The Danger of Excellent Worship

David had experienced a series of unprecedented successes since ascending to the throne.  His was a charmed or should we say a blessed life.  Faced with the double threat of the Arameans and Ammon, Israel fends off Ammon and then soundly defeats the Arameans.  In the battle, the Arameans lost their command general, 700 charioteers and 40,000 horsemen. Remember this, it is important for later.  They were so defeated that the Aramean confederation of kings asked for terms of peace with David.  It was too late in the year to continue the campaign, but David still faced a serious threat.  As long as Ammon was a power in the region, Israel’s security was insecure. 

No doubt during that winter David and his war council planned the spring campaign against Ammon.  But David would not begin the campaign without seeking God.  Some scholars believe that Psalm 20 was composed for this occasion.  Having won against superior numbers in the prior year’s campaign David and Israel were not going to presume God’s blessing this year.   Instead, they would begin by worship.  There is a pause at the end of verse 3.  Scholars believe that during the liturgy at the end of public recitation of verse three that the sacrifice was performed.  After the sacrifice the Psalm resumes.  Confidence born of faith in God undergirds David and Israel as the campaign is set to begin.  Verse 7 says, “Some boast in chariots and some in horses…” and is seen as an illusion to the crushing defeat of the Arameans in the last campaign.  The Psalm concludes with the stirring verse, “Save, O Lord; May the King (the God of Israel) answer us in the day we call.”  We can almost imagine the deployment of the troops confident of the Almighty’s protection and victory.

In this emotional high of international conflict, great worship, and stirring liturgy we may find the seeds of David’s greatest failure.  If we have correctly placed this exultant moment of worship with the offensive against Ammon it is also the context of David’s affair with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of Uriah.  While David was appropriately attending to the public, pressing and important issues of state and worship he may have forgotten the personal, subtle and critical issues of his own heart.  So aware of the big thing he failed to notice the quiet thing.  Why he stayed in Jerusalem is not important.  The inadvertent sight of the beautiful Bathsheba was not the problem. It was the condition of his heart in that moment.  Maybe he was suffering from the fatigue of a long winter of planning and worry.  Maybe he was having an adrenaline crash after the big moment. But after the great moment he was ambushed; he didn’t see it coming.

We face the same challenges in our lives.  We deal with great, big, hugely important issues.  We make decisions that will impact years and many people.  We have to deal with the spot light and the scrutiny.  Often we do it well.  But in doing the big, public, and huge issues we fail to take care of the most personal side of life.   It is often after the greatest public success that we have out most secret, private failures.  We may not sire a bastard child or murder a good friend, but we know and feel that failure.

So, what do we do as we enjoy the greatest Easter in our church’s history?  What is our safe guard after we host the dedication of the new building?  As the long season of struggle, conflict and slow progress closes how do we respond?  Once back home after the terrific mission trip what are some steps of protection? Here are three things that we need never forget.

First, rest in NOT optional.  Rest is in fact holy.  One day in seven that is not about the work of life but the joy of relationship.   Focused rest is not a luxury in the life of a disciple it is mandatory wisdom.  This is not just one day occasionally, but one day every week and every night.  Stuff your excuses and procrastinations about rest in a box and ship them to Hell. 

Second, study the Word for yourself.  We tend to read Scripture out of obligation or more likely for a sermon or a lesson from someone we know.  Return to Scripture for yourself.  If we ask, “What is the Lord saying to me?”, we will never teach or share this; it will be too personal.

Third, remember God can turn a rock into someone better qualified than you for any and every occasion.  What we call humility is often nothing more than passive aggressive pride.  Pride is often at the root of every one of our sins.  But without the time to reflect on ourselves and without Scripture to guide our reflection we will never be able to have the appropriate view of ourselves.

Great and grand worship is wonderful, but let’s make sure it is linked to the personal walk with God.

Lessons from the Worst Women’s Retreat EVER

Several years ago I was witness to the worst women’s retreat in the history of Christendom.  I was the minister of a congregation that had a contingency of Twi-hards (women who were dedicated fans of the Twilight books and movies).  These women decided that they would have a “women’s retreat” in which they would go to  a larger city near our town, go to a late night showing of the latest release, spend the night at a motel and then the next morning have devotions and communion as a group.   Some went so far as to get “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob” tee shirts for the occasion and with husbands and children left behind the happy band of younger women left for their retreat.  Everything went great except they forgot to take a single Bible for the devotions or supplies for group communion.  So, after sleeping in late they went to Starbucks and shared a sweet roll instead of bread and coffee instead of wine/grape juice and instead of studying the word of God they talked.  To this day, all I can do is shake my head.

But lest we castigate these women too harshly…  I recently attended a worship service with the whole congregation present and for the communion meditation the speaker spent most of the time talking about his workout routine and how tough it can be.  He failed to read any scripture though he did vaguely refer to a passage.  He summed things up by saying we should be glad that Jesus didn’t take the easy way out.  I am not convinced that squats are as difficult as a crucifixion.

On a different occasion, I heard a speaker espouse that God is a free market capitalist because the parable of the talents teaches investing and having a good ROI. It was more of a lesson on the advantages of free enterprise over socialism, especially as it related to health care than service to God.  I had no idea that Jesus would tell a story to shape U.S. domestic policy 20 centuries later.

Then there was the time the sermon was about “wrestling with ourselves”.  The text was Romans 7:14-25 and the jest of the sermon was that we are winners.  In the sermon I learned about the preacher’s numerous sports injuries and his playing through these injuries, especially if he were playing against his kids. 

I recently read Eric Metaxas’ book Martin Luther, which I highly recommend.  The impact of the Reformation on the Western church’s thought and culture is hard to over state.  And it began as one monk, struggling with God, began to pour over the Word of God.  In his passion to hear God’s word for himself, he discovered something that was lost in his world and time.  As he poured over Scripture, God changed this man and the effects of that change have not yet played out.  It happened without an expensive vampire retreat, political eisegeses, bragging about physical fitness, or ministers wanting to relive their glory days in sports.  It happened because the Word of God was the priority.

What would happen if we returned to taking the Word of God seriously and as we carefully study scripture we concluded with: “How should scripture change me?”  H.S.S.C.M. let’s not put that on silicon wristband; let’s put that in our lives. 

Would you make good fertilizer?

Would you make good fertilizer?  That may seem like an odd question but when you hear the context it is more of a chilling question.  Allow me to share the back-story.  Some time ago I was at a frat house talking with some of the brothers.  One way to get frat boys to open up is to ask, “Which house has the reputation for being the rowdiest?”   Every time I have asked this question I get lively answers.  Generally, the answers are, “We are a little rowdy, but those guys are the worst.”  On this occasion the boys said, “Most people would say we are.”  They went on to relate a story of under-aged drinking and an alleged rape at one of the parties.  But in their defense they said the girl should have set her morals differently.  This in turn led to a discussion of morals and right and wrong.  One of the boys said, “I’ll tell you what is wrong.  It is all these old people using up all the resources.  They live a long time and just use everything up.  What we ought to do is grind old people into fertilize and use them to grow food that way they would have some use.”  Later in the conversation I asked this young man what was his major.  “Political Science” was his reply.  So, if this young man doesn’t change his mind and if he and those who think like him end up in power, would you make good fertilizer?

We tell ourselves that this could never happen in America.  We believe that in some way our inherent superiority will protect us from this level of depravity.  I am reminded that the land that produced Bach, Brahmas, and Beethoven also produced Auschwitz, Dachau, and Buchenwald.  The land that gave the world the great Martin Luther and Phillip Melanchthon also unleashed on the world Adolph Eichmann and Joseph Mengele. 

When we were given the worst-case scenario at the beginning of the sexual revolution many said it could never happen in America.  The degradation of sexual mores in our nation today is far beyond the direst of warnings of two generations ago.  To say “it can never happen here” is a fool’s insurance policy. 

So, what do we do?  I believe there are two things that must be the foundational in our efforts to oppose evil.  We must renew our commitment to evangelize our nation.  But this effort needs to be built on the first principle of truth.  Much of what is misguided in American Christianity is we have replaced truth with pragmatism.  We must be radically committed to truth.  Not relative truth, subjective truth, or group truth, but that which conforms to reality, objective truth.  As a nation we are completely disconnected from the concept of truth.  In my BiVo work I am in sales.  I am stunned at the ease with which sales training gives itself over to deceptions and fabrication.  From simple dishonesties to false representation, much of my sales training has focused on bending, ignoring, or rejecting the truth. I was told, “Yes, this is a lie but people need this, so lying to them to convince them to get it is okay.”  My failure to use approved sales strategies may result in my dismissal, but I am really okay with that. 

It is not just salesman.  There is a saying in sells, “Buyers are Liars.”  I have found a great many of the people I talk to possess a profound ability to lie.  One example will suffice.  I went to a home at the appointed time, knocked on the door and asked to speak to George (not his real name).  The teenage son looked at me and said, “He is not here.”  All the while I was looking over the boy’s shoulder at the man.  How many times had the boy been told to and did lie about his dad?  Falsehood has become our native tongue. 

As a society, we have become so adapt at spin and lie and propaganda that we can no longer care if something is true.  We only care if something supports or opposes our side.  From politics at the highest level down to answering the door we are a nation adept at myopic vision when it comes to truth and what benefits us.  We are often more than willing to point out the deceptions of those we disagree with, while blinking or nodding at the fabrication from those we like.  As disciples of the One who said He was the Truth we must be committed to truth, because beyond being a statement of fact, truth is also a person. 

A change in your outreach that might help your church grow.

When it comes to door-to-door visitation or cold calling we are hearing two voices.  One voice says: “Going door to door is ineffective and a waste of time.”  These voices often sight the change in culture and the growing resistance to the church as reasons that going door-to-door is not very effective.  I once served as a transitional minister and went to every home in the three neighborhoods nearest the church building with no positive effect. For churches that have such a strong commitment to reach their community but don’t want to do door-to-door calling there must be an effective, strategic plan to connect with those outside of the church’s sphere of influence.  Sometimes that takes the form of mass mailings, social or mass media advertising.

But there are other voices that say, “Going door-to-door will not reach everyone, but it will reach some people.”  This link will take you to an interesting article from about 10 years ago about the statistics associated with door-to-door calling programs.  https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2008/november/going-door-to-door-look-at-numbers.html Before any door-to-door campaign can be successful there needs to be strong support by the congregation for such a program.

For both those who think door-to-door calling is ineffective and use another means and those who think it can be useful and faithfully visit there is one narrative presented. The general message for most churches is, “Here we are and we think you will like us.  So, why not give us a try.”

But what if we tweak that just a little?  No, let’s turn it on its head.  What if instead of saying, “This is us, you ought to try us, we think you will like us,” we begin by saying, “Tell us about your community, your world and your life.”   I have never met someone who was not at least a little willing to tell you about what they care about.  In fact, most good relationships begin with, “Tell me about yourself,” and not, “I’m pretty special let me tell you about me.”  Which is exactly what we generally do when we reach out to our community.

This relationship-building thing is a much slower process than either a mass media campaign or even door knocking.  It is possible to fake caring in a mass media campaign and even in a door-to-door canvasing. But wanting to learn about the people in your community cannot be faked.  It will demand that we actually get to know them and care about them.  

We can do this by asking, “What are the pressing needs in your neighborhood, community, and world?”

We certainly will not change the message of the gospel.  We may not change the functional ministries of the church, but if we did, it might not be all bad.  But we, if we take to heart what we learn, will have a better understanding of where our community needs the gospel applied.  It will inform both our short-term mindset and our long-term strategy.  But best of all, we will become known to the people in our community as the folks who care.  Asking for help in understanding has not been something that the church has done very gracefully.

One of the long-standing weaknesses of the church is that we have been very good at answering question that no one is asking.  Giving things that people may not need or even want and all the while never getting to know them.  I am reminded of a church that collected and filled 150 (or so) backpacks for children at a local elementary school.  Ironically, most of the kids had no need for what the church wanted to give them.  The backpacks the kids’ parents bought them were of better quality and filled with better school supplies.  When we have a great plan, but never ask good questions we may get poor results. 

How is this different from the seeker driven model of the church growth movement?  In short, the difference lies in the conversation the seeker driven church has about “felt needs” and the individual’s interests.  This other strategy hopes to ask the question, in somewhat discreet terms, where is sin ruining this community?

This will also require meaningful follow up.  This can’t be one and done calling.  This needs to be a planned system of relationship building.  The first contact is really about beginning a friendship that will naturally lead to additional conversations. 

There is one thing about this that is challenging.  It requires a lot of work.  It is clearly impossible for this to be planned and executed by a single staff member or even a team of staff members.  A project like this will absolutely require a church body that is committed to being the incarnation of Christ in our communities.