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Showing posts with label evangelicalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label evangelicalism. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Shallow CliffsNotes Christianity


As I survey the contemporary evangelical church today in the west I would often characterize it as shallow, lacking in substance, Christianity light and easy grace. In some cases, there is not much difference between a self help seminar (think Tony Robins) and what is shared in the name of God’s word from the pulpit – as if the Scriptures are primarily a self help manual that if followed will bring us prosperity and health. Certainly it should not get too personal or interfere with our lives.


Some will think this too critical and I don’t desire to be an angry modern day prophet who throws stones. And, I am sure based on past history that I will lose some Twitter followers over this blog. That being said, here are some of the things we don’t see among many western evangelicals that lead me to my conclusion.


One: suffering seems to be a lost subject and we are surprised when it surfaces in our lives. When it does it often causes Western believers to question the goodness of God and leads many to bitterness and doubt. Yet, Jesus made it abundantly clear that the way of the cross is the way of suffering. What does it mean when He says, “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23).” A cross is, by definition the metaphor for suffering and Jesus says it is a daily occurrence for those who follow Him. The Apostle Paul talked with emotion about sharing in the fellowship of His sufferings.

Two: Western believers as a group are, (how do I say it?), stingy with God. The average evangelical gives something like two percent of their income back to Him. Now, in case you think I have gone legalistic here, bear with me a moment. It is not about legalism but about value. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16).

I believe that we have so cheaply sold what God did on our behalf, even though He gave His only son – to become sin for us so that we could know Him who knew no sin – and be justified through His righteousness and death on our behalf that our gratitude is shallow and our response is cheap. Second Corinthians 8 and 9 speak of giving as a direct response to His grace. If that is so our giving does not reflect much value toward His amazing grace but is often pocket change tossed into His hat on occasion. We simply don’t value His gift to us very much as evidenced by our response.


Three: American evangelicalism has very little to say about sin. OK, I don’t like the subject much either but Scripture has a lot to say about it in relation to a Holy God. The Scriptures talk about sin on 1365 occasions. But mostly this gets lost in the CliffsNotes version of Evangelicalism. After all you have to cut somewhere and this is most convenient place to do it.


Except, that without an understanding of my depravity I cannot understand God’s grace. Why did the woman in John 12:3 use all of her saving to pour pure nard on the feet of Jesus and then wipe them clean with her hair? She understood her sin and therefore the amazing grace that Jesus had blessed her with. Her desire to follow was directly connected with the grace she had been given and her acute awareness of her fallen condition. A sinless Christianity is a cheap parody of the true human condition – even those who know and follow Jesus. Paul described himself as the chief of sinners and that was toward the end of his life. It is what drove him to live in God’s grace on a daily basis.


Four: We are far more consumed with our, lives, careers, pleasures and interests than we are with joining God in His work in our world. Some of the blame here can be laid at the door of the church that has defined ministry as what happens inside its four walls with its programs. Thus, I minister when I bow to the church’s agenda and fill needed spots in their programs. But what ever happened to ministry being with the people I work with and live with or who hang out at the local tavern? Where was Jesus found most of the time?


That being said, in general, we are so consumed with our agendas that we lose sight of God’s agenda – which requires that we read His book, another lost art (I am heartened by the Eat This Book challenge that has thousands of believers reading through the Bible this year). When our life agenda takes precedence over God’s agenda we have reimaged God after our own image.


Five: American Evangelicals don’t truly believe that lost people are lost for eternity apart from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We are more likely to share our latest weight loss plan than we are Jesus. Losing weight has its place, and I am vigorously pursuing that, but the Gospel is good news for time and eternity. If we do believe that lost people are truly lost apart from Jesus, we assume that it is the church’s responsibility to share the news not us.


When I tell my wife I love her but don’t demonstrate that love she knows my words are shallow and lack sincerity. When we tell God we love Him but don’t walk the walk of our talk we are guilty of shallow Christianity. What do you think when you consider the Western version of evangelicalism? There are wonderful exceptions of course but I fear that our version of Christianity is often far more cultural than it is Biblical.


Having written this, I am of course obliged to consider each of these five areas in light of my own life and practice: irritating but instructive. Come to think of it, maybe I’ll unsubscribe me from Twitter as well. I don’t like being uncomfortable any more than others.


Thursday, May 3, 2012

Bride over Brand


This week I had a remarkable set of meetings with 20 movement leaders in Africa. All of them represented different denominations and countries and all of them were together for a week to discuss how they could work synergistically together to send missionaries, see church planters trained and to reach those parts of Africa where the gospel has not penetrated.

What is remarkable is that they were placing the Bride (the church of Jesus) over their particular brand (denomination). 

Bride over Brand is a mindset that should pervade all of our efforts to spread the Gospel. This does not mean that we must give up the distinctives of our brand. It does mean that we are willing to actively cooperate with others for a higher goal of seeing the Bride expand, knowing that our brand is one small expression of the Bride that Jesus died for.

This takes a mindset that "we will cooperate rather than compete." It is a humble posture that knows that no one of us can do this by ourselves and that we have a lot to learn from others. It is a kingdom rather than a provincial mindset that places the Bride in its proper perspective. It is a Jesus mindset above all that values what He values - that all men might come to believe. 

I long for the day when this kind of mindset prevails across Christianity. When it does, we will see the Gospel spread in ways that we cannot imagine. Until it does, we will continue to do our own thing, not realizing that we are better together than separate. 

What is your mindset? What are you doing about it?


Thursday, April 26, 2012

Are you an evangelical functional deist?

This blog is likely to make some uncomfortable. My observation is that many who call themselves followers of Jesus, at least in the west, are functional deists - they don't believe in their heart of hearts that Jesus breaks into our lives or our situations personally to do the unexpected, the miraculous or speak to us personally. It is as if there is a God in heaven who does not break in and work in our lives personally.

Thomas Jefferson was one of the most famous diests among the founding fathers. He actually modified his Bible by taking out all references to the miraculous. His god was a small god who set the world in motion and let it move along according to the natural laws of nature and no natural law of nature had room for the miraculous. We would never modify our Bibles but do we harbor doubts in our mind just as Jefferson that our God does not do the unexpected and miraculous today?

Well, God is a God of surprises who loves to challenge our thinking. Here is a great example from a member of ReachGlobal's staff in Africa - in his words

"The day was fresh.  New.  My heart was still and waiting.  As I sat quietly on the upper floor balcony of my house overlooking the hills of the city, I just praised the Lord for this new day.  I spent some time reading and listening . . . and then began a time of rested listening prayer.  I enjoy these kinds of times many mornings where I just want to SOAK with Jesus.  Just rest in His presence and not have to accomplish anything.  I want to hear His voice.  I often ask for that one simple thing:  “Jesus, I just want to hear Your voice.  Speak to me.  Tell me what you want me to do.” 

"As I sat there in my wicker rattan chair, legs crossed and arms folded, I heard something that surprised me.   I just heard these simple words:  “Go to the hospital and pray for Clarice.  Ask me for her complete recovery.  Try me and I will do it.”  Our dear national friends who are part of our church family had just been married in the last two years and had been expecting TWINS!  At the birth of the children, Clarice suffered a massive stroke.  A young Cameroonian mother . . . having just birthed a beautiful boy and a beautiful girl . . . experiencing a life-altering, life-threatening, life-scrambling STROKE.  Our hearts just ached.  We felt sorrow and we wondered what God would do.

"Now, here I am sitting on my balcony and God simply says in a quiet, clear voice:  “Go and pray.  Ask me.  Try me and I will do it.”  My eyebrows went up.  I shook my head.  I literally said OUTLOUD, “You’ve got to be KIDDING!?!”  And then I prayed:  “Lord, that was YOU, wasn’t it?”  I knew it was.  It was a direct answer to my prayer:  “Jesus, I want to hear Your Voice.  Speak to me.  I will do what you want me to do.”  And I remembered the prayer months earlier that my teammate, Arthur Ellison, had prayed over me in one of our team meetings, that I would pray for people’s physical healing as God might prompt me.

"Well, after wrestling with this for three days and then repenting from a lack of faith and wondering if God was really serious, I decided to take HIM seriously.  My wife and I and our national pastor and his wife got in the car and did exactly what God asked me to do.  As I stood over her bed, wearing a mask and gown—one visitor allowed at a time . . . I simply told Clarice what I felt God had asked me to do and prayed over her and anointed her with oil.  She received . . . eyes bulged open, not herself in the slightest.  She worked to speak at all . . . and said . . . “Thank . . . . . you.” 

"My wife went in, my pastor went in, then our pastor’s wife spent a few minutes with her—only to tell us on the way home from the hospital that night this unbelievable report:  “Clarice told me that she had a vision just three days ago, that God came and told her that YOU needed to come and pray over her for healing.  She has been waiting here three days knowing that you would come.  And . . . that God would heal her.” 

"I could hardly believe what I was hearing.  The same day He spoke to me, He spoke to her.  What a confirmation that God is clearly, actively wanting to do extraordinary things IN and THROUGH US!  We need to expect!!  WE need to yearn and hunger for His miraculous and simple voice to show up each day.  Then, we need to just yield and do as He asks. 

"Clarice was told she’d never walk.  She would most likely never speak and may be bed-ridden the rest of her life.  Well, all praise to God—she not only walks, she runs.  She not only speaks.  She speaks French and English and her mother tongue as well!  She sings.  She smiles.  She testifies and evangelizes.  She shares with everyone what God has done for her!  She is a happy and proud mother of two beautiful kids.  Her husband Claude never doubted for a moment that God would bring his wife back to her original self.  And . . . by God’s great grace, He has done JUST THAT!

Humbled and honored,  Jeff Brown"

As one who has experienced the miraculous myself, I am no functional deist. Not only do I believe in the power of God to break in but I would not be alive today if He had not.

Invite Him into your situation, or the situation of someone who needs it. He may surprise you.


Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Where are our Christian Statesmen and Stateswomen today?

With the loss of yet another christian statesman in the person of Chuck Colson and a generation that is leaving us it begs the question as to who will carry that role in the future. When Billy Graham goes to be with Jesus the most visible statesman of our generation will be gone and in many ways his voice has been fading already.


Because many of us can play that role in our small corner of the world I have been reflecting on what the characteristics of a Christian statesman or stateswoman would look like. Here my thoughts.


They are deeply grounded in Jesus and in a thoroughly Christian worldview. These are people who think deeply about the issues of society and how those issues intersect with the values and priorities of God. Issues like justice, fairness, the ability to speak in the public square, bringing our deepest values into the marketplace and  congruity between what we espouse and how we live. Chuck Colson, John Stott, Francis Schaeffer, Mother Theresa and Timothy Keller are examples of those who have bridged the sacred/secular divide through a Christian worldview. Each brought or bring spiritual wisdom to bear on the challenges of our society.


They are publicly non-partisan individuals who build bridges instead of walls. One of the great barriers to Christian statesmanship today is the divisiveness of our political system. I honor each individual of faith who works in that difficult environment but by its very nature it is partisan and dividing rather than bridge building and uniting (with few exceptions).


Jesus is not the God of the Green Party, the Libertarians, the Republicans or the Democrats. He is the Lord of all and His truth supersedes all partisan squabbles. Thus it is a huge mistake for those who would speak for God on any issue to become spokespersons at the same time for any political party. We do speak to issues that are close to God's heart. We do not marry our position with a party because God is not the God of any political party. In western democracies, no party has a corner on the truth and all have a corner on some truth.


All of us have political views but Christian statesmen and women speak to the issues that transcend any party. They speak from a position of truth, not politics and from a deeply held Christian world view. In doing so they can build bridges across political parties and do what politics can only rarely do - bring people together rather than divide.


They are deeply humble individuals who are not looking for personal fame or recognition. Here is an irony. While power, fame and position are the coinage of our world, people are drawn to the truly humble who are not trading on any of those but only on deeply held belief and truth. What else did Mother Theresa have? Certainly no power or position and her fame (what she did not ask for) was a direct result of her humble service. Mother Theresa could speak truth in places of power where it made people deeply uncomfortable because of the power of her very life.


The minute that humility gives way to pride, the Christian statesman or woman have lost their ability to speak with clarity on any subject and indeed the desire to fan the flame of adulation will cause them to modify their message because truth is rarely popular in the long run.


They are diplomatic and loving even in their truth telling. One of the reasons that Christian states-people build bridges is that they are kind, compassionate, humble and kind with people - especially those who disagree with them. What soul was more kind and gentle than John Stott? Who could not like his self effacing personality, easy smile and kind actions? Why was it that Chuck Colson, one of the most partisan individuals prior to his faith could build bridges that transcended politics? Even when Mother Theresa was at her feistiest who could get in her face?


When prophets get angry they lose their audience, with good reason. Christian states-people reflect the character, attitudes and relationships of Christ. 


I don't know who the next Christian states-people will be, at least the prominent ones. I do know that all of us can live out these qualities in our corner of the world, with the people we know and perhaps hundreds of thousands of smaller Christian states-people is more powerful than an well known handful.

Prayers of the People

For Brook, Heather, Paige, and Roger who all need our prayers.


I have the joy on occasion to attend an evangelical Anglican church. One of the things I deeply appreciate in their services is the emphasis on prayer. Prayers of the people, prayers of confession and prayers of praise. In many ways we have lost the emphasis on prayer in many of our evangelical churches.


My family knows the power of united prayer for without the prayers of many during my long illness of 2007-2008 and then again in early 2009, I would not be alive. Medical doctors cannot explain how I was healed. They know it was miraculous. 


The story can be read in When Life Comes Undone: Walking by Faith when Life is Hard and Hope is Scarce. The truth is that these situations come to us all at one time or another. The question when they come is do we have a group of friends who will pray passionately for our situation?


We take the power of prayer too lightly, at least in the west where we can rely on our own resources to fix things. But even with us, there comes a time when we have no other resource but Jesus. None. 


As I often say, "It is a wonderful thing to come to the place where we have nothing else to rely on but God. When all of our resources are  exhausted as eventually they are we have the one thing we have had all along: Jesus. And He is enough." I would not have said that before my own dark night of the soul but I have learned that not only is He enough but He is the single most important thing I need.


One of the greatest gifts we can give those around us is to become people of prayer for them. To lift those up in our circles who are hurting, who are sick, who are without hope, who are grieving or dealing with whatever real life has dealt them. It takes intentionality on our part but it is the very gift that we would ask for in our own dark night.


Prayer bring hope, it may well bring healing. It always brings the presence of a loving father. It brings us and those we pray for into the very throne room of the Lord of the universe. It brings a smile to God's face and a blessing on those we pray for. It is a hidden gift in that those we lift up may never know this side of eternity but they will know one day. 


We need one another and Jesus far more than we know. Let's lift up those who are need of God's intervention on a daily basis. Prayers of the people are beautiful on Sundays and necessary every day.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

The church needs persecution to stay healthy

Persecution is good for the health of the church. In some ways I don't like that but my experience is and church history tells us that when the church is under pressure it sheds its baggage and rises to the occasion in serious faith. It also separates those who are cultural Christians and serious Christ followers. 


Serious Christianity brings persecution because it is a threat to Satan's territory. When the church is not challenged it often becomes stagnant and is no longer a threat to the evil one. The experience of the early church as recorded in Acts is evidence that persecution lights a fire under the church and the church on fire results in persecution.


In China the church under communism flourished. In Iran today, the church under pressure is growing. In Saudi Arabia under extreme pressure, cell groups are springing up. Indian Christians have significant persecution in many parts of their country and the church is growing regularly. 


Contrast that with the relative limited impact the church in the west has today where it is easy to be a believer and where there is little cost associated with following Jesus. When faith is easy, it is also often shallow. When it requires a cost, it goes deep and calls the question as to our sincerity in following our Lord.


There are many parts of the world where suffering for faith is considered a mark of honor. Paul expressed that sentiment when he talked about sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Jesus promised that those who followed him would be subject to persecution and ill treatment. That is why He spoke of taking up His cross and following Him.


I do not pray that the church would be free from persecution. I pray that God would build His church and whatever it takes for that to happen is to the church's advantage. I also believe that it is going to take pressure on the church in the west if it is going to become vibrant again. 

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Is there a connection between the lack of spiritual transformation generally and the spiritual lives of Christian leaders?

We talk much about spiritual transformation in the church and the lack of it among many believers. My own observation, however is that there are many lay people who are more concerned about true transformation and intimacy with God then those who lead them.

This may well be why there is a restlessness among many in our congregations for something more authentic in their Christian lives, something they are not getting or hearing from the pulpit. They are less enamored with theological knowledge and more hungry for the transformation and living waters that Jesus promises. Is their hunger a symptom of our own lack of hunger and therefore inability to deliver that living water to them?

I don't believe this is intentional but I do believe it can be dangerous for those of us in professional ministry. It is very easy to substitute our knowledge of all things theological for the hard work of translating that knowledge into our own lives. It is also easy to substitute our engineering of disciplemaking pathways in our churches for the needed transformational pathways in our own lives. In fact, while I believe in disciplemaking pathways, the truly transformed and vital spiritual life of a leader is more powerful than any pathway. You cannot ignore a life that is lived close to Jesus.

Since we cannot lead people to places we have not gone we cannot deliver living water that we are not drinking deeply from. Our enemy is our schedule, the good things we are doing for God (in our minds) and our theological knowledge. That knowledge is an easy but empty substitute for God's work in our own soul. In fact, I am no longer enamored by prodigious knowledge that is not also coupled by a deep hunger for God's transformational presence in one's life.

If our churches are seeing far less transformation than they want to see (as the Reveal study shows) is that possibly a symptom of our own lack of transformation as Christian leaders. It is uncomfortable for me to ask the question but I wonder.

The first and most important work of a Christian leader is to ensure that Jesus is our first love and highest priority. That we are allowing him to do the fundamental work of growth, transformation and stripping away of all things base in our lives. That takes time, introspection and the hard work of following closely after Jesus ourselves. Only then can we truly bring people to the living waters of Jesus.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Evangelicals and the environment

I remember the first "earth day" in the seventies and how the Christians in my circles mocked the idea. I was living in Hong Kong at the time, a relatively poor dirty place at the time that seemed to care little about the environment. Then came earth day where we could think about saving the earth and it was well, not so popular among evangelicals.


Reflecting back on that and the lack of care that we have given the earth and even the lack of a theology of caring for the environment makes me wonder why this has not been a greater topic of concern for Christ followers.


A reading of Genesis one and two reveals that God did not create a shoddy world. In fact, He took his time, used all of His creativity and created the most amazing universe that we are still seeking to understand. And He pronounced it good. As the apex of His creation he created men and women made in His image and gave them the job of looking after "ruling over" His creation. The words "rule over" actually echo the fact that God "rules over" all of creation, including us. 


Given the beauty and care with which God created this world I cannot help but believe that those things that destroy that creation, or poison the fresh water He gave us or that trashes the environment is an affront to him. Clearly He gave us creation to use but not to abuse. When we see beauty why does it give us joy? Because it is an echo of the garden and the way God designed our world. Beauty is a mirror of God.


Evangelicals along the way who have raised their voices for a more responsible use of the resources God has given have often been marginalized and labeled as liberals by others. Why? If God created an amazingly good creation why are those who express concern for that creation treated as pariahs in the evangelical community? 


If one reads the account of the New Creation that is coming, God is going to redeem even creation itself with the New Heavens and New earth, so why should that not be a concern of ours today.


One of the byproducts of our trashing of His creation is the fact that much of our world does not even have clean drinking water. Consider what our lives would be like if we drank dangerous bacteria very day because of a lack of clean water. I write this blog in Bangalore, India, a country that desperately needs clean water supplies.


Concern for the environment should never eclipse our concern for the gospel message which is the ultimate hope for each individual. But it should not meant that we should not care about those things that God cares about. And my read of Genesis one and two is that He cared about the world he handed us to rule over a great deal. If it matters to Him, it matters to me. The first earth day was when God looked at His creation and declared it good. I hope that He can look at our stewardship and declare it good as well. At least what we can control.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Where have all the demons gone?

I think demons have abandoned America. After all we are too sophisticated for demons. As proof, how often do you hear them talked about? Or your pastor talk about them? Maybe CS Lewis tricked us with his Screwtape letter stuff. Seriously, where are they? I see them in the majority world but this is with largely uneducated people. We are too educated for such thinking. So either they have abandoned us as irrelevant, or we have banished them as vestiges of a less sophisticated world.


And that is precisely what Satan and his minions desire us to think. They are the foolishness of a past and less sophisticated world, relegated to the silly pictures of the Middle Ages, red skinned martian like figures with pointed ears and tails.


Except, Scripture would have us believe differently. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12). And since Satan and his forces masquerade as agents of light, they are not about to reveal their true identity. 


Satan loves to convince people that he is irrelevant and even non existent in the west. In the rest of the world he loves to make himself evident and a source of fear because his audiences there understand, believe in and live in fear of the spirit world. Satan will use whatever strategy He needs to in order to destroy people and lives, even if that means staying in the background and letting people think he is not there or even not real.


While we live in  a sophisticated society, what that means is that sin has become more sophisticated as well. The wonders of the internet bring us amazing gifts along with secret addictions of pornography. The basis of our society has as many believers wrapped up in materialism as it does non believers - perhaps the ultimate addiction and lie - that happiness is to be found in the abundance of our possessions. Our lone ranger American mentality makes it hard for us to live in community with other believers and our "bootstrap" success definition makes us blind to the injustices around us.


Who do we think is behind the sad fact that Christ followers are so ungenerous with what God has given them? Does it not lie in our own greed, and lack of faith that God will provide if we are as generous with him a he is with us? What wants to keep us in a place of bondage to our pocketbook or credit cards or inflated dreams? My guess is that we keep a lot of demons busy in areas like this.


Unfortunately for us, Satan is alive and well and we are in a daily spiritual battle that we cannot see but which is no less real. All unbiblical thinking, behavior and attitudes are fodder for Satan to  take advantage of. He is there and he is real. But the Lord of the Universe is more powerful which is why Paul tells us to "be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power (Ephesians 6:10)."


Don't be fooled about the realities of the spiritual dynamics around us. They are real but if we live in fellowship of the Spirit we will both recognize them for what they are and be successful in overcoming them.



Friday, March 9, 2012

Preaching that tells or preaching that helps people think like Christ thinks

There is a real distinction between preaching that tells people what to do and how to do it and preaching that unpacks the text and helps people understand how to apply it in their context. The first tells people what to think while the second helps people evaluate their lives against Scripture and make personal decisions on the basis of the truth that they know.


We have a real need to help people think Christianly. It is easy to share rules and regulations that "evangelicals" would commonly share - which often results in legalism. It takes more skill to help people dig into Scripture and make personal lifestyle decisions based on their understanding of how God's word applies to them along with sensitivity to what the Spirit is prompting within them. 


When we tell people what to do and how to do it we make them dependent on us. When we help people understand how to study the Scriptures and make decisions based on what God teaches we make them dependent on the Holy Spirit. While there are many black and white issues in Scripture that don't allow for differences of interpretation there are also many areas that are grey and require real wisdom to discern what our course of action ought to be. That is where helping people think Christianly becomes very important.


Take the workplace for example, where many of us spend the majority of our time. How does God's word apply the amazingly complex issues we face in that environment? If we are to negotiate the complexities of work we don't need a set of rules but we do need some principles that we measure all of our actions against. It is only those who have developed the ability to think in God like categories who will make a difference in their workplace. Telling people what to do will not cut it. Helping them think Christianly in the unique circumstances they find themselves will. 


The best preaching helps those who listen think like Christ would think. It shares principles from God's word that go to the heart of what it means to follow Jesus and live out the Gospel. And it helps us evaluate our lives against His Word on an ongoing basis. It is less about telling us what to do than about helping us to think in Christian categories and make the application of the gospel to our everyday lives.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Things Satan likes about the church


  1. When we keep everyone programmed up in church so they don't bother their friends or community with the gospel.
  2. When we have so many boards and committees that it takes forever to get anything done or decided.
  3. When we hire people to do ministry so that others don't get trained or released into meaningful ministry
  4. When we preach self help sermons that don't go to the heart of the Gospel
  5. When we water down the text to make it non-offensive
  6. When we focus on programming and numbers rather than Gospel impact
  7. When we spend so much on our facilities that we don't have much left over for mission outreach
  8. When we teach people how to be a good evangelicals rather than focus on real transformation of their hearts, thinking, priorities and relationships
  9. When we get wrapped up in conflict so that we are distracted from our real mission
  10. When we have no clearly defined mission so everyone is comfortable and no one is seriously pushing into Satan's territory
  11. When we convince lay people that they are not really qualified to do real ministry by our professionalization of ministry
  12. When we confuse bringing people to church for bringing people to Jesus
  13. Our church growth methodology of simply outperforming other local churches so that we grow by transfer not evangelism leaving Satan's territory relatively unscathed
  14. Our ineffective boards that make for ineffective ministry

Monday, March 5, 2012

Unleashing our lay people and overcoming the dysfunction of professional ministry

I believe that one of the five dysfunctions of the church is that of professional ministry where we hire specialists to do the work of ministry rather than to equip others to do ministry. This professionalism is even more interesting in that the movement I am a part of (the EFCA) and sister denominations came out of lay led movements in the eighteen hundreds.


The free church movement came out of an environment in Europe where the state church (non free churches) had become liberal, were not preaching the Gospel and where parishioners were not encouraged to study scripture themselves. Because they were not being fed in church, many started to meet in homes to pray, worship and study scripture resulting in the pietistic movement which brought revival to a number of countries in Europe and with that revival the planting of non-state run churches (free churches) which then spilled over to the United States. It was Europeans out of the free church movement who planted the same kind of churches here in the eighteen and nineteen hundreds.


Fundamental to this movement was the belief that lay people who had not had formal theological education were qualified to teach, preach and lead the church. One did not have to be a "theologian" in the professional sense of the word or have had formal theological education. In fact, many of these lay leaders and pastors had a greater understanding of scripture and the Christian life than their "educated" counterparts. 


Today, however, it is very rare and often difficult for those in the EFCA and fellow free church movements to become ordained without a formal theological degree. The unwritten understanding is that you need to have a Bible school or seminary degree in order to pastor. And the ordination process is designed to enforce this.


As the leader of the EFCA international mission, ReachGlobal, I work in an environment that is much closer to the roots of our movement where it is informally trained leaders who lead and pastor churches internationally. Most of the world cannot afford the luxury of a formal theological education given the poverty of the majority world. That, however, does not keep them from growing churches that are often healthier from a Gospel perspective than many churches in the west with their formally educated clergy. 


I am not anti theological education. I have one of the best and it has informed all my work. What I do object to is the professionalization of ministry that requires a theological degree to be in full or part time ministry or to be ordained in many of our movements. Many large churches in the west are rejecting that paradigm, training their own leaders and releasing them to preach, teach and lead in their settings. 


In basically ruling out ordination for those not professionally trained we perpetuate the clergy/lay distinction and send the message that to really be effective in ministry one must have a theological education (read degree). It is a good thing this was not true in the early church. Or in the majority world. 


Rather than discourage lay people from leading, teaching and preaching we ought to encourage it. It would raise the level of biblical understanding in our churches and release new ministry personnel who are either part time (bi-vocational) or full time. And why would we not encourage these very people who are gifted to plant and pastor churches themselves regardless of whether they have a formal degree or not?


Further, why ordain only people who can give the definition of obscure theological terms rather than ordain those who know the bible, can explain it well and teach it diligently? Knowing what superlapsarianism and infralapsarianism means is far less important than simply knowing good biblical theology that comes from a knowledge of the bible and can be applied to everyday life. We ought to know the biblical terms. Why should one need to know the litany of theological terms dreamed up by two thousand years of theologians in order to be effective in ministry? Or for that matter, Greek and Hebrew in order to preach well? I have a hard time believing that those would be the standards that Jesus would have for those in ministry!


Why cannot we open real ministry up to those who are trained both formally and informally and encourage both to get into ministry either full or part time? The church might actually see significant growth in the United States if we again allowed it to be a movement of lay people, not just those who are professionally trained and can get through an ordination process that is designed to weed out those who are not. I wonder how many lay people were given gifts by Jesus to lead, teach and preach that we do not unleash in meaningful ways because they are lay and not professional clergy?

Thursday, February 9, 2012

It's about the Bride not the brand

I am a senior vice president of the EFCA - a brand of the church. Having said that, one of my core convictions is that while brands can be helpful in the spread of the Gospel, at the end of the day my concern should not be about the brand but about the Bride. Jesus died for the Bride, not my brand (hard as that is for some to believe, given our often parochial attitudes toward those of another brand). 

Most of us like the brand we worship in, which is why we are there. I like the broad evangelical parameters of the EFCA and the freedom I have as the leader of ReachGlobal, its international mission. But, my highest allegiance is always to the Bride of Christ, His church, of which mine is but one small expression.

When we value the Bride over the brand we become open to working with other churches to bring the Gospel in a relevant way to our communities, something none of us can do ourselves. Moving from competition to cooperation in the spread of the Gospel is an expression of mature leadership that places what is close to God's heart (that people respond to His good news) above our parochial interests.

There is nothing wrong with brands. But think of the power of the unity of the church when we choose to work with other like minded evangelical churches and denominations to reach our communities and the unreached globally. It is a visible expression of the unity that Jesus prays for in John 17, by which the world knows that we are in Him and He in us. There will be no Presbyterians or Baptists or Free Church folks in heaven (really!). Just worshipers of Jesus Christ. I suspect we will quickly realize that those things that once divided us were insignificant compared to what should have united us - the Gospel and person of Jesus Christ.

It is for this reason that ReachGlobal does not plant EFC churches internationally but works to plant healthy, reproducing, interdependent, indigenous and self supporting churches. As long as Jesus is at the center in a biblical way, we will work with a wide variety of movements to bring the Gospel to places where it has not yet penetrated. We then link the various movements we work with together so that they too are working alongside one another in cooperation rather than competition. There is enough division among denominations for us to further contribute to disunity rather than unity.

I am heartened by expressions of Bride over brand in this country when churches from across denominational lines band together to bring the gospel to their community. They are demonstrating Christ's heart and His interests over their own. 

Think about your ministry. Are you more about the brand or the Bride? For me, the Bride trumps the brand every time.

Monday, January 16, 2012

The most neglected topic in the church

No, it is not sex, money or death. It is the workplace where most of us spend the bulk of our time and potentially have our greatest influence. When was the last time you heard a message on work and its relationship to faith, or even an illustration connecting a text to the workplace in a serious way? 


What is sad about this is that the calling to the various places where we work is just that - a calling. Our work is sacred and it is where God has placed us for a purpose - to infuse that place with His presence through us. Just as sacred as the job of missionaries I lead or pastors I work with. We are all sent people and the workplace is for many of us our primary mission field. In neglecting the primary calling of perhaps the majority of our people we are doing them a huge disservice and a disservice to the One who called them. 


I don't believe the workplace is neglected on purpose but out of ignorance. Many pastors have never truly experienced the pressures, stresses and issues that those they preach to each week experience on their jobs. And those pressures have only increased in the past twenty years. 


There are ways to press into this for pastors. First, consider a periodic round table discussion with those from various walks of life and simply talk about the issues they face on the job. Take those issues and apply them to your preaching. Second, consider shadowing someone from your church periodically to live for a day in their world. Third, think deeply about the calling that everyone in the workplace has to their vocation. We lift up those who choose full time service. We need to lift up those who live out their faith in the typical workplace.


Work is sacred. Calling is universal. We need to recognize this and help people live out that sacred calling. But first we need to understand their context. Work matters to God.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Jesus centered churches

I dream of a church where...


Jesus and the gospel He proclaimed is the center of everything. Jesus changes lives, and the gospel He proclaimed changes lives and communities as God's people live out their faith in all arenas of life. The Bible is not a self help book as practical as it is. It is the story of redemption - how the God of the universe came to change broken lives through forgiveness, new life, transformation and purpose in joining Him in His work. At the center of everything is Jesus who invites us to follow Him. I dream of a church where Jesus is the center of everything.


The transformation of the gospel in our lives is the goal of all we do. Transformation of our hearts where we understand and live out grace, transformation of our minds so we think like Jesus, transformation of our priorities so our live reflect the concerns of Jesus and transformation of our relationships so that we see people like Jesus sees them and love them like Jesus loves them. Transformation is not a set of rules and regulations but cooperating with the Holy Spirit to see these four areas that make up our lives resonate with Jesus. I dream of a church where becoming like Jesus is the overriding goal.


Success is defined by spiritual transformation and not by numbers, size, facilities and programs. Too many churches are chasing the wrong dream - size, facilities and programs when the Biblical definition of success is spiritual transformation of people who live, grow and minister in community (Ephesians). I dream of a church where success is not defined by the metrics of the world but by the life change Jesus wants to bring. 


We are outward focused rather than inward focused. Jesus went to where the people who needed him were while we often hope they will come to us at our church. If you look at the typical church programming we are so scheduled with church activities that we have little time to develop relationships with those who need Jesus let alone to get involved in meaningful ways in their lives. I dream of a church where intentional involvement with those who don't know Jesus is the norm not the exception.


Grace and love reign supreme. Each of us who knows Jesus is in His family because he extended His amazing grace to us when we did not deserve it and He loved us with an everlasting love. If He did that for us, we need to do that for one another and for those who don't yet know Him. I dream of a church where His love, acceptance and grace is extended to all and is the magnet that draws people to Jesus.


God's truth is proclaimed in its fullness. God's Word contains all that we need for a life of godliness but it must be taught in its entirety - those parts that we love and those parts that are hard and inconvenient for us to confront. Jesus gladly forgives our sin but also calls us to obedience and followership. He freely gives us grace but tells us not to use that grace as an excuse to sin. The Pentateuch gives us a foundation for a moral and upright life, the historical books examples of people who did or did not follow God, the books of wisdom proclaim the fear of the Lord, the prophets, the heart of God, the Gospels the centrality of Jesus and the epistles the guidance for holy living. I dream of a church that boldly proclaims His truth in its fullness so that we are thoroughly equipped for a life of godliness.


Transparency and authenticity are the rule rather than the exception. Christians are broken sinners, saved by grace who still struggle with all the issues that make up the human condition living in a fallen world. Yet the church is often the last place that we are able to be authentic and transparent about our struggles. I dream of a church where authenticity is celebrated and through transparency we are able to experience and give grace and spur one another on to faithful followership of Jesus.


Our communities are directly impacted by the gospel. Jesus did not come just to change individual hearts. His gospel is designed to have a profound impact on society through the influence of His followers as they live out their faith in their circles of influence, neighborhoods and workplaces. Jesus Himself asked us to pray that His will would be done on earth as it is done in heaven. I dream of a church that takes seriously His call to be salt and light in their community and influence their community with the love, righteousness and grace of Jesus.


All people are equally loved, cared for, appreciated and ministered to. Jesus loved all and He had special compassion and love for those whom the rest of society spurned whether wealthy tax collectors, beggars, the poor, the lame and sick or prostitutes. All were welcome at his table, in His crowd and in His family. We cannot live out the life of Jesus or His gospel without caring about all people, not simply the ones who we are comfortable with. I dream of a church that goes out of its way to find and minister to the marginalized in society.


The reputation of Jesus is always lifted high. Congregations, like people, either lift high the reputation of Jesus or drag Him down to our level in the minds of others through our behavior, love or lack of it, grace or lack of it. Fighting and bickering congregations hurt the reputation of Jesus while those who live in unity, even in the hard times, lift it up. I dream of a church that places His name and reputation higher than its own wants and desires and always chooses behaviors that will lift Jesus high. 


And you, what do you dream for the church?