You may not be aware of it but, there's a place at the bottom of each blog entry for comments. I'd love to hear from anyone who reads these things to get your feedback. My desire is to have interaction with any and everyone who will take the time to drop me a line.
So, read the blog; leave a comment. Wash, rinse, repeat as necessary.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled surfing already in progress...
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
The Gender Wars: Is The Church A "He-Man Woman-Hater's Club"? (Part 1)
Well, here's a topic that should get some discussion going: Can a woman speak, teach, and lead in the Body of Christ?
According to well known scriptures like 1 Corinthians 14:35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12, the answer is a resounding "no". Amazingly enough, for all of the division that has existed in the Body of Christ since its inception, the issue of women's roles in the church has been nearly unanimously agreed upon until recent times. With clearly written scriptures like the ones mentioned, it really is hard to argue against the conventional interpretation of these scriptures.
Except...I have a few questions that just keep gnawing at me.
For instance, why would the Holy Spirit inspire Paul to forbid all the women in Christiandom from teaching or "usurp[ing] authority over the man, but to be in silence" (1 Timothy 2:12) only to inspire Luke to record Priscilla's (a woman) successful attempts to instruct Apollos (a man) more perfectly in the way of the Lord (Acts 18:26)?
Why would the Holy Spirit, who Christ said would only speak the things "whatsoever he shall hear" (John 16:13), inspire Paul to restrict women to silent observer status in the Body of Christ when the first people instructed to "tell [the] disciples" that Christ had risen from the dead were two women (Matthew 28:7-8)?
Why would Paul repeatedly teach the followers of Jesus Christ we are no longer "under the law" (Romans 6:14; Galatians 5:18) only to tell the women to "...keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but [they are commanded] to be under obedience, as also saith the law." (1 Corinthians 14:34)?
Staying with the whole "law -vs- grace" subject, why would God restrict women to silence and subjection under the New Covenant of grace after repeatedly using women in various leadership and ministry positions under the Old Covenant of law?
Consider for example, Deborah, of whom it is written, "the children of Israel came up to her for judgment." (Judges 4:4-5). Sounds like a pretty authoritative position to me.
How about the wise and resourceful Abigail (1 Samuel 25:33-35) whose intervention caused David to praise God for sending her to prevent him from making a horrible mistake. If God wants women silent and subjected, why send a woman to do a man's job?
Micah 6:4 lists Miriam along with Moses and Aaron as leaders of Israel. Miriam wasn't only a leader she was a "prophetess" (Exodus 15:20) a title also held by Deborah (Judges 4:4), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14) and even one in the New Testament, a lady named Anna (Luke 2:36). There are many more Old Testament examples of female leadership, but hopefully you get the point.
There seems to be a rather large contradiction in the Word of God regarding women. How can God instruct an apostle to restrict all women across cultures, eras and creeds to silence and submission when Christ did not restrict the woman at the well from telling every man in Samaria "Come see a man..." (John 4:28-29)?
Now, before some of you fundamental brethren start labeling me a heretic for daring to ask my creator "why have you made me thus", let me establish a very important fact. These questions are not designed to call God's authority or sovereignty into question. These questions are to point out a pretty obvious contradiction between a couple of sentences in the the New Testament and the actions of both God and His followers all over the Bible. In reality, I'm not questioning God, I'm questioning man's interpretation of the scriptures.
Either there is a pretty large contradiction or we've been messing up His word (again). To me the issue is pretty clear. These few verses about a woman's role in the church are either the ramblings of a woman hater or they are just as Holy Spirit inspired as the rest of the scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16).
So the question remains, if 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-15 are the inspired Word of God (and I believe they are) what do we do with these verses of scripture telling women to basically "sit down and shut up" in the church?
Stay tuned true believers...
Friday, April 18, 2008
Church Wars: Episode 2 - War of the Words
Of all of the topics I've got on my planner for the show, this is the one I've been waiting for the most. I think the battle over Bible versions is a micro-cosmic example of what is primarily wrong with the Body of Christ at large.
The King James Only (KJO) crowd -vs- the Modern English Translation (MET) crowd has been battling for generations. There's passion and zeal for God's word on both sides of the argument as well as plenty of research and historical information. Opinions and convictions are thrown into the ring as much as the research which makes it difficult to separate fact from fanaticism for your average church attendee. In fact, the average Joe on the street couldn't care less about this fight; they just want to know if/how/when God is going to help them.
One underlying problem I see with this battle is the short-sightedness of the participants. Are we really so focused on our own private little wars that we are failing to see the bigger picture, namely the collateral damage done to the countless souls who have been caught in the crossfire not to mention the damage to the testimony of Jesus Christ in the world? I don't know if you've noticed or not gang, but the world is laughing their collective gluteus maxumuses off at Christianity and for good reason.
A listener e-mailed a story to our show during one of our "Church Stories" segments and they relayed something they saw firsthand at a church. A young unchurched child was chastised by a youth worker for bringing a different version of the Bible to church rather than the "authorized" King James Version. The listener indicated the young child never attended that church again. I can't say I blame him/her.
My purpose for bringing this topic up is not to engage in the battle. My desire is for God's people to S T O P all this pointless bickering and fighting over non-issues. Common sense needs to be re-established into the conversation. People need to learn how to use their God-given brains as well as the Holy Spirit of God's leading when reading the scriptures.
When you read passages of scripture like Isaiah 55:8-11 that speak of God's word not returning to him void, I do not see any addendum or clauses indicating God needs our help in maintaining the integrity of His Word. I fear many of God's soldiers are operating under the same presumption displayed by Israel back in Numbers 14. As I've stated before, too many of God's people are under the assumption their opinions are the same as God's; according to God's Word (Isaiah 55:8) that's rarely (if ever) the case.
I've come to learn God is big enough to keep his word all by himself. Many KJO proponents stress the danger of false doctrines coming up from these new translations. The insinuation is there hasn't ever been any false teachers or false doctrines prior to the NIV, the ASV or "The Message". As long as human beings are involved in the discussion, there is going to be false doctrine being taught; intentional and accidental alike. That isn't the issue. God knows how to protect, prevent and preserve; he's been doing it a long time and He's been doing it without our help.
Are there bad translations of the scriptures out there? Absolutely. Do we need to be careful about what version we read and study? You bet. Should we be dividing the Body of Christ up based on Bible version preferences? Show me the scripture that advocates that action and I'll be the loudest one proclaiming that truth. The fact remains there are plenty of battles to fight without inventing issues and problems. To me, this War of the Words is a non-issue that has escalated to ludicrous proportions.
For those who fall under the KJO banner I'll simply relay this anecdote. As a youth pastor at a church in the Houston area I was asked to "entertain" a young missionary who preached at our church one Sunday night. As I drove him to our dining destination he brought up the subject of Bible versions asking me which version I used. I told him I usually preached out of the KJV simply because that was the pastor's preference but that I studied out of many versions. Well, that set him off on a tirade on the heresy of all other versions except the "authorized" KJV.
After he made his point I asked him which version of the Bible he used at his mission (he was a missionary to a South American country; Peru I believe it was.) He proudly asserted that he used the KJV when he preached at his mission. I asked him if all of his people spoke English. He said "no, they speak various dialects of Spanish".
"So, do these people who do not speak English understand what you are reading when you read the KJV?", I asked him ever so politely.
"No, I use a Spanish translation of the King James Version." He stated and added, somewhat smugly, "My father spent years translating the KJV into Spanish and that's what we use."
"So you're using a translation of the KJV, not the actual KJV of the Bible." I pointed out.
"No, we're using the King James Version of the Bible." I could see his forehead start to furrow a tiny bit.
"Ok, just to be clear, we're talking about a Spanish translation of an English translation of the inspired Word of God that was written in ancient Hebrew/Aramaic/Greek, right?" I emphasized the words translation and inspiration trying desperately to make my point. "You do know the difference between the words 'inspiration' and 'translation' right?"
He was incredulous at my argument, "Are you saying the King James Version is not the inspired word of God?"
"Not at all, I'm saying the King James Version is a translation of the inspired word of God. You don't believe your father's translation attempt is the inspired word of God do you?"
"I believe God led my father to translate the KJV..."
"Yes, but you do know there is a huge difference between being led to do something for God and being inspired to write something FROM God, right?"
He couldn't get out of my car fast enough.
There is a difference between translation and inspiration. There is a difference between opinion and conviction. Not all convictions are universal. If you believe God has convicted you to use one version of the bible above all the rest, praise God and stick to your convictions.
The problem lies with the belief that my convictions should be everyone's convictions on every thing under the sun. Herein lies the greatest complaint the world has with modern Christianity and I share that complaint. We must have Godly wisdom to know what battles to fight and what battles to let go of. We must be sensitive to many nuances when conveying truth to the general population. Far too many of us are a subtle as a 50 kiloton nuke when we convey our convictions to others.
Some things are absolutely worth fighting for; the cross, the blood of Christ, the virgin birth, the empty tomb among many others. Some battles are not worth fighting. The War of the Words is one of them. If we were as concerned about ministering the love of Christ to one another as we are about proving our points, things would be much, much different in the church landscape than they are today...
The King James Only (KJO) crowd -vs- the Modern English Translation (MET) crowd has been battling for generations. There's passion and zeal for God's word on both sides of the argument as well as plenty of research and historical information. Opinions and convictions are thrown into the ring as much as the research which makes it difficult to separate fact from fanaticism for your average church attendee. In fact, the average Joe on the street couldn't care less about this fight; they just want to know if/how/when God is going to help them.
One underlying problem I see with this battle is the short-sightedness of the participants. Are we really so focused on our own private little wars that we are failing to see the bigger picture, namely the collateral damage done to the countless souls who have been caught in the crossfire not to mention the damage to the testimony of Jesus Christ in the world? I don't know if you've noticed or not gang, but the world is laughing their collective gluteus maxumuses off at Christianity and for good reason.
A listener e-mailed a story to our show during one of our "Church Stories" segments and they relayed something they saw firsthand at a church. A young unchurched child was chastised by a youth worker for bringing a different version of the Bible to church rather than the "authorized" King James Version. The listener indicated the young child never attended that church again. I can't say I blame him/her.
My purpose for bringing this topic up is not to engage in the battle. My desire is for God's people to S T O P all this pointless bickering and fighting over non-issues. Common sense needs to be re-established into the conversation. People need to learn how to use their God-given brains as well as the Holy Spirit of God's leading when reading the scriptures.
When you read passages of scripture like Isaiah 55:8-11 that speak of God's word not returning to him void, I do not see any addendum or clauses indicating God needs our help in maintaining the integrity of His Word. I fear many of God's soldiers are operating under the same presumption displayed by Israel back in Numbers 14. As I've stated before, too many of God's people are under the assumption their opinions are the same as God's; according to God's Word (Isaiah 55:8) that's rarely (if ever) the case.
I've come to learn God is big enough to keep his word all by himself. Many KJO proponents stress the danger of false doctrines coming up from these new translations. The insinuation is there hasn't ever been any false teachers or false doctrines prior to the NIV, the ASV or "The Message". As long as human beings are involved in the discussion, there is going to be false doctrine being taught; intentional and accidental alike. That isn't the issue. God knows how to protect, prevent and preserve; he's been doing it a long time and He's been doing it without our help.
Are there bad translations of the scriptures out there? Absolutely. Do we need to be careful about what version we read and study? You bet. Should we be dividing the Body of Christ up based on Bible version preferences? Show me the scripture that advocates that action and I'll be the loudest one proclaiming that truth. The fact remains there are plenty of battles to fight without inventing issues and problems. To me, this War of the Words is a non-issue that has escalated to ludicrous proportions.
For those who fall under the KJO banner I'll simply relay this anecdote. As a youth pastor at a church in the Houston area I was asked to "entertain" a young missionary who preached at our church one Sunday night. As I drove him to our dining destination he brought up the subject of Bible versions asking me which version I used. I told him I usually preached out of the KJV simply because that was the pastor's preference but that I studied out of many versions. Well, that set him off on a tirade on the heresy of all other versions except the "authorized" KJV.
After he made his point I asked him which version of the Bible he used at his mission (he was a missionary to a South American country; Peru I believe it was.) He proudly asserted that he used the KJV when he preached at his mission. I asked him if all of his people spoke English. He said "no, they speak various dialects of Spanish".
"So, do these people who do not speak English understand what you are reading when you read the KJV?", I asked him ever so politely.
"No, I use a Spanish translation of the King James Version." He stated and added, somewhat smugly, "My father spent years translating the KJV into Spanish and that's what we use."
"So you're using a translation of the KJV, not the actual KJV of the Bible." I pointed out.
"No, we're using the King James Version of the Bible." I could see his forehead start to furrow a tiny bit.
"Ok, just to be clear, we're talking about a Spanish translation of an English translation of the inspired Word of God that was written in ancient Hebrew/Aramaic/Greek, right?" I emphasized the words translation and inspiration trying desperately to make my point. "You do know the difference between the words 'inspiration' and 'translation' right?"
He was incredulous at my argument, "Are you saying the King James Version is not the inspired word of God?"
"Not at all, I'm saying the King James Version is a translation of the inspired word of God. You don't believe your father's translation attempt is the inspired word of God do you?"
"I believe God led my father to translate the KJV..."
"Yes, but you do know there is a huge difference between being led to do something for God and being inspired to write something FROM God, right?"
He couldn't get out of my car fast enough.
There is a difference between translation and inspiration. There is a difference between opinion and conviction. Not all convictions are universal. If you believe God has convicted you to use one version of the bible above all the rest, praise God and stick to your convictions.
The problem lies with the belief that my convictions should be everyone's convictions on every thing under the sun. Herein lies the greatest complaint the world has with modern Christianity and I share that complaint. We must have Godly wisdom to know what battles to fight and what battles to let go of. We must be sensitive to many nuances when conveying truth to the general population. Far too many of us are a subtle as a 50 kiloton nuke when we convey our convictions to others.
Some things are absolutely worth fighting for; the cross, the blood of Christ, the virgin birth, the empty tomb among many others. Some battles are not worth fighting. The War of the Words is one of them. If we were as concerned about ministering the love of Christ to one another as we are about proving our points, things would be much, much different in the church landscape than they are today...
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Church Wars: Episode 1 - Old Tyme Religion -vs- New Wineskins Part Deux
I'm new to this whole blogger thing. I think I'm reaching the age where "new" technologies don't come as easily to me as it used to. I'm not at the "can't program the clock on the VCR" stage but I have noticed a slight shift in my mentality towards all things "new".
I recognize how hard it is to change our perceptions. As much as I preach about the need to be conformable, I know that as we grow older we just don't bend as easily as we once did. Our muscles don't flex and stretch like they used to; partly due to age but mostly due to lack of use.
The immovability of God's people has done much damage to the Body of Christ. For example, I remember a young couple who started visiting the church I pastored in the mid-90s. These two young souls were typical of the times they were living in; they were living together and had a baby on the way. They were wanting to get married and had chosen our church for the ceremony. When it was known by the powers-that-be in the church that I was planning to marry this couple, I was informed that they needed to "get right with God" before they were to be allowed to use the church building. I recall a speech about our church testimony and the right image and stuff like that.
So, in compliance with these regulations, I introduced the couple to a home-bible study concept and was pleasantly surprised when they agreed to let me come into their home and teach them some Bible lessons. In the course of the lessons, the young couple accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. I, of course, was ecstatic and happily planned for them to be baptized at the next Sunday morning service.
The following Sunday we had a baptism. Now, the tradition of our church was to stand the newly baptized saints in front of the church and have the members line up and welcome them into the family; this was usually accompanied by hugs and words of comfort, encouragement, etc. So, we did that. This young couple stood dripping in the auditorium as their new family members welcomed them into the family of God. It was beautiful.
The next Sunday these new members didn't show up for church. The following week they were absent again. Weeks went by with nary a peep from these two. I called them and got no answer. I went to their house and they were never home (in spite of the fact that their cars were parked out front). Months went by before I finally caught one of them at home. I asked what happened and why they hadn't been back to church since their baptism. The young man hemmed and hawed his way through some weak excuses about new jobs, busy schedules and tired bodies on Sundays but I could tell he was avoiding the real issue.
When he finally got around to telling me what had chased them away my blood boiled. It seems that as these newly converted, freshly baptized babes in Christ were standing in the front of their new church home, several of my well-intentioned but frankly ignorantly stupid saints decided that was the perfect time to instruct them on the church dress codes, moral codes as they pertained to their living conditions, hair styles, codes of conduct and more.
So, instead of being welcomed into the family as newborn babes, they were assaulted by a barrage of rules and regulations that simply did not apply to them at that moment in time. They, naturally, balked at these new restrictions, concluded that Christianity wasn't for them after all and ran for the door as fast as they could. I tried to convince them that what they had seen and heard was not an accurate depiction of God's Word and Christ's church but the damage had been done; I never saw them again.
When I confronted the members who had done this deed the response was a predictable tirade against compromising the Word of God. While I applaud the passion of those who would defend the scriptures, I must point out that there is a wisdom needed by those who would fight for God. Wisdom is knowledge put to proper use. Wisdom knows there is a time to fight and a time to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Wisdom knows when to speak and when to be quiet. Wisdom understands that the time to to bring rebuke to someone is not when they are a brand new baby Christian still dripping wet from their baptism.
When I instructed these folks on the need to change their minds concerning their actions, one brother proudly whipped out Psalm 1 and passionately argued, "What about the scriptures that teach us to be like the tree planted by the waters?" I half expected him to break out into a stirring rendition of "I Shall Not Be Moved". My response to him was to instruct him to keep moving through the Psalms till he got to the tenth one and pay particular attention to verse 6. I also suggested he spend some time with Matthew 15:1-20. I don't think he got the point...
I repeat, the immovable trees in our congregations are not always healthy. People stop studying, stop learning, stop growing and become rooted in place unable to hear from God or see the fresh moves of God in the earth. Many churches have died on the vine because of an unteachable spirit and immovable attitude. I have found that the foundational cause of this mentality of immovability isn't love of God's Word as is commonly touted. The real root of this inflexibility is fear; fear of the unknown, fear of being wrong, fear of being like "those people" across the denominational divide.
I could write/preach on this for the next 1,000 years, but I think the point is obvious. God doesn't change. God's Word doesn't change. God's character doesn't change. God's message doesn't change. God's methods of communicating that message have changed repeatedly over the whole of human history. God's people need wisdom and maturity when tackling issues like this. You can't approach this topic with naked passion and raw zeal; you must have some wisdom and knowledge to go along with those commodities or they will quickly become liabilities (Romans 10:1-2).
As difficult as it may be, we must be willing to flex our muscles and stretch them out lest we become immovable, stagnant and lukewarm towards the move of God. It is very easy to get set in our ways as we grow older. While this malady of immovability is not exclusive to the older generations, far too many of our senior saints have earned the reputation of "old codger/biddy" because of these attitudes and inflexible mentalities. I say this with all the respect due our senior saints; reaching our golden years doesn't give license to become a cranky, inflexible, immmovable grump.
I close this thought with a familiar scripture (Revelation 3:15-16) to remind you that God isn't a big fan of stagnation. Water only becomes stagnant when it stops flowing. The Body of Christ has become stagnant in many ways in our society. For this reason, God is removing candlesticks from His churches (Revelation 2:5) and is shaking things up all across the Body of Christ. It is a very exciting time to be alive as a child of the King. God is moving; if you're not willing to move with Him, you're going to be left on the wrong side of the Jordan river.
If I remember my bible correctly, the only ones who didn't cross the Jordan into the Promised Land were the grumpy ones who would not be moved...
I recognize how hard it is to change our perceptions. As much as I preach about the need to be conformable, I know that as we grow older we just don't bend as easily as we once did. Our muscles don't flex and stretch like they used to; partly due to age but mostly due to lack of use.
The immovability of God's people has done much damage to the Body of Christ. For example, I remember a young couple who started visiting the church I pastored in the mid-90s. These two young souls were typical of the times they were living in; they were living together and had a baby on the way. They were wanting to get married and had chosen our church for the ceremony. When it was known by the powers-that-be in the church that I was planning to marry this couple, I was informed that they needed to "get right with God" before they were to be allowed to use the church building. I recall a speech about our church testimony and the right image and stuff like that.
So, in compliance with these regulations, I introduced the couple to a home-bible study concept and was pleasantly surprised when they agreed to let me come into their home and teach them some Bible lessons. In the course of the lessons, the young couple accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. I, of course, was ecstatic and happily planned for them to be baptized at the next Sunday morning service.
The following Sunday we had a baptism. Now, the tradition of our church was to stand the newly baptized saints in front of the church and have the members line up and welcome them into the family; this was usually accompanied by hugs and words of comfort, encouragement, etc. So, we did that. This young couple stood dripping in the auditorium as their new family members welcomed them into the family of God. It was beautiful.
The next Sunday these new members didn't show up for church. The following week they were absent again. Weeks went by with nary a peep from these two. I called them and got no answer. I went to their house and they were never home (in spite of the fact that their cars were parked out front). Months went by before I finally caught one of them at home. I asked what happened and why they hadn't been back to church since their baptism. The young man hemmed and hawed his way through some weak excuses about new jobs, busy schedules and tired bodies on Sundays but I could tell he was avoiding the real issue.
When he finally got around to telling me what had chased them away my blood boiled. It seems that as these newly converted, freshly baptized babes in Christ were standing in the front of their new church home, several of my well-intentioned but frankly ignorantly stupid saints decided that was the perfect time to instruct them on the church dress codes, moral codes as they pertained to their living conditions, hair styles, codes of conduct and more.
So, instead of being welcomed into the family as newborn babes, they were assaulted by a barrage of rules and regulations that simply did not apply to them at that moment in time. They, naturally, balked at these new restrictions, concluded that Christianity wasn't for them after all and ran for the door as fast as they could. I tried to convince them that what they had seen and heard was not an accurate depiction of God's Word and Christ's church but the damage had been done; I never saw them again.
When I confronted the members who had done this deed the response was a predictable tirade against compromising the Word of God. While I applaud the passion of those who would defend the scriptures, I must point out that there is a wisdom needed by those who would fight for God. Wisdom is knowledge put to proper use. Wisdom knows there is a time to fight and a time to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Wisdom knows when to speak and when to be quiet. Wisdom understands that the time to to bring rebuke to someone is not when they are a brand new baby Christian still dripping wet from their baptism.
When I instructed these folks on the need to change their minds concerning their actions, one brother proudly whipped out Psalm 1 and passionately argued, "What about the scriptures that teach us to be like the tree planted by the waters?" I half expected him to break out into a stirring rendition of "I Shall Not Be Moved". My response to him was to instruct him to keep moving through the Psalms till he got to the tenth one and pay particular attention to verse 6. I also suggested he spend some time with Matthew 15:1-20. I don't think he got the point...
I repeat, the immovable trees in our congregations are not always healthy. People stop studying, stop learning, stop growing and become rooted in place unable to hear from God or see the fresh moves of God in the earth. Many churches have died on the vine because of an unteachable spirit and immovable attitude. I have found that the foundational cause of this mentality of immovability isn't love of God's Word as is commonly touted. The real root of this inflexibility is fear; fear of the unknown, fear of being wrong, fear of being like "those people" across the denominational divide.
I could write/preach on this for the next 1,000 years, but I think the point is obvious. God doesn't change. God's Word doesn't change. God's character doesn't change. God's message doesn't change. God's methods of communicating that message have changed repeatedly over the whole of human history. God's people need wisdom and maturity when tackling issues like this. You can't approach this topic with naked passion and raw zeal; you must have some wisdom and knowledge to go along with those commodities or they will quickly become liabilities (Romans 10:1-2).
As difficult as it may be, we must be willing to flex our muscles and stretch them out lest we become immovable, stagnant and lukewarm towards the move of God. It is very easy to get set in our ways as we grow older. While this malady of immovability is not exclusive to the older generations, far too many of our senior saints have earned the reputation of "old codger/biddy" because of these attitudes and inflexible mentalities. I say this with all the respect due our senior saints; reaching our golden years doesn't give license to become a cranky, inflexible, immmovable grump.
I close this thought with a familiar scripture (Revelation 3:15-16) to remind you that God isn't a big fan of stagnation. Water only becomes stagnant when it stops flowing. The Body of Christ has become stagnant in many ways in our society. For this reason, God is removing candlesticks from His churches (Revelation 2:5) and is shaking things up all across the Body of Christ. It is a very exciting time to be alive as a child of the King. God is moving; if you're not willing to move with Him, you're going to be left on the wrong side of the Jordan river.
If I remember my bible correctly, the only ones who didn't cross the Jordan into the Promised Land were the grumpy ones who would not be moved...
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Church Wars: Episode 1 - Old Tyme Religion -vs- New Wineskins
"CHANGE" is a dirty word in many churches. The concept of changing programs, protocols and procedures in many churches is unthinkable. Far too many of God's people are locked into an immovable mentality because they believe God never changes (Hebrews 13:8).
While it is true that Christ is "the same yesterday, today and forever" it is also true that His methods of reaching people and communicating His message have changed quite frequently over the centuries. It is vital that God's people get this into their spirits; God's Word never changes, God's teachings never change, God's character never changes. The methods by which we minister those things better change or our efforts to reach people will die.
I have been involved in many different churches over the years. All of them were of the Denominational, Evangelical, Autonomous, Fundamental (D.E.A.F.) variety. While it is not true of all, a majority of these D.E.A.F. churches have chosen to lock into an "old wineskin" method of ministry while pining away for that "Old Tyme Religion". The sad fact is many of God's people are guilty of being willingly ignorant of the obvious; many of our methods aren't working like they used to.
For example, one of the first things I changed at the church I currently pastor was to put an end to Sunday evening services. They were scarcely attended when compared to the Sunday morning crowd and the only way I knew how to communicate the need for more attendance was to try to manipulate them to come through shaming tactics (If you don't come to Sunday Night Service, you're a bad Christian).
I remember I was fretting over how to compel more people to come to Sunday night service when a thought hit me; why do we even have Sunday night service? What purpose does it serve? It was basically just another church service, just like the one we had that morning. Different sermon subject but same format, same process, same 'ol, same 'ol. It really served no purpose other than to fulfill some format that had been started back in '40s and '50s (if not sooner) to help facilitate the farming communities of that period.
I quickly started looking at our ministries and using the "is this ministry accomplishing anything" philosophy I began to whittle away at the time honored traditions of our church that weren't doing anything except filling a time slot on the church calendar.
This kind of thinking can be scary. For some, to recognize when ministry methods have run its course is to acknowledge the end of an era in our nation's history that many people wish we could go back to. The older we get the more we romanticize the past. I know many people who wish it was still 1940 or 1950. Sure those were good times in some ways, but it is foolish to believe there weren't morality and sin problems in those days.
Sin has always been around and God is in the business of forgiving sinners and redeeming the lost. He'll use any method that isn't contradictory to His clearly written Word and if a method exists that doesn't do the job, He's got no problem changing it. Don't believe me? Check out Acts 10. Peter had a hard time learning the lesson that God is a God of change.
In our efforts to expose the elephants in our auditoriums, I have found the church's resistance to accepting God's fresh moves on the earth to be one of the foundational problems in our churches today. God's people must learn to discern when God says "Time to move". We must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Our Great Shepherd is not content to let us sit beside the still waters and lay in the green pastures. There is a season for that to be sure but eventually God will compel His children to move. It is heartbreaking to me to watch once great churches slowly whither and die on the vine simply because the people had a mind to sit on their "blessed assurance" instead of having a mind to "Occupy till [He] comes".
We must not be afraid to change...but only when GOD is the author of the change. (to be continued)
While it is true that Christ is "the same yesterday, today and forever" it is also true that His methods of reaching people and communicating His message have changed quite frequently over the centuries. It is vital that God's people get this into their spirits; God's Word never changes, God's teachings never change, God's character never changes. The methods by which we minister those things better change or our efforts to reach people will die.
I have been involved in many different churches over the years. All of them were of the Denominational, Evangelical, Autonomous, Fundamental (D.E.A.F.) variety. While it is not true of all, a majority of these D.E.A.F. churches have chosen to lock into an "old wineskin" method of ministry while pining away for that "Old Tyme Religion". The sad fact is many of God's people are guilty of being willingly ignorant of the obvious; many of our methods aren't working like they used to.
For example, one of the first things I changed at the church I currently pastor was to put an end to Sunday evening services. They were scarcely attended when compared to the Sunday morning crowd and the only way I knew how to communicate the need for more attendance was to try to manipulate them to come through shaming tactics (If you don't come to Sunday Night Service, you're a bad Christian).
I remember I was fretting over how to compel more people to come to Sunday night service when a thought hit me; why do we even have Sunday night service? What purpose does it serve? It was basically just another church service, just like the one we had that morning. Different sermon subject but same format, same process, same 'ol, same 'ol. It really served no purpose other than to fulfill some format that had been started back in '40s and '50s (if not sooner) to help facilitate the farming communities of that period.
I quickly started looking at our ministries and using the "is this ministry accomplishing anything" philosophy I began to whittle away at the time honored traditions of our church that weren't doing anything except filling a time slot on the church calendar.
This kind of thinking can be scary. For some, to recognize when ministry methods have run its course is to acknowledge the end of an era in our nation's history that many people wish we could go back to. The older we get the more we romanticize the past. I know many people who wish it was still 1940 or 1950. Sure those were good times in some ways, but it is foolish to believe there weren't morality and sin problems in those days.
Sin has always been around and God is in the business of forgiving sinners and redeeming the lost. He'll use any method that isn't contradictory to His clearly written Word and if a method exists that doesn't do the job, He's got no problem changing it. Don't believe me? Check out Acts 10. Peter had a hard time learning the lesson that God is a God of change.
In our efforts to expose the elephants in our auditoriums, I have found the church's resistance to accepting God's fresh moves on the earth to be one of the foundational problems in our churches today. God's people must learn to discern when God says "Time to move". We must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Our Great Shepherd is not content to let us sit beside the still waters and lay in the green pastures. There is a season for that to be sure but eventually God will compel His children to move. It is heartbreaking to me to watch once great churches slowly whither and die on the vine simply because the people had a mind to sit on their "blessed assurance" instead of having a mind to "Occupy till [He] comes".
We must not be afraid to change...but only when GOD is the author of the change. (to be continued)
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