Time To Give Up On Church or Time to Be The Church

There are lots of things that make people stop going to church. And there are other things that make people really not want to go at all. I bet you’ve had Sundays where you dread going to church. Like it was the furthest thing from what you wanted to do. Maybe it’s because you didn’t want to see someone or a group of people. Maybe you just had something else that you wanted to do. Whatever the case, you just dreaded going to church.

If you’ve had those days – if today is even one of those days, you aren’t alone. We’ve probably all been there at some point. And the statistics show that more and more people are not interested in church. A recent Barna Survey said church attendance has been declining nationwide over the past 20 years. The Barna and Gallup polls show a decline from 40 to 36% of Americans who attend church regularly—once every 4-6 weeks. One more sad statistic: In a 2002 survey of almost 1200 U.S. churches, Thom Rainer’s research team found that only 6 percent of the churches were growing. Stated inversely, 94% of our churches are losing ground in the communities they serve. Thankfully, we are one of the 6%.

That might not be the worst of it. Of those that do come, I wonder how many are being dragged to church. How many are coming because a spouse guilts them into it? How many are coming because it’s tradition or habit, but who really would rather just stay home? I fear it is a large percentage. Lots of reasons could be given for this decline and this apathetic attitude. We could blame everything from busyness to technology to secular world views to churches just not keeping up with the culture. And while those things may be contributing, we also need to take a look at ourselves.

One of the greatest lies of our time is that one can church alone. I constantly hear the idea of being church or of being a Christian without actually being part of a church. I’m not buying the idea that anybody is doing this or can actually do this well. For if you are actually a Christian without a church, you will naturally start a church. A church is the natural result of radically following Jesus. If you are following Jesus and living out the Jesus life in your neighborhood and workplace, you will start mentoring others. You will start teaching them. You will start praying with them. You will find ways to serve alongside them. This is the result of following Jesus. You may not sing songs together because that isn’t essential to church.

Church, at its essence, is just a disciple-making machine, an example of the kingdom – God’s people living the way they were designed to live together. So if you just use the excuse of being a church wherever you are without actually being the church – if you use that as an excuse to just be an isolated, selfish Christian, you aren’t being a Christian at all, let alone being the church. For if you are actually being a Christian without church, you will naturally start a church. But that isn’t going to stop people using the “I’m a Christian without church” saying as an excuse to just be selfish, maybe nationalistic, individualistic, possibly new agey, follower of yourself disguised as God.

I get it. Church is hard. And we would much rather do what will make us more money, give us more pleasure, or entertain us. There are struggles, sacrifices, and difficulties in having the relationship were are called to have.

Each one of us has been made for community. It’s in our DNA. God created life to be lived in community. There have been scientific studies that have shown the importance of human touch. We write books about friendships and companionship. Popular TV shows show us the community we long for. But we don’t experience it because we don’t make decisions in life by considering what will make our community better. Instead, we just ask what do I want. All through the bible you have examples of people in community with each other. Life wasn’t meant to be lived isolated from others. I’m reminded of the quote from Into The Wild: Happiness is only real when shared.”

If you have ever used charcoal on a grill you see a very vivid picture of this concept. Coals need to be near one another, to feed off each other. If you move one coal over to the side, eventually it starts to die out and cool off. But when you put that dying coal back into the rest of the coals and stir it up, it begins to get hot again and glow. That’s us. We function better when we are part of a community.

The beautiful thing is that God established the church to be that place of community. That place where people wanted to go to and be a part of because they were accepted, loved, made to feel like they had worth. In our world, true community is hard to come by and the church is to be a place where people who have different interests, hobbies, and are from different walks of life can still have community with each other because we share the same Lord and Savior. Gluten lovers and Gluten free people can be brothers and sisters. Vegetarians and carnivores. Ford drivers and GM drivers. iPhone users and Android users. Democrats and Republicans can worship together as fellow citizens in the kingdom. 

Listen to what Paul wrote the church in Corinth:

But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,  that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.  Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 1 Corinthians 12:24b-27 (ESV)

Paul says that we are all part of the same body. There’s no division. There’s no classes or castes. One group—one community—that is concerned for each other. Who are there to laugh with one another. To cry with one another. To celebrate with one another. To do life with one another. See, the goal of a healthy church is to provide the opportunity to be part of a healthy community to everyone, regardless of wealth, social status, or biological family. Blut we have to be that healthy community to have people join it.

In order for that to happen we must cultivate an atmosphere of being focused on one another, not just on Sundays but all through the week. Because if the church becomes all about me, and what I like, and what I prefer, and what I want to see happen, then true community does not happen. If I neglect coming regularly, it becomes about me and not what I can do for others. And we see the effects of that attitude. People leave churches all the time because either their preferences aren’t being met.

See the church is not supposed to be a place where everyone looks alike, acts alike, or even agrees about every single thing. But it must be a place devoid of selfishness and full of putting one another first.

Peter wrote:

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.  Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.  As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:  whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:8-11 (ESV)

Peter makes it clear the sort of qualities that epitomize healthy churches—love, hospitality, service.

As a church, we need to love one another. Peter draws on Proverbs 10:12 to affirm the power of Christian love.

Early Christianity regarded love as the foundational ethic for the community of believers. In other words, the easiest way to tell if someone was a believer was to see how they loved. Because their world was like our world—full of selfish, unloving people. But as redeemed, forgiven people we are called to be different. And love has profound effects. It can result in forgiveness and reconciliation when people have been harmed or wronged. In this way, love overcomes sin. So even though someone commits an offense against you, love bears it.

Peter mentions hospitality also. Hospitality without grumbling. But this is more than taking someone’s coat or setting out a platter of crackers and cheese. In the ancient world, hospitality was one of the most important things one could do. Basically hospitality is the generous and gracious treatment of guests. Hospitality should be part of our life day in and day out.

Love. Hospitality. Serving one another. Peter ends with serving. We all have gifts from God. Some are spiritual. Some are just tangible, material things. And healthy, attractive churches that are functioning properly are full of people who are serving each other. Are you putting what you are good at to use for the betterment of the church? Being different parts of the body, we all bring different gifts and abilities to the church. I love the way Peter describes service—good stewards of God’s grace. In other words, God has poured out grace on us and now God expects us to share that same grace. We serve with the abilities God has provided us without any expectation in return.

Love, hospitality, and serving one another—churches that do these things are growing. Churches that are doing these things are attractional as we live missional lives. But the reality is that we won’t do these things when we are livings selfishly.  Living this sort of life—a life of love, hospitality, and service to one another is radicial in today’s culture. Cultivating this sort of environment at church—is costly. It’s not easy, by any means. It requires us to give of selves in significant ways. It requires sacrificing of what we want and what is easy for a harder, but more satisfying option.

In his book, Dissident Discipleship, David Augsburger tells this parable about cost and sacrifice:

Long ago in a distant land, a prince dreamed of creating more than a geographical or political kingdom. He dreamed of establishing a community in which all persons were committed to each other in loyalty and equality, where every person sought the welfare of the neighbor even at a cost to the self. So the prince called a great meeting of all the heads of clans, all the wise and trusted people of the land, and dared to tell his dream. Each chieftain and his clan were invited to join in the foundation of a new society. As part of the community's inauguration, each was requested to search his cellar for the best wine produced from his ancestral vines. These treasured bottles would be uncorked, poured into a great communal vat, and blended, as the true community it represented, into a common vintage.

"How can I mix my exquisite wine with that of my neighbors?" asked one of the winegrowers invited to this covenanting. "I would sacrifice the unique variety of grape, the special climate of the year, the sweetness of a late harvest, the indefinable magic of bouquet, and I would violate my art as a winemaker. Impossible! Give up my distinct variety? Lose my separate self? I will not be adulterated in such a common cup."

So he corked a bottle of tap water, affixed his most beautiful label to the bottle, and at the time of the ritual poured the water ceremoniously into the vat, thinking that nobody would notice one bottle of water mixed in with all the other bottles of wine. When the covenanting was solemnized, all filled their glasses for the communal draft, the toast that would seal commitment to community. As the cups touched their lips, all knew the truth. It was not wine. It was water. No one had been willing to pay the cost of community.

I fear we have been pouring water into our church rather than our treasure. Pouring only that which is no sacrifice. Jesus is Lord and we seek his kingdom only when it’s convenient.

Good, loving, serving, irresistible communities don’t just happen. It requires work. It requires sacrifice. It requires paying the cost. Because from what I see as I read the New Testament, I see that Christianity is many things. But one thing it is not: a weekend option between all the things we could fill our time with. If you are serious about building a community in this church, then you need to invest in the people and ministries of this church. Not just showing up sporadically on Sunday mornings. Not just giving a cursory greeting to people as you pass by. But investing in them.

Church is not just about gathering together at a certain time on Sunday morning. Irresistible churches are more than that. Love, hospitality, and serving one another. And it starts with us—how we view ourselves. How we view others. How we steward the grace we have been given. How we sacrifice and invest in one another. That’s how communities are built and are sustained. That’s how churches go from an optional weekend activity to the most irresistible force in the world.

King David wrote:

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!  It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!  It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. Psalm 133:1-3 (ESV)

It is pleasant to live together in unity. Unity is like oil that heals rifts. It is a symbol of God’s presence. It is the cure for what ails our world. So may we be the balm that this world and our churches desperately need. I know we are called to much more than we’re currently experiencing, but we have to change to get that. May we pray, and love, and show hospitality and serve one another and become a place where no one must be dragged to. But that we all eagerly join and invest in. Whether you’re young or old, you have a place in this church. A role to play. An important piece of our puzzle. Loving, showing hospitality, and serving one another begins with you.

co-written with Sam Long.

Our Zeal Tempered With Loving Those We Disagree With

In the Protestant world (or Reformed if you prefer), each viewpoint eventually becomes an issue worth dividing over. Time and time again, churches splinter and people leave churches over the silliest of issues. Each denomination and religious group has a heritage of splintering because each Protestant group divided from another group at their origin. This fragmentation is exacerbated by our desire to be right on the truth and stand up for what we believe in. During the whole process, we have the tendency to demonize the people sharing another viewpoint. Forget sharing the "truth in love;" we share the truth and leave no room for dissenters.

We turn every stance into a reason for separation. Even on the essentials, we need to make sure that they are always expressed in love. Not having a clearly defined statement on what the essentials are, we find ourselves in a world of confusion. What issues are worth standing up for? The trinity, the structure of the church, the role of women, spiritual gifts, the Lord's Supper, loving our neighbor. We are left with every point, including the minutest points that we understand differently from everyone else, becoming an essential because it is essential for us to live out the truth, even to the minutest details, as we understand it.

I was recently stuck with looking in the mirror when I read through Shane Claiborne's Irresistible Revolution. Encountering someone that follows Christ in a way somewhat different from myself, I realized how I must sound to those that follow Christ differently than me. Being so excited and zealous for the way I am called to live out the gospel, I confuse my personal calling for a universal calling. I have the tendency to try and shoehorn everyone into my way of following Christ.

The blessing, and frustration at times, of the Bible is that it is vague on the specifics of how we are to live out the life of Christ here and now. We are given broad principles - love your neighbor, glorify God, make disciples - but we are left without many specifics on the lesser details. I should always view that as a blessing. Being a Christian is not about some legalistic checklist that we can complete and be done with; it is about knowing God and bringing about his will in our specific circumstances. Every person alive has a different situation that they find themselves in, yet there is a best course for that situation. We need to be close enough to God that we can discern his leading and the path we are supposed to go down. Being a Christian is not about knowing a book but about living the life God would have us live here and now. The Book should be a tool to help us do that.

We need to find a way to let our passion be kindled while at the same time always exemplifying love to those we disagree with.

"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."

Killing Community

I'm frustrated with organizations and others who spend so much time tearing down others rather than just focusing on what they can be doing to make things better.

Your family. Your town. Your church. Your school. Every organization you know can become fragmented and lose steam from an individual unleashing malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander (see 1 Peter 2:1). And it’s contagious. Once one starts behaving inappropriately others just join in creating a downward spiral that leads to destruction and death rather than life and freedom.

Malice. The thought of wishing ill on someone. A secret desire that the opposition will fail. Doesn’t seem all that bad, does it? But it’s the start. Once we allow ourselves to root for evil in the life of another, we have allowed evil to enter into our lives.

Deceit. Being fake with the intention of tricking. At its worst, it is like the lure in a trap when hunting. It offers food for the prey, and then traps them. You see this in debates a lot. We are not to be that way. We are to be truthful and frank bringing peace and joy. We are to say what we mean and mean what we say while leaving the debating tricks to those who want to win debates rather than build a better tomorrow.

Hypocrisy. The acting of a theater performer. Instead of changing to be who God wants them to be, a hypocrite is like a chameleon. They change depending on the crowd they are currently in with the hope, sometimes unrecognized, to manipulate others into giving them what they want. At their worst, they will be your friend to your face and attack you behind your back.

Envy. Similar to malice except that an envious person doesn’t want the other person to be blessed. Instead of desiring the best for those around them, an envious person demands to have the best. Envy will always try to creep in and tell you that you deserve more than others, especially those who have wronged you. You can tell when you have truly forgiven someone for a wrong they have done to you when you are rooting for them to be blessed rather than frustrated at their blessings.

Slander. The sin of the small town. Back-biting and speaking negatively about others behind their back. It is the snake that slithers in and squeezes out all unity and life.

These are common sins that destroy relationships rather than draw people together. They dismantle rather than assemble. They burn bridges rather than build them. Tomorrow can be better than today in our family, town, church, and every other group we are part of if we remove from ourselves all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.

Is it any wonder that America is in the state it is? Our political scene is inundated with one attack after another. Instead, let us offer up an alternative. Not just in the political arena – although that is welcomed – but in our daily lives. Let us long for truth and spirituality that will spur us toward living the life God has called us to live. Let us look at what we can do to improve the life of those around us rather than obsessing over attacking others. We are called to be people of worship. Self-sacrifice, like Jesus modeled and Paul taught, is one of greatest acts of worship.

The world will never be changed by those who are obsessed about tearing others down. It will only be changed by those who deny themselves, invest in others, and build something better. That’s true in our families. That’s true in our towns. That’s true in our churches. Let us build a better tomorrow. I know of a good foundation.

A Failed Attempt at Unity - The Restoration Movement

I read parts of Christianity Restored by Alexander Campbell earlier this year.

My initial thought in reading the book was that Alexander Campbell threw away all of the established creeds and created a creed that was much more complex in what could be described as a “hermeneutical approach” creed.

Here are two defining quotes:

"Our opposition to creeds arose from a conviction, that whether the opinions in them were true or false, they were hostile to the uniion, peace, harmony, purity, and joy of christians; and adverse to the conversion of the world to Jesus Christ."

"All the differences in religious opinion and sentiment, amongst those who acknowledge the Bible, are occassioned by false principles of interpretation, or by a misapplication of the true principles. There is no law, nor standard--literary, moral, or religious--that can coerce human thought or action, by only promulging and acknowledging it. If a law can effect any thing, our actions must be conformed to it. Were all students of the Bible taught to apply the same rules of interpretation to its pages, there would be a greater uniformity in opinion and sentiment, than ever resulted from the simple adoption of any written creed."

Campbell then goes on to explain his hermeneutical principles for eighty-five pages. Instead of having a ten point creed, he produced an eighty-five page pseudo-creed. It was his firm belief that one must share hermeneutical methods in order to come to the same conclusions. I think he was somewhat correct in his belief that a unity could be achieved if we all shared the same hermeneutical methods; however, that unity would not be a genuine unity. It would be an “intellectual unity” that scholars could share but it would not unite the masses.

Alexander Campbell believed that intellectual unity would bring about a genuine unity; however, history shows that we can be intellectually divided and still have Christian unity or we can have intellectual unity and still be divided. I could beat my head against a wall trying to convince someone to intellectually agree with me. It would be more fruitful to get them to participate with me in action. Unity starts with sharing actions rather than sharing intellectual processes. Shared hermeneutics would result in a shared theology but that does not always translate into a shared spirituality. If we share actions, our differing theology might not matter all that much.

A friend of mine wrote: “Rather than ask how 18-19th century methods of reading ancient texts may guide the church's reading of Scripture, we might ask what contemporary methods are bearing fruit analyzing ancient texts and how such methods may be used to foster a shared hermeneutic for today.” The problem is that modern methods vary as the wind and location of the circumstances the scholar finds himself in. It seems that – at least in secular fields, particularly literature – the original intent of the author is irrelevant next to the interpretation of the reader. People seemed to be enthralled with movies like The Fountain where the writer/director refuses to tell what the point is and proclaims that everyone's interpretation is valid. This modern day approach cannot bring about a shared hermeneutic that would result in an intellectual unity.

Campbell's approach which was not even successful is no longer even practical. Unity will only come through humble communities of believers listening to the will of God.

Original comments below:

 shannoncaroland said...
No creeds but Christ... and this one, but that's it.

True: Writing Creeds has a way of being divisive as it leads hyper-analyzation.

Also True: Refusing to write or accept creeds is even more divisive, because you will be seen as placing yourself above the rest of Christendom.

Also Also True: Creed was a telantless Pearl Jam rip off.
JUNE 25, 2007 12:06 PM

 regan said...
I agree with all of your truths except even mentioning Pearl Jam in the same sentence as Creed is a disservice to the former.

Does your church have a creed?
JUNE 25, 2007 12:25 PM

 Sam said...
My church does not have a creed per se, but rather a "Statement of Faith." You can view it at http://centralholstoncc.org/Page.asp?PID=4

I had no pat in making it and it was around before I came to the church, but nonetheless.
JUNE 25, 2007 3:03 PM

Heresy, Rob Bell, Love Wins, Universalism, and the Christian Church

The problem in the "Rob Bell is now a heretic (although we already called him one when Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith was released)" is the confusion over the issues.  There are two significant issues at play, but people are dealing with them as if they are one.

The first issue is whether Bell a universalist.  A universalist is a person who believes that all people are saved in the end.  In the Christian perspective, this can take the approach that the blood of Jesus is for all humanity, whether they accept it or not.  Bell clearly answers, "No."  He is not a universalist.

But here is what Bell appears to be teaching.

He is a person that will accept a universalist as a brother or sister in Christ.

So the second issue is whether a universalist can be right with God.  Can a person be off on this issue and still have a relationship with Jesus?  In the interview, Bell was clear.  Our choices in this life are extremely relevant when we die, but he claims there is room in the Christian tradition for universalists.  He is not a universalist but will not condemn those who are.

For some reason, people can't separate the first issue from the second.  If Bell is going to be condemned for anything, it would be for accepting universalists as brothers and sisters in Jesus.  Maybe the issues shouldn't be separated because they might be equal "heresies."  Let's look at it.

It is similar to the baptism issue in Church of Christ/Christian Church circles.  For some it is an issue of division.  For most, it is not.  I fall into the it is not an issue of division camp.  I accept people as brothers and sisters in Jesus if they show fruit yet have not been baptized.  This does not stop me from teaching believer's baptism and its importance to all people who claim to be followers of Jesus.  Bell seems to be taking a similar approach with universalism. 

The pickle Bell finds himself in is that the anti-Bellers want him to defend being a universalist when he is isn't one. Due to this unfair situation, his answers appear weak because he is not defending what they have already concluded that he believes, universalism.  What he defended through the interview was that people can be universalists and still be Christians. Again, I will have to wait for my copy of the book that is scheduled to arrive today.  I am just going off of the interviews and publisher's hype. But I bet Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived won't even touch on Universalism. That subject was what the neo-reformed started attacking Bell on and Bashir went with it, but I wouldn't be surprised if the book doesn't even go there.

At the core, Bell is fighting for a principle that we, as Christian Church/Church of Christers, hold dear although we have a historical tendency to ignore. There is only a minimal set of essentials. It's not just our tradition.  The phrase "In essentials, unity.  In opinions, liberty.  In all things, love" goes back throughout church history and is not exclusive to our movement, but for a systematic theologian, that idea can be frustrating.  For them, all parts of a system of theology are important.  A systematic theologian develops a grand, comprehensive belief system that reaches the point where all teachings must be adhered to on all points in order for it to make sense.  It is like a house of cards.  You cannot just take one card out and have the house; it all crumbles because they were all constructed together depending on one another.  That is the way doctrine works in systematic theology.  It all builds together and the more irrelevant teachings must be adhered to because a few relevant teachings along with many more irrelevant teachings have been built on top of them.  Biblical theology takes a different approach.  It just takes the Bible at face value and refuses to construct a house of cards.  If one thought needs to be removed after further study, it is willingly removed because we don't have a whole system built using that belief.  Each belief must stand on its own in Scripture. 

The real Bell/Love Wins/Universalism debate should be on whether rejecting universalism is essential? Universalism goes against a few Scriptures. But I think most of us have changed views that we have held because we have been corrected by Scripture. I'm sure it will happen again some day for you and me. If we have to have perfect theology to be saved, then all of us are screwed.  Where is grace in that view?  Bell is not asking if universalism is right; he's asking whether it is an essential.  I think that is a good question.

I accept people as brothers and sisters who clearly go against some Scriptures I hold dear.  One of our core convictions at Riverside Christian Church is, "We believe in a minimal set of essentials in order to foster unity and freedom in Jesus."  There are a few issues there is absolutely no budging on.  Those are the essentials.  But the rest can be disagreed on for the sake of unity.  This is a thought that we have to always keep in check because we have this tendency to broaden the important issues until we have developed a scatterbrained systematic theology where everything is important.  From our beliefs at Riverside, we have two that stand against universalism.  "Forgiveness of sins and the promise of a meaningful and eternal life are available as a free gift of grace to those who believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord" (John 3:16).  "Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God, who showed us how to live life to the fullest, died for our sins, and arose from the dead" (1 Corinthians 15: 1-8; John 3:16; John 10:10).  Those are essentials that we won't budge on.  But that does not mean that one cannot be a universalist and be saved.  A universalist, despite believing otherwise, can only be saved through surrendering their heart to Jesus.  Many universalists have done that, but they can do that and still be wrong on universalism.

It would be teaching false teaching to teach that everyone would go to heaven.  But that is not what Bell is teaching.  He appears to be teaching that people who believe everyone goes to heaven can be accepted as a brother or sister if they are in a relationship with Jesus.   

Churches have a tendency to make too many issues essential and that continues to divide us.  Bell seems to be fighting that.  To that, I say, "Keep up the good fight."   

(For further study on universalism, verses universalists use are Isaiah 45:15-25, Jonah 2, Matthew 12:40, Acts 3:19-26, Romans 5:12-21, 8:18-22, 10:8-18, 14:11, Ephesians 4:8-10, Philippian 2:10-11, I Peter 3:19, 4:6.  Verses against universalism are Isaiah 55:6-7, Matthew 11:28-30, Luke 18:18-30, 19:1-10, John 3:16-18, 6:37, 7:37, Acts 2:37-39, 3:19, 5:31, 17:30, Romans 2:4, 10:9-10, 2 Corinthians 5:19-20, 7:10, Ephesians 2:8-9, Hebrews 7:25, James 2:17, Revelation 3:19)

For the post that led up to this one: Rob Bell Dodged Only One Question.

A Christian Approach to the New York City Mosque at Ground Zero

Polls and opinions are meaningless when it comes to whether a certain group receives freedom of religion. Even if all of America was against the Muslims building a mosque near ground zero, our freedom of religion should be upheld and they should be allowed to build. Let's stand up for all forms of freedom of religion, even if we disagree with the religion. It's one of the things that make America great.

They came first for the communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
...
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me (a Christian pastor)
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

- Martin Neimoller

I pray and hope that Christians will not be calling for a move that would limit freedom of religion in this nation. Our freedom of religion is like a giant snowball at the top of a hill.  So far, we have been holding that ball on the top.  Now, some are joining forces with those attempting to get the ball rolling.  We are close enough to having the ball pushed down that slope without our help. And once it starts rolling, it won't stop until its at the bottom, has grown, and destroyed everything in its way.

I understand the fear that this mosque, or another mosque, or even a church, will be used to teach hate that will turn into violence. It's definitely a difficult issue, but the gut response expressed by Newt Gingrich (who I typically appreciate) is completely wrong. Religion should be separate from government interference. If the people from a mosque or church start killing others, then they are guilty of murder. If these people were part of the terrorism from 9/11, they would already be arrested. If they violate the laws of the land, they will be arrested. But those laws cannot be specific to ostracizing one specific religion.

I would not like the government telling me where I can and cannot have a church, what I can or cannot say as a pastor, so I expect the same for other religions. Once we take away one group's rights, we risk losing the rights for the next group and the next group.

Freedom of religion is part of who we are as Americans. Loving Muslims, is part of who I am as a Christian. I should never try to silence or shut up people I disagree with by force; I should use the sword of the Spirit and love them. God could easily ban all religions that aren't His, but He does not. He uses the faithful like you and me to shape the world into His will. I will follow Jesus' example, and give of myself so that they can also know the grace and fullness of the Lord. It's easier said than done, but it is our calling to be humble, gentle, and bear with one another in love.

I can say that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and still love Muslims.  These are not contradictory positions. Actually, I would say that saying I am a follower of Jesus would mean that I need to love Muslims; however, that does not mean that I have to say that the Muslim religion is right.

Nothing our government can do will ever chop away at our faith unless we allow our government to dictate what we can and cannot do. That is not an argument for in your face preaching of doctrine to people who don't want to hear it, but an argument for loving our neighbor and sharing the truth in love no matter what the circumstance, even if the other person is trying to kill us and even if our government says it is wrong.

What's fair for one religion should be fair for all religions in this state.  And Christians should be known by their unity and love, not their fear and hatred.  May we be Christians who are loving even in the most difficult of situations.

Our Failed Witness - The Broken Church

We've been talking about Satan's tricks to divide us and ruin our witness this week.  The other trick Satan uses to dampen the church’s effectiveness is to influence us to badmouth other churches.

Paul wrote, "There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift [Eph 4:4-7 (ESV)].

Jesus has one Church that crosses all manmade divides.

Yet we have temporarily divided over the worst things.  Everything from gender, race, our nation, and for the past five hundred years, denominations.  Every denomination has a doctrine, usually a right teaching, that they just will not budge on.  For the brotherhood I am in, that has been adult believer baptism.  I have even heard people go so far as to rebaptize people because the right words were not uttered over them when they were baptized.  If Jesus wanted a specific phrase to be uttered, it would have been consistently and clearly presented throughout the Scriptures.  We serve a gracious God who honors the act of baptism, whether a person is doing it out of obedience or because they believe it is an act of salvation.  The heart is what matters.  A heart circumcised to the lord.

“And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” Deut 30:6 (ESV)

Are we eager to maintain unity, are we trying to be tuned to God?  Or are we antagonistic, wanting to fight, looking for opportunities to divide?  If we are looking for unity, we will find things to unify over.  If we are looking for division, we will find things to divide over.  We see what we are looking.  Paul taught that we are to approach one another with humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love?  That's not too divisive, nor is it too American.  I have been raised from birth as an American to be bold, brave, and fight for my freedom and rights.  But as citizens in the kingdom of God, we’re called to be humble, gentle, patient, and bear with one another in love.
 
Is that how we live in our houses, in our workplaces, in our social activities? 

Even within our own churches, do we let people lead there ministries, encourage them to follow God and do their best, or do we tear them down?  We might be in the same church, but that does not guarantee that we are unified.  Two cats with their tails tied to each other and be hung over a clothesline; they might be together but that does not mean they are unified.

Dwight L. Moody taught, “There are two ways of being united -- one is by being frozen together, and the other is by being melted together. What Christians need is to be united in brotherly love, and then they may expect to have power.” (Moody’s Anecdotes, pg. 53)

May we be united together.  If you take a bunch of loose gold ore, melt it together, and let a master craftsman shape it, you will have beautiful gold jewelry for the world to see.  May people see us, united together and not help but recognize the Master Craftsman who has shaped us into who we are.  May people see Jesus when they see our love for one another.

Our Failed Witness - The Broken Local Church

Local churches are often tragically filled with power struggles, gossip, and tearing one another down.  Instead of living int his fallen state, we need to intentionally use every opportunity to build one another up rather than to tear each other down.  Nobody wants to go to a church where people attack one another, but they will want to go to a church where they are encouraged, challenged, and uplifted. 

What we do is contagious.    Love fosters more love; gossip fosters more gossip.  Have you ever noticed how you start being negative around a negative person?  Have you noticed how other people can bring out the best in you?

Studies have shown that yawning is contagious. 

But even more seriously, I have noticed that our sins are contagious.  I had a professor who was once the youth minister at a church where the pastor was arrested for molesting children.  It eventually was uncovered that four adults were molesting children.  What we do in secret has a tendency to be contagious whether we want it to be or not.  I can’t explain why, just like scientists can’t explain why yawns are contagious.

A bad group of people will tear one another down and prohibit one another from reaching their potential.  A good group of  people will build one another up helping each another achieve far more than they ever thought possible.  So in our families and in our churches, let’s focus on being people that build one another up.  We need to be a culture of truth and love, a culture where people can experience Jesus’ love.  A culture where our love is contagious.

But we have an enemy who does not want that.  This week someone started a fire at the Park Station, the future home of the Antwerp Community Youth Center.  Since I believe that there is an evil force in this world, I think that Satan is trying to stop our work.  He doesn’t want the youth center to go forward because it would change lives for the better.  But Satan’s attacks aren’t always as obvious as a fire.  They can come in the off-handed comment toward someone or the telling of a negative thing about someone behind their back; the more we give in to these negative attacks, the more vicious they become.  If Satan can divide us, the church will be ineffective.  So we need to be careful to not let him get a foothold.  Our mission here is too important to jeopardize through bad mouthing or gossiping about one another.

A.W. Tozer taught in The Pursuit of God, “Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”

We are unified with people, no matter what church they worship at, if we are tuned to the same Jesus.  Seeking unity does not make unity happen; unity happens when a group of people seek God and let Him shape them into what He wants them to be. When I go to church, I see many good people who give a lot of their time to help one another and make their community better.  With all that said, every church needs to keep Jesus as their focus.  Imagine what can be done if we would be the church that God wants us to be, loving the community the way God would have us, encouraging one another when we get together, and seeking out God’s better way for our lives through teaching and study of the word.  We will grow and be able to do more.  We will be contagious, in a good way.

Further Conversation Over My Post on Essentials

The first collection of replies:  The Facebook Conversation Over My Post on Essentials

The original post:  A Proposed Minimal Set of Essentials

Grady replied:

The people in the book of Acts that reieved the Holy Spirit pre baptism, what was the context of those incidents? Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on his disciples He sent out, was this before their baptism? Absolutly the Holy Spirit is the seal, and the judgement is not a judgement of comdenation (to hell), the judgement is the one that we make a decision aas to if a person has obeyed and become. The scripture is very clear on this. When people hear us say you have not become a Christian yet, they are very quick to assume we are making a judgement of comdemnation against them, and use it because of what the common thinking is concerning judgement (don't judge lest you be judged). Sp to our marching order's...if we are to make disciples (and we are) then what do we teach as to how that happen's...the truth of the matter, no matter what others may teach. We are to teach those who would to believe in the gosple, belive Jesus as God's Son, that He died for the sins of the world, and that when this is accepted, we teach that they need to turn from their sin, confess Christ and then to be baptized (first fruits!). Then when they have obeyed we teach them of the promises of the Spirit, and then comes the how to walk.

In the initial post you asked about "In essentials, unity. In opinions, liberty. In all things, love." And said you had never heard anyone give explanation of this. That is what I was addressing.

You may have forgot what Paul said to always interact with one another in a spirit of humility, gentleness, patience, and love. Without that, our message is lost, this is true, he also said to preach the truth.

You can feel free to teach something different as to the essentials of the truth, but I will not. I teach the scripture, not my opinion. It is our JOB to teach them first to become before we teach them how to be, once we have done this then to be is the true course. If wew don't teach them the path of conversion, it is not I who will do any judgement of condemnation (thankfully not my job to do so).

Hey got to run to my people, God bless your day, may He convince you of His truth in all things. Love you! 

 Regan replied:

Ultimately, we just disagree about how one can receive the Holy Spirit through our understandings of the teaching of Scripture, especially the book of Acts. I feel that the Holy Spirit only comes at baptism crowd has "contextualized" away every difficult passage that disagrees with them. Maybe you also do that. Maybe that is the right approach. I am not comfortable with that approach. Those exceptions are there to show us that there are exceptions. Until either I state that baptism is the only place you can get the Holy Spirit or you acknowledge that those exceptions were given to show that there can still be exceptions, we will just be running around in circles if we continue. That is the crux of our disagreement.

We also disagree on separating what we teach from what are the essentials. I will teach that a person should be baptized after giving their life over to Jesus. Baptism is the normative place for people to receive the Holy Spirit, but that does not mean that I will exclude people who show fruit and acknowledge Jesus as Lord from fellowship. Our movement started with open fellowship and open communion. On the frontier, circuit riders could only make it once a month or once a quarter. People were not allowed to take of the Lord's Supper until the circuit rider came into town. What happened was people started gathering for communion without the clergy. They started baptizing people without the clergy. But they joined together as people who wanted to study the word and living under Jesus' lordship.

Over time, we, who started as a unity through Scripture movement, just became as divisive as the denominations we were trying to bring together. Instead of ending sectarianism, we just added another sect to the fray. Over 150 years later, the denominations have stopped being divisive, non-denominational (locally led) churches are flourishing, and nearly everyone is baptized as adult believers except for in a few mainline denominations. We are fighting battles that were fought for us over 150 years ago. We're like Civil War reenactors remembering the battle, but instead of it just being a hobby, it's really damaging to the Kingdom of God.

The men who started the Restoration Movement, from which the modern Church of Christ/Christian Church come, both took this stance.

Alexander Campbell said:
Should I find one [baptized as an infant] more intelligent in the Christian Scriptures, more spiritually-minded and more devoted to the Lord than…one immersed on a profession of the ancient faith, I could not hesitate a moment in giving the preference of my heart to him that loveth most. Did I act otherwise, I would be a pure sectarian, a Pharisee among Christians.

Barton Stone said:
None of us are disposed to make our notions of baptism, however well founded, a bar of christian fellowship. We acknowledge all to be brethren, who believe and obey the Saviour, and, who walking in the Spirit, bear his holy image; yet, in the meekness of Christ, we labor to convince such of their duty in submitting to every ordinance of the Lord.

My list of essentials came from the same vein that the Church of Chirst/Christian Church was founded on. We teach baptism, yet we do not make it a test of fellowship. Who am I to say that a person who is not baptized but is more faithful and fruitful is saved? God knows their heart. Paul wrote, "A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God." I will teach them the Scriptural teachings on baptism, but God knows their heart and their lives show evidence of the Spirit.

I believe I teach Scripture. You can call it my opinion; it is. So is what you teach. Each one of us teach our opinion of what Scripture teaches. Some day we will know fully as is taught in 1 Corinthians 13:12. Until then, everyone filters Scripture, hopefully in tune with the Spirit, through their own brains, experiences, etc. So we always teach what we believe is the truth, but we must always do it as Paul taught, with humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

Do you really believe that every person not immersed as an adult believer does not have the Holy Spirit? How do you reconcile those verses that I mentioned on how Jesus and Paul taught us how to know who are Jesus' followers?

Regan replied to Dan's previous reply: 

It is a biblical explanation of why we can work with people who are not from our particular background on furthering God's work and accept them as brothers and sisters in Jesus where they are, but in a way it also deals with who is saved and who is not. But it does not deal with what I would teach to someone who wants to be saved. I have no qualms saying that the ministers I consider my friends from other denominations are my brothers in Jesus. They don't have to be brothers in Jesus to be my friends, but I see the love of Christ in their lives, the fruit of the Spirit growing in them, and they share my proclamation that Jesus is Lord. It does not mean that we just leave things rest and don't dialogue with one another on our differences. It's just that I think that dialogue should happen in the context of accepting one another as a brother and sister in Christ. I think they have as much to teach me as I do them, as long as we keep the Bible as the center of those discussions.

As for the rest of what you wrote, I agree wholeheartedly. "The church is probably in the state it is in because we love judging outsiders and refuse to collectively judge those inside the church. We have completely backwards maybe because we have not challenged each other's motives." I agree that we have the whole judging people backward. Those outside of Jesus, I do not judge. Those inside, I judge, but in a gentle, patient, and loving way to help them be who God wants them to be. They should do the same to me. Together, we spur one another on to reach the prize.

 Laura's response:

Yeesh, I tried to read all those, but I'm getting sleepy. I'll leave the scholarly talks to you guys...I just felt from the heart that forcing a list isn't what's needed. God could have made the Bible much clearer, shorter, more compact. He... could have used lists and numbers or used only a few writers to keep us from "discussing" what THAT writer intended. He didn't. It requires us to rely heavily on the Holy Spirit to interpret it and over time and seasons and experiences, we see things we'd never seen before. Is this because we were just wrong before and now we are right, or because God gives us these things in His time? I just don't think a list is necessary. I think we can deal with things as they come and have the answer at that time. If I come upon someone and I want to decide if they are a brother or not, I can look at a list. That sounds convenient. But I could also decide in that moment what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell me-through the Bible, through other believers, through experience, and always with love. Or decide over a period of time, etc...

I'm not automatically against lists or creeds or church goals, etc... but sometimes I wonder why we need to put things in OUR (by "our" I mean mine and whoever agrees with me) own words apart from scripture. Call me floppy, but I don't have hard and fast rules about certain things (or most things, for that matter), and I don't think you're wrong for wanting to clarify, for the sake of unity, the essentials. But I don't know that it's best either. I've used catch phrases of the church and have found them helpful to me and to others, but I don't think they were necessary.

 Regan's reply to Laura:

My list was a list of Scriptures and not my opinions. But I understand your hesitancy because it was my opinion that chose which Scriptures to include. How does one decide what Scriptures would be used as a test of fellowship? Do we use all... of Scripture, and they have to agree with us on everything? Do we use more than what I used or less? You would say that it is up to the Holy Spirit. That's what I think I was saying in a more structured way. If they have the Spirit, I can discern that, and they claim Jesus is Lord and follow the greatest commandment, then they are brothers and sisters. The problem is that those who refuse to have a list like this often are the most divisive and sectarian. I'm not saying you are, but I have experienced that. They typically have lists, that if written out would be longer than any denominational handbook.

Would you accept someone as a brother who said that Jesus is not Lord, showed absolutely no fruit of the Spirit in their life, did not strive to live a life of loving God and loving God or loving their neighbor? I am pretty sure I wouldn't. Even in the moment. But the list was focused more on us being able to have fellowship with people in the community who might not go to a church with the same name on the sign as our church or all of the same beliefs as our church.

The four Scriptures I chose were selected to help my local church pull back from all of the divisiveness and sectarianism that our movement in this geographic area struggles with, focus on the essentials, and move forward to minister to our community from there.

Also, in the local context, we are involved in starting a community youth center with other churches. A few struggle with whether that should be done because they were once taught that people in those other churches are not Christians. We make this judgment call whether we want to or not. I laid this out to show what the essentials are and how we are to evaluate whether a person is a Christian or not. I could ignore there frustrations and just say that I think they are a Christian and that should be good enough, but it's my job to teach. So these essentials were more of an explanation of why we can be involved with other churches in a youth center. Not a list to exclude people. I don't think this list would exclude anyone who wanted to be considered a Christian. It's a minimal list of essentials. It's frustrating to some because it includes too many people, not enough essentials. The discussion centers around whether it should be broader, not narrower.

And I understand where they are coming from; we should just teach the Bible. But unfortunately, the issue of who to accept as a brother or sister is an issue that our church was struggling with. So I attempted to teach on that through Scripture. It was a list because I tried to deal with the passages that talked about who to accept and what are the greatest teachings. I could have called it something other than a list, but it was a list nonetheless, whether I called it by another name or not.

How would you teach someone who was saying people are not Christians that those people are in fact Christians? Or how would you teach someone who thought certain people were Christians who you thought were not? Unfortunately, just leaving it alone would not have helped the church move forward, so that really wasn't an option.