How big is your pile?

That is the question that Francis Chan asked us at the youth specialties convention.  But before you tune me out, let me give you a big of context for the question.  Chan has been a very successful pastor in California in terms of building a mega church that started as a church plant.  He shared with us that God had been dealing with him about what success was in the Kingdom of God and how he started to rethink his priorities in ministry.

Chan then went on to talk a little about discipleship and how Jesus did discipleship.  He talked about how Jesus ministered differently to his disciples than to those in the crowds.  He then talked about the parables and Chan seemed to say that Jesus spoke in them to confuse those that didn't really care about what Jesus had to say.  I don't really know what I think about this but I see what he was trying to say.  He pointed to the fact that the disciples would come up to Jesus after a parable and then ask what the meaning was, this according to Chan is what Jesus means by the good soil. (Matt 13:1-17)  My problem with this is I don't know if I can say that Jesus essentially didn't care about those in the crowds at that time.  I understand that Jesus was concerned with teaching the disciples as much as possible since they were going to carry on what Jesus started.  But I'm a little uncomfortable in saying that Jesus didn't care about those in the crowd with whom he was teaching.  Maybe I'm wrong about this and would be willing to discuss it the comments of this post.  Or maybe I misunderstood what Chan was trying to say.

Anyways, Chan then began to talk about salt (Matt 5:13) in terms of "success" in ministry.  He then did something that has stuck with me the past few weeks and I am still thinking about.  He pulled out a little salt packet, opened it up and poured it on the top of his Bible and said that this represented those in his church who were truly living into the mission of God.  These were the people that he wanted to pour his life into and see how they would begin to flavor the world around them.  He then poured a big salt shaker that you would get at Denny's and dumped it on top of the smaller pile and said that this salt represented those that were just around for entertainment, prestige or any other reason that does not correspond with living into the mission of God.  He said when we get caught up in our "success" that we begin to walk around asking the question, "how big is your pile?"  I had to chuckle a little bit because not only have I been asked that question before, but in some cases I've asked that question.

If you do not know me, I must tell you that I am a co-youth pastor of a large youth ministry.  I do not say this to brag, but to let you in on my current situation.  We have a lot of kids that come through our doors, but Chan has me thinking about what kind of salt our students are.  Are they living into the mission of God or are they there to be entertained or to be seen?  More than anything this has me thinking about the discipleship process that we hope happens organically and I am wondering how intentional we should be about this. I am also thinking about how a student should enter into a discipleship process.  Should they be invited?  Should they take the initiative?  Should it be forced upon them?  What do you think?

I hope that I have done Chan justice in how I have remembered his message that evening.  If not, please correct me as I do not want to misrepresent what he said.  I will say that I totally admire the changes that he talked about that he and his church are making in an effort to live into the mission of God.  I pray that they will continue to allow God to lead them as they shift the way in which they "do" church.