Most people in our churches are living off other people’s spirituality. In fact, many are imitating a spirituality with Jesus for which they have little first–hand experience.
It is easy to live off the life of God in someone else (e.g. the Apostle Paul’s handkerchief, Peter’s shadow, or Elisha’s bones) than to have our own direct experience. Anointed sermons and worship can keep people excited about Jesus and in the pews, but that may still be second-hand.
The question is: Are our people developing and growing in their own personal, immediate relationship with Jesus during the week? How can we know? That is much more challenging to measure than numbers and budgets.
In our overloaded culture where people are so distracted and busy, this may be our greatest challenge to effectively impact our communities. How can our people give away something (i.e. Jesus) if they do not possess Him?
We invest enormous time, energy, and money in creating moving weekend services and programs to move people to Jesus. That is good. But what might it look like to invest an equal amount of time and energy to equip people to remain connected to Him in a first-hand, intimate relationship the rest of the week?
One small, but effective, way I have approached this has been to introduce people to the ancient practice of silence and the Daily Office. Click on the image below to take a look at this 5-minute introduction to a life with Jesus through using Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day: A 40 Day Introduction to the Daily Office and see if it might serve as a starting point for you as well.
