Should the Church Be Led by Scholars and Teachers? by Donald Miller

I think it’s a good question. It’s one Donald Miller (writer of Blue Like Jazz) has asked over at Catalyst’s resource page.

The question assumes that the church today is led by scholars and teachers. So the first question then is, is that true?

Well, it certainly appears that way.

Many of the most influential Christian leaders in the world today are pastor/teachers and/or scholars. They lead larger churches, have resource heavy websites, create podcasts, lead and speak at multiple conferences, are a part of leadership networks, host seminars and workshops, do video Q&As, write a personal blog with a large following, stay busy in social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and oh yeah, write a bunch of books (like 1 a season it seems).

Like Donald Miller says, our churches are shaped by who leads them. And how our churches are being shaped in turn shapes how we do mission, approach the world and culture and therefore how we spend our time. It also therefore shapes what atmosphere our churches create and therefore what types of people we attract, keep and repel. And how we grow them and what we aim them towards.

Having a church led by scholars/teachers can create an atmosphere like a classroom which can tend towards more theory, book knowledge, study and inreach. But I think Jesus was wanting a more Ephesians 4 approach to the church in that it would be led by men and women who were gifted to lead (apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, pastors) and equip the saints for ministry. And a Great Commission approach, one that says it’s about accomplishing the mission; which requires real, raw action not simple theory.

I don’t believe Miller is pitting theory (or in this case doctrine, theology, teaching) against practical action (or obedience, faithfulness). I think Miller is only making the case that the church today is often one-sided in its leadership structure which dictates the atmosphere, people and mission of the church. And that atmosphere tends towards an academic, schooling aproach to ministry instead of naked pragmatism. Just doing the mission, not merely talking about it.

Like I heard someone say one time, “God is not merely a topic to be casually debated on in a local coffee shop, but a supreme person to be adored and worshiped and loved and expressed!”

Even as a confessing reformed, charismatic and missional Christian (yes it exists and I hate titles, just making a point for now), I grow weary of conferences, events, networks, initiatives, coalitions, webinars, events, training, workshops, movements, etc. Not because they are ill-motivated or ill-intentioned at all. I whole-heartedly believe that the men who launch and create these love God, love the church, love the mission and love the lost.

But do you ever stop and think how much money, time, resources, management, promotion is put into these events? For what end? Sure, I’ve gained much from many conferences, seminars and retreats. Yes. But if any of these attendees are like me, these Christian getaways are good at content but not at creating a context for it or effectively managing the application of it.

What does this have to do with the church being led by scholars and teachers? Well, scholars and teachers typically perform best in a teaching context; a platform for discussion of ideas. Good, we need that, always. But where are the people who meet simply to worship, encourage one another, pray and then go back out on mission together.

Not trying to bash on conferences, the importance of doctrine and theology, the gift of teaching or the need for a focused environment to learn and grow in. God created those for a reason, for the mission. But the American church culture today, no denomination excluded, is too heavily dependent on a teacher/student context to accomplish the mission. I would argue that the best equipping for ministry is not primarily done in a large, classroom setting but in a small group or local church setting. You know, raw, real naked ministry. On the streets in the hood. The hard but simple stuff. The mundane. The details. The ugly and the dangerous and the risky and the informal and the uncomfortable and the dirty. Not the dressy, formal, safe, pretty, organized, comfortable and clean way.

Disciple-making, being the church and accomplishing the mission are not about creating and training more scholars and teachers; but more Christ-followers. More disciple-making disciples.

And the mission is not accomplished through that larger classroom context but in a smaller local gathering of sent ones where a community loves the word, loves the Spirit, worships Jesus, is on mission as a community, making disciples and practicing the gifts for the sake of the mission.

I say we trade the classroom for the home (or wherever for church gatherings) and the street. Being a community on mission together. I bet Christians would be much more productive, fruitful, hopeful and happy in their daily walk with God.

“It’s The Mission Stupid!”

“It’s the economy stupid!”

It was the political phrase made famous in Bill Clinton’s 1992 race to the White House to beat George Bush Sr. It was said that Bush’s strong points for reelection were his firm stances on foreign policy and the War in Iraq while Clinton’s strong points was refocusing the aim back to what he thought really mattered, the economy.

Sometimes all it takes to reenergize a people toward a successful vision is to remind them of what really matters. Not that Clinton had it right or that this refocusing strategy was the determining factor in his winning the Presidency. The content of the strategy may have been wrong, but the strategy itself was genius.

Bush focused on the wrong thing. He was focused on the minor things, not the main thing. Reminding people of the main thing, of what really matters, gives them purpose again and re-shifts their focus back on target. The goal is hitting the target, not getting close. Bulls-eye is the goal, not almost dead on.

Bush was fighting the wrong battle. Clinton apparently guessed right and found what most Americans agreed our focus should be on.

What Are We Fighting For?

Sometimes in the American Christian church today, it feels like we are fighting the wrong battle. And about what?

If you look across mainstream Christendom, there is so much infighting. Infighting over the right theology, right doctrine, right distinctives, right practices, right churchology (ecclesiology if you prefer big words), right missiology, right leadership structures, right music style, right definition of worship, right discipleship approaches, right cultural interpretation, right bible translation, right right right. Even infighting among guys in the same denomination or movement over trivial things like how services are implemented or where.

Gifts or no gifts? Calvinist or Arminian? Topical preaching or expository preaching? Tie or jeans with holes? Formal or informal? Day or night service? Traditional or contemporary worship? Relevant or different? Seeker-sensitive or discipleship-focused? And so on and so on.

I feel like someone should stand up and shout at the top of their lungs, “It’s the Mission stupid!”

Missing the Forest for the Trees

Christians are so good at missing the forest for the trees. We focus on what type of tree, how old it is, what leaves it produces, what fruit it yields, what kind of root system, what type of soil it needs, historical background, layers of bark, tap root size, best weather to plant, best time to seed, best type of fertilizer, etc. And we forget about the forest. Each individual tree makes up one big forest.

The pop-Christian topics are the trees. The forest is the mission! We miss the mission, the real bulls-eye, because we are focused on expository preaching or reformed theology. And quite often we miss the mark; even the whole target altogether.

My Greatest Fear: Becoming Sunday-focused instead of Mission-focused

The last few years I’ve seen more personal change than I’ve seen my whole life. Especially my view of the church and our purpose. I know our ultimate goal is to glorify God by exalting His Son Jesus Christ by becoming more like Him through making disciples. But it’s as if we believe the best way to do that is through a single Sunday gathering.

For too long, churches have been all about Sunday gatherings. What time? What happens? Who is our target audience? What program? How many services? How long should the service be? What’s our style of worship? Meeting space?

Even the word “church” conjures up to most nonChristians a place to go on Sunday. Our own culture reflects accurately what we’re becoming.

Every week so much work, planning, effort, time, energy, money, resources and prayer goes into one single Sunday gathering all over America. Days of work for 2 hours of time. It’s like training months for a job that lasts only one day. It doesn’t really make much sense. It seems almost foreign to Biblical church life. It feels more event-oriented than community-oriented.

I don’t think Jesus spent three years pouring into 12 guys to build into them how to master event planning. Then why does the church spend so much time trying to become the ultimate event planning, food catering, live entertainment, motivational speech business?

Jesus showed them how to live and die for something big. How to lay down your life for someone. How to live on mission. How to have power. How to beat temptation. How to fight sin. How to love one another. How to walk in the Spirit. How to embody grace. How to obey the Father. How to duplicate yourself and make more Christ-followers.

Sometimes I wonder if Jesus were physically on earth today if he’d be doing a lot of jack-slapping. Not trying to be disrespectful. But I wonder if he’d tell us, “It’s the Mission stupid!” It’s what he lived, died and rose for. Now it’s what we live and die for. Not to have gatherings and meetings and services and master them. But to make disciples and master disciple-making. To baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to teach them to observe all that Jesus commands.

Somehow along the way we’ve managed to make it all about how to have attractional (outward-focused) meetings or how to have discipleship/fellowship meetings (inward-focused).

If we place our emphasis back where it belongs, the mission, we reshift our aim back to what matters, the center of the target: the bulls-eye. Then we’ll also see more daily missional living as we go and do, instead of event-oriented Sunday-only living. It’s not about what we invite them to, but who we introduce to them; who we bring to them.

The Church = sent ones

The church is a sent community. A community of goers, not stayers. It’s news on the go. Our message is mobile. Our message is meant to be lived out in and among the culture. Not inside and away from the culture. We were meant to be “in the world, not of the world”. “Set apart”, not stay apart.

There are 7 days in a week. We can’t possibly think all or even most of our mission work and kingdom living can be done in 1 day, or even a few hours a week for that matter. Gatherings are crucial, don’t get me wrong.

The church is called to be a community. Communities must gather together in a place in order to pray together, worship together, equip one another together. But that can’t be done only once a week. It must be lived out daily.

The community gathers around a common goal: the mission. We don’t just gather simply to gather. As if gathering in itself has power and hope. No! It’s the mission that we gather around. It’s the missionary, King Jesus that we gather to worship and emulate. It’s His mission, so it’s also our mission. That’s why we exist. It’s why we are sent, meet back up and go back out.

To make disciples, not to gather. That’s our mission. And when the Sunday gathering becomes the bulls-eye, the mission loses its target position.

The mission touches every corner of our lives, every nook and cranny of our worlds. Every day and night. Every breath we take. Every decision we make. Everywhere we go. Everyone we meet. Every minute we spend is about the mission.

It’s not about the gathering or a Sunday meeting. It’s the Mission stupid!

Followship Is Real Leadership, Part 1: Intro

LEADERSHIP

Leadership. Leadership schmeadership.  To lead or not to lead, that is the question.  What is leadership? Who are leaders? What makes a good leader? How can existing leaders become better leaders? Leadership is what it’s all about, right?

Leader-ship. It seems that everyone’s getting on board these days.  From the secular world to the religious community to the Christian community, leadership is a new buzz word.  Everyone wants to be a leader, because afteral everyone is a leader in some way, right?  Radio, t.v., internet, podcasts, books, conferences, webinars, business seminars and more are all focusing on leadership.  You would think by now that we’d all have mastered leadership.  So then, why the constant barrage and surge of leadership venues and themed products?

Why Leadership?

“Ooh, ooh pick me teacher pick me! I know I know I know!”

Isn’t it obvious?  Apparently not.  Like most of life’s real answers, they’re always staring us right in the face.

Alright I think we don’t know how to lead because we don’t know how to FOLLOW!

Following is Out, Leadership is In

Seems too simple huh? That’s kind of the point. It’s always the simple answers that aren’t good enough for us so we have to find the complex answers and pour our time, money and resources into them.

Plus, who wants to buy a book, attend a conference, get certified in the art of ‘following’? Leadership brings certain connotations like following does. Leadership is manly, tough, strong, proud, skilled, trustworthy, independent, at the top, hard-working, responsible, etc. Leading brings the notion of power, force, action and productivity. A leader is someone who has people following him so it brings the idea of authority, respect, command and importance.

Following on the other hand, well let’s just say if Leadership is the dark and handsome older brother, following is the red-headed step, half-brother who ain’t too bright. Following is weak, gullible, lacking self-confidence, not trustworthy, dependent, at the bottom, lazy, stupid, irresponsible, etc. Following brings the notion of powerless, soft, passive and unproductive apart from a leader. A follower is someone who has to be behind a leader, not in front.  They bring up the rear, the caboose. A follower is someone who commands little respect, authority or significance in decision making or life determination. Everything they do or say is all in step with their leader.

The problem is, these views aren’t fair and accurate to leadership and follower positions. They don’t accurately encompass reality about these positions. Every leader is not be definition strong and commanding great authority. And every follower is not weak and overly dependent.

Leaders + Followers = Solution

But here’s the interesting thing.  Without a leader to be followed, a follower is without direction.  Yet without followers to follow, a leader is without purpose or influence. So they both need each other. Which to me sounds like both are equally as important.  Then why all the obsession in our culture about leadership and not following?

I think at the heart of this is a deeper issue.  I think deep down, people avoid learning how to follow and instead learn how to lead because leading plays more to our self-confidence and self-authority. If I can learn how to better lead, then I can gain more control of whatever. But following means I have to give up some control and trust another leader who is not myself. And I know that I am the best and most trustworthy leader I know. So it’s best if I’m gonna follow at all, I only follow myself; my own leadership. I am my own leader!

Wow! Now we’ve crossed in to the territory of our foundational human deficiency: our sinful nature. Which is a Christianese way of saying our innermost desire for self-reign for self-pleasure. I am in charge of me because that makes me happy.

Don’t confuse my tone here either. I am just as guilty as anyone. I’ll be the first to confess, I don’t get real excited when it comes to following leadership. The very sound of that phrase “following leadership” brings negative connotations. Why is that?

Following Sucks

First because sin has tainted our hearts and made them desire to rebel against authority (or leadership).

Second because sin has tainted our world (animals, culture, nations, religions, etc.) and made them desire self-reign.

Both our individual desire to rebel against authority (leadership) and our collective desire to self-autonomy have corrupted the original design of Father God.

Father God desired one thing at Creation from His created ones: worship And what did we give? Self-worship. We chose to do what we wanted to do instead of what God wanted us to do. We chose to trust and follow our own leadership, not God’s.

So today as a result, people not only don’t want to follow leadership but also to distrust it, mock it, rebel against it, undermine it, replace it and destroy it. From churches to schools, from politics to religion, from wall street to main street, from homes to communities all over our culture is this idea of self-leadership. That noone knows best but ME. And with ME at the center of everything, its a world where every ME is trying to lead itself towards success, power and happiness only to find failure, weakness and discontentment.

Enter Jesus, Leader & Follower

What does Jesus have to do with any of this? Afterall, isn’t he the ultimate leader? Ooh, you’re good, touche!

Well actually, he’s not only the ultimate leader (with a band of 3 or 4 billion worldwide) but the ultimate follower too. Jesus is both 100% man and 100% God. As man he displayed leadership and follower qualities. As the son of God he submitted to the Father and as God he led with authority. As leader he taught with authority, turned over money changer tables in the temple, and commanded demons and disease to be cast out. As follower, he said and did everything his Father told him to. He knew both how to obey and how to command obedience.

In Mark 10 he even taught that he did not come to be served but to serve. Jesus’ level of humility and acceptance of his servant-like nature was overwhelming and radical. He alone had every right to lead and demand worship and service at anytime from anyone. But instead he chose to humble himself like a lowly servant follower, washing people’s feet, walking among the outcast and diseased, and hanging out with the worst of sinners. He could have had money thrown at him, used his superpowers for gain and political ground and gotten way more followers in his group by keeping his mouth shut more often with all that “eat me, drink me” talk.

But here’s the king of the universe, the righteous heir to the throne of God his Father, placing himself in a position of humility like a mere follower, not a leader. (Philippians 2)

Final Thoughts

THE Leader, being a follower of God, exhibiting followship to his followers. In so doing, Jesus taught his followers how to follow AND lead. You don’t exhibit leadership in order to teach how to follow. You follow leadership in order to teach how to follow. And that’s what Jesus did best, by following His leader, God the Father.

Next time I’ll discuss more on how leading well depends on following well.

Be A Good Neighbor: Love Your Enemy!

I’ve been reading through the Four Gospels this year again, starting with Matthew and ending with John. I’m in Luke 10 now and I always love when I come to the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). So much new is unpacked every time I read it.

The Encounter

It all starts with the typical encounter that Jesus came across in his day: a religious leader asking Jesus a super spiritual question in order to test Him. And in like fashion, Jesus always answered the questions in a way that gives them more than they could expect or imagine and that reveals their hearts. An expert in religious law asks Jesus, “what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responds, “What does the law of Moses say, how do you read it?” In case you can’t tell already, Jesus is asking a leading question.  It’s not as if Jesus is ignorant of the Law of Moses, he wants to know what the expert teacher thinks it says.

The law expert says to inherit eternal life one must love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus tells him he’s right and says if he’ll do this he’ll live!

Good enough right? Unfortunately not. Getting his question answered wasn’t enough, nor that he answered rightly, which would have puffed up his pride like he wanted. The followup question would both reveal the expert’s heart and original motive and Jesus’ aim in the entire setup.

The text then says, “the man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked, ‘who then is my neighbor?’”

Yes, the perfect precursor question to usher in Jesus’ parable. This parable is quite possibly one of Jesus’ most famous, even among the non Christian world. The parable of the Good Samaritan.

The Story

Jesus proceeds to tell a story of a Jewish man traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, probably on a business trip. He gets attacked by some bandits who strip him of his clothes, beat him severely and leave him half dead along the road.

Several people pass by this dying man, only to skip over him and even go out of their way to avoid him.

First a priest, surely religious, walked by and when he saw the man, went to the other side of the road and passed him by.

Second a temple assistant, surely also religious, walked over to the man and looked at him, but then passed him by and went to the other side of the road.

Finally a “despised Samaritan” came by, when he got close he felt compassion on the man. He came to him and bandaged his wounds, cleaned him up, put him on his own donkey, took him to an inn to be cared for, and told the innkeeper to care for him and leave him the bill.

Jesus finishes his parable and asks the expert, “which one of these men do you think was a neighbor to the man?”

The expert has no choice but to answer the Samaritan, the one who showed him mercy, especially since his heart is now arrested by the point of the story.

Jesus finally says, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

The Point

Now there’s a lot to unpack here, but I only want to share what I think are the most important take-aways.

First of all, the most important point to draw out of this story is the identity of the two main characters: a Jewish man and a Samaritan man. In case you don’t know your Biblical history, these two nations were sworn enemies. The Jews called the Samaritans dogs. They both hated each other. Jesus could have picked anyone to be the beaten man and anyone to be the good helper. But he specifically chose two people who would have hated each other. Why? To bring more weight and completion to the command “love your neighbor” with his call to “love your enemy”. It’s easy to help a stranger, or even a foreigner of neutral or unknown relation, but an enemy? No way! That’s Jesus’ point. Loving your neighbor as yourself also includes loving your enemies. Neighbors include enemies! Pretty radical huh? And it would have been so at the telling of this parable since this national hatred was fresh at the time and since the person Jesus directed his story at was a Jewish religious leader.

Second, another important point to draw out is the fact that Jesus chooses the Jewish man to be the one in need and the Samaritan to be one who gives mercy. Again, it’s no coincidence that Jesus does this.  He knows that if he were to place the men in opposite roles, the expert would not have received the parable and probably missed Jesus’ point. If the Samaritan was the man in need and the Jew was the man with mercy, it may have only made the issue worse keeping Jew thinking he was better and the Samaritan was less of a man; that the Jew had something the Samaritan didn’t and needed. But because of his audience, Jesus turns the tables and makes the Jew the one in need. And who provides his need with compassion and care? That’s right, his enemy that he hates: “a despised Samaritan”. I can imagine at this point the Jewish hearers of this parable are pretty arrested in their hearts about their hatred toward their neighbors the Samaritans. Especially the law expert who originally asked the question.

Finally, I think Jesus makes it clear not only who are neighbors are (anyone in need, especially enemies in need) but how we can be good neighbors by showing mercy and compassion.

I see Jesus listing the traits of a good neighbor in the things that the Good Samaritan did for the Jew in need. I don’t think is a definitive, complete list of how to be a good neighbor as much as its a good example with general qualities.

What is a Good Neighbor Like?

1. Second-nature immediate response of care for others – The Samaritan man was on a journey headed to Jericho, when he saw a need, immediately stopped to take care of it. He could have kept going thinking, “I’ve got business to tend to in Jericho and I don’t want to be late”. But his second-nature response of care for others kicked in. This is something my good friend and pastor Rob Wilkerson and his wife have taught me and lived out well.
2. Feels Compassion - Unlike the others who passed the Jewish man by due to disgust, annoyance or maybe fear of consequences for helping an enemy, the Samaritan man saw him and “felt compassion on him”. No cost/benefit analysis was used, no praying for direction, no interrogation of the victim, just simple compassion. Jesus calls this mercy. The Samaritan man gave exactly what the Jew needed. And out of his own heart, gave compassion.
3. Meets Needs - Immediately after feeling compassion, the Samaritan is moved to act. From feeling to doing, he begins to address the Jews immediate needs. He was beaten badly, so he dresses and cleans his wounds. Its pretty humbling cleaning up someone else, especially someone you don’t even know. Especially an enemy. Some of this even happened in the Civil War believe it or not.  At the end of the day, good neighbors can put aside differences and hostilities to meet each others’ needs. If not, then we’re not really neighbors but enemies afterall.
4. Gives Sacrificially - After cleaning the Jew up, knowing he probably can’t walk at all from the beating, he puts him on his own donkey. This is giving sacrificially of his possessions. Then he takes him to a local inn to have him care for and pays the bill for any additional costs (health, food, housing, medicine, etc.). This is giving sacrificially of his time and money. Putting his money where his mouth is. So already this Samaritan is a day behind in his journey. But without a thought, he has given up his time, reputation, money, journey, desires and personal possessions to care for a man who probably hates him. Like I’ve heard before, it’s not giving if it doesn’t require you to sacrifice something.
5. Personal Care - The text says, “he took him to the inn where he took care of him“. I don’t want to split hairs here, but it seems to say that the Samaritan took care of the Jew at the inn the first night. This shows a very personal, intimate care for the Jew. It would have been easy for the Samaritan to simply drop him off at the inn and leave money for the bill bidding the poor Jew good luck. But instead he spends the night with him, cares for him personally, then leaves the next day ensuring he’s cared for again. There’s something powerful about care and compassion when it’s personal. You can give a homeless man a dollar. You can give him a prayer. You can even take him to dinner. But invite him into your home and care for him yourself? That’s personal. And its powerful.

So if you’re like me and you start this parable with a finger pointed at the Jewish law expert and finish the story with the finger pointed back at yourself, don’t be condemned. There’s hope for us law men. Jesus is our supreme “good Samaritan” because he came to us when we were at our greatest need and showed us compassion and mercy. We were sworn enemies because of my sin against Him, but he put aside that broken relationship and forgave me those sins and cared for me because He loves me.

Its hard to read this parable and chock it up to a nice little story. This parable, as do all of Jesus’ teachings and commands, demand action! If you have ever asked, “well who is my neighbor?” You now know Jesus’ answer: everybody who is in need, especially enemies.

Go and be a good neighbor like Jesus and you’ll inherit eternal life!

Jeff Vanderstelt – Gospel Rhythms

This has been one of the most helpful teachings I’ve ever experienced on how to live out the Gospel. Watch the video clip below, download the teaching session, or listen to the audio podcast.  You’ve got to to experience this for yourself!

Jeff Vanderstelt: Rhythms [VERGE 2010 Main Session] from Verge Network on Vimeo.

Free pdf teaching session.

Audio podcast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeff Vanderstelt on Hospitality and the Church in America

This is an question session with Jeff Vanderstelt behind the scenes at the Reformed Charismatic Missional Conference earlier this year. Jeff is an elder at Soma Community church in Tacoma, Washington, VP of Acts 29 and a defender of biblical hospitality and Gospel-intentional living.

Jeff Vanderstelt // Hospitality & the Church in America from Newfrontiers USA on Vimeo.

Bored with Divine Geography, Part 2: Longing for an urban south

| continued from part 1 |

Back to my birthplace

I was born and raised in Orlando, Florida in 1981 for the first 10 years of my life.  Even though I’ve spent 2/3 of my life in southern Georgia, I often feel a piece of me stayed in Orlando.  I’ve spent the last two decades of my life (yes I’m gonna hit the BIG 30 this year) investigating why I feel this confusing draw toward my birthplace.  I mean all I’ve known most of my life now is southern, old-fashioned, country culture of rural Georgia.  So you’d think I would’ve let go of Orlando.   Not until the last two years or less have I begun to closing the case on this internal investigation.  I bet you’ll never guess what I’ve been discovering as the reason I feel like something is missing inside.

I miss the city.

Sounds silly, I know.  Even sounds a bit strange or immature.  But I’ve discovered something inside of me that longs for the city.  Being in the presence of a city.  It’s contagious.  There’s a certain synergy about a city.  An almost tangible energy to a city.  I don’t know why.  Sure now that I know what I feel I’ve been missing, the bigger discovery is to find out “why” I’ve been missing it.

Why the city?

That’s kind of the real point, right?  I mean if I’m missing “the city” for some silly, immature shallow reason then it’s kind of pointless, right?  But if there’s something bigger here, deeper in my heart, something that God, the Creator of cities and the King of the Heavenly City, has planted in me then it’s worth pursuing.  Right?  I mean if God has designed me personally with a passion for reaching the city, then I want to know that, grow that and go that way.

Me, or the church?

But I seriously doubt that this is just an individual passion, calling or gifting in me.  I think from the Bible and the movement of our socio-economic culture that God has written this passion for the city into the DNA of His body, the church.

Everything I’ve seen, read and heard the last 10 years seems to show the need for God’s people (the church) to move into cities.  People are moving into cities by the truckload.  Rural towns are either shutting down and disappearing or relocating toward industry or colleges and transforming into suburbs of growing cities.  Why?  Simply because that is where people are living, working, playing and dying.  Life happens now in and around cities.  That’s where culture is born:  arts, entertainment, business, education, politics, the marketplace, etc.

If you pay close enough attention, even though it seems that our world is growing farther and farther a part (socially, emotionally, relationally) with things like social media and technology, we’re simultaneously growing closer and closer together (physically, socially, economically).  So while we all live together in one common place, we still are functioning in worlds apart online.

New York City, the double standard

My wife and youngest daughter made a 2-day trip to New York City in May of 2011.  NYC is often heralded as THE standard for pop culture:  arts, entertainment, theater, music, food, business, industry, politics, etc.  Yet when you experience the people who make up this culture, you are left feeling empty, dry, cold and hopeless.  Take a simple ride on the NYC subway and see how together the people are.  Sure they all live in NYC, ride the same subway and live close to one another.  But there is little to no human, face-to-face interaction.  Especially among strangers.  That frustrates and fascinates me at the same time.

I am drawn to that paradox.

Longing for an urban south

You too may know what I mean when I say I am content with where God has me and my family in southern Georgia.  Yet also wonder if God has built me for an urban culture where this paradox exists.  I believe whole heartedly what Paul the apostle says in Acts 17 about God sovereignly placing men where they live for a season so that they would search for and come to know Him.  I love that truth!  Yet I also wonder if this rural south season will soon come to end and God will move my family to a more urban south perhaps.  Or to a city where the people live and move and breathe needing an intimate presence of God’s people to live with them in the paradox.

And to bring some sense and completion to the paradox to show them the mysterious beauty and need of God.

Have you experience this longing too?  I’d love to hear about it.

Bored with Divine Geography, Part 1: Discontent with God’s Sovereignty

Is it possible for a human to be bored with the divine?

For those who know me (know I am a Christian), don’t worry I’m not bored with God.  I am constantly amazed at God, both what I know about Him and what I am newly discovering.  But sometimes I wonder if when we humans get discontent we are really just getting bored.  Let’s face it, in this consumer, fast-paced, gotta-have-it-now, “is there an app for that” economy it’s nearly impossible to enjoy anything for more than a few days.

We all go through seasons and times in our lives where we bounce from one hobby or like to the next.  This month it’s all McDonalds.  Next month it’s all Burger King.  Today it’s Starbucks.  Tomorrow it’s Dunkin Donuts.  This year it’s playing tennis.  Next year it’s all golf.  It doesn’t matter what it is, if it can be bought and consumed we can grow tired of it quickly.  The new wears off almost as fast as we obtain it.  It makes me wonder if this is one overlooked reason as to why so many marriages today are failing and ending in divorce.  Because the spouse/s got so bored and discontent with a lifestyle of routine, familiarity and sameness that they didn’t know how to compute the unchanging nature any more and had to move on to the next “greatest” thing.

Unfortunately, it’s this Western American “grass is greener on the other side” mentality that is crippling us.  It’s a self-inflicted wound too.  We did this to ourselves.  And like most American trends of culture and lifestyle, this wound has affected the religious world too.  The church, more specifically followers of Jesus Christ have seen their fair share of this too.

When I look at my own Christian life of following Jesus, I see a messy pattern of contentment and discontentment.  Discontentment is really just a big word for boredom.  And boredom stems from laziness, idleness, selfishness, and discouragement.  I find that when I get discouraged and focus on my discouragement, I’m being pretty darn selfish.  When I get to focusing on my self, I get immobile for some reason.  And the more I sit and wallow in my own “poor ole me” pit, the more lazy I get.  The more lazy I get the more bored I get.  And then I get discontent all over again and the deadly cycle repeats itself.

As this cultural habit continues to pound the church of Christians, it affects the mission our God has called us on too.  And this mission God has called us on places us in certain places around the globe.  I firmly believe that God has mysteriously, sovereignly and personally called each Christian to a certain location on earth to fulfill His mission there at that time.  So God specifically calls a specific person to a specific place for a specific reason among a specific people in a specific way.  I think God is very purposeful.  Acts 17 in the Bible proves this as Paul tells the Athenians that God has ordained the very dwelling places of man in such a way that he will desire to find Him.

But as this Christian begins to understand this strange geographical ordination of God’s mission, he should grow to become more fond of it.  On the contrary I have found recently through conversations with some of my closest friends and dear brothers in Christ a sort of groping and longing to fulfill God’s mission somewhere else.

Since I am a natural skeptic I easily chalk it up to simple discontentment.  However as I begin to understand that God is mysterious in His sovereignty, there is a strange balance between accepting God’s geographical ordination with contentment and on the other hand desiring the fullness of that contentment even if it means moving closer to His more perfect location for us at a given time.  That’s a mouth full.  In a nutshell what I am saying is that we can be both happy with where God has us while desiring a more complete perfection of His will for our location.  A paradoxical happy with the present yet longing for a better future.

The challenge in all of this is discerning our hearts in the matter; mainly by asking tough questions:

• Why am I discontent?  Is it because I can’t accept God’s location for my life here or because I’m not really where He wants me?
• Am I really just bored?
• Am I too hard to please?
• Are my expectations unrealistic or too high?
• Am I extremely fickle and indecisive?
• What am I really searching for?
• Are my goals selfish?
• Am I truly longing for where God wants me, no matter how desirable or undesirable the location may be?
• Am I giving in to the culture’s tendency towards “the grass is greener on the other side”?

These are tough questions that deserve honest answers.  I think finding the answer to most of these will reveal a lot about a person’s heart and motives.

So to answer my first question about whether it’s possible or okay for a human to be bored with divine geography:  I think it’s possible and depends on the heart of the person.  As a Christian truly seeks God’s will for his life, he will naturally want what God wants.  This will lead to a good discontentment that pushes the Christian to want more of God’s goodness for him.  But if this Christian is giving in too much to the microwave, have-it-your-way, “I’m an artist and need to express my individuals’ artist integrity” mentality then it may not be good to be bored with God’s divine geography.  It may be a test of their heart to reveal what they really desire:  God’s will or their will.

I’ll explain where I’m taking all of this in part 2.

My Top Ten Questions of Leading Worship with No Instrument

1. What do I do with my hands? I can’t just let ‘em dangle.
2. Can I touch my mic?  If so, how and how often?
3. Do I look at the audience, my music, the screen or all three back and forth?
4. Eyes, open or closed or squinting?
5. Shoes, socks or bare feet? (cause everyone knows that bare feet is more holy, no matter how cheesy)
6. Is the pastor signing me?
7. Oops, hope no one just heard that?
8. Are they watching me?  Feels like they are looking into my soul.
9. Why doesn’t that guy ever sing?
10. Bridge? Chorus? Back to verse 1? Repeat the last line? Ooh, acapella chorus.  Decisions, decisions, decisions!

Okay so this is my top ten silly list.  Enjoy.

A Worship Leader who plays the vocal chords

Sometimes I feel like the loneliest, most ill-equipped leader around.  I have been leading the worship music at my church for nearly a year and a half now.  And I’ve done so playing no instrument, except the vocal chords.  Leading a worship band with no instrument may not sound all that difficult; kind of like the latest secular band whose leader only sings.  In fact, probably half or more big name bands have a leader that primarily sings and plays no instrument.

What makes it difficult for me is that on top of leading with no instrument (compared to most worship leaders who lead with guitar or piano), I also haven’t had formal music training in nearly 15 years.  That’s a decade and a half since I’ve had to read music, learn musical theory, play from memory and know my scales forwards and backwards.  This can prove for a very difficult time of leading on Sunday mornings for services but also during rehearsals.

Thankfully, God has humbled me and taught me a great deal of lessons in this adventure.  Especially as He has surrounded me with an extremely talented team of musicians.  My acoustic lead guitarist is incredible.  He can pick up a new song on a dime and plays rhythms that should place him in night clubs.  My pianist is extremely talented.  She is very flexible, quick and can play some amazingly smooth transitions.  My female vocalist is naturally talented, creates some original harmonies and does a great lead.  My bass player can dig some great riffs and plays powerfully and fast.   You can imagine with little musical training and rusty hinges, it’s pretty intimidating and surreal leading a team like this from week to week.

I never thought leading without an instrument could be done.  I am challenged constantly from knowing chord progressions, how each instrument sounds, to tuning, rhythms, strum patterns, beats and temp to crescendos, acapella and transposing.  I always thought that unless I had an acoustic guitar or piano in front of me, I had no ability or business leading.  God proved me wrong on that and fast.  Somehow through my rustiness and lack of confidence I was able to lead my team fairly well.  Of course, I couldn’t do it without the team.  The team plays an integral part in helping me lead and be who I am.  They pour into me confidence, strength, encouragement and trust like I’ve never seen.

Sometimes I feel like the CEO who is just too young to be such.  The board of trustees and advisors is made up of experienced, well-seasoned chickens.  This new young buck CEO has to prove himself to them even though he’s now the head honcho around town.  Only my board of trustees totally trusts me, believes in me and enjoys my leadership.  That’s empowering and freeing.

So to all the worship leaders who feel inadequate, lame or awkward leading with no instrument, don’t.  God doesn’t need a piece of equipment that makes noise in order for you to lead your team.  He just needs you and your faith in Him to equip and empower you as you lead.

As a result I’ve learned more about music, worship and my own leadership than I could have ever imagined.  I look forward to the future until God leads me to an instrument.  Until then, I’ll stick to mastering the vocal chords.

My Top Reasons for Pursuing Biblical Unity

Here are my top reasons for pursuing biblical unity in all that I believe and live in my Christian life: (in no particular order)

1. I am a child of a triune, fully unified God
2. I love Jesus Christ and His Good News
3. I love the church, the universal, catholic church
4. I love the Holy Spirit
5. Jesus’ prayer in John 17 – His glory and fame is on the line!
6. I love people
7. I love the mission to make disciples
8. I love my wife
9. I love my daughter
10. I love theology
11. I love the Word
12. Sin is real, dangerous and hopeless
13. I love creation
14. I hate the Fall and all of its effects and fruit
15. Division in the Church is real, unfruitful and counterproductive
16. Infighting prevents outreach
17. “Unity” today has been lost in translation, especially in Christian circles
18. Time must be redeemed because the days are still evil
19. Jesus is coming back soon!
20. I’m still breathing…

I list these primarily to be stated, not debated.

World War of Words, Part 1

I’ve always been a stickler for words.

Even though my mouth seems to run like a gushing fire hydrant. Much to my dismay, language is typically my greatest strength AND my greatest weakness. So I’ve learned the hard way to choose my words wisely. To say things carefully. To think before I speak, not speak before I think.

Words matter. They bring life, they bring destruction. They influence people and situations.

Today some of the most popular ways to greet somebody and meet somebody are by asking first “How are you?” and then “What do you do?”. These questions seem harmless and normal at the surface. But at the root, they are philosophically aiming the focus of the meeting to less significant things and more transient things.

I believe that because of the day in age we live in, all people struggle with one primary issue: selfishness exhibited through self-indulgence, self-preservation, self-exaltation, self-help, self-seeking, and so on and so on. And the world we live in puts the focus on a person’s condition and feelings and a person’s career path.

This is evidenced by the two above questions:

1. How are you? – the focus is on the well being of the person, specifically the feelings of that person at that moment in time. For example, “How are you doing?”.
2. What do you do? – the focus is on what the person does for a living, their career path or choice of success and income. For example, “What do you do for a living?”.

The reason I think these two questions are significant is because they lead the meeting down a certain path.  A path that tends towards temporary and unimportant matters. Surely these questions are not evil by any means. And there are many times when asking these questions is not only perfectly fine but appropriate. However they point the asker and the askee towards a typical worldly focus of conversing and living. That of feelings and work.

Simply put, I think the more appropriate and eternal question would be to ask “Who are You?”. Why, you ask? Because the question in this life is not How much do You make?, What is your career?, How much do you own?, What are your accomplishments?.

The question in this life that will matter in the next life is “Who are You?”. Or better yet, “Whose are You?”. This refocuses and aims the question towards the target of greatest significance: identity and nature! Feelings don’t matter. Work or career are not that crucial. Rather who a person is matters most. This is what is eternally important.

This is not a “become a better you” or “find your true self within” type of identity revelation. It’s not a self-revelation. It’s a self-realization. Who you are at your core is what defines you. Your nature is who you are by, well nature. Finding your true self can only be realized once it is revealed. And it is not a self-realization. It must be an “other-revelation”. It must be a divine-revelation from God almighty. He shows you who you are. Then He reveals to you Whose you are.

So maybe we should stop asking people all the time “How are you?” or “What do you do?” but rather “Who are you?” or “Whose are you?” or even “Who are you becoming?”. Strange looks will come. But they always do with new words, trends, and terms.

Why not start a language revolution? Be a word rebel. Fight to redeem the language for the sake of God and for people. It just may change a life. It just may change a person, forever.

I simply want the Gospel to not just inform but guide and drive my words. When the Gospel, or Good News about God’s goodness in His Son Jesus Christ, changes a person, it does so by proclaiming to them words of power, truth and grace! So a Christian who embraces the Gospel now has a new heart and a new language; a new vocabulary.

So, “Who are you?”.

Free Resources for Worship Leaders

I am the worship leader at church in the ‘Boro in southern Georgia. It’s been quite a journey of faith and fire. Through it all, God’s been more than faithful. I just pray I’ve been fruitful.

I have had many people pour into me as worship leader here for the past 9 months. I’ve also had to figure many things out on my own; often the hard way. So I want to help out worship leaders, song directors, and music directors because I needed help and still need help.

Here are some excellent key resources to help you in your efforts to not only lead your worship team but in leading the congregation (with your pastor) to exalt in the worship of God through singing!

Media

• Pandora – one of the best ways to fill your heart and mind with song ideas is to setup a free account here at the internet’s #1 free, custom radio station. It’s also an excellent tool to help you find a varied style that is not only honed into your personal preference, it’ll stretch your abilities and talents.
• YouTube or GodTube (now called Tangle) – you’re way behind if you haven’t discovered YouTube yet. This is a great way to not only hear song ideas but to see them performed. Also an excellent tool to watch and learn to play different songs and instruments. Just create a Free account, save your videos and you’ll always have them. Good way to integrate sermon excerpts and inspirational worship media too.

Song Databases and Search Engines

• I Will Worship – a simple, FREE and wonderful resource for a huge variety of songs from a variety of artists: from rock to alternative to worship to praise to hymns to contemporary to classic to underground to mainstream.
• Guitar Hymns – excellent resource for hymns played on guitar

Favorite Artists and Ministries – who offer free resources

• Sovereign Grace Music – countless free mp3s, chords, lyrics, piano, guitar and lead sheet music. Just click on “Store”.
• Lead Worship – Free songbooks, lyrics, and songs from Paul Baloche
• Tenth Avenue North – great new band who is very scripturally sound and fresh. They have very convicting and encouraging journals online and free lyrics and behind the song stories.

For the Worship Leader’s Heart and Leading

• Worship Matters – Bob Kauflin’s personal blog. One of the best and most comprehensive blogs on how to be a godly worship leader, lead a team, and the ins and outs of worship team all through our worship of God.
• Desiring God blog – personal blog of John Piper and Desiring God ministries

Not Free Resources

• Praise Charts
• Gospel Software

That’s it for now. I hope these help. I hope they assist you in leading your local church in worship by singing praise and ascribing goodness to God.

The Functionality of the Gospel – An Intro

“One of the greatest challenges, yet one of the most important tasks of the pastor is to help people actually see the connections between the gospel and the thinking and behavior that make up their everyday lives. We know well the centrality of the gospel message but in order for it to have a functional centrality it must be clearly and carefully connected to the real issues – issues of thought and conduct-of people’s lives…”(Mike Bullmore, The Functional Centrality of the Gospel in the life of the local Church).

The Gospel must become “functionally central to the individual Christian and the local church” (Mike Bullmore). Okay, so you know the Gospel must be kept at center stage, but how then does it become functional at center stage? How does this truth leap off the stage and into my life and invade my heart? This question and the tireless search for its answer has been at the forefront of my mind for the last 2 years. I want to share with you why, in my opinion, this question is one of THE most important questions a Christian could answer. Because answering it will effect your entire Christian walk, specifically the manner in which you act, react, think, and feel about everything.

I want to begin before I make my case with some legitimate reactions in response to this plea for a functioning and practical Gospel: (both are extremes to fit the way my mind typically works)

1. Extreme Skepticism – “Make the Gospel practical? no way! The last thing we need is a watered-down, simplistic, dumbed down, child-like, easy-to-believe Gospel. The Gospel is challenging, powerful, lofty, theological and divine!”

This would be an understandable reaction. However, this person misses the point and goes to the extreme in their perception of the words “functioning and practical”. They fear this would make the Gospel basic and everydayish in concept and application, thereby causing the Gospel to be stripped of its divine power to save. But what they don’t understand is that God’s Gospel was not designed primarily to benefit us in the beginning by our faith, but is to function daily throughout our walk with Christ. The skeptics’ “hard-to-reach only-for-mature-deep-thinking-Christians” Gospel should not be simplified or made ‘user-friendly’. So he can only view an attempt to functionalize the Gospel as hostile to its very nature. These skeptics may be trusting in a “Jesus + Gospel”, works based righteousness, or their own rigid, pragmatic, and stuck-in-a-book Gospel. To them, the Gospel is indeed the “power of God to salvation”, however it never functions in any other aspect other than adhering to a list of facts or dutifully reciting some creed.

2. Extreme Acceptance – “Yes, yes, yes. This is what I’ve been talking about. The Gospel is so simple and basic. We need to be making it practical and easy for all to understand and accept. The Gospel is not for intelligent, high-minded, intellectuals obsessed with theology and reading, but is for the down-and-out, the prostitute, the tax-evader, the murderer, the rapist, and the child molester. These people need simplistic answers. They need a simple formula. A basic truth. A little nugget of Christ, just enough to chew on and enjoy the taste. Yes, the Gospel must be practical and functional in the most simplist way”.

This would also be an understandable reaction to my argument for a “functioning” Gospel. However, this hypothetical person also misses my point and therefore takes their interpretation to the extreme. He believes the Gospel is simple. He is correct. Simple in that one does not have to study, and study, and study, and study to become a brainiac to be saved or to understand it. This Simpleton person rightly sees the danger of overintellectualizing (I think I made that up) and overcomplicating the Gospel and therefore understandably reacts as they do. He knows that God is not a God of confusion and that the devil is the Father of all lies. So he deducts from those truths a line of reasoning that says that God would not complicate His message so it must be easy. He also believes that God is pleased to reveal this to babes and to conceal it from the wise (Matt 11:25; Lk 10:21). And he would be right. He is also right in that the Gospel is not just for smart men. Most of us would be in trouble if it was; it is for the down-and-out too. Its simple in that the humble, lowly, poor in spirit and those thirsting for truth will receive it. The high-minded and prideful, those trusting in their righteousness won’t. He is confused about what I mean by a “functioning” Gospel. Functioning doesn’t imply dumbing it down. It doesn’t imply making it so base that a brick can comprehend it.

Functioning means the Gospel must be living and active in the life of the believer. But we cannot make the Gospel simple or acceptable for man to understand. No amount of our simplifying it for the lost man will do much good if we strip it of its power, the content, namely the work, person, and words of Jesus Christ. But the Gospel is not simple as far as responding to it. It is impossible for man to heed the commands of the Gospel, namely to repent and believe, in order to be saved without the regnerating work of the Holy Spirit. Our part as Christians is to faithfully present the Gospel as it truly is, foolishness to those who are perishing, and God will give the growth as He sees fit. Its simple because we plant or water the seed, but God gives the increase. Yet the Simpleton must understand that to the unregenerate man, this Gospel is utter foolishness (1 Cor 1:18, 21). So it is complicated and illogical to the lost man. And to the saved man, it makes perfect sense. Despite the saved man’s limitations in fully understanding the whole counsel of God, for him the Gospel is simple in belief and to believe.

Isn’t there a midpoint or a compromise between these two extreme reactions to desire a functioning Gospel? What’s the appropriate response to understanding “the Gospel must be fully functional”? I am going to argue liberally and hopefully charitably that the proper understanding of a “functioning” Gospel is one that is…

• Theologically Deep
• Purposefully Practical
• Powerfully Performing
• Faithfully Fruitful
• Heart transforming
• Truth Revealing
• Christ Conforming
• Church Reforming
• Culture Reshaping
• Community Reviving

The Gospel is so perfect in its design because its designer, God, is so perfect. It functions for what it was designed to function for: bring people to God to know and enjoy Him forever. So, the question is how does this Good News, the Gospel, function to do this in every aspect of the life of the believer?

Tune in next time and see.

Powerful Gospel Quotes from Pastor Tim Keller

One of the most powerful and liberating articles I’ve ever read on believing and applying rightly the Gospel, is Pastor Tim Keller’s “The Centrality of the Gospel”.

It’s available here for free.

Especially crucial in Pastor Tim’s article is his explanation of the “two thieves of the gospel”, religion (moralism) and irreligion (hedonism). Both are dangerous enemies to the grace of the Gospel and the glory of God. Both are rooted heart issues of unbelief that steal our joy, squash our hope, quench our thirsts, quiet our minds, and confuse our lives into thinking either we must work hard to earn God’s favor or we can’t earn God’s favor so why work at all? Both are very self-satisfying and damning.

Please read this article.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from it:

• “the Christian life is a process of renewing every dimension of our life — spiritual, psychological, corporate, social — by thinking, hoping, and living out the “lines” or ramifications of the gospel. The gospel is to be applied to every area of thinking, feeling, relating, working, and behaving”.
• “All our problems come from a failure to apply the Gospel”.
• “The main problem, then, in the Christian life is that we have not thought out the deep implications of the gospel, we have not “used” the gospel in and on all parts of our life. Richard Lovelace says that most people’s problems are just a failure to be oriented to the gospel — a failure to grasp and believe it through and through”.
• “All of us, to some degree live around the truth of the gospel but do not “get” it. So the key to continual and deeper spiritual renewal and revival is the continual re-discovery of the gospel”.
• “The gospel shows us a God far more holy thatn the legalist can bear (he had to die because we could not satisfy his holy demands) and yet far more merciful than a humanist can conceive (he had to die because he loved us)”.
• “We must bring everything into line with the gospel”.
• The Gospel and Worship:  “But the gospel leads us to see that God is both transcendent yet immanent. His immanence makes his transcendence comforting, while his transcendence makes his immanence amazing. The gospel leads us to both awe and intimacy in worship, for the Holy One is now our Father”.

Rebuilding Burned Bridges – How the Gospel demands bulls return and clean the china shops

To all you church-hoppers, church-shoppers, pew jumpers, ship abandoners, captain haters, hill-diers, preference martyrs, stake nailers and wedge drivers who have burnt bridges by leaving churches in wrong ways for wrong reasons:

the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His cross demands that you humble yourself, love your brothers and sisters, and seek for unity and peace with the churches you have left in ruins by going back for reconciliation.

Too often, Christians in their pride and prejudice, pickiness and preferences have acted like “a bull in a china shop” toward the churches they have left. The Gospel demands that these Christian bullys return to these china shops for a mass cleanup and reconcile not only with the customers (church members) but the china shop owner (pastor/leaders).

It’s high time us bullys clean up our messes for the sake of the Gospel.

This is not my idea. It’s been designed and decided on by the entire trinity of the Godhead: God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. I get this from perhaps the sweetest of all the words of Christ, the High Priestly Prayer in John 17.

Jesus says:

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Wow, did you catch that? Jesus, in a prayer for His saints for Himself and His Father’s glory, prays for perfect harmonious unity for the purpose of missions. Did you catch that? “Just as you, Father are in me, and I in you, that they may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (verse 21).

This puts a more serious bent and perspective on the damage done by Christian bullys who stormed out of a church. If they left in a sinful way for sinful reasons with a sinful heart, then they most likely did damage to the unity of that community of believers and therefore (like Christ prays) prevented the nearby world from believing in Jesus.

Let me say it again simpler: The bully causes a ruckus, storms out of a church with hurt feelings and hurt people, leaves a mess, causes division, the body suffers, the leadership struggles, unity is threatened, and therefore the local community is either preached a false Gospel or a nonexistent one. In other words, No Gospel At All is Preached!

Even Paul argues for unity once he learns of the bullying and division and immaturity going on in the church of Corinth in the first chapter of first Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Here Paul, embarassingly, has to remind the Corinthians believers why he was chosen by Christ: not to baptize but to preach the Gospel. And to do it not with eloquence or excellence but with authenticity so that the cross of Christ would be displayed as it truly is: powerful and purposeful and effective!

Paul is pleading with the Corinthians to stop creating cliques and groups and causing quarrels but rather to unify under Christ Jesus. Not under any favorite teacher, preacher, sermon, doctrine, preference, style of worship or other perifferal non-essential of the faith.

Its the same today. Same thing different day. Believers today are fighting over their personal favorites and preferences and prideful version of Christianity rather than submitting to the unity and power of the cross of Jesus Christ by the Spirit. They are, in a sense, bullying their way through the pews to manipulate and govern and let their boisterous voices be heard. They will not stop until damage has been done.

If you can relate to what I am speaking of and you have been this raging bull, the damage has already been done. The bridge is burned. The fires have raged. The wood is singed. The ashes are piled up. The smoke is almost done smoldering. The damage is done.

However, praise God it’s not too late to rebuild! It’s not too late to go back. It’s not too late to reconcile. It’s not too late to rediscover the beauty of the unity of the cross of Jesus Christ. What you must do is humble yourself, seek out the offended, take the initiative to seek restoration, and fight hard to reestablish a relationship of love, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

I know first hand what it is like to transition from gentle lamb to raging, fiery bull. Unfortunately, I was the bull in the china shop. I stormed out of a church in 2005 that I grew up in for 11 years. All of it over hatred for the man who led this church. If I’m honest I’ll ask these questions:

• Did I seek out this pastor for conversation?
• Did I seek to understand him?
• Did I pursue a relationship with him?
• Did I seek to honor, respect, love, and submit to his person and office?
• Did I seek to see him as a brother in Christ, giving him the benefit of the doubt?
• Did I seek to encourage, exhort, edify, build up?
• Did I seek to ask more questions than make demands?
• Did I seek humility towards him or pride over him?
• Did I speak kindly and gently about him and his character and office?
• Did I seek for peace, unity, kinship, and reconciliation?

The answer to all of these questions is a big fat NO!!!

I was too caught up in my own arrogant and damning pride to see the error of my own ways. The log I had in my own eye kept me from seeing clearly to actually help him with the specks in his. Grant it, reasons I left were largely theological, which very well could have been resolved if I had chosen the fight side of the “fight or flight mentality” rather than the flight side.

Typically the bull’s preference is to make a lot of noise, do a lot of damage and then run out. Not fight it out and stick around to help clean up and restore.

I am aware and encouraged by God’s mysterious sovereignty to take me out of that church and where I am now. Even with my own sin and pride to leave in a wrong way. Even though I may have done great damage to the testimony of Christ and to the preaching and applying of His Gospel. Yet there is not a day that goes by that I don’t regret and doubt my decisions of hastiness, desperation, impatience, hopelessness, and unbelief in the Gospel.

The simple truth is: I left too fast, too wrong, and too foolishly. There are people I should seek forgiveness from and those I should seek to forgive. Some of them leaders. It will take much humbling on my part to go back and reconcile. It doesn’t mean I have to go back permanently and rejoin for membership. But think of what power may come if I stepped out of my comfort zone for the sake of the prayer of our Lord and Savior, to gain unity among brothers so that Christ would be glorified and the world may believe.

Is it possible that the world is in grave unbelief now and the church is in a destitute state now because of an extreme lack of unity? Could it be that we don’t preach the unity of the cross accurately let alone period? What if the church came under the cross together? What would the world see?

The world would see Jesus; and more specifically they would see God and the oneness of His love and grace.

So Christian, what are you gonna do? The Gospel demands reconciliation whether you want it or not. If you are a creation of the cross of Christ, then you have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5). Your main duty of delight is to reconcile others to God, to each other, and to King Jesus! What does that look like?

Can you go back to that church you left in a rubble? Can you retreat in humility and seek out restoration? Can you forgive? Can you reach out? Will you obey the Gospel? God calls you to glorify Himself by glorifying His Son. One major way that happens is to be reconciled to your brothers and sisters in Christ. Being divided against them is unloving and hateful. And 1 John warns that those who do not love their brother cannot be born of God.

If you don’t love your family, you are not a child of God. Those are strong words. Do you believe them? Can you go back?

I will. I can. I must. Let’s go together. For the sake of the cross. For the sake of their unity and ours. For the sake of the world’s faith. For the sake of God’s glory.

It may take time, a lot of it. But it’s more than worth it. Let’s rebuild these burnt bridges. Let’s lay down our pride. Let’s embrace the humility of the cross and love our family in Christ. Clean up the china you bull. Repent and have faith in the unity and restoration of the Gospel of Christ. God forgives as you forgive others.

What are you gonna do? Maybe you need to write a hand-written letter. Maybe you need to show up in person. Maybe you need to buy lunch or make dinner and invite them over. Maybe you need to serve them by doing radical Gospel service for them. Maybe you need to privately confess. Maybe you need to serve under their leadership for some time. Maybe you need to seek them out for counsel for a while. Maybe you need to publicly apologize and repent before many.

Take a leap of faith. Make sacrifices. Take the initiative. Do the right thing, come what may.

OCD – Obsessive Christ-centered Disorder?

You’ve heard of OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. But is it possible to have a Christ-centered disorder? Is it possible to be obsessive about being Christ-centered, Gospel-centered, Gospel-driven, Christocentric or Gospel-focused?

Unless you’ve been asleep the last 5 years or more, this Gospel-centered and Christ-centered lingo and terminology has become very popular in the Evangelical Christian world; especially among Reformed circles.

There is Christ-centered worship, Cross-centered marriage, Gospel-centered churches, Cross-centered clothing, Gospel-centered rap, Cross-centered bookstores, Christ-centered children’s ministry, etc.

To be Christ-centered simply means that Christ is the center of all doctrine and therefore all of life for the Christian. Likewise to be Gospel-centered means all of one’s doctrine and life flows out of, through, and back to the Good News of Jesus Christ and His glorious cross. At the very heart of the Christian’s life is that he has been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit by, well, News.

The Gospel is news that is extremely and eternally good. The news and its goodness is that God has provided a way for man to be reconciled back to Himself. News necessarily must not just be told and passed on but proclaimed, heralded, lifted up, written on hearts, heard in streets, raised on banners, and spread like the best and hottest gossip around.

The question then is not so much what does it mean to be Gospel-centered or even should a Christian be Christ-centered. The question is, is it possible to become obsessed with being Christ-centered? Can one become overly attached to the Gospel?

I’ve heard some criticism towards the whole Gospel-centered and Christ-centered movement that they are going too far in trying to be focused on Christ. They are extreme and very simplistic by minimizing everything down to just the Gospel. They are missing so many other good things about God. They are minimalistic and reductionist in their thinking and living. There is more to life than just the Gospel.

To which I ask, WHAT ELSE IS THERE?

The whole counsel of God? Okay. And where is all that culminated in one place? His holiness, judgment, mercy, wrath, grace, love, forgiveness, redemption, glory, goodness, kindness, patience, etc.

THE CROSS!

The love of God for everyday people? Okay. And where is that best seen and displayed? THE CROSS!

Theology? Discipleship? Evangelism? Church growth? Church planting? Missions? Feeding the poor? Relationships? Yeah, okay. And where do all of those find their ultimate purpose, drive, and fulfillment? THE CROSS!

Correct me if I’m wrong here folks but isn’t the cross of Jesus Christ, the flesh and bones and blood of the Gospel, where everything about God (who He is and what He has done), Jesus (who He is and what He has done) and man (who we are and what we have done), the center of everything? I mean if we’re gonna major on something, focus on one thing, make much of a single thing, shouldn’t it be the cross of Christ? The Good News, the Gospel, about God’s love for sinners and God’s love for His own glory? Both of which are culminated at the cross.

So, to claim somehow that Christians who desire to see, think, feel, believe, and live Christ-centered, Gospel-centered lives are extreme, unbalanced,  missing it, or obsessed is unreasonable and naive.

The cross is everything. The Gospel is the center of the target. Jesus Christ is God most effectively translated. And the cross is God most gloriously manifested. And the Holy Spirit of God is God most powerfully displayed.

To be too obsessed with being centered and focused solely on the Gospel of God in Christ Jesus is to be too in love with God. Is that even possible?

Once Christ-centered Christians, or those who desire such, grow too accustomed to the desire to be Christ-centered to the point of dryness, emptiness, and unfruitfulness, then being cross-centered becomes the latest fad. It becomes stale and dry and as boring and lifeless as dishwater.

We must truly be Christ-centered not just in our professing, thinking or believing. But most truly in our doing, acting and living.

To be Christ-centered means one is striving to live Christ-like. Then the terminology and mindset of being Gospel-centered has power and meaning because the Christian is not only believing the Gospel but is be-living the Gospel. That is what it looks like to be cross-eyed, Gospel-centered and Christocentric.

Too obsessed? I think not.

Our love for God and the Gospel of His Son should daily ever increase in thought and feeling and living that we become more and more obsessed with it. This is a divine obsession that is healthy and eternal.

If a Christian is to be obsessed with something, be obsessed with Jesus Christ. Be obsessed with His Gospel. Be obsessed with the cross. And live like you are truly obsessed with it.

This is not a disorder. This is radical, insane, crazy alien lust for the one thing that will satisfy our hunger and thirsts: God in Jesus Christ!

Can Gospel-Centered Business Ideology be Doodled?

So I found this awesome book. So awesome, I bought it for my pastor instead of myself.

But it will prove to be a great tool for doodling ideas and thoughts period. But especially ideas on how to apply the Gospel to the business world.

The book is “The Back of the Napkin”. You must buy it and use it. I know you have doodled on a napkin or collected fragments of a newspaper to write an idea down. Same concept yet more intuitive.

Enjoy.

The Gospel Demands a Hatred for Sin, not Culture: Three Views

The Gospel drives us to hate the sin of the people in culture not the culture of the people or the people in the culture. Hating the culture is unintelligent; hating the people is ungodly.

I had a very striking conversation with my dad and dear brother Jeremy. We started to talk about the recent tragic losses of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. That led naturally to discussions about our culture and society as a whole. We talked about everything from the evolution of technology from ipods and twitter to increased violence in schools and a loss of meaning in communication today.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that we live in a world obsessed with technology; especially pc technology. By pc technology what I mean is technology that is linked or influenced by the use of a personal computer: the internet, ipods, mp3 players, iphones, webcams, twitter, myspace, facebook, google, youtube, etc. Pc technology is literally exploding off of the scene in a rate that most people cannot keep up with the tidal wave of growth. What’s really sad is I am nearly 28 and have already started to notice that I struggle to interpret the lingo and terminology of today’s youth from 12-18.

In our fascinating conversation I noticed that Christians typically have three main reactions or philosophies toward the culture they live in (I like to think in threes, it captures both extremes and a middle road but I am not so naive to think that there are not more that I don’t know of):

1. Sectarianism – Ultra-conservative; Fundamentalism; Legalism
2. Missional – Fundamergents; biblical
3. Syncretism – Liberalism; Emergent; Antinomianism

Let me say from the onset that I don’t believe words are inherently evil; so words like “conservative” and “liberal” are not bad.  We only make them evil by the connotations they bring up in our mind and the most popular definition they are given by our culture at a specific time.

However, the word conservative and liberal have both come to bring good and bad connotations. More liberal-minded moralists typically consider conservatism a threat. And more conservative-minded moralists typically consider liberalism a threat. Liberalism is usually associated with a looser more relativistic view of morality and life. While conservatism is usually associated with a tighter more absolute view of morality and life.

Nonetheless, these are the definitions I will use for this post.

Christian Sectarianism

A definition:

This is the view that all of culture (including man and his ideas) is inherently evil, bad, unbiblical, ungodly, and in total and complete rebellion to God and His ways.

A response:

Sectarians thus respond by separating themselves from as many aspects of culture as possible including music, entertainment, arts, theater, clothing styles, certain languages and terminologies, certain peoples and groups of people, political stances, historical views, science, education, etc. Since the culture is evil, then separation is necessary to live a good and pleasing life to God. The more separate from culture, the more holy they become. As separation increases, sanctification therefore must be increasing. The more distance between culture and church, the closer the church gets to God.

A problem:

The problem with sectarians is that they find themselves so far removed from culture that they actually become out of touch to the point of having no part in the conversation of culture. They aren’t able to properly translate the Gospel of Christ into their culture. They are stuck on their own terminology, definitions, appearances, and views so much that the culture struggles hard to see not only what they are saying and doing but how it’s even relevant.

An encouragement:

Problem aside, sectarians are least on the right track with their professed love for God’s holiness and their hatred for what appears evil or dishonorable to God. However, again, they “love” God only at the expense of not loving people enough to actually meet them where they are so that the Gospel can powerfully and accurately infiltrate their culture.

Christian Syncretism

A defintion:

This view, on the opposite side of the spectrum from sectarianists, holds that all of culture is good, if not beneficial, God-ordained, and pleasing to God.

A response:

Syncretists thus respond by fully embracing culture and what it has to offer. Like sectarians, syncretists too measure the success of their mission by their distance to culture. However, sectarians see success in a far distance from culture while syncretists see success in a very close distance to culture. The closer one gets to embracing and becoming at one with the culture, the closer one gets to the honor of God and the fulfillment of one’s mission. An increase in becoming like the culture (somehow) becomes an increase in becoming like God. In other words, the closer one gets to his culture the closer one gets to his God.

A problem:

The problem syncretists have is the exact opposite of sectarians (who would’ve guessed that?). Syncretists end up placing too much importance on intimacy to culture. They place nearness to culture over nearness to God. They draw near to man and his ideas and expression of those ideas at the expense of knowing and honoring God more. Like the sectarians, they too become irrelevant to the culture because they lose touch with who God is and what He is like. The closer they get to conforming to culture, the farther they get from God. Thus the culture sees no difference or powerful message from the syncretist, only yet another group within the culture; same basic message different way of preaching.

What the culture needs is a starkly different message, even if it is preached in a similar way.

An encouragement:

The good thing about the syncretist, apart from his major dangerous flaw of leaving God for culture, is that he pursues man where he is. The syncretist seeks out man at all cost. Like Paul says “be all things to all men…”. The problem though is the syncretist stops there. He can do great at being all things to all men. But he misses Paul’s point in being all things to all men, “so that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Or even Paul’s next statement: “I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings (1 Corinthians 9:23).

The syncretist forgets that the best way to reach into culture and love men is to save them, to do it for the sake of the gospel. What is the Gospel’s sake? To reconcile men to God. The end is that God may be glorified by the salvation of His people. The syncretist places a false sense of unity and harmony through all-encompassing acceptance at the expense of God redeeming for Himself a people.

Christian Missional

A definition:

Okay so this term has been tossed around to and fro the last 5 years or so. Especially by the likes of Mark Driscoll (who may have termed it), Ed Stetzer, Albert Mohler, and more. The best definition I can give is:

the view that culture is owned and ruled by God’s sovereign mysterious hand, that it contains both good and evil, that nothing is inherently evil but rather the  hearts of men who create and express ideas of culture are evil, and that God is not only capable of but will eventually redeem all things back to Himself, including the culture; that there are many honorable things about culture that show God’s grace, creativity, and love; and that God has designed His gospel to infiltrate the culture, kill sin wherever it is found, love men wherever they may be, and lead them to Himself wherever He finds them.

A response:

So missional Christians have a strong sense of the importance and power of life to be not only founded on Jesus Christ and His Gospel but God’s Word, the Holy written, infallable, inerrant, fully divine authoritative unchangeable and sufficient Bible. And they have a duel passion for both God and His glory and man. Therefore missional-minded Christians realize they live within the culture to live among the culture so that they can go into the culture and spend their time loving people where they find them in the culture. This helps the Gospel be culturally relevant, because it has purchased a people out of that culture, and still not be like the culture. Cultural but not of the culture. This is how God has designed it.

A final comparison:

So for example, a sectarian Christian would say that rap music or hip hop style clothes are sinful because they are of the culture of the world. A syncretic Christian would say that rap music and hip hop clothing styles are perfectly fine, even when not sung in Jesus’ name because they celebrate the diversity and creativity of God. But the missional Christian would say that no music style or clothing style (unless immodest) is inherently evil but the hearts of the ones producing or wearing it is evil. And that God finds great joy and wisdom in redeeming a people out of those cultures, not to reverse their cultural tattoo, but rather to transform their heart and mind, leave them tattooed so that they can preach the Gospel and live Christ Jesus in and among their cultural tatoo.

Syncretists love and embrace the culture apart from a theological view of God primer. This love for culture at the expense of God’s demand for holiness and proper Gospel exclusion can border a hatred for culture. Sectarians border a hatred for the culture by professing a sole love for God at the expense of loving people. Being missional means loving God first and then loving people. It doesn’t mean embracing culture, it means embracing the people of culture. It doesn’t mean rejecting culture totally or rejecting the people in the culture but the sins of the people in culture.

The Gospel draws a balance line between loving the people in the culture, seeking to understand the culture so as to best meet the people who live in the culture, and then hating the sins of the people in that culture.

The Gospel must necessarily redeem a people within their culture so that they can live as light and salt inside of their culture. Yes the Gospel does redeem a people outside of their culture to be extracultural missionaries to other cultures. But here I am referring to the power of the Gospel to take a rebel, change him into a child of God and a joining priests with King Jesus, and send him to find other rebels to make them priests.

That’s awesome! And that doesn’t come at all from loving culture at the expense of living for and loving God’s glory (syncretism) or from hating culture at the expense of loving people (sectarianism). It comes from loving God, loving people, and hating everything in the people that hates God!

Embrace the Gospel. Don’t hate the culture. Don’t hate the people in the culture. Don’t love the culture. Hate their sin. Love the people. Love God. Believe and live the Gospel that hates sin, not the container that holds or displays sin.

The Missional Gospel: Love God, love people, hate sin, and do it all in your culture for the glory of God!

The Sound of Worship in Washington D.C.?

The first night of the Worship God 2009 Conference, I had an interesting image or vision placed into my head. It was nearly 5 minutes or less into our first night of singing. I was tired from the 12 hour drive, weary of the coming days, anticipating with joy and with wonder. My heart needed to be enaged with the words I was singing but it seemed to be dragging along. As the second song or so began, our voices began to get louder. Soon, they were raised at what seemed the top of our lungs. We were all singing with joy and freedom and wonder and awe at the glory and splendor of our God and Lord Jesus Christ!

Suddenly, like a flash, I had a thought of how near Washington, D.C. was to our conference in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It is less than a 40 minute drive. Quickly came a flash of an image of the roof of the church building we were in being ripped off (like a muffin top) and the loud sound of our joyful worship beginning to travel in a ribbon of notes and lyrics toward D.C. As it reached the city limits of historic Washington, it made its way into the doors and windows and alleys and streets and stores and monuments of old. The sound begin to capture people’s attention to the effect of silence, wonder, and bringing all to a stand still.

Instantly it reached the Supreme Court, the Capitol building (where Congress and Senate meet), the Treasury Department, and then finally the White House. Into the windows of the White House. Into the Oval Office where Presidnet Barack Obama and his cabinet meet. President Obama rises to his feet in a kind of curious wonder desperately trying to figure out just why we are singing and what we are singing about. As he and others being to realize the content of our singing, they become dumbfounded and aggravated; and even offended that we would be not just singing but “worshipping” someone or something. Until they find out that we are worshipping and praising and adoring another. And then they hear we are exalting Jesus! Then that we are exulting in Jesus exalting Himself and His own glory.

How absurd! How bizarre! How foolish! How pointless and demeaning to one’s own worth and value! How wasteful and utterly dehumanizing to sing with such passion to something that strikes a threat to our very core of being human!

As I pictured all of this in a flash of seconds, my heart couldn’t help but leap with joy and my face changed to show it. I was happy at the thought. I was overjoyed with glee that Washington could see such a sight and hear such a sound. Like a mighty rushing wind, for God to privilege Washington to hear the sound of His people worshipping His beauty and glory. What a joy! What an amazing experience it would be for President Obama to simply see and hear us now! To just taste the seeming foolishness of what we are doing: worshipping and exalting another. And actually finding happiness in doing so.

It makes no sense you silly little Christians. You radical extremists. How can you be so simple and childish? One day you will see Christians. One day you will come to terms with your deficiencies and your emptiness. Stop your singing. Stop your shouting and clapping. Stop your dancing. Stop your worshipping. Blah! What a wretched sight! What an offensive display of demoralization. What a putrid smell in our nostrils. You would be best to be banned from this place and cornered to a dark alley where none can hear or see you.

Oh Washington, if you only knew the love and might of our God! If you only could “taste and see that the Lord is good”. If you could only hear the message of our music. If you could only see the glory of God. If you could only hear the wonder of Jesus. You would painfully repent and joyfully leap to your feet for just a moment to be able to worship your creator!

Oh Washington, hear the sound of God’s people worshipping. See the sight of God’s people worshipping. One day it will be too late. May you pray on your face for God to gracefully rip off the roof’s of His local church gatherings so you can hear just a squeak of their singing and see just a glimpse of their joy! May He show you His holy goodness and His loving mercy through the worship of His saints!

May we worship at all times, always, never ceasing. May we humbly and boldly worship the Lord in the splendor of His majesty. May we serve the Lord with gladness, so that the world and Washington will one day be gripped with the wisdom of our foolish display of worship.

Worship the Lord church. Listen Washtingon. Watch. Pray for God to show you soon before it’s too late.

Worship.