Archives for 2019

Blending In or Sticking Out: What Should Christians Do?

Posted on July 3, 2019 Written by Adam Durnham Leave a Comment

This is a guest post by Adam Durnham. If you are curious about publishing a guest post, please review the guest post guidelines. Then contact me if you can work within those guidelines and would like to submit a post.

As Christians, we are called to fish for men. This means going out of our comfort zones in order to save the lost. But many of us become confused about the boundaries of blending in and actually stick out and become stumbling blocks. If you are someone who is seeking clarity, read to know more.

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, one of His final instructions included “making disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Although modern-day Christian may not walk the Earth and proclaim the Gospel on the streets, we are still called to live our lives in holy ways and to share the Good News with our spheres of influence.

Fishing for men: Is there a gray area?

“Fishing for men” definitely requires balance. When Paul noted that he became a Jew for the Jews and acted under the law (1 Corinthians 9:20-22), it was clear that as Christians, we sometimes need to blend in to win people over.

Many of us become confused with the principle of blending in.

When I was a new Christian and a college student at a large university, I would often find myself in gray areas. I called them gray areas because there I was, professing my newfound faith, but also hanging out with my friends like nothing had changed. My alcoholism took over because I thought I had control and could keep drinking like I had before. I eventually went into a Christian rehab and decided to take things seriously.

As I became older, I realized that gray areas are not really gray. We cannot say that we are winning people over if we clearly know that we are becoming stumbling blocks.

Winning people or becoming a stumbling block

I could have used a guide about living my faith. So, I have created one. Here are some questions you may ask yourself. They may help you determine if your actions may win people for Christ or you are just acting as a stumbling block:

Is it against the law?

To ask if what you are doing is fit for winning people for God, ask if it is a lawful act. This does not mean the context of law in the Bible, but rather the everyday law that all citizens of a state or a country must follow. After all, God tells us to be responsible citizens by submitting to the governing authorities: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1).

Is it moral?

Having morals is quite different from being lawful. There are things that are passable in terms of the law, but they may not be acceptable in the eyes of others. As Christians, we ought to know that people’s eyes are on us. We represent Christ, and our actions should be blameless before others: “That you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).

Is it aligned with God?

The highest tier of assessing your actions is knowing that it aligns with God. God manifests Himself through His Word (the Bible), the Holy Spirit, and through the confirmation of godly men and women. It is wise to seek what God says on a specific topic, to listen to the nudging of the Holy Spirit, and to listen to the advice of Christian elders.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).

“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14).

Do not stumble by winning people

Maybe the key takeaway is that it is good to “blend in” and reach out to others, but you must set holy boundaries that are acceptable in the law, in morality, but most important, in the eyes of God. Do not stumble by bending over backwards to please people and forgetting what is truly important. Instead, set yourself apart as holy yet approachable to those who are lost.

Living up to our Facebook Page

Posted on June 26, 2019 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

We probably all have at least one acquaintance who makes us nuts with their social media posts because we know that their life is not as pleasant as Facebook would make it appear. According to Facebook, every social event they attend is wonderful and they had a great time and were appreciated by all.

This surreality is one of the reasons why I’ve removed the Facebook app from my phone and iPad. Well, the cute puppy and cat videos may also have had a little to do with it.

But if we’re honest (as the title of this blog seems to indicate we ought to be), we must admit our own tendency to display ourselves as better than we are. We may do it less blatantly but we all do it.

I’m not trying to say that the Facebook deception should be considered normal or acceptable. My point is that, for Christians, every form of deception should be avoided.

Boasting is never a good idea for Christians unless we want to boast in the extravagant grace and limitless love of God for his people. But boasting’s close cousin, false humility, can creep in and cause at least as much damage.

As Christians, we are called to speak the truth in love. We are called to confess our sins to each other. We are called to live lives of humble worship of our God.

But this takes wisdom. It would be very weird and probably unwise to start confessing our faults to a complete stranger.

My gut feel is that the less we say about ourselves the better.

Jesus addressed this issue when he cautions us about taking the coveted place at a banquet. We should, rather, take the lower place. If we are to be elevated, it is better that it be at the initiation of someone else (See Luke 14:7-11).

The question we need to ask ourselves is, “why do we feel the need to make people think we are better than we are?”

My opinion is that we feel this pressure because we have not let the gospel of Jesus Christ penetrate to the core of our being.

If we feel pressure to make ourselves look good, it is an indication that we are still holding on to some self righteousness that is odious to our God.

On dealing with the hurt caused by churches

Posted on June 20, 2019 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

Mahatma Gandhi said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” I admit that I am a Christian despite the church and not because of it so I can relate this statement.

But, before I get on my soap box and denounce the church, I must remember that I am one of those Christians. I must immediately admit that I let myself and others down on a regular basis. Even though I grade myself on a curve, I still fall far short of my own standard. I can’t even think about approaching the standard set by Jesus Christ.

In short, the problem with the church stares back at me in the mirror every morning. I am the problem with the church.

So how do we respond to this? Do we just say, “well, that’s just the way it is” and go have another beer? Do we give up and buy into the “spiritual but not religious” nonsense? Do we keep hopping from church to church until we find a group that allows us to operate totally within our comfort zone? Or, do we strive for something better?

When Jesus gave us what is commonly called the Great Commission, he included a part that seems to make much the American church uncomfortable since we largely ignore it. He describes the disciple making process as “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” Since we are to teach everything that Jesus commands us, we have no wiggle room for letting anything out.

Question: are we striving to yield to God like Paul commands us in Ephesians 4?

” . . . assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Ephesians 4:21–24 (ESV)

We are called to put off and put on. It is the analogy of taking off a garment and putting on a different one. We take off the dirty garment and put on a clean one.

This implies choice and volition. We need to choose to pursue different behavior and we need to have the will to do it.

This is not a call to pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps spirituality. Earlier in the letter to the Ephesians, Paul tells us that we begin life, “dead in [our] trespasses and sins” (2:1) but God made us alive with Christ (2:4-5).

Salvation is a gift and cannot be earned. We contribute nothing. Christ’s righteousness is given to us as a status, the theological term for this is imputation. Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us when we have responded to Christ in faith.

So then, why is it important to do the putting off and putting on?

In preparing for an upcoming sermon, I ran across a writer who made the point that not only is Christ’s righteousness imputed to us, it is also imparted to us. In other words, while the imputed righteousness allows us to be viewed by God as righteous, we are also given the power to actually live righteously. The same power that caused Christ to live a righteous life is imparted to us so that we can also live the same righteous life.

We don’t earn any points with God by our behavior. We have perfect status already. So then, what is the motivation for obedience and righteous living? Off the top of my head, I can think of four reasons:

Living as we were designed to live will promote inner peace.
Living as we were designed to live will promote peace with others.
Living as we were designed to live will display the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who desperately need it.
Living as we were designed to live will remove barriers to our fellowship with God.

So, what is the best way to deal with the hurt that is caused by churches (the purported topic of this post)?

First, we must realize that we contribute to the hurt. It is harder to be severe on others when we are aware of our own shortcomings.

Secondly, we must look for a fellowship of believers that is honest about their own failures while at the same time seeking to be obedient to Paul’s commands regarding putting off and putting on.

This is complicated by the fact that our inner Pharisee can quickly turn the good motivation for obedience into Pharisaical legalism and checkbox thinking.

The question to ask yourself, especially if you are a church leader, is whether the leadership of the church understands the Gospel and is seriously committed to living it out in every aspect of life.

We can allow no shortcuts, no qualifications, no excuses.

The question to ask is, are we seeking to observe (do) everything that Jesus commanded us to do?

The call and the gift

Posted on June 17, 2019 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

I heard a speaker recently talk about ministry as a fusion of calling and gifting. Both the call and the gifting are given by God to those he chooses to minister to his church. And both the calling and the gifting must be operational for ministry to be effective.

The call should be a product of an ever deepening relationship with God. As the name implies, gifting is the ability to do the ministry that one called is to do.

The gifting along with the talents and personality of the one called are given by God to meet the needs of the church.

The danger is that a minister can lose sight of his call and rely almost exclusively on his gifting. A gifted speaker can churn out entertaining and perhaps even helpful sermons without being in touch with the God he claims to serve. In my lifetime, I have seen too many preachers get caught in egregious behavior that was performed while they were continuing in what appeared to be successful ministry. Apparent effectiveness is not necessarily an indication of a deepening relationship with God.

On the flip side, a man can feel called to ministry but not have the gifting, talents and abilities to function in the role he feels called to fill.

This is why it is necessary to have a presbytery or some other governing body to evaluate and qualify those who feel the call to ministry. But it should be understood that when a pastor is ordained, the ordaining group is simply confirming that the gifting is indeed operational in the candidate as he ministers to the body. The gifting must be validated and affirmed by mature believers.

For the minister to be effective, he must acknowledge that both the gifting and calling come from God and the minister is dependent upon God for maintenance of them both. This requires humility.

It does not require the kind of humility that is self deprecating or self defeating. It requires the kind of humility that understands that God could use anyone, but is grateful for the opportunity to be used. Like any other gift, the giver should be thanked for providing the call and gifting to go along with it.

Paul writes about this in Ephesians 4 when he says,

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Ephesians 4:11–14 (ESV)

God gives. Man can only receive.