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minute, scanned the table, and then nodded.

“Let’s all get an empty cup,” John said, taking a stack of paper cups and passing them to those nearby. Then

he picked up a loaf of bread sitting at the table. He started to tear the bread into chunks and passing it to

those near him. “Everyone grab a piece.” Then, with a wink at Laurie, he picked up a pitcher of grape juice

she had just put on the counter by the window. He poured a few cups near him and handed the pitcher to

Jeremy to pour the rest. As soon as everyone had some, John lifted up the bread in his hand and others

followed his lead. John thanked God for all his provision, from the food on the table, to forgiveness of sin,

to good friends and above all for life in the Son.

“His body was broken that your spirits might be alive. Think about that and him as you eat.” And we all did

so. Then John held up his cup. “This is the blood of his covenant that cleanses our sin and refreshes our

spirit. This is the last meal he ate that night with his followers, and he promised we would do it again in the

age that is coming.

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“To our King, our Redeemer and older brother in Father’s house…” John said lifting his cup and pausing

briefly. Others quickly joined the toast expressing their gratefulness to Jesus.

Finally, John finished. “Until we see you face to face…,” he said looking upward. Then he turned to

acknowledge those near him with a tap of his cup to theirs. And then we drank together and stood in

silence awed by his grace and our love for each other. Eventually the silence gave way to some hugs and

finally a line formed for the food.

After we filled our plates, our conversation with John continued with a number of others who joined us on

the patio. After some introductions, Marvin took us back to where we left off. “I love your view of the

church, John, but do we do this every week?”

“How about it, Jake?”

“Only if we have it at Marvin’s house and let him cook,” I suggested.

“It might help you to not think about what you do every week, but rather about what Jesus is asking you to do

today. You obviously have a heart for people you feel are being overlooked. That’s fabulous. But don’t think

in terms of a routine to motivate them, but what Jesus is asking you to do to encourage or equip them. It’s

that simple.”

“Like inviting them over to dinner.”

“Yes, or even to invite some to a study together if that’s on your heart.”

“That’s what I’ve wanted to do, but I felt like that might be weird.”

“What if you just invited some of those people to your house for a six-week study on some facet of our life in

God? I think some people would jump at that.”

“What do I do when that’s over?”

“Whatever he gives you to do next. Remember, equip people to live in him first; then you’ll see how he

brings his body together. Don’t get me wrong. I love it when a group of Christians want to intentionally

walk together as an expression of community—listening to God together, sharing their lives and resources,

encouraging and caring for each other and doing whatever else God might ask them to do. But you can’t

organize that with people who aren’t ready. Remember, discipleship always comes before community.

When you learn to follow Jesus yourself and help others to do the same, you’ll find body life springing up all

around you.“

“But what does that look like?”

“It can look like anything. I know people who meet for hikes in the woods and breakfast under the trees. I

know families that have moved to the same neighborhood together so they can enjoy greater proximity to

each other. I know some really healthy house churches that live out a shared life together and those who

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meet in larger buildings. I know others who work on a team together to build houses for the poor, cook at a

mission, or some other creative way to let the life of Jesus be known in their culture.

“It can look like a hundred different things because Father is so creative. Try to copy any of them and you’ll

find it turns lifeless and empty after the initial excitement of starting something new fades away. The church

thrives where people are focused on Jesus, not where they are focused on church.

“This is a great time to learn to enjoy him together. Just keep living, loving and listening and he will lead you

to whatever expression of church life best fits his plans. Don’t be concerned if it’s nothing you can point to

and say, ‘that is the church’. You are the church. Don’t be afraid to live in that reality.”

“If church can be this simple, John, how do leaders fit in all of this? Don’t we need elders and pastors and

apostles?”

“For what?”

“Doesn’t someone need to be in charge and organize things so people will know what to do?” Marvin was

almost beside himself. I cringed inside knowing he wasn’t going to hear what he wanted.

“Why, so people can follow someone else instead of following Jesus? Don’t you see we already have a

leader? The church gives Jesus first place in everything and it will refuse to let anyone else crawl up in his

seat.”

“So leaders aren’t important either?”

“Not the way you’ve been taught to think of them. One can hardly conceive of body life today without an

organization and a leader shaping others with his vision. Some love to lead; others desperately want to be

led. This system has made God’s people so passive most can’t even imagine living without a human leader

to identify with. Then we wonder why our spirituality falls so painfully short. Read through the New

Testament again and you’ll find there is very little focus on anything like leadership as we’ve come to think of

it today.”

“But there were elders and apostles and pastors, weren’t there?”

“There were, but they weren’t out front leading people after their personal visions, they were behind the

scenes doing exactly what you have on your heart to do, Marvin—helping people to live deeply in Christ so

that he can lead them! Elders won’t end up managing machinery, but equipping followers by helping them

find a real relationship with the living God. That’s why he asked us to help people become his disciples and

why he said that he would build his church. Let’s focus on our task and let him do his.”

“But where do we find this kind of leader today?”

“Don’t look for leaders as you’ve come to think of them, think of brothers and sisters who are a bit further

along the journey than you are. They’re all around you—in this city and this yard.”

“But how do we know who they are if they’re not designated?”

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“My question would be, how do we know if they really are servant leaders just because they have a title?

Haven’t you known many so-called pastors or elders who didn’t have the spiritual maturity to back it up?

Didn’t Jesus tell us that those who facilitate within this family are not those who exercise authority over

others, but those who serve? Is it really that difficult to tell who they are?” John asked.

“I think I’d prefer name badges,” Marvin said as we all laughed.

Just then a middle-aged single mom was walking behind me to join some others out on the grass. As I

nodded and smiled, she paused and spoke to me quietly, “Could I ask you something, Jake?”

“Of course, Christie.”

“I’m worried about my car,” she said. “It made some strange noise coming over here and I’d feel better if

someone could check it out for me.”

“I’d be happy to, but I really don’t know that much about it. Do you know Bob over there in the blue shirt,” I

said, pointing.

She looked and nodded, “Not well, but I’ve met him.”

“He knows more about cars than anyone here. I’ll ask him to check it out for you.”

“That’d be great,” she said, moving on to join some others.

As I turned back I realized the others had been listening to our conversation and John was looking right at

me. “It’s as simple as that,” John said, with an open hand gesturing to me.

None of us knew what he was talking about. Our awkward silence demonstrated that. “Why did Jake send

Christie to Bob?”

“He’s a car guy,” one of the others said. “Everyone knows that. It’s his passion.”

“I don’t think Christie did, and Jake just simply pointed him out. Finding God’s gifts in the family can be

that simple. Jesus will give you relationships to pursue. As you grow in them you’ll know what he’s gifted

others to do. It’s not so clandestine that most people won’t know it. And when you find someone who

doesn’t recognize gifts in others, you can help them by pointing them out. That may have been all Paul

asked Timothy and Titus to do. They certainly weren’t appointing management teams. Couldn’t they have

just identified those who knew the truth of the Gospel and had been changed by it? Others who claimed to

be weren’t, and Paul didn’t want young believers confused by them.”

“And that works?” Marvin said shaking his head.

“Better than anything else I know,” John answered. “We can trust Jesus with this! He’s a far better manager

of church life than any of us will ever be. Live in him and follow whatever he puts on your heart to do and

you’ll be awed by what he does among you.”

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“People think we’re odd already,” Laurie added.

With a good laugh, John stood up and apologized for having to leave. People groaned, hoping they could

ask him some more questions.

“Can we do this again?” Marvin asked.

“I’d love to if it works out, but that’s not my decision.”

“But we have so many other things we would love to ask!” someone else added.

“Then ask Jesus,” John responded. “I could answer questions all day and it wouldn’t make a difference.

This life can’t be all sewn up neatly in the intellect; it must be uncovered in the journey. He’ll make things

clear to you as you need them.”

With that he tossed his plate in the garbage and headed out the side gate.

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- 12 -

The Great Gathering

It had been a long time since I stood on a stage sharing with a roomful of people neatly lined up in rows. I

felt strange accepting the invitation and even more awkward going through with it. But Bryce, the pastor of

Cornerstone Chapel, had invited me to speak to his congregation about my growing relationship of trust in

the Father.

I had only known Bryce at a distance through some ministerial meetings years back, so his call two months

ago caught me off guard. He said he’d heard some rumors and wanted to get together and hear from me

firsthand. I could only imagine what he’d heard or why he cared, but I thought it would be fun to find out.

One lunch appointment had become several as I discovered he was struggling with the same frustrations

about his life in Christ that I had years before.

Nothing could have shocked me more. He was a youth pastor when I had known him and since had

become the senior pastor. His congregation was growing rapidly as people came from two other large

fellowships that were hemorrhaging after their popular pastors had left, one for a larger congregation and

the other in a cloud of scandal. Bryce’s engaging and humorous speaking style, blended with musicians that

rivaled professionals anywhere, made Cornerstone the hottest place for evangelicals to be seen. They

already had three services in a large facility and were considering a building program. I would have thought

that Bryce would have been tickled to death.

Not so—at least about the tickled part. At our first meeting he told me he was dying spiritually and was

concerned that most of his people were too. His relationship with God was being swallowed up by the

demands of a growing congregation. “I’m coming to the conclusion that there is no correlation between

the success of my ministry and the fruitfulness of my own relationship with him. In fact, I seem to preach my

best sermons in the midst of my worst failures. I am beginning to think ministry is where I hide from him.”

He wanted to recapture the passion for God that had pointed him toward ministry originally, but didn’t

know how to get there. When he expressed that hunger to others, they assured him that the wave of

fruitfulness he was riding was proof of God’s blessing and he should ignore his doubts. That would work

for a while, but his inner loneliness and struggle with ever-increasing temptation would eventually win the

day and drive him toward anger and depression, most of which he’d take out unseen on his family at home.

Neither of us had any idea where this might lead, but we both knew he was taking a risk with the track he

was on. However, he kept saying that he didn’t want to settle for anything less than a real relationship with

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God regardless of what it cost him. He had even asked me to share with his congregation at their weekend

services.

Now the service was over. Laurie and I had just said our goodbyes to Bryce and walked toward the parking

lot squinting in the bright afternoon sun. A few people still scattered about thanked me for coming. Then I

saw him. It was John walking out of the parking lot with what looked like a mischievous smile on his face.