We're about to make what I think is our most significant change to date (at least since I've been at Waite Park). Now the reality is it's not really that big of a change. We're not changing our theology or moving to Texas or anything, but we're changing around our Sunday morning schedule on September 4th.
This will be the new schedule:
Coffee time 9:00 am
Prayer 9:15 am
Worship Service 10:00 am
Adult Groups and Sunday School (for kids) 11:20 am
The adult groups (or whatever we're going to call them) initially will be three groups, generally divided into young adult, middle adult, and older adult. I guess you can define yourself however you'd like. From time to time, we'll also do "mixer" Sunday where we will randomly divide the groups to get a cross-generational perspective.
As far as I know, Waite Park has kept the same Sunday Schedule for many years. It's been your standard schedule of Sunday School and then worship service. That schedule has served many churches, including Waite Park, very well over the years. But as with anything times change and we have to find new ways to communicate the faith.
The changes we are making to Sunday morning are consistent with two guiding principles of ministry. The first is that more does not always mean better. Oftentimes, we think that the more stuff we're putting in our brain, the more spiritual we are. So we get into the habit of participating in as many church activities and Bible studies as we can. Subliminally, we equate spiritual growth with knowledge. The problem is that the Bible doesn't equate spiritual growth solely with knowledge. Gaining knowledge is only a part of life transformation.
Although we'll probably call it something different, we're not getting rid of Sunday School per se, but it will look different after September 4th. Basically, our adult discipleship time on Sunday will be a discussion based on the sermon that will move toward application. In order to reflect the fact that we don't see discipleship as knowledge alone, we'll probably call it something like "connection groups" (trying to help people connect with the sermon material and the community of faith) or application groups (because the point is to engage the principles in the sermon and figure out how to apply what we learn in community).
Because the group time will be sermon based, we had to switch the order of Sunday morning. It wouldn't make much sense to preach a sermon, then have people wait until the next Sunday to discuss it. By that time, most people have already forgotten the sermon entirely (another reason for the change, by the way). It was only appropriate to switch the order of our worship service and groups so when we leave worship service, we can immediately engage with the material as it's fresh on our minds. Then, as groups we can discuss how we will go on to apply it over the next week.
What we hope is that the change will help us in a number of different ways.
First, we hope to make the sermon "stick." Let's face it, no matter how good the speaker is, most people forget completely about the sermon by Sunday night. So as a pastor, it makes me think, why should I spend all that time during the week preparing a well-thought-out message when it's not going to do many people any good? If it's in one ear and out the other, we might as well find something more productive or entertaining to do with our time--like sing more songs!
Second, we think this new schedule will help people to sharpen the focus of their spiritual growth. When you focus on three or four or five things you're really focused on nothing. Your thoughts are scattered and all the life-changing principles can't work their way into your life because life-change takes time. As we lessen the sheer amount of different things we're learning in a given week, it gives us a change to focus on the Word working itself deep into our heart as we meditate on it and practice it throughout the week.
Third, we think it's great opportunity to move in-sync as a church. Because of the society we live in, we have a habit of learning and applying Scripture only as individuals. But while Scripture does apply to individuals, it's not meant to be read and applied merely individually. It's intended to be read and applied in community. As the body of Christ, we move together. As we learn together, we learn to move in the same direction.
The fourth thing we hope to accomplish is actually an after-thought. As I was discussing the concept with a new couple to our church, they really liked the idea and brought up something I really hadn't thought of. It's this simple principle: It's easier to get people to stay for something than to come early. That's so true. As a result, we think this schedule, just by the timing itself, will be better suited for our newer people to join in our discipleship ministries.
I always say we should have high expectations for our members. In other words, we expect that those who are a regular part of our church body, will put themselves in a position where they can grow and mature spiritually. So, by making this time more accessible to new people, we believe it will also get more people involved.
While we've put a lot of thought into this change, I'm sure there will be some snafus and things we didn't think about. So, if you're a regular at Waite Park, please be patient and give the new schedule a chance. I think it'll be a great thing for our church.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
New Series: Generations
Initially, when I was putting together this series, I was thinking in terms of the question, "How do people who are 50, 60, or 70 years different get along?" Great question. Even people who are 20 years different can sometimes have a tough time getting along because the times in which each grew up are so different. With different music styles, thought patterns, relationship to technology and basic assumptions, how can everyone in the church grow?
Oftentimes, for churches the answer is homogeneity. When I was in seminary, the trend was church growth. The experts would say if you want your church to grow then what you need to do is find your target audience and tailor everything toward that target. If that means you only get 20-somethings, then so be it. In fact, that would be preferable, because then church is easy for everyone. They get to be with people who are like them and worship to their style of music.
But is this really the goal of the Christian life. Sure we would love our churches to grow. But there is great value on not working for a homogenous church experience. In fact, if the essence of spiritual growth is learning to get over yourself, what better place to grow, than in a church where you can't always get your way?
So, with that being said, how do you run a multi-generational church? What style of music do you do? What are the classes you teach? Do you do Sunday School or small groups? Who gets their way? I think at least a partial answer presents itself when you ask the question of why the church is here. Does God want us just to get along and wait for Christ to come? I don't think so. I think the answer becomes a little clearer when we understand that the job of the church is to pass along the faith to future generations. When we don't have unity of taste and styles, we need to find unity of purpose.
The church is an active, not a passive organization. We have a calling and a purpose and it's not just to sit around and wait until Jesus comes. The purpose is to make disciples. So we find our unity in that.
In Ephesians 2, Paul describes the church as a building with Christ as the cornerstone and the Apostles as the foundation. As we continue to build, each successive generation is another row of bricks built right on top of the previous generations. If that's the case, then what we find is the older generations carry the greater weight of the responsibility. More is expected of mature believers. More is expected of those who have seen trends come and go.
As we grow together, styles of music and modes of communication change. The gospel does not. The older generations are in a unique position to be able to sort out the heart of the gospel from the medium by which it's presented. The key is passing on the faith, not just particular cultural forms of it. So while I grew up singing hymns with organ and piano in church, I'm not one of those that would say, "It's a shame these kids don't know the old songs." I do think there's some value in them. They're meaningful to me, but they don't have to be meaningful to everyone. As long as the they maintain the heart of the faith, how people express it is a much smaller issue.
The real danger in making younger generations conform to peripheral things is that even if they stay in the church (which studies show younger generations leaving in droves), their faith may be only a shell, just a copy of the faith of earlier generations, not a faith that penetrates deep into the heart of the younger generation.
At the same time, as I mentioned earlier, discipleship doesn't happen when you give people what they want. So I'm not advocating that a church that has all the generations become a rock show spectacular no matter what the older generation says. I'm not saying the young people should just have their way and the older generation has to deal with it. Part of the discipleship process is knowing you can do something, but choosing not to for the sake of others.
While I do believe the older generations have more to give, I also believe that it's necessary for the younger generations to trust and value the older. Sometimes we have a tendency to dismiss things we don't understand. Sometimes we can be history snobs, thinking our era is the best and people in the past weren't as wise as we are. We can learn a lot from previous generations and we are wise to pay attention to them.
So there's the heart of our "Generations" series. Come check it out and learn the unique gifts each of our generations brings us.
Friday, July 15, 2011
New Sermon Series: IMPACT
I'm very excited about the new series we're starting up this week. We're calling it IMPACT. I know it might sound grandiose for a small church like we are, but ultimately, that's the goal. We don't want to be a church that just keeps to itself, but we want to reach out and make an impact on our community and we'll start by doing it in small ways.
Right now, we don't necessary have the resources to form an organization to do this or that, but what we can do is partner with organizations that are already doing great things in the community. So, strategically we've made the decision to partner with three local organizations (in addition to the international ministries we support).
The first is Breaking Free. Breaking Free is an organization that fights the evil of human trafficking, particularly the sex slave trade. I think most Americans don't realize how prevalent this is around the world and in our own back yard. We don't want to stick our head in the sand and pretend it's not a problem. Even though it's something much bigger than we could fight on our own, we can partner with a great organization like Breaking Free to provide them with support they need.
The second is City Life Works. City Life Works is actually a ministry of the Evangelical Church, and we've been able to get to know the people over there and have been very impressed with their love for Jesus and their desire to serve the poor. We've been serving meals once a month on Thursday nights for the last seven or eight months which is great. But I also know they have plans to expand. They do more than just serve meals on Thursday nights. They also run a program called Pure Life Builders which is an intensive discipleship program for men who need to get their life on the right path and even find practical things like the skills for a career of their own.
The third organization is Northeast Middle School. I know we have to be careful when we're partnering with government. Separation of church and state is how it should be. (Discuss among yourselves.) However, our schools have a huge impact on the present and the future of our community and we know funding for schools is getting less and less and it's becoming more difficult for schools to provide the things that boost morale and make the school a place that's life-giving.
That's where we see an opportunity to step in and support our local school. The staff and teachers work hard to make the school a place that provides kids with a bright future. We've made it our goal to support them in that quest. We want to be like the men in Exodus 17, who held up Moses' arms. As long as his arms were up, the Israelites won. When they were down, they lost. We want to hold up the arms of the staff and teachers of Northeast because we care about our kids and our community.
Who knows what the future holds for our outreach, but for now, these are the organizations we want to support and walk with as we seek to bring the life of Christ to our community
Right now, we don't necessary have the resources to form an organization to do this or that, but what we can do is partner with organizations that are already doing great things in the community. So, strategically we've made the decision to partner with three local organizations (in addition to the international ministries we support).
The first is Breaking Free. Breaking Free is an organization that fights the evil of human trafficking, particularly the sex slave trade. I think most Americans don't realize how prevalent this is around the world and in our own back yard. We don't want to stick our head in the sand and pretend it's not a problem. Even though it's something much bigger than we could fight on our own, we can partner with a great organization like Breaking Free to provide them with support they need.
The second is City Life Works. City Life Works is actually a ministry of the Evangelical Church, and we've been able to get to know the people over there and have been very impressed with their love for Jesus and their desire to serve the poor. We've been serving meals once a month on Thursday nights for the last seven or eight months which is great. But I also know they have plans to expand. They do more than just serve meals on Thursday nights. They also run a program called Pure Life Builders which is an intensive discipleship program for men who need to get their life on the right path and even find practical things like the skills for a career of their own.
The third organization is Northeast Middle School. I know we have to be careful when we're partnering with government. Separation of church and state is how it should be. (Discuss among yourselves.) However, our schools have a huge impact on the present and the future of our community and we know funding for schools is getting less and less and it's becoming more difficult for schools to provide the things that boost morale and make the school a place that's life-giving.
That's where we see an opportunity to step in and support our local school. The staff and teachers work hard to make the school a place that provides kids with a bright future. We've made it our goal to support them in that quest. We want to be like the men in Exodus 17, who held up Moses' arms. As long as his arms were up, the Israelites won. When they were down, they lost. We want to hold up the arms of the staff and teachers of Northeast because we care about our kids and our community.
Who knows what the future holds for our outreach, but for now, these are the organizations we want to support and walk with as we seek to bring the life of Christ to our community
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Religion vs. Relationship
When I was growing up, I always heard the phrase, "Christianity isn't a religion, it's a relationship." At the time I wasn't sure I really understood the phrase, mostly because the people said that, seemed to continue to make Christianity all about the religion. As I've gotten old and studied Jesus more and more, I've come to very much agree with this statement, but I think in a lot of ways we often don't do a very good job of living it out. Most of us still operate with more of a "religion" mindset.
I think in a practical sense, when I say "religion" I use Bruxy Cavey's definition. "Religion is a prescribed set of rules, regulations and rituals that connect us to God." There are a number of different problems with religion as our bridge to God:
I think in a practical sense, when I say "religion" I use Bruxy Cavey's definition. "Religion is a prescribed set of rules, regulations and rituals that connect us to God." There are a number of different problems with religion as our bridge to God:
- The only reason it was ever necessary was because of sin. We don't read about any religion in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had a direct connection to God. That was God's intent. The purpose for religion throughout the Old Testament was a temporary way to bridge that gap.
- Of course, sin is the big problem. Sin is a relational thing. When I sin against my wife, our relationship is damaged. Religion was the bridge, but if we look in the book of Hebrews, it was never intended to take the place of the real relationship. Hebrews 10 says, "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship." Religion was only a place-holder. In fact, Paul even says the real purpose of the Law was to show people how much they fall short and need grace. (see Galatians)
- Jesus made religion, as the mediator to God, obsolete. Religion can become a huge burden for people and I think we, as religious leaders, can sometimes give the impression that the point of the spiritual life is to be good church people. But I actually think sometimes being good "church people" can actually hinder us from being true followers of Jesus.
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."I think Eugene Petersen really captures the message of Jesus in this translation. Seek relationship with Jesus and find your life there!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
God's Big Dreams
Alright, item number three on my quest to boil down my teaching to a few things. I suspect that over time this list might be different. I think at every stage in our lives, we tend to think we have things figured out. But times change, we change and our priorities change. Of course, the gospel is unchanging, but how we communicate it and which elements of the gospel are especially poignant for a particular time will change. OK, on to number three.
I'm going to sound pretty charismatic today, but here it is: God wants more for you than you want for yourself. Here's where you expect me to say, "God wants us to have two Cadillacs instead of just one..." But as tempting as that is, I will refrain--forgive me for my sarcasm. Actually, I think that's maybe our biggest problem. We tend to think things like Cadillacs, success, safety, and security are the pinnacle of life, but God thinks our dreams are too small. God has dreams for us that go way beyond future scrap metal and positions of power. God's dreams are eternal--that we can be a part of building more than a company, we can build and participate in a Kingdom that will last for all eternity.
In John 10:10, Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Shouldn't the creator of life know what real, full and true life is? But the problem is that we act as though the best we can do in this life is to be comfortable and safe and secure. Is that what God really wants for us? Is that what's fulfilling for us?
But I believe that when we start to see things from God's perspective and give up on the tiny dreams we have for ourselves and pursue God, He'll show us life we didn't know we could have; a life that's more than riches or climbing the social ladder.
I believe the same for our churches as well. I think we often feel we're limited by what we can see so we settle for a nice respectable church that has good potlucks and good relationships with each other, but make minimal impact on our community. How exciting would it be if we were to leave behind all those things that make us happy and comfortable and give ourselves completely to the cause of the Kingdom? What would that look like? Do you think that would be a bigger, better dream than we could have for ourselves? I think so. So the question is; whose dream will you--will we-- pursue?
I'm going to sound pretty charismatic today, but here it is: God wants more for you than you want for yourself. Here's where you expect me to say, "God wants us to have two Cadillacs instead of just one..." But as tempting as that is, I will refrain--forgive me for my sarcasm. Actually, I think that's maybe our biggest problem. We tend to think things like Cadillacs, success, safety, and security are the pinnacle of life, but God thinks our dreams are too small. God has dreams for us that go way beyond future scrap metal and positions of power. God's dreams are eternal--that we can be a part of building more than a company, we can build and participate in a Kingdom that will last for all eternity.
In John 10:10, Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Shouldn't the creator of life know what real, full and true life is? But the problem is that we act as though the best we can do in this life is to be comfortable and safe and secure. Is that what God really wants for us? Is that what's fulfilling for us?
But I believe that when we start to see things from God's perspective and give up on the tiny dreams we have for ourselves and pursue God, He'll show us life we didn't know we could have; a life that's more than riches or climbing the social ladder.
I believe the same for our churches as well. I think we often feel we're limited by what we can see so we settle for a nice respectable church that has good potlucks and good relationships with each other, but make minimal impact on our community. How exciting would it be if we were to leave behind all those things that make us happy and comfortable and give ourselves completely to the cause of the Kingdom? What would that look like? Do you think that would be a bigger, better dream than we could have for ourselves? I think so. So the question is; whose dream will you--will we-- pursue?
Monday, March 21, 2011
Think Kingdom
Wow! I've just determined I might be the world's worst blogger. Funny how these things have a way of getting away from you, huh? In any case, I promised that I would talk about what I would teach if I could only teach a few things. Last post, I said that the essence of discipleship is getting over yourself.
Today, I think what I'll talk about is this: I've come to believe that many of us need a change of mindset--that we need to start to think "Kingdom" rather than "salvation."
I can't say that salvation isn't a Biblical concept. It clearly is. But I think we've come to misunderstand Biblical salvation. When we talk about it today in evangelical churches, what we mean is that "when I die, I'm going to go to heaven." So, I can remember being trained to do evangelism by asking the question, "If you were to die tonight, do you know where you would spend eternity?"
I don't know, maybe that's a good question, but I think it's a pretty one-sided question according to the Bible. I think as Christians, our calling is to follow Jesus. In fact, if you look at the ministry of Jesus, He didn't tell people to get saved. He does talk about eternal life, which includes living forever in the presence of God, but it means much more than that.
You see I think we often teach a pretty self-centered salvation. As long as I'm OK--as long as I'm going to heaven that's what God wants. This view of salvation, lends itself to having churches that have little impact on a community or the world. But I believe Jesus calls us to even more than just reserving a place in heaven when we die.
Ever since the fall, God's purpose has been to redeem all of creation. He created each day and said that it was "good." Humans are the prize of His creation, for sure and we have a great say in what happens to the world. Ever since the fall (since Adam and Eve sinned), we've managed to mess it all up and all of creation suffers because of it. A world that was once filled with beauty and peace and relationship is now characterized by ugliness, war, and broken relationships. There are glimpses of the original creation, but what we see is only a shadow of what God intended when He put us in charge.
In Matthew 6, Jesus taught us to pray "[God's] Kingdom come, [His] will be done on earth as it is in heaven." In other words, originally, the earth was God's Kingdom and His will was done on earth as it is in heaven. But now things are corrupted and we God's will isn't always done on earth and we pay the price for that daily.
But when Jesus talks about eternal life, He's talking about us entering the Kingdom of God--that His will is done in our lives as it is in heaven. That's what it means to be "born again." We're born again into a new picture of the world, into a new way of living our lives that was made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We're forgiven for how we've messed up the world and messed up our own lives and given a clean slate and the power of the Holy Spirit to impact our fallen world for the Kingdom of God.
In the Old Testament, we read that the people of Israel were God's chosen people. Have you ever asked what they were chosen for? Were they chosen to reap all the benefits of God's love, but have no responsibility? Not at all. They were chosen to be a "blessing to all the nations." (Genesis 18:18) Israel wasn't given a blank check to live however they wanted and enjoy God's favor forever. They were chosen for a purpose and when they didn't fulfill their purpose, God allowed them to be punished (taken into exile).
In the same way, we read in Ephesians 2 that we were saved by God's grace. But that's not the end of it. In Ephesians 2:10 Paul writes this, "For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." We were saved in order to partner with God to bring people a glimpse of His Kingdom. That includes heaven, but it also means that we live our lives now as if we have heaven inside our hearts. We pray for and work tirelessly for God's Kingdom to expand in our world here and now. It won't come completely until Jesus returned, but God doesn't just love Christians--He loves everyone and wants them to experience His Kingdom.
So whenever I teach about being born again or being saved, I believe it means having our eternity settled, but I also believe it means we've joined the team, not an exclusive club. So think Kingdom.
Today, I think what I'll talk about is this: I've come to believe that many of us need a change of mindset--that we need to start to think "Kingdom" rather than "salvation."
I can't say that salvation isn't a Biblical concept. It clearly is. But I think we've come to misunderstand Biblical salvation. When we talk about it today in evangelical churches, what we mean is that "when I die, I'm going to go to heaven." So, I can remember being trained to do evangelism by asking the question, "If you were to die tonight, do you know where you would spend eternity?"
I don't know, maybe that's a good question, but I think it's a pretty one-sided question according to the Bible. I think as Christians, our calling is to follow Jesus. In fact, if you look at the ministry of Jesus, He didn't tell people to get saved. He does talk about eternal life, which includes living forever in the presence of God, but it means much more than that.
You see I think we often teach a pretty self-centered salvation. As long as I'm OK--as long as I'm going to heaven that's what God wants. This view of salvation, lends itself to having churches that have little impact on a community or the world. But I believe Jesus calls us to even more than just reserving a place in heaven when we die.
Ever since the fall, God's purpose has been to redeem all of creation. He created each day and said that it was "good." Humans are the prize of His creation, for sure and we have a great say in what happens to the world. Ever since the fall (since Adam and Eve sinned), we've managed to mess it all up and all of creation suffers because of it. A world that was once filled with beauty and peace and relationship is now characterized by ugliness, war, and broken relationships. There are glimpses of the original creation, but what we see is only a shadow of what God intended when He put us in charge.
In Matthew 6, Jesus taught us to pray "[God's] Kingdom come, [His] will be done on earth as it is in heaven." In other words, originally, the earth was God's Kingdom and His will was done on earth as it is in heaven. But now things are corrupted and we God's will isn't always done on earth and we pay the price for that daily.
But when Jesus talks about eternal life, He's talking about us entering the Kingdom of God--that His will is done in our lives as it is in heaven. That's what it means to be "born again." We're born again into a new picture of the world, into a new way of living our lives that was made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We're forgiven for how we've messed up the world and messed up our own lives and given a clean slate and the power of the Holy Spirit to impact our fallen world for the Kingdom of God.
In the Old Testament, we read that the people of Israel were God's chosen people. Have you ever asked what they were chosen for? Were they chosen to reap all the benefits of God's love, but have no responsibility? Not at all. They were chosen to be a "blessing to all the nations." (Genesis 18:18) Israel wasn't given a blank check to live however they wanted and enjoy God's favor forever. They were chosen for a purpose and when they didn't fulfill their purpose, God allowed them to be punished (taken into exile).
In the same way, we read in Ephesians 2 that we were saved by God's grace. But that's not the end of it. In Ephesians 2:10 Paul writes this, "For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." We were saved in order to partner with God to bring people a glimpse of His Kingdom. That includes heaven, but it also means that we live our lives now as if we have heaven inside our hearts. We pray for and work tirelessly for God's Kingdom to expand in our world here and now. It won't come completely until Jesus returned, but God doesn't just love Christians--He loves everyone and wants them to experience His Kingdom.
So whenever I teach about being born again or being saved, I believe it means having our eternity settled, but I also believe it means we've joined the team, not an exclusive club. So think Kingdom.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Teach Less for More #2
OK, I've been trying to sit down and think about if I were to only teach a few things over and over, what would I teach.
I've come to believe in the principle that if you want to really communicate to people, rather than trying to communicate more things, we should actually try to communicate less, more important things, over and over. Doing this helps people cut through the confusion so many people have about their faith. So I'm not putting these things in any particular order. (It's hard enough to boil the spiritual life down to just a few things, let alone prioritize them).
The first one I thought of is this: True discipleship starts with getting over yourself. I believe the Bible teaches us that that heart of sin in self-focus. Pride comes when I have an inflated view of myself. I lie when I'm trying to manipulate people into doing something I want them to do. I get angry and bitter when someone doesn't give me what I want.
So when it comes to spiritual growth--what we call discipleship--the whole point is simply to get over myself. I think the flagship verse for this is in Philippians 2:
What about Bible knowledge? It's only good insofar as it shows me Jesus. When I understand Jesus, I'll understand that I'm not the center of the universe and Jesus freed me from the need I have to how people how great I am.
What about going to church? Church is a great place for me to learn to give myself up. The church isn't just there for me. The body of Christ exists for the world and when the church is willing to give itself up for the world, that's when we look like Jesus.
What about staying away from sin? Sin is our attempt to focus our lives on ourselves, rather than on God. When we let go of this need and focus on God, our lives are moving in the right direction.
This principle plays itself out in many areas of life. What do it mean to get over myself in my marriage? What about at work? What about as a parent? In my church? On the basketball court? The point at which I begin to grow spiritually is the point at which I let go of myself as the center of my universe. Until I'm willing to do that, I can never be more than what I am right now.
I've come to believe in the principle that if you want to really communicate to people, rather than trying to communicate more things, we should actually try to communicate less, more important things, over and over. Doing this helps people cut through the confusion so many people have about their faith. So I'm not putting these things in any particular order. (It's hard enough to boil the spiritual life down to just a few things, let alone prioritize them).
The first one I thought of is this: True discipleship starts with getting over yourself. I believe the Bible teaches us that that heart of sin in self-focus. Pride comes when I have an inflated view of myself. I lie when I'm trying to manipulate people into doing something I want them to do. I get angry and bitter when someone doesn't give me what I want.
So when it comes to spiritual growth--what we call discipleship--the whole point is simply to get over myself. I think the flagship verse for this is in Philippians 2:
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:What Paul says we should imitate about Jesus is the "emptying." Jesus had every right to claim all the accolades and privileges that go along with being God and yet instead He gave up all those things and chose to serve. What does it mean to be a "good Christian?" Get over yourself! That's it.
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant...
What about Bible knowledge? It's only good insofar as it shows me Jesus. When I understand Jesus, I'll understand that I'm not the center of the universe and Jesus freed me from the need I have to how people how great I am.
What about going to church? Church is a great place for me to learn to give myself up. The church isn't just there for me. The body of Christ exists for the world and when the church is willing to give itself up for the world, that's when we look like Jesus.
What about staying away from sin? Sin is our attempt to focus our lives on ourselves, rather than on God. When we let go of this need and focus on God, our lives are moving in the right direction.
This principle plays itself out in many areas of life. What do it mean to get over myself in my marriage? What about at work? What about as a parent? In my church? On the basketball court? The point at which I begin to grow spiritually is the point at which I let go of myself as the center of my universe. Until I'm willing to do that, I can never be more than what I am right now.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Teach Less for More
Over the last few years, I've come to believe that in our world of seemingly endless options, focus is more valuable than ever. All in all, I think options are a good thing. I think a world where people are driving a variety of different makes, models, and colors of cars is a better world than if everyone had to drive the same car. I like to listen to a number of different styles of music although I do still believe that a world without country music would much more palatable. (Incidentally: I'm currently forming a series called "Why God?" that will address the questions people have about belief and I'm seriously wrestling with the question of how a good God could allow country music and cats.)
On the other hand, when we live in a world of so many options, people expect options in every area of life. For instance the question, "How can Jesus be the only way to God?" is a natural question in a world like ours. Options give us control. Everything's a buffet.
But I guess that brings up some very important questions: Aren't there some things that all humans have in common--or at least all people in our city? Don't we have to assume that in general, when a person breaks his arm or has an infection or gets cancer, that there are some tried and true ways to treat him that also works for other people. While doctors can do some individualization of treatment, there has to be something people have in common that we can study and assume that if it worked in one person, it could work in another human as well.
Leading a church can be an overwhelming experience. Even within a church of a hundred people, there will be a hundred different opinions and likes and dislikes and gifts and backgrounds and...and...and... It's enough to make your head spin.
A couple of weeks ago, I was reading a book by Andy Stanley, a pastor and author from the Atlanta area. As he's giving advice for leading a church one of the principles he cites is to "teach less for more impact." His reasoning is that we often try to please everyone and end up pleasing no one. What's more important is to determine what's important for people to learn and teach that. Rather than trying to address every minute detail we could possibly address, just teach the important stuff.
There's some Biblical precedent for this, too. Jesus was very simple in His teachings. He didn't address every single possible sin people could commit or write and exhaustive treatise on theology. He knew He only had a short amount of time (three years) to teach people everything they should know from God incarnate. So when He was asked to boil down all the Old Testament teachings, He said, "Love God with everything you've got and love your neighbor as you love yourself." That's what God wants. Simple, but not easy.
So as I thought about that concept, if I can only teach a few things to people in my church and in my community of Minneapolis at this particular time in history and this particular cultural environment, what would those things be. To be honest, this was a pretty fun exercise for me. I'm sure I'll have to do a lot more thinking on this, but I wanted to share a few things I came up with. Over the next few days (or weeks) that's what I'll do. As I said, the list isn't fully formed. If I took more time to refine the list there might be some different things I would choose and maybe some of these things wouldn't make the list, but I'll share what I have so far.
I'll start with the list in my next post, but here are some things you probably won't find me spending much time on:
On the other hand, when we live in a world of so many options, people expect options in every area of life. For instance the question, "How can Jesus be the only way to God?" is a natural question in a world like ours. Options give us control. Everything's a buffet.
But I guess that brings up some very important questions: Aren't there some things that all humans have in common--or at least all people in our city? Don't we have to assume that in general, when a person breaks his arm or has an infection or gets cancer, that there are some tried and true ways to treat him that also works for other people. While doctors can do some individualization of treatment, there has to be something people have in common that we can study and assume that if it worked in one person, it could work in another human as well.
Leading a church can be an overwhelming experience. Even within a church of a hundred people, there will be a hundred different opinions and likes and dislikes and gifts and backgrounds and...and...and... It's enough to make your head spin.
A couple of weeks ago, I was reading a book by Andy Stanley, a pastor and author from the Atlanta area. As he's giving advice for leading a church one of the principles he cites is to "teach less for more impact." His reasoning is that we often try to please everyone and end up pleasing no one. What's more important is to determine what's important for people to learn and teach that. Rather than trying to address every minute detail we could possibly address, just teach the important stuff.
There's some Biblical precedent for this, too. Jesus was very simple in His teachings. He didn't address every single possible sin people could commit or write and exhaustive treatise on theology. He knew He only had a short amount of time (three years) to teach people everything they should know from God incarnate. So when He was asked to boil down all the Old Testament teachings, He said, "Love God with everything you've got and love your neighbor as you love yourself." That's what God wants. Simple, but not easy.
So as I thought about that concept, if I can only teach a few things to people in my church and in my community of Minneapolis at this particular time in history and this particular cultural environment, what would those things be. To be honest, this was a pretty fun exercise for me. I'm sure I'll have to do a lot more thinking on this, but I wanted to share a few things I came up with. Over the next few days (or weeks) that's what I'll do. As I said, the list isn't fully formed. If I took more time to refine the list there might be some different things I would choose and maybe some of these things wouldn't make the list, but I'll share what I have so far.
I'll start with the list in my next post, but here are some things you probably won't find me spending much time on:
- End times prophecy. I think we have a habit of misusing the book of Revelation and if anyone thinks they can understand the book of Revelation with any degree of certainty, I think they're half-crazy. Once everything plays out, then I'll talk more about it.
- Peripheral theological debates like Calvinism vs. Arminianism, particular denominational disagreements, politics or the theology of the political parties.
- The latest Christian novel (or fictionalized history)
- Star Trek (I just thought I'd throw that one in there)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
About Sermon Series: Snapshots
I don't know how familiar people are with King David anymore. Certainly people reference the term "David vs. Goliath" when it comes to sports and things, but I wonder how much people who didn't grow up in church really know about David.
David is among the top three significant figures in the Old Testament. In his genealogy of Jesus, Matthew breaks up the history of Israel into three periods--Abraham to David, David to exile, and exile to Jesus. Jesus is often referred to as the "Son of David." The Messiah would be from David's lineage. Despite the fact that he was the second King, he towers above all the other kings of Israel. All of this is impressive, but I think maybe the greatest connection we have with David is the fact that he is so relatable.
David did some pretty great things, but he did some pretty foolish things, too. Despite the fact that he was marked to be king very early in life, he went through a lot of suffering. Some of it due to others and some it by his own doing. Not only was he king of Israel and heroic warrior, but he was a fugitive, adulterer and a murderer. How many of us can put that on our resume?
I think we can learn a lot from the life of David. So over the next few weeks, we'll take some snapshots of the life of David, which hopefully causes us to take some snapshots of our lives. We can't often see the growth that happens in our lives until we look back to a certain point in life and compare that to where we are today. Looking closely at those snapshots can give us hope or the motivation we need to move forward in our life with Christ. David has a lot to offer us. Don't miss it.
David is among the top three significant figures in the Old Testament. In his genealogy of Jesus, Matthew breaks up the history of Israel into three periods--Abraham to David, David to exile, and exile to Jesus. Jesus is often referred to as the "Son of David." The Messiah would be from David's lineage. Despite the fact that he was the second King, he towers above all the other kings of Israel. All of this is impressive, but I think maybe the greatest connection we have with David is the fact that he is so relatable.
David did some pretty great things, but he did some pretty foolish things, too. Despite the fact that he was marked to be king very early in life, he went through a lot of suffering. Some of it due to others and some it by his own doing. Not only was he king of Israel and heroic warrior, but he was a fugitive, adulterer and a murderer. How many of us can put that on our resume?
I think we can learn a lot from the life of David. So over the next few weeks, we'll take some snapshots of the life of David, which hopefully causes us to take some snapshots of our lives. We can't often see the growth that happens in our lives until we look back to a certain point in life and compare that to where we are today. Looking closely at those snapshots can give us hope or the motivation we need to move forward in our life with Christ. David has a lot to offer us. Don't miss it.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Value #9 -- Ministry
We believe God has given every Christian gifts and talents to be used to build His Kingdom. (Ephesians 2:10, 1 Peter 4:7-11, 2 Corinthians 5:16-20)
Over time, we come to think that spiritual growth happens when we're "fed." So many Christians will go through their church life, sitting in the pew and hearing sermons and even doing their own personal study. They become filled with knowledge and believe they're "better Christians." We don't believe this is a healthy Christian lifestyle.When we become Christians, our job is not to just “be fed.” While learning and growing are a continual part of the process of becoming like Christ, God has given each of us gifts to serve the church and build the Kingdom of God. We don’t believe ministry reserved for the paid professionals but we see each individual as a minister.
Imagine if you had that attitude toward your body. Does it make sense that a healthy body is one that constantly consumes food, but never burns off the calories? What would happen in that case? The person wouldn't become more healthy, he actually would become less healthy. In fact, if you philosophy of life was that you were here to consume, but not contribute to the betterment of humanity, wouldn't that be the exact opposite of what Jesus taught?
I'm afraid that all over, we have a lot of "fat" Christians. We were never intended to only be consumers, but we were created to be contributors. Listen to how Paul says it in Ephesians 2:
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.What Paul is saying is not that we are saved by the work we do, but that we are saved so that we are free to work. Our purpose isn't to take up space, it's to take up the mission of the Kingdom. Every believer has a part to play in the church that builds the Kingdom and every believer is given gifts to be able to accomplish that task.
One of the things that have contributed to lazy Christians is that often they misunderstand the role of the pastor. Now some people don't believe we should have paid professional clergy and that the early church didn't have them. I don't agree with that. I think the New Testament allows for the church to have some people who can devote all their time to the the administration and teaching of the church.
However, one of the things I agree with those people about is that the real danger in having "paid professionals" in the church is that we can expect that we pay them to do the ministry. But if you look in scripture, the job of the pastor is to "prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up." (Ephesians 4) So my job, as the pastor is not to do all the ministry, but it's to equip the people of the church to do ministry.
I see it as my job to teach the church, to drive its direction, and to set up the organization of the church to put people in the best position possible to grow and serve. The reason for this is gifts.
In the past, churches have expected pastors to be supermen. They were expected to preach, teach, administrate, do visitation, make the bulletin, make great coffee and mow the church lawn (among other things). But here's the problem, pastors can't possibly be gifted in all those areas. In fact, there are probably people within the church that are actually better at those things than I am.
For instance, I'm a friendly guy, but being sensitive to a large number of people's needs is probably not my greatest strength. As a "pastor," there are certain expectations that I will go out and visit people. I'm certainly not against and I do some of that. But there are many people within the church that are particularly gifted in the pastoral role of making people feel loved and connected. In the same way, I can do some graphic design here and there, but we have people in the church who are heads and shoulders more gifted in that area than I am.
Here's how it works. The church is most effective when its people are putting their heart and soul into the area of ministry where they're gifted. The church is less effective when it expects the pastor to do many things that take him away from his most important role and most effective gifts. In other words, the more time I spend on mowing the church lawn or doing graphic design, the less time I have to work on leadership development or craft sermons that move people to grow in their relationship with Jesus.
But it's not just the pastor this applies to. There's a truism in churches that 20% of the people do 80% of the work. If this is true, churches can't possibly reach their ministry potential because it's a certainty that many of those 20% are doing things they're not particularly gifted to do. In addition, 80% of the people are "getting fat." Sometimes 20% do all the work because the 80% don't want to, but sometimes, the 20% do it because they're overly possessive of their ministry and can't let go. Neither of these situations is good.
So our goal is to find a place of ministry for everyone inside and/or outside the church.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Value #8 -- Community
We believe honest, reconciled, loving community is the best environment for growth. (Acts 2:42-47, Hebrews 10:24-25)
For one, there were monks who would move out into the desert to spend their lives in solitude. Now, solitude can be a good thing, if it's done with a purpose in mind. But were created as relational, social beings because we were created in the image of God, who is also a social being (a Trinity). There was perfect communion between God and humans before the fall. The result of the fall was separation, deception, and hiding. So spending time in solitude, might help people to focus or study, but the end result should be for that person to come back into community to continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world.
There has also been a temptation of people in the church to believe (or act as though) participation in the church only needs to be attending worship service, hearing a message, celebrating the mass, or whatever ritual they prefer. But as we look at the example of the early church and the instructions to the early church, we see that participation in the church is intended to be much more. We're intended to share life together, to encourage each other, to confess our sins to each other, to sharpen each other and the list goes on. All of these things requires much more than attending worship service.
What we've listed in our values statement are three aspects of good community life in the church. Honesty, reconciliation, and love. All of these things sound fluffy and nice, but all three are things that can be very difficult and take a great deal of humility and work to achieve. I'll explain.
Honest relationships are hard--at least if they really are honest. Being honest with people takes both humility and grace. It takes humility on the part of the person who is being honest. If I'm going to be honest about my short-comings, mistakes and sins, then I can't keep up the front of perfection and righteousness--I can't wear the mask. Usually what we hide are not the good things about ourselves. What we hide are those things we're embarrassed for others to see. Honestly happens when I drop the pretense.
On the other side, however, it takes a great deal of grace. When someone is honest with me and allows me to see them for who they really am, if I don't give them grace, the relationship will not be healthy and probably won't last very long. When I give someone grace, it's not that I excuse their sin. We always acknowledge that sin is sin, but we don't judge them for it, and we offer to walk with them as we work on our sin together.
The second characteristic of good community relationships is reconciliation. Sometimes we think being a Christian is about being "nice." We want to smile for people and put on a good face, because it seems more peaceful. However, peace is only present when there's peace on the inside. Just because we're not at each other's throats doesn't mean we have peace. That's why true reconciliation is hard.
There are going to be times when we don't agree on things. There are going to be times when we tick each other off. But according to Jesus, we should never allow those feelings to continue (Matthew 18:15-17). Instead, reconciliation demands that when we have a problem with someone else, we seek reconciliation. We don't allow things to fester under the surface. We deal with them so we can have peace. Sometimes it seems much easier just to let things go, but in the long-run, only when we work to have true peace in our relationships can we have a unified church and grow into Christ-likeness.
Finally, true community is loving. Love can certainly have some pretty vague definitions in our day, but when we understand Biblical love, we understand that it's not an emotion, but it's the decision, the action, of putting other's needs ahead of our own. It's sacrificing my preferences and rights for the sake of others. That's love in a marriage, at work, or raising children. If it's not active, it's not love.
So while this value might sound fluffy and feel-good, there's actually a great amount of work that has to happen to make these relationships work. In the end, however, there's no better place to grow than in these relationships. If spiritual growth is relational, then practicing relationships grows us into what God intended.
In it's most basic form, the church is a community--it's a group of people coming together, who share a common bond, faith in Jesus Christ. As the early church began meeting, we see a great deal of togetherness. The image we get is groups of believers who shared life together. Over the years, there have been different movements and ideas I don't think are necessarily what Jesus intended for His followers.We strive for this community to be a place where people can be who they are without fear of being judged. It’s important that people don’t feel like they need to pretend to be accepted. We are all sinners who are relying on Christ to change us. When we’re honest about our struggles, doubts and sins, we can walk together on the journey. Because Jesus tells us love for each other will be the greatest sign of our love for Him (John 13:35), we put the highest value on being reconciled to each other.
For one, there were monks who would move out into the desert to spend their lives in solitude. Now, solitude can be a good thing, if it's done with a purpose in mind. But were created as relational, social beings because we were created in the image of God, who is also a social being (a Trinity). There was perfect communion between God and humans before the fall. The result of the fall was separation, deception, and hiding. So spending time in solitude, might help people to focus or study, but the end result should be for that person to come back into community to continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world.
There has also been a temptation of people in the church to believe (or act as though) participation in the church only needs to be attending worship service, hearing a message, celebrating the mass, or whatever ritual they prefer. But as we look at the example of the early church and the instructions to the early church, we see that participation in the church is intended to be much more. We're intended to share life together, to encourage each other, to confess our sins to each other, to sharpen each other and the list goes on. All of these things requires much more than attending worship service.
What we've listed in our values statement are three aspects of good community life in the church. Honesty, reconciliation, and love. All of these things sound fluffy and nice, but all three are things that can be very difficult and take a great deal of humility and work to achieve. I'll explain.
Honest relationships are hard--at least if they really are honest. Being honest with people takes both humility and grace. It takes humility on the part of the person who is being honest. If I'm going to be honest about my short-comings, mistakes and sins, then I can't keep up the front of perfection and righteousness--I can't wear the mask. Usually what we hide are not the good things about ourselves. What we hide are those things we're embarrassed for others to see. Honestly happens when I drop the pretense.
On the other side, however, it takes a great deal of grace. When someone is honest with me and allows me to see them for who they really am, if I don't give them grace, the relationship will not be healthy and probably won't last very long. When I give someone grace, it's not that I excuse their sin. We always acknowledge that sin is sin, but we don't judge them for it, and we offer to walk with them as we work on our sin together.
The second characteristic of good community relationships is reconciliation. Sometimes we think being a Christian is about being "nice." We want to smile for people and put on a good face, because it seems more peaceful. However, peace is only present when there's peace on the inside. Just because we're not at each other's throats doesn't mean we have peace. That's why true reconciliation is hard.
There are going to be times when we don't agree on things. There are going to be times when we tick each other off. But according to Jesus, we should never allow those feelings to continue (Matthew 18:15-17). Instead, reconciliation demands that when we have a problem with someone else, we seek reconciliation. We don't allow things to fester under the surface. We deal with them so we can have peace. Sometimes it seems much easier just to let things go, but in the long-run, only when we work to have true peace in our relationships can we have a unified church and grow into Christ-likeness.
Finally, true community is loving. Love can certainly have some pretty vague definitions in our day, but when we understand Biblical love, we understand that it's not an emotion, but it's the decision, the action, of putting other's needs ahead of our own. It's sacrificing my preferences and rights for the sake of others. That's love in a marriage, at work, or raising children. If it's not active, it's not love.
So while this value might sound fluffy and feel-good, there's actually a great amount of work that has to happen to make these relationships work. In the end, however, there's no better place to grow than in these relationships. If spiritual growth is relational, then practicing relationships grows us into what God intended.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Value #7 -- Grace
We believe that because God has given us grace, we are called to extend grace to others. (Romans 2: 1-4, Ephesians 2:8)
Grace is a subject that has taken me most of my life to grasp and will probably take most of the rest of my life to master. Grace is not our natural inclination because of two pieces: 1) It recognizes that something is terribly wrong and 2) that it's OK.Jesus calls people to come as they are, but doesn’t intend for them to stay the same. Judgment and condemnation are not part of our job. While we maintain high standards for people inside the church, we give grace to those on the outside. Paul writes in Romans 2 that it is God’s kindness that leads people to repentance. Jesus always led with grace and acceptance of the person who is far from God. When people became His follower, then He had high expectations.
First, something is terribly wrong. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the world is flawed--in fact, people are flawed. We all have a sense that things aren't the way they're supposed to be. We see violence and decadence and broken relationships and selfishness as the norm in our world. But instead of just resigning ourselves to "that's just the way it is," we say to ourselves that it's not supposed to be this way.
We see it in our own lives. In Romans 7, Paul says it so well:
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.I think we can all resonate with that. Not only is there something wrong with the world, there's something wrong with me.
Oftentimes religious people just try to cover up this fact. We often forget we're sinners. We often forget that we're so far gone that we don't need self-help, we need someone to save us. Having that understanding of our own need for grace is the first step to becoming what Christ called us to be. As long as we think we're good enough for God we'll lack humility--not to mention, we'll be unbearable to be around. When we lack that understand of our own need for grace, we become self-righteous and self-righteous people are the least attractive or enjoyable people to be around.
Here's how 1 John puts it:
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:7-8)John says that if we're willing to walk in "the light" (which means living a right life and being honest about ourselves) we will actually connect better with each other than if we hide our sins from each other.
But I think sometimes people get confused about what grace is. Simply put, grace is not getting what we deserve. God knows we are sinners--He knows everything about us--and He loves us anyway. But grace is not quite that simple.
First, grace isn't simply a "wink wink" at sin as if it's just OK. Sin is not OK. John Burke has a great line when it comes to grace. He says, "Tolerance is just a cheap substitute for grace." Tolerance says there's not really anything wrong. You can do whatever you want. But the reality is that sin has consequences and we can't just look the other way or treat it like it's not there. Instead, grace acknowledges sin and treats it seriously, but here's the plot twist...
The Bible tells us grace is not free. OK, it is for US, but it was not for God. Jesus paid a high price for us to have grace. If God just said, "I know you're sinners, but I'm just going to look the other way," He wouldn't be a just God. Sin always has harmful effects and justice demands that things are made right. But the great plot twist is that the ones who deserved to pay the price don't have to because Jesus paid it for us.
Grace is the foundation of the Gospel and I believe it's the appropriate motivator for change in our lives. Guilt and shame can leave people in despair, but grace can motivate people to move beyond sin and live a life of thanksgiving to God. That's why we lead with grace. We do believe sin is real and destructive in our lives, but grace gives us a much better way to deal with it.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Value #6 -- Our Responsibility to the Poor
WWe believe the church has a mandate to serve the poor. (Isaiah 1:16-17, James 1:27, Matthew 25:31-46)
Scripture is very clear that God has a particular affinity for the poor, oppressed and marginalized. From the prophets, to Jesus Himself, God called believers everywhere to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and care for the broken as an essential part of the Gospel.I know this one might be a little controversial for some people, but I can't quite figure out why. God's care for the poor and marginalized is plastered all over the pages of scripture. While the evangelical church in America works harder and harder on making great worship services, traditionally we've largely ignored the poor. This is what Isaiah was talking about when he wrote these words to the nation of Israel:
10 Hear the word of the LORD,He's saying all your worship of me is detestable to God if it isn't accompanied by care for the oppressed, widows, and orphans. I believe this is a call not just to Israel, but a call to the church today as well.
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the LORD.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
16 Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
The good news is that I think even the evangelical church is beginning to take notice and heed the words of Jesus who said, "whatever you did to the least of these my brothers and sisters you did to me." We believe this is an essential part of what it means to be a church that wants to build the Kingdom of God.
But I think I need to make another clarification when it comes to serving the poor. Perhaps we could better say that we have a mandate to "identify" with the poor. It's one thing to give them some money or serve them a meal and be on our way, but never really associate with them or get to know them, it's another thing to find it worthwhile to see that they may have something to teach us.
I think it's often easy for us to take a paternalistic attitude toward the poor and "stoop down to help them." But I don't think it's a paternalistic attitude that God calls us to have. Think about the example we have in Jesus. The guy we try to emulate is the guy who left the luxuries of heaven to come, not help from above, but to serve and lift up from below. When Jesus came, He didn't come as a king or dignitary or religious leader. He came as a common man. For the years of Him ministry He didn't really own anything or have a place to live. He knew what it was like to rely on the gifts and grace of other people. He knew what it was like to be subject to the whims of the influential in society. Not only did Jesus help the poor, He identified with them. He showed them God values them by valuing them Himself.
What we receive from the poor is an understanding of the core of the gospel. When we associate with the poor, we learn that we're not self-made. We learn that whatever we have came as a result of the right circumstances and the people who went before us. That's not to say people can't work hard and make a better life for themselves, but sometimes people don't have the opportunities to "lift themselves up by their bootstraps." As much as we'd like to think we're self-made, when we associate with the poor, we understand the advantages we've been given in life and accept them with grace and worship.
That's why it's not our intent to come to the city from the suburbs and retreat to our luxury homes. Our call is to live simply, to give generously and serve humbly. We don't (and won't) judge people who have more or live more, but we believe the church has a responsibility to the poor and we will look for ways to fulfill that responsibility.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Value #5 -- Discipleship
We believe a central function of the church is discipling believers to be like Christ. (Philippians 2:3-11, Ephesians 4:11-13)
We've already talked about the need for churches to be externally focused. That's most definitely a must for all churches. However, we also know that it does little good to be outward-focused and bring people into the church if their lives aren't transformed. God gives people grace and accepts them the way they are, but He doesn't expect them to stay that way. His goal is that people are redeemed and restored to the image of God. The way we like to describe this is Christ-likeness.
We believe Jesus was the true expression of what humans were intended to be. To have a close relationship with God, to obey Him, and to selflessly serve other people. The Great Commission teaches us to go and make disciples...baptizing them...and teaching them to obey...
The End Result of Discipleship
People have different ideas about what churches should be doing when it comes to discipleship. Some churches will spend almost all their time on teaching the doctrines of the faith and of their particular denomination. While those things are important and we do those, a knowledge of all the details of theology or doctrine is not the goal of discipleship.
But the end-result and the goal we should strive for in discipleship is to teach people to become like Christ. This includes knowing who God is and how the world operates, but it's also more than that. We don't just want to have knowledge of God--even the demons believe the right things about God (mostly), but we certainly wouldn't want to use them as our model of discipleship. Instead, that greater knowledge of God should lead to a lifestyle like that of Jesus. And it's not just that people should act like Jesus, they should develop the heart of Jesus--to be like Jesus.
Some would also lead us to believe that mature Christians are ones that spend all kinds of time meditating and studying scripture and things, but that's not necessarily the case. Although those disciplines are helpful in moving us toward maturity, the amount of time we spend doing spiritual disciplines is also not the measure of maturity.
I believe perhaps the greatest character-trait of Jesus that we should develop is selflessness. Philippians 2 is a perfect explanation of this. Paul says we should put other people's interest above our own. Our attitude should be like that of Jesus,
While the church must be externally focused, we must put a great amount of energy into growing people to Christ-likeness so the church can reflect the character of Jesus. Discipleship is essential to effectively reaching our community and world. We do this through teaching, modeling, mentoring and providing opportunities for people to serve. The end-result of discipleship is that people will become less self-focused and more God and other focused.The Need for Discipleship
We've already talked about the need for churches to be externally focused. That's most definitely a must for all churches. However, we also know that it does little good to be outward-focused and bring people into the church if their lives aren't transformed. God gives people grace and accepts them the way they are, but He doesn't expect them to stay that way. His goal is that people are redeemed and restored to the image of God. The way we like to describe this is Christ-likeness.
We believe Jesus was the true expression of what humans were intended to be. To have a close relationship with God, to obey Him, and to selflessly serve other people. The Great Commission teaches us to go and make disciples...baptizing them...and teaching them to obey...
The End Result of Discipleship
People have different ideas about what churches should be doing when it comes to discipleship. Some churches will spend almost all their time on teaching the doctrines of the faith and of their particular denomination. While those things are important and we do those, a knowledge of all the details of theology or doctrine is not the goal of discipleship.
But the end-result and the goal we should strive for in discipleship is to teach people to become like Christ. This includes knowing who God is and how the world operates, but it's also more than that. We don't just want to have knowledge of God--even the demons believe the right things about God (mostly), but we certainly wouldn't want to use them as our model of discipleship. Instead, that greater knowledge of God should lead to a lifestyle like that of Jesus. And it's not just that people should act like Jesus, they should develop the heart of Jesus--to be like Jesus.
Some would also lead us to believe that mature Christians are ones that spend all kinds of time meditating and studying scripture and things, but that's not necessarily the case. Although those disciplines are helpful in moving us toward maturity, the amount of time we spend doing spiritual disciplines is also not the measure of maturity.
I believe perhaps the greatest character-trait of Jesus that we should develop is selflessness. Philippians 2 is a perfect explanation of this. Paul says we should put other people's interest above our own. Our attitude should be like that of Jesus,
Who, being in very nature God,Even though Jesus had all the right to the privileges of being God, He "emptied Himself" of those privileges and instead sacrificed for the sake of the world. For us, this is the end-result of discipleship--that we learn to let go of ourselves and give ourselves to others. When we empty ourselves, that's when Christ actually lives through us. A central task of the church is to move people from being what they were without Jesus to everything they can be with Jesus living in them.
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Value #4 -- External Focus
We believe the church must be externally focused, first toward our community, then toward the world, serving people and introducing them to Jesus.
Many people will say about the church, that it's good for churches to do outreach, but really their main job is to study the Bible, or have great worship together or great fellowship. But our belief that the church is essentially externally focused stems from two things: 1) Jesus' founding of the church; and 2) The nature of the spiritual life as modeled by Jesus.
First, when we look at Jesus' founding of the church in Matthew 16, He says He is the foundation of the church and "the gates of Hades will not overcome it." What we should notice here is that gates are a defensive weapon. So the picture Jesus paints is of the church going on the offensive against the powers of Hades, infiltrating our society with the weapons of the Kingdom (which is another topic altogether). Also, as Jesus was ascending to heaven, His command to His disciples was to "go and make disciples." The church has many benefits for believers, but the purpose of the church is to expand God's Kingdom.
Second, we believe this not just for the church but for each individual as well. Some people will say that the result of spiritual growth is greater knowledge of Scripture, or deeper or more emotional worship experiences or charismatic gifts. As great as those things are, they aren't the end-result of the spiritual life. Our goal is to be Christ-like. When Jesus explained His own personal "mission statement" (if you will), over and over, He says things like, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many," and instructs us to do the same.
So when it comes to your own spiritual growth, you will know that you're making progress, when deep-down--at your very core--you believe you exist not to make yourself happy, but to serve others. Now don't misunderstand, just because we do things for other people doesn't mean we're Christ-like, but Christ-likeness will come out of a heart that is filled with gratitude for God's grace in our lives. If we serve out of an empty heart or out of other motives, at some point we'll become bitter. But when service is motivated by emptying ourselves and being filled with Christ, serving will only grow us more.
The same thing goes for churches. If the church is the "body of Christ" then we should be doing what Christ modeled for us. The church is the new incarnation of Jesus to the world. So for us to spend so much time focusing on ourselves is really forgetting our purpose.
Now, to be honest, we haven't done this perfectly. Waite Park has always been know for supporting foreign missions. For the size of our church, we give an incredible amount to our various missionaries overseas. That's very commendable and necessary. However, where we've fallen short is that we haven't always been externally focused when it comes to our community. It's almost as if we jumped right to Judea, Samaria and the whole world, and skipped right over Jerusalem (Acts 1:8). We've done projects here and there and National Night Out, which is good, but if one of our core values is that the church must be externally focused, then there will have to be some refocusing on our part. Developing this focus is essential to the future of Waite Park.
With this in mind, over the course of the next few months, we're going to be looking at where we can be most effective and find some organizations we can partner with to be more effective in reaching our community for Jesus.
When Jesus founded the church, He founded it as a missionary organization. We are called to love and care for each other, but the orientation of the church must always be that we exists to serve others. Just as Jesus said He didn't come to be served but to serve, the church as the body of Christ is also called to serve those outside its walls.The first three values we've discussed so far are pretty much no-brainers for a Christian Church. Jesus has to be our center, the Bible is God's clearest communication with us about how we should live and prayer is essential to every Christian's life and to the effectiveness of the church. But now we're going to get into some values that seem to us to be central to the function of the church, but not every church operates in this way.
Many people will say about the church, that it's good for churches to do outreach, but really their main job is to study the Bible, or have great worship together or great fellowship. But our belief that the church is essentially externally focused stems from two things: 1) Jesus' founding of the church; and 2) The nature of the spiritual life as modeled by Jesus.
First, when we look at Jesus' founding of the church in Matthew 16, He says He is the foundation of the church and "the gates of Hades will not overcome it." What we should notice here is that gates are a defensive weapon. So the picture Jesus paints is of the church going on the offensive against the powers of Hades, infiltrating our society with the weapons of the Kingdom (which is another topic altogether). Also, as Jesus was ascending to heaven, His command to His disciples was to "go and make disciples." The church has many benefits for believers, but the purpose of the church is to expand God's Kingdom.
Second, we believe this not just for the church but for each individual as well. Some people will say that the result of spiritual growth is greater knowledge of Scripture, or deeper or more emotional worship experiences or charismatic gifts. As great as those things are, they aren't the end-result of the spiritual life. Our goal is to be Christ-like. When Jesus explained His own personal "mission statement" (if you will), over and over, He says things like, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many," and instructs us to do the same.
So when it comes to your own spiritual growth, you will know that you're making progress, when deep-down--at your very core--you believe you exist not to make yourself happy, but to serve others. Now don't misunderstand, just because we do things for other people doesn't mean we're Christ-like, but Christ-likeness will come out of a heart that is filled with gratitude for God's grace in our lives. If we serve out of an empty heart or out of other motives, at some point we'll become bitter. But when service is motivated by emptying ourselves and being filled with Christ, serving will only grow us more.
The same thing goes for churches. If the church is the "body of Christ" then we should be doing what Christ modeled for us. The church is the new incarnation of Jesus to the world. So for us to spend so much time focusing on ourselves is really forgetting our purpose.
Now, to be honest, we haven't done this perfectly. Waite Park has always been know for supporting foreign missions. For the size of our church, we give an incredible amount to our various missionaries overseas. That's very commendable and necessary. However, where we've fallen short is that we haven't always been externally focused when it comes to our community. It's almost as if we jumped right to Judea, Samaria and the whole world, and skipped right over Jerusalem (Acts 1:8). We've done projects here and there and National Night Out, which is good, but if one of our core values is that the church must be externally focused, then there will have to be some refocusing on our part. Developing this focus is essential to the future of Waite Park.
With this in mind, over the course of the next few months, we're going to be looking at where we can be most effective and find some organizations we can partner with to be more effective in reaching our community for Jesus.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Value #3 -- Prayer
3. We believe prayer is essential to the Christian life.
The truth is, there are some things about prayer that will always be a mystery on this side of heaven, but no more of a mystery than why God would care about any of us in our sinful state. We should all be constantly in awe that the God who created the whole universe, knows everything about us and still loves us. When we can grasp that, we can grasp prayer.
First, we pray because we believe God answers prayer. Now I don't think we can say God always gives us what we want. Sometimes He does, but sometimes our prayers are too small or too short-sighted or wrong-headed. Even in those cases, sometimes He gives us our way. But other times He'll do what's best, not what we want. James 5:16 tells us "the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."
Second, we pray because prayer changes us. When we make it a habit to turn to God for wisdom and guidance and help in trouble, we teach ourselves (or God teaches us) that we're not alone. In fact, scientists are beginning to study the brains of people who spend a great amount of time in prayer. What they're finding is that there is a certain part of the brain that engages prayer and is enlarged in people who pray--like they're exercising their prayer muscle. Not only this, but studies also show that praying people are less stressed than those who do not pray.
Third, we prayer because it connects us with God. The second and third points here are certainly related, but this one is worth mentioning on its own. We believe that not only can we talk to God through prayer, but God also speaks to us. It's like radio waves. Radio waves are all around us, but we can only hear the talk or music if we tune in to the right frequency. The story of Elijah tells us that God speaks in a gentle whisper. We can become so busy with life that we aren't able to hear the whispers of the Spirit in our lives. When we take the time to slow down and listen for God, we learn to recognize when He is speaking to us in the everyday.
All of the ministries of our church are "bathed" in prayer because we recognize that we don't do any work that God hasn't already begun. Our job is then to learn to join Him in what He's already doing.
The Bible tells us prayer is necessary and effective. God works through prayer. When we pray, we receive God's help and wisdom and are also reminded of our need for God.Even for people who have been believers for a long time, prayer can be a great mystery. For some, the question is; if God already knows what's going to happen, why pray? For others it's; why would God listen to me? Does He need my advice?
The truth is, there are some things about prayer that will always be a mystery on this side of heaven, but no more of a mystery than why God would care about any of us in our sinful state. We should all be constantly in awe that the God who created the whole universe, knows everything about us and still loves us. When we can grasp that, we can grasp prayer.
First, we pray because we believe God answers prayer. Now I don't think we can say God always gives us what we want. Sometimes He does, but sometimes our prayers are too small or too short-sighted or wrong-headed. Even in those cases, sometimes He gives us our way. But other times He'll do what's best, not what we want. James 5:16 tells us "the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."
Second, we pray because prayer changes us. When we make it a habit to turn to God for wisdom and guidance and help in trouble, we teach ourselves (or God teaches us) that we're not alone. In fact, scientists are beginning to study the brains of people who spend a great amount of time in prayer. What they're finding is that there is a certain part of the brain that engages prayer and is enlarged in people who pray--like they're exercising their prayer muscle. Not only this, but studies also show that praying people are less stressed than those who do not pray.
Third, we prayer because it connects us with God. The second and third points here are certainly related, but this one is worth mentioning on its own. We believe that not only can we talk to God through prayer, but God also speaks to us. It's like radio waves. Radio waves are all around us, but we can only hear the talk or music if we tune in to the right frequency. The story of Elijah tells us that God speaks in a gentle whisper. We can become so busy with life that we aren't able to hear the whispers of the Spirit in our lives. When we take the time to slow down and listen for God, we learn to recognize when He is speaking to us in the everyday.
All of the ministries of our church are "bathed" in prayer because we recognize that we don't do any work that God hasn't already begun. Our job is then to learn to join Him in what He's already doing.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Value #2 -- The Bible
Working our way through the Waite Park Values. As I mentioned, we didn't just determine that these will be the values of the church. Now there are some that we recognize are important, but we haven't emphasized in the past, but for the most part these values are things that we have discovered about who we already are. They're the things that will help guide us in the future. We already talked about one value--that Jesus is the center of everything we do. But where do we learn about Jesus? This leads to the second value:
Paul says in Romans 1 that what can be know about God is plain to us because He has made it plain to us. (Rom 1:19-20) That speaks of general revelation. The Psalms and various prophets speak of how all of creation shows the glory of God. That's why we shouldn't be surprised that religions have so many similarities. We can reason our way to some things about God.
But we can't know everything about God through creation. That's why the Bible is so important for us. We don't just want generalities, we want a God who speaks clearly to us, who shows us what life means, how creation works, how human nature works, and most important; who God is. We believe that God directly inspired the writers of the Bible to give us specific instructions for life and ministry.
Now some people read the Bible like a doctrinal code. They read it and try to put together propositional truths that somehow give us the knowledge to be able to go to heaven. Now I do believe doctrine matters. It's important for us to have an accurate understanding of God and the world. But I think if that was what God was most concerned about, he would have given us a book of correct theological propositions. But if we read the Bible on any level, we learn that this is not what we have.
Instead we have history. We have poetry. We have teaching. We have parables. We have prophecy. We have laws and maybe even a few propositional truths. In short, the Bible is a book of life. It's the history of God and creation and fall and redemption and it promises that one day everything will be restored to the way God intended.
Most of all, the Bible points to Jesus. The Old Testament looks forward to His coming. The New Testament proclaims the good news of His coming and gives us instructions on how to live until He comes again. Because the Bible is our most clear revelation about the character of God and about Jesus, we seek to bring everything we do into line with what the Bible teaches. It's not an easy task at times. We always have the temptation to do things our way, but when we do things God's way, we find satisfaction, peace and hope no matter what's happening in the world around us. That's why the Bible is so important to us.
1. We believe the Bible is the inspired word of God and serves as our guide for life and ministry. (2 Tim 3:16)
Last post I mentioned that we don't worship the Bible. It's true. The Bible is not meant to be worshiped, however we do believe the Bible is God's special revelation to us in a way that no other writing in the world is. Let me explain that a moment.The Bible is our guide for our individual lives as well as corporate life. It reveals God’s character, points to Jesus and shows what it means to be what God intended. Though we believe the Bible doesn’t prescribe one particular way of being the church or organizing the church, we strive to order our ministries in line with the Bible.
Paul says in Romans 1 that what can be know about God is plain to us because He has made it plain to us. (Rom 1:19-20) That speaks of general revelation. The Psalms and various prophets speak of how all of creation shows the glory of God. That's why we shouldn't be surprised that religions have so many similarities. We can reason our way to some things about God.
But we can't know everything about God through creation. That's why the Bible is so important for us. We don't just want generalities, we want a God who speaks clearly to us, who shows us what life means, how creation works, how human nature works, and most important; who God is. We believe that God directly inspired the writers of the Bible to give us specific instructions for life and ministry.
Now some people read the Bible like a doctrinal code. They read it and try to put together propositional truths that somehow give us the knowledge to be able to go to heaven. Now I do believe doctrine matters. It's important for us to have an accurate understanding of God and the world. But I think if that was what God was most concerned about, he would have given us a book of correct theological propositions. But if we read the Bible on any level, we learn that this is not what we have.
Instead we have history. We have poetry. We have teaching. We have parables. We have prophecy. We have laws and maybe even a few propositional truths. In short, the Bible is a book of life. It's the history of God and creation and fall and redemption and it promises that one day everything will be restored to the way God intended.
Most of all, the Bible points to Jesus. The Old Testament looks forward to His coming. The New Testament proclaims the good news of His coming and gives us instructions on how to live until He comes again. Because the Bible is our most clear revelation about the character of God and about Jesus, we seek to bring everything we do into line with what the Bible teaches. It's not an easy task at times. We always have the temptation to do things our way, but when we do things God's way, we find satisfaction, peace and hope no matter what's happening in the world around us. That's why the Bible is so important to us.
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