The Locker Room: A Biblical Paradigm of Church

By Jeff S. Mann

With few exceptions, churches across America are static or in decline. In an increasingly hostile postmodern culture, the church should be boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and shining like a star. Yet we are having no impact and we are increasingly considered irrelevant. Faithfully using scripture as a guide, Jeff S. Mann reminds us of our mission, calls us back to biblical basics, and challenges us to step out in faith to go beyond the walls of our churches in the love of Christ to deliver a message of hope.

Believing there is still hope for the world, Mann writes to average church members in everyday language. Gods plan for redemption is shown to be accomplished only through the incarnation and suffering of Christ and the fulfillment of the Great Commission. To bring glory to God and impact our world, Mann uses the Bible to help provide understanding as to who we are, why we are here, and how God tells us to operate. In other words, the church must become more like a locker room.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490846583

Jeff S. Mann

Jeff S. Mann is a pastor, mentor, and conference speaker with a passion and burden for God’s church. Holding degrees in engineering and theology, he has been in the ministry since 1982 and has broad experience in various aspects of missions and ministry. He and his family live near Huntsville, Alabama.

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 Jeff Mann.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible® Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4657-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4658-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014913827

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/13/2014

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter One The Plan

Chapter Two THE PLAN, Phase Two

Chapter Three Dragging Rags

Chapter Four Back to Basics

Chapter Five Roles & Responsibilities

Chapter Six Members of the Body

Chapter Seven Where do we go from here?

Preface

In 1991, at the ripe old age of 32, I almost quit the ministry. Had it not been for a perfectly timed and clear call from God to go back to school I probably would have thrown in the towel. As always, God had a better plan.

The source of my frustration at the time was the church itself. I had long before grown tired of churches playing games. The churches I’d previously served seemed to be oblivious to anything but their own desires and needs. Finding a consistent resistance to change and a seemingly unswerving commitment to complacency, I had been running into one wall after another. My frustration level had peaked and I really was contemplating quitting when God led me to a biblically solid and conservative college well outside my little world of north Alabama. During the remainder of 1991 I was on a quest to find out what church was really supposed to be about. While I was being challenged academically by professors in the classes I was taking, the Holy Spirit was also at work in me through my personal study of His word.

Eventually, God led me to Hebrews 13. Doing a thorough exegesis of this amazing chapter, I came to verses 12 and 13. I was reminded of our Savior’s words regarding the least of these (Matthew 25:40) and heard the command to go to them outside the gates. When I read verse 14, however, I was stumped.

For we do not have an enduring city here, instead, we seek one to come.

I remember reading this and asking for understanding. Almost immediately I remembered my grandfather talking about revivals in rural Alabama following the Great Depression. When churches would hold revivals people would come by foot, horseback, wagons, and in cars if they had them. The churches, lacking modern amenities such as air conditioning, would pass out fans and the windows would be opened for ventilation. When the church buildings would fill up, people who could not find a seat would stand outside and listen through the open windows. My grandfather said he remembered people outside calling to those inside, saying, Tell him to preach louder. We can’t hear!

In that moment I realized what has happened to the church in America. We have closed the windows and stained the glass in them. We’ve cushioned our seats and treated ourselves to the comfort of zoned heating and air conditioning. In doing so, we’ve pulled inside the walls of our churches, isolating and insulating ourselves from the messy world around us. In a sudden flash of understanding, I saw that we’ve turned our churches into walled cities. Coming to church has replaced the Bible’s mandate to be the church. In my study that day, God gave me not only a picture of what is wrong, but what must be done to make it right. Since that day, my burden for His church and my personal mission have remained the same. It is summed up in three simple words: Beyond the Walls.

Those of us who are sports fans appreciate the instruction, training, and preparation necessary for an athlete or a team to win games. Particularly for teams, much of that is done in a locker room. As God’s people, we need to realize that while we are not in a game, we have been given a mission. We are not called to win a championship, but rather to win the world for the Champion of Champions, Jesus Christ. To do that we’ll have to function like a team. To become a winning team we must indeed go beyond the walls, however, we first need to be equipped and trained. To do so successfully we must become more like a locker room.

The book itself has been a work in progress that has spanned almost 30 years of ministry. Teaching the mission and operation of the church in conference and revival settings, I’ve been consistently encouraged to write a book. My hesitation in writing has always been due to the fact that I am just