I've had a difficult time writing this string of blog entries. There is a fine line that I walk whenever I talk about personal issues; particularly issues that I'm still battling with. Most people have a certain image of pastors that they want cultivated and kept in pristine condition. Pastors are supposed to have their stuff together. They aren't supposed to struggle with the issues that plague everybody else. After all, we pastors promote a lifestyle of spiritual and emotional maturity with every sermon we preach. It is disillusioning when we discover our heroes have chinks in their armor. So, to prevent disillusionment, we'll play these image games with one another.
I hate the mind-games that have infiltrated modern Western Christianity. God, in his divine wisdom, decided to include very human flaws and weaknesses in every single Biblical narrative of even the most faithful man or woman of God. Noah has his vineyard, David has his Bathsheba, Elijah his juniper tree and even Joseph has his breakfast table confessional that really puts the nail in the coffin between he and his brothers. It is only in modern Christianity that we play these image games with one another. You know the game where we pretend everything is peachy keen when we're in a corporate setting but privately we're anything but. This practice is also known as "lying".
Pastors are the worst about this. We're taught in our seminary training to manufacture and maintain an image of maturity whether we are really that mature in our thinking or not. Again, the people have come to expect this of their spiritual leaders and we pastors are more than happy to work on maintaining this facade rather than work on really becoming spiritually and emotionally mature.
I learned a long time ago that playing games like this will eventually kill you. I've seen many great men of God go down in flames simply because they were deluded into playing these mind-games rather than simply working on their personality and character issues. James taught us to "confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed" (James 5:16). Pastors are no different than anyone else in the congregation; we have hurts that need healing too. God's process of healing calls for brutal honesty, first with ourselves and eventually with others in the church.
As a pastor, I have no problem confessing my faults with people. I struggle with the same soul-sickness that you all struggle with. I battle with sexual lust, laziness, selfishness and pride issues just like everyone else. Lately, my biggest battle has been an emotional one; I battle with depression on a daily basis. The enemy of our souls knows my specific weaknesses and he's been hammering on my button like crazy lately.
Now, it has been my experience that many church attendees have problems with leaders who are so open with their battles. This is the line that I tightrope walk across on a regular basis. How much is too much confession? James didn't say "confess your faults to everybody in the church". Frankly, not everyone is spiritually and/or emotionally mature enough to follow a flawed leader.
If that describes you, then you probably need to quit reading the next blog entry. Don't worry, I'll be getting back onto some less uncomfortable elephants in our auditoriums in the near future so you don't have to delete this site from your bookmarks just yet (this site IS bookmarked, right?).
If you haven't discovered by now, I'm not your average pastor. I don't pretend. If I don't know the answer to a biblical question, I'll tell you "I don't know". If I have issues with you, I'll tell you what they are and work hard to find a way to repair the issue and restore fellowship with my brethren. If I'm struggling with things to the point that it is negatively affecting my walk, I'll share that too. Such is the case with this "Back To Beth-El" string of blogs. The next blog entry is going to be very, very personal.
So, here's your final warning; if you can't handle a pastor sharing personal struggles and character flaws, you don't want to read the next blog entry. But, if you want to see the inner workings of a Christian's mind as he battles with character issues and flaws, then feel free to join me in a couple of days. My desire in sharing this stuff isn't to gain pity or even a following. I just want to be used of God to bring healing to the broken hearted. God's got a process for doing that and I'm walking it right now. It is a very personal process filled with difficult choices. But God is able to set us all free of our personal prisons, if we'll let him. I hope he'll use my experience to set some of you free as well.
But to do that, a pastor has to shed the image and get "real" with the people.
You have been warned true believers...
Friday, August 15, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
Back to Beth-el: Part 2
The scene was familiar to the young pastor; he’d seen it several times as a lay member, but this time it wasn’t happening to his pastor…it was happening to him. The congregation was split and people were furiously calling for his head on a platter. You could cut the tension with a knife. The music director tried, vainly it turned out, to get the people to focus on worshiping God instead of their anger and desire for revenge. It was a valiant effort but ultimately fruitless. The young pastor knew he was in trouble because there were more people in attendance this Sunday night than had been in months; some in attendance weren’t even members of the church. The phone lines had been burning for weeks. The stage had been set. All of the players had gone “all in” and were ready to lay their cards on the table.
There were two clearly defined groups divided by the center aisle of the auditorium. One faction wanted the pastor to answer for his “crimes” before he was run out of town on a rail. The other faction was firmly on the pastor’s side; a few because they liked the pastor but most because they didn’t like the members of the opposing group. The worship service continued; every hymn brought the showdown closer. The young pastor could feel his pulse racing. He looked out onto the crowd of people and watched their faces. He found it amazing that they could sing these hymns that spoke of God’s grace and mercy all while plotting to remove him and his family. Their faces told the whole story. He closed his eyes and felt the last fragments of his battle scarred heart shatter into pieces.
The pastor was an emotional wreck. He’d been preaching to, praying over and fighting and feuding with this group of disgruntled members for over 3 years in a vain attempt to end the gossip and the judgmental backbiting. He learned too late that the root of bitterness runs deep and many of God’s children will fight to the death to keep that root healthy. What had started as very minor differences of opinion had now escalated into a full fledged turf war. All of his charm, his efforts, his sermons and his prayers had done nothing to prevent the inevitable public battle.
The song service ended and the worship minister turned the pulpit over to the embattled Pastor. He sat in his seat on the stage trying desperately to find a way to avoid what he knew was coming. He wondered why God was so silent. Was He really going to allow this travesty to continue? After several long minutes of silence the young man finally took his place behind the “sacred desk”. He half-heartedly ran through the announcements and prayer requests before leading them in a prayer. He had barely uttered the text for that night’s sermon when the deacon raised his hand and asked for permission to address the church. The old World War II veteran, survivor of Normandy and many subsequent military campaigns in Europe, slowly made his way to the stage to fire the first round of the night’s battle. The young pastor took his seat on the stage as the group of angry church members began the longest church service of his life.
The pain was indescribable. These were people he loved; widows whom he had visited, done yard work, electrical repair and other tasks for without a thought of recompense or reward. Now they were accusing him of verbal abuse, financial abuse and heretical teaching in their beloved church. One of these spiritual lynchers was a middle aged woman who had hosted the church’s weekly home bible studies over the last year. Now she was accusing the pastor of crimes of negligence and financial impropriety. The deacon standing at the pulpit was the spokesman for the group. He spoke with barely contained anger of the pastor’s mistreatment of the church widows and thinly veiled accusations of financial corruption. The agony of hearing these people angrily accuse him was more than the pastor could stand. He could feel his broken heart hardening with every word they spoke. The final bricks of a psychological wall of self-preservation were being laid with every tick of the clock.
The evening ended with high drama. A hastily called for vote of confidence (which the pastor won) was followed by an ugly mass exit of the group of bitter head hunters who wasted no time in calling the local police to come to the church and investigate charges of abuse of the elderly by this young upstart of a pastor and his followers. The police came and went without much incident due to a church full of witnesses who testified that the only ones guilty of abuse were the ones who had called them. When the police were gone, there was a celebration by those who were left as if a major victory had been won. The only one not celebrating was the pastor. Only he seemed to see what had just happened. No one had won anything and the church was now in shambles.
It wouldn’t take long for those who had supported the pastor that fateful night to see what he saw. Vows of allegiance and faithfulness were quickly and quietly forgotten as the ugly reality of rebuilding a shattered group of people with a damaged reputation in the community into a spiritual powerhouse for God’s kingdom set in. The young pastor was disillusioned, discouraged and frankly, bitterly angry at God and his people…ALL of them. It wasn’t just this heartbreak; it was all the years of watching God’s people in many different churches fight and split over curtain colors or music styles or some other mundane issue that did not matter in light of the eternal kingdom of God. It didn’t take long for the pity party to start in the young pastor’s heart. His dreams and goals of ministerial success had gone out the door with those angry, hard-hearted church members and he felt betrayed, abused and abandoned.
Where was God? Why had God allowed this horrible night to happen? Where was the fire from heaven or the splitting of the earth to swallow these stiff-necked rebels? Where were the legions of angels come to protect the embattled servant of God? Heck, he’d take a fat, lazy guardian angel at this point. God’s silence was deafening and the pastor concluded through his pain that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was either a sadistic liar or did not exist at all. He was stranded on an island of despair with a ragtag group of immature, carnal Christians who were as dependable as a broken clock in terms of rebuilding a church. His faith had been in vain and the God who swore to “never leave or forsake” him had done just that. He had called him to this church, placed him in this pulpit and then left him to be eaten alive by these sharks in sheep’s clothing. The horrifying truth was too much for him to bear and at age 29, after 8 years in full time pastoral ministry in two different churches, the pastor bitterly resigned and vowed he would never stand behind another pulpit in another church for the rest of his natural born life.
Thankfully the story did not end there. Although the young pastor had years of prodigal rebellion and suicidal depression to get through, God was not finished with him; not by a long shot. What this disillusioned young man did not realize was that he had just completed a course at Real Life University (R.L.U.). I wouldn’t say I passed the course with flying colors, but I did learn a few things; in fact, truth told, I’m still learning from that experience.
One of the things I learned is if you are not careful, you will become the very beast you are battling. I am still humbled at how quickly I transformed into a bitterly angry man and how close I came to throwing my life away and becoming exactly like those I was railing against. I will never stop flooding my Refuge and my Strength with praises and eternal gratitude for rescuing me from myself. But, that was not the most important thing I learned from that night.
I had a counselor tell me that there would come a day when I would be thankful for the events of that night. He told me that instead of anger and hate, I would feel pity and godly love for people who wouldn’t have lost an hour’s sleep if they had succeeded in throwing me and my family out on the street that very night. Of course, at the time, I thought he was insane and told him so in as ugly a way as I could think of. But I can confess to you now that the man knew what he was talking about. I am more thankful now than ever for those people and that fateful evening because a funny thing happened to me after the longest church service of my life…
…I met God.
to be concluded...
There were two clearly defined groups divided by the center aisle of the auditorium. One faction wanted the pastor to answer for his “crimes” before he was run out of town on a rail. The other faction was firmly on the pastor’s side; a few because they liked the pastor but most because they didn’t like the members of the opposing group. The worship service continued; every hymn brought the showdown closer. The young pastor could feel his pulse racing. He looked out onto the crowd of people and watched their faces. He found it amazing that they could sing these hymns that spoke of God’s grace and mercy all while plotting to remove him and his family. Their faces told the whole story. He closed his eyes and felt the last fragments of his battle scarred heart shatter into pieces.
The pastor was an emotional wreck. He’d been preaching to, praying over and fighting and feuding with this group of disgruntled members for over 3 years in a vain attempt to end the gossip and the judgmental backbiting. He learned too late that the root of bitterness runs deep and many of God’s children will fight to the death to keep that root healthy. What had started as very minor differences of opinion had now escalated into a full fledged turf war. All of his charm, his efforts, his sermons and his prayers had done nothing to prevent the inevitable public battle.
The song service ended and the worship minister turned the pulpit over to the embattled Pastor. He sat in his seat on the stage trying desperately to find a way to avoid what he knew was coming. He wondered why God was so silent. Was He really going to allow this travesty to continue? After several long minutes of silence the young man finally took his place behind the “sacred desk”. He half-heartedly ran through the announcements and prayer requests before leading them in a prayer. He had barely uttered the text for that night’s sermon when the deacon raised his hand and asked for permission to address the church. The old World War II veteran, survivor of Normandy and many subsequent military campaigns in Europe, slowly made his way to the stage to fire the first round of the night’s battle. The young pastor took his seat on the stage as the group of angry church members began the longest church service of his life.
The pain was indescribable. These were people he loved; widows whom he had visited, done yard work, electrical repair and other tasks for without a thought of recompense or reward. Now they were accusing him of verbal abuse, financial abuse and heretical teaching in their beloved church. One of these spiritual lynchers was a middle aged woman who had hosted the church’s weekly home bible studies over the last year. Now she was accusing the pastor of crimes of negligence and financial impropriety. The deacon standing at the pulpit was the spokesman for the group. He spoke with barely contained anger of the pastor’s mistreatment of the church widows and thinly veiled accusations of financial corruption. The agony of hearing these people angrily accuse him was more than the pastor could stand. He could feel his broken heart hardening with every word they spoke. The final bricks of a psychological wall of self-preservation were being laid with every tick of the clock.
The evening ended with high drama. A hastily called for vote of confidence (which the pastor won) was followed by an ugly mass exit of the group of bitter head hunters who wasted no time in calling the local police to come to the church and investigate charges of abuse of the elderly by this young upstart of a pastor and his followers. The police came and went without much incident due to a church full of witnesses who testified that the only ones guilty of abuse were the ones who had called them. When the police were gone, there was a celebration by those who were left as if a major victory had been won. The only one not celebrating was the pastor. Only he seemed to see what had just happened. No one had won anything and the church was now in shambles.
It wouldn’t take long for those who had supported the pastor that fateful night to see what he saw. Vows of allegiance and faithfulness were quickly and quietly forgotten as the ugly reality of rebuilding a shattered group of people with a damaged reputation in the community into a spiritual powerhouse for God’s kingdom set in. The young pastor was disillusioned, discouraged and frankly, bitterly angry at God and his people…ALL of them. It wasn’t just this heartbreak; it was all the years of watching God’s people in many different churches fight and split over curtain colors or music styles or some other mundane issue that did not matter in light of the eternal kingdom of God. It didn’t take long for the pity party to start in the young pastor’s heart. His dreams and goals of ministerial success had gone out the door with those angry, hard-hearted church members and he felt betrayed, abused and abandoned.
Where was God? Why had God allowed this horrible night to happen? Where was the fire from heaven or the splitting of the earth to swallow these stiff-necked rebels? Where were the legions of angels come to protect the embattled servant of God? Heck, he’d take a fat, lazy guardian angel at this point. God’s silence was deafening and the pastor concluded through his pain that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was either a sadistic liar or did not exist at all. He was stranded on an island of despair with a ragtag group of immature, carnal Christians who were as dependable as a broken clock in terms of rebuilding a church. His faith had been in vain and the God who swore to “never leave or forsake” him had done just that. He had called him to this church, placed him in this pulpit and then left him to be eaten alive by these sharks in sheep’s clothing. The horrifying truth was too much for him to bear and at age 29, after 8 years in full time pastoral ministry in two different churches, the pastor bitterly resigned and vowed he would never stand behind another pulpit in another church for the rest of his natural born life.
Thankfully the story did not end there. Although the young pastor had years of prodigal rebellion and suicidal depression to get through, God was not finished with him; not by a long shot. What this disillusioned young man did not realize was that he had just completed a course at Real Life University (R.L.U.). I wouldn’t say I passed the course with flying colors, but I did learn a few things; in fact, truth told, I’m still learning from that experience.
One of the things I learned is if you are not careful, you will become the very beast you are battling. I am still humbled at how quickly I transformed into a bitterly angry man and how close I came to throwing my life away and becoming exactly like those I was railing against. I will never stop flooding my Refuge and my Strength with praises and eternal gratitude for rescuing me from myself. But, that was not the most important thing I learned from that night.
I had a counselor tell me that there would come a day when I would be thankful for the events of that night. He told me that instead of anger and hate, I would feel pity and godly love for people who wouldn’t have lost an hour’s sleep if they had succeeded in throwing me and my family out on the street that very night. Of course, at the time, I thought he was insane and told him so in as ugly a way as I could think of. But I can confess to you now that the man knew what he was talking about. I am more thankful now than ever for those people and that fateful evening because a funny thing happened to me after the longest church service of my life…
…I met God.
to be concluded...
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Back to Beth-el
"Then God said to Jacob, Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau." - Genesis 35:1
If you're a true believer in Jesus Christ, you've had a Beth-el experience. Beth-el was the place where God introduced himself to Jacob in a very real and personal way. You can read Jacob's experience with God in Genesis 28. After receiving a vision and a promise from the God of his fathers Jacob awoke, built an altar to God and named the place Beth-el which means, "house of God" in Hebrew.
After a lifetime of choices, both good and bad, God spoke to Jacob in Genesis 35:1 instructing him to "go to Beth-el". God's desire was to reintegrate Himself into Jacob's life in order to bring Him into his divine destiny. For that to happen, Jacob had to remove the physical contaminants that had infiltrated his household. In Genesis 35:2, Jacob instructed everyone in his realm of influence to remove the false gods and idols.
What Beth-el represents is a place of holy identification, sanctification and specification. It is place where God orders our steps, gives us our divine identity and equips us to move into His destiny for us.
Far too many of God's people are perpetual wilderness wanderers. The "wilderness" is that spiritual emptiness where our prayers are empty, our bible study is empty, our service is empty. This emptiness in the "inner man/woman" cannot be filled by going through the motions of church attendance or service. To a wilderness wanderer the house of God can become a burden instead of a joy. Attending church becomes a chore, a duty or, in the case of ministers, a job instead of a calling. I know as a pastor I have found myself so busy planning programs and managing ministries that I lose all sense of spirituality. Like Martha, we can become so busy serving that we cannot receive any spiritual renewal.
You throw a lifetime of wilderness wandering at someone and you can easily see why there are so many empty, miserable "Christians" in our churches. I've been to many churches that were filled with miserable Christians. As a young man I puzzled over this phenomenon; how could an experience like true Christianity produce so many unhappy people? After all, the Word of God is supposed to be a beacon of hope, a source of joy and a life-changing message of grace, love and eternal life. How could so many people profess to believe the words in this book only to live in a state of perpetual unhappiness?
Then I found myself in the wilderness. No, scratch that, I actually passed up the wilderness and descended into my own personal hell. As a matter of fact, it has been exactly ten years as of this writing since my life took a horrendous turn for the worst.
Ten years ago, I was one of these miserably redeemed souls. I had no joy, no hope and no future as far as I was concerned. I was depressed beyond words, suicidal to the point of very nearly carrying out my darkest thoughts. The demons of hell had been unleashed to torment me and I found myself immersed in a world of darkness that I thought would never end.
All of this was happening to me while I was serving in the body of Christ. I was preaching and teaching the word of God to others but was not anywhere close to walking or believing any of what I was speaking. I was living a lie. You may be surprised to know there are quite a large number of God's servants living this same lie; unable to reconcile what they have seen and experienced in life with the words they read in this book. If God truly loves us then why...
God instructed Jacob to return to the place where He had introduced Himself to his wandering servant. The context of the initial meeting is summarized for us in Genesis 35:1 with these words: "...who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau." Jacob was on the run because of His own choices and actions. Jacob had no one to blame for his predicament except himself. He had lied, cheated and stolen what was not his to have. He was fleeing the reaping of his personal whirlwind when God showed up. God didn't show up to rescue him from his brother's wrath; God did something better. He gave him a future. He showed him his divine destiny. He gave him hope, faith and peace in the middle of a very difficult storm.
God's done that with most of us. All of us can point to our own Beth-el experience with God. The place where God shared His future for us. The place where God was transformed from an impersonal, faceless deity figure in the spiritual realm to a personal savior ready for a relationship with you.
It is amazing how life can dim the memory of our Beth-el. It's amazing how fast we can forget what God has revealed to us. It is equally amazing how fast we can fall from building altars to Jehovah to filling our lives with false gods and idols.
I had a return to Beth-el experience last week that I want to share with you. God blindsided me with an experience that I'm honestly still processing. So stay tuned true believers; it may be time for you to join me in returning to your own personal Beth-el...
If you're a true believer in Jesus Christ, you've had a Beth-el experience. Beth-el was the place where God introduced himself to Jacob in a very real and personal way. You can read Jacob's experience with God in Genesis 28. After receiving a vision and a promise from the God of his fathers Jacob awoke, built an altar to God and named the place Beth-el which means, "house of God" in Hebrew.
After a lifetime of choices, both good and bad, God spoke to Jacob in Genesis 35:1 instructing him to "go to Beth-el". God's desire was to reintegrate Himself into Jacob's life in order to bring Him into his divine destiny. For that to happen, Jacob had to remove the physical contaminants that had infiltrated his household. In Genesis 35:2, Jacob instructed everyone in his realm of influence to remove the false gods and idols.
What Beth-el represents is a place of holy identification, sanctification and specification. It is place where God orders our steps, gives us our divine identity and equips us to move into His destiny for us.
Far too many of God's people are perpetual wilderness wanderers. The "wilderness" is that spiritual emptiness where our prayers are empty, our bible study is empty, our service is empty. This emptiness in the "inner man/woman" cannot be filled by going through the motions of church attendance or service. To a wilderness wanderer the house of God can become a burden instead of a joy. Attending church becomes a chore, a duty or, in the case of ministers, a job instead of a calling. I know as a pastor I have found myself so busy planning programs and managing ministries that I lose all sense of spirituality. Like Martha, we can become so busy serving that we cannot receive any spiritual renewal.
You throw a lifetime of wilderness wandering at someone and you can easily see why there are so many empty, miserable "Christians" in our churches. I've been to many churches that were filled with miserable Christians. As a young man I puzzled over this phenomenon; how could an experience like true Christianity produce so many unhappy people? After all, the Word of God is supposed to be a beacon of hope, a source of joy and a life-changing message of grace, love and eternal life. How could so many people profess to believe the words in this book only to live in a state of perpetual unhappiness?
Then I found myself in the wilderness. No, scratch that, I actually passed up the wilderness and descended into my own personal hell. As a matter of fact, it has been exactly ten years as of this writing since my life took a horrendous turn for the worst.
Ten years ago, I was one of these miserably redeemed souls. I had no joy, no hope and no future as far as I was concerned. I was depressed beyond words, suicidal to the point of very nearly carrying out my darkest thoughts. The demons of hell had been unleashed to torment me and I found myself immersed in a world of darkness that I thought would never end.
All of this was happening to me while I was serving in the body of Christ. I was preaching and teaching the word of God to others but was not anywhere close to walking or believing any of what I was speaking. I was living a lie. You may be surprised to know there are quite a large number of God's servants living this same lie; unable to reconcile what they have seen and experienced in life with the words they read in this book. If God truly loves us then why...
God instructed Jacob to return to the place where He had introduced Himself to his wandering servant. The context of the initial meeting is summarized for us in Genesis 35:1 with these words: "...who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau." Jacob was on the run because of His own choices and actions. Jacob had no one to blame for his predicament except himself. He had lied, cheated and stolen what was not his to have. He was fleeing the reaping of his personal whirlwind when God showed up. God didn't show up to rescue him from his brother's wrath; God did something better. He gave him a future. He showed him his divine destiny. He gave him hope, faith and peace in the middle of a very difficult storm.
God's done that with most of us. All of us can point to our own Beth-el experience with God. The place where God shared His future for us. The place where God was transformed from an impersonal, faceless deity figure in the spiritual realm to a personal savior ready for a relationship with you.
It is amazing how life can dim the memory of our Beth-el. It's amazing how fast we can forget what God has revealed to us. It is equally amazing how fast we can fall from building altars to Jehovah to filling our lives with false gods and idols.
I had a return to Beth-el experience last week that I want to share with you. God blindsided me with an experience that I'm honestly still processing. So stay tuned true believers; it may be time for you to join me in returning to your own personal Beth-el...
We've got a special guest this week...
...special musical guest, Dixie Trahan. If you'd like to learn more about Dixie check her out at at her website.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
"Here I Am To Sing Karaoke..."
"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near [me] with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:" - Isaiah 29:13
We return to the subject of "worship" this weekend with special musical guest "Canopy". If you've been listening to the program since we began in January of this year you know we've touched on this subject. I've not "blogged" on it but we have discussed the controversy in the Body of Christ concerning musical preferences in our worship services. I'll not rehash old thoughts....ah, what the heck, sure I will.
One Sunday night at my second pastorate I was leading the congregation in a rousing rendition of a very popular old hymn, "Victory In Jesus". Right in the middle of the chorus, one of my more opinionated senior saints walked out of the service. I assumed she had become ill and needed to get home so I waited till the next day to visit with her and make sure she was OK. When she met me at the door I knew I was in trouble.
She laid into me because I had changed the tempo of a section of the chorus. I didn't change the words. I didn't change the melody. I changed the tempo in a very minute section of the chorus. She was incensed that I had made a change to one of her favorite hymns. I, of course, became incensed that this woman who was old enough to be my grandmother was throwing a temper tantrum fit for a 5 year old over something this petty.
There's been a musical civil war in the Body of Christ for generations. As a pastor, I've lost more people over music preferences than anything I've done over the last 20 years of pastoring. Most people are very opinionated; especially about music. I've actually taken phone calls from people who are looking for a church to attend and the first question they ask me isn't about doctrines or ministry opportunities, it's about music. I've lost a ton of people who like the preaching, the ministry and the spirit of the church but can't stay because we play contemporary choruses as well as hymns.
In my opinion, this attitude is childishly ridiculous. If you are basing your church attendance choices on something as shallow and petty as music styles you are completely missing the point of church. As a matter of fact, if you are a person who believes the style of music in a worship service is the most important thing to God then you need to read Isaiah 1. Go ahead, I'll wait for you...
Worship isn't about music or rituals or religious practices. Worship is about the focus of our attention. What are you focused on when you sing your favorite hymns or choruses? I know well intentioned people who do not worship God during "worship service". It is amazing to me how many of us has blown through a music service singing our favorite psalms/hymns/spiritual songs without actually focusing our attention on God at all.
I've often suggested we change the words to some of our hymns and choruses to better reflect the attitude of the majority of church attendees in the name of truthfulness and complete honesty. I've got a few suggestions to get the ball rolling: I Surrender Some; Open My Eyes (Because It's Sunday Morning), Lord; Here I Am To Sing Karaoke"; or It Is Well With My Soul So Long As The Church Leaders Do What I Want And Expend All Efforts To Keep Me Happy While I'm At Church just to name a few.
The musical civil war that's been fought in the name of God in countless churches over the generations is a tragedy when you consider the fact that God doesn't care about musical styles as much as he cares about the attitude of our hearts. God's glory isn't limited to your favorite musical genre. I've seen God glorified in hip-hop/rap music as well as Southern Gospel quartet music. I've also seen God's name sullied by the same genres and everything else in between. It isn't about the tempo, it's about the attitude.
God's not looking for the perfect tune, the right rhythm or the right musical talent level. He's got angels who do nothing but sing to him 24/7; do you think he's impressed with our musical talents and abilities? What God is looking for are "true worshipers" (John 4:23). He's seeking for people who are seeking for him. He wants more Davids who are men and women "after my heart". That phrase isn't talking about people who are most like God; it describes people who are chasing after God with everything they have.
I pray this elephant in the auditoriums gets put down once and for all within my lifetime. I'm sick of seeing churches split over music styles. I weary of seeing local bodies divide between contemporary and traditional worship styles. These petty arguments need to end. We are one body worshiping one Lord. May we learn how to worship together in one voice regardless of what the band is playing.
We return to the subject of "worship" this weekend with special musical guest "Canopy". If you've been listening to the program since we began in January of this year you know we've touched on this subject. I've not "blogged" on it but we have discussed the controversy in the Body of Christ concerning musical preferences in our worship services. I'll not rehash old thoughts....ah, what the heck, sure I will.
One Sunday night at my second pastorate I was leading the congregation in a rousing rendition of a very popular old hymn, "Victory In Jesus". Right in the middle of the chorus, one of my more opinionated senior saints walked out of the service. I assumed she had become ill and needed to get home so I waited till the next day to visit with her and make sure she was OK. When she met me at the door I knew I was in trouble.
She laid into me because I had changed the tempo of a section of the chorus. I didn't change the words. I didn't change the melody. I changed the tempo in a very minute section of the chorus. She was incensed that I had made a change to one of her favorite hymns. I, of course, became incensed that this woman who was old enough to be my grandmother was throwing a temper tantrum fit for a 5 year old over something this petty.
There's been a musical civil war in the Body of Christ for generations. As a pastor, I've lost more people over music preferences than anything I've done over the last 20 years of pastoring. Most people are very opinionated; especially about music. I've actually taken phone calls from people who are looking for a church to attend and the first question they ask me isn't about doctrines or ministry opportunities, it's about music. I've lost a ton of people who like the preaching, the ministry and the spirit of the church but can't stay because we play contemporary choruses as well as hymns.
In my opinion, this attitude is childishly ridiculous. If you are basing your church attendance choices on something as shallow and petty as music styles you are completely missing the point of church. As a matter of fact, if you are a person who believes the style of music in a worship service is the most important thing to God then you need to read Isaiah 1. Go ahead, I'll wait for you...
Worship isn't about music or rituals or religious practices. Worship is about the focus of our attention. What are you focused on when you sing your favorite hymns or choruses? I know well intentioned people who do not worship God during "worship service". It is amazing to me how many of us has blown through a music service singing our favorite psalms/hymns/spiritual songs without actually focusing our attention on God at all.
I've often suggested we change the words to some of our hymns and choruses to better reflect the attitude of the majority of church attendees in the name of truthfulness and complete honesty. I've got a few suggestions to get the ball rolling: I Surrender Some; Open My Eyes (Because It's Sunday Morning), Lord; Here I Am To Sing Karaoke"; or It Is Well With My Soul So Long As The Church Leaders Do What I Want And Expend All Efforts To Keep Me Happy While I'm At Church just to name a few.
The musical civil war that's been fought in the name of God in countless churches over the generations is a tragedy when you consider the fact that God doesn't care about musical styles as much as he cares about the attitude of our hearts. God's glory isn't limited to your favorite musical genre. I've seen God glorified in hip-hop/rap music as well as Southern Gospel quartet music. I've also seen God's name sullied by the same genres and everything else in between. It isn't about the tempo, it's about the attitude.
God's not looking for the perfect tune, the right rhythm or the right musical talent level. He's got angels who do nothing but sing to him 24/7; do you think he's impressed with our musical talents and abilities? What God is looking for are "true worshipers" (John 4:23). He's seeking for people who are seeking for him. He wants more Davids who are men and women "after my heart". That phrase isn't talking about people who are most like God; it describes people who are chasing after God with everything they have.
I pray this elephant in the auditoriums gets put down once and for all within my lifetime. I'm sick of seeing churches split over music styles. I weary of seeing local bodies divide between contemporary and traditional worship styles. These petty arguments need to end. We are one body worshiping one Lord. May we learn how to worship together in one voice regardless of what the band is playing.
Friday, July 11, 2008
The Real Prosperity Gospel
"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." - Joshua 1:8
OK, if you've been involved in evangelical Christianity for any amount of time during the last decade or two you've at least heard of the body of doctrines called THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL (PG). It's also been called the "Name It And Claim It" doctrine or any variation on that theme. In the event that you aren't familiar with this teaching, I'll give you the Reader's Digest version:
The PG's basic foundation is built on the reaping and sowing teaching that is actually found in scriptures (Job 4:8; Hosea 8:7; Galatians 6:7). The PG teacher will use this concept and marry it to the tithing and giving scriptures (Matthew 7:11; Luke 6:38; among many others) creating a concept that is very attractive to a materialist driven society like ours. You want to be successful and prosperous? Give and God will reward you 1000-fold. You want to be rich and have nice things? Sow "seed" (ie. money) into [insert your ministry here] and you'll receive your heart's desires. God wants to give you good gifts; He's just waiting for you to name your gift and claim it by planting seeds of prosperity into God's Kingdom.
You need two things in order to separate the lies from the truth in this teaching. Number One: You need a good understanding of God's Word...ALL of God's Word. I find this is a serious deficiency in a majority of churches that needs to be rectified. More on that later.
Number Two: You need to understand how the enemy of our souls operates. Satan LOVES to mix his lies with JUST enough truth to make it palatable to the spiritually undernourished. A primer of Satan's tactics can be found in Genesis 3 with his deception of Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Prosperity Gospel is a textbook example of one of Satan's favorite "wiles".
Somebody smart once said, "only a fool gives money to a rich man". In the case of most of these PG teachers, that is exactly the case. I have a real problem with pastors and churches who "reap" millions of dollars only to spend a fraction of that money on actual ministry needs like what is mentioned in scriptures (Mark 9:41; James 1:27). In other words, what kind of difference would be made in the world if the millions collected by PG churches went to meet needs instead of building the next Christian Taj Majal.
I plan on bringing some unvarnished truth to this debate and get some feedback from you, our listeners. I know there are many who believe whole-heartedly in the concept of reaping and sowing as taught by PG preachers.
Let me say that I believe whole-heartedly in the reaping and sowing doctrines too. What I have a problem with is the selfish motive behind the "name it and claim it" doctrines. Churches that major on teaching this stuff without feeding the sheep the WHOLE counsel of the Word of God are churches filled with immature, self-centered baby Christians (at best) or self-deceived, unsaved charlatans (at worst). This isn't a judgment call on my part. God himself said as much (Revelation 3:14-22).
The Prosperity Gospel has transformed God into the great "sugar daddy in the sky" in the eyes and hearts of many people. The truth of the matter is, God DOES want us to prosper and have good success. The problem is the definition of "prosperous". As with many things, man's definition and God's definition of these words are polar opposites. God wants us to be spiritually and emotionally mature Christ-like saints working and serving to benefit God and His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Man wants to have all of his material, emotional and spiritual needs met to his or her satisfaction while working and serving to benefit ourselves and our little kingdoms on the earth.
God's way is God centered. Man's way is man centered. We want God to work for us. God wants us to serve Him. These are the basic concepts in constant battle with each other. There can be no compromise on this issue. Christ said it: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24).
If you want GOD' formula for prosperity and success, just read Joshua 1:8. There in plain Queen's English for all the world to see is God's path to prosperity. You'll note there is not one word in that passage that talks about money. What you DO see is God's focus on reading, meditating and doing His Word. In short, Daddy is saying, if you want to be successful in this life, then do what I tell you to do at all times. Pretty basic stuff.
The PG is poison wrapped up in scripture. Churches are filled with carnal saints who are fighting one another to get to the tit of this bloated doctrinal sow. So, into this ginormous elephant in the auditorium we will venture this weekend; to boldly go where many pastors have gone before in trying to bring truth to the lies and half-truths masquerading as "gospel" messages. I hope you have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches this weekend...
To be continued...
OK, if you've been involved in evangelical Christianity for any amount of time during the last decade or two you've at least heard of the body of doctrines called THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL (PG). It's also been called the "Name It And Claim It" doctrine or any variation on that theme. In the event that you aren't familiar with this teaching, I'll give you the Reader's Digest version:
The PG's basic foundation is built on the reaping and sowing teaching that is actually found in scriptures (Job 4:8; Hosea 8:7; Galatians 6:7). The PG teacher will use this concept and marry it to the tithing and giving scriptures (Matthew 7:11; Luke 6:38; among many others) creating a concept that is very attractive to a materialist driven society like ours. You want to be successful and prosperous? Give and God will reward you 1000-fold. You want to be rich and have nice things? Sow "seed" (ie. money) into [insert your ministry here] and you'll receive your heart's desires. God wants to give you good gifts; He's just waiting for you to name your gift and claim it by planting seeds of prosperity into God's Kingdom.
You need two things in order to separate the lies from the truth in this teaching. Number One: You need a good understanding of God's Word...ALL of God's Word. I find this is a serious deficiency in a majority of churches that needs to be rectified. More on that later.
Number Two: You need to understand how the enemy of our souls operates. Satan LOVES to mix his lies with JUST enough truth to make it palatable to the spiritually undernourished. A primer of Satan's tactics can be found in Genesis 3 with his deception of Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Prosperity Gospel is a textbook example of one of Satan's favorite "wiles".
Somebody smart once said, "only a fool gives money to a rich man". In the case of most of these PG teachers, that is exactly the case. I have a real problem with pastors and churches who "reap" millions of dollars only to spend a fraction of that money on actual ministry needs like what is mentioned in scriptures (Mark 9:41; James 1:27). In other words, what kind of difference would be made in the world if the millions collected by PG churches went to meet needs instead of building the next Christian Taj Majal.
I plan on bringing some unvarnished truth to this debate and get some feedback from you, our listeners. I know there are many who believe whole-heartedly in the concept of reaping and sowing as taught by PG preachers.
Let me say that I believe whole-heartedly in the reaping and sowing doctrines too. What I have a problem with is the selfish motive behind the "name it and claim it" doctrines. Churches that major on teaching this stuff without feeding the sheep the WHOLE counsel of the Word of God are churches filled with immature, self-centered baby Christians (at best) or self-deceived, unsaved charlatans (at worst). This isn't a judgment call on my part. God himself said as much (Revelation 3:14-22).
The Prosperity Gospel has transformed God into the great "sugar daddy in the sky" in the eyes and hearts of many people. The truth of the matter is, God DOES want us to prosper and have good success. The problem is the definition of "prosperous". As with many things, man's definition and God's definition of these words are polar opposites. God wants us to be spiritually and emotionally mature Christ-like saints working and serving to benefit God and His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Man wants to have all of his material, emotional and spiritual needs met to his or her satisfaction while working and serving to benefit ourselves and our little kingdoms on the earth.
God's way is God centered. Man's way is man centered. We want God to work for us. God wants us to serve Him. These are the basic concepts in constant battle with each other. There can be no compromise on this issue. Christ said it: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24).
If you want GOD' formula for prosperity and success, just read Joshua 1:8. There in plain Queen's English for all the world to see is God's path to prosperity. You'll note there is not one word in that passage that talks about money. What you DO see is God's focus on reading, meditating and doing His Word. In short, Daddy is saying, if you want to be successful in this life, then do what I tell you to do at all times. Pretty basic stuff.
The PG is poison wrapped up in scripture. Churches are filled with carnal saints who are fighting one another to get to the tit of this bloated doctrinal sow. So, into this ginormous elephant in the auditorium we will venture this weekend; to boldly go where many pastors have gone before in trying to bring truth to the lies and half-truths masquerading as "gospel" messages. I hope you have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches this weekend...
To be continued...
Friday, July 4, 2008
The Unsilent Killer: Gossiping Exposed - Part 2
"Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." - James 5:16
Ever been in a church where the instructions given in this verse was actually possible? Ever seen this verse in action in a modern American church? Ever seen someone get in front of the church to confess a fault or a character flaw and NOT have that action come back to bite them in the backside?
One of the greatest tragedies in modern American Christianity is the loss of trust of our fellow Christians. Because of unbridled tongues and centuries of abuses, the vast majority of us choose to play the "mask game" with one another simply because we don't trust each other.
MURPHYISM #318: The Mask Game - A very common social disorder wherein people put on their "everything's fine" mask (or any variation of that theme) when in reality they are dying inside and are in need of spiritual/emotional healing.
There isn't a whole lot of spiritual/emotional healing going on in churches today because the healing process requires us to share our faults to one another. We don't "confess our faults one to another" as the bible instructs us to do because we can't trust that our faults won't be used against us in a future confrontation with our fellow Christian or that some ignorant "saint" won't broadcast our problems across the city before we get the words out of our mouths.
I believe the loss of trust among Christians is a kingdom-wide tragedy that is preventable and fixable with the right amount of hard truth mixed with accountability. As I indicated in the last blog entry, I don't play around with gossiping in the church I pastor. I've had far too much experience with folks who come in and try to use this time-honored traditional ploy of manipulating people and events in order to control church policy and practices. I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about...
A few years ago I had a fella (we'll call him "Mr. Absolom") and his family come to our church after being "kicked out" of his last church. Now, right away there's a red flag for any pastor. If you have someone come to your church who has been removed from another church it is vital that the pastor investigate the reason for the dismissal. Sometimes people are wrongly removed because of personality problems between pastor and parishioner but more often than not if a church has to take the drastic measure of removing church membership from someone it is for a good reason.
So, I investigated by asking Mr. Absolom about the details of his removal as well as contacting his former pastor and asking his side of the story. Fun stuff, yes? It turns out that my new potential church member had a bad habit of forming insurrections whenever the preacher stepped out of line doctrinally or practically. Of course, Mr Absolom was the one who drew these lines and as the line drawer he held the power of judge, jury and executioner.
Now, when this fella first appeared on the scene he was full of praise for my preaching style as well as the content of my sermons. Oh, I was the greatest thing since air conditioning in his book...at first. Then I started doing things he wasn't too fond of like using praise and worship music instead of hymns or preaching about things that he didn't agree with or preaching about character issues he was having problems with. Well, it didn't take long for the praise to change to "suggestions" which quickly moved to "condemnation and demands".
Of course, I'm not a man-pleaser. I learned the very hard way that if you let people dictate your course of action you cease to be a leader and become a follower; empowering your sheep to be the shepherds. Ever try to follow a sheep anywhere? Anyway, the more Mr. Absolom tried to get his way in the church the more I would tell him "no". That, of course, forced him to move into phase 2 of his modus operandi...form a home bible study.
Whenever someone wants to form a home bible study, I'm instantly suspicious of the motive behind it. It helps if you know your sheep because not everyone in church has a pure motive behind their seemingly innocent ministry requests. That said, I'm obviously not opposed to people hosting home bible studies. What I AM opposed to are those who host a bible study without informing the pastor. 10 out of 10 times these "Bible studies" become underground meetings of church revolutionaries who want to remove the power in the church in favor of someone more to their liking.
Mr. Absolom had moved to phase 2 smoothly and expertly and had succeeded in seducing several of my people to attending these "studies". Truth is, these weren't "bible studies" they were the worst kind of closed door private meetings; gossip sessions with an agenda. By the time I was made aware of this activity it was too late to salvage those who had been attending.
When I confronted Mr. Absolom about his practice I was met with righteous indignation and a ton of scriptures to support his practices. It is amazing how scriptures can be twisted in the hands of master manipulators. Well, I did put an end to this little insurrection attempt but not without a lot of drama and heartache.
I share this anecdote as an example of how insidious this disease is. People don't have to go to the extremes of this example to cause destruction. All it takes is a selfish and immature child with a loose tongue and a heart set on slander and the damage is done. It only takes one experience with someone like this to wipe away all trust for your fellow man. Take trust away from any relationship and see how long that relationship lasts.
Our churches are filled with hurting and dying souls desperately in need of spiritual and emotional healing. I think it is a tragedy that our enemy has succeeded in destroying the trust by using a handful of selfish, unteachable sinful goats in our midst. God's people need to be educated on this social disorder. We need to teach our leaders how to combat this problem quickly and expediently because it is everywhere.
Don't believe me? When is the last time you saw someone receive healing based on the instructions of James 5:16 in your church?
To be concluded...
Ever been in a church where the instructions given in this verse was actually possible? Ever seen this verse in action in a modern American church? Ever seen someone get in front of the church to confess a fault or a character flaw and NOT have that action come back to bite them in the backside?
One of the greatest tragedies in modern American Christianity is the loss of trust of our fellow Christians. Because of unbridled tongues and centuries of abuses, the vast majority of us choose to play the "mask game" with one another simply because we don't trust each other.
MURPHYISM #318: The Mask Game - A very common social disorder wherein people put on their "everything's fine" mask (or any variation of that theme) when in reality they are dying inside and are in need of spiritual/emotional healing.
There isn't a whole lot of spiritual/emotional healing going on in churches today because the healing process requires us to share our faults to one another. We don't "confess our faults one to another" as the bible instructs us to do because we can't trust that our faults won't be used against us in a future confrontation with our fellow Christian or that some ignorant "saint" won't broadcast our problems across the city before we get the words out of our mouths.
I believe the loss of trust among Christians is a kingdom-wide tragedy that is preventable and fixable with the right amount of hard truth mixed with accountability. As I indicated in the last blog entry, I don't play around with gossiping in the church I pastor. I've had far too much experience with folks who come in and try to use this time-honored traditional ploy of manipulating people and events in order to control church policy and practices. I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about...
A few years ago I had a fella (we'll call him "Mr. Absolom") and his family come to our church after being "kicked out" of his last church. Now, right away there's a red flag for any pastor. If you have someone come to your church who has been removed from another church it is vital that the pastor investigate the reason for the dismissal. Sometimes people are wrongly removed because of personality problems between pastor and parishioner but more often than not if a church has to take the drastic measure of removing church membership from someone it is for a good reason.
So, I investigated by asking Mr. Absolom about the details of his removal as well as contacting his former pastor and asking his side of the story. Fun stuff, yes? It turns out that my new potential church member had a bad habit of forming insurrections whenever the preacher stepped out of line doctrinally or practically. Of course, Mr Absolom was the one who drew these lines and as the line drawer he held the power of judge, jury and executioner.
Now, when this fella first appeared on the scene he was full of praise for my preaching style as well as the content of my sermons. Oh, I was the greatest thing since air conditioning in his book...at first. Then I started doing things he wasn't too fond of like using praise and worship music instead of hymns or preaching about things that he didn't agree with or preaching about character issues he was having problems with. Well, it didn't take long for the praise to change to "suggestions" which quickly moved to "condemnation and demands".
Of course, I'm not a man-pleaser. I learned the very hard way that if you let people dictate your course of action you cease to be a leader and become a follower; empowering your sheep to be the shepherds. Ever try to follow a sheep anywhere? Anyway, the more Mr. Absolom tried to get his way in the church the more I would tell him "no". That, of course, forced him to move into phase 2 of his modus operandi...form a home bible study.
Whenever someone wants to form a home bible study, I'm instantly suspicious of the motive behind it. It helps if you know your sheep because not everyone in church has a pure motive behind their seemingly innocent ministry requests. That said, I'm obviously not opposed to people hosting home bible studies. What I AM opposed to are those who host a bible study without informing the pastor. 10 out of 10 times these "Bible studies" become underground meetings of church revolutionaries who want to remove the power in the church in favor of someone more to their liking.
Mr. Absolom had moved to phase 2 smoothly and expertly and had succeeded in seducing several of my people to attending these "studies". Truth is, these weren't "bible studies" they were the worst kind of closed door private meetings; gossip sessions with an agenda. By the time I was made aware of this activity it was too late to salvage those who had been attending.
When I confronted Mr. Absolom about his practice I was met with righteous indignation and a ton of scriptures to support his practices. It is amazing how scriptures can be twisted in the hands of master manipulators. Well, I did put an end to this little insurrection attempt but not without a lot of drama and heartache.
I share this anecdote as an example of how insidious this disease is. People don't have to go to the extremes of this example to cause destruction. All it takes is a selfish and immature child with a loose tongue and a heart set on slander and the damage is done. It only takes one experience with someone like this to wipe away all trust for your fellow man. Take trust away from any relationship and see how long that relationship lasts.
Our churches are filled with hurting and dying souls desperately in need of spiritual and emotional healing. I think it is a tragedy that our enemy has succeeded in destroying the trust by using a handful of selfish, unteachable sinful goats in our midst. God's people need to be educated on this social disorder. We need to teach our leaders how to combat this problem quickly and expediently because it is everywhere.
Don't believe me? When is the last time you saw someone receive healing based on the instructions of James 5:16 in your church?
To be concluded...
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