Below is the text of a handout from Pastor Jeff Tague at a Calvary Baptist church picnic. (Really. Pretty cool, maybe radical)
Ephesians 4:1 "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit"
1. Become an actual member of a church. I'm serious. Membership shows your loving commitment to one another. This is truly radical. Go against the grain and show that you are really crazy in love with Jesus and join a church. And just think, the less cool the church the more the opportunity to demonstrate real love! And if you're already a member of a church, love someone who's not by encouraging him or her to join too.
2. Turn down jobs that might take you away from church, even if they pay more.
3. Time together: Arrange family vacations around your church's schedule. Or take your family on a vacation with other members of the church. Or better yet, go on a short term mission trip. This will blow people's minds.
4. Move to a house closer to the church and use your home as a place of hospitality.
5. Turn heads really practice the biblical teachings of giving and receiving forgiveness. Be quick to forgive others (Ephesians 4:32). Be quick to say you’re sorry (Matthew 5:23 24). Forgiveness may be one of the most radical ways to express love and unity in a congregation, and it's rarely practiced.
6. Help: Take care of people who are in need physically in your congregation (Romans 12:13).
7. Purpose to Pray: Pray for each other (Ephesians 6:18). Don't just say you'll pray. Actually put into place some ways to pray for each and every member.
8. Heart Check: Sympathize with other believers (Romans 12:15). Check a critical spirit.
9. Discipling: Focus on caring for one another spiritually by discipling one another (Galatians 6:1 2). Though discipling only looks like having lunch, it's secretly and subversively radical. Over a Caesar salad ask the dangerous question: "How are things spiritually?"
10. The Ministry of the Pew: When you walk into a church service, pray about where you sit. If at church we are working to strengthen our fellow believers, where we sit becomes important. Part of our work will be talking to our neighbor in the pew, welcoming people, helping each other understand God's Word, and praying with each other. Meet others and find out their concerns and pray quietly with them. This will look a bit weird to newcomers, with pairs of bowed heads all around the building; but they will know that we love each other. Once we make the attitude shift from being passive pew sitters and receivers to active workers and givers, there is no end to the difference we can make to others. The key to people work is to observe what happens around you and respond to people's needs.
The first nine endeavors are adapted from J. Mack Stiles book, Marks of the Messenger. He lists 16 ways to demonstrate love and unity in the church, and calls them radical, mind blowing, and world-changing principles, though they are also counter cultural and bizarre to the watching world. The last endeavor is based on Colin Marshall's article for The Briefing titled "The Ministry of the Pew." The entire article can be found at www.matthiasmedia.com.au/briefing/library/1855/.
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