Kevin Pounds' blog

We very seldom view accumulating stuff as a barrier to serving others.  Common sense would seem to say that if you possess more stuff then you have more with which to serve others.  Jesus appeared to see this from a different perspective.   In Luke 12 Jesus tells a parable of a rich man whose  land is especially productive and has much more than he needs.  The rich man comes to a simple conclusion of what to do with this incredible blessing:

I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.

Jesus proceeds to tell His disciples (which hopefully includes you and me) that our lives should follow a radically different path rooted in living out His kingdom in the here and now.  Here’s Jesus’ radical conclusion of how that should look:

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

I don’t want to get too preachy here, but as followers of Jesus a big part of our mission (our reason for existing on this earth) is to be a glimpse of Jesus’ coming kingdom.  Think of our life’s misson as being an appetizer for the amazing banquet that is to come (check out this parable too).  Jesus seems to repeatedly say that our desire to hold on to the stuff of this world creates a big barrier to us living out this mission…

Here’s a few thoughts on why:

The more stuff we have, the more we want more stuff. Consumerism is addictive.  Our natural tendency is to pursue the bigger, nicer, better, fancier ____________.

The more stuff we have, the more we want to hold on to our stuff.  Somehow our stuff  easily becomes the source of our security and satisfaction.  Our hearts have the capacity to turn almost anything into an idol.

The more stuff we have, the more our stuff becomes the desire of our hearts. We often think that wherever our heart is that our treasure  (money & resources) will follow.  Jesus says it’s the other way around.

The more stuff we have, the more of our time and energy it requires. Just check out our calendars.  A lot of time is spent keeping up our nice stuff rather than sacrificially serving others.

The more stuff we have, the more it insulates us from the needs of others. Everyone (both wealthy and poor) has needs, but all too often pursuing bigger better stuff removes us from intersecting with those in need. Does God  choose to bless some with larger houses, nicer cars, and more resources? Certainly.  Does God lead some Jesus-followers to reach out to the wealthy with the good news of Jesus? Of course…

BUT here’s the big bottom line:  If God blesses us with a lot of stuff , it’s so we can be a blessing to others and become a glimpse of His kingdom in the midst of a messed up world.

Footnote:

Although this 2002 Barna study is several years old and focused on tithing, I still find it interesting and somewhat relevant:

In general, the more money a person makes the less likely he/she is to tithe. While 8% of those making $20,000 or less gave at least 10% of their income to churches, that proportion dropped to 5% among those in the $20,000-$29,999 and $30,000-$39,999 categories; to 4% among those in the $40,000-$59,999 range, down to 2% for those in the $60,000-$74,999 niche; and to 1% for those making $75,000-$99,999. The level jumped a bit for those making $100,000 or more, as 5% of the most affluent group tithed in 1999.

 

This Monday-Wednesday, May 23-25, a few churches and ministry organizations are sending representatives to Burlington to see how they can support our church planting and community service work here.  One of the big lessons I learned while planting a church in NJ is that I am in desperate need of partners in the gospel.  I am not a one man show, and if I attempt to do what God has called us to do on my own, I will fail.

Here are a few specific ways you can join us in praying this week:

*We’re praying for God to open all of our eyes to what He is already doing in Burlington and what He wants to do here.  Ask God to show each of these churches and ministries how they can personally be involved in God’s activity here.

*We’re praying that God will continue to provide financial support.  We already have several churches and individuals supporting our ministry efforts, but we’re asking God to provide more as we move forward.

*We’re praying that God will lead other individuals and families to join our team here.  We’re praying specifically that God will either raise up or send other apostolic leaders who can help start Home Fellowships in other areas of  Burlington.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:3-5

For some reason this issue  (retribution vs. reconciliation) has been on my mind a lot lately.  Part of the reason is having a new baby.  There’s something about spending time with Jude and Wren that makes me think about things such as redemption and reconciliation.  In my family, and especially in my relationship with my own dad, I’ve struggled with the desire for retribution and the need for reconciliation.  Maybe it’s also partially influenced by the whole Osama Bin Laden thing.  I’ve found myself excited that he’s dead and he can no longer directly hurt people- as some have put it, “justice has been served.”  I’ve also found myself wondering if my excitement, thoughts, and feelings have somehow moved away from the arena of justice to vengeance (a.k.a. retribution).

One reason this should be a big deal to us is that reconciliation should be one of the defining values of a Jesus-follower.  The Apostle Paul writes that God through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18).  Although we may 100% embrace the idea that Jesus went to the cross for us, forgave us our sins, and gave us a restored relationship with God, we often struggle to practically live out that reconciliation right now in the real world.  Two examples stick out in my mind…

#1) Reconciliation in our families. I constantly hear about how the family is endangered in America due to issues such as the “culture wars,” the debate about gay marriage, or the growing depravity of the entertainment industry.  I personally think the greatest attack is not from outside but from within our families due to broken relationships.

Many of us have been impacted by divorce, whether as participants or victims.  We’ve seen husbands and wives exchange vows then break those vows.  I’ve personally heard Christians say that they are divorcing due to “irreconcilable differences.”  I’ve seen adult children refuse to speak to their parents due to mistakes from the past and vice versa.  Somehow we’ve grown to accept that love can turn into hatred.

This is not a distant struggle for me.  As an adult I watched my parents go through a divorce due to my father’s indiscretions that was finalized one month before my wedding.  Although I was extremely close to my Dad while growing up, we ended up going through two years of not speaking.  I had a choice to make: I could either make him pay for his mistakes for the rest of his life or seek reconciliation.

I think somewhere along the line God showed me that if I’m going to talk about being reconciled to our heavenly Father that I need to be reconciled to my earthly father.  I especially want my kids to understand what scriptural reconciliation is about- hopefully they’re seeing it right in front of them.

#2) Reconciliation with our enemies. I know that’s a pretty broad term, but when I use it you probably already have a picture of who that is from your perspective.  Usually, when we’re using the “us” and “them” terminology, your enemies would be the “them.”  Maybe it’s those nations or groups at war with America.  Maybe it’s the groups on the opposite side of the Christian culture wars.  For a Democrat it may be a Republican and to Republicans it’s the Democrats.

Here’s the big challenge: Jesus teaches us to love our enemies just as He tells us to love our neighbors.  Whether we consider someone (or a group of people) our neighbor or our enemy, Jesus challenges us to love them in the same manner.

I do not believe this means we should not seek justice nor stop those who are doing wrong from harming the innocent.  Unfortunately, we often cross the line of justice into the arena of vengeance and retribution.  Only when we place vengeance in God’s hands can we approach others with a spirit of reconciliation so that they may see the life of Jesus in us.  I realize this is a tough line to tow…

How do we really know if we’re driven by justice or vengeance?

What does it look like show forgiveness and offer reconciliation while not dismissing appropriate consequences?

I’d love to hear your feedback.

Christin and I are so excited that our baby daughter Wren is finally here!  Wren Constance Pounds was born Tuesday morning, May 10, 6:38 a.m., weighing in at 7 lb 14 oz.  Below are a few pics with Wren at the hospital and one with Jude swinging his new baby sister.  You can find more pics on my facebook page.

Christin was amazing through the whole pregnancy and especially the delivery.  She went 100% natural- no drugs and no pain killers.  I’m impressed with my wife for many reasons, and this only cemented her status as one of my heroes.

A few people have asked about the name.  Well we chose Wren because it’s one syllable, it’s unique, and we like the sound of it.  We chose Constance in honor of Christin’s paternal grandmother who we fondly call “Nanny.”  She is such a Godly lady and much of Christin’s spiritual heritage is a result of her Nanny and Paw Paw’s commitment to Jesus.

So I’m taking a few days off to hang with the family.  We’re so blessed to have Christin’s mom, Cheryl, in town.  Having her is like bringing in the heavy artillery.  It’s freeing us up to enjoy being parents together for a few days before the rush of life and ministry comes again.  As always, thank you for your continued prayers as we parent our children and as Jude adjusts to a new baby taking over some of his space. 

It seems pretty clear from reading the New Testament book of Acts that the early church, despite its many faults, was driven by an apostolic impulse.  The word apostle literally means “one who is sent out,” and we can easily see from the narrative in Acts that the church took a “sent and scattered” approach to ministry.  Whenever the church became too centralized or inward focused,  God allowed persecution to move the process forward.  As I look at the American church, I often see a struggle with taking a sent and scattered approach to ministry- especially when it requires a radical change in mindset, ministry strategy, and use of resources.  Although I’m knee deep in helping start churches in relatively unchurched communities, I find myself sometimes internally struggling to throw off the status quo of comfort zone Christianity to embrace this apostolic impulse which should still drive us today.  This has led to me asking myself a tough question as both a church-planter and Jesus-follower…

What prevents us from taking a more sent and scattered approach to ministry?

Control issues. I’m pretty sure that beginning with the day of Pentecost that the twelve apostles and other 120 followers of Jesus realized that this Jesus movement was going to be something way bigger than anything they could control.  It’s easy to assume as we look at scripture that because the apostles and elders of the early church gave some pretty clear (and sometimes strict) parameters to people wanting to become Jesus followers and even more-so to other leaders, that they were all about control.  We must remember that this was way before the time of instant communication via phones, text messaging, and emails, with letters taking weeks and months to reach their destination. This communication gap forced the early church leaders to put a great deal of trust in those they had mentored and sent out.  Does a lack of control open the door for people to go “off the farm” with their mission and even theology? It’s certainly a possibility, but even in the most controlling church environments this happens more than we’d like to admit- just look at the number of church splits that occur over these issues.

Trusting leaders. I think one reason we may struggle to trust emerging leaders is that we have not put the time into mentoring and developing them.  One big reason that Jesus trusted the apostles was because of the power of the Holy Spirit working through them.  We should also consider the obvious fact that He trusted them as leaders because He had invested a great deal of time and energy in developing them as leaders.  We see this same confidence from Paul in his letters to Titus and Timothy.  Paul had invested in these guys and trusted them to not only lead but to develop others who would lead.  In our present era we cannot simply delegate the responsibility of developing a new generation of Christian leaders to Bible colleges or seminaries- I would argue that the best context for learning still remains local churches doing real ministry in the real world.  I’m not arguing against the value of theological training, but I do believe that the people most likely to influence culture and engage those outside the church are not ordained vocational clergy.

Minimizing relationships. We can easily forget that the primary vehicle through which the good news of Jesus travels is relationships.  Two thousand years ago the Greco-Roman household or oikos provided the perfect relational network of close friends and family members for the gospel to go viral.  In the modern era, studies have continued to prove that the primary influence on people coming to faith in Jesus is relationships with family and friends.  When we act like a program, a worship service, or even our preaching is the key to people becoming followers of Jesus, then we’re actually putting our focus (and usually investing our resources) in the exception rather than the norm.  I’m definitely  a big fan of gospel-centered preaching, but I’m also certain that the overwhelming majority of our culture is deaf to what is being said from our Sunday morning pulpits.  As a friend recently shared with me: “relationships are the currency of the kingdom.”

“Old” paradigms. As much as we try, it’s hard to move beyond our default perspective of what church is- a large group of people gathered in one place on Sunday with a lectern as the focal point of where ministry happens.  In a culture where even the most irreligious person defines a church as a building with a steeple, it’s sometimes difficult to imagine that the Jesus movement met as churches for the first 200+ years without buildings set aside as places of worship.  Somehow this ancient idea that the church is the people of God on mission with God has been somewhat lost despite the fact that the New Testament never refers to the church as a literal building.  Please understand that I’m not suggesting that established churches tear down buildings and sell off all their property (well… unless these things are preventing real ministry from happening).  What I am saying is that if we are going to engage an increasingly nonChristian culture then we will have to have an open hand with our approach to ministry and go way back (like 2000 years back) to what made the church the church.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, opinions, and even get some “push back.”