Just a bit of Shameless self-promotion

[Here's a re-post from my other blog, just to make sure I hit all the readers out there]

I just received word from Lulu.com that my sermon collection, So, This Is Church, has been selected for listing in their new Amazon Marketplace program. What this means is that I’ll get a little more exposure for that particular title, and perhaps more sales.

For the uninformed, So, This Is Church is a collection of sermons dealing with foundational issues of the local church and her practices. Chapters deal with the Foundation of the Church itself (Christ and His gospel), worship, evangelism, fellowship, and the like. Interested? Hop on over to Amazon.com and take a gander.

Issues with the program include a price hike to accommodate Amazon’s cut and still ensure Lulu gets theirs and they can still produce the book with a tad leftover for me (the author/publisher). If you want the best price on the book, purchase it at my Lulu.com store. And have a great day.

 

COFFEEHOUSE THEOLOGY – Ed Cyzewski

©2008 NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO

Theology. Here’s a word that scares most Americans, even those who are generally a part of an established church. After all, we believe that only the clergy and the deep thinkers are truly theologians. But break the word down to its bits and what do you have? The study of God. Who is it that studies God? Simplistically, I would answer everyone. Even those who make it a point to point out that they believe that there is no God have spent time studying to decide that they do not believe in God.

Those of us who have been to institutes of higher learning with the express purpose of studying God have become theological snobs of a sort with the end goal of convincing others that our ideas about God are the right ideas about God, and theirs are not unless they agree with ours. Ed Cyzewski has taken a few pages to try to break through these barriers—both the fear of addressing theology, and the prejudicial version that most people like me practice—and find the relevance of theology in the everyday life of a postmodern world.

Before dismissing the book altogether because Cyzewski gives a level of legitimacy to postmodernism (which would turn hundreds of conservative evangelicals off before breaking open the book at all), set aside your semantic prejudices and take a moment to do what the author suggests: reflect on God.

Cyzewski addresses how postmodern thinkers think about God because, he argues, we are living in a postmodern world. We have moved beyond the modern age which taught us to try to find the definitive answer to all questions by using logic and the scientific method and into the postmodern era (dated at 1970 and beyond) which suggests that you must attack any question from a variety of angles. The ultimate in postmodern thought leads us to the sad conclusion that there is no real truth. The Christian response keeps the ultimate truth of Salvation through Christ in focus while remembering that we as humans cannot assuredly claim to understand all that there is to know about Christ.

In addressing the tricky task of theology, the author suggests that we all approach our own theology within the context where we live—so Americans see God through the eyes of the American culture, Latin Americans see Him through the eyes of their culture, and so on. In order to accomplish our task of knowing God better and making Him known to the world in which we live, we must first understand our own culture. Then we can at least begin to see the strong points and shortfallings brought to the table in our culture.

According to Cyzewski we must consult three theological perspectives in order to arrive at the answers to theological questions that crop up in everyday life. The place to begin as we reflect on God is the Scripture. This is the foundation and the best witness to who God is and how He works in the world. Any other sources that we use to build our theology should be measured by Scripture. Again we should remember that we read the Bible through glasses that are tinted by our culture and should strive to overcome the limitations that our personal preferences build in to the conversation that we have with the Bible as we read.

The other “experts” that we should include as we approach theology are church tradition and the global community of Christians. Church tradition can guide us by keeping us on a stable path, as long as the tradition is not a contradiction to the Bible itself. Consulting with Christian thinkers from other parts of the world from our own will open our eyes to perspectives that we cannot see through our cultural biases.

Coffeehouse Theology at times gets a little heavy as you read, especially in the passages dealing with history and philosophy that brought us to the postmodern age in which we live. Even so, it is a readable volume that basically suggests that in order to be the best theologian (reflector on God) we can be we should expand our horizons and let our theology grow. I would have to agree with that assessment and give this book four out of five reading glasses. Pick up a copy today and discuss it over a cup at your local coffeehouse.

—Benjamin Potter, February 19, 2009

 

Book Giveaway!

Recently I found in my mailbox a copy of Planting Churches in the Real World by Joel Rainey. I already have a copy, and have reviewed it here. Head on over and checkout the review, then post a comment in the comment section on this post answering the following question –

I once taught English at the high school from which a famous drummer graduated. Name the drummer and his band. (They soared in the 70s.)

The first one to answer correctly will win a copy of the book.

Church Planting in the Real World is an excellent resource for pastors and church planters, by the way.

 

Essential Reading for the Essential Church

I’ve reviewed the book Essential Church? by Thom S. Rainer and Sam Rainer III.

The book is not without its disappointments, but you will find some excellent advice to help you build your young adult membership by reaching the dechurched, as well as

Essential Church?

the unchurched, and keeping those who never left the church.

Read the review here. (P.S. There’s also an opportunity to get a copy at the review sight.)

 

Inadequate Answers

Three months ago, I received a proof copy of Thom and Sam Rainer’s new book Essential Church? So I’m finally getting a gander at the pages between the covers. I’m hoping to find some usable material as I try to develop the heart and mind of a mid-Western congregation. One of the questions that keeps coming back to me whenever I read books like this is: What is the most important part of Christian Discipleship? The answer, quite frankly doesn’t re-echo with church attendance.

Before you lambast me with a good amount of proof-texting, I am aware that Christ intended for the church to gather—and I believe that the local congregation for the most part is the expression of that gathering that is intended. At the same time, I get a little curious as to whether Christ intends for us to be more consistent with our church attendance or with our Christ-like demeanor.

And now to the purpose of this entry: one of the biggest hurdles to overcome when reaching a new generation who doesn’t seem to have the brand-name embroidered on its lapel is what I would call inadequate answers. You know about those inadequate answers—they’ve been around as long as people have been asking questions. What makes the answers inadequate is that, though they make complete sense in the mind of the one giving them, they lack foundational trustworthiness in the heart of the hearer.

“Why do I have to clean my room?” is answered with “Because I’m the mother and I said so!”

“Why do we have to learn this?” finds a retort from the exasperated teacher, “because it’s part of the curriculum.”

One of the most difficult for me to swallow was one that I encountered over my extended years of singularity. People would constantly inform me that I would know when the right woman came along. I would badger them with the constant refrain of the single person, “How will I know?” The most inadequate response always returned, “You just know.” Today when I’m approached by a single friend who would like to get married and have a family (it’s the same with men and women alike), and they ask the age-old question of how they might be able to discern whether Mr./Miss Right Now is Mr./Miss Right or not, I know that they are searching for the answer as to whether or not marriage is even a possibility for them or not. I feel the creeping fingers of inadequacy wrap themselves around my throat as the words escape my lips, “You just know!”

So how does this relate to the church and keeping our younger generation from bolting at the first sign of an open door? It has to do with inadequate answers. I am convinced that we as the church are guilty of only halfway fulfilling the Great Commission. I know that it is evident in my own denomination. Check out the (ESV) statement of the Commission from the book of Matthew:

¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

As we go, we haven’t any problem making new disciples, nor do we really have any difficulty running them through the baptismal pool, but we are the worst lot at teaching. Consequently, the younger generation, while they have been led to Christ, and have accepted him as their savior, following up with “Believer’s Baptism” we have neglected to teach them how to grow. This means that when they ask, “Why should I make church an active part of my life?” we only come back with a weak, “Because you ought to,” or “It’s good for you.” Inadequate answers.

Until our children start seeing that church involvement (and following Christ for that matter) is more than just religious activity in our lives, until they notice that there is a difference for us, we will continue to say to them, “We miss you at church, won’t you come back?” And until we teach with our words and our actions that Christ following is more than just church and that church is more than just an event to pass uncommitted time, they will continue to find other avenues to occupy their energy.

What do you think?

 

More from Your Friends at Missional Press

Missional Press is branching out. Read the announcement here.

 

Research Review Is Ready

I’ve finished my reading of Kinnaman’s unChristian and posted my review. I still have a couple of things that I’m working through that I will post here at a later date.

 

Tim Challies Is at It Again

At Challies.com Tim Challies has another giveaway. This one is called the “April Giveaway” (click for prize details) although it waited until the last day of April to show up. You can register for the drawing by clicking the banner below or the button in the side bar.

Blessings and have fun.

 

My Sin’s Better than Your Sin

In my time in college I was privileged to take my first course in Biblical Ethics. As part of that course I had the opportunity to write a term paper on a topic chosen from a list. Because of personal prejudices that I was discovering in my own life, I chose the topic of homosexuality. I re-read my assessment this morning, and found it stepping forward from where I was when I started my higher education, but miles from where I need to be in terms of Christlikeness. I believe that this is one of the reasons that this particular issue is so telling in America’s version of the church community today.

I found it somewhat surprising, not entirely unexpected, yet still disturbing that David Kinnaman’s research zeroed in on “antihomosexual” as one of the gripes that outsiders have against American Christians today. Surely, this professional researcher did not ask a question like, “How do you see Christians responding to homosexuals?” I have to believe that the rising to the top of our attitudes toward the homosexual community was information that was volunteered rather than elicited specifically. At the same time, the on-going war (it isn’t simply a battle) waging between these two communities is causing younger generations to choose sides and take up banners.

On one hand, if a young person decides to claim his Christianity, the homosexual community labels him as a narrow-minded gay-bashing homophobe. However, if he decides to keep his Christian badge in his pocket so that he can remain loyal to his friends who are either openly gay or struggling with a gay identity, his friends from church will ostracize him as a gay-lover and sin-accepting liberal. All the while this young man is in love with Jesus and wanting to share Christ’s love with those around him—gay and straight alike. It is significant, I believe, that the chapter dealing with our antihomosexual perception is headed by a quotation from “Peter” a 34-year-old gay man, “It’s very much an ‘us-versus-them’ mentality, as if a war has been declared. Of course each side thinks the other fired the opening shot.” (see page 91)

In the Christian community (especially among evangelicals) we have a tendency to respond to all those who won’t be part of the church because “they are hypocrites” as latching onto a cop-out which makes it easy to avoid church attendance. I think that often we have earned the label, even if many who use that excuse are looking for a ready answer whenever we jump at them with evangelistic fervor. In the same way, we try to cover our own misshapen righteousness in the realm of homosexuality or any other activity that is opposed to what we learn in the Bible with “hate the sin; love the sinner.” I know that I have even tried to be-salve my own spiritual wounds with those very words.

The problem isn’t really in the non-acceptance of homosexuals because they live a lifestyle marked by sin. (My study of Scripture indicates that it is.) No, the problem has to do with delineating sin in the first place. Another thing that is loud and clear from the Scripture (but often ignored when we start naming the sins of others) is that we are to be concerned about our own relationship with a Living, Loving, Holy, Righteous, and Just God rather than others’ failure to have that relationship.

When I take a sin—any sin—that I have either overcome (with Christ’s help) or have never really had a struggle with, and point it out in another person’s life, all the while ignoring the fact that I have a completely different sin which I like to enjoy without doing anything about it, I stack sin on top of sin in my own life. Think of it this way, if I do not struggle with the sin of homosexuality, but want to point out that the one who practices it is living in sin, I am adding to the sin of, say, lying that I just can’t stop. Am I any less a sinner by expecting people to accept me even though I am a pathological liar than is the person who wants me to accept them even though they struggle with any other sin?

Among the Christian community, it has become unacceptable to love the homosexual, but we have tacitly sat by and engorged ourselves in overeating without concern. Is it a better witness for me to carry three hundred extra pounds than it is for me to carry on in any kind of sexual encounter other than with my life? The biblical grounds would suggest no, but the practice of the Christian community has screamed yes by not only accepting, but at times encouraging obesity as the norm among our leaders.

What I have concluded (am concluding?) is that as a Christ follower I have certain responsibilities:

1. Be more Christlike daily.
2. Worship God with my life and my lifestyle.
3. Be a witness for Christ among the people who I encounter.

Any and all of these responsibilities preclude my taking any time to point out the sin in the lives of others. As a matter of fact, if I concentrate on doing just those three things, I won’t have time to police the lives of others for whatever sin may be their struggle. What should be happening is that God begins to speak to the sins of others through my Christlikeness rather than my negative words. And when I do open my mouth to share the truth of Christ, I focus on how good He is rather than how bad my friend is.

Shall we turn people away from the gates of the Kingdom because they make us uncomfortable, or shall we let God love them through us? It’s not my job to change someone else’s life. Jesus can make all the changes He desires—and it’s my job to let Him do it for me.

 

Reading Research

I’m a couple of chapters into David Kinnaman’s research report entitled unChristian. The author promises that people of the church culture won’t like what they read, and I’m sure that the warning will be realized as I work through the book. (For the interested, I’ll be reviewing the book in a couple of weeks after I’ve finished the whole book. Right now, I just want to make a few “gut reaction” observations as I read.) I thought I’d let you watch as I work through the material from time to time. Plus, I’ll get my thoughts down and see how true they ring when I’ve completed my reading.

First of all, two reasons I’m reading the book: (1) I was able to get a copy of the book without any out of pocket expense (I got a free copy). So, I might as well read the thing. (2) And probably more importantly, several respected colleagues have recommended reading this book. It seems to actually be a work of catalyst that will drive the church to the action required for her to re-become the church that Christ intended. I’m always up for trying to find useful information (whether I like it or not).

On the surface this book bears some resemblance to the growing mound of Christian-bashing books that has developed since the turn of the century. At the same time, this book is written by a Christian researcher who is just as floored by what the statistics are telling him as the reader will be. It is a loving nudge—maybe even more of a push—to the church to return to her calling. Leaders listen up.

In chapter 2, Kinnaman reports 6 thematic areas of concern that color the perceptions that people outside the church culture (Kinnaman uses the term “outsiders” as his descriptor of this group, a less invasive term than what Christians habitually use and still a tough term to settle on—such is the problem when looking for a single term to describe a group for the sake of written communication. Keep this in mind when deciding to adopt a term for wholesale use, much like we love the terminology “pagan”, “lost”, or “heathen”) as they decide how they feel about Christians and Christianity. The portrait painted is not pretty. One other quick note: Kinnaman will address each of these themes in a chapter I haven’t read yet, so what you’re getting here is my initial thoughts that may change or be shored up as I get into the research. Outsiders in the 16 to 29 age groupings perceive Christianity with the following characteristics:

1. Hypocritical. Saying one thing and doing another. As hard as it is to admit it, this is probably an earned perception. So many of the louder voices of the Christian community come across as holier-than-everyone else, morally superior, and without flaw when the reality is we can be just as rotten on the inside as the next guy (often more so).
2. Too focused on getting converts. The way conservative Christians have developed kamikaze-style witnessing tools, I can’t say that I blame those outside the church for this perception either. So many preachers have encouraged their people to see every conversation as an opportunity to “win somebody to Jesus” that we don’t have time to develop the relationships necessary to make the witness we throw out so freely valid. Yes, I believe that we must share our faith, but sometimes I think that we come across as simply looking for the next notch on our Bible or tally mark on the baptismal pool.
3. Anti-homosexual. If I take issue with any of the perceptions, this would be it. Mainly because my own perception is one that finds the homosexual community one as a community that doing the same kinds of things the world perceives in the church—pushing itself upon those who are not part of it. At the same time, the more vocal portion of our number make it hard to avoid this perception, because our reaction to those who practice what we see as other than biblically appropriate with a less than loving response.
4. Sheltered. We are seen as cloistering ourselves away and not looking at the world with a realistic viewpoint (putting our observational heads in the sand, or simply ignoring what we don’t like). To this perception, my response from the church side of the fence is “homeschooling, Christian publishing, Christian music, Christian radio” (see the on-going series on Mercenary Christianity). Are they so wrong about us?
5. Too political. I’d have to agree here. Not only in the arena of politics, but also within the church community as well. My own denomination looks more like a political entity than a theological/doctrinal body every year.
6. Judgmental. One word—Pharisees. Like our first century counterparts, we have a tendency to make snap decisions about someone and hold them to a standard that even we can’t keep.

What about you? Do you think that we are earning these perceptions or are young people just missing the boat when they look at Christians and Christianity?

I’m interested in seeing how the explanatory chapters deal with each of these issues. Stay tuned.