to do something, but if often leaves people ill-equipped to actually engage a person who doesn’t fit the profile their curriculum has trained them to reach.

Dialogical evangelism is a real conversation. It’s verbal give-and-take that most people, when they have the time, are willing to step into. Dialogue will prove to be your friend because it can establish the next two things that are needed: a foundation on which to build a relationship and grounds upon which you can begin to assess one’s spiritual condition.

3. Evangelism should be relational.
Though I prefer other models, I do believe in evangelism that begins and ends (at least on the evangelist’s part) in a one-time encounter. Can a relationship be established in that context? It can, and it should, even if it is only the beginning of a rapport. By relational I mean we care about the person more than the ministry, we want to listen to them as much as we want them to listen to us, and we seek to understand where they are coming from. The sooner we can see the world from their perspective, the more quickly and ably we can apply the Gospel to their unique life. Again, this is why dialogue/relationship is so important – it helps us with a proper diagnosis.

4. Evangelism requires a spiritual diagnosis.
It seems that most evangelical churches have grown content simply determining if someone is “in” or “outside of” the kingdom of God. While this is the most critical assessment, the example of Jesus, and many of the preachers/pastors who have gone before us, gives us a better example to follow. What is it specifically that holds a person back? What issue is driving them away from the church? What do they value more than God? Why don’t they believe in a need for redemption, or how do they believe they will find it? That Jesus practiced this and spoke to people in response to a spiritual diagnosis is seen in the variety of ways he preached the Gospel to different groups and individuals. To one he says, “believe.” To another, “repent for the Kingdom is here.” To another he says, “You must be born again.” And to another, “Sell all you have and give it to the poor.” Why such radically different approaches? Jesus didn’t change it all up for variety’s sake, but because each individual needed the law/gospel to be applied in a unique way. Here the Puritans are most helpful for they actually guide us in this discipline, which for most of us is new. Pastors used to be thought of as surgeons of the soul, men who could do more than determine a man to be “dead” or “alive,” but who knew precisely what must be done for a person to find salvation. We must become surgeons once again. Of course, this generally requires what has been explained above in numbers 1-3.

5. Put them in “the way of the cross.”
Laying out the “Romans Road,” and telling someone to go to church is not enough. God works through means to draw people to himself, and one of the best things we can do in evangelism is connect people to those means of grace. Give them a Bible, and a passage to begin reading through. Teach them to pray, specifically that God would draw them, convict them, and lead them to trust in Christ. Ask them to join you at church, or even better, to come to small group gatherings at your home where they can see and hear of God’s work in your life. Give them books to read. Invite them to seek God with you. The more means they are using, the more avenues God has to bring the gospel into their lives.

6. Let God give them assurance of salvation.
If we lead someone to pray a prayer to “receive Jesus,” what do we tell him or her afterwards? I have yet to find a situation like this when the evangelist does not give the praying person assurance of salvation. “Did you pray that prayer, and mean it in your heart? If you did, then your sins are forgiven and you now have eternal life.” Such false assurances do far more damage than good, and I believe this is why so many of our membership rolls are bloated with the names of people who have never been converted. Our practice at Grace is to let God give the assurance of salvation. But this means we have to not only be able to diagnose a person’s spiritual condition, but also help them see where they are. Of course there is often an in-between time when such a call is hard to make for either person. In those cases I have encouraged people to continue seeking God, faith and assurance. I get a lot of questions on this one, so in the next post I will include a diagram that we sketch out for people to help them figure out where they are at spiritually. I will also include examples of individuals who have gone through this process, while I explain what I mean in a bit more detail.

These are the things we keep in mind at Grace when encouraging people to seek Christ. We preach law/gospel dialogically in the context of a relationship and encourage people to put themselves in the way of the cross as they seek the salvation that can only be found in Christ.

Crushing our Gods

Dining Culture

What can we learn from this video?