Jesus Didn't

 Jesus did some amazing miracles.  Jesus turned water into wine, walked on water, fed multitudes with a small lunch, not to mention the healings.  Jesus healed the blind, took the cripple by the hand and lifted him up to walk. He healed those with epilepsy, speech impediments, horrible skin diseases and even death.  When you cure death that is a pretty amazing healing.  For all that, Jesus never healed anyone of lying.  Jesus apparently didn’t heal people of greed, pride, lust, hate or anyone of the vices He encountered.  Think about it for a moment: Jesus healed a shriveled hand withered by disease, but He didn’t heal a heart withered by anger.  Why is that?  I have a friend who teaches CPR and one of the key principles in CPR is you never give someone something that they can do for themselves.  Why would Jesus heal me of my addiction or habit or more directly sin, if I didn’t want to be healed?  I am not denying the power of sin, habit or addiction.  If I am waiting for Jesus to do something for me and I don’t really want it done then why would He waste His time on me and my problem?  If I want to hate someone or some group why would Jesus heal me of hate?  

Of all the Ten Commandments I suppose the one I break most consistently is the call to set aside a day of rest for worship, recovery and reflection.  I love working. I find great pleasure in work.  I love working on our house. Not far from my desk I have a long list of projects I want to do.  I love working with my church. I have teaching plans for at least four studies I want to lead and I have sermons planned for the rest of the year.  I have sermon plans for next year already in the works.  I have a list of people I want to go visit today. I love church work (most of the time).  I love to write.  It is work, but I love it. I have five novels that I really want to write.  I want to do a devotional commentary on Psalms.  I have about half a book written based on dumb things I have done and am outlining a book about how discipleship is like being a dog.  I could easily spend all my time writing.  If I were to suddenly win a lottery jackpot (I have been told I will not win because I don’t play), I don’t think my love of work or schedule would change.  

But now the irony, I find my creativity is diminishing and that I am frequently fatigued.  I am also finding that my concentration is seriously compromised.  Last night as I was saying my prayers before bed, I was asking God to restore my energy and vitality.  Why didn’t He miraculously zapp me with energy so that this morning I could roar into the day?  Maybe it is because I have ignored what He has said over and over in the Bible about rest.  I find the ideal of stopping work bothersome.  I want to rest, but only after I get EVERYTHING else done.  My wife suggested that after we complete the next phase of our house restoration we should get away for a couple of days.  I actually found that suggestion a little upsetting; I had a gut level twist.  Resting seems such a waste, I know it is not, but in my workaholic mind I feel that to not do is in some way evil.  If I am going to ask God to restore my energy, I must conform my life to what He says about rest.  

Okay, I have confessed something broken in me.  Can you do the same?  Can you look at an area in your life where you know that change needs to happen, but you are waiting for a zapp from God?  Join me in partnering with God.  As I work (there is some irony for you) on making room for rest in my life, I suspect that God will give me more than I expect by blessing and multiplying the rest I do take.  I came across a wonderful statement that I think we all should learn: “In Spiritual warfare the mightiest weapon is obedience to our Master.”

What is best for our children?

What is best for our children?

(For a number of reasons I have not posted anything to this blog for almost two years.  I have decided to return to posting blogs.  This is a re-post of something I wrote a few years ago.  It is so important that I decided that if I were to start blogging again this would be where I wanted to start.)

What is the best thing you can do for the future of your child’s spiritual growth?  It might be to throw mama out of church.  This is of course a hyperbole, a bit of an over statement but only barely. (Hyperbole exaggeration in the service of truth).  It appears that a mother’s leadership in the spiritual life of the children relative to the father’s may actually be destructive according to a study released in 2000 by Werner Haug and Philippe Wanner.[1]

 

This is not about the role of leadership of women in the church.  That is actually a secondary subject.  If we get the masculine leadership in the spiritual formation of children, the church will take care of itself. 

 

According to the study, in each category when the mother’s practice is equal to or greater than the father’s practice the future participation on the part of the children declines.  (Carefully study the chart below.)  As we might expect, the role of the father’s leadership is the key factor in a child’s future faith practice.  However, there is critical observation that must not be missed. The greatest participation of children came when the Father was regular and the mother was non-practicing.  This is completely opposite of what we might expect, what we have taught, and what we have been practicing in the church in America.  We might expect that the greatest likelihood for children’s future participation would occur with both parents being active.  That is not the case.  This data is based on European families that are ethnic minorities, so there may be variables that are somewhat different in the American culture and church.  This study also did not take into account the gender of the child.  Nevertheless, the findings are staggering. 

 

While this study did not focus on leadership in the home, I wish to offer my conjecture.  I believe that in cases when the father attends regularly but the mother is the one who is providing the impetus for spiritual formation the faith development of the children will be diminished.  It is NOT enough for a father to attend service of the church HE MUST BE THE SPIRITUAL LEADER IN THE HOME.  What is important to the father will set the values, mores and ethics of the children.  By the fact that our children have a built-in hypocrisy detector, when dad is just going along with mom’s spiritual quest the kids pick that up and will adopt the real ideals of their dad. 

 

As the American church has tried to liberate women in the church by opening up positions of leadership we have allowed the men/husbands/fathers to wash their hands of the responsibility of spiritual leadership.  As this has happened in the functional life of the church it has migrated into spiritual formation in the home.  Show me a community where men have vacated the spiritual leadership of the church and the home and I believe you will see a community where the next generation is growing apathetic about their faith walk. 

 

No one is going to advocate oppressing women; that is foolish.  However, the time is long past for the church to call on men to love their kids into a dynamic faith by being the advocate for their spiritual practices.  We need to call men to be the default leader in the home for all matters spiritual. We need to call for men to take the family to worship, not sending them.  We need to teach dad’s to bring Biblical truth and values to life’s situations.   Dad’s need to be the ones who are seen as the Bible experts in the family.  It is dad who leads prayers at bedtime and thanks at meals.  Men’s ministry at the church needs to be more than macho, beast feast and Christian sports bar talk.  It must be a call to real faith on the part of men that flows into their children.  If you already believe the role of “Fathers” in the spiritual development of their children is critical then this study will provide you plenty to think about and work with in your faith an home.

 

We look at the moral chaos of our society, the declining influence of our faith on the next generation, and the steady and rapid decline of the church and we have two options.  One, you may begin developing a strategy to help men develop into the strong spiritual leaders in the home. Or, we can form an advance committee to oversee the closure of your church.

 

 

To that end we will begin XY, a men’s spiritual formation group, for the purpose of helping men see their role in the family, the church, and the community.  The centerpiece will be a bi-monthly gathering on the 1^st and 3^rd Saturday’s of the month at 7:00 AM.  It may not be easy but it will be worthwhile.

 

 

Parental Influence on Faith Practices of Their Children

 

 

Practice of Parents	Practice of Parents	Practice of the children	Practice of the children	Practice of the children	Practice of the children
FATHER	MOTHER	REGULAR	IRREGULAR	NON-PRACTISING	TOTAL
Regular	Regular	32.8	41.4	25.8	100.0
Regular	Irregular	37.7	37.6	24.7	100.0
Regular	Non-Practicing	44.2	22.4	33.4	100.0
Irregular	Regular	3.4	58.6	38.0	100.0
Irregular	Irregular	7.8	60.8	31.4	100.0
Irregular	Non-Practicing	25.4	22.8	51.8	100.0
Non-Practicing	Regular	1.5	37.4	61.1	100.0
Non-Practicing	Irregular	2.3	37.8	59.9	100.0
Non-Practicing	Non-Practicing	4.6	14.7	80.7	100.0

 

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[1]

Werner Haug; Philippe Wanner (January 2000). "IV. The demographic characteristics of linguistic and religious groups in Switzerland". The Demographic Characteristics of National Minorities in Certain European States. Population Studies No. 31. Volume 2. Germany: Council of Europe. p. 154. ISBN 978-92-871-4159-0.

 

In praise of the cockroach or at least grudging respect

A couple of weeks ago I talked about how the church should be like a cockroach in a growingly hostile world.  Some readers found the idea of pouring out 5 gallons of cockroaches on the floor somewhat disquieting.  What was the term that was used?  Oh, yes, “full body shiver”.  The Bible uses a number of animals to illustrate some truths.  Some are becoming like being a sheep, some are not like cunning as a serpent.  Our personal disdain for roaches should not prevent us from appreciating these marvels of creation and learning from them.  C. S. Lewis points out that we have imagined angels with bird wings and demons with bat wings not because birds are more holy than bats, but because of our own preference.  So, continue to hate roaches, at least the ones in the house, but let’s learn a lesson from them about what the church could be like.

____Amazing Facts about Roaches that Churches need to imitate.

1.) A Cockroach Can Live for Week Without Its Head

How long would the average church member survive if they were separated from the local leaders of their congregation?  While Jesus is the head of the church and the believer, most church members are dependent on the church leaders to spoon-feed them in their faith.  We need to help our people grow to be able to manage without us. 

2.) A Cockroach Can Hold Its Breath for 40 Minutes

Privation is not something we are good at and will not be tolerated by our members.  By use of the “seeker driven” approach to ministry we have created whole congregations that are utterly focused on their own interests.  If by some chance they are not happy over almost anything they will find a church somewhere that will “meet” their needs.  We need to train our people that the life of the church is not about them and that they do not always have to have their way.

3.) They Can Run Up to Three Miles in an Hour

Compared to body size that would be like a man running about 70 MPH or a sub one-minute mile.  How quickly can churches make the decision to take advantage of opportunities?  I know of a committee that took two years of discussion about a project before they could agree to pray for its success.  We do not need to act rashly or in ways that compromise the truth, but there are occasions in which we need to move more quickly that we do.

4.) Newborn German Cockroaches Become Adults in as Little as 36 Days

The maturation process for believers is often slow by design or to be more accurate as a by-product of the design of our churches.  We have church members that still act infantile in regard to their faith, service and life.  We need to emphasis that maturating in faith, including making new disciples is the baseline expectation.

5.) A One-Day-Old Baby Cockroach Can Run Almost as Fast as Its Parents

Baby cockroaches are really small, like the size of a spec of dust.  Nevertheless, they travel well.  What we often do with new Christians is try to lock them in a “Christian Ghetto” cutting off all the connections with their network of nonbelievers.  Rather than sheltering new believers away let’s go with them in their old circle and join them in making disciples. 

6.) The Cockroach Has Shown an Ability to be a Survivor

The radiation that it takes to kill a roach is about 15 times what will kill a human.  What if our church and our members were a little less likely to fall apart when faced with hardship?  Despite the millions spent to try to kill roaches they are in every community.  That is a worthy goal for the church.

7.) There are More Than 4,000 Different Cockroach Species Worldwide

They range from the arctic to the tropics and can adapt to almost any environment and survive and thrive anywhere.  What a message for our church planting mindset.  Look at the place in your community where you think a church would not do well.  If we think like roaches we would see that as an opportunity. 

8.) Cockroaches are social and they swarm.

As if you didn’t know it roaches live and do their thing together.  They actually are beneficial to each other.  What if the church membership was swarms of like-minded individuals that worked for a common goal?

I’m not saying you should like cockroaches or compare your churches or Christian friends to roaches.  However, in this amazing creation we see some attributes that we can imitate in our lives as disciples. 

Paul's 5-step plan to a health church

I generally dislike simple formulas that are offered for complex problems.  But at the end of I Corinthians Paul offers a simple 5-step plan for this sick church's restoration.

Paul’s conclusion to his letter to the most dysfunctional and problem-beset church in the New Testament is both powerful and beautiful.  It is loving and gentle without being sentimental and weak.  Paul’s five instructions in I Corinthians 16:13-14, if followed by the church, would almost completely restore it to good health.  They are instructions that we in our chaotic time would do well to heed.    These instructions are progressive, each of these directives connect to the principle or behavior preceding it and prepare for the one following. 

Paul begins with, “Be on the alert”; have some basic, situational awareness.  Realize that troubles are coming, both for individual Christians and for congregations.  Too often Christians act as if we live in a world that is or should be “pro-Christian” and that opinion is not supported by Scripture, history or experience.  Once problems have infected the church or our lives it is often too late for the best solutions.  So, be looking for trouble.

When facing these problems we do so in the faith.  Notice that Paul doesn’t say, “Faith,” but rather, “The faith.”  It is not our personal or subjective faith, but rather, the orthodox faith once and for all given to the saints. If we address our troubles based on the Christian faith rather than opinions, fads, or the latest psychobabble, the problems and solutions would be much clearer. 

Seeing these problems Biblically in advance will still require courage to respond effectively.  Paul says, “Act like men.”  This is the only occurrence of this word in the New Testament.  It means to act mature, full-grown, responsibly and courageously.  Knowing the truth is great, but acting on the truth will require resolve and determination.  So many times congregations face problems and rather than confront and deal with the problems leaders run away from the conflict and pretend that if everyone acts nice the problems will go away.  A child left to himself will never do the hard work of study or clean his room, will play endlessly with video games, and eat only ice cream and cake.  A mature grown up will work and do the hard things that need to be done.  In most church disasters there was a moment when a wicked person or group should have been confronted forcefully but were not.  Because the leaders were weak the wicked won the day or moment but ultimately the ministry died.  Children left to themselves will only do what feels good in the moment.  Too many times church leaders act the same way to the ruin of many congregations.  Such leaders deserve nothing but the most pure form of contempt.

Dealing with problems in the church is not easy; in addition to maturity it requires strength.  So, Paul adds to alertness, orthodoxy, and maturity the character of strength.  The word Paul uses here is also rare, being found only 4 times in the New Testament.  It comes from the root word that means, “complete”.  It carries the idea of complete domination.  To use a sports metaphor, the kind of domination when Georgia Tech beat Cumberland University in football 222 to 0, never allowing Cumberland to make a first down and amassing 1,650 yards of rushing.  When confronting problems or wicked people this is how Christians and church leaders are to express their power over evil.

The last point that Paul makes is that it all has to be done in love.  It is easy for us to procrastinate dealing with evil.  When we procrastinate we only put off what must be done.  We generally put it off until it becomes personal and when it becomes personal it is easy for our actions to become vindictive and unloving.  The church must be aggressive in its oppression of evil and it is easier to do that in love if we do it sooner rather than later. This loving suppression of evil requires the strength that will endure from maturity in the faith and clear-sighted concern for the future.  Loving the sinner while hating the sin is no easy task; it is the hallmark of a mature Christian.  Ideally, we develop a very thick skin so that nothing really bothers us while maintaining a tender heart for all people, even wicked people.  Ironically, what we often find and universally find in church troublemakers is a person who is both thin-skinned and hard-hearted.  If they won’t repent, such people will wreck a church.