Category: Church

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In The Bet by Anton Chekhov, a lawyer made a bet with a banker that he could stay in solitary confinement for fifteen years. If he did the banker would pay him two million dollars. During the imprisonment the lawyer read an extraordinary number of books, on a wide variety of subjects. At the end of the fifteen years, the lawyer escaped five minutes before the time was up, thus losing the bet. The night before, he had written a note that read, in part,
“And I despise your books, despite all worldly blessings and wisdom. Everything is
void, frail, visionary and delusive as a mirage. Though you be proud and wise and
beautiful, yet will death wipe you from the face of the earth like the mice underground;
and your posterity, your history, and the immortality of your men of genius will be
as frozen slag, burnt down together with the terrestrial globe.

You are mad, and gone the wrong way. You take lie for truth and ugliness for beauty.
You would marvel if by certain conditions frogs and lizards should suddenly grow
on apple and orange trees, instead of fruit, and if roses should begin to breathe the odor of
a sweating horse. So do I marvel at you, who have bartered heaven for earth. I do not
want to understand you.”

An argument could be made that the lawyer’s note shows the emptiness of man’s wisdom and learning without Jesus Christ. On the other hand, think about it from a different angle. What if the words in the note were written to the church? What if the church today is built on man’s wisdom and pride, and is frail and delusive as a mirage? What if we are mad and have gone the wrong way, taking lies for truth? What if the church has bartered heaven for earth?

I think I’m going to have to think about this for awhile.

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The Presence of God

Have you ever been in a church service and heard someone pray and thank God for the chance to come into his house and worship in his presence? Or maybe you’ve prayed that yourself? I have. Or maybe you’ve sung the hymn, “In the Garden.” You know, the one that talks about meeting Jesus in a particular place at a particular time and then going out on your own into the world outside the “garden.” I think songs like “In the Garden,” and prayers that speak of “coming into” God’s presence have unwittingly helped foster a dualistic way of looking at the world.

Growing up, I was always taught that it was important to have a time and place set aside to “meet with God”, to spend some time reading the Bible and praying in order to be able to face the challenges of the day. We were told that first thing in the morning was the best. On top of that we should attend church services on Sunday morning and Sunday night to be prepared for the week ahead, and also show up on Wednesday night in order to refresh your faith for the second half of the week. Behind it all was the idea that if you weren’t in church three or more times a week and having your own devotional time, you weren’t spending enough time with God.

Don’t misunderstand me. I am NOT saying that setting aside a regular amount of time to read Scripture and pray is a bad thing. I am NOT saying that a time of corporate worship and instruction is a bad thing. I AM saying that we fall short of the life that Jesus came to give us when we act as if those are the only times we are in the presence of God.

I see this in the theology that teaches that salvation is only spiritual and guarantees that one day we will escape this old world of sin and misery and go to our home in heaven. I believe that if we see heaven as “somewhere beyond the blue”, it makes sense to believe that God isn’t really with us in our day-to-day, and that it is essential that we go to church a lot and carve out a special time to “meet” with God. While folks may protest that they don’t believe that, I think the evidence in their lives shows that they really do. Having said that, I know that there are people who use the words of this theology because that is what they grew up with, yet live as if they are always in the presence of God.

If we believe that God fills all of creation and that he is not limited to a particular place, then we can realize that heaven is all around us and that God is making all things new right now, and will finally restore his creation when Jesus returns. If we really believe that, then while we may set aside a certain time and place to focus on the Father, we will live in our day-to-day aware that we are continually in God’s presence and don’t have to rely on whether or not we had our “devotions that morning. We have the Spirit in us to guide us and reveal to us what God wants us to know and do.

Yes, we need to read and know the Bible. Yes, we need to pray. But we should never think that a certain time of the day or day of the week is the only time we are in God’s presence. As the Psalmist asked, where can we go where God is not there?

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Muddled

N.T. Wright uses the term “muddled” to describe those whose thinking is not altogether organized or clear. That word aptly describes where my head is at right now.

Most of you know that I am in the midst of trying to figure out what it is that God wants me to do concerning “church”, and the timing of that decision. I’m kind of in what imonk calls the “evangelical wilderness”. I’ve been trying for a couple of years to influence the congregation I worship with in a direction that is far different from church as they’ve always known it.

I started reading The Present Future by Reggie McNeal, and God is using it to break my heart and show me the ways I have actually hindered the Kingdom in an attempt to help. I grew up in very conservative churches where the feeling was that as the culture drifted farther and farther from God, the job of the church was to hunker down in the bunker and lob hand grenades of “truth” at the wicked ones who were outside. As my thinking changed I began to think that church was to be a place that was so dynamic, professional, and slickly packaged that it would attract folks to come into the church and be saved. That was my mindset as I began to try and influence change in the church.

Over the past few months, God has been shaping my thinking and showing me that his heart is toward the poor, the downcast, the oppressed. The Father has shown me that his grace is far bigger than I can realize and that attempts on my part to limit grace are not only doomed to failure, but are actually sin. He has shown me that my job is to do two things: go and be. I am to go, not only about my daily life, but intentionally where those away from God are. I am to be an ambassador of the King, a person who shows others the beauty of Jesus and the magnificence of the Kingdom.

Reggie McNeal writes about the mission of the church and how so much of what churches do are more for the comfort of the membership than for the Kingdom. I totally agree that the missio dei, the mission of God, is our calling as followers of Jesus Christ. What has muddled me, and twisted me up in a knot, is that I don’t know what to do next.

I know that what I write may be read by members of the current church (my post Autopsy caused a mini storm), but I have to be open here. I honestly don’t see the church moving beyond the “we need to focus on teaching our people and if the rest of the world ever catches on, they’ll come here ” mentality to a missional one. Because of this, I think my time there is quickly drawing to a close.

The question is, when and how? The pastor is a godly man who I have gotten to know and love over the past couple of years, and I have tried to be supportive of him and his family. He has tried to bring about needed change in the church, but has been met with opposition all along. My heart goes out to him, and that is what makes the decision to leave such a hard one.

I believe now that God is calling me to go down another road on my journey. Where that road will lead, I don’t know. Last Sunday night Jan and I joined with a group for worship and Bible study. Whether that will grow into something the Father wants us to be a part of remains to be seen. There are good people in that group, so even if God widens our circle of friends, it will be good.

Stay tuned to this channel. I’m sure adventures await.

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Fixed?

On Tuesday, October 28, John Fischer wrote about “falling into grace” here. In this article he wrote about churches full of Christians who attempt to give the appearance of being fixed rather than broken and needy. He then went on to speak of the burden this puts on those who act as if they are fixed, yet know deep down how broken they really are.

I started thinking that maybe a big reason for the impotence of today’s Church is the belief, or at least the appearance, that we are “fixed”. Think about it. What does a veterinarian do to a male dog to keep it from siring puppies? He “fixes” it. Maybe churches are not multiplying because the people inside are “fixed”. Maybe in our attempt to appear as if we have it all together, to “keep a good testimony”, we have neutered the Gospel.

We are all broken. We are all in desperate need of God’s grace in our day-to-day. None of us has it all together. As Switchfoot sings:
“We are a beautiful letdown,
Painfully uncool,
The church of the dropouts
The losers, the sinners, the failures and the fools…”

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Love

The more I hear and the more I see around me, the more I am convinced that the church in America has failed to keep the two commandments that Jesus said were the greatest, the two “rules” on which everything else hangs. Those two greatest commandments are love God with everything we have and love others as we love ourselves. Jesus later said that the love we have for others is the one thing that will prove we are his disciples.

What I see out there instead is Christians attacking other Christians on the radio, on blogs, or in books in the name of “defending truth”, as if truth needed to be defended. So many of these attacks do not even address the “truth” involved, but instead are directed at the individuals who do not toe the particular party line. I have heard and read things about people that would make you think they are the second coming of Judas or some other, even more evil person.

When those outside of the faith look at the church and see the fighting that goes on over things that are not essential to following Jesus, is it any wonder that they shake their heads and determine not to have anything to do with us? Sure, there are some things which are core to faith in Christ. But there are so many others that can be left up to each individual’s conscience and guidance from the Holy Spirit. (For a good article on this, check out: http://dankimball.typepad.com – “what to use for a metaphor of ‘core’ and ‘non-core’ beliefs”)

While we follow the Truth, and we do have a true and accurate record of God’s dealings with humans throughout history, none of us has all of the truth that God has. In fact, I believe that when we stand before God, he will tell us that there were certain things that nobody got right, that he had something totally different in mind.

Since none of us is perfect, and none of us has all of the truth hidden away in our tiny little minds, why not concentrate on what our Savior told us is the most important thing? Love God with every fiber of our being, and then love everyone else as we love ourselves.

Think about the impact that would have.

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Go To Church?

One of the interesting things about my trip to my alma mater for homecoming was a chance to sit in chapel for a Bible conference session. It gave me a chance to reflect on some of the changes that have happened in my thinking since I graduated lo, these many years ago.

The speaker was talking about growing up in the church and his question of why we go to church. He had never received an adequate answer, so he began to search out reasons to go to church. His sermon was based on that research.

He presented a number of verses where Israel was reminded of the time that God met with them when they were “in assembly” at Sinai. He also showed where God met with the nation in a special way when they were “in assembly” at the Tabernacle or the Temple. My thought was that, since Christ is risen from the grave, we have the presence of God within us at all times and don’t need to go to a special place to “meet” him.

He then moved to the New Testament, where he talked about how the Greek word “ecclesia“, which is translated “church” in the English Bible, is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for “assembly”. He then continued to state that in the New Testament God worked in a special way through the assembly or church.

Fair enough. Where I found myself in the sharpest disagreement (and where my thinking has changed the most), is in the idea of what church is. I was taught that, while there was a “Universal Church” made up of all believers, the focus was on the local church and its programs. We were even taught to be somewhat wary of para-church organizations because they might siphon resources away from the local church. Discipleship essentially consisted of getting new converts involved in the life of the local church.

I no longer see “the church” as an organization that meets in a particular place at a particular time, and has a constitution, by-laws, etc. I believe that all followers of Jesus the Christ are the church. Now, I really don’t have a whole lot against those who, as the church, decide to gather together in a particular place and time, with a constitution and by-laws. my problem is with the concept of “going to church”, of thinking of the things we do and the structures we have put in place as church.

When we see going to a place on a Sunday morning and listening to a sermon, lecture, talk, whatever, as church; we have missed the idea of what church is. The church is the body of Christ. We are the ones who are to carry out the mission of God in this world. We are the ones who are to be making disciples of Jesus. We are the ones who are to be proclaiming that there is a King and a Kingdom, that Jesus Christ is reigning now and will come again to set all things right, and that he calls people repent and follow him. We can and should be doing those things independently of any organizational program or structure. We are not called to make church members, but disciples.

Now, before you accuse me of saying that we should all go out and do our own thing, let me state that I believe that Scripture teaches us that we are to assemble together as the church. But, the church is what is assembling together, not the place where we go. And, the church can assemble together in a variety of places at different times, whether in an auditorium on a Sunday, a home on a Saturday evening, a coffee shop through the week, or a pub. I don’t believe that what most of us knew as “church” growing up is the only expression of the body of Christ assembling together.

I do believe that some things are essential for an assembly: the Word, fellowship, prayer, and the Lord’s Supper. Beyond that it can be left up to the leading of the Holy Spirit. I also believe that the assembly is to be something that teaches us to follow Jesus in our day-to-day lives and that teaches and encourages us to go out and make disciples.

We miss the boat when we think of church as something we “go to” rather than something we are. Maybe this is why many churches are not growing, and many of the ones that are are drawing in those from other churches who are already Christians.

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Church As Franchise

Slate magazine has an article here on multi-site churches that are being set up by some of the megachurches around the country. I see some problems with this way of “doing church”.

First, in these churches the video venues are set up in order for people who live in another area to hear one particular pastor preach. This can create a celebrity status that some of these men will not be able to handle. How many times have we seen leaders of large congregations or “ministries” fall to temptations brought about by being famous and powerful.

The second problem is the lack of opportunity for people to plant churches in areas and be the instrument God uses to have an impact on the community. With the video churches, anyone new coming into an area may have to “compete” with the nationally known preacher who is on the screen down the block.

The first two problems are not insumountable, and in some areas may not even be problems at all, but the third problem I see is one that is far more serious.

The franchising of megachurches and their pastors helps to perpetuate the wrong idea that the “main event” on Sunday morning is church. Too many still believe the old Sunday school song about church and see “church” as a place you go to. This place may be an old, ornate building with a steeple, or it may be a movie theater. It may be a school gymnasium or it may even be a coffee shop or pub. The type of place doesn’t matter, they still see church as a place to go on Sunday.

While you are at church you sit and sing a few songs, and then are entertained by the speaker. I have heard it said that the prefered type of entertainment in our churches is the pastor’s sermon. You may be inspired. You may be challenged. You may even be moved to action. But looking at the spiritual state of our churches today, how many are being changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ?

In every place the word church appears in Scripture, the idea is that of a group of people, not a building or location. The church is not seen as something you go to, but rather as something you are a part of. To steal Paul’s analogy of the church as a body, how well would your physical body function if the arms, legs, etc. only came together once a week to do what you do? I would guess not a whole lot would be accomplished. The parts of your physical body need to be together all the time in order for you to carry out the things you do day-to-day. In the same way, how can we expect the church to carry out the mission of God in advancing his Kingdom if we only get together once, or even three times, a week to sit and hear someone talk. We need to be making disciples of the Rabbi, followers of the true King. The only way this is going to get done is if we get out of the four walls of “church” and realize that we are the church. We need to do what Jesus and the original twelve did, and go to those in need and give them the good news that there is a better way, a way that leads to an abundant, free, eternal life. I fear that a church franchise will do little more than shuffle sheep from church to church.

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China

In the midst of the coverage of the Olympics and the gushing about how wonderful things are in China, please don’t forget that there are many in that country that do not have the freedoms that we enjoy here in the United States. This comes from Voice of the Martyrs:

Pastor Zhang “Bike” Mingxuan, known for traveling across China on a bicycle to evangelize, was arrested by Chinese police just two days before the Olympics began. Pastor Bike was the inspiration for the recent partnership between The Voice of the Martyrs and China Aid Association to create the Olympic Prayer Band.

Pastor Asks for Prayer BandEarlier this year, Pastor Bike pleaded with VOM staff to ask Christians to pray for persecuted Christians in China during the Olympics. The pastor voluntarily preaches the gospel openly in China despite being persecuted. He has asked for his identity to be revealed to bring continued attention to the persecution of Christians in Communist China.
Thanks to Pastor Bike’s inspiration and the commitment of concerned Christians across the United States, more than 800,000 prayer bands have been circulated. On Aug. 6, Pastor Bike was arrested while trying to deliver medicine to his ailing wife. His wife and another pastor were also arrested. We have also learned this week that Chinese officials are opening a full investigation of the Olympic Prayer Bands that were distributed to house church members within China. Despite this increased pressure from Chinese authorities, Chinese Christians continue to ask for prayer and to make their plight known.

You can learn more about the Olympic Prayer Band here.

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Taking What for Whom?

A Former Leader has asked what people think of when they hear of certain apostolic groups speaking of taking their city for Jesus. I’m not real familiar with charismatic, apostolic churches so
I’m looking at it from a slightly different point of reference.

There is a group here in town that calls itself the “Taking the City Ministry”. I’ve always wondered just what they mean. I’ve also heard different fundamental, evangelical speakers talk of taking America back. Taking it back from what? When was it taken away? When we do get it back, what are we going to do with it?

Who is going to be in charge and what laws will they come up with? Will we have to follow Old Testament laws, like stoning unruly children? Don’t laugh, it’s been proposed. Will we be forced by the new government to pay tithes to a church, and if so, what church? Is the Kingdom of God really supposed to be brought in by force?

The Kingdom is already here. Yes, there is a sense in which it is still to come, but the King has come. He does rule over all. But his kingdom is not one of power and force. It is a kingdom of love and grace. We cannot “take” a city or nation by electing the “right” people to public office or by passing more laws. Our calling is to go out and make followers of Jesus. He is the one who changes things by changing hearts.

Check this out at Windblown Hope.

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Lesson in Grace

It is so true that, when we least expect it, God brings things our way to teach us. Last Friday, I had a run-in with a boy in my class. He is a Christian and is not afraid to let everyone know it. He can also be a behavior problem at times. His attitude toward school and authority is not what you would call good, and occasionally we will clash.

He came into class griping about something, and was some what disrespectful to the teacher I work with. After listening for a bit, I had had enough. I said, “If you’re going to act the way you do, and have that kind of attitude, just stop calling yourself a Christian.”

Last night, God told me that I needed to apologize for my self righteous arrogance. I came in this morning and called the student aside and apologized to him. Somehow, in the middle of my apology, I got the brilliant idea that this was an opportunity to teach this young man about grace. Instead, he reached out his hand and said, “That’s okay, I know we all have problems and things God is working on us about. I know I’ve got anger issues, and I’m trying to deal with it.” Then he shook my hand and went to class. Then God reached out and lightly smacked me on the back of the head. I realized that I was the one who needed to learn the lesson about grace. In effect, what the student had said to me is, “It’s okay, we’re all broken in some way. But you’re my brother so I love you”.

That’s what God says to us. “I know you’re not perfect, and you’re going to screw up. But you’re my child and I love you”. “My grace is big enough to cover everything”.

Because God has given us the gift of his unending grace, we need to extend that same grace to those we come in contact with. Because we’re all broken and we all need grace, both from God and from each other.