When the earth moved

Looking back ... there are a handful of events, which, at the time

I didn’t realize

would yield

such profound effects

in my life.
 

    

     The day as a seventh grader I said goodbye to my parents for four years.

     The afternoon I sang to my bride as she walked down the aisle.

     The first time she told me she was pregnant.

     My first Sunday as pastor of my first church.

     My first day as the president of Entrust.

In retrospect, I realize each of those times I had little idea

     what lay ahead,

     how I would change,

     how I could never go back.
 

Add to that ... one more event

when I was 6.

I made a profession of faith

because my teacher shamed me into it!

Actually, I was just making public

what my parents had taught and modeled.

I had very little idea

what I was doing,

yet I was making my way

down a path

that I would choose to stay on

at many critical intersections of understanding.
 

Combine all my experiences,

and you have an idea how the disciples felt.

A rugged cross, an empty tomb,

their whole world turned upside down.

Now totally transformed

     by what happened in the space of only three days.
 

I’m still learning the implications of that decision 

each new day ...
 

As were they ... for the rest of their lives.

 

David G. Goodman

President, Entrust
 

A Teacher's Greatest Disappointment

Have you ever poured your life into someone only to see them turn into just about the biggest disappointment possible?

I’ve had disappointments as a teacher and discipler. But none nearly as great as the one I am going to tell you about.

I won’t give you this prof’s name, because you would recognize it right away. Suffice it to say, he took on a very promising young man to disciple in the faith. The teacher’s reputation was such that if he were to let it be known that he was looking for someone to mentor, most people would drop everything to volunteer for the position.

There was nothing this prof wouldn’t do for his student. He took his protégé along on trips so the student could observe how the teacher handled some of the most challenging situations. The young man not only had the opportunity to hear many hours of teaching, but in private moments also had opportunities to ask his mentor any question and expect an answer.

Not surprisingly, the teacher had enemies. For some it was professional jealousy, others were offended by things he said. Perhaps his greatest mistake was in letting anyone, even his young student, get so close to him. Then again, maybe he saw it coming all along.

For it was through this student that the professor’s enemies found their opportunity and quite literally, crucified him.

OK, by now you know who I’m talking about and how it all turns out.

If you’re a teacher, if you’ve ever discipled anyone, what makes you think you might not have a failure or two? If you, as a discipler, make yourself vulnerable, why should you expect to not experience hurt, even deep hurt, on occasion?

“For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort, too.” (2 Cor. 1:5, ESV)

Remember, you and I trace our spiritual lineage back to the 11 disciples who did NOT betray Jesus. We pass along that legacy of love to those we disciple, who will in turn pass it along to their protégés.
And if you have a Judas in your life, remember, Jesus had one, too.

Bad News, Good News

“In order to share the good news you first have to understand the bad news.”

I must confess I had been sitting in this missions seminar wondering, “Why am I here?” Arriving late, I had stepped on a number of toes and stumbled over people’s conference bags on my way to an empty seat in the middle of the auditorium. No way to leave inconspicuously.

Then, all of a sudden, it got interesting. At first I thought the speaker was meandering, but as I got my mind in step with his, I caught a glimpse of his destination.

In order to share the good news you first have to understand the bad news.

This was exactly what I had been wrestling with for Entrust.

The good news doesn’t change, but the “bad news” in a slum in Calcutta is quite different than the bad news in an American suburb. In my own preaching and teaching ministry in the U.S., I always tried to define the contrasting backdrop of American culture to understand how to explain a particular biblical truth so people could understand. Obedience is usually a choice between embracing the world’s values and embracing Christ’s. But worldly values differ greatly from culture to culture, context to context.

There is no one-size-fits-all way to train church leaders around the world. It takes a very different sort of leader to lead a church in an American suburb than it does in, say, a slum in Calcutta. That would seem to be obvious, but so much training overseas is more American than Indian or African or whatever the context. When you hear about Christians in Africa massacring Christians from a different tribe, you wonder, “How can that be?” Quite simply, if anyone embraces the “good news” without understanding how the “good news” changes the culturally-ingrained “bad news” they grew up with – in this case, age-old ethnic hatred – then they haven’t fully grasped and been transformed by the “Good News.” That is why Jesus, in the Great Commission, stressed the aspect of “teaching them to obey all I have commanded you.”

How about you? Have you spent much time understanding the “bad news” of your own culture, sometimes so deeply ingrained you don’t even realize what it is? That is the essence of the warning Paul gives us: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” (Col. 2:8)

In order to share the good news you first have to understand the bad news.

David G. Goodman