Tag Archives: Church

What does faith cause you to do?

12 Thursday Jul 2018

Posted by in Church, Theology

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What does the faith that God gives each one of us cause us to do?  How do we respond to it?

How has faith changed your life?

Is church just something that you’ve always done, so you’ll just keep on doing it?  Or does it impact your life, cause a change?

Is church just a social club where you get together with people who you like and look forward to seeing them each week or however often you go?  Or is church a training ground and refueling station from which you are sent back out into the world to participate in the unfolding of the kingdom of God?

Is it your faith, or is it the faith that God gives you?

Does this faith ever make you uncomfortable or inconvenienced?  If not, why not?  Do you believe that faith should never make you uncomfortable?  What about those that are afflicted or suffer injustice?  Does that affect you at all?  Or are they just a bunch of whiners?

Does it ever afflict you in your comfortableness?  Does it comfort you in your affliction?  Does this faith demand that you take steps without knowing where you are going, what you will be doing, where things will be coming from, and will not have all the information that you desire?

Does this faith cause you to seek out people who Jesus spent time with?  Does this faith make your hands dirty?

Does this faith question and poke you in ways you would rather not?  Does it question your loyalty and allegiances?  Is this faith costly?  Does this faith guide you in the midst of trial and trouble?  Can this faith be there when it is most needed?  Or does it only work when times are good?

Does this faith cause you conflict with the ways of the world?  Ways of anger, fear, violence, blaming, scapegoating, desiring safety above all else, having enemies, coveting other people’s stuff, believing that buying more stuff will give you meaning, and more.

Does this faith cause you to weep when you see the world – does it break your heart?  Over and over again?  Does it grab hold of you and not let go?  Does it present a way forward and show you that there really isn’t another option – everything else doesn’t make any sense?  That the ways of the world fail us over and over again and yet we have this sick addiction to keep trying them?  How many wars do we need to go through, how many times do we need to use violence, how many foreigners do we need to blame and dehumanize, how many enemies do we need to create and blame, how many people do we need to curse and damn, how many people do we need to take pleasure in their suffering?  How many until we see that these ways don’t work?  That’s why we have to keep doing them over and over and over again.  They don’t work.  When will be see the stupidity and insanity of the ways of the world instead of embracing these ways?  When will be follow the way of Jesus instead?

Does this faith make you understand the prophets and their desire to run far away from God – yet you follow anyway because where else are you going to go?  There is no hope outside of God and God’s way.

Does this faith wrestle with you and leave you with so many uncertainties, yet you know the most important thing there is – that God will not abandon you and God keeps God’s promises?

Does this faith give you life, especially when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death?

Does this faith demand you die daily so that the real you can be released and flourish?

Does this faith remain unsatisfied with just surviving, but pushes you forward, cajoles you into thriving life?

Does this faith see beyond you as an individual and show you how you are connected to so many others and their well-being?  That to turn a blind eye on those suffering around us isn’t just ignoring them and keeping you safe, but keeps us trapped in a cage with a thick wall around us.  We become prisoners of our own desire for safety that can never be fulfilled.

Does this faith that you have been given have impact on your life?  Does it call to your deepest self and invite you to participate in the unfolding of the Kingdom of God?

Is this faith worth devoting your life to and ultimately dying for?  If not, then why not?  What are you afraid of?

How do you respond to that?

By sitting and waiting?  By being scared?  By delaying?  By running?  Or do you take a risk and take a step in faith?  A risk that could lead to utter desolation.  Or a risk that leads to unbelievable life.  I know this much, the alternative – the way forward without faith – without responding to this gift that has been given to us – leads to certain death.  Always.  No exceptions.  It’s just a matter of time.  And when we consider that, which is really riskier – not responding to faith or taking a step in faith knowing that God walks with us?

The invitation remains to all.  The gift has been given.  Will you unwrap it and respond, or will you put it on the shelf for a more convenient time?

I am grateful that God doesn’t consider the same question for each one of us – will I encounter you or just put you on the shelf for a more convenient time?  God invites us to participate in the most amazing thing ever.  What are we waiting for?  Now is the time.  You aren’t alone.  Let’s take a risk together. Jesus is with us and risks it all for us.

The church model

09 Monday Jul 2018

Posted by in Church, Society, Travel

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For as long as anyone can remember, the model the church has used is to have a building, a pastor, a musician, and to make worship the primary function.  There has been other support involved – education, fellowship, and special gatherings like funerals and weddings, celebrations, etc.  The church grew because people in the denomination moved and found similar churches, or had babies to help replace members who had died.  The culture assisted the churches too – ensuring that “blue laws” existed, telling the story of Christianity, etc.  In other words, the church held a privileged position in American culture.  It was expected that this would continue.

Except that’s not happening.

“The model we have used — a church, a pastor and a commitment by people to support the enterprise — is getting harder and harder to maintain.”

(Source – click here)

That’s a quote from an article about churches closed in Minnesota.  But it’s not only about churches in Minnesota.  It’s nationwide.

The church needs to face the reality that the times have changed.  The church no longer has a privileged place in society.  But the church still acts like it does in many cases.  The church no longer can count on members of the denomination moving into the area to fill the pews.  There are more and more “nones,” people who don’t believe.  The church can’t use the same model it did before because the circumstances have changed.  But that’s exactly what many churches are doing – holding onto a model that doesn’t meet the current challenges.

Fashion changes, sports teams change, businesses change, politics changes – but somehow many in the church don’t think that change applies to the church.  The problem with this is that there are fatal consequences for this.  If the church doesn’t change its model, it will die.

What would a new model for the church be?  I don’t think there is just one model that will work.  I think it depends on the people gathered together in community.  One church may thrive by turning to ministry in the community, another by a focus on worship, another by selling it’s building and the expenses that go with it.  The point is, we’re in a new era where a new model is needed – or rather, new models are needed.

A good set of questions might be, if we were gathering together as believers in Jesus for the first time, what would this look like?  What would we be doing?  Where do we see the Spirit at work?  What is drawing in people?  What allows us to best carry out the mission God has for us?

Numbers don’t lie – even in the age of fake news.  Trends tell us important information.  We can either ignore the trends or learn from them.  This much I know – continuing with an old model, because it’s what we know, will lead to many more churches closing their doors.  Adopting a new model is a risk – a big risk.  It could be a complete and utter failure.  Or it could mean new life.  The first option isn’t a good option.  The second option is a risk.  This is where the church has to ask itself this question – are we all in?  Do we trust Jesus and where he is sending us? If so, there really is only one option.

Comfortable Christianity

26 Tuesday Jun 2018

Posted by in Church, Theology

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What is Comfortable Christianity?  It is Christianity that loves the name, but refuses to live out following Jesus.  Comfortable Christianity believes that making people comfortable and avoiding any discomfort at all is the highest value – in other words ignoring the realities that exist around us because they are uncomfortable.  Comfortable Christianity isn’t really in need of a Savior – someone who can save us.  We’re doing alright on our own.  Don’t tell us that we are broken and sinful thank you very much.  Comfortable Christianity believes that God has no say in politics or political issues or challenging subjects – that the only thing that should be preached are words that require no self-examination or radical reorientation of our lives – only ambiguous and lofty words and ideas that have no practical application.  Comfortable Christianity makes excuses for injustices that occur in the world – excuses so that the comfortable Christian doesn’t feel guilty and have to speak out or take action.

Comfortable Christianity can be spotted pretty easily.  It shows up in complaints about things that seem odd – Being upset with something minor about worship, all the while having no issue and not being upset with domestic violence, addiction, homelessness, poverty, trafficking, or other injustices that happen right outside the doors of the church (and sometimes inside).  Sometimes it can be heard in threats to leave or withhold offerings.  Sometimes it justifies itself with the misquoting of Scripture.

Comfortable Christianity too often holds a privileged place within some of our churches and demands compliance or else it will use what it can to ensure that it’s theology is enforced.  Woe to the pastor or disciple who confronts this theology.

Martin Luther probably would have used another name for it – theology of glory.

Here’s what Martin Luther wrote about such theology:

16. The person who believes that he can obtain grace by doing what is in him adds sin to sin so that he becomes doubly guilty.
17. Nor does speaking in this manner give cause for despair, but for arousing the desire to humble oneself and seek the grace of Christ.
18. It is certain that man must utterly despair of his own ability before he is prepared to receive the grace of Christ.
19. That person does not deserve to be called a theologian who looks upon the invisible things of God as though they were clearly perceptible in those things which have actually happened [Rom. 1.20].
20. He deserves to be called a theologian, however, who comprehends the visible and manifest things of God seen through suffering and the cross.
21. A theologian of glory calls evil good and good evil. A theologian of the cross calls the things what it actually is.

(Heidelberg Disputation, Theses 16-21, Martin Luther, 1518)

Following Jesus is not comfortable, but brings comfort.  Following Jesus brings comfort because any other option is literally insane.  What comfort does the world bring?  The way of the world is division, separation, fear, might makes right, only the strong survive, and leads ultimately to death.  Sound like I’m exaggerating?  Show me how the world brings comfort to the poor.  Show me how the world bring a roof over the homeless.  Show me how the world offers healing for the addict.  Show me how the world offers safety for the victim of domestic violence or trafficking.  Show me how the world offers peace.  Show me how the world feeds the hungry?  Show me.  Right now.  Name it.  Show me how the world doesn’t ignore the immaterial needs of people.

I’ll grant that on occasion these things do happen.  I’ll grant that on occasion the world gets it right.  But not consistently.  The church messes up plenty of times too – don’t get me wrong.  But sometimes the church isn’t following Christ – hence we end up with Comfortable Christianity.

I’m done accommodating Comfortable Christianity and its privileged place in the world and the church.  Comfortable Christianity will be the death of organized Christianity if it continues to be accommodated and given preference.

This is what I know – there are many disciples in the church that are yearning to be set free from Comfortable Christianity.  To be unleashed from its grasp.  I have seen this.  And when they are set free, amazing things happen.  Salvation comes.  Life comes out of death.  Joy flourishes.  People become on fire for Jesus.  Community becomes family.  Forgiveness is freely given.  Mercy abound.  Love is the way that we follow.  This is the kingdom of God in our midst!

I see these disciples take off and go.  I see it in a meal at Denny’s with homeless families and men and women living out community and caring for each other.  I see it when an son asks his mother for a bible and she is able to get one from her church to give away to him – and he thanks her for it.  I see in the Dinner with Friends meal that gathers so many people each month to share a meal and laughter together, knowing each others names and learning their stories.  I see it in ministries like making blankets and prayer shawls for those that need them.  I see it in the Harvest Festival where a congregation opens its doors to the community it serves, offers joy, a meal, entertainment, and more – sharing Good News.  I see it in a Sunday School class going and serving a meal at Christmas time.  I see it in a group of people who gather, walk through town singing Christmas Carols to those who will listen – hearing about the wonders of God and the Good News that people are invited to receive.  I see it in the sharing of the Holy Meal each week in worship.  I see it in so many places, beyond what I could possibly list here.  It happens in our communities, in our families, in our regions, in our nation, and internationally.  When Christians are unleashed from the hold of Comfortable Christianity, Jesus takes over, miracles happen, and the kingdom unfolds before us.  And we get to participate in that.

It’s time for Comfortable Christianity to end.  It’s time for Comfortable Christianity to die.  To die so that resurrection and new life can take root and amazing things can be unleashed – the world can be transformed.

Are we willing to be uncomfortable?  Are we willing to be in utter despair of our own ability as Luther stated, to acknowledge the thing for what it is?  Are we willing to follow Jesus?

Are we willing to set aside old models of church that no longer serve the needs of the church and the community in this day and age?  To embrace new models to better carry out God’s mission in the world and in our community?  Are we willing to be disciples and do ministry together?  Are we willing to walk hand in hand into the unknown of what this might look like?

Do we really believe Jesus, or deep down, do we think he’s just a nice man that’s full of it and doesn’t really understand how things need to happen?  That’s the real question.  Jesus tells us that he loves us and that love is the only way.  Do we believe it?

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a miracle.  I’m ready for Jesus to be unleashed and to unleash each one of us.  We’ve gotten a glimpse of it in what we see around us.  I can’t wait to see more.  Who’s ready?  Then let’s go!  Lead on Jesus.

You Brood of Vipers…

04 Friday May 2018

Posted by in Church, Humanity, Politics, Theology

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Here’s your fair warning – this is going to be political – painfully political.  And no, I’m not going to apologize.  I can’t just sit by and be silent.  My focus isn’t even on the politicians.  If you know me at all, you’ll know that I don’t put much faith in politicians, political parties, or ideology.  I find most of them to be worthless and primarily interested in power.  All of them are seriously flawed and frankly, I expect them to worship their idols of power, influence, money, and their other gods that they create in their own image.  I hope this post is extremely uncomfortable.  I hope it is inconvenient.  I hope this because it sucked writing this.  The focus of this post is on the Christians who read this.

Jesus said:

‘Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. I tell you, on the day of judgement you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.’

(Matthew 12:33-37)

I can think of no better passage of Scripture that applies to the filthy state of partisan politics today than this passage spoken by Jesus.

Yesterday I received an e-mail with a link to an article by Jeff Roe on why Republicans would be mistaken to abandon Trump in the mid-term elections.  Persona and policy can get mixed up.  The GOP should celebrate the policies and not the distraction of the persona – that’s the argument anyway.  The essential argument is this – the ends justify the means.

Yesterday as I was driving around I flipped through radio stations.  Occasionally I flip over to talk radio to hear what the chattering is about.  I can usually handle about five minutes worth before having to turn the station.  Yesterday I heard the host in his usual blind allegiance of the president and the actions to cover up his affair with a porn star.  The ends justified the means apparently.  Don’t you know, it was the porn star in the wrong.

Today I saw Rudy Giuliani’s interview on Sean Hannity’s show.  During this interview, Giuliani contradicts statements Trump made about knowing there was a payoff and where the money for the payoff came from.  When the ends justify the means, who cares what was said before.

Yesterday was the so-called National Day of Prayer.  People gathered and there was an official prayer stated.  The prayer is eloquent and hits on some very good points – turning from sin, unity of the body of Christ, turning from evil, forgiveness, reconciliation, healing, etc.  All things that I can get behind, but the problem is that I’m not sure if all Christians agree with the definitions of these terms.

I’m not sure that I have the same definition of unity as our “Christian” politicians and those that support their policies that do more harm than good, that uphold Social Darwinism (where only the strong survive), and where the end justifies the means is the foundation of life.

I’m not sure I have the same definition of turning from evil as our “Christian” politicians and those that support their actions by making excuses for behaviors that are unacceptable for you or I, but seem to be just fine because it was two consenting adults, don’t you know.  Yet these same people threw a hissy fit when another president screwed around with someone in the White House – which was just as terrible. But hey, when you believe that it’s a Christian virtue to lay the foundation of your life at the altar of the ends justify the means, then anything goes, right?

Does turning from evil mean that it’s ok to knowingly lie and defend those lies because the truth is inconvenient and is costly?  Does turning from evil mean that you pay hush money for an affair or that you defend someone who does this?  Does turning from evil mean that you use your Christian label as a pastor to make excuses for a worldly powerful person.  I thought we were called to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Jesus if we claimed the label of Christian.

I’m not sure I have the same understanding of the following line of prayer as our “Christian” politicians and those that support their rhetoric:

We pray for all people of all ethnicities and races in America to come together as one, living in peace and unity together.

I’m not sure how anyone can claim to be a Christian and make excuses for a “Christian” politician who offers support to neo-nazis, labels all Mexicans as rapists and murders, who disparages numerous other groups of people.  I’m not twisting words here, go back and see what was actually said.  If you feel the need to defend these words that he said, why?  Why would you defend such vile language from anyone?  Would you defend the same exact words, spoken in the same exact tone if they came from a politician that you didn’t like?  Or do the ends justify the means?

I’m not sure I have the same understanding of the following line of prayer as our “Christian” politicians and those that support their policy actions:

We pray for God’s power to unify families, workplaces, communities, and cities in America. By Your Spirit, lead us to forgiveness, reconciliation, healing, and unity.

I find it hard to say we are all seeking to unify families and communities when we put up more roadblocks to the homeless and poor.  We have families who are living in their vehicles at truck stops.  And they are working, but don’t make enough to find adequate housing.  Men, women, and children living in their vehicles.  And the typical response is something along these lines – well, they should work harder.  Well, they should have not made so many bad decisions.  Well, they get what they deserve.  Well, if they only did this or that.  Well, the churches can take care of them.

BS.

As a pastor who does ministry with the homeless, I can tell you that churches are not equipped to do this.  We don’t have the resources, the training, or the people to do this.  We can do small things, but we don’t have unlimited resources.  We aren’t trained in how to deal with mental illness.  We aren’t taught what to do when we run out of money trying to help someone and they end up back on the street again because all the shelters are full and they have nowhere to turn.

If your response is “well, you should open your own doors then,” or some other snide remark, then you are missing the whole point here.

Jesus never said the ends justify the means.  That’s about as far away from what it means to be a Christian as you can get.  If that is your belief of what it means to be a Christian – then you and I can’t be unified because we don’t have the same foundation.

Is the defense of something and someone who is indefensible worth it?

Or as Jesus said:

Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

(Matthew 16:24-26)

You want to get mad at me – go for it.  I’ve got thick skin.  Frankly, I’m not too happy with you either.  And I refuse to shut up because I’m pointing out something uncomfortable and inconvenient.  Your comfort is not my concern.  Especially when we have people who are homeless, people who haven’t had a meal on a plate since August, people who have families that are living in vehicles, people who are being trafficked on our interstates, people who are treated as second class citizens because of their skin color or orientation.  If that’s uncomfortable, then it should be.  Being a Christian is not comfortable or convenient.  It’s not suppose to be.  It’s supposed to smack us in the face and make us so uncomfortable and inconvenienced that we respond to the injustice we see around us.

Frankly, I’m tired of Christians who want the label, but refuse to live out the calling.  I’m tired of Christians who value their loyalty to a politician or party (any politician in either party – yes, this applies to Democrats just as much as Republicans) above Jesus.  I’m tired of Christians making excuses for “bad trees,” as Jesus called them, all because they believe that the ends justify the means when it comes to policies.

We are called to live out what Jesus commands us to do, not to have blind loyalty to some politician who is temporarily in power.

Pick up your cross and follow Jesus.  Jesus didn’t say, pick up your tweet and follow Trump.  Jesus didn’t say, pick up your sign and follow some other candidate.  Jesus didn’t say send in a check and blindly follow your party.

These are difficult times in our nation.  The call for unity is something that is needed.  However, it is not possible to have unity where there is a strongly held belief that not everyone is equal in value and worth.  How can there be unity when there are some who create us vs. them situations, where the poor are seen as an expense, where we have leaders who firmly believe that only the strong should survive, where we value things over people, etc.

But not all is hopeless or lost.  Last night I heard something that hit me.  I don’t remember the exact words, but here’s what I heard – when everything has been exhausted, there is grace.

Even in this situation, there is grace.  It’s the only thing that can carry us forward.  We humans can’t fix this ourselves – we are too devoted to our divisions and separations.  We have blind worship of our leaders and ideologies.  We cling to our sin and brokenness.

Only God can fix this.  And it may require something else – something that is deeply associated with being a follower of Christ.  It will require death.  Death of our egos.  Death of our loyalties.  Death of our certainties and answers.  Death of our attitudes towards one another.  Death of excuses.  Death of our sin and brokenness.

Only then will we experience the fullness of being a Christ follower – resurrection.  New life, renewed life, restored life, transformed life.

This is my hope.  This is my prayer.  It’s time to start acting out what we claim to believe.  It’s time to start actually being Christians, not just taking on the label.  If we don’t, we’re no better than the people who Jesus called out as a brood of vipers.

Can the church really change?

04 Friday May 2018

Posted by in Church, Theology

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Yesterday I wrote about what I called inevitable decline. It’s a belief that some, even within the church, have that goes along the lines that the church has to decline.

As I mentioned, I don’t agree with this line of thinking.

I’m wondering though if I’m using the same definitions of terms as those who carry these beliefs.  Definitions of terms are important.  They can make all the difference.  For me the “church” goes beyond the organization or the building.  The church is the body of Christ.  Jesus promised us that he would be with us until the end of the age, so how could the church, in this sense, ever really decline.

I don’t like the idea of decline, especially in relation to the church.  But this goes beyond not liking something. Yes, the numbers for many church denominations are in decline.  So be it.  We can gaze at those numbers all day long.  The question becomes, so what?  Are we looking at the numbers in order to feel bad for ourselves and have some kind of pity party?  I hope not.

I didn’t change denominations, go to seminary for five years, take on a ton of debt to do that, change career and calling, so that I could go through the motions and watch over a declining church.  If that’s your thing, can we just speed up the death, let me go to the funeral, and then set me loose to do what I was called to do – go and proclaim the Good News.

When are we, church, going to be so fed up with the idea of inevitable decline that it causes us to start acting differently?  When are we going to actually embrace what it is we claim to belief that it causes us to start carrying out the call?  I’m not interested in just going through the motions, or mouthing the words.  If that’s your thing – then get out-of-the-way.  I don’t have time for that.

The church is in the midst of change.  But I don’t think this is any different from any other time in history.  The church is always in the midst of change.  Are we so arrogant as to think that we are somehow more special than those who came before us that we are overseeing the death of the church?  Really?  History didn’t start when we were born, nor will it end when we die.

Will the church change?  Absolutely.  Living things change.  They excrete stuff that is harmful.  The church will do this too.  There are things in the church that need to die.  And the beautiful thing about what we believe is that there is resurrection – new life, renewed life, transformed life.  The church will look different in the future than it does now, just as what it looks like right now is far different from what it looked like in the past.

Inevitable decline?  Where’s the hope in that?  Jesus command was to follow him, not gaze at the numbers and throw a pity party.  So get up and start living out the Gospel, proclaiming it.  The world need to hear it.  The world needs encounters with Jesus.  Get out there and do it.  Or don’t you really believe it?

Inevitable Decline?

03 Thursday May 2018

Posted by in Church, Theology

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This is a short one today.  There are some people who believe that decline of the church is inevitable.  There are even some pastors who believe this.  I’m not one of them.

Often when I hear about inevitable decline of the church I hear people say this with a sense of hopelessness.

I don’t buy it.  At the same time, I do believe that the church is in the midst of change.  For me, this stems from the idea that the church is in the business of resurrection.  We proclaim death and resurrection, so why shouldn’t the church experience this too?  we proclaim transformation, so why shouldn’t the church experience this too?  But inevitable decline?  I don’t recall Jesus ever talking about that.

 

Sports: the new religion?

18 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by in Church, Family, Health

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Actually, sports have been around for a long time.  There are many elements of sports that are similar to religion.  In some sense, I guess there are some who could claim that a sporting event is a religious experience.

There are people who make pilgrimages to their favorite teams home stadium.  There’s something about gathering a large group of people together – most cheering for the same team.  In many respects, sports can be a positive thing to bring people together.

The same is true for kids sports too.  This isn’t a post bashing sports.  Two of our kids participate in youth sports and I coach on of their teams. Kids learn some valuable lessons that can only found in sports – teamwork, loyalty, hard work, sportsmanship, how to win, how to lose, how to improve.

But there’s also a negative side too – when sports takes the primary position in life.  I see this with families who become absent from church because of sports tournaments, games, and practices during different seasons.  Again, my point here isn’t to sit around and whine about this, but rather just to point it out.

Jesus doesn’t offer scholarships.  And lately, some coaches seem to have more pull than pastors.

The reality is that if churches are going to attract young families, then we need to rethink the relationship they have with church.  We need to rethink time, what worship might look like, how to engage youth and more.

Having said this, I’m also not a big fan of completely changing everything to accommodate everyone else’s schedule.  If something is important, then people will rearrange their schedule and provide the resources necessary to support it.  This is true for religion as well as sports.

The point is that there is an opportunity for church with these families.  The opportunities might not look like more activities – they already have a jam-packed schedule.  Instead, maybe there is an opportunity to do something else – tap into what people are already doing.  An example of this might be dinner church.  Everyone has to eat – why not do a dinner church with a team before a practice, or after practice.  Maybe work with a team on offering a special blessing for the team.  There are opportunities.  We just need to open our minds to the possibilities.

 

Church and Politics

10 Tuesday Apr 2018

Posted by in Church, Politics

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I had a wonderful conversation yesterday about church and politics.  It was wonderful because it wasn’t a typical discussion about church and politics.  It wasn’t a discussion about politics in terms of partisanship.  Rather it was a discussion about how politics and church are similar.

I contend that religion and politics are very similar.  Both attempt to communicate a compelling vision of an alternate future – a hopeful and hope filled future.  Politics does this in a secular sense.  Religion does this from a spiritual basis, or better stated, from the sense of shalom or wholeness.

Of course there are differences too, but I can’t help but see the commonality of these two things.  Actually, let me clarify.  The core foundations of these two things are similar and related.  There are principles that politics uses that also relate to church as well.  The differences come out in the specifics.  But these aren’t minor differences either.  In church, money is raised in order to be used to expand the kingdom of God, to declare Good News, to serve those less fortunate, to make disciples.  In politics, money is raised in order to secure or obtain a position of power and influence and expand the base of support to keep someone in power or to gain a seat of power.  That’s an oversimplification of course, but I don’t think it is far off.

I have been exploring the link between church/religion and politics for many years now.  Actually it’s the link between church and campaign politics.  I look forward to seeing where this goes in the future.  I also welcome your thoughts on the matter.  Do you see a link between these two things?  How so?  How not?  Do you have experience working in these two areas?  If so, how have you seen the two interrelated?

Church is like a Hostel

06 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by in Church, Theology, Travel

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I’ve mentioned previously that I am part of a group of pastors who gather each week to learn and practice discipleship.  We gather into what is called a “huddle.”  It’s been a great experience.  Yesterday was no different.  During our time together, the one who has been leading us talked about the church being like a youth hostel.  A hostel is a simple place where travelers can stop for a time on their journeys.

Often church is much like a hostel rather than a mighty fortress, even though most would prefer it to be that fortress – where people come in and never leave.  A hostel has people come for a time and then leave – being sent out to plant more seeds for the kingdom where God calls them.  That can be true for people who are a part of the congregation for a time, for pastors, for others who have interactions with the church, and more.

Two days ago, our church was a hostel.  A family stopped by seeking a place to stay for the evening.  It was windy and cold – too cold to sleep in their van.  They were from Maine and had traveled to West Virginia for work.  The short version is that the work didn’t pan out for them, so they left.  They loaded up all of their belongings into their van and started to head back to Maine.  Carlisle happened to be a stopping point for one night on their journey back “home.”  They got off the expressway and we were the first church they came across.

I spoke with them, got their names, heard their story, and helped them find a location for their family for the night.  During the course of our time together, I heard the great faith that God had given them.  I could feel it and see it in their mannerisms and expressions.  I sensed the blessing in them in their gratitude.  Who was helping who here?  I felt just as blessed by their expression of faith, as they were in receiving a small amount of help for the night.  It felt as though I were in a re-enactment of Joseph, Mary, and child in their journey from Bethlehem to Egypt.  I can only imagine the encounters that the holy family had with those they came across in their journey – if only for a night.

Church is like a hostel in many ways.  Sometimes we encounter people for many years – we walk with them in their journey of faith from birth until death.  And other times we come across people for a short period of time, saying goodbye before we are ready for them to go.  Either way, none of us are permanently here.  At some point, it will be time for us to go – either through travel or job, or by sickness, age, and even death.

The beauty of a hostel is that everyone recognizes they are on a journey and they stay temporarily.  They look forward to the relationships they develop, and for what they will see and experience during their stay in a location.  Yes, church is like a hostel – a holy hostel.

The mission of the church

22 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by in Church, Theology

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What is the mission of the church?

A common answer is that the mission of the church is to save souls.  Another answer is that the mission of the church is to make disciples.

These two answers are far different from each other and have practical implications.

If the mission of the church is to save souls, then it would make sense for people to be concerned with making sure people believe the right things, that they are following the rules, that there is a clear interpretation of the bible, and that there is a focus on what people do and how they live their life.  If saving souls is of utmost importance, then it makes sense that people would stop at nothing to ensure that people are saved from damnation.  The focus seems to be on how many people are lost.

If on the other hand the mission of the church is to make disciples, then it would make sense for people to focus on following the teachings of Jesus and inviting people into discovering Jesus, focusing on creating an environment where encounters with Jesus happen on a regular basis, where there is a sharing of the Good News of Jesus, where people are invited to participate in service for those that are outcast, poor, homeless, widowed, imprisoned, and more.  If making disciples is of utmost importance, then it makes sense that the invitation into relationship takes a high priority while recognizing that not all will embrace this.  Some will fall aside.  And you’ll let them go hoping that they will encounter Jesus some other way.  The focus seems to be on how many people start to follow and realizing that it’s a miracle – a pleasant one that is life-giving.

These two world views for the church matter.  The first world view is more confrontational than the other by nature of what is deemed important.  The second is more a live and let live approach.  Those are generalizations, of course, but pretty close to the reality of how they are lived out.

I prefer the second course of action and I believe that this is what Jesus calls us to be as a church.  I don’t believe that the mission of the church is to save souls.  That may sound heretical on the surface, but I don’t see the evidence to support that as the primary mission of the church for a few reasons.  1. We aren’t capable of saving ourselves, how are we supposed to save someone else?  Only God can save someone.  God’s salvation is a gift, we can’t earn it.  We can’t earn it for ourselves or for someone else.  2. Jesus commands us to go and make disciples and baptize people and teach them to follow all that he commanded (Matthew 28:19-20).  3. In each case in which Jesus calls someone, it is with a simple command – “Follow me.” There is no theological exposition on right belief.  Jesus doesn’t say, “follow me, but only when you have the right beliefs about me,” or “follow me when you have your act together,” or “follow me when you have changed your life and stopped sinning.”  It’s just “Follow me.”  Jesus calls people to follow him as they are.  Jesus is inviting people to be followers of him, to establish a relationship with them, to learn from him, to follow his example, to spend time with him.  And in the process of following him, their lives change.  They have to.  Encounters with Jesus always change people’s lives.  But it doesn’t come because they study their way to right beliefs.  It comes because of what Jesus is doing in a person’s life.