Maybe true but hardly helpful

Posted on February 24, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre 12 Comments

I tend to hang with people who subscribe to reformed theology, which emphasizes the sovereignty of God over his creation. This should not be too surprising given that I attend a PCA church. But one of the struggles that I have with such people is that sometimes truth is given in a way that is hardly helpful.

A friend of ours was in a Bible study with some other ladies where she expressed concern for her brother who is not a believer in Jesus. One of the ladies (I can only assume in an effort to be helpful) informed our friend that perhaps her brother is not one of the elect and will never believe in Jesus.

This is like saying to me, “tomorrow you could be diagnosed with cancer.” While this is a true statement, it is certainly possible that I might receive such a diagnosis, it would not be a helpful one. What good would result from such a declaration?

In the same way, it is certainly possible that her brother will never respond to the claims of the Gospel, but this statement was not helpful and quite frankly was an affront to what we see in Jesus.

Jesus declared that he represented the Father and that to see Jesus was the same as seeing God (John 14:9). So the way that Jesus interacts with believers and unbelievers gives an indication of how they are viewed by God the Father.

At the Last Supper, Jesus announced that one of the disciples would betray Jesus (Matt. 26:21). The disciples did not automatically know who Jesus expected to do the betrayal. Notice the next verse:

“And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?”” (Matthew 26:22, ESV)

We all know that it was Judas was the betrayer, but when Jesus made the announcement, the disciples did not automatically think of Judas. Each disciple suspected himself and questioned Jesus, “is it I?”

From this I concluded that Jesus did not treat Judas any differently than he did the rest of the disciples. Jesus offered Judas the same evidence and opportunity to exercise faith that the other disciples had. Yet, Jesus knew when he chose Judas as a disciple that Judas would be the betrayer.

What is my point in this? The understanding that God knows who will respond to him and who will not does not give us permission to write anyone off as being beyond the power of the Gospel. There are too many examples throughout history of people thought beyond redemption who Jesus touched and changed.

A Biblical example of this is the story of the Gerasene Demoniac in Mark chapter 5. If any man seemed beyond the power of the Gospel, it would have been that man, yet we know that Jesus cast out the demons and that man became a missionary to the residents of the Decapolis.

While it is true that not all will respond to the Gospel, and while it is also true that God knows who will and who will not respond, we do not have such knowledge and need to interact with everyone as if they will respond. In other words, we must follow the example of Jesus and relate to everyone as if they will come to faith while knowing that not all will.

We cannot know the outcome for any person and to act as if we do is an affront to the Jesus that we claim to worship. We are called to make disciples and we cannot know ahead of time who will and who will not become one.

So while telling our friend that her brother may not be one who will respond might indeed be true, it was certainly not helpful.

A leadership lesson from Moses

Posted on February 17, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre 3 Comments

Moses asked God for help in leading the people of Israel. 70 men were assigned to provide that help, as told in Numbers 11:24-30. The newly recruited helpers were to appear before the tent of meeting and receive a portion of the spirit that was upon Moses. The sign that they received this spirit was that they started to prophesy.

There were two men who did not appear before the tent of meeting who also began to prophecy. Joshua, Moses’ right hand man, wanted Moses to stop them from prophesying. Moses’ response is instructive:

“But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”” (Numbers 11:29, ESV)

A good leader is willing to be eclipsed by the people he leads. The leader focuses on the goal and not on who is getting credit for the achievement of the goal. The organization wins if the goal is achieved and the leader helps those he leads contribute toward the goal at their maximum potential.

Churches do not always have this type of leader. I have been in church situations (plural, not just one church) where the pastor guarded his power to make decisions and control the activities of the church. I cannot know with certainty the motivation of the pastor for behaving in this way, but it seems that jealousy plays a role and this behavior is certainly contrary to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

This type of control is destructive and thwarts what God is doing within that congregation.

In 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, the Apostle Paul uses the analogy of a body to describe the church. The church is given members with the various gifts that are needed for the church to function as a unified whole. If the pastor is squelching the exercise of anyone’s gift, he is thwarting the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Healthy believers who find themselves in such a church, because they understand their gifting, will move to another congregation where they are allowed to use their gifts. This will leave the church with the controlling pastor as weak and under developed.

The analogy that comes to mind is when parents do not allow their children to make age appropriate decisions. The controlling parent represses the development of the child and without change in the parent’s behavior, the child will find it difficult to progress into a healthy adult.

May the spirit of Moses, where he encouraged and expected others to exercise their gifts, fall on the leadership of all of our churches. If so, the Holy Spirit will be freed to accomplish His will for that church and the surrounding community.

Thank God for the children

Posted on February 12, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre 10 Comments

In my last post, I wrote about some church leaders’ misunderstanding of the role of the building in worship. This was in response to a note that I had gotten from a reader. In that note, the writer also said that the pastor of the church he visited made a comment about not allowing children to eat candy in the “sanctuary.”

In some (many?) of the evangelical churches I have visited or attended over the years, I have seen a funky, weird attitude toward children. Some adults act as if God will send lightning down to strike any child that begins to have fun in the church. Following this thinking, one must not allow his 5 year old to run in church or play tag in the lobby.

When we act this way, we teach children that God is like a grumpy grandfather that has a headache and Johnny must not disturb him. This is the opposite picture that Jesus painted of his father in Luke 15.

I understand that during the worship service, distraction from children should be kept at a minimum. But in one church we attended, ushers would (often not so) politely tell parents that their children are not welcome in the service with the adults. This, in spite of what Jesus said in Mark 10:14, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.”

There has to be a proper balance point in between the extremes of letting children run out of control and expecting them to act like adults. Some of us adults struggle to act like adults, why should we expect children to do better?

The point of this rant is to say that we should enjoy the children with which God blesses our congregation. They are not a distraction from the main thing, they are the main thing.

Jesus gave us one mission, that is to make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20). What better way to do this than to allow our children to experience church as a place where they can have appropriate fun. I think that God smiles just as hard at a 7 year old playing tag as he does at an adult raising his hands in worship. In both situations, the child and the adult are doing what God created them to do. In a sense, they are both worshiping.

So, the next time that you are annoyed because a baby cries during the sermon or a child asks a question out loud during the service, think of Jesus opening his arms to receive similar children to him. Learn the lesson that Jesus taught the disciples and allow the children to come to Jesus – as children.

The church building is a tool

Posted on February 10, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre 9 Comments

I received an email yesterday from a man who visited a new church only to be confronted by the pastor because the man’s wife brought a drink into the “sanctuary.” Lest you think that this is uncommon, it was not long ago that I attended a church where the pastor made a huge deal out of anything other than water being brought into the auditorium. Presumably, such rules are in place because of fear that coffee or other drinks might get spilled on the carpet and result in a stain.

I have two fundamental issues with this thinking. The first issue has to do with the whole idea of any part of the building being the “sanctuary.” When believers enter the meeting room to gather for worship, they are not entering the temple where they will encounter God. The believers are temples (1 Cor. 6:19) carrying the Holy Spirit with them into the meeting. To protect one part of the building as being more holy or special makes no sense to me.

Secondly, the church is not the building, the church is the people who gather there for worship. It should be kept in mind that the people matter more to God than the building. A church leadership that does not understand this is not worthy of following.

Proverbs 14:4 says, “where there are no oxen, the manger is clean.” When the manger is fulfilling its role of feeding oxen, it becomes a little messy. To remain clean requires that the manger avoid it’s designed purpose.

In the same way, the “church” building is intended to facilitate worship. It should be used to bring people into a deeper relationship with God. It should be used to meet the needs of the people who gather there. When it is used in this way, it is likely that the carpet will pick up a few stains and the building might show some wear and tear.

There is nothing wrong with having beautiful tools. I have known some auto mechanics that have impressive tool chests with shiny chrome plated wrenches and other tools. While the chrome plating is nice to have, it is not the plating that makes the tool useful. The wrench is useful because it is made of forged steel and it is sized properly for the nut that requires turning.

In the same way, the building in which we worship may be beautiful or it may be rather plain. Either way, the building can serve its intended function of being a gathering place of believers. We are to be good stewards of the resources God has given us, so if we have been given a beautiful building, we should be faithful in maintaining the building. But at the same time, we should never forget that the building is a means to an end and not an end in itself. The building is a tool to bring people into community.

Church leaders will be graded by God on how well they shepherded the people that came under their care, not on how well they preserved the carpet in the building. Leaders will have to give an account of how well they used the building to change lives and facilitate worship of God.

Do I want coffee stains on the carpet at my church? Yes, I think I do. Because if we are going to get people together, if we are going to facilitate relationship, we are going to do things like drink coffee and munch on snacks. When we do this, accidents will happen. Drinks will get spilled and food will get dropped. It is inevitable.

Since I want the interaction with people (and the snacks are nice to have), I will live with a few stains in the carpet.

Maybe true but hardly helpful

A leadership lesson from Moses

Thank God for the children

The church building is a tool

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