Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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The reason for our existence

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The reason for our existence“The greatest danger of any organization is to lose sight of its reason for existence. This is especially true for the church. A number of years ago someone posted on the front door of a Washington, DC area church a sign that read, ‘Going out of business.’ Not long after the sign was posted someone added these words, ‘We never really knew what our business was.’”

I discovered this paragraph while reading Mark Howell’s commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians.

Howell goes on to give statistics about how many churches close every year despite the plethora of church growth books and strategies, some churches fail to grow and eventually close.

The saddest part of this for me is a growing realization that we have over complicated what should be a rather simple directive. Jesus gave us one task, that is to make disciples.

But to make disciples presupposes that one knows what a disciple looks like and also presupposes knowledge of how to become one.

This is where much of Christendom seems to fail. We add programs, doctrinal distinctives and rules (implied and implicit) which turn church into a complicated social game that leaves the players exhausted.

The literal meaning of the word disciple is a learner. Therefore, a disciple of Jesus Christ, is by definition one who learns from Jesus and seeks to live in accordance with his principles.

The problem is that on our own we are incapable of doing this. We are by nature fallen and everything we do carries the taint of sin.

It follows then that one who is truly a disciple of Jesus must have his sin issue remedied, and the only remedy available for this is the Cross.

This is why the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians,

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2, ESV)

The point is that we cannot be making true disciples of Jesus if we are not preaching and teaching Jesus Christ and him crucified.

The business of the church is to make disciples and we cannot do it without the message of the Cross being central to our teaching.

This is the reason for our existence as an organization.

5 Distinguishing Marks of a Fruitful Church (link)

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Recently I Tweeted a link to an article that I found helpful:

I thought I would take a few moments and capture some thoughts in response to this article by Jarod Wilson.

First, I would agree with what Jarod lists as three “Marks of Neutrality.” I have been in large churches that had thousands on a Sunday and almost no real body life. In the largest of these churches, one could tell when the main pastor was not preaching because there would be 30 – 50% fewer cars in the parking lot. Too many people were coming to hear a big name preacher and were not coming to experience real fellowship.

My second thought is that to develop the “5 Distinguishing Marks” requires the church leadership to be intentional about all these areas. These marks need to be modeled by the pastoral staff and lay leadership for them to be part of the DNA of a church body. If the leadership is not committed to these, they will not be engendered in the church.

My third, and last, thought is that the six diagnostic questions Mr. Wilson gives at the end of the article are worth asking. If you are a church leader, these would be good to discuss in your next elder board meeting.

These questions present a challenge, especially in the overly-busy 21st Century. To develop these traits takes time. It takes time for the leadership to provide the opportunities for discipleship. It takes time for the disciplers to get trained. It takes time for the disciplers to disciple. Time is the one thing on which most of us continually run short.

No matter how well your church is doing in these areas, there is always room for growth.

For a plant to sustain itself, its root system must be deep enough and strong enough to support the growth. Churches are no different. If we want to sustain the numerical growth, the people that are already there need to be growing deeper in their relationship with God and others.

It doesn’t take very much drought to wilt a plant with weak roots.

A great reminder about Bible reading

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Bible ReadingI recently read Question 157 in the Westminster Larger Catechism which asks,”How is the word of God to be read?”

I found the answer to be both challenging and helpful. Here it is:

The holy scriptures are to be read with an high and reverent esteem of them; with a firm persuasion that they are the very word of God, and that he only can enable us to understand them; with desire to know, believe, and obey the will of God revealed in them; with diligence, and attention to the matter and scope of them; with meditation, application, self-denial, and prayer.

When I open my Bible to read it, is it with high and reverent esteem for the text? Or am I merely doing it out of a sense of obligation?

Am I conscious that it is the very word of God as I read it (even those boring bits that I have a tendency to skip over)?

Am I seeking the Holy Spirit to enlighten me as I read?

Am I reading with a desire to know, believe and obey the will of God that is revealed in the text?

Am I reading with diligence and attention to the matter or am I merely getting a check in the box?

Do I meditate on what I read so that it can be applied to my life?

Do I have an attitude of self-denial and prayer as I read?

Some of the time the answer to these questions is yes. There are times when I am engaged in the way the catechism prescribes. But too often, I am going through the motions and not very engaged.

I suppose the good news is that even if I am not fully present in my Bible reading, some good comes from the exercise. But how much better would it be to be fully present every time I take up the Bible to read it.

One of the most surprising statements in the answer to this question is the encouragement to self-denial. I had never thought of self-denial in the context of Bible reading. But a brief meditation on this reveals the wisdom in it.

One of the struggles of the 21st Century church is the tendency for the reader to stand in judgment on the text. When this happens, we find ways of explaining away the bits of Scripture that we don’t like. The antidote to this is self-denial.

If I approach the text with humility and self-denial the result will be much different than if I approach it with a sense of superiority and judgment.

I hope that you are encouraged and convicted by this reminder to take Bible reading seriously and to approach it with the right frame of mind.

How do we define success?

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Question MarkHow do we define success in ministry? How do we distinguish whether a ministry is on track? Is it even quantifiable? These are not rhetorical questions; I am hoping that you take the time to respond.

Is success in Christian ministry quantifiable?

Jesus gave us two commands and one mission. We are to love God with our entire being, love our neighbor and make disciples. These are the primary objectives but how do you measure progress toward them?

Perhaps numbers can tell part of the story, but figures like attendance and giving may not be indicative of how well we are loving and making disciples.

Activities can tell part of the story, but even the best of us does good things for the wrong reasons from time to time.

How do we measure success in ministry? I would love for you to share your thoughts in the comment section below. For those who are getting this by email, click on the link in the title of this post and you will be taken to the web site where you can leave a comment.

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