Reading: Preaching book chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR: FIRST DAY OF CLASS

JARED SAT BEHIND THE WHEEL OF HIS RENTAL CAR, staring at the brick exterior of Cornerstone Church. He tapped his fingers absentmindedly against the gear shift. A part of him wasn’t sure he wanted to go inside. He’d been glad that Art had set up an appointment for him, but now that he was here his stomach fluttered with nervous energy. The feeling reminded him of waiting in a dentist’s office: This might hurt a bit. He regretted asking Trisha to stay at the conference and take notes for him; he could have used her sense of humor right about now.

He was still fifteen minutes early, since he’d left time for misreading his directions, but Jared decided it was best to get it over with. He walked up to the double doors marked “welcome” and gave a pull.

The building seemed empty, so as he walked down the main hallway, he took the opportunity to look around. Walking into what looked like a large, all-purpose room, he felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Painted on one wall was a large oak tree — or at least the trunk and branches; the hundreds of leaves were made of green paper. He looked more closely and saw that each leaf contained the name of a person and a book of the Bible. Next to the tree was a chart with people’s names and stars marking which books of the Bible each had read. He wasn’t sure how large the congregation was, but from the size of this sanctuary he guessed that most everyone was participating.

He continued around the room and saw a wall filled with writing. Painted in various colors were verses from the Bible, each with a date written underneath. He supposed they were part of a Bible-memorization habit of some sort. The next wall featured a few more trees, smaller, and grouped together like an orchard. Each tree listed the name of a church, and underneath the trees it read “a good tree produces good fruit.” He figured these must be daughter churches, but was surprised to see so many.

Jared surveyed the room again, and at last he could place that nostalgic feeling. It looked like a grade-school classroom, utilizing stickers, pictures, and progress charts. He chuckled to himself. In a way, it felt like his first day of school, or at least his first day of seminary. On the one hand was excitement about new possibilities and new ideas. On the other was a fear of casting off the old and the comfortable. He was filled with hope that he would discover something truly great, yet he feared that what he discovered would put a blanket of failure over his past.

On his way out, Jared walked by a table filled with books and brochures, and one in particular caught his eye. It had some strange symbols that intrigued him. Jared glanced at his watch and saw he still had ten minutes until his meeting, so he picked up the pamphlet.

SERVING IN THE LORD’S ARMY

Though not found in history books, not portrayed on the news, and not consciously fought by most of the world, there is a

battle going on — a war that engulfs all others.

We catch a hint of this war in the sports games we play, the business goals we pursue, the novels we read — all reflections of the one real battle: the battle between good and evil, darkness and light, hope and despair, eternal life and eternal death.

At the formation of the world, a line was drawn in the sand. God created two people and placed them in a garden with two special trees: the tree of life and the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The battle began when the two people, spurred on by the evil serpent, the Devil, crossed the line.

“So the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he [Jesus] will crush your head, and you [the Devil] will strike his heel.” ‘ “ (Gen. 3:14,15)

You and I are the offspring of the woman. We have been chosen to be God’s right arm in battle. Every follower of Christ, without exception, is called to take his or her place on the front lines.

At Cornerstone, we don’t want to be in denial about the reality of the battle. Church is not about creating a nice cozy place for fellowship — it is base camp; it is the war room; it is boot camp; it is the troops preparing for D-Day. To that end, we have created a system of military-style ranks that lets our members know what their role is in the Cornerstone army, and how they can step up in leadership. This guide explains the responsibilities of each rank.

THE PRIVATE

         Every Christian should become at least a private. No matter how far he or she goes in rank, the duties of the private are the responsibility of everyone in the Lord’s army.

            Every individual is expected to (1) have a daily personal walk with God — listening to God through His Word, talking to God through prayer

— and (2) share that walk with others. 

The private level is the basic building block of the whole army. In fact, all the elements of the Christian life are in embryonic form at this level

— so every Christian is in training for higher levels of leadership. Not all will make it to the next level, but all should at least die trying.

A WORD ABOUT WALKING WITH GOD:

Every relationship, even with God, is developed through repeated talking and listening.

The most simple and trustworthy way to listen to God is to read the Bible. When you read the Bible, God is talking to you.

Bible reading is not just reading God. It is integral to your relationship to God. You need to hear what God has to say in His Word, experience its truth, hear from Him again, experience some more — over and over. Once you have the beginnings of a relationship with God, you start to understand how God talks and the kinds of things He says.

The most basic, simple way to talk to God is to pray. Prayer is talking to a personal God who listens. Talking to God can take on many forms. You might begin with a pattern of praise, confession, thanksgiving, and requests. As you talk more often, you might find yourself praying all the time, without guides to help you.

SERGEANT

         A sergeant is the head of a family. Every private in this family is working on a relationship with God, and the group is going to help each succeed. This includes families living together, extended families spread out over distances, and surrogate families for those without blood relatives.

            The sergeant’s job is to bring the best out of each member of the family. Every family is expected to meet at least once a week — to talk and listen, sing, read the Bible, pray, and perhaps plan schedules. 

The family is the heart and soul of the army. It is where bonds are made that last a lifetime. This where the common cause is ingrained. By challenging, encouraging, and honoring the privates in their walks with God, and by keeping them accountable before each other, the sergeant is training each private to one day become a sergeant for his or her own family.

A WORD ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY:

As Americans, we have grown accustomed to privacy and do not like to admit our weaknesses to others. But in an army, the struggle of one soldier is of concern to all. Each depends on the others, and all have a right to know where each one is. The Christian life is not a solo venture.

A WORD ABOUT HONORING YOUR SOLDIERS: In our world we recognize sports excellence with trophies, educational accomplishment with grades and diplomas, occupational achievements with titles and pay raises. In this church, nothing is more important than that each member have an alive and vital walk with God. We let people know when they are on the right track. Honoring may take the form of verbal thanks, physical awards, or acts of service.

CORPORAL

         A corporal is the leader of a group of sergeants. This level is important because the battle is most intense at the family level: marriage battles, parenting battles, family issues. Sergeants, the leaders of families, need help to stick with it and must lean on other sergeants for support.

            The corporal will help shape sergeants into better leaders through support and challenge. Weekly meetings offer a time to share struggles, find direction, and set goals.

Most people are not natural born sergeants, but fell into the role by having kids or being the responsible one in a group. The corporal is an experienced leader who will train others in how to lead. Without a corporal, a family is cut off and on its own, but with one, the family has instruction, direction, and support from nearby families.

A WORD ABOUT PROMOTION:

Moving up in rank does not happen for reasons of seniority or even talent. Getting promoted happens only by proving oneself capable at the earlier rank. If a person does not have a daily

walk with God at the level of private, he or she cannot be awarded the rank of sergeant of corporal even if the person is leading a family or small group in devotions. A personal walk with God is necessary to be leader within our church.

A WORD ABOUT HUMILITY:

You will notice that our insignias feature

more stripes the higher the rank, but this does not mean that we create hierarchy. Instead, we define a stripe in the sense that Isaiah 53:5 uses it — “By his stripes, we are healed” (NKJV). A stripe indicates suffering and servanthood, which our leaders must take on for others. No power belongs to anyone except Jesus, the head of the army and our one true commander.

CA P TAIN

         A captain will oversee a small number of corporals — essentially, be in charge of the health of many groups of families. Captains form the core leadership of the church.

            Captains meet weekly for breakfast with the general (the pastor of the church), and meet weekly with their group of corporals — serving as a liaison between the two. Captains hear about the struggles and successes in each corporal’s group, and offer recognition, encouragement, and accountability to help the corporals. Captains also convey the pastor’s guidance and instruction to the corporals to be passed down the ranks.

Captains are the ears with which the general hears about the fitness of his troops, and the mouths through which he directs the troops.

This group of leaders allows the army to function as a whole instead of as many arms.