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A House Divided

July 4, 2009 in Church, Jesus with 3 Comments

“I have three things I’d like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids dies of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don’t give a shit. What’s worse is that you’re more upset with the fact that I said ‘shit’ than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.”

- Tony Campolo

And therein lies my problem with the church in America. I’m not a big Tony Campolo fan, but that quote pretty much nails it. Christians are so busy arguing over the little things that they miss the big picture. And it isn’t limited to world hunger. Abortion is another issue. I’ve blogged about it before, but just to rehash things, what is more important – fighting a losing battle to outlaw abortion or developing Christian alternatives to Planned Parenthood that would greatly decrease the amount of abortions taking place? And if you think we can have both, pass the pipe cause I want to smoke what you’re smoking.

Of course, those are just two examples of issues outside the four walls of the church. But even inside the church, Christians are so busy bickering and fighting with each other it’s no wonder my unchurched friends don’t want to have anything to do with the church. Hell, I don’t want to have anything to do with it. I once read an anonymous quote that said “I love Jesus; it’s His fan club I can’t stand.” A perfect example can be found on YouTube. NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC began a sermon series on Easter Sunday entitled The Gospel. Part one was called Highway To Hell, and they kicked off service with the band performing a cover of AC/DC’s Highway To Hell. Personally, I think that’s awesome, especially considering the fact that Easter Sunday is the most attended day in most churches around the world. NewSpring reported that over 300 people accepted Christ on Easter Sunday. Would some of those have accepted Christ without hearing Highway To Hell in church? Probably. As scripture says, the spirit of God draws men unto salvation, so nothing you or I do can influence a person’s choice to accept Christ. Unless, of course, God uses you to lead them to him. What if God used an AC/DC song to push some of those people over the edge? From what I’ve read, NewSpring has heard from dozens of members who have said that had it not been for the band playing Highway To Hell, their father, brother, son, sister, husband, daughter, etc. would have left without making a decision to follow Christ.

Now, I understand that some people have a problem with this whole situation. And that’s okay. I’ve read several blog posts and YouTube comments from people who, while they didn’t agree with the methods, praised God for the 300 that accepted Christ that Sunday. What disgusts me are the people who blog or comment about the performance and show no resemblance to Christ in their attitudes. Some have even gone so far as to question the salvation of those 300 from Easter Sunday! Just Google NewSpring Highway To Hell and read some of the garbage that shows up in the top 10.

A similar example is methodology. Until recently I was visiting a church but finally had to stop going because I was sick of hearing the pastor drag churches through the mud instead of sharing with me something God revealed to him in the Bible. Do you really think Jesus cares if you worship him through a hymn as opposed to a Hillsong United song? No! As long as He is glorified. Do you really think that Jesus prefers preaching over teaching? Again, no. As His message is delivered the rest doesn’t matter. Do you think Jesus prefers exegetical sermons over topical sermons? Or the lighting in the sanctuary? Or the volume of the music? Or the way you’re dressed? NO!!!! Those are all HUMAN preferences.

With that in mind, I’m reminded of Mark 3:24-25. I don’t blame the liberals for a lack of values and morality in America. Nor do I blame the “gay agenda”. And I won’t even blame the media or the press. I’m blaming all of us who call ourselves Christians, because the church in America is a house divided. Is there a perfect church out there? No. But when people spend more time arguing semantics than they spend showing the love of Christ to everyone they encounter then we are a house divided.

Standards

June 29, 2009 in Church with 3 Comments

Should church leaders (paid and volunteer), and specifically pastors, be held to a higher standard than other Christians?

Before you comment, consider the various scriptures which designate all believers as priests or ministers of the Gospel, regardless of their vocation. (1 Peter 2:9, 1 Corinthians 4:1, Revelation 5:10 should be sufficient)

North Point Online

June 22, 2009 in Church with 0 Comments

I know where I’ll be on Sundays at 5:00 pm (CST) beginning August 16th.

North Point Online Promo from John on Vimeo.

http://NorthPointOnline.tv

Jesus Would Never……

June 13, 2009 in Church with 0 Comments

Great discussion going on over at Ragamuffin Soul. What biblical/theological/doctrinal issue(s) are you tired of hearing people bicker about?

For me there’s quite a few. Not that I hate talking about these things; friendly discussions are one thing, bickering is a whole other subject. One which ends up causing division.

pre-destination vs. free will
alcohol
secular music vs. Christian music
church styles
church sizes

I could keep going. But you should visit Ragamuffin Soul and join the conversation.

Saturday Reading……

June 6, 2009 in Church with 2 Comments

Just checking my RSS reader and came across Tyler Braun’s weekly Saturday post Fortuitous Bouncing. As always the posts he links to are interesting, but two of them really stuck out to me.

Up first, a post from Ben Arment on rethinking the spaces we use for church gatherings. And not just Sunday services, but what about Bible studies? Small group meetings? Instead of meeting at the “church”, why not meet in places that, while they may stretch our comfort zone, are safe for the unchurched? And hey, why not hold a church service there? Who says you can’t have a service in a pub?

Next, Jim Vining lists the top ten ways to ruin young pastors. The only thing I would add is that it isn’t the top ten ways to ruin just young pastors, but any staff members. If any of the things in Jim’s list are going on at your church, regardless of whether it’s directed at a pastor, secretary or janitor, it isn’t good. I can say I’ve personally experienced half of the list and seen others experience the other half.

Sucks or Stinks?

June 2, 2009 in Church, Culture with 34 Comments

I came across a Twitter conversation where people are debating whether or not the slang word “sucks” is inappropriate. Anyways, it got me thinking: who determines what is evil? Sure, the Bible is very clear on a lot of things that it deems evil (sex outside marriage, murder, lying, lusting after someone who isn’t your spouse, etc.), but what about those things that it doesn’t talk about?

When my grandmother was my age, “humbug” was just as bad as “bullshit”.

What about other things that, even within the church, spark arguments as to whether or not they are evil?
Music, video games, alcohol, tobacco, violent sports, movies, books, TV shows, etc.?

The one argument church people keep throwing at me is 1 Thessalonians 5:22 which some translations say to avoid every appearance of evil, while others leave it at avoid evil (click here for more on the translation differences).

But who is making the determination of what is or is not evil if the Bible is not explicit in the matter?

Some people deem Halo 3 to be evil because it simulates murder; others argue that because it is simulating war, the killings are no more murder than when an American soldier defends himself by killing an enemy soldier.

I actually heard one person say that “drinking is not a sin, but as Christians we are supposed to ‘Abstain from all appearance of evil’, so to drink would appear evil in the eyes of the world.”

WHAT?!?!?

So drinking alcohol is not a sin, but because the world (in this person’s eyes) sees it as evil, we shouldn’t do it?

It’s the same with language; the church doesn’t deem what is or is not appropriate – the world does.

Personally speaking, you won’t offend me by using cuss words in my presence, but at the same time, I view words like “idiot” and “loser” (used in a derogatory way) to be just as demeaning as “bitch” or “asshole”.

But that’s just me.

I could keep going with topics like music, movies, etc., but you get the point.

Any thoughts?

Missional Living

May 30, 2009 in Church, Jesus with 3 Comments

Life can be funny sometimes.

Or maybe I’ve just got a twisted sense of humor.

Over the last couple years I’ve come to believe that many of the things I’ve been taught to avoid and in some cases even demonize, are not in and of themselves evil. Music, alcohol, etc.

A friend of mine explained it to me this way: “America is a nation of gluttons. We do everything to excess.” And he’s right.

Sadly though, people like to pick and choose what they demonize. I know people who are quick to condemn me for having a drink, yet most doctors would consider them to be obese and last time I checked, the Bible is just as harsh towards gluttony as it is drunkenness.

And just for the record, I’ve never been drunk. Never even been buzzed. And I don’t ever plan to be either.

Anyways, ever since moving back to Louisiana, I’ve really begun to ask the question, “What is church?”.

Do I have to go to a building with “church” in the name in order to “go to church”?
Do I have to go to that building at a certain time, on a certain day?
Does there have to be a very specific order that determines what is done in “church”?
Is an online community real community?

I’m still wrestling with these questions daily, so by no means am I saying that I have all the answers. Nor am I against the traditional Protestant concept of church. I believe that church, when done right, is an awesome agent for change, discipleship and spiritual growth.

The big question I’ve been wrestling with is, have we put God into a box by putting His church in a box?

Last time I checked, the Biblical definition of a church is the regular assembly of believers for the purpose of edification and instruction. In other words, to refresh and to teach. If that is church, then I go to church every Sunday night at McAlister’s where there is a Bible study. And if online communities count, I go to LifeChurch.tv every week.

All of that brings me to this: earlier this week a friend told me that they have really begun to “question my lifestyle”, because I don’t go to (their definition of) church, I enjoy the occasional adult beverage and have been known to smoke a cigar every now and then.

Yet the funny part (funny to me) is that twice in the past two months I’ve had very deep, thought-provoking, long conversations with an unchurched friend of mine about Jesus, the Bible, church and sin, and during both conversations we enjoyed a couple cigars and some bourbon.

Thoughts?

Pulpit Peeves, pt. 3

May 10, 2009 in Church with 1 Comment

Misquoting People or Taking Quotes Out of Context

If you are going to quote someone, please keep the quote in the correct context and don’t misquote the original author/speaker. By this I mean don’t add to the quote (putting words in someone’s mouth), don’t remove words from it (misquoting) and don’t spin it to fit your purpose (context). If the quote you are considering doesn’t work for your message in it’s original context, DON’T USE IT!!!! The same goes with scriptures; I can’t count how many times I’ve heard a great sermon that ended up being tainted because the speaker misquoted someone or took a scripture out of context and spun it to suit his need. Of course, this problem is not new. One of the primary reasons there are thousands of denominations in the Christian church is because we humans can’t agree on the proper interpretation of scriptures. So first, when you quote the Bible tell me the scripture you’re quoting. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know every scripture in the Bible by memory, so don’t go through a whole message with statements such as “The Bible says…” or “Jesus said…”; tell me where it is in the Bible. I want to be able to read it for myself. And if you’re going to quote someone outside of scripture, provide me a reference. For example, if you quote a passage in a book, give me the name of the book, the author’s name and the page in the book. Prove to me you’ve actually read the book because it isn’t pretty when you misquote a book thinking no one in your audience has read that book when in fact, there are those who have. And they know what you’ve quoted is not accurate. I may sound harsh, but think about this: if I, as a Christian who was raised in church, don’t know the entire Bible by memory (all 31,103 verses) then how will someone who is truly unchurched respond when you quote scripture (or someone outside scripture) and don’t at least provide a reference or source material so they can check up on what they said? My pastor in Georgia (Brent Stephens) is a perfect example of this. He understands that not everyone is able to spend hours a day studying scripture, so when he quotes scripture, he does just that. He tells you exactly where to find it in the Bible. Same thing when he quotes someone outside the Bible; he gives credit to the originator of the quote and if it was from a book he tells you where and how to find it. He actually takes the time in his sermons to connect the dots so that it doesn’t matter if you’ve got a doctorate in theology or if you’re a high school dropout, you leave actually knowing more than when you came. And he isn’t the only person like this, just the first that comes to my mind (as I’m writing this at 4:00 am). Now, I’m not saying Christians should be skeptical of their pastors, but the world is. Again, drawing from personal experience, I grew up in a church culture where the speaker/pastor/evangelist’s words were gospel truth and it didn’t matter if they gave you scripture references or not. I have friends who, to this day, base their choices in life upon what their pastor says is right or wrong. An example of this is that a couple of years ago the pastor of the church I grew up in gave a message in which he claimed that drinking alcohol is a sin. At first, it was a great message because the pastor was giving scriptural reasons for not drinking (as opposed to saying the drinking is a sin). And of course he used the usual scriptures which condemn drunkenness (Proverbs 20:1, Proverbs 23:20-21, Ephesians 5:17-19, Galatians 5:20-22, Titus 1:6-8, 1 Timothy 3:2-4). Then he made the leap. I put the leap in bold italics because it was the kind of leap I thought I would only hear from Randall in Clerks. He quoted 1 Timothy 5:22-24, which says in the King James translation “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure. Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities. Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.” He then attempted to tie it into Leviticus 10:9 which says “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations.” One problem: he omitted the middle portion which says you aren’t to drink alcohol IN THE TABERNACLE. His interpretation of these two passages of scripture was that if you are going to drink alcohol, you can drink only alcohol and never drink anything else again (water, juice, soda, etc.), otherwise you will die. If that wasn’t bad enough, he then quoted the story of Jesus turning water into wine (John 2:9-11). Expounding upon the scriptures he said that in the ancient Greek language there are three words for our English word “wine” (which is true). The first word is defined as fermented grape juice, the second is defined as unfermented grape juice and the third can mean either/or. According to this pastor, in the ancient Greek texts of this passage the third is what is used. Fair enough…… but then he made an assumption that in my opinion is not safe to make. He asked, “Do you really believe that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would actually create something that has caused so much heartache and destroyed so many families?”

Just a few days later I overheard two friends arguing over what was said in that sermon. One was asking the other to show him where the Bible says drinking is a sin. The other could only respond with “Pastor says it’s a sin.” He couldn’t show anyone where the Bible says it is and he was to the point of being enraged because someone actually questioned what the pastor had said in a sermon. I know I’m coming across as harsh, but it’s because I do not take lightly the weight that a person is under when they give a message to a group of people, especially considering some of those people will be gullible enough to take what is said as gospel truth and not actually investigate the truth for themselves. I’m tired of Christians who tell me what they believe, not based upon scripture, but based upon their church or their parents. And so is the world.

Pulpit Peeves, pt. 2

May 2, 2009 in Church with 0 Comments

Putting Down Other Churches/Pastors/Leaders/Methods just because they’re different from what you and your church do.

I’m tired of hearing fundamentalist pastors put down seeker churches. I’m tired of hearing emerging pastors put down traditional churches. Whether you like it or not, we’re supposed to be on the same team. So you don’t like that the preacher across town teaches more than he screams, if people are coming to Christ as a result of that church, get over it. Otherwise, you aren’t preaching the Bible, you’re preaching division in the body of Christ. Focus on the community and the people you are called to reach and quit worrying about what someone else is doing, even if you don’t approve. That’s why I love Fellowship Church’s C3 conference. They bring in speakers from different denominations and styles; from traditional to contemporary, emerging to post-modern, because even if those speakers have disagreements over the methods used, they all agree on one thing: Jesus.

I mean, sure, there are some very specific non-negotiables of the Christian faith: sin is the problem, Jesus is the answer, the Bible is true and Hell is hot. But if you agree on all that, does it matter if you wear a suit to church? Does it matter if the songs you sing are 200 years old or 2 days old?

As long as Jesus is glorified nothing else matters.

To sum it up, I have an unusual analogy. I read an interview in a magazine back in 1999 or 2000 where Bill Goldberg was asked what he saw as the reason for WCW’s drop in ratings, revenue, popularity, etc. and what he said was rather interesting; “Instead of focusing on our product and doing the best we can do to make our TV shows and PPV’s the best they can be, we keep comparing ourselves to the WWF and their product.” For those that don’t watch wrestling, the WWF (now WWE) ended up buying WCW in 2001. While there were thousands of factors that contributed to WCW’s demise, everything led back to one word: priorities. And that is a problem I see in a lot of churches – their priorities are all screwed up.

So what’s your main priority; Jesus, or something else?

Run the Play!!!!

April 25, 2009 in Church with 1 Comment

Just a quick video from Francis Chan – it’s time for Christians to get off the bench and do something.

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