When you hear the word art, different images may come to mind—your kid’s finger-paint masterpiece on the fridge, the mural you pass on the way to work, or the oil painting you saw in a museum. But did you include the Bible in your mental list? The Bible is itself a work of art, and it contains stories of art. Art in the Bible reminds us that all acts of creativity originate in our creator God. Not so sure? Let’s look at four examples in the Bible that highlight the artistry of God and his people.
Genesis 1:1 tells us that in the beginning, God created everything. Like a painter who moves from a blank canvas to a finished piece, God spoke into existence light and land, animals and birds, man and woman. But unlike human artists, who start with materials like paint and a canvas, God created a wondrous world out of nothing. After God created the world, he gave the first couple, who were made in his image and likeness, instructions to “. . . be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28, CSB). God wanted his creation to point back to their creator. And God wanted to be with his creation, too.
In the Old Testament, the Israelites built two important structures to house the presence of God. After the Israelites were rescued from Egypt, God instructed them to build the mobile tent of meeting. Later, Solomon constructed the temple in Jerusalem. God used skilled artists to create and outfit both meeting places with metal and stone fixtures, furniture, curtains, fragrances, and even special garments for the priests—all of which aided in worshipping God (Exodus 31:1–11; 1 Kings 7:13–14). Both structures served as stunning displays of God’s creativity. They provided a beautiful space for the people of God to worship him. But access to both the tent and the temple was limited to certain times and people—until the New Testament.
Before Jesus died, he promised the disciples he would send a helper to be with them in his absence. This promise of a helper puzzled his disciples, but today we understand that he was talking about the presence of the Holy Spirit. When the Corinthians struggled to honor God, Paul reminded them in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that the Holy Spirit resides within each believer. Christians are “God’s temple,” where the presence of God resides. The beautiful structure where God’s glorious presence lives is not a building anymore, but his people—people he created like a potter with clay. We can worship and enjoy our creator all the time because he is always with us.
But God’s artistry goes a step further.
When Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he said in Ephesians 2:10 that each person is God’s “handiwork” created to do good works for the glory of God. This verse echoes God’s command in Genesis 1:28 for Adam and Eve to fill the earth with his good creation. Like Adam and Eve, Christians are to steward the good work he has done in our lives by doing “good works” that point others to God. As Christians, we are living art—God’s handiwork—a visible canvas of God’s work on display. And through our lives and our work, we can glorify God, our creator.
In Revelation, we read of the new heavens and new earth that God promises for all believers. The artistry of new creation will surpass anything we can imagine creating in our present world (Revelation 21:1–5). While many artists have completed canvases on display in museums or in homes, most artists also have a canvas or two they never finished. God, the ultimate artist, used wide sweeping brush strokes to create a world he loves. Unlike a canvas that lays forgotten and incomplete in a studio, what God began, he will complete (Philippians 1:6). Even while we look ahead to God’s promise of new creation, we can trust that God is working in our lives now to make us more beautifully like him.
From the first declaration in Genesis to the new creation promised in Revelation, God’s creativity is on display. Like an artist’s signature in the corner of a painting, every act of creativity serves as a reminder that God, whom we worship, is the master artist. The next time you pass by a piece of art—whether it’s your child’s fridge art, a famous painting, or a patch of wildflowers—remember that this act of creativity has its origin in creator God who “has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
As Christians, living in unity is one of the most powerful ways we can demonstrate our faith to an onlooking world. But what does it mean to live together in unity? How do we demonstrate to our church what it looks like to make “every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit,” as Paul described in Ephesians 4:3? We asked a few of our previous conference speakers for their perspectives.
One of the ways that church leaders can encourage unity is not just to pray for it the way that Jesus did but to model it. One of the ways that we can model it is by being okay when people disagree with us over disputable matters, showing that it’s fine. We don’t have to agree on all these different things. In Romans 14, Paul talks about that, accept one another when it comes to disputable matters. And as leaders, we have lots of opportunities to put that into practice.
I think the burden is on us to initiate conversation, developing relationships with people they might not otherwise find themselves unified with—meaningful, transparent conversation, in the context of trust, as leaders. And then watch it spill over like the oil flowed from Aaron’s beard down to the garment. It starts with the head.
One, is we want to emphasize in preaching, teaching, and communication—whether that’s a weekly email or social—the things we have most in common. And then the second thing I think we have to highlight is the way that the world is trying to create division and create discord. And I think if people have a framework for, “This is what we have most in common, this is my primary identity, and these are the ways the enemy is working in this day to create drama,” it really strengthens the people to see one another as kind of a “one team, we’re in this together” mindset, as opposed to little pockets of people in a congregation.
We have to start by being honest about why there’s disunity in the first place. I would submit that I think most of the disunity is the result of people feeling misunderstood and unloved. When you feel loved and when you feel understood, there’s automatically going to be a sense of unity because there’s the presence of care. I think about the way Jesus conducted himself. Right? So, when he was confronted with people who maybe disagreed with him—and of course, he knows all things, so he knows they disagree with him—he actually led with curiosity. He asked the question in order to have them articulate what they thought and how they felt. And then he shared truth. But he shared it from a place of compassion. So, I think that the solution to disunity is honestly just being like Jesus. Seeking to understand before we seek to be understood.
People are sorting themselves out of their churches over ideological differences when they used to unite together around theological issues and the gospel. So, what is a pastor to do? I want to encourage you, first, to stay faithful to your calling. God has called you to lead well, to shepherd well, and to call people into relationship with one another. I think there are two key things that I would say will help us to bring a greater sense of unity, not calling for unity—calling for unity nowadays just seems like something people say. But I think if we elevate our ecclesiology, in other words, we help people see just how important these bonded relationships of community are in the life of the church, and then we engage the mission—helping people to join together and showing and sharing the love of Jesus—I think that’s what will help bring churches together in the context where we find ourselves. So, let’s elevate our ecclesiology. Let’s engage the mission. Let’s do it together in unity.
Living in unity is difficult but worthy work. We can model unity and initiate conversation about it. And empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can lead with compassion as we engage in the mission of the church.
How do you cultivate unity in your church? Watch sessions from RightNow Conference 2024, Together, for inspiration and practical applications. Click here to watch.
The heart of our mission is to serve the global church. Recognizing the growing need for biblical content to serve people in the Middle East, we launched RightNow Media MENA (Middle East and North Africa) in 2024 and it currently serves around ninety churches. Mona El Serafy is the regional director.
We have over a dozen originally produced series in the native languages of the region, with even more content on the way. Thanks to our strategic alliance with NextGen Global leaders, we’re able to reach the Middle East and North Africa with RightNow Media resources.
The library of content for the MENA audience continues to grow, covering a range of topics designed to deepen the spiritual walk of those in the region. Check out some of the recent MENA studies below:
Living with Suffering
Wassim Sabry
Difficulties in Prayer
Maher Samuel
Teach Us to Pray
Hossam Qamsieh
The impact of RightNow Media in the Middle East and North Africa is encouraging. Middle East and North Africa is our newest global region, and despite different challenges to sharing the good news in this area, the RightNow Media platform continues to make a difference.
“Among the beautiful things I found in this platform is the series on how to read the Bible. It gives you a deep and encouraging insight that helps you to really dive deep into Bible learning. RightNow Media also has a lot of very interesting topics. Honestly, I have never seen a Christian platform like RightNow Media.” — Monica A., Cairo, Egypt
RightNow Media’s mission is to work with the global church to inspire people to love others before self and Christ above all. Our strategic alliance with NextGen Global leaders in MENA and beyond has allowed us to expand our ministry to over one hundred countries in thirteen languages.
To see more original content with churches outside of the US, check out the Around the World library on RightNow Media. Additionally, you can learn more about RightNow Media’s global reach on the Global Reach page.
The following is an article originally written by Ed Stetzer for Outreach Magazine. RightNow Media is excited to work with Ed Stetzer on an upcoming project for pastors releasing in January 2025. We love Ed’s heart for the church and agree with his reminder in this article that small churches matter.
As I travel, I regularly tweet, “If you are pastor of a small church, I’d love to fill in for you this Sunday.” I’ve done it in Amsterdam, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, and more. And I’ve loved seeing how God is working through small churches throughout the country and around the world.
Christians and leaders who are a part of small churches can sometimes feel like they are on the sideline of the mission, that larger churches are the ones that are really in the game. This feeling, however, doesn’t align with the reality of mission and ministry. According to one study, the median number for Sunday morning church attendance in the United States is sixty-five people. Seventy percent of churches average fewer than one hundred attendees.
The truth is, small churches have been the norm for most of Christian history. The megachurch is the outlier, a unique feature of late 20th-century Christianity in America. The bottom line is small churches have always mattered for the mission and God’s kingdom. And they still do.
Here are five reasons—among many others I could list—why small churches matter.
Jesus gave the Great Commission to the local church—to a group of disciples who would lead small house churches, and as I’ve already mentioned, the vast majority of churches globally and historically would be considered “small.” Additionally, in the language of the Great Commission we see the local church’s functions of discipleship in baptizing and teaching: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20a). So Jesus calls every church—and in fact every Christian—to participate in the work of making disciples. That includes small churches.
Here’s the through line: First, Jesus calls every local church to be the place where the Great Commission is fulfilled. Second, most churches are small. This means, third, that small churches must be a big part of Jesus’s plan for his mission. Jesus doesn’t look at the church growing throughout history and throughout the world and think, If only these churches were bigger, then I could really do something. Instead, he sees thousands—millions—of churches, and he sees them all as a big part of his design to reach the least and the lost.
A church that has dozens of people who attend every week rather than hundreds or thousands provides opportunities for those people to connect and grow in fellowship with one another. When people see the same people in weekly worship and at church events, they can develop friendships and deep relationships. Likewise, small churches rely on people actively participating in all areas of the church’s life, creating a sense of belonging. In a small church people can have a harder time thinking that they don’t need to serve, because they aren’t surrounded by a massive crowd. Then when someone does step into a role, they can feel like their contribution in the church really matters.
In some ways, small churches can function as extended families. Now, the words “extended family” can bring to mind the image of a weird uncle at Thanksgiving. But anyone who has an extended family network also knows how much it can provide a basis of support. In a small church, news about people’s needs “gets around,” and rather than devolving into gossip, such knowledge can lead members to care for one another. By virtue of the dynamics of their size, small churches present opportunities for community and care that larger churches must work harder to cultivate.
I mean this in two ways. First, small churches can adapt and pivot more quickly than a much larger church with more institutional infrastructure. Second, small churches tend to see people’s lives change in a greater proportion than larger churches do.
In terms of adaptability, small churches can respond to the needs of their community with speed and agility. Often larger organizations have bureaucratic processes that small churches have never accumulated. So small churches can pivot, launching new ministries to address emerging challenges. They can nimbly respond to specific needs in their neighborhoods in light of changing circumstances, addressing issues that larger churches might overlook.
Such flexibility for ministry and mission allows small churches to reach people with the gospel, serving them physically and spiritually. Research has shown that God usually uses smaller social contexts to bring about life change. Small churches have an opportunity here, because they can connect deeply with people in their community. For example, a few years ago I was a part of a research study on small churches that discovered something that might surprise many people: Small churches tend to experience conversion growth at a higher per capita ratio than larger churches. In many small churches, leaders are accessible and approachable, actively engaging with congregants regularly. This accessibility creates a sense of trust, as members feel comfortable sharing their concerns and prayer needs with pastors and other leaders. In small churches, pastors and other leaders can invest deeply in the spiritual growth of members because there are fewer layers of hierarchy. And members can invest deeply in one another. Such close connections between leaders and members can help build transformative relationships.
Too often we measure success by our cultural values. In the United States, we tend to value “bigger” and “more.” So American Christians tend to see big churches doing big things, and they value and celebrate them for that bigness. For example, megachurches can accomplish big things for the mission, sending staff overseas, resourcing tens of thousands, and more. We can celebrate these things while we also assess our cultural values in light of the full scope of reality. And here is the reality: most overseas mission work is done by groups and networks of small churches working together.
I work in a lot of large churches. Sometimes I tell them that the best thing that they can do is to stop doing mission on their own and start partnering with others. Most missional work is accomplished in “slices”—a small church takes ownership of one slice, another small church focuses on another, a mission board yet another, and so on. Such collaboration ends up accomplishing more than any individual large church can accomplish by itself.
Small churches that are currently independent might consider partnership with a theologically and missionally aligned network or denomination as a form of collaboration. For example, City to City—a network of churches started by Redeemer Church and Timothy Keller—is finding ways for churches to collaborate, as churches have done for centuries. In organizations like Cru, Wycliffe, the Evangelical Free Church’s global mission arm, or the Southern Baptist Convention, most missionaries are supported by collaborations of smaller churches. Such collective effort makes much more of an impact than any single large church.
Small churches are essential patches in the tapestry of God’s kingdom and his purposes in the world. Each small church has a unique story and many unique ways of worship, fellowship, ministry and mission. As the global church grows and connects across cultural and geographical differences, small churches will become increasingly important. Small churches have the opportunity to model contextualized ministry and mission. They can develop and empower leaders from diverse backgrounds and situations.
Many Christians are keying in on this next decade because 2033 will mark the 2,000-year anniversary of the Great Commission. (Now, even if the actual anniversary is not 2033, I don’t need to be that “well, actually …” guy who wants to correct everyone on the Julian calendar, and neither do you.) Many are forming 10-year plans aimed at finishing the work God has given us. Granted, some will focus on different aspects. For example, I was recently with Pentecostals who emphasize the 2,000-year anniversary of Pentecost. Whatever the specific focus, many anticipate this monumental anniversary with large goals. IllumiNations is an alliance of Bible translation agencies, for example, working to finish translating the Bible into all the languages—something that could happen in our lifetime. We can finish the task if we cooperate and collaborate, and small churches must participate for such cooperation and collaboration to succeed.
Members and leaders of small churches must embrace both a smaller and larger vision of their calling for the Great Commission. A small church can acknowledge that by itself with its dozens of members it will not accomplish the task (something true of any megachurch, too). No single church can “make disciples of all nations” alone. But this reality should not discourage the smaller church. Instead, this reality should encourage those in smaller churches toward ministry and mission.
To learn more about our project with Ed Stetzer, RightNow Pastors+, fill out this form, follow us on social media, or text PASTOR to 49775 for updates.
UBP, Ed Stetzer editor's column, Outreach magazine, 2024. Original found here: https://outreachmagazine.com/features/81396-ed-stetzer-the-power-of-small.html?
Many elements make up a healthy church—integrity from its leaders, Christ-centric preaching, engaging with the community in love and service, and especially discipleship. But what exactly does a discipled church look like? We asked a few of our previous conference speakers what they thought.
There’s going to be, I think, a visible maturation of the congregation in regard to love and worship of Jesus which involves knowing the Word and worshipping rightly. But I also think—and here’s where it can get sticky—there will also be quite a bit of messiness. And what I mean by that is, a genuine disciple who’s growing in a knowledge of the Word, who’s following Jesus, who loves him deeply is going to be sharing the gospel with friends and neighbors and coworkers and family members, which is going to be introducing a lot of new baby Christians into the church.
We’ve done a lot of research on what a discipled church looks like and, first, we realized that we’re in a context that is not very disciple-oriented here in the United States. So, a lot of Christians, not a lot of disciples. Only 8 percent of all US adults are resilient disciples. What a disciple looks like is one who believes in the authority of Scripture, they have made a commitment to Jesus that’s still important in their life, they’re actually active in church community, and they want their faith to matter in the world to make an impact.
What Jesus was so good at, how he made his disciples, was he really approached the whole person. Because he built the whole person, right? God built us to be people that are emotional, that are spiritual, that are physical, that are intellectual, that are relational. So those are the ways I look at an individual—how is their health? Those five fronts need to be thought of when we’re thinking about discipleship. If someone is a spiritual giant and they’ve memorized all of Romans and they quote it with force, but they are an emotionally immature person, that person is actually going to be damaging. If they’re actually emotionally healthy but they don’t know anything, then they’re actually going to be damaging to the faith. They’re going to be a heretic in something if they don’t actually intellectually know things. So, we’ve got to look at the whole person. As they are growing they should be giving that away, because one of the greatest ways they actually grow is to give it away. When I had the first girl in my life that I was pouring into and discipling and she asked me, “How do I know if the Bible is true?” you better believe I was like, “I need to go learn how I know the Bible is true.” So set your people on mission and I promise you they’re going to want to know God, and they’re going to want to grow in those ways.
How are you hoping to, or continuing to, cultivate and nurture a healthy framework and practice of discipleship within your church? If you need a resource to get started, check out Essentials of Faith—a multi-series discipleship program designed to help your church develop mature followers of Jesus. Click here to learn more about Essentials of Faith.
Every presidential election season in the U.S., all eyes look toward election day—“The Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November”[1]—when Americans head to the polls to fulfill their duty as citizens: voting. Whether by candidates vying for office, journalists and news outlets, or friends and family members, voters are implored to exercise their constitutional right and pull the lever for the candidate they’d most like to see in the Oval Office. The act of voting is imbued with near-sacred importance.
While voting may not be sacred, it is important. In our representative form of government, casting votes is one of the principal ways we make our voices heard. And it’s a right that many in our country’s history have fought to see extended to all American citizens of voting age. Voting isn’t something we should take lightly.
But a presidential election only comes around once every four years. As important as it is to participate in the political process by voting, casting a vote shouldn’t be the only way we engage in the public life of our republic. As Christians, what does our faith compel us to do in the four years between presidential elections?
There are several ways to answer this question. From the prophet Micah (Micah 6:8) to Paul’s letter to the Romans (Romans 13:1–7), the Bible is replete with instructions on how we are to live in society with others. Yet regardless of where we turn in the Scriptures, Jesus’s words echo throughout: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31).
For Christians, the command we’ve been given is simple: we are to love our neighbors. We are to be neighbors.
Naturally, the command to love our neighbors sparks a handful of questions for us—chief among them: What is love?
First-century Christians must have had similar questions about love because the apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthian church, spelled it out plainly:
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends (13:4–8a ESV).
What does it mean to love our neighbors now, in the time between presidential elections? At the very least, it means to be patient with our neighbors; to be kind to them; to be humble and respectful toward them; to be accommodating and open to meeting their needs and hearing their ideas; to be cheerful toward them; to wish them well; to commit to them for the long haul and to hope good things for them—and even to effect good things for them.
Love is nonpartisan. It compels us to cross all boundaries, political or otherwise, for our neighbors’ good. And without love, all our political activity, no matter how grand it is or “inspired” it seems, will be nothing more than a “noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1 ESV).
But like the lawyer in Luke 10, the command to love our neighbor might lead us to ask another question: “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29 ESV).
Jesus’s answer to this question in the Scriptures, in the parable of the good Samaritan, flips the question on its head. Instead of “Who is my neighbor,” we ought to ask, “Who am I to be a neighbor to?” Answer: Those who are in need, regardless of class, religion, race, creed—or political affiliation. Even those we’d consider our enemies.
At its very core, our political engagement is not about grand gestures or national politics. It’s about seeking our neighbors’ welfare and “the welfare of the city,” the community, the neighborhood, and the street “where [God has] sent [us]” (Jeremiah 29:7 ESV). It’s about seeing every act of participation as an opportunity to love your neighbor as yourself.
The good Samaritan stands as an example of what it looks like to love our neighbor as ourselves. And Jesus’s command to us today—before, on, and after Election Day—is the same as it was to the lawyer in Luke’s Gospel: “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37 ESV).
So, by all means, vote. But don’t let your vote be the sum total of your political engagement. Love your neighbors. Serve them. Befriend them. Feed them dinner. Be generous toward them. Pray for them. Tell them about Jesus. Invite them to church. Drive their kids to practice. Have them in your home. Listen to them. Be kind and patient and committed to their good. Sacrifice for them, as Jesus did.
[1] “2U.S. Code § 7 - Time of Election,” Legal Information Institute, accessed September 26, 2024, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/2/7.
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