Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Whose church is it anyway?

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Church-of-the-Resurrection_thumb.jpgIn Matthew 16:18, after Peter makes his inspired confession that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus claims ownership of the church when he says, “upon this rock, I will build my church.”

In Greek, the order of the words can allow for emphasis to be put on one of the words. In this phrase, the emphasis is on the word my. It is Jesus’ church. It is not Peter’s church, nor Paul’s church, nor does it belong to any mega-church pastor or denomination. The church belongs to Jesus. Jesus began the church and he maintains the responsibility for its growth and health.

Below are five implications that can be drawn from Jesus’ ownership of the church.

  1. It is Jesus’ responsibility to build the Church. Yes, good preaching plays a role. A vital youth group can play a role. Exhilarating worship may also play a role, but the ultimate responsibility is on Jesus. It is Jesus that brings people into relationship with himself. We can only make the introduction.
  2. All of the “church building” methodologies should be reexamined for their faithfulness to what Jesus taught us either directly or through the Biblical authors. We should not confuse building attendance with building the church. Gimmicks such as the “Toronto Blessing,” motivational talks in lieu of sermons and trendy worship music may build attendance, but do they build the church? Do they bring people into solid relationship with Jesus Christ?
  3. We need to guard against a cult of personality built around a gifted preacher or teacher. When I lived in Southern California, we attended a congregation pastored by a well known radio preacher. On the Sundays when the preacher was out of town there would be a significant drop in attendance. Is this a healthy church or is it a gathering of consumers who want to get their weekly fix of “spiritual” entertainment?
  4. Pastors need to be careful about assuming too much responsibility for the growth of the flock they lead. As under-shepherds, they rightly feel responsibility to minister to those God brings into their care, but that responsibility should not be an excuse for attempting to control all that goes on in the local congregation. I attended one church where the pastor made all the decisions and gave little freedom for others in the body to be led by God in their ministries. His strangle hold actually inhibited growth by driving away people who understood their own gifting. They moved on to another congregation that valued their gift.
  5. The leaders need to be sensitive to where God is leading the congregation. True Biblical leadership allows for God to orchestrate how the various gifts and talents work together for the building of his church. Even a casual reading of 1 Corinthians 12 or Romans 12 shows that God is the one in control of bringing together the various gifts that are necessary for the health of the local body of Christ.

The church is initiated and maintained by Jesus. Jesus commissions elders and deacons to maintain order and oversee the care of the congregation but they are to do so in a way that is consistent with Jesus’ direction. Jesus is to remain in control.

When that control is wrested from the hands of Jesus, the local congregation becomes less than what it should be. It then becomes a social organization at best and a cult at worst.

Entitlement and Thanksgiving

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Thom RainerIf I feel entitled, I complain about my job.
If I am thankful, I am grateful to have a job.

If feel entitled, I complain about the meal I’m eating.
If I am thankful, I am grateful to have food on the table.

If I feel entitled, I complain that the government does not do enough for me.
If I am thankful, I ask what I can first do for others.

If I feel entitled, I complain about my spouse.
If am thankful, I express gratitude that someone has put up with me all these years.

Read the full post at Entitlement and Thanksgiving – ThomRainer.com.

On the Church and politics

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politics 2I am not a political junkie, nor is this a political blog. I have tried to avoid any hint of partisan politics in my posts. It is my intent to continue on this path. While keeping this intent, I want to make a few observations about the recent election for the benefit of my brothers and sisters in the Church.

The Church is not a political institution

History shows that every time the church has gotten political power, it has turned out badly for the church and the culture at large. While the statistics may show that people who identify themselves as Bible believing Christians tended to prefer one candidate, they also show that this preference was not universal within the Church. Therefore we must be careful to not alienate our brothers and sisters whose political preference does not agree with our own.

God has neither a D nor an R behind his name. You may feel that you can make a case that the policies of your preferred party are more closely aligned with your understanding of Scripture. But I would remind you that the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of Scripture transcend party platforms and political strategy.

Government is not the answer

No matter whether you are depressed, elated or ambivalent about the election result, I want to remind you that the government cannot fix the problems that we face. The fiscal and social problems are not the disease, they are merely the symptoms of a larger moral and spiritual problem. The root cause goes much deeper.

The trajectory of our government is determined by the moral and spiritual climate of the country. In short, we get the government that we deserve because we (collectively) select our leaders. The leaders therefore are reflective of the desires of the people they lead.

For example, we continue to spend more than we have. We do not have the moral discipline to tackle the difficult fiscal problems that face us. We reject the Judeo-Christian ethic of self control and responsibility and have nothing with which to replace it. Consequently, our government does not have the mandate to make the hard decisions which will cause discomfort in the short run but will provide stability moving forward. We are living off of next year’s seed and will have nothing to plant in the spring.

Government cannot hinder God’s plan

Galatians 4:4 tells us that Jesus came “in the fullness of time” which happened to be during the reign of Caesar Augustus. Augustus was followed by a string of emperors that were at best neutral to the propagation of the Gospel. Many of them were hostile to it and persecuted the Church. They had nearly absolute political power but were unable to thwart God’s plan for His Church.

Conclusion

If you are elated about the election results, I would caution you to temper that elation with the understanding that Government, big or small, cannot cure what ails the world. The only cure for the moral and spiritual problems of America is a Holy Spirit led revival and return to a commitment to the moral code that God revealed to us in Scripture.

If you are depressed about the election results, I would offer you the hope that government cannot thwart God’s plan for you or His Church.

For all of us in the Church, I would offer Paul’s words of encouragement found in Romans 8:38-39:

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NASB)

Electricity, Hurricane Sandy and the Feast of Sukkot – Four lessons

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Hurricane SandyHurricane Sandy made herself known in a big way in my area. In all the years that I lived in Southeastern Pennsylvania, I never experienced winds like we had earlier this week.

My family and I were blessed in that there was no damage to our home. Other than the minor inconvenience of being without electricity for a little over 24 hours, we came through the event quite well. Others have not fared so well and have endured major losses, my heart and my prayer is with them right now.

As the hurricane raged, it was difficult to think; it was quite enough just to take it all in. But once the storm began to wane, some thoughts came to me about life and hurricanes. Here are some thoughts in no particular order:

  1. Hurricane Sandy reinforced the idea that all we really need for physical existence is food, water and shelter. So many of the things we think of as indispensible are not. In reality, that iPad that you think you need is a nice-to-have, not a necessity.
  2. A major weather event such as Sandy demonstrates that man is not really the master of his own destiny, Jack Welshnot withstanding. The best we can do in response to such force is to find a shelter with sufficient strength to provide protection. Altering or controlling the storm is impossible. We may want to continue the illusion of control, but Sandy should be a clue to how little control we really have.
  3. The hurricane also demonstrated that we overestimate the importance of many of the things we do. When survival is on the line, it does not matter if the lawn is well manicured. When there is little water for cooking, it does not matter if the spice rack is alphabetized. The point is not that neat cupboards and attractive lawns are not good. The point is that when we take good things and make them ultimate things, we get our priorities out of whack.
  4. When something like Sandy comes along, it reinforces the need we have for community. When bad stuff starts to happen around us, we learn that we cannot live in a vacuum. We need, and are needed by, the people around us. We are called to live in community.

As I started to write these observations, the Feast of Sukkot in the Old Testament (Leviticus 23:34-44) came to mind. This is a Jewish feast also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. During this feast the Israelites would build temporary shelters and live in them. It was the original family camp.

Ostensibly the feast was to commemorate the Exodus of Israel from the nation of Egypt. The booths provided a physical reminder of how their forebears lived as they wandered through the desert. Yet I wonder if a side benefit of this feast was to demonstrate to the Israelites the four points listed above. Like us, Israel struggled to keep their priorities straight and to understand who was in control of their destiny. This feast could provide a yearly reorientation to a better perspective.

I do not want to downplay the hardship that some have had to endure in the aftermath of Sandy. But for those of us who were merely inconvenienced, I suggest that we think of it as a forced entrance into Sukkot. We have been given the chance to reflect on what is really important and to redirect our thoughts and resources to better uses.

We only need to stop long enough to reflect.

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