September 2010

When Ray was a teenager, he didn’t know much about God. He was like most kids, consumed with entertainment and doing whatever it took to try to impress his friends. After going through a series of bad circumstances in his personal and family life, he found himself reaching out to God. As he sat down one day, he began to read from his mother’s Bible. The more he read, the guiltier he felt. Finally, he dropped to his knees and cried out, “Jesus, forgive me!” It wasn’t much of a prayer, but something stirred within him. He knew that God had heard him and saved him. Fortunately, a Christian friend soon came into his life and helped him to understand his experience and explain to him that he was now destined for heaven because of what Jesus had done for him.

Ray’s conversion is a classic story of sin and repentance. He wasn’t asking deep questions or looking for proofs of God’s existence. He just came to the point where he knew that he was a sinner and needed a Savior. His conversion was spiritual and emotional; he could only explain it by saying, “God did something to me!”

Soon after Ray got saved, he started attending church. But he began to sense the missing mental element of his faith. Now that God had moved in his life, he wanted to learn more about who God was. He even began attending three services every Sunday – at three different churches! However, he wasn’t learning enough to satisfy his insatiable spiritual hunger. Out of desperation, he applied for a job at a Christian bookstore just to gain access to spiritual reading. There, he immersed himself in books on theology and apologetics from men like Francis Schaeffer, C.S. Lewis, R.C. Sproul, and J.I. Packer. He also read the classic works by Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, and Calvin. Ray finally felt like he was being fed. Unfortunately, today, he is still trying to find a church in his area that will minister to the whole person, including the mind.

Ray’s story is a collective testimony of lots of people that I’ve encountered as a pastor. They understand and appreciate the saving work of Christ, but they also want to go deeper. Like the writer of Hebrews observed, they are ready for solid food (Heb. 5:14).

This September will mark four years of ministry for my family at Fort Johnson Baptist Church. The longer I’m here, the more I’ve become aware of the significant challenges that face us. Apart from our debt, I’m convinced that the biggest challenge that faces our church family is in the area of Discipleship. For many years, our Education Ministry has not been reaching its potential. As a result, we have a tremendous deficit in personal growth and spiritual maturity. This has resulted in frustration and church conflict over petty issues. It’s time to “grow up” in Christ. We can all be more fruitful. God expects more from us.

To some extent, our discipleship deficit has been inherited. Almost from our inception, Southern Baptists have taken a back seat regarding scholarship and learning. We come from a tradition linked to the First and Second Great Awakenings, with its strong revivalist style that downplayed doctrine and appealed to ordinary folk. It was strongest in the Southern states and included our denomination, Methodists, and the Churches of Christ. The Northern states enjoyed a more scholarly approach, and this was typified by the Congregationalist, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian churches.

Southerners loved the revivalist style, which emphasized personal conversion and the “religion of the heart.” Conversions were supposed to be intense and emotional. Meetings were theatrical and lively, and aimed to get people to stop drinking and to get along! There was a general distaste for anything ceremonial or instructive. To be a Christian did not necessarily mean that a person had to be part of a church; it just meant that he/she had that one-time conversion event. As a result, many people were brought to faith, but never grew beyond the early “decision.” Since religion was defined in terms of emotion, theology and doctrine and the “whys” of what we believe were pretty much neglected. Pastors were judged more on their ability to inspire than to teach. Jonathan Edwards, for example, said, “Our people do not so much need to have their heads stored, as to have their hearts touched.”

While it’s true that we shouldn’t neglect a personal relationship with God in favor of head knowledge alone, one can’t read the New Testament without getting around the fact that God wants us to reason out our faith, learn to serve Him better, and engage the lost and dying world around us! We don’t have to settle for a religion that is all heart and no brain. We can respond to the Lord in obedience, who told us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The idea that religion is all about a one-time conversion event has led to generations of people who haven’t done any growing in the faith at all – “I’m saved, so I can do what I want.”

I don’t know if you can tell a difference in my preaching this year, but I’ve aimed to be more cerebral in my approach. When I was talking with my wife last year about a series I wanted to do on the history of worship, I told her I was afraid that I might lose some people in the details. She responded, “You need to be the teaching pastor that you are!” I appreciated her challenge. I don’t want to lose the seekers who attend Fort Johnson every weekend, but then I also don’t want to lose those who want to exercise their minds beyond the basic salvation message. I don’t want people to leave church saying, “That was a nice message;” I want them to be talking about it over lunch. I enjoy receiving phone calls and e-mails later in the week with questions about the sermon and requests for copies. I desire the same for the lessons that are given in our Small Group ministry.

One of the ten principles that guide all that we do at Fort Johnson (as expressed through our 101 Membership Class) is that we will “continue to renew and reorganize the structure of our church.” Just as Jesus talked about the inability for old wineskins to hold new wine, we must be willing to provide new venues for ministry if we are going to reach today’s generation. There is a hunger out there for an intelligent faith. Let’s try to meet that need.

With all that said, let me introduce you to FJU – Fort Johnson University. This is a concentrated program of discipleship that will be implemented through our Small Group ministry in 2011. It’s not a real college, of course, but those that “graduate” from FJU will be recognized and rewarded. More than that, I believe that they will be equipped as Christian disciples to do much more for the Kingdom of God. As I’ve preached in our Names of God series, it’s important both to know God and know about Him. Both are meaningful in a relationship.

To “graduate” from FJU, a person will have to complete 6 core courses and 6 electives. Every four months, a new series of classes will be offered. There will be two or three offered per session (at both 9:30 & 11:00 a.m. on Sundays). In theory, a person could take two at a time, but I wouldn’t recommend it since there will be intense Bible study and possibly outside application assignments. If a person took three courses a year, that individual would “graduate” in four years. It might be the best four years he/she ever spent in church!

This is still in development, but here is what we’re considering as possibilities for our core classes:
• Old Testament I & II
• New Testament I & II
• Systematic Theology
• Prayer & Spiritual Disciplines
• Finding Your SHAPE in Ministry
• Sharing Your Faith

Here are some electives that we are thinking about offering:
• Experiencing God
• The Bride of Christ (The Church)
• Creative Arts in the Bible
• Defending the Faith (Apologetics)
• Mommy Coaching (A Ladies’ Class)
• Daddy Coaching (A Men’s Class)
• What to Do Before “I Do”
• Managing Your Finances God’s Way
• Practical Christianity: Developing a Working Career Philosophy Through a Christian Worldview
• Christianity and the Media
• World Religions
• Creation vs. Evolution
• Worship Wars
• Baptist History
• Any book of the Bible study

I’m convinced that there are many ways that this will shore up our Small Group ministry and make it more effective:

• Sometimes a Small Group leader feels “trapped” in his/her position and feels like he/she cannot step down without disappointing the group. This will enable that leader to make the transition to something new. That leader may want to teach one or more of these courses or simply be a learner for awhile.
• Sometimes people feel “trapped” in a Small Group because they have attended the group for a long time. They are afraid that, if they leave, they will hurt the teacher’s feelings. This will enable them to make the transition to something new without making it personal.
• This will replace our current Membership Class system. Our 101 Introduction to Membership Class is still necessary for all new members to become acquainted with the vision and strategies of our church. However, attendance in 201, 301, and 401 has been in decline for several years (only 2 people went through 401 in all of 2009!). Those who were initially interested went through the courses long ago. There seems to be no motivation anymore for others to plow through them. The material is excellent and doesn’t need to fall by the wayside. So, that material will be presented through our FJU system to a whole new audience. We will retain 101 on Sunday nights but will not continue to offer 201 through 401. (Those who have completed 301 in the past will get “credit” for taking “Finding Your SHAPE in Ministry.” And those who have completed 401 will get “credit” for the “Sharing Your Faith” course.)
• We will also be moving our Saturday night worship folks to Sunday. We have debated for many months about our current four worship service weekend schedule, and my primary reservation in cancelling Saturday night worship has been that one of our strongest Small Groups meets at that time. Billy Tennyson’s group has been in discussion about this move, and they are ready to transition to Sunday morning; their group will be meeting at 9:30 a.m. This will enable them to participate in FJU, as well. (Incidentally, moving from 4 services to 3 will take a huge burden off of our volunteers, Saturday staff, and even the expenses incurred in the use of the facility on that day. It will also make our sanctuary available for Saturday weddings.)

I would imagine that many (if not most) of our current Small Groups will continue to meet at their regular times and choose their own literature. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. This new track is for those who are hungry for something different, and that does not describe everyone. In other words, FJU does not replace our current Small Group system; it supplements it.

At this point in the development process, I need your help. I need you to consider what objections people may have to such a change in thinking regarding Small Groups. What questions might they have? What might be the unintended consequences of revamping our Small Group ministry? I need you to tell me where you might fit in to the new system (will you be maintaining your current Small Group, will you be interested in teaching some of these courses, or will you be joining as a learner?). I fully anticipate some Small Groups saying, “You know, we’ve been in a rut, and we’d like to meld into the FJU system and do some of these courses.” Others will say, “What we’ve got is working, and we’re going to stay the course.” Please plan on attending the Adult Small Group meeting this Sunday, Sep. 19 at 6:30 p.m. in the sanctuary to discuss these upcoming changes.

In Christ,
Schuyler