I've been thinking a great deal about “First Steps” involved in helping pastors lead their congregations in spiritual renewal. While focusing on pastors I'm not intentionally ignoring other congregational leaders; I'm simply starting with those whom the Lord has called to be the leaders of the leaders --"keep in mind those who lead you, that is, those who spoke to you the word of God" (Hebrews 13:7). The same encouragement remains to this day: "Pay attention to what your pastor is teaching you of God 's Word. That's how he leads you in the way of the Lord." Paying attention to God 's Word is especially significant in leading God's people in congregational renewal.

First steps speak not only of beginnings but also of priorities. That is, they are essential steps that must be taken in order to lead in the right way. Jesus spoke of both when He told His disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). There it is, the beginning and essence of congregational renewal—dying.

What dies in a seed so that it morphs from a single grain to a fruit bearing plant? Surely not the entire thing. If it did the seed would become worthless. So what must die to become fruitful? Only its shell, its protective boundary. While the shell or skin of a seed remains intact, the seed may be able to survive forever. It’s amazing that seeds tucked away in some pyramid in Egypt can be planted and actually grow. They survived for over 4,000 years! But all that time, they remained single seeds—alive, but not fruitful. The first (and also the essential) step for a seed to take in becoming fruitful is to break open its shell so that its life energy can go to work.

The same can be said for a congregation. As long as a church’s priority is its survival, it will focus on protecting itself—be it traditions, financial assets, buildings, ethnic makeup, etc. As long as its focus is preservation, it cannot reproduce. In Jesus’ words, it will remain a single seed. The life giving Gospel, which by its very nature produces much fruit, will remain sealed off from the world to which it was sent.

What are some first steps a pastor might take with his congregation to lead them in renewal? Begin with Jesus’ words and together with your leaders consider how they might apply to your congregation. Ask yourselves some of these questions: “What are we afraid we will lose if we begin to reach out to our community?” “When does our desire for preservation interfere with Jesus commission to reproduce?” Or asked another way, “What is essential to preserve in order to reach out to the community with the Gospel? What might we be preserving that is actually hindering us from reaching out to our community with the Gospel?”

As a pastor or congregational leader, where would I begin if I wanted to lead my congregation in genuine, spiritual renewal? I’d begin with me. Throughout Scripture, those tasked by God with leading His people back or toward His missional heart (which is the direction of spiritual renewal) almost always began with themselves. Consider great champions of renewal—Moses, Gideon, David, Elijah, or Nehemiah to name a few. Each of them spent some focused time, short or long, in personal preparation—personal renewal--for their assignment. They had to get their own heads and hearts wrapped around God’s head and heart before leading His people to do the same.

Even our Lord Jesus, who was already and always of one mind with His Father, was led by the Spirit into a season of personal preparation. I don’t want to run past something crucial here—led by the Spirit. Personal preparation/renewal, just like congregational renewal, is inspired, led, and empowered by God’s Spirit. We don’t renew ourselves; God does.

In Jesus case, God’s Spirit led Him into the wilderness for 40 days of prayer and fasting. During that time He had to face real and personal temptations—temptations which among other things made Him address three standard issue stumbling blocks to any renewal effort: dependency on oneself instead of God and His Word, quick fixes, and personal ambition. Of the many “temptations” God would have each of us face in our own preparation, chances are that these three are on the list.

At the top of the list sits dependency on myself. We too often think that congregational renewal depends on us. While you and I, by God’s design and choice, play essential roles in His work of renewal, we need to grab hold of the fact that it’s His work. We don’t live by “bread” alone, which would strengthen our bodies for the work we’ve been called to do. God’s Spirit would lead us to depend on His Word, which works best through our weaknesses not our strengths. God works best, not through the “living”, but through the resurrected dead. And the Word which raises the dead is one of Gospel not Law. Too many well-meant renewal messages focus on what I need or you need to do in order to get right with God and do His work in the world. Genuine renewal, however, can’t be generated by what I need to do, even with God’s help. It’s born of what God needs to do, or better, what God has done and is doing in us through His Son.

Along with the temptation to depend on myself comes the temptation of the quick fix. There are lot’s of books on the market today that provide the perfect formula for congregational renewal. For some time now, I have seen mission and renewal leaders in my own church body chase one book or program after another in the hope that one held the key to renewing their church. We’re still chasing and will continue to do so until we accept the fact that there are no quick fixes. Genuine renewal is hard work and deep work. It calls for a radical, not a superficial, change in me and my people. That’s why renewal can only be the work of God. It’s beyond all human capacity.

Which brings me to my last point for the day: What’s the point of it all? Is it to grow my church, pay our bills, and stay in business? Is it to be served or to serve? Satan offered Jesus the world. He could have it all. But Jesus didn’t come to get the world for Himself, but to give Himself for the world. That one had to be clear. Gaining that clarity is perhaps the first step on the journey of renewal.

“Is it worth it?” That is, “Is leading our congregation in an intentional process of Biblical renewal worth it?“ That question has undoubtedly crossed the minds of many of the pastors and lay leaders of the churches in our district. Their question is honest; the reasons behind it, real. They recognize that for their church to thrive spiritually and to be faithful to Christ, they may need to be a different kind of congregation. They also recognize that many, if not most of their members are seemingly comfortable with where they are in their “church life” and already overwhelmed with the stuff of daily life. Do they need more stress? To lead their congregation in renewal, which very likely may lead to new directions in ministry, could cause serious heartache – maybe even division. Is renewal worth these risks. especially if it’s in a direction the congregation doesn’t fully understand and not at all confident will work?

Our Lord would have us consider congregational renewal from a different vantage point. It’s not simply a good idea. It’s a God idea. That’s why Jesus put the renewal of His people at the top of His “to do” list. He opens His public ministry with the words, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). It remains at the top of his list as He addresses the seven churches in Revelation. Our congregations today are included in His address as He repeatedly admonishes, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2-3). And it is a thoroughly Lutheran approach to church life as well. We’re a reforming movement that itself always seeks to be reformed and renewed by the Gospel for effective ministry in whatever age or culture we find ourselves.

But there’s this hope and help as well: God promised to do the heavy lifting in the business of congregational renewal. Jesus’ call to repent is not a heavy-handed demand to “Fix your lives!” or “Fix your church!” Rather it is His divine plea to “Turn toward Me!” Renewal is all wrapped up in the Gospel; the Gospel is all about Jesus—His work for us, not our work for Him. If the energy of congregational renewal resides in Jesus, then, the possibility is real—for nothing will be impossible with God (Luke 1).

Is congregational renewal worth it? It sure is to God, and, I hope, to us as well. Tied to our renewal is God’s greater plan to renew, that is to restore, this entire universe to what He intended it to be—really good. And that’s good by His standards. Restoring our world was so “worth it” to God that He willingly sacrificed His Son to make it happen. Our renewal, then, must always be comprehended from that ultimate and divine intention. And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21).

PS: Concordia University, Seward, NB dedicated the latest issue of its journal to the topic of congregational renewal. You can find it here.

I was privileged to spend time with some good friends while visiting a country in the Middle East that’s 90+ percent Muslim. These friends also grew up as Muslims but in hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ they became Christians and were baptized. We were talking together about the Exodus and God’s journey in the wilderness with the people of Israel, particularly that part of the story where the Israelites rebelled against the Lord at Kadesh-barnea, refusing to enter the land of Canaan out of fear. This act of rebellion was the proverbial “last straw” for God and He informed Moses that He intended to wipe out the whole lot and start all over with him.

That’s when Moses stepped in to remind the Lord that the whole world was watching Him as He led the Israelites out of Egypt and that the surrounding nations would take note of the fact that God had destroyed His people. Of significance was Moses’ attention to the fact that, different from the gods of the other nations, God had made the deliberate choice to dwell personally among His people: They [the pagan nations] have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people. For you, O LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Moses went on to ask God to “Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” God living among sinful people day in and day out was the loudest and strongest statement of His incredible power and love. And all the nations were listening.

As we were discussing this story one of my friends shared how deeply appreciative he was for this story. “You know,” he said, “this is the wonderful thing about being a follower of Jesus. As a Muslim, God seemed so far away. We had learned that God dwelled in the highest heaven, far from earth, and the thought that He might come close to me never crossed my mind. My religion was teaching me how I needed to try to reach up to God through daily prayers and other practices. But this story about God and Israel is simply amazing. Can you believe that God actually lived in the same camp with His people?”

Can you believe it? In a Muslim country, from the lips of a man who once followed the teachings of Islam I was reminded again of the incredible mystery of my Christian faith—the most significant difference between the true God and all of the other gods of this world. The true God chooses to make His home among sinful people and call them His own. No other God is willing or able to do that.

I’ll get back to the United States just in time to decorate the house for Christmas. I return with the gift my friend so freely offered in his simple witness--amazement that the God of the universe should choose to dwell with sinners. In this lies the true reason for the season—And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth . . . No one has ever seen God; [but] the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. God longs to have us know Him and to know how much He loves us. So He chose to live among us, face-to-face just like Moses said. God dwells among us, sinners that we are. That calls for celebrating!

St. John once wrote, "And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him" (1 John 4). His words make clear--believing, behaving, and belonging go together, each an essential component of our Christian faith. While all three verbs are essential, is there a priority among them? That is, might one by necessity precede the others?

That question popped into my head this past summer when I visited the town of Capernaum, on the northern shore of Lake Galilee. Jesus had relocated his home and ministry headquarters there after being thrown out of His hometown of Nazareth. Two sites in Capernaum stood out for me: the local synagogue where townspeople met to hear God's Word and pray, and the purported home of Simon Peter, one of Jesus' disciples. The two structures stand less than a stone's throw apart. What brought the two buildings even closer together in my mind were words from St. Luke's Gospel, "Now tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled saying, 'This man receives sinners and eats with them'" (Luke 15). I might have been standing at that moment at the very location where this scene took place, the very setting for three of my favorite stories--the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost boys.

It seems that tax collectors and sinners found it difficult to enter the synagogue to hear God's Word, yet, just a few feet away, they found it possible to hear it from God Himself as they were invited into His (or maybe Peter's) home. That's when "believe, behave, and belong" got all jumbled up in my mind. Each matters, but which comes first. Belonging to the synagogue required that one first believe and behave appropriately. Belonging to Jesus—at least being invited into His home and eating with him—preceded everything else. Belonging to Jesus became the means by which people heard His Word, believed, and were transformed.

So for us, today's followers of Jesus, where does "belong" belong in the sequence of things? For the sake of preserving right doctrine (belief) and practice (behavior) it seems best to place belonging at the end, conditioned by the other two. Yet, St. Luke suggests in his fifteenth chapter that true faith and right living were conditioned by the privilege of "drawing near enough [to Jesus] to hear Him" even His living room or kitchen. Believe, behave, belong go together; that much is clear. But the sequence remains a question. And how we answer the question may mean the difference between being Capernaum's synagogue and Jesus' home. Both were "God's house"; one welcomed sinners.