We’re all in this together

Posted on June 7, 2013 Written by Meagan McIntyre 8 Comments

This is a guest post by my daughter Meagan McIntyre. If you would like to be a guest blogger for Attempts at Honesty, please check out our guest post guidelines.

Life is quite an adventure. On Memorial Day I experienced one of the biggest adventures in my life during a trip through a ropes course, and not long ago Mark (who also happens to be my father) wrote a blog post, On the Ropes…Intentionally, about this family adventure. Our trek through the tops of the trees is a perfect metaphor for life: life is a risky, sometimes painful adventure, and Christians have the joy of knowing that God will be with us through the entire process.

The ropes course also taught me a valuable lesson about the church, a group of people who have made the risky choice to follow Christ; we take the risk to commit to Christ and then journey together and encourage each other along the way.

In much the same way, those of us on the ropes course had made the risky choice to climb the ladder. Whether we liked it or not, we had to work together to finish the course. Thinking back, I am positive that I could not have made it to the end without those around me. The constant encouragement, correction and love from my family and friends made the terrifying ropes course a fun, and funny, adventure.

Sometimes it is easy to think of the Christian life as a solo trek that eventually brings us to heaven, yet thankfully God knows we need community. Just as I needed those around me on the ropes course, I do not think it is either possible or healthy to journey alone as a Christian.

This reminds me of the words of the author of Hebrews: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10: 23-25)

Praise God for the church community which helps us through this risky adventure of life.

We Don’t Need Apologetics, We Just Need to ‘Experience’ Jesus

Posted on November 30, 2012 Written by Greg West 12 Comments

This is a guest post by Greg West, the curator of a helpful apologetics web site called The Poached Egg.

“We don’t need apologetics, we just need to ‘experience’ Jesus!” Unfortunately, this is something I hear from fellow believers quite often and it never fails to set off the warning sirens in my head; not because I think that ‘experiencing’ Jesus is bad—in fact, I think it’s a good thing, but if you’re basing your faith on experience alone to the exclusion of reason and knowledge, then you’re building your house not on solid rock, but on sand—and when the rains come down, the streams rise, and the winds blow and beat against your house it will fall with a mighty crash (Matthew 7:24-27).

We need to stop teaching people to ‘experience’ Jesus and teach them to know Jesus. Let me explain what I mean: In his post titled, High School Students and Apologetics, teacher Dan Gehrke said,

“I’ve observed that kids have changed over the last seven years since I last taught apologetics. All of the evidential facts that I used to put in front of them to give evidence to the reliability of Scripture and the resurrection was exciting! The notion that they didn’t have to throw their brains away to be Christians was life-altering for many of them.”

While this was still true for some this year, I discovered that “facts” and evidence seem to be met with more and more apathy.

So one day I asked, “Would you rather have me make an air-tight case for Jesus, or would you rather ‘experience’ Him – even if I can’t define what that means?” They almost all chose the second. Interesting.”

Why is this so alarming? Because apologetics involves discerning between what is true and what is false. Emergent church leader John Crowder said in this post, “I honestly believe that the age of apologetics is over, and the age of activation has come. Experience is more important than explanation.” If you read the quote in the full context, I think what you’ll find that Mr. Crowder doesn’t want to have to defend his beliefs, because outside of his personal experience, on which his abhorrent theology is based, I seriously doubt that he can—and if you, members of your congregation, or especially if your kids can’t either, then if they happen to remain in church at all, their theology might end up being as bad as Mr. Crowder’s—or worse (if that’s even possible).

Apologetics has several useful and necessary applications including evangelism, defending against attacks on Christianity in the public square, discerning false doctrine, and edifying believers. Examples of each of these can be found in scripture. If we deny the need for apologetics then we are denying what scripture actually teaches and are simply inventing our own gospel—much like John Crowder’s pathetic parody of the gospel, which is becoming all too common these days–just as Paul said it would in his second letter to Timothy:

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4

I’m not just simply passing on what I’ve learned from observation but also what I’ve lived out in my own life. I was raised in a good church and as a young teenager I was an enthusiastic believer. I had experienced Jesus. I experienced him during worship, I experienced him when testifying in front of the congregation. When I preached my first sermon at age 16 it was because I had experienced Jesus. When I was filling out my application for Bible College it was because I had experienced Jesus—but by the time I was in my early twenties I was no longer experiencing Jesus, I was experiencing doubt—and before I’d turned twenty-five I identified myself as an agnostic.

My agnosticism continued for nearly ten years before I eventually discovered that Christianity is not a ‘blind faith’ that requires belief without evidence. I came back to the fold but most do not. By my best estimation, out of the many adults that I knew as kids growing up in church, only about 40% of the ones that I know of still identify themselves as Christians. That’s about 10% better than today’s average.

Do we want ourselves and others to be those who believe that, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10), or will we let ourselves and others become those, who like John Crowder, claim to be wise but are instead fools (Romans 1:22)?

Do I want to ‘experience’ Jesus? Absolutely I do. But even more so, I want to know him—and I want others to know him too.

Context, back-story and knowing God

Posted on November 19, 2012 Written by Mitchell Hailstone Leave a Comment

This is a guest post by Mitchell Hailstone, a student at King’s College in New York City:

“I heard once that they’d rather hear about memories than enemies. Rather hear about what was or what will be, rather than what is. Rather hear how you got it or how much it cost you. Rather hear about finding yourself or how you lost you. Rather make this an open letter about family and struggle and it taking forever, about hearts that you’ve broken and ties that you’ve severed. No doubt in my mind, that’ll make them feel better.”

This is a quote from Aubrey Graham, a popular rap artist who goes by the acronym Drake (Do Right and Kill Everything). His poetry might be an odd way to start a piece about taking on God’s perspective, but it might also be perfect. In this monologue located at the end of his popular track “Headlines” from the album Take Care, Drake reveals his strategy when writing compelling pieces: give listeners the whole perspective. You don’t merely tell someone what you’re feeling; you also tell them why you’re feeling it and the back-story leading you to your present situation.

His technique is a fundamental aspect of effective storytelling. In order to understand the present situation, a backdrop of narrative needs to be given. Only then will the listener fully appreciate and revel in the current circumstance with Drake. Why does Drake do this? He’s allowing his audience to get to know him. He’s opening up. He’s sharing his story, his emotions, his thoughts, his struggles with his listeners. He’s building a relationship with his fans. Of course, Drake isn’t breaking a lot of ground here, but he goes further than most in terms of the amount of reality he conveys in his songs. His songs are gritty, honest, dramatic, brooding, haughty, depressing, uplifting, and emotional. The bluntness and depth of his songs penetrates the listeners’ imagination. They gain a desire to know Drake more, and be a part of the narrative that he lays out.

In some sense, we use the same technique when we build friendships. This is what people do with their spouses, family, coworkers, and roommates. We get to know the other person’s narrative. We piece together the story of their life so that we can better understand the deeper meaning of their present circumstance. Your friend’s background and your friend’s future dreams inform your view of his/her present life. When your friend finally gets that job in NASA that you’ve watched him toil over, you rejoice more. You saw and felt his struggle, so you almost feel the same excitement he does in his success. Knowing his full narrative, the past and the desire for the future, allowed you to understand the meaning of the present.

Just like it is impossible to appropriately understand your friend’s current circumstance without context, it is also impossible to look at your own life without the appropriate context. Christians have anxiety and worry about their current circumstance. They look at the scope of their life and become confused. This anxiety could be found in something as little as your reaction to someone treating you poorly, or something as large as a job not working out. It could be a severed relationship, or a bad grade. In Psalm 37, God reveals that “the steps of a man are established by the Lord.” For God knows and understands the full context of each man’s scenarios. He says to Job in chapter 37: “Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge?” (explain what God is doing by asking this question) We know that God is outside of time and has all the hairs of your head numbered (Matthew 10:30). After all, the sovereign Creator must know his creation. He’s existed before the world began and thus knows our context more than any friend.

But, life with God doesn’t end with Him knowing us. God wants us to know Him as well. We are to take on the perspective of the Lord. God tells us in Ezekiel 36 that he gives us a new heart and a new spirit. These allow us, with the Word as a guide, to take on that all-knowing perspective of God. In this way, believers and those who put their trust in God are equipped to understand their life circumstance and the current situations around them in the proper perspective. This is what we call wisdom – knowing and acting according the big picture or the proper perspective. This is fundamental and imperative to the Christian life because it functions as liberation from the entrapments of the world’s ways. His rules and teachings are the proper way of living, and thus give the most life, joy, and freedom. Present circumstance suddenly loses its prominence. We know that each of us sins and destroys God’s plan. We know that throughout history, man has rebelled against God’s ways and created destruction. At the same time, God is active in redeeming the consequences of our sin. He also promises and gives us a dream of a future day in which we will be restored to our initial glory. Therefore, we are not presently surprised by others sin or our own. We know that despite the bad things happening to us, God invites us to a perfect future with him after this life. We will know that his promises are good and always fulfilled!

Imagine what would happen if everyone lived with God’s perspective as the informer of their present. Each person would be loved and taken care of. Love and acceptance would prevail over hate and fear. Anxiety would not exist, for we would take to heart God’s promises. Churches wouldn’t fall to pride and faction. Politicians would perform their duties for the benefit of society and not themselves. Businesses would be run honestly and efficiently. There are countless possibilities for restoration.. Alas, it is not possible as long as our rebellion lasts.

Like Drake, knowing the context and background of God’s character and relationships with the world is a pretty potent and engaging story. It is filled with honesty, grittiness, drama, haughtiness, conflict, and resolution. But unlike Drake, this is the God of the universe. His story and perspective will unlock truth, and has the possibility of changing the world. Tell the story, and surely people will listen.

3 Common Discipleship Mistakes All-Too-Easy to Make

Posted on July 20, 2012 Written by Jeremy Postal Leave a Comment

This is a guest post by Jeremy Postal. See the biographical section below for more information about Jeremy and his ministry.

The idea of discipleship is a strange one.

If there is one thing we can all agree on it is probably that “change is constant and it’s impacts us all.” Traffic patterns change, Facebook privacy policies change, the climate is changing, relationships change, jobs change, and no matter where we look change is always before us.

Interesting, though, rarely do we see change in ourselves or – for that matter – do we even want to change. We’re who we are and usually a little stubborn about it; I’m just trying to be me and you’re just trying to be you.

This is what makes discipleship a strange thing; most Christians recognize others’ need to be discipled and we point them to books, resources, and processes by which others can become better followers of Jesus. It actually feels really good to disciple other people; it just doesn’t feel so good to actually be a disciple ourselves.

Being a disciple requires change and it draws out tension in our lives, it fights against our stubbornness and it confronts the deepest parts of who we are. To be a disciple means we live in the struggle of loving and obeying God the Father while working out how to live well within the mess of our lives.

Change is hard. It’s hard to be a disciple, but there are ways to make it doable. Notice I don’t say easier – just doable.

MISTAKE #1: Lack of Process

It is easy to create discipleship process and programing for other people but much harder to build and commit to one for yourself. Make a plan for your discipleship and begin to walk it out. Ask:

Who is involved in my discipleship?
What does a discipleship community look like in my setting?
What areas of my life are most resistant to following Jesus?
What resources can serve in my discipleship?
What is the most intentional thing I/we can do to follow Jesus well?
How will I know when discipleship has slowed? What are the warning signs?
Is my process cyclical, does it have a rhythm, or is it linear with clear steps?

MISTAKE #2: Unbalanced Discipleship

Within discipleship circles it is easy to put all of our focus on one aspect of discipleship, damaging other vital areas of discipleship. For example, focusing on a vibrant inner prayer life while neglecting justice, mercy, and walking humbly with our God is an unhealthy, unhelpful, and incomplete life of discipleship. True, there will be seasons where more focus is given to certain areas but the heart of discipleship is to become more and more like Jesus. This is why discipleship is best practiced in community; a community has the resources to follow Jesus much better than any one individual Christian can.

MISTAKE #3: Discipleship Without Mission

The final mistake often made in discipleship processes is to forget about mission. Conversely, within much of the conversation of mission and missional church, the hard realities of discipleship have also been left out. The truth is that mission and discipleship are one-in-the-same, have been originated and initiated by God in our lives, and compliment each other as we work them out. As we are being discipled we are pushed into mission and as we are in mission we are conformed to the mind and heart of Christ. When we loose sight of this, we’ve lost sight of the whole thing.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” –Matthew 28:18-20