To Hover or to Seek

 To Hover or Seek

Last week, I talked about how the contemporary and traditional churches are more alike than they might want to admit.  In fact, they are like the same car with slightly different trim packages.  There is one similarity that both contemporary and traditional churches share that is the most tragic and, given enough time, this trait will ruin any congregation regardless of which trim package it has.  But first a story.

Some years ago a preacher I know went to take a new ministry.  This congregation was located in a rapidly growing community.  It was small with average weekend attendance of just less than 60.  The church began to grow.  Over the course of a couple of years they outgrew their meeting space and built a large multipurpose building.  They continued to grow in their new space.  Attendance peaked at about 175 about two and half years after the new preacher arrived. 

As you might expect there were some growing pains.  When the preacher arrived decisions were made at a monthly Sunday night meeting in which anyone who wanted could come and help shape policy.  These meetings were usually made up of five couples who were the founding members.  This became unwieldy and was replaced with a church board.  When 60 people attended the church building was treated as a sort of clubhouse for members.  The preacher wanted to open the church building up for the community.  This was greeted with aggressive resistance.  One member said, “This is our building, why should they use it?”

As you might guess, conflict developed in the church. After a long and exhausting struggle the board acquiesced when the founding members said they would stay in the church if the preacher would agree to three requests, (‘ultimatum’ might be a more accurate description). 

1. Don’t change anything.

2. Preach sermons that help people feel good.

3. Don’t try to get new people just take care of the ones we’ve got.

 As the preacher was processing what was happening he confided in a friend what had transpired and the ultimatum he faced.  His friend told him, “They don’t want a preacher nor a pastor, they want a chaplain to hold their hand.”  The preacher declined the proposal and left the church.  Within a couple of years the church died and the building sold.

The real distinction between churches is not traditional vs contemporary, nor any of the other dichotomies we generally think of.  But rather hover or seek church.  One kind of church hovers over members to meet their needs, the other expects the membership to serve and seek the lost.  In 1886, a reporter from the Plain Dealer was interviewing Gilbert Starr.  Pastor Starr was leading a rapidly growing movement in the midwest.  The reporter asked, “ By what means have you carried forward your work so rapidly?”  Pastor Starr replied, ”We have no settled pastors.  Our churches are taught to take care of themselves, while nearly all our ministers work as evangelists.”

Or put another way some churches are Bo Peep Churches:

Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,

And can't tell where to find them;

Leave them alone, and they'll come home,

Bringing their tails behind them.

Other churches are good shepherd churches;

“Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses

one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost

sheep until he finds it?”

 

Charlie's Challenge 3.26.23

 Charlie’s Challenges: Extras from the sermon and links for additional information

Living Like a Disciple in Crazy Times: How did they get here?

Memory verse:   Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Col 3:16

How have you seen the Ministerial Industrial Complex focus more on keeping the institution running and less on doing ministry?

Talk about the link between the desire to grow large churches and the shallowness of the teaching in those churches.

What might be some of the unintended consequences of religion becoming entertainment?

List two or three advantages and dis-advantages of bi-vocational ministry.

What are the strengths and weaknesses you may have experienced in the stream of Christianity with which you are most familiar.  (Example Evangelical: Baptist, Church of Christ, Liturgical: Angelican, Catholic, Lutheran, Charismatic: Church of God, Pentecostal)

What can you do to promote the rapid cellular growth of your church?

Links and additional information you might find interesting;

When the church feels it has to entertain there is a danger that production value overshadows the message.  Religion as entertainment can be seen in this video:

https://youtu.be/qtVoOE5r1hQ

I would like to hear your reaction to what you see.

Chevy, Pontiac, and your church

The old Chevy Citation and the Pontiac Phoenix (second generation) were basically the same car with
only a few differences. They had slightly different appearances, logos and decals. But they were really the same car at heart. Automotive producers do this to market the same product to a different niche. The early 60’s Ford Falcon and the Mercury Comet are another example.  Co-operative projects between manufacturers will produce nearly identical products under different brands, see Ford Rangers and Mazda pickups. The difference is really found more in the ego of the consumer than in the substance of the car. 

If we take time to look, there is not much difference between contemporary churches and traditional churches. There is some superficial distinction, but once you get past a few decals and logos they are pretty much the same. Let’s take a look at the similarities that neither would be willing to admit.  Three examples will serve the point.

Worship: Both sing songs based on the likes of those who attend. Both tend to feature an instrument made mostly of wood which produces sound by means of the vibrations of wires, either a piano or a guitar. Both sing following the words on a two dimensional media,sometimes hung on a wall sometimes held in hand. Both kinds of churches dress as they please. Dress codes are not enforced, but subtlety expressed. Don’t believe me? Try wearing a tux to a contemporary church. The difference in worship between the two styles of churches is just that, a matter of style or taste. 

Leadership:

Within both church styles you will find essentially identical leadership systems. Nomenclature changes but the functional dynamic is almost the same. There are some highly controlling traditional and contemporary churches, and there are some low control traditional and contemporary churches. Find a leadership system in a contemporary church and you will be able to find it in a traditional church, and vice versa. 

Outreach/Evangelism/Propagation

The way both churches attempt to reach their communities is nearly identical. The near universal expectation is that outsider/non-members will come to a church event, enjoy it enough that they will repeat the visit. Hopefully, they will get involved in some sort of group, (SS class, small group, regular coffee club). The process of inclusion looks a little different in both kinds of churches, but that is more of a decal than anything substantial. 

Some years ago Oldsmobile ran a commercial with the tagline: “Not your father’s Oldsmobile.”  That theme was picked up by a lot of churches touting the difference between their contemporary style and traditional styles. But that difference was not as great as imagined. In fact, if you had a lineup with an old Oldsmobile, a new Oldsmobile, an elephant, a pine tree, and a slab of granite and asked anyone (car enthusiast or not) which two items were most alike, everyone giving an honest answer would get the answer right.

 

The question is not which is better, contemporary or traditional church. Based on the decline of Christianity in America neither seems to be working very well. What we have been doing is asking which trim package is better on a car?  It is not enough of a distinction to notice a difference. The question we need to ask is, “Can we find a better way to make disciples?”  

Next week, we will look at the worst way both styles of churches are alike and what might be done about it.

Charlie's Challenge 3.19.23

 Charlie’s Challenges: Extras from the sermon and links for additional information

Living Like a Disciple in Crazy Times: Married for better and best

Memory verse:   However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.  Eph 5:33

Do you believe that the principals of a Chrsitian marriage can work if non-Christians try to apply them?  Why or why not?

Women: Sarah called Abraham lord or master.  If you are a wife would you ever consider doing that?  Why or why not?  Now read I Peter 3:1-6.  How does this affect the way you think about respect?

Men:  What kind of character and man would you need to be that your wife respects you so much she would want to call you her lord?  On a scale of 1-10 how close are you to being that kind of man?  What do you need to do to take your game up a notch or two?

Men, how are you doing as the priest of your family pleading their case before God? How are you doing at the prophet in your home speaking God’s truth in your home?  How do you need to improve in these two areas?

Why are both modernist and traditional views of the relationship between husbands and wives inadequate for a Christian marriage?

Links and additional information you might find interesting;

An outstanding discussion of the role of women in the Old Testament.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0YYCjjk3fI0iNoB9xEhp6U?si=IyOkbYRFQ9KFrNi7Nx92XQ

 

A top New Testament scholar talks about the roles of men and women.  I wanted to address this text this week and did not have the time.  So here is something much better than anything I might have offer.  

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2bznHHXaYPWdYbfMmK4LJP?si=crr_17NLRAGZ_8YAzqDb-Q&nd=1

 

Preparing for Persecution

 Happy St Patrick’s Day

Perhaps this is a great day to conclude this little series on how we can prepare for persecution.  Last week, you may recall I said that we must begin to become less reliant on those things that, while helpful, are not essential to our faith and ministry.  Buildings, by-laws, projectors, praise teams, smoke machines are just a few examples.   Today, let’s focus on one attitude or mind set that we must develop and four practices that we need to implement in our faith communities.  

But first a story:  When my son was about 5 or 6 years old one of our family friends had a daughter who was about 4.  She was somewhat smitten by our son.  After one visit to their home we were about to walk out the door when this little girl got in front of our son, began to jump up and down, wave her arms and repeat, “Do you like me?  Do you like me?  Do you like me?”  It was cute, innocent, funny and reminds me of the church.

While the Church Growth Movement began with the best of intentions it eventually devolved into a nearly neurotic desire on the part of some churches and believers to be liked by and approved of by the world.  We adjusted our music, style, and culture so seekers would like what they experienced and would hopefully be willing to become disciples.  But in many cases, it went beyond merely the forms of the church and moved into the morality of the church and even to its doctrines.  Recently, a famous preacher made a stir when he shared how he removed a homosexual couple from serving, not because they were practicing behaviors forbidden in the Word of God, but because one of them was still married to his wife.  We can’t have that now can we!  Our desire to be liked is so strong that we have bought into the lie that if we are ‘nice’ then the world will like us and will be willing to listen to what we have to say.  The problem is to be ‘nice’, as the world often defines it, we have to refuse to speak the truth. 

Which brings us to the mindset or attitude we must develop to prepare for any persecution: Assume that you will be hated, persecuted, and/or rejected.  Jesus told us in John 15:19

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Certainly, we must speak the truth in love, there is no place in the Christian life for ad hominem attacks.  However, we can never tell someone something they don’t want to hear in a way they will like. We will never be able to soften the Bible’s message about sin enough so as to please everyone, unless we change the message itself.   

So, this is the mindset we must develop, “We will not be liked; but rather, opposed at every level, persecuted for speaking the truth in love, and our message will not always be accepted.”  So, we must stop worrying if people like us; rather, are we faithful to the One who has called us?

Now, as for the four practices that we must develop.  These practices will work if we are in a 5,000 seat cathedral or in a secret meeting in a blacked out basement with a handful of believers.  If these four practices are not the primary framework of our faith communities we need to realign ourselves to give these practices priority.  

1.  Deep into the Apostles’ Doctrine.  In other words, we need to make the study of The Faith as given to us in Scripture a priority.  This includes memorization, active learning, application to life and meditation.  It is surprising how many times “Bible Studies” have little or no Scripture in them.  I once heard the aforementioned preacher, the one who reprimanded the homosexual couple, apologize for reading a long passage of Scripture.  In my opinion, that may indicate how he went astray.

2. Close, interactive, sharing or life.  None of us will make it as disciples if we go it alone.  We do not need, we must have a community of faith in which we live out our faith.  Perhaps the greatest spiritual danger of Covid was to convince people that they can be disciples remotely.  Traditional churches have been far too superficial regarding fellowship treating it as little more than occasional meals together.  If we face persecution we will have to have a living network from which we can draw strength as we follow Christ together.

3. The Sacramental life.  I realize referring to sacraments may offend some folks, especially those who insist on using only Biblical terms, like Ordinances (wink, wink, nod, nod).  The sacramental life of the believer ought not be neglected.  In Baptism and the Lord’s Supper we experience a spiritual reality found nowhere else on earth. In baptism we tell and retell the death and resurrection story.  It is worth noting that the only action in which Jesus asked us to remember His sacrifice is in communion.  I hope we discover the value of communion before we face persecution.  Both of these practices strengthen us and can be acted out in a clandestine way.

4. Secret communication.  I recently heard a man talking about how to send and receive secret messages without being detected.  I do that every day.  The prayer life of the church and the believers is often a little weak.  If we ask, “How can our prayer life be strengthened?” One answer is by facing persecution.  I hope we will want to pray more and more deeply without facing persecution.  But if we will not learn it one way, perhaps our Father will allow us to learn it another way.  

All of these practices can happen in the existing church.  But if the church has to go to ground or even underground these practices will still strengthen us.  If persecution is coming we will be wise to learn how to do these things now.  

Charlie's Challenge 3.12.23

 Charlie’s Challenges: Extras from the sermon and links for additional information

Living Like a Disciple in Crazy Times: Longing for Eden

Memory verse:  For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26

Why does it seem so hard to find a balance point between extreme views?

Do you believe we can find a third model for gender roles since both traditional and modern models are inadequate?  

Links and additional information you might find interesting;

Review this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0mE6pxv_YU  and consider the possibility of a third way of thinking about femininity. 

For a deep dive into the Biblical and theological questions this is an excellent resource

https://bookstore.thecra.org/products/the-gender-roles-debate?_pos=19&_sid=4a8e34536&_ss=r

World leading resources on the complementarian approach to gender issues go to The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

https://cbmw.org/

In the late 1940’s C. S. Lewis wrote an essay about women serving as priestess in the Anglican Church.

https://youtu.be/NZiAvbYRiBs

A brief review of Galatians 3:28

http://jackcottrell.com/galatians-328-and-gender-roles/

One of the vanguard denominations on the issue of women in ministry is discussed in this article.

https://juicyecumenism.com/2021/02/10/disciples-brethren-shrink/

An impassioned presentation from a conservative Jewish woman.

https://youtu.be/7gdghMWAk14

How to prepare for persecution

 How to prepare for persecution

So far we have established that the voices that are anti-church and anti-Christian are growing in volume and intensity.  Last week, we looked at several misguided ways we might prepare for persecution.  Today, let’s look at what we can positively do for the day when/if persecution comes to American religious life.

First step in preparation is to disengage our dependence on things that are not essential to the life of a disciple or a group of disciples.   We have in too many cases made the life and ministry of the church dependent on things that while not anti-Biblical are certainly extra Biblical.  Rather than try to list everything in this category, let’s choose one and use what we learn as a template.   Because it is easy we will use church buildings.  

Our theology tells us that the church is not a building, rather it is a people.  Rarely is our orthodoxy more out of step with our orthopractice as in the matter of church buildings.  I am not opposed to church buildings, but much of American Christianity has become overly dependent on having a building. If I say, “Let’s go to church,” what actually comes to mind?  If someone asked us, “Where is your church?” How do we answer that question?  If your church building were closed, what would your congregation do? (Like that would ever happen) Because the church is highly dependent on our building for all our ministry we are highly vulnerable to a loss of impact if we lose access to or use of our building.  From 1995 to 2004, churches in America spent an estimated three billion dollars on building construction.  During that same time there was no measurable change in the things we identify as marks of discipleship (worship attendance, baptisms, Bible reading, etc).  Apparently, we have overestimated the importance and power of using a building for the gathering of the church.  

Since the Covid experience, worship attendance is down about 30% nationwide.  We can debate why that is the case, but there is reason to believe that the ministry in the buildings was more about the event and less about being a disciple of Jesus.  Perhaps, we should see Covid as beta testing for what to do when we can’t be as public about our faith.  Think about what ministry would be like if you could not use your church building at all, ever again.  We can apply those lessons to other things that mark most of our community of faith.  What if we had to do without: worship teams, full-time paid career staff, fog machines, children’s programming, great videos in the services, coffee shops, by-laws and constitutions, the list is almost endless?  Could we still make disciples?  Yes, we could.

So, how would you do ministry with or without these non-essentials?  Will this approach to ministry work if we are not under persecution? Will doing them now limit our ministry effectiveness?  

While I did not plan this to be a cliffhanger, in order to do this justice, I will need to finish this next week.

Charlie's Challenge 3.5.23

 Charlie’s Challenges: Extras from the sermon and links for additional information

Living Like a Disciple in Crazy Times: Longing for Eden

Memory verse:  The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2:15

What about the Garden of Eden do you think would have been most delightful?

How do you try to get back to Eden?

What are some crazy ways that you have seen people trying to return to Eden?

Does it make sense to you that the creation account in Genesis is both historic and symbolic?  What possibilities does this open up for your understanding of Scripture and creation?

If a temple is the place where a deity dwells, where is God’s temple on earth today?  Please explain your answer.

What is your opinion of the Asbury Awakening?  What are some of the possible benefits?  What if any are the pitfalls with these kinds of events?

Since you were made to be in the presence of God, how should that affect your priorities and choices?  Where should you look for the presence of God on earth?  (Here is a hint: Acts 2:42)

Links and additional information you might find interesting;

Here is an interesting article about the growth in wilderness recreation that accompanied social discontent. 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00336297.1977.10519885?journalCode=uqst20#

An article about being at home in the out-of-doors.

https://darkpeakgear.com/getting-back-to-nature-how-to-feel-at-home-in-the-outdoors/#:~:text=Being%20amongst%20the%20plants%20and,the%20natural%20light%20around%20it.

Quotes about nature from a number of perspectives.

https://parade.com/1034896/marynliles/nature-quotes/

Article on the effects of grounding.  Some Christians think this practice is effective because man was formed out of the earth.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4378297/#:~:text=Grounding%20appears%20to%20improve%20sleep,healing%2C%20and%20reduce%20blood%20viscosity.

An excellent video series about the role of priest.  It begins with Eden.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH0Szn1yYNeex8AmAgAYdXQxz5YWB3y1O

Excellent article about the Asbury Awakening.

https://www.bobrussell.org/the-asbury-awakening/

This is my Father’s World.

https://youtu.be/N3ZVLOLMRMw

Are you a Christian Prepper?

If persecution comes to the church are you a prepper?

Two weeks ago I wrote about the sea change that has happened in the American attitude toward Christianity and the church. (Last week I was so sick I just barely got a sermon done.) Once upon a time there was a general, but not universal, positive disposition toward the Christian faith.  If you were in Maryland and Roman Catholic, most likely you were not interested in waging a crusade against the Anglicans across the river down in Virginia.  This openness of religious tolerance led to some odd faith groups popping up, but even these did not suffer the kind of persecution they might have had in Europe.

While it is impossible to predict the future, if current trends continue in the United States we may find ourselves facing persecution. For today, let's talk about things that we ought not do if we were going to prepare for the possibility of persecution. Not going down the wrong road will be very advantageous for us especially when we need to find the right road. 

What not to do?

Should we take over the political landscape?

I've heard a number of Christians propose that if we could mobilize enough Christian voters we could turn America around. While we certainly should be involved in the political process, and while there are certainly good reasons to support highly qualified candidates, a political solution will not solve our problems.  The Christian Coalition, the Moral Majority, Concerned Women for America and countless other organizations have tried to bring America back from the brink by means of political willpower. Based on our current condition, I wonder if that was time, energy and money well spent?

Should we plan for an active revolt?

 I once was part of an organization for about three months that claimed to be deeply concerned about the direction America was going. I was told that the members of this organization were Christians who were committed to Christ at one level or another. I was asked to serve as a Chaplain.We met every other week to talk about everything from ham radios to survival foods. Occasionally, the conversations turned dark to subjects like how to set booby traps or how to advance a tactical column. During the third month, one of the most fire-brandish members suggested that we could teach a lesson if we lynched a judge or two. The following day I left the organization and suggested that the FBI might be interested in following up with this gentleman. I am not saying that an armed Revolution is never right. But the Scriptural mandate for Christians is far from a call to revolution. While I am suspicious of our government, I'm convinced that the worst of our leaders are still better than Caligula or Nero. Paul admonishes Christians to pray for these leaders, he never says anything about an armed insurrection.

Can we run far enough away?

Maybe we could run far enough away that the problems of our nation will not be our problem. I have heard Christians wistfully talk about Christian colonies that have formed in Central and South America. These colonies of dedicated Christians live in a nearly communal setting.  Here they feel they are safe from harm. While appealing, I wonder if that is the best response to hardship. There are times that clearly the thing to do is go. But what about Christians who cannot afford this escape? Any solution that doesn't work for all Christians ought to be approached with caution.

Is stockpiling stuff to insulate ourselves a good plan?

One last bad plan that I've heard some Christians advocate in the face of potential persecution is the classic prepper stockpiling. I admit that I do have a stockpile of food. Living in Florida the occasional hurricane would knock power out. So long food storage was a good plan. We called this stockpile the Joseph silo.  Our goal was not simply to feed ourselves, but also to feed the community. Stockpiling stuff seems to invite the temptation to trust in our stuff.  I think we can see the problem with that.   

There are ways that we could plan for possible coming persecution, but the way the world prepares for upcoming disaster isn't the way that we as Christians ought to plan.