REAL

Hello Church!


I'm going to be REAL in this email, so please bear with me.

If you've been with us for any length of time then you probably remember that back in August I sensed the Lord telling me to close everything down and just minister to Him.

This was not just one of those "take a little time off" things, but a total shutdown.

For all intents and purposes, I was dead and buried for several months.

It was scary!

Then I had to ask myself… why is this so scary?

After all, this is what I teach - death to Self, dying so you can live, embracing the Cross.

God showed me the reason why it was so scary…

Because so much of my identity had become wrapped up in "ministry."

Frankly, The School of Christ had become so big that I could "hide" myself behind it.

Why would I "hide" myself behind a ministry?

Because, after 30 years of being beat up by people, you learn to put up defensive walls.

Actually, that's what they teach you in the pastorate.

Stay professional, keep yourself apart from people and a little bit above them, protect yourself from the inevitable attacks you're going to experience in the ministry.

That has been my way for most of my life.

I thought that was all behind me when I left the church in 1999 and began writing and teaching "outside the camp."

I was wrong… it got worse!

But what God showed me is I cannot "hide" behind a ministry anymore - not if I really want to touch people.

And really (He said), "The School of Christ" is not called to do anything.

He called "me," not "it!"

And to prove it, He showed me that when "it" died, part of "me" died as well.

That's why it felt scary.

Isn't that weird?

Shouldn't I have already learned that lesson years ago?

Maybe so.

But if you think coming out of church is hard, let me tell you… that's easy, compared to coming out of ministry!

Of course, we can never truly "come out" of the Church (the Ekklesia) that Jesus is building…

And we can never truly "come out" of any ministry that He has put us into (assuming He put us into it), since God does not change His mind concerning the gifts and callings…

But before we can ever truly "go in" to the Church that Jesus is building, we have to "come out" of the man-made replica.

Likewise, before we can ever truly "go in" to the ministry, we have to "come out" of the ministry mindset that is based on FEAR and PLEASING MAN.

What happens is we get led away from the simplicity of Christ and we start accepting as normal things that are not normal.

We let people dictate to us how to believe, think, and behave.

Fear of people - what will they think, what will they say, what will they do - drives much of what we do, or do not do, in our Christian life and in ministry.

We are afraid of being cursed, so we attend church and pay tithes.

Then we come out of church, and we are afraid of what people will think about us for not going.

And when you have any kind of teaching ministry, the fear is amplified 1,000 times.

I think if I ran a soup kitchen, things would be a lot different!

But when you are a writer or a teacher, everything you do or say is under a cloud of suspicion from people just waiting for you to slip up.

You know… the kind of people who put you up on a pedestal just so they can kick it out from under you and watch you fall.

After a while you learn how to play the game.

We ask for prayer, and we get people condemning us for our weaknesses, so we don't ask for prayer anymore.

We ask for support, and we get criticized for asking, so we don't ask for support.

When Karla had her first herniated disk in her back a few years ago, someone replied to say that she had sin in her life - that's why she was writhing in pain.

When my grandmother died, I wrote a short email to honor her memory - and someone wrote back to say I was full of fleshly pride.

When my first book was published over ten years ago, I was immediately attacked online as a false teacher - and I very nearly gave up writing.

These are just some examples that stand out in my mind.

You've probably experienced similar things.

And I'm not bringing them up because I'm angry or bitter - I'm just sharing my experiences.

But why do they stand out in my mind?

Because those accusations hurt!

Watchman Nee was attacked so severely by critics of his ministry that on a couple of occasions he was unable to get out of bed from the weight of depression.

I'm not comparing myself to Watchman Nee, but the point is this: when you get rewarded with PAIN every time you open up your heart and share, pretty soon you stop opening up your heart!

Then your heart becomes hardened and cold.

You start putting up walls.

You might even create a church or a ministry and hide behind it to protect yourself from people.

You keep pressing on, but you're still fearful and defensive.

You don't enter deeply into relationships with others because you know it won't last long anyway.

See how the enemy uses fear to shut you down and shut you up?

Well, no more.

I'm not here to say that I am some new, improved, fearless version of myself.

Far from it!

I still come to you in weakness, in fear, and in trembling.

But the point is I'm going to keep coming.

I struggle with pride and hurt and the past and everything else people struggle with.

But I am realizing THAT will always be the case.

God didn't wait until I had all this worked out before He called me and revealed His Son in me!

Paul had a saying:

"By the grace of God, I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10).

During my time in New York I learned a similar saying that I've been using, too:

"It is what it is!"

I don't know what you're looking for or what you think I am, but I'm just saying that by God's grace I am going to be what He has called me to be:

I AM YOUR BROTHER.

I am a brother who writes, teaches, and shares the things God gives him to share.

My passion is to help people experience the freedom and joy of a Christ-centered faith that is based on relationship, not religion.

And for some reason God gave me a gift for being able to use words to explain complicated things to people in simple ways that they can (usually) understand.

So that's what I'm going to keep doing, for as long as God allows.

Still ministering to Him and putting Him first, as well as serving others as He leads.

Listen… being Christ-centered in a Church-centered or Self-Centered world is no easy task.

But I am what I am, and it is what it is.

So what I said a few months ago is still true…

If you are willing to accept me as a brother who occasionally writes, teaches, and shares what God gives him to share, then so be it. If you don't, then you don't.

If you believe in Christ-centered teachings, and you believe they are worthy of support, then support them. If you don't, then don't.

Loving, helping, serving, opening yourself up to people is risky.

But I think it is a risk that every follower of Jesus must take.

Thank you for hearing me out.




I am your brother,


Chip Brogden
http://ChipBrogden.com







PO Box 1007
Wake Forest NC 27588
USA