3 Lies You may be Believing about SMC

You made a great decision to come to SMC 2022! Do you still believe that?

You inevitably begin to think more about your decision to go to SMC the day after Christmas than any other point since signing up. The only thing between you and the conference is New Year’s day, so it is customary to begin processing what you think your SMC experience will be like.

I have found that your perception of SMC can sometimes be quite a bit off from the reality of what you are going to experience.

3 Common Thought Processes

1) I have bitten off more than I can chew with SMC. Did I make the right decision?

Yes!

Try to think back to Late Night when you most likely signed up for SMC. There was a hunger to know more about God and grow closer to those around you. Dane reminded us of all the benefits, and you were excited.

Christmas break has a numbing effect on a lot of people. Something about being at home and spending time with old friends has a way of shadowing the excitement we once had for spiritual growth.

When that first Main Session starts at SMC, you will have two thoughts running through your head simultaneously. The first will be how glad you are that you decided to come. The second will be how grateful you are that you didn’t back out.

God reminds us in Hebrews 11:6 that “without faith, it is impossible to please God.” It takes faith to come to SMC for the first time, and every year I watch God reward those people who show up!

2) I don’t want to grow in my faith anymore; I think I will stay home.

Be very careful here.

There are two root reasons why I believe we have this thought process. The first comes from John 17:3,

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

It may be that we have forgotten or possibly never realized that knowing God is the very purpose of our existence. When we invest in knowing God, we feel like a fish back in the water!

Another possible root cause comes from Ecclesiastes 10:18, which says,

Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks.

The principle here is that laziness has consequences. There are apparent physical consequences when we are lazy, but there are also less obvious spiritual consequences. Prioritizing knowing God and building a relationship with him is hard work. A lazy attitude will always avoid hard work.

Don’t let a lazy heart dictate your decisions over the break. If you are in this camp, staying true to your commitment to SMC may be the breakthrough moment you need to crush the idleness and apathy in your life!

So often, in my experience, something incredible is right on the other side of some hard work and effort.

3) Am I going to feel lonely? I don’t know many people going to SMC…I don’t even know who I am rooming with.

No.

If you come to SMC with an optimistic mindset and participate in the things SMC encourages you to do, it will be three days filled with new relationships and life-changing content!

So many people I know and love who are thriving in life on many levels say it all started with the decision to go to SMC. I am not saying it is the secret to a successful life, but I will say that the SMC environment is designed to help you succeed!

And I would argue that staying home by yourself has much higher odds for you feeling lonely from Jan 2-5th.

Final thought

There are three things that the Bible teaches that are eternal. God, God’s People, and God’s Word (Bible). When you are considering an investment, you should always consider the return on investment (ROI) in anything. Most investments have risk involved that causes many to be hesitant. For example, one of my family members has been encouraging me to invest in crypto-currency, but my lack of confidence in the outcome gives me cold feet.

What is the ROI of SMC? Well, SMC is built around God, God’s People, and God’s Word, the only three things that last forever. Do you know what this means? Your time, energy, and money investment in SMC is a sure thing! You can’t lose! The only loss would be not to invest by not coming to SMC.

We are so excited to see all of you soon and experience this amazing conference together!

Why Finish to the End?

I want to start by saying that there are many reasons we must follow Jesus to the very end.

Hebrews 3:14 reminds us that, “We have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.”

Matthew 25:13 reminds us that, like the disciples of Jesus time, “…you do not know the day or the hour” that Jesus will return. Therefore we must be alert and ready until the last breath.

These could be a factor in why you continue in your faith until the end or, as I like to say, finish.

In this article, I would like to highlight, what I believe, is one of the strongest motivations from the scriptures to finish strong in your discipleship. Let’s look at a few places in the scriptures that this motivation is seen.

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him (Psalm 22:27-28)

It is written: “‘ As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.'” (Romans 14:11)

And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation (Revelations 5:9)

Why would you finish strong in your faith today, this week, this month, this year, or a better way to say it? Why would you finish strong in your faith until your last breath?

Because God’s purpose for your life is to spread the gospel to all peoples of the world!

Jesus lived and died for this purpose. He reminds us at the end of Luke 19 that he came “to seek and save the lost.”

The cross was designed for this purpose.

God did not spare his own son for this purpose (Romans 8:32)

It is because of this purpose that the Apostle Paul says,

It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation (Romans 15:20).

And this should be at the very core of our motivation in every step of faith we take to love God and love people.

The Life of Adoniram Judson

Hanging behind me in my office is a picture of a man named Adoniram Judson. I bring him up because as we consider the idea of finishing to the end, there are few men that we could point to that would model this same quality more than Judson.

I want to introduce you to this man, his life, and his ministry so that we can be inspired by his willingness to finish out of a motivation to reach people who have never been reached.

One man who was present during the death of Judson is famously quoted saying,

Few men die so hard.

Here is his story.

The Story of Adoniram Judson

Adoniram was born into a faith-filled family. His father was a minister, and his mother was known for her strong and deep faith. As a boy, it was evident that Adoniram was no ordinary boy. At age 6, he was reading entire chapters out of the King James Version of the Bible.

At the age of 16, he went to Brown University and graduated as the head of his class.

His parents didn’t know it at the time, but while at Brown, Judson was beginning to lose his faith. He had befriended a guy by the name of Jacob Eims, who was Diest. This is someone who believes in the existence of a Supreme Being, but that this Supreme Being does not intervene in the Universe.

Jacob Eims influenced Judson tremendously, so much so that by the time Judson would graduate, he would openly identify to his friends at school that he was not a Christian. The only problem he still had was that he had not yet told his parents, and he had even managed to word his valedictorian speech in a way that kept him from exposing his new beliefs.

But on his bday, August 9, 1808, Judson broke the news that broke his parent’s hearts. He told them that he was never a Christian and wanted to go to New York to pursue playwriting and theatre. He asked his father to pay for him to purchase a horse so that he may leave immediately with friends to carry out these dreams. Broken-hearted, his father obliged.

New York was not the dream he hoped. His so-called friends he went with turned out to be a group of reckless vagabonds who would deceive, cheat, and steal from anyone and everyone they could. This bothered Judson so severely that he decided to leave New York.

He left on horseback and headed into the country to his uncle’s house in Sheffield, MA. When he arrived, instead of finding his uncle, who was gone on a trip, he found a pious young man who stunned him with his firm Christian conviction. It left quite an impression on AJ.

Judson recalls this moment when he was left wondering if there was another way to be a Christian. It still wasn’t enough to convince him, though, so he set off for home.

The trip was far enough that Judson had to stop for the night at Inn. The Innkeeper informed him that he was out of rooms, but after some pleading from Judson, he agreed to let him share a room with another man. The keeper warned him that the man in the room was very sick and unlikely to make it through the night. But Judson was desperate and didn’t want to spend the night in the open darkness out of fear of being robbed or killed.

Judson did not sleep that night because of the horrendous screams of pain as the man on the other side of the curtain was grasping for life. Adoniram began to ponder his death and if he was ready for it.

The following day he found that the man next to him had died, and it struck Adoniram to the core. As he was walking out, he said to the keeper, “do you know who he was?” The keeper replied, “Oh yes, a young man from brown, his name was Jacob Eims.”

Judson was frozen. For 3 hours, he sat at the Inn in disbelief and terror. He thought if Jacob Eims was correct, then all of this life is meaningless, and no matter how hard he tried, Judson could not believe that life was meaningless.

Although Judson did not immediately become a Christian at that moment, this experience played a vital role in his decision to follow Jesus a few months later.

He enrolled in Andover Theological Seminary and read different books about the cultures in the east. He couldn’t get past that so many of these places had no access to the gospel. His heart latched explicitly to the people of Burma.

With his newfound love for Jesus came a new passion for going to the Burmese people to proclaim the good news of Jesus

After coming to grips with this in heart and mind, there was no stopping Adoniram from finishing out his calling! On June 28, 1819, he and four others presented themselves to the congregation of foreign missions to ask to be sent out as the first foreign missionaries from America to the east. The assembly agreed, and it was on this day, he became ordained as a missionary and the day he first saw Anne.

Adoniram and Anne’s relationship began to blossom. Still, in the back of his mind, Judson knew the day would come when she would have to decide to stay in the comforts of America or risk her life as a missionary in the disease-ridden, lawless jungles of India.

Anne decided to give up the comforts to spend her life in the world of the heathen. The only person left to convince was Anne’s Father. Here is was the letter Adoniram wrote him said.

I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring. To see her no more in this world, whether you can consent to her departure and her subjection to the hardships and the sufferings of a missionary life, whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India, to every kind of want and distress, to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this for the sake of him who left his heavily home and died for her and for you and for the sake of the perishing immortal souls’ in the glory of God? Can you consent to all the hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory with the crown of righteousness brightened with the acclamation of praise, which shall resound to her Savior from the heathens saved through er means from internal woe and despair?

Her father gave her the decision, and a year and a half later, they were on a boat heading to Calcutta, India, with the hopes of getting to Rangoon, Burma, as soon as possible.

The missionary journey was a total of 33 years.

[Here is the questions I would like for you to ask in your head as we move into the missionary experiences of the Judsons. What are you willing to do to endure finish until the end? Maybe a better question, who are you ready to endure for till the end?]

Anne gave birth to their first son on the trip to Calcutta, the child died before they reached their destination, and the child was dropped overboard. Their second child, Roger, died at 17 months. It was after the death of Roger that Anne wrote this,

Our hearts were bound up with this child, but God saw that it was necessary to remind us of our error and to strip us of our only little awe. Oh, may it not be in vain that he has done it. May we do much to improve it that he will stay his hand and say it is enough.” [how many mothers do you know that would respond this way?]

They reached their destination in Calcutta and told some of the missionaries in India their plan to go to Burma. William Carey, a famous missionary to India, said to AJ,

don’t go there; it’s useless…all missionaries that go either die or quit…

Burma was filled with fierce enemy raiders, zero religious toleration, diseases unknown to any American, and an absence of any medical education.

But William Carey did not deter them. The hope of ALL PEOPLES echoed through the mind of the Judsons, and against the counsel of many, they arrived in Yangon in 1813.

His first convert came in 1819. Six years before a single person follow Jesus [makes a semester not seem so bad]. By 1822 there were 18 converts. He spent much of his time during these years working on producing Christian writings, translating the Bible from Greek/Hebrew to Burmese, and setting up events to have a religious dialogue with the Burmese people.

Between 1813-1831 the price was enormous.

[Few examples: Adoniram got sick, and the solution was saltwater and warmer weather. Was supposed to be gone for two weeks, but because of storms and wind, didn’t come back for six months // It was two and a half years before they heard anything from someone in the United States// Anne got so sick that she traveled back to the US for two years, during that time she wrote a book that would lead the sending of hundreds of more missionaries and large amounts of funding to overseas missions // the suffered immensely about of pressure from the community to be silent //their lives were threatened on a continual basis]

In 1823, the Judsons moved from Rangoon to Ava, the capital city, to influence the emperor who had complete authority. Including the power to remove the head of anyone who approached him with a request.

Little did they know that Britain was going to attack Yangoon in May of that year during that time.

Immediately every Western man was considered suspect and thrown into prison, including Adoniram, who had just found out that Anne was pregnant with their 3rd child.

The prison conditions were beyond what our minds could even imagine. Every prisoner was bound in shackles across their ankles, and each night the guards put a bamboo pole through the shackles. The bamboo pole was raised to suspend each prisoner upside down so that only their head and shoulders touched the ground. This happened every night!

Anne spent her days visiting the prison and walking 2 miles, pregnant, in the 108-degree heat, to the palace to plead with the emperor for better living conditions for the prisoners.

A year later, as the war became more intense, the prisoners were moved to another prison in the middle of the night. They laid them down in the new prison cell, but now the prisoners completely wore their feet with sores from walking. One prisoner described it as “being eaten alive” by the mosquitos that would come in off the rice patties in the evenings. If it wasn’t the excruciating pain from the mosquito bites, then it was the screams of the prisoners that would keep AJ from sleep each night.

Anne had followed the prisoner, now with a new baby that had been born. She became as thin as AJ, and her milk dried up. AJ begged the jailer for mercy and the jailer allowed him at night to take the baby and walk through the village to look for anyone willing to nurse the baby so that the baby would live.

Suddenly after 17 months of this torture. Judson was instantly released. Rangoon and Britain were attempting peace treatises, and Judson was needed to translate.

Eleven months later, Anne died from the tole that the previous 17 months had taken on her. 6 months later, their baby girl died. Three months later, he received a letter informing him that his father had died.

Dark times fell on Adoniram.

[He retreated more and more// the burning of all of his letters // gave away all of his wealth // build a hut in the jungle to live alone // for two years he was in total isolation // dude his own grave to sit by and contemplate existence…said in a letter “I believe in Him and find him not”]

While he was in isolation, he had news that his brother El Nathan had passed away, and ironically this was the news that reignited his spirit for the Lord.

The reason was that when Adoniram walked to the ship to sail to Burma, he was accompanied by his brother. During that walk, he pleaded with his brother to put his faith in Jesus but wouldn’t. The fantastic news of his brother’s salvation came in the letter he received about his brother’s death.

This brings us to 1831. Do you think this was an accident? It was designed.

Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds (John 12:24)

The outpouring that came after 1831 was because Adoniram had all but died to himself.

But that was just the beginning of his suffering, there’s more, but I will have to bullet point for the sake of time.

Sarah Bordman

His 2nd wife was Sarah Bordman, a widowed missionary who took her baby into tiger-infested jungles alone to preach the gospel.
Married 11 years and had eight children (2 died).
She got sick and had to make the trip back to America; Judson was told he must accompany her because she was too weak to go alone.
They were headed for New England. Three oldest kids came, three youngest were left behind (one died).
As they rounded the tip of Africa, Sarah dies. The boat docks just short of New England, barely long enough for AJ and kids to dig a grave, say goodbye, and sail on. With three kids crying on his neck, he comes home…33 years later.
Mom and dad are both dead.

Emily

29 years old, with her entire life ahead of her, gave up everything to go to Burma with AJ
One child
They were married for four years, and the nagging sickness began to overtake AJ.
AJ took a boat trip, but Emily was pregnant, so he was accompanied by a man named Thomas, and they headed for the Island of France.
The suffering was unspeakable. Convulsions followed by vomiting over and over again.

On April 12, 1850, Adoniram Judson died at sea away from family and church. The ship crew assembled quietly in the evening; there was no prayer because the crew was unbelievers. Instead, they slid his coffin into the ocean in the night a few hundred miles west of Burma, and the boat sailed on.

Ten days later, Emily gave birth to a dead baby. Four months later, she went home. Three years later, she died at age 37 because the journey to Burma had damaged her health.

Few men die so hard.

And as you hear this story, you may have a similar question that I had.

To what end?

Adoniram’s Legacy

The entire OT and NT translated into the Burmese dialect.
For that, AJ had to learn the language, know Greek and Hebrew fluently, and then translate it all on his own! [hidden in a pillow]
Not only did he complete a Burmese Bible, but he also finished half of a Bible dictionary to help understand the text for the Burmese people.
When AJ came to Burma, there were no known Christians, and the population was generally Buddhist/non-religious. At his death, 100s of Burmese converts were leading the church, and today there are 3700 congregations in the Burmese Baptist convention.
About four-fifths of the country’s 3 million Christians are a part of this convention.

Judson wrote a letter at one point in his life to those who were considering going overseas to do missions; here is what it said,

Remember, a large portion of those who come out to the east die within five years, walk softly, therefore because death is narrowly watching your steps.

I share this story because I think it is common to look around at others doing ministry. When we see someone’s life, it either encourages us to keep going or discourages us because we see a lack of faith.

Most Christians never die to themselves. Most, at best, give chunks of their time for a small period of their lives to dabble in spiritual growth and help others.

But the call to finish is the call to die daily for the sake of people on the other side of the earth to hear about Jesus.

I am not sure what your motivations typically are when you consider things like…

Why should I work hard to prepare those last three bible studies?
Why should you share the gospel or follow up or process the gospel a few more times with that guy or girl?
Why should I commit to finishing strong in my spiritual disciplines, bible reading, prayer, scrip men, fasting…
Why should I fight to have that invite convo with that guy/girl that still hasn’t heard or been given a compelling reason to come to SMC?
Why should I stand firm against that sin that has been luring and enticing me all semester?
Why should I stay in the game when many around me seem to be throwing in the towel.
Why should I do DMT? It’s such a high commitment… other places would ask less of me.

You may answer that question in many ways, but tonight I want you to see that for Judson, the answer was because the people on the other side of the globe are depending on you too!

Your ability to finish by dying today, and then tomorrow, and then the next day, is the process by which you become a disciple and make disciples. Disciples being raised is the only hope of someone giving their life to going overseas! Disciples going overseas is the only hope for over 3.16 billion people in the 10/40 window, many of who will be born and die without ever hearing a single word about Jesus.

That is why we finish; what you do during the semester matters! Finishing matters!

What would it look like for you to die-hard this last month! Spend 5 minutes answering that question in your journals.

From Check-Up to HEART Check

A common mistake I see many college ministers make is putting their discipleship goals ahead of their disciple’s hearts.

Now don’t get me wrong. Disciples are not made without intentional, well-prepared content, but often we place the cart in front of the horse. If we are not careful, the content can become king, and the disciple becomes a project. This is a sure-fire way to grow disciples that do not feel cared for.

What is the solution?

We must move from a “check up” mentality to a “HEART Check” approach.

Check Up Mentality

This is when your time with your disciple becomes more about them doing the right things rather than your care and concern for them. Typically these times together consist of A LOT of questions. Some of those might include:

How often are you meeting with God?
How much have you been praying?
How is your Bible study going?
How many guys/girls came last week?
When will you share the gospel with them?
What is the next step for each of them?
Do you have any ministry appointments coming up this week?

Now let me be crystal clear. There is a time and a place for these direct questions, a ministry team or disciple-making group, for example. I ask these exact questions to the guys I am discipling regularly. The one-on-one setting should be approached differently than a ministry team setting. We must use our one-on-on time to engage our disciple’s HEART.

HEART Check Approach

The word heart serves as both the focus of the time together and a useful acronym to guide us through this style of meeting. Each letter will serve as a reminder to guide us into the next section of our time with our disciples. Here is how it works.

The “H”

The “H” triggers you to ask HOW ARE YOU type questions. Your disciples are human, just like you. They have gone through an entire week since the last time you sat down together, most likely, filled with exhausting days, hard conversations, and missed expectations. They may have received tough news that week that has consumed their thoughts. We must open up by allowing them to share this. It is equally important that we listen well and respond with concern. Here are some potential questions to ask during the “How are you?” section of your HEART Check.

What has been good about this last week?
What has been difficult about this last week?
Are you enjoying your time with God in the mornings?
- If yes. What has he been teaching you?
- If no. Is there an obvious reason why?
What are you enjoying about work?
What did you think about the different pieces of training we did this week?
Who is someone you are enjoying getting to know better?

These questions are designed to open the door for honest dialogue. One goal is to ask questions in such a way that you avoid one-word answers. Rather than “how was your week?” which will inevitably lead to the answer “good.” We can bypass that question and go straight to, “what was good about your week?”

This is also a great place for feeling-type questions. Beginning a question with “how did you feel” removes any threat. There is no right or wrong. It is simply allowing them a chance to process out loud with you about everything that is going on in their lives.

The “E”

The “E” will cue you to ENCOURAGE. Proverbs 16:24 reminds us, “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” We have all personally experienced the “sweetness” of a well-thought-out encouragement by someone we respect. Our words to our disciples will either build them or break them! Using our words to build them up is a biblical command, while the other is sin. This section is not only sweet, but it is simple and short. Here is how it works.

Come up with 1 or 2 specific ways to encourage them. These are areas of their lives that you have noticed over the previous week that need to be brought to their attention for encouragement. Here are a few examples.
- “I have noticed that you have been up extra early to meet with the Lord before work. That has inspired me to want to love God and his word more, and it is positively impacting our group; keep it up!”
- “I noticed last week that our group keeps leaving dirty dishes in the sink, but you went out of your way to clean them without anyone asking. That was an amazing example of Christ to our group. I love your servant’s heart.”

That is it. It only takes 30 seconds to sweeten the soul and bring health to the body of your disciples. It is the ghost pepper of a discipleship meeting because it is small but has a powerful and lasting effect!

The “A”

The “A” sparks you to ASK HOW YOU CAN HELP. Jesus left the right hand of God to come to earth, but Mark 10:45 and Philippians 2:6-7 remind us that, although he had every right to be elevated, he made himself a servant. When we think too highly of ourselves, we will not serve others. We must use our one-on-one time to humble ourselves, set our agenda aside, and ask, “how can I help you?”

Now to avoid the common American response, “I can’t think of anything right now,” we must strengthen our servant-driven questions. Feel free to try some of these or come up with some on your own.

Has there been anything from this last week that has been difficult for you that I could help with?
I know you got hit with a lot of new info this week; how do you feel about everything?
Anything I could clarify or help you think through?
I know you are leading Bible study this week, would it help if I looked over it with you and helped you think through some questions?
How are you feeling about sharing the gospel, would it be helpful to go over it together at some point?
Is anything confusing you that you have learned this week?
What, if anything, is stressing you out about the upcoming week? I could help you with that.

One thought you might share with me as you read through these questions is, “what if they ask me to do more than I have time for?” In the rare case that this might happen, it is good to remember that serving them doesn’t always mean you personally helping them. It may be you helping them find the help they need. For example, if they said they needed help practicing sharing the gospel. You helping them is one way to serve, but what if your week is full? Another option is to serve them by connecting them with someone else that they can practice with. You may say something like, “I would love to help you with that. For me, getting more reps helped grow my confidence; what if you shared the gospel with each person in our discipleship group this week?”

The “R”

The “R” is your bread and butter. It is the “Read the Bible” section of your time together. It can be a single verse, multiple verses, a parable, or any other area of the Bible that you want to insert into the heart of your disciple. The key is to address a specific issue or obstacle that is prohibiting maximum growth for your disciple. This can happen in one of two ways.

Situation 1: Your participant has shared an obvious problem or obstacle as you are sitting together. If they don’t have a prominent issue, this can also come from the “How are you” section or the “Ask how you can help” section.

“Hey, I get that. I have struggled with similar things. What if we looked at God’s word to see what it has to say about it?”
“You mentioned that you are having trouble with your attitude at work. I get that. Let’s look at God’s word and let him speak into that area of our lives.”

Situation 2: Your participant seems to be doing fine. They are not sharing any pending problems. In this case, something preplanned is an excellent option.

“Seems like things are going well for you so far. I want to share a few passages of scripture that will continue to encourage us in our walks with Jesus.”

I realize that there are many directions this section of your one-on-one can go so I wanted to take a minutes to think through some common Q and A’s.

How do I prep for this time? Here is a link to a handout you can use to prepare for this section of your one-on-one.
How do I figure out the content for this time? Two ways. The first is to be prepared for the common issues that your disciples will inevitably run into. For example, if your disciple says, “I am just so stressed and anxious about life right now!” in the “H” section, I would make a note. Then when you come to the “R” section of your one-on-one, I would say, “Hey, you mentioned being really stressed; let’s spend some time seeing how God tells us to handle our stress and anxiety.” Then I would open the Bible to Matthew chapter 6 or Philippians 4:6-7 and read them together. The second is to prepare general content on the front end but still be ready for other issues. Be sure to refer to the handout mentioned in the previous question before doing this.
What if they have any issues that I don’t know any Bible verse for? Please stick to the prepared content you have already prepped, but be sure to let them know you want to talk more about what they mentioned. Then spend the next few days discovering in God’s Word great truths that your disciples need to hear. The following week use the content you have discovered as your “R” time. Obviously, if the issues are more pertinent, there is no need to wait a week to get back together.
How long should the “R” section be? 5-10 minutes is plenty of time. That may seem short, but remember that there is another context when spending extended amounts of time in the Bible together is appropriate. A devotion together or a ministry group meeting. A HEART check is casual. It can be done sitting down at a coffee shop, at the gym, or even on a car ride. There will be exceptions to this rule. For example, if someone shares something of extreme significance or if the conversation is highly emotional.

The “T”

The “T” is both a natural flow to this time as well as the most powerful way to end your HEART check. It stands for “Talk to God.” Once you close your Bibles, go ahead and say, “could we spend some time praying over what we just read and ask God to give us desire/strength to live out these truths?” Then you pray. Not just one of you, both of you. This would also be a great time to share prayer requests. I would recommend keeping a prayer journal just for your disciple’s prayer requests so you can be praying for them regularly and checking in on their requests each week.

Some closing thoughts…

A few things are assumed before implementing a HEART check one-on-one in your discipleship.

Assumption 1: You and your disciples have other consistent spiritual rhythms in their lives. The HEART check is designed for disciples who are in the “battle,” so to speak. This means you both are actively participating in a disciple-making group, attending a healthy church, spending regular time in God’s Word and prayer, and fleeing from sin to pursue holiness. The HEART check is a way to kick the tires of a vehicle that is in use. It will not function as a stand-alone appointment once a week in the life of a nominal or unbeliever.

Assumption 2: You are personally committed to disciple-making. The HEART check asks more from the mentor than the disciple. It will challenge you to study and memorize the Bible. It will push you to consider your disciple above yourself. It will challenge you to become a better life-on-life disciple builder.

Assumption 3: You love and believe the Bible literally. The HEART check is not a counseling or therapy session. If one spent their time listening and giving advice without inserting the truths of the scriptures, the HEART check loses its power and effectiveness. The greatest purpose of this time with your disciples is to identify lies/obstacles/burdens and insert God’s truth through reading the Bible and prayer.

Now you are ready to prepare and launch into your first HEART check one-on-one. Please leave feedback and thoughts in the “reply” section to continue to improve this resource. I would also love to hear any encouraging stories as God moves in your life and the lives of your disciples.

Live Together or Die Alone

It is always shocking to me when I hear someone say, “faith is personal.” When I hear this, my initial thought is, “have you ever read the Bible?” The idea of living out your faith alone or it being something that is meant to be kept to yourself is not a Biblical principle; it is an American idea. The Bible has ample amounts of examples of faith being lived out together in community. Let’s look at a few of them.

Jesus lived out his faith community.

If anyone had the opportunity to live out an individual faith with just him and God, it was Jesus. He was literally God’s son who came from heaven. But Jesus did not leave us this example. Very early in his ministry, he called 12 men to follow him and join him in community. These men were with him constantly. They walked together, prayed together, shared hardships, ate together, and lived out their faith in a community.

The disciples lived in a community after the death of Jesus.

What Jesus modeled on earth, the disciples continued after his death. In the book of Acts, we read this in verses 12 and 13,

“Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.“

After such a tragic event, the death of Jesus, one would think that everyone would need some time to be alone, but that is not the example we see of the early followers of Jesus. Instead, they gathered together.

Paul and many other writers of the Bible encourage us to live out our faith in their community.

Here are more examples from different places in the New Testament that exhort us to live out our faith in our community.

Hebrews 10:24-25 – And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Galatians 6:2 – Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:25-27 -That there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

James 5:16 – Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. As you can see, the decision to live out your faith in the community isn’t optional. It is commanded, which means God sees it as necessary for your growth.

What benefits will you receive if you live out your faith in a community rather than in isolation?

For some of you, being in a community is a big step. You are asking yourself if it is worth it. One of my favorite sections of scripture when discussing the importance of community is 1 John 1:6-2:1. In these 6 verses, John compares and contrasts the lives of those who walk in a community centered around Jesus with those who don’t. For the sake of time, we will focus on the 3 benefits of community, from verses 7, 9, and 2:1.

Benefit 1 – We can walk in the Light

1 John 1:7 – But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin

The word hypocrite is a greek word that means “to wear a mask.” It described actors that would be one person and then another and then another. Actors became professionals at adapting and changing their behavior to be different characters. In acting this acceptable and even esteemed, but in real life, it can be devastating.

Most of us would say we do not really feel known. I was getting my haircut a few days ago, and I overheard a man talking who had recently moved from Dallas to Lubbock. He said, “it is shockingly hard to make friends, people will let you into 20% of their lives, but they are afraid to open up about the other 80%.” He was spot on.

Most people have mastered the art of wearing masks in real life. We pretend to be fine when we are hurt, happy when we are sad, brave when we are scared, confident when we are insecure, and the scariest part is that we have been trained to think that this is how you operate in life. We hide in the darkness because it feels safe, but the truth is, it is slowly killing you.

God commands us to do the opposite. Walk in the light. Expose yourself fully to other people. Be honest, be authentic, be REAL. Only when you are in a community that loves Jesus is this possible. And I promise as you experience this type of community, you will never want to go back to the darkness. Whether it is the good, bad, or the ugly, it brings healing to our lives to be known by others.

Benefit 2 – We can confess our Sins.

Listen to how David described his life when he didn’t open up about his sin in Psalm 32:3-4, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.“

Have you ever felt the weight of sin? If you truly believe and follow Jesus, you have. We have all of these sinful areas of our lives that are just sitting in our minds and our hearts slowly crushing us. The solution is confession. We must open up to God and others.

James 5:16 says, Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

Healing only comes through confession to both God and others. This is not possible without a true biblical community.

Benefit 3 – We can be victorious over sin.

Have you ever had this thought, “this area of my life will never change,” or “I will always struggle with this.” I had this thought about many things in college. Areas of sin in my life that I was convinced would be with me forever. But these types of thoughts are lies.

John 2:1 says, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.”

He is reminding us that, in community, we can battle against sin and win! Even the secular world has embraced this logic. Accountability is a part of every successful weight loss program and workout plan. If the need for accountability in physical fitness is so great, how much greater is the need in our battle against our sinful desires. We can’t be victorious alone. Good thing we do not have to be alone.

You have an opportunity for a community right now.

Now that we know that faith is meant to be lived out in a community, we have to answer one question. Who are the other people following Jesus that you will be in a community with this semester? If you have that group, praise God! If you want to get everything out of that community that you possibly can, I have two recommendations.

Stay committed. Do not miss a week.
Take off your mask.

If you do not have a group, we can help you find one. There is a link in the message box. Click on it, fill out the information requested, and we will do our best to get you into the community as fast as possible. Do not be another victim of the false notion that faith is meant to be personal. Find a community of people who love Jesus and lock arms with them.