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?

 

Directing Our Look

It was in a revival meeting—you know, those extended meetings that evangelicals schedule and claim to be revivals—that I got to know the old saint of a man who was the long-time pastor of one of the smaller congregations in our association of churches. He was a small man, full of fire and energy (especially in the pulpit). I recall many things from that particular series of meetings. I recall the night that he threw a hymnal at the church music director because he was either asleep or simply not paying attention. I remember the night that he locked his keys in his car and two or three men spent the better part of two hours trying to get the car opened. It was on that particular night (toward the end of the week) that he sang—I remember because he commented on both his ability to sing and his inability to get his keys out of the car—an old song that I had almost forgotten from my childhood:

Get the new look from the old book

Get the new look from the Bible

Get the new look from the old book

Get the new look from God’s word.

The inward look

The outward look

The upward look

From the old, old book

Get the new look from the old book

Get the new look from God’s Word.

It’s inspiring still to think back on that night’s service. His encouragement was one that I try to practice each day—get a godly perspective from diving into His word daily.

Here’s what else I remember from that particular situation. The church from which this pastor came to preach our revival meeting had the reputation of being very evangelistic and highly successful at their efforts in evangelism. Knowing the man, I suspect that the great success that the church had rested mostly on the shoulders of this fiery preacher who was full of evangelistic fervor. The church itself also had a reputation of never growing.

This is the thing that happens in many of our churches today—even those who are exercising fantastic evangelistic muscles. Even though we have reports of numbers of people coming to know Jesus, these same people are not becoming part of the church. We’ve missed the point of the song altogether. We don’t want the new look from the old book, but the old look from the old way. We have neglected the outward look and the upward look. We have become highly skilled in looking inward toward ourselves.

We worry about buildings and budgets. We concern ourselves with our wants and wishes. And we’ve stopped looking [upward] to the Master for the direction we should go—which by the way is outward.

What do you think? Is the evangelical church evangelical? Or are we just happy with ourselves?

 

A Taxing Lesson

Whenever we encounter Jesus, He says so much more than we comprehend. We ask questions for which we listen for the answer. He answers our questions and so much more.

The Pharisees set up a political situation in which they asked a political question with which they hoped to catch Jesus in a trap.

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away. (Matthew 22:15-22, ESV)

Their thought was to catch the Master in a dilemma which would either estrange Him from the crowds where He had developed a massive following, or to tie Him to a controversial statement that could be used as fodder in a treason charge against Him. They had Him in a no-win situation and He turned the tables on them. His response could be taken as neither blasphemous nor treasonous. He spoke the truth in such a way that it confounded their question.

Simply they asked, “Do we have to pay taxes?” Simply, He answered, “Yes.” And this is the way that preachers (including this one) have addressed this passage time and again—as an answer to whether it is lawful for God’s people to participate in the tax system or not.

Often preachers will expand that we are to give to God our hearts as well, but we neglect to see the main point of what Christ is saying. Look again at the passage—what is His focus? If this statement of Christ is anything like many of His recorded sayings (especially in the book of Matthew), then He is centering on God and His Kingdom. On the surface, Jesus takes the object lesson of a coin and points out that Caesar’s image is etched into the coin, implying that it belongs to Caesar. With this in mind, Jesus tacitly suggests that we look at what God has burned His image into, and that we surrender that to God.

For those who need a hint, here’s what all of the Pharisees would be familiar with: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27, ESV)

The emphasis is not so much on the political message that we (and the Pharisees of Jesus’ day) see, and what made them walk away bewildered—what is much more important—is what we give over to God. And according to the Lord that should be our very selves.

 

The Course of Conversation and Branding

It’s eerie sometimes how the flow of things manages to curl in on itself. While I often enjoy surfing the ‘Net, I’m not a surfer in the true sense of the word, but I have watched many hours of Hawaii 5-O and plenty of Gidget movies. What I’ve observed about the incoming tide is that sometimes it comes so fast that it curls in on itself—then the expert daddy-o can ride the pipeline. Well today, I’ve been riding a pipeline in conversation. While I was enjoying my weekly visit with other preacher-types over a local McCoffee, we started talking about brands and brand loyalty. Then I saw this guest post over at Ken Hall’s Buckner Prez. It’s well worth your time.

I’ve been noticing over some great amount of time that branding and brand loyalty are not what they used to be.

For instance, during my seminary days I heard the story from one of our faithful church members how he had given A&P almost thirty years of his life. He’d built a career. He’d been faithful to his company. Then, just as his stability seemed to be with him, the company began selling out (this was the early 80s). He lost his job at a time when getting another would be difficult to impossible. When he thought he had been loyal to the company that would be loyal to him, he was disappointed.

I’ve watched as professional athletes went from being part of the team to developing a free-agent society, as record labels moved from being the house for an artist to picking new voices and bidding for winners, as actors signed on for a movie because of the box-office prospect instead of signing onto a studio contract for the long-haul. Businesses have begun to think only of the business and not of the employees or the people the business is supposed to serve. The new business centered around the “head hunter” has developed as a big business—finding the best and brightest and stealing them away from one company to another. Our society has become a free-agent society right in step with the sports, music, movie, and business arena.

This is not to say that branding is either good or bad, but there is a question as to whether or not there is something to be loyal to. Fifty years ago we could characterize the typical family or teenager. Then 25 years ago as I began serving churches in the capacity of Youth Minister, we were told by the experts that there was no “traditional” example of the teenager, but that the typical teenager was to rebel against typicality. The result was that all the teens looked the same without being the same: a same uniqueness or a unique sameness. Now we are told that the typical young person is one who questions anything and typically commits to no brand at all.

I wonder if the SBC will still be around in the years to come. My personal observation (as I made it this morning) is that the convention will be here 100 years from now, but will bear a strong resemblance to the churches that have plateaued or died over recent years. Partly because of the lack of brand loyalty, partly because newer generations will examine the genuineness of Christ in the practice of the people and will move to where they see more reality in the people.

I wonder also, if other “brands” of Christianity are seeing the same trends, making non-tradition the new tradition.

What do you see?

 

I’ll Sing for My Over-sized Bath Towel, Mercenary Christianity part 4

I’m all for someone making a living—even for someone making a living at his/her calling. It’s really great when that happens because you get to have fun doing what pays the bills. It helps to keep your job from becoming stale and burdensome. I think that God can be honored by those who are able to make their living while performing in their calling. And then I encounter the Christian music industry.

With the continual disclaimer that everything about a certain area of our Christian community is not the spawn of the devil, the practice and public persona of a number of Christian artists makes me wonder, “Are they sincere in what they are doing, or are they simply another expression of mercenary Christianity?”

Here’s the dichotomy as I see it (and of course all opinions are mine and do not reflect all Christians, Baptists, preachers, or even me at some times): The message that these artists sing is one that is of freedom—in living, in being, in doing. It’s the message of the gospel which is actually free for anyone. And then they charge $25.00 for the cheap seats. I’ve come to expect this kind of pricing for sporting events, and even for “cultured” offerings like the opera. But if the object is to get the message to as many people as we can, why do we make it impossible for those who need it most to get in?

Granted, I have heard of one artist who doggedly holds onto the practice of only playing for a “love offering” basis. Of course, there is a rider in the contract that this “love offering only” event must have a minimum seating capacity of 2500. If the average gift in the KFC buckets equals only one dollar per person and the venue is packed, then the result is $2500.00 before songbook, cd, tee-shirt, and poster sales. Is this really honoring to God?

When I lived in east Texas I knew of one church that offered periodic concerts where big name artists performed, without charging a dime or passing the plate. They did allow the retail tables, but the church paid the up-front cost so that anyone could attend and hear the message the artist brought.

One of the disheartening things about dealing with big name artists who claim that what they are doing is “ministry” is the foolish things attached to their contracts. Whether this is because they are represented by an agent who wants to weed out the lookers from the buyers or because they really expect these things, I do not know. Some of the things that I’ve encountered (besides outrageous pricing—which makes you look to the home-grown groups who still do the “love offering” thing even if they don’t have the talent of the big name) are the size and location of the dressing room, the amount and brand of bottled water to be stocked in said dressing room, that the host will provide certain sized bath towels for the artist to take on the stage (apparently they are heavy sweaters). Sure, we ought to provide adequate space for someone to change into their stage clothes—and the more people in the group, the more space they need. Yes, we ought to take care of their needs in the way of water and fruit, etc. But come on, can’t they bring their own towels? Especially if they have to be a certain size, color, and nap!

It all boils down to the question of the day: Is it really a ministry if it’s all about the artist and their wants?

 

A Matter of Calling, Mercenary Christianity part 1

I’m late in starting this series perhaps because it is so close to home, but here we go anyway. . . The question that spurs me on to this discussion is simple: Have Christians become too mercenary?

 

I grew up in the home of a Southern Baptist preacher. I know no other life than that of the parsonage and the pulpit. One of my favorite quips is that I started going to church nine months before I was born. Truth is, I loved it. I could not imagine life without church. I could not really imagine life without church as I know it. I’ve experienced a variety of church traditions—both old and new—and have found places of comfort in all of them, as long as they are Spirit-driven, Christ-centered, God-glorifying in nature. I will admit that this kind of background may lead to a sort of sheltered view of the church and her expressions throughout the world.

 

However, because of this background I’ve been able to witness the ins, outs, ups, and downs of pastoral life and ministerial struggle. I remember the joyful feeling when my father was called from a small-town, rural church setting, to a suburban setting that promised growth and what the world would classify as advancement. I can still feel the anguish when leaders of this very same church chopped my father off at the knees because he wasn’t “bringing in the numbers.” Certainly the lack of commitment on the part of the church had nothing to do with the lack of desire to serve on the part of the church leadership.

 

Amidst all this goodness, badness, ugliness, and indifference I began my walk with the Lord. It started with the decision of a six-year-old boy to turn his life over to Jesus. From that moment in east Texas, God began to move in my life and at the ripe old age of twelve, I realized that there was a call placed on my life to a life of ministry. The decision was not an easy one for me to make because, though I loved the church, I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to make the church my life’s work. As ought to be, the Lord’s will won out, and by the time I was thirteen I said yes once again to Christ’s call on my life.

 

Over the course of the years, I’ve realized this calling in the form of youth ministry, music ministry, education ministry, pastoral ministry, and even service on the international mission field. I have served in both what is called bi-vocational ministry (formerly known as part-time)—in which a minister relies on occupational work outside the church for the main income for his sustenance—and in full-time ministry. I will readily admit that my experience of my calling leads me to the conclusion that full-time ministry is the direction I should go. My dilemma—am I less than committed to Christ and His cause in light of the fact that I do my ministry for pay? Would I actually be more spiritual, walk more closely with the Master, if I were to move back into a classroom and volunteer all the time I spend doing ministry-related work?

 

The conclusion goes back to that word “call”. If indeed I am called to full-time ministry, then I ought to be comfortable in receiving the support I do from the church. Not only that, I ought to expect the church to provide for me support sufficient for the needs of my family. This does not excuse me from being a good steward of what the Lord provides through the church any more than I would be less of a good steward were I teaching English in a high school somewhere in Texas and serving as a layman teaching Sunday school or in some other capacity at my local church. I shouldn’t expect to be lavished with luxury because I am the pastor of a local church, but because of my calling to full-time church ministry, I do expect my support to be fully provided through my place of service. If on the other hand, I were called to bi-vocational ministry, then I should expect the Lord to meet my needs through some means other than the funds I receive from the church (and I think that each local church should provide meaningful support for the man who leads them—more on “meaningful support” later) while allowing me to find employment in such a manner as to be free to minister to the spiritual lives of that local church.

 

What are your views?

 

Satisfaction!

            One of the things I found frustrating about the book The Kingdom-Focused Church by Gene Mims was the amount of time he took introducing the material (an introduction and the first two chapters) before getting to the meat of the book. Even so, it was in this lengthy bit of building up to the real ideas in the book that he gave great food for thought—especially for pastors. Over the years I have head statistics that have placed pastoral tenure averages at anywhere from 6 months to 3 years. This is a disturbing thought (of which I don’t have the most current numbers—feel free to enlighten me if you have something newer than 2000 stats).

            With this issue in mind it isn’t surprising that regular church members are becoming less and less committed to the church. Some will be adamant about being in church, but few are concerned about the church they are in—perhaps even being “active” in three or four congregations at a time. People don’t know what they believe let alone what the church they attend teaches. They wander from congregation to congregation without regard to the doctrines and teachings of that church, that denomination, that preacher. Instead, people are looking for a place they like—where they have a “connect” and can feel good. And preachers lead the way. Why? Because of a desire to find the perfect church or the church that may not be perfect but where we can be instrumental in the change needed to make a step toward the perfection we desire.

            (Quick note: there are times that God moves in such a way as to move people from time to time, and this can even happen after only a short stay in one place, but this—to me—would seem to be the exception rather than the rule.)

            Now here’s what we find from Mims:

            [T]he only church you can change is the one you’re serving in right now. You can’t develop an effective plan for improving the church you have if you’re also hard at work on your exit strategy, pining away fro the church of your imagination, or wishing for the one you left ten years ago.

 

            He further says, “Your church isn’t the church you want; it’s the church you have.”

            Personally, I’ve always contended that for a preacher to move from being the “preacher” to being the “pastor” of a congregation, it takes at least five years. Mims argues that in order to really be the pastor of a church one must stay 7 to 10 years.

            So what does this say to us—as ministers, as church members, as followers of Christ? Be satisfied. I’ll leave you with two thoughts about being satisfied where you are. The first is an old hymn:

 

Satisfied with Jesus

B.B. McKinney

 

I am satisfied with Jesus,

He has done so much for me:

He has suffered to redeem me,

He has died to set me free.

 

 

He is with me in my trials,

Best of friends of all is He;

I can always count on Jesus,

Can He always count on me?

 

 

I can hear the voice of Jesus,

Calling out so pleadingly,

“Go and win the lost and straying;”

Is He satisfied with me?

 

 

When my work on earth is ended,

And I cross the mystic sea,

Oh, that I could hear Him saying,

“I am satisfied with thee.”

 

 

[Refrain]

I am satisfied, I am satisfied,

I am satisfied with Jesus,

But the question comes to me,

As I think of Calvary,

Is my Master satisfied with me?

 

 

            And now the more important thought about satisfaction:

 

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:12, NIV)

 

Oops! I’ve Done It Again.

¹“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ²For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” –Matthew 7:1-2

 

            In my constant struggle to be more like Christ and less like a Pharisee (read that, less like myself), I find that I have a long way to go. This morning, for instance, provided a prime example. As I walked down the street to take care of some errands (you can still walk to your errands in a town like Mulberry Grove) I saw a man standing, talking to another man in a car. Nothing untoward dawned on me until I walked by the scene and discovered that the man standing was a black man and the one in the car was white. Instantly my mind was struck with the thought drug deal.

            Now, it is not necessarily uncommon that someone might be conducting illegal activity such as a drug deal on one of our fair village’s streets, but what hit me moments later was that—although I knew neither of the men involved, I immediately judged them in a less than flattering manner. For all I know, they were just buddies having a chat because they saw each other downtown. Why, because one was a black man, should my mind immediately scream “bad news, bad news”?

            I also must admit that I’ve become a skeptic in the realm of the work of the church (and again proven to be too hasty to think little of my fellow believers). In the last two months, members of my local congregation have been coming out of the woodwork to volunteer to be a part of new or on-going ministries that are part of the life of our church. Here and I thought no one was paying attention to the sermons I was preaching. What it goes to show is that:

1. God is still able to use that which I think has been a flub.
2. People are not always as dense as I give them credit for.
3. I’m still not as far along as I’d like to believe I am.

What about you? Are you more like Jesus today than yesterday? Or are your thoughts turning to judgmental tones unbidden?

 

Consuming Conviction

Here’s a list of things that people say they are committed to:

Ø      Family

Ø      God

Ø      Country

Ø      Love

Ø      Friendship

 

Here’s another list—things that I’ve observed that people are really committed to:

Ø      Sports (you choose which one)

Ø      Sports teams

Ø      Clothes

Ø      Food

Ø      Self

Ø      Self

Ø      Self

Ø      Self

 

I see a pattern here. Do you? What makes me think that people aren’t really committed to those things that they claim to hold their commitment? Simply put it boils down to time, finances, and conversation.

When we are really committed to our families, we spend our time with our spouses, with our children. Face it, husband, does your wife know that you love her? That you’re committed to her? Does she know that you put her ahead of everyone, everything, else? Do your children see you as their protector and guide or as the legs and feet beneath the newspaper? I speak to the husbands and fathers here because that is the direction that I must approach this issue from, but the questions can easily be addressed to women readers here. Does your husband feel like you would have no other one? I know that my blushing bride likes movies starring Tommy Lee Jones (she has this thing about older men), but if there ever came a choice between the movie star and the man at home, I have nothing to fear from Tommy Lee.

When we are really committed to the things of God, our finances reflect it. When we look at our expenditures, do we bring more into God’s storehouse (that is, the church), or do we amass clothing, electronics, games, or entertainments that have nothing to do with God?

What is it that we talk about? The weather? The world series? The latest fashion?

What consumes our time, our money, our discussions? All too often, I see people (preachers in particular) wasting time talking about politics. Not just any politics, but the political side of church. We strain at gnats when horseflies are contaminating our soup. Interestingly enough, leaders and preachers in my own SBC continue to be caught up in argumentation and debate over what we believe. Since revisions and re-edits were made that changed our faith statement (Baptist Faith & Message) in 2000, the document has not been allowed to say what it’s supposed to say—things that we as Southern Baptists believe. First one side of the politicos in the convention, and then the other want to use the document as not a statement of faith but a manifesto to be endorsed and worshiped by all who would call themselves Southern Baptist. The difficulty with this is that whenever one side wants it, the other side wants to interpret what it means (and vice versa). It amounts to the same kinds of discussions as are reported about early theologians who were more interested in determining the number of angels who could dance on the head of a pin than they were in sharing the gospel.

Others are consumed with talking about American Idol, or the latest craze in fashion or politics, or the price of tea in China.

So what are we consumed with? What do we spend our time on? What do we spend our money on? What do we let dominate our conversation? Discover that and we discover what it is that holds our commitment.

 

Live It Up

Last weekend the hospital auxiliary at our small regional hospital had their annual fundraiser—a book fair. Being as books are books, and I’m rather bookish I made it a point to attend (I went 2 or 3 times). I went early (even though they charged a fee to get in the door the first night). I did this because I know how used book dealers circle around such events to snatch up anything and everything—EARLY. I figured that I’d get my money back in the savings on the books priced 65 cents to 2 dollars apiece.

What I found was like gold. I found books for fun, books for growth, music, Christmas, and children’s books. The best find (so far) was one my blushing bride picked up—Erwin R. McManus’ Uprising.

I’ve only started reading and can tell that I’ll be challenged, excited, angered, and ultimately grown as I continue reading. Thought 1 I’ve already found from just a few pages in: to live life, live life. I hate to interpret an author’s work after just a few pages, but I thought I’d share some thoughts with you that develop as I progress through this volume. As with a good sermon, the book opens with an engaging illustration lifted right from the author’s life—a whitewater rafting trip that taught him that he wanted to live.

McManus asserts that part of our make up as human beings is to want to live. He carries the picture further by reminding us that the purpose of Christ’s coming was to bring life. The assumption at the outset of the book suggests that we as believers ought to do those things that help us to live.

Becoming comfortable is not one of those things. The moment we begin to sit back without taking chances, is the moment we begin to die. The believer who does not exercise his faith might as well be dead (for all the good he does). So, as Stephen Curtis Chapman suggested to the Kingdom community some years ago: “Saddle up your horses . . . Let’s get ready to ride.”