By John Lambert

The Metric of the Heart

When we talk about church growth, as Westerners we tend to many times think in terms of metrics; nickels and noses.  How many people are coming to our services?  How much income are we taking in to support the local work?  These are important because they are a reflection of commitment to the vision of the local gathering.  But what is even more important, trumping all others, is the metric of heart.

What is the heart of the congregation, not simply on Sunday mornings or at mid week home group, but in every day life?  What is at the core of their being?  What is our ultimate aim and goal as we prepare each week to minister to those that God has placed in our care as leaders, as we interact with our neighbors, co-workers, and even strangers on a day-to-day basis?

The Call to Obey

We find our ultimate purpose and aim spelled out for us in the last words Jesus gave before he ascended to take his place at the right hand of the Father.  He gave the command to his disciples and the cascading generations that would come after them, even up until the present day. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus said to his disciples,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The thrust of the commission that Jesus gives is a call to make disciples of all nations or people groups.  The word for nations in the Greek is “ethne” and refers to groups of families who are bound together by culture and dialect, not simply modern day nation-states.

But even beyond that thrust there is a call to teach them to obey.  Not simply to “teach them” but to teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded.  This is critical at the local church level and for every leaders to understand.  It is not simply giving our people good teaching that matters, but giving them the capacity to obey Jesus as Lord in their day-to-day lives.

The Willingness to Surrender

When we talk about obedience there are a couple of things that must always precede it.  First is the recognition is that Jesus is Lord and we are not.  He is the head of His Church and we are stewards.  He is the Master and we are his bondservants.  That is first.

Secondly, to obey we must be willing to surrender.  And to willingly surrender has to do with trust.  This kind of Kingdom surrender is not something that is forced upon us but it is something that comes into our lives when we recognize the value and worth of the One we are surrendering to and willingly offer up our lives into His authority and care.

I see it like this: Value x Worth = Willingness.  As leaders, one of our supreme roles is to exalt the value and worth of the King and his Kingdom, to display his glorious majesty and the wonders of his works both locally and even throughout the earth so that our people will be captivated by that glory and volunteer freely for service in that Kingdom.

It is not about us, growing our platform, making a name for ourselves, or building our own personal Kingdoms.  It is all about making Jesus famous.  We must decrease so that he can increase in the lives of those we serve.  We must lead by personally demonstrating what it means to personally recognize the value of the King, the Kingdom, and the promises.

Recognizing the value of the King

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” – Luke 9:23

He said to another man, “Follow me.”  But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”  Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”  Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”- Luke 9:59-62

What was Jesus saying?  I am King.  I am Lord.  I lead, you follow; and in order to do that you are going to have do some hard things.  You are going to have to deny yourself.  Yes, even as you live in the middle of an indulgent generation.  You are going to have to put me first.  You are going to have to work for ME first and foremost (not another man) by putting your hand to the plow.  But if you recognize who I AM, you won’t think twice about it.

Recognizing the value of the Kingdom:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.  When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”- Matthew 13: 44-46

The value of the Kingdom is seen as being worth everything a person owns.  Nothing we hold on to in this world can be compared to its worth.  The action of giving everything up for the sake of the Kingdom is accented, not by masochistic drudgery, but by pure joy.  It’s this joy that that empowers a person to do the hard things in life, to swim against the tide, if need be.

Recognizing the value of the Promise:

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”- Matthew 19:29

The promise is for those who are leaving something behind.  Leaving something of greater value for something of lesser value is not wise.  Here in this promise we hear the Master saying that the thing that he calls us to is of infinite more worth than any thing we must leave behind in order to pursue Him and the Kingdom.

For some it may be power, wealth, fame, and if need be, even relationships that keep us back from full surrender.  The promise both for now and eternity.  We can’t lose when we recognize the value of the promise and give our all for the King and the Kingdom.

Jesus died, not simply to:

Get us a ticket to heaven
Get us our best life now
Make us happy, healthy, wealthy, and wise

But rather,

Bring us to a place where He can take His rightful place as Lord, which means we must get us off of ourselves and get us off the throne of our own lives.

That means:

We must first come and surrender.
We love Him with all of our hearts.
We follow Him wherever He leads.
We find out what is pleasing to Him.
We connect with His heart in intimacy.
We direct our lives to His eternal purposes.

He has prepared “good works in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:10)  They are not our ideas or our causes.  They are a part of His eternal purposes.  And it all starts with the heart of surrender.

Some people think of missionaries as some kind of special citizens in the Kingdom of God.  And yes, they should be honored as any leader in the Body of Christ would be honored.  Many have given up everything to follow Jesus to the hardest and darkest places of the world.

But the heart of a missionary should be the heart of every believer. 

It is summed up in that one word: surrender.  Willing surrender and volunteering freely comes by recognizing eternal value and worth.  It comes through recognizing the value of the King, the value of the Kingdom, and the value of the promises.

I believe that if we lead the people that God puts in our trust from this paradigm, we will raise up a company of surrendered, love sick, passionate, joyful, global hearted disciples of Jesus who are on mission with God. What shepherd wouldn't want that?

When we talk about church growth, as Westerners we tend to many times think in terms of metrics; nickels and noses.  How many people are coming to our services?  How much income are we taking in to support the local work?  These are important because they are a reflection of commitment to the vision of the local gathering.  But what is even more important, trumping all others, is the metric of heart.

What is the heart of the congregation, not simply on Sunday mornings or at mid week home group, but in every day life?  What is at the core of their being?  What is our ultimate aim and goal as we prepare each week to minister to those that God has placed in our care as leaders, as we interact with our neighbors, co-workers, and even strangers on a day-to-day basis?

The Call to Obey

We find our ultimate purpose and aim spelled out for us in the last words Jesus gave before he ascended to take his place at the right hand of the Father.  He gave the command to his disciples and the cascading generations that would come after them, even up until the present day. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus said to his disciples,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The thrust of the commission that Jesus gives is a call to make disciples of all nations or people groups.  The word for nations in the Greek is “ethne” and refers to groups of families who are bound together by culture and dialect, not simply modern day nation-states.

But even beyond that thrust there is a call to teach them to obey.  Not simply to “teach them” but to teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded.  This is critical at the local church level and for every leaders to understand.  It is not simply giving our people good teaching that matters, but giving them the capacity to obey Jesus as Lord in their day-to-day lives.

The Willingness to Surrender

When we talk about obedience there are a couple of things that must always precede it.  First is the recognition is that Jesus is Lord and we are not.  He is the head of His Church and we are stewards.  He is the Master and we are his bondservants.  That is first.

Secondly, to obey we must be willing to surrender.  And to willingly surrender has to do with trust.  This kind of Kingdom surrender is not something that is forced upon us but it is something that comes into our lives when we recognize the value and worth of the One we are surrendering to and willingly offer up our lives into His authority and care.

I see it like this: Value x Worth = Willingness.  As leaders, one of our supreme roles is to exalt the value and worth of the King and his Kingdom, to display his glorious majesty and the wonders of his works both locally and even throughout the earth so that our people will be captivated by that glory and volunteer freely for service in that Kingdom.

It is not about us, growing our platform, making a name for ourselves, or building our own personal Kingdoms.  It is all about making Jesus famous.  We must decrease so that he can increase in the lives of those we serve.  We must lead by personally demonstrating what it means to personally recognize the value of the King, the Kingdom, and the promises.

Recognizing the value of the King

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” – Luke 9:23

He said to another man, “Follow me.”  But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”  Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”  Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”- Luke 9:59-62

What was Jesus saying?  I am King.  I am Lord.  I lead, you follow; and in order to do that you are going to have do some hard things.  You are going to have to deny yourself.  Yes, even as you live in the middle of an indulgent generation.  You are going to have to put me first.  You are going to have to work for ME first and foremost (not another man) by putting your hand to the plow.  But if you recognize who I AM, you won’t think twice about it.

Recognizing the value of the Kingdom:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.  When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”- Matthew 13: 44-46

The value of the Kingdom is seen as being worth everything a person owns.  Nothing we hold on to in this world can be compared to its worth.  The action of giving everything up for the sake of the Kingdom is accented, not by masochistic drudgery, but by pure joy.  It’s this joy that that empowers a person to do the hard things in life, to swim against the tide, if need be.

Recognizing the value of the Promise:

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”- Matthew 19:29

The promise is for those who are leaving something behind.  Leaving something of greater value for something of lesser value is not wise.  Here in this promise we hear the Master saying that the thing that he calls us to is of infinite more worth than any thing we must leave behind in order to pursue Him and the Kingdom.

For some it may be power, wealth, fame, and if need be, even relationships that keep us back from full surrender.  The promise both for now and eternity.  We can’t lose when we recognize the value of the promise and give our all for the King and the Kingdom.

Jesus died, not simply to:

Get us a ticket to heaven
Get us our best life now
Make us happy, healthy, wealthy, and wise

But rather,

Bring us to a place where He can take His rightful place as Lord, which means we must get us off of ourselves and get us off the throne of our own lives.

That means:

We must first come and surrender.
We love Him with all of our hearts.
We follow Him wherever He leads.
We find out what is pleasing to Him.
We connect with His heart in intimacy.
We direct our lives to His eternal purposes.

He has prepared “good works in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:10)  They are not our ideas or our causes.  They are a part of His eternal purposes.  And it all starts with the heart of surrender.

Some people think of missionaries as some kind of special citizens in the Kingdom of God.  And yes, they should be honored as any leader in the Body of Christ would be honored.  Many have given up everything to follow Jesus to the hardest and darkest places of the world.

But the heart of a missionary should be the heart of every believer. 

It is summed up in that one word: surrender.  Willing surrender and volunteering freely comes by recognizing eternal value and worth.  It comes through recognizing the value of the King, the value of the Kingdom, and the value of the promises.

I believe that if we lead the people that God puts in our trust from this paradigm, we will raise up a company of surrendered, love sick, passionate, joyful, global hearted disciples of Jesus who are on mission with God. What shepherd wouldn't want that?