May 23, 2017
Hi folks! I apologize for the past couple of weeks without a newsletter. I am in the middle of my second research trip of the month, and I haven't had nearly as much internet access as I originally anticipated.
This week is a bit of a change of pace. A high percentage of our newsletters share stories about the ways LK10 practices are helping form transformative Christian community all over the world. Today I want to tell you about some of the ways that I, Rosten, have been transformed through engagement in the LK10 practices.
My first research trip was to a farm where I took a course on sustainable agriculture practices. It was a class of 25 students, mostly younger than me; they were young, idealistic, driven, and hopeful. Many of them run non-profits, small businesses, and even small farms. And except for my two travel companions and myself, there wasn’t a single Christian in the entire group.
I live in Abilene, Texas. I can't tell you the last time being a Christian made me a minority.
Now, please don't assume that my new friends were the stereotypical angry atheists of movies like "God's Not Dead," or that they were aggressively non-Christian like Richard Dawkins. No one was angry about my faith. In fact, several excellent conversations about Christianity seemed to spark simply because I was open about my faith without being combative or condescending. Many were open, even curious, to talk with me about Christianity.
This was exciting to me, as I had assumed no one would want to have these kinds of conversations. I dove right in, drawing on my church upbringing, my years in youth ministry, and especially my graduate theological education to build big, beautiful ideas that connected the Christian faith to everything that we were learning in the course. We talked about Christianity and earth care. We talked about Christianity and soul care. We talked about Christianity and community. And I felt REALLY good about myself and all the talking about Christianity that I was doing.
What I didn’t feel good about was that those conversations never seemed to turn into much more interest. Folks were willing to hear about my faith, but it was merely a drop in the bucket of the vast amount of ideas they were engaging in those two weeks. It appeared that my new friends just weren’t that interested in Jesus.
But that’s not the end of the story. Though most of these conversations on faith dried up early in our time together, I was still a follower of Christ, and “the harvest is [still] plentiful.” Because of my years of engaging in the LK10 practices, I was still paying attention, and still trying to follow when Jesus offered a nudge. And sometimes it’s easy for me to forget just how powerful those simple practices can be.
The last night of the course, everyone was milling around saying goodbye. I started with the people I’d spent the least time with and worked my way slowly around to those I’d have the hardest time leaving. As I moved into conversations with people I had grown closer with, I began receiving comments about the ways that they had seen Jesus at work in me. Of course, they didn’t use those exact words. They said things like, “thank you so much for noticing that I was struggling and helping me out,” or “thank you for encouraging me when you saw me doing something that I am gifted in,” or even “thank you for helping me find a way to honor my husband more deeply.” They thanked me for the moments that I had paid attention to their hearts and invited Jesus to bring peace and joy into the situation. And the funniest thing was that most of the things they mentioned were things that I thought hadn’t even mattered to them!
In LK10, we don’t spend a lot of time on big ideas. We have some core beliefs, but we also have simple practices that help us live into those beliefs in deepening ways. We believe that listening to each other’s hearts and responding as we see Christ responding is intrinsic to the life of the church. We believe that paying attention to what God is doing inside of those around us and calling out the good in each other is necessary to building up the church and others. But beyond those beliefs, we have specific, daily practices that build those beliefs into habits in our hearts.
Brennan Manning once said, “the greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle.” I believe this is true. I also believe the inverse is true. The greatest cause of people coming to Christ in our time will be Christians who acknowledge Jesus with our lips, and then proclaim Him with our lifestyle. This isn’t a moralistic belief; I’m not saying that because of Jesus we will be better or nicer people. This also isn’t a prosperity gospel belief, that because of Jesus we will be richer or more attractive people. This is a Gospel belief. The world will know that we are the followers of Christ by the way that they see our love for God played out in our shared life together. The world will experience the love of God as they experience love from the church, a love that can only come through the transformation that is only available through the power of the Holy Spirit. The world will believe the Good News through the way that they see and experience the Good News among Jesus’ followers.
One last thing. I don't want you to think that any of this comes naturally to me. I'm not a naturally good listener. I would normally prefer to honor myself (or have others honor me) rather than honoring others. I would prefer to have folks notice my gifts rather than me calling out their gifts. I can tell you with a reasonable degree of certainty that the things that people were commenting on are directly connected to the ways Jesus is changing me through the LK10 practices.
So how have you seen your life changing through engagement in the LK10 practices? How have you experienced growth in maturity through paying attention to your heart, to the hearts of those around you, and inviting Jesus into the middle of things?
Hi folks! I apologize for the past couple of weeks without a newsletter. I am in the middle of my second research trip of the month, and I haven't had nearly as much internet access as I originally anticipated.
This week is a bit of a change of pace. A high percentage of our newsletters share stories about the ways LK10 practices are helping form transformative Christian community all over the world. Today I want to tell you about some of the ways that I, Rosten, have been transformed through engagement in the LK10 practices.
My first research trip was to a farm where I took a course on sustainable agriculture practices. It was a class of 25 students, mostly younger than me; they were young, idealistic, driven, and hopeful. Many of them run non-profits, small businesses, and even small farms. And except for my two travel companions and myself, there wasn’t a single Christian in the entire group.
I live in Abilene, Texas. I can't tell you the last time being a Christian made me a minority.
Now, please don't assume that my new friends were the stereotypical angry atheists of movies like "God's Not Dead," or that they were aggressively non-Christian like Richard Dawkins. No one was angry about my faith. In fact, several excellent conversations about Christianity seemed to spark simply because I was open about my faith without being combative or condescending. Many were open, even curious, to talk with me about Christianity.
This was exciting to me, as I had assumed no one would want to have these kinds of conversations. I dove right in, drawing on my church upbringing, my years in youth ministry, and especially my graduate theological education to build big, beautiful ideas that connected the Christian faith to everything that we were learning in the course. We talked about Christianity and earth care. We talked about Christianity and soul care. We talked about Christianity and community. And I felt REALLY good about myself and all the talking about Christianity that I was doing.
What I didn’t feel good about was that those conversations never seemed to turn into much more interest. Folks were willing to hear about my faith, but it was merely a drop in the bucket of the vast amount of ideas they were engaging in those two weeks. It appeared that my new friends just weren’t that interested in Jesus.
But that’s not the end of the story. Though most of these conversations on faith dried up early in our time together, I was still a follower of Christ, and “the harvest is [still] plentiful.” Because of my years of engaging in the LK10 practices, I was still paying attention, and still trying to follow when Jesus offered a nudge. And sometimes it’s easy for me to forget just how powerful those simple practices can be.
The last night of the course, everyone was milling around saying goodbye. I started with the people I’d spent the least time with and worked my way slowly around to those I’d have the hardest time leaving. As I moved into conversations with people I had grown closer with, I began receiving comments about the ways that they had seen Jesus at work in me. Of course, they didn’t use those exact words. They said things like, “thank you so much for noticing that I was struggling and helping me out,” or “thank you for encouraging me when you saw me doing something that I am gifted in,” or even “thank you for helping me find a way to honor my husband more deeply.” They thanked me for the moments that I had paid attention to their hearts and invited Jesus to bring peace and joy into the situation. And the funniest thing was that most of the things they mentioned were things that I thought hadn’t even mattered to them!
In LK10, we don’t spend a lot of time on big ideas. We have some core beliefs, but we also have simple practices that help us live into those beliefs in deepening ways. We believe that listening to each other’s hearts and responding as we see Christ responding is intrinsic to the life of the church. We believe that paying attention to what God is doing inside of those around us and calling out the good in each other is necessary to building up the church and others. But beyond those beliefs, we have specific, daily practices that build those beliefs into habits in our hearts.
Brennan Manning once said, “the greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle.” I believe this is true. I also believe the inverse is true. The greatest cause of people coming to Christ in our time will be Christians who acknowledge Jesus with our lips, and then proclaim Him with our lifestyle. This isn’t a moralistic belief; I’m not saying that because of Jesus we will be better or nicer people. This also isn’t a prosperity gospel belief, that because of Jesus we will be richer or more attractive people. This is a Gospel belief. The world will know that we are the followers of Christ by the way that they see our love for God played out in our shared life together. The world will experience the love of God as they experience love from the church, a love that can only come through the transformation that is only available through the power of the Holy Spirit. The world will believe the Good News through the way that they see and experience the Good News among Jesus’ followers.
One last thing. I don't want you to think that any of this comes naturally to me. I'm not a naturally good listener. I would normally prefer to honor myself (or have others honor me) rather than honoring others. I would prefer to have folks notice my gifts rather than me calling out their gifts. I can tell you with a reasonable degree of certainty that the things that people were commenting on are directly connected to the ways Jesus is changing me through the LK10 practices.
So how have you seen your life changing through engagement in the LK10 practices? How have you experienced growth in maturity through paying attention to your heart, to the hearts of those around you, and inviting Jesus into the middle of things?
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