Pastor's Circle - Johnnie Moore

Rev. Johnnie Moore serves at Liberty University as Vice President and Campus Pastor. He joined the Pastor's Circle do talk about the "healthy soul". Here are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview. 

What is "health" in the Kingdom of God?

We're talking about someone who is living how they were designed to live. We sometimes forget that we were created in the image of God.

When I talk about a healthy soul, I'm talking about getting to that place again with God.

We worry about healthy minds and healthy bodies, and sometimes we forget about our souls.

Why is it hard for us to prioritize like Jesus talks about in Luke 14?

America is the Disney Land of the world. When the Gospel of Jesus Christ comes into a desperate context, you really realize what you have with the gospel. Jesus isn't just your religion, he is everything.

Somehow in America, even if you live in a less Christian part of the country, we're a Christian nation, and we don't value our faith as much. We have a very small view of the Kingdom of God.

We have the most priceless commodity in the universe in the palm of our hand, but it's like we have the Hope Diamond and we treat it as if it were a piece of crystal.

The love you have for Jesus should make all these other loves look like a different word.

Another thing is that we're incredibly distracted. There are spiritual issues that keep us away from the right priorities, but there are also physical ones.

How can we balance being in a Christian environment and being in ministry?

I think it's both/and, not either/or. It's perfectly appropriate to say that for a portion of your life, you're in a Christian community learning the Word of God, and then you are sent out.

Jesus has taught us that you have discipleship moments and environments when you get to explore your faith. But at the same time, Jesus prayed over his disciples that they would not be taken out of the world, but left in it.

That's part of our problem. We don't know how to relate to the world, because we're not even in it. We've kind of become gluttons of grace in our own environment.

"If you make disciples by sitting around and talking, don't be surprised if your disciples sit around and talk." Agree?

Absolutely. And the only way that happens is intentionally. You have to push people out and get them out in new contexts.

From the very beginning at Liberty, one of our core values has been an "action-oriented curriculum."

Everyone is focused on bringing people into churches. It's much more difficult to push them out. And they will never come in if they don't see people outside.