Let It Grow: How to Develop a Gospel-Shaped CultureSample

In Mark 6, just after the miraculous feeding of thousands, Jesus told His disciples to go to the boat and head home. He then went to a mountain alone to pray. When stitching together the story from three gospel accounts, an amazing series of events unfolds. The disciples enter the boat sometime in the early evening and proceed toward Capernaum just three miles away.

What should have been an easy journey soon became a stormy, life-threatening night of chaos. For at least eight hours, Jesus’ disciples were lost in pitch-black, stormy disorientation. They progressed no more than four miles in all that time, with no way of knowing their location.

It wasn’t until sometime after 4 a.m. that Jesus came to them in the storm, walking on the water. He called out to them, “Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid” (Mark 6:50). In John’s account, as they received Him into the boat, the storm ceased and immediately they were at Capernaum, their desired destination.

Sometimes Jesus sends us into a storm to row in the dark for a long time. He calls us to obey Him, to exert and expend ourselves, even when our efforts seem to be accomplishing nothing but increased confusion, deeper exhaustion, and greater disorientation. Sometimes our obedience leads us to feelings of being lost and alone.

But our call to obey reminds us to keep rowing, even in the dark. Jesus knows where we are and enters our chaos. Then, at the right time, He stills the storm. And with a word or a thought, He can take us immediately to where He wants us to be—to His chosen destination. This is how He works.

All our efforts and strategies can leave us feeling lost in the dark, confused, and disoriented. This is especially difficult when we get into the stormy darkness by obeying Jesus. But when His commission is confusing, our assignment is no less valuable. He gives storm assignments just as He gives miracle-feeding assignments.

As pastors, we love to feed the multitudes, but we don’t usually love rowing into the storms. We work hard to manufacture multitude-like results, but we also work hard to avoid sailing in the dark. But when following Jesus, He is present and working in both. In the first, we are cheered by the results—the miracle and the masses. But in the second, we are cheered in Him alone—His presence infuses joy into our chaotic darkness. He calls out, Be of good cheer, it’s Me!

In this light, spiritual leadership is more about cheerfully getting out of Jesus’ way than figuring out what to do next. We let the church grow rather than make it grow. We permit Jesus to do what He desires rather than planning His next move for Him. We let the gospel run free.