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Category: Church (Page 46 of 61)

True Vision = Right Conduct

October 20, 2009 / / 2 Comments

(This is at least a three or four-parter. Hang with me on this for a few days.)

True VisionStanley Hauerwas says the moral life is as much a matter of vision as a matter of doing. One acts in the world according to how one sees the world. Our actions are informed by our attitudes, our values, and our dispositions. Those things are shaped and formed first and those, in turn, determine what we do and say in given situations. But it’s our vision, our way of looking at the reality around us, which initially informs our character.

So if the Church is charged, in large part, with shaping Christians and preparing them to lead a moral life in the struggles against the things that separate us from God, how are we doing? Are we concentrating on building Godly values and attitudes, which lead to proper conduct, by presenting the proper vision?

I’m afraid my experience tells me that the Church wants to do what is right and good, but it’s not as informed or motivated by a radical big-picture view of reality as it is by making sure things are done “decently and in order” and in accordance with the recognized norms of society. In the 1960s, Will Herberg wrote and lectured about the disconnect between what we do and what we confess. He suggested that, unfortunately, one doesn’t necessarily influence the other.

According to Herberg, our religion is so thoroughly secularist that “the familiar distinction between religion and secularism appears to be losing much of its meaning.” We all uphold and cherish certain basic values and organize our moral activities based on those common assumptions. Pagan and Christian alike, believer and non-believer, adhere to similar moral standards, not based on the Father and Son, but on what our culture deems acceptable.

James Davidson Hunter says:

Vast numbers of Christians today live in real cognitive dissonance respecting their claims to being religious and the conduct of their lives.  They retain a vague notion of religious identity but their lives are distinctly secular, with the experience of God in worship and prayer not figuring very prominently in all that they do. Increasingly these nominal Christians embrace the heady hedonism and narcissism of popular culture and do not see that this contradicts biblical faith. Middle-class suburbia is teeming with such persons.

It’s true.

Where has the Church failed? What can we do better?

If true vision fosters and leads to and results in right conduct, maybe we need to evaluate the vision. Or the presentation of the vision.

What can we do better?

Peace,

Allan

Attention All "Moderate" Churches

October 19, 2009 / / 1 Comment

I’ve added Jay Guin’s blog, One in Jesus, to my list of links there on the right hand side of this page. Jay is a long-time elder at the Alberta Church of Christ in Alabama. And I find his writings provocative and inspirational. It’s addicting. I’ll get on his site once a week and easily spend a couple of hours reading his articles regarding our walk with Christ in our American Restoration churches. His scholarship is obvious. His research is more than thorough. And he comes at delicate issues and explosive topics with a humility and grace that reveal Christ in him.

I’ve thought about adding him to my blogrole for several months now. Here’s what put me over the top: an article he wrote in March 2007 about leading a moderate church. The article was just pointed out to me late last week. It’s excellent.

Overseeing the Moderate ChurchIf you’re a preacher or an elder or a ministry leader of a congregation that positions itself as “moderate” or, God forbid, “middle-of-the-road,” you absolutely must read this article. It’s called Overseeing the Moderate Church. After reading this article, you may feel that Jay has been a member of your congregation for 20 years and spends his evenings under the table where your elders meet. Or that he’s tapped your phones.

A moderate church has leaders and members at every conceivable point on that dreadful A-B Line. (Please see my previous posts Jumping Off the Line and Jumping Off the Line: Part Two.) When they come together on Sunday mornings they’re all over the map. And, instead of addressing the inevitable disagreements from Scripture, we ignore them. Or we try to manage them. Or we make political compromises. The inarguable truth of what Guin presents here will frighten you. It may also — possibly — give you great comfort to know that your church isn’t the only one facing the perils that come with a theologically-divided church led by theologically-divided elders and ministers and staff.

The inspiration comes in Jay’s instructions to leaders and members of these churches: “The solution is for the leadership to lead.”

In this case, leading means teaching a version of the Gospel that encourages people to accept one another despite their differences. This means the centerpiece of the church’s teaching has to be love and unity and grace. Now, this shouldn’t be a problem, as this happens to be the centerpiece of the New Testament’s ethical instructions for Christians (read, for example, Romans 12-15).

You simply cannot be Christ-like and care more about your preferences than those of your brothers and sisters. There is no other Gospel. Guin says the key is for elders and staff to insist on this attitude of love and unity and grace, on the Philippians 2 principles of considering others better than ourselves.

This means asking those who refuse to comply to leave. Selfishness is simply intolerable in church. Jesus died to cure it, and if we insist in wallowing in our self-love, we’ll damn ourselves.

Just read the article. It’s called Overseeing the Moderate Church. Get to it by clicking Overseeing the Moderate Church. His website, One in Jesus, is here and in my links list to the right.

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Making up division ground by not playing!If the Cowboys can schedule three more bye-weeks, they’ll take over the lead in the NFC East and make the playoffs and Wade Phillips can keep his job.

Peace,

Allan

Is Christ Divided?

October 14, 2009 / / 1 Comment

“One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.'” ~1 Corinthians 1:12

Our Tuesday morning men’s Bible study is looking at 1 Corinthians right now so you’re going to get a dose of this once a week or so for a while.

Is Christ Divided?I see us just like the Corinthians. We have divided up into factions. One person belongs to a “progressive” faction.  One is of a “conservative” group. One claims a “traditional” view. Still another stands for the “liberal” position. Each group claims to have something the others don’t. We’re better. Or we’re more mature. Or more “correct.” Or more free. Or more righteous. Or more whatever. Everybody else is more rigid. Or more strict. Or more loose. Or more prone to slip. Or more worldly. Or more whatever.

Since our differences — distinctions — are seen as good things in and of themselves, and something in which to even boast, we limit ourselves to only the thinkers or authors or preachers or teachers in our own groups and have a real tendency to vilify all the thinkers and authors and preachers and teachers in the other groups.

And we divide. And we disfellowship. And we write articles and papers. And we split up our own families. And we tell the world that the Prince of Peace isn’t really all that great afterall. He can get us to our own congregations (or our own sections of our congregations) on Sundays. But real unity and peace is out of the question.

“Is Christ divided? Was Paul (insert your favorite preacher or congregation or Bible class teacher here) crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul (insert your favorite Christian university or author or professor here)?”

The answer to this evil division, of course, is found in the Word of God. What we see in Scripture is that the Gospel is Christ and him crucified. Period. That’s it.

But, alas, that’s not enough to support my clan or my faction or my segment of the divisions over the others. We’re all equal at the cross. Equal in sin. Equal in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Equally saved by grace. So, forget the Bible. Or, more accurately, let’s add on to the Bible. When’s the next lectureship? When’s the next gospel meeting? Email me the link to that article. Get me a copy of that magazine.

“I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” ~1 Corinthians 1:10

Peace. Seriously.

Allan

Our Lord Is Faithful

October 7, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Our Lord is FaithfulOur Tuesday morning men’s Bible study group dove into 1 Corinthians this week. And we were struck by Paul’s comments at the beginning of this powerful letter. He’s writing to a church that’s completely eaten up with pride and divisions and arrogance and immaturity. The leaders of this church are abusing the very gifts God’s given them to prove his holy presence. They’re running the church with worldly methods according to worldly standards. This church is a mess. It’s a wreck. It’s doing more harm for the Kingdom than good.

Yet, Paul writes:

“Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.”

Huh?

Paul gives thanks for this church. He praises this church for their enriched speaking and knowledge. He calls them the “sanctified.” He claims that this whacked-out church in Corinth has just as many spiritual blessings and potential as any church that’s ever been established.

Huh?

How can he write that? How can he be positive and thankful? How can he, with a straight face, affirm anything good going on here?

“He [Christ] will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” ~1 Corinthians 1:8-9

God himself provides the guarantee. He will remain faithful to his promises to ultimately perfect his chosen people. No matter how immature they are, regardless of the ways they act toward one another and in their community, God is making his Church wholly blameless. We are forgiven of our sins and are in the process of “being saved.” We’re being remolded, transformed, even if it comes with great swings and dramatic ups and downs.

We’re always going to see the blemishes in God’s Church. His Church is made up of humans. Some days, those blights on the Bride of Christ are all we can see. It can be discouraging. It can bring us down. Especially when we recognize that, a lot of the times, we ourselves are actually part of the problem.

The key is to focus not on the unfaithfulness of God’s people but, instead, on the eternal faithfulness of our God. We are Christians still awaiting perfection, still awaiting the final revelation and completion and arrival of the Kingdom of God. It’s coming. And he promises that when it does, he will have made us ready.

That includes you. And me.

Peace,

Allan

One Man's Vision

October 6, 2009 / / 0 Comments

For us in the Churches of Christ, I think some of the fear of publicly and openly recognizing other groups of Christians as brothers and sisters is that our people will leave and join those other churches. We’re going to lose members. If we admit that the members of all these churches are just like us in that we’re all calling on the name of the Lord, we’re all baptized into Christ, we’re all following the Word to our best abilities, and we’re all saved by the matchless mercy and grace of God, there’s nothing to keep our members or our children from embracing those other churches. We’ll lose members. As I’ve heard more than a couple of people put it, “If we’re not better, if we’re just like everybody else, then what are we calling our people to? What’s the point?”

OK. Hear me out.

I think that openly embracing other groups as Christian brothers and sisters will actually cause our specific Church of Christ stream to grow, not shrink. We can still hold and uphold certain practices and preach and teach certain doctrines. Those practices and doctrines are critical. They’re important. Saved by faith. Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Weekly celebrations of that salvation around Christ’s table. Acappella singing. Yes! We stand strong for them. But just because we take ownership of certain doctrines and practices doesn’t mean we have a monopoly on God. We don’t. And if we’ll just recognize that, if we’ll just accept that we’re all doing the best we can with sincerity and faith, that we’re all saved by grace, it will change us for the better.

Here’s how: I think it would actually force us into where Christ inarguably calls us to be.

Instead of saying, “Be a member at Legacy” or “Be a member of the Churches of Christ” because our worship is correct, we’d be forced to say, “Be a member at Legacy” or “Be a member of the Churches of Christ” because our people are being shaped by Jesus. Be a member here because our people are so good. Be a member here because our people will love you and support you no matter what. Be a member here because we’re so involved in our community. Because Christ really does dominate our thoughts and deeds. Because we’re serious about being transformed into his image. Because we really have sold out to Christ Jesus as our Lord. Because we act like a family. Because we take care of each other. Because we really believe we are saved through no merit of our own. Come be a member of this church because God is using us in huge ways to impact his eternal Kingdom.

When we receive one another as Christ received us, when we forgive one another as God forgives us, when we love one another as God through Christ loves us, that will attract many more people to Jesus than a “correct” worship service on Sunday morning. Our focus will no longer be inward, on the “correctness” of our Sunday morning hour, but outward, toward loving one another and sharing God’s mercy and grace to a lost and dying world.

Just a dream? Maybe.

But I hope to pass it on to my children as the holy will of our God and something that needs to be pursued by his people with everything we’ve got.

Peace,

Allan

One Man's Vision

October 6, 2009 / / 0 Comments

For us in the Churches of Christ, I think some of the fear of publicly and openly recognizing other groups of Christians as brothers and sisters is that our people will leave and join those other churches. We’re going to lose members. If we admit that the members of all these churches are just like us in that we’re all calling on the name of the Lord, we’re all baptized into Christ, we’re all following the Word to our best abilities, and we’re all saved by the matchless mercy and grace of God, there’s nothing to keep our members or our children from embracing those other churches. We’ll lose members. As I’ve heard more than a couple of people put it, “If we’re not better, if we’re just like everybody else, then what are we calling our people to? What’s the point?”

OK. Hear me out.

I think that openly embracing other groups as Christian brothers and sisters will actually cause our specific Church of Christ stream to grow, not shrink. We can still hold and uphold certain practices and preach and teach certain doctrines. Those practices and doctrines are critical. They’re important. Saved by faith. Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Weekly celebrations of that salvation around Christ’s table. Acappella singing. Yes! We stand strong for them. But just because we take ownership of certain doctrines and practices doesn’t mean we have a monopoly on God. We don’t. And if we’ll just recognize that, if we’ll just accept that we’re all doing the best we can with sincerity and faith, that we’re all saved by grace, it will change us for the better.

Here’s how: I think it would actually force us into where Christ inarguably calls us to be.

Instead of saying, “Be a member at Legacy” or “Be a member of the Churches of Christ” because our worship is correct, we’d be forced to say, “Be a member at Legacy” or “Be a member of the Churches of Christ” because our people are being shaped by Jesus. Be a member here because our people are so good. Be a member here because our people will love you and support you no matter what. Be a member here because we’re so involved in our community. Because Christ really does dominate our thoughts and deeds. Because we’re serious about being transformed into his image. Because we really have sold out to Christ Jesus as our Lord. Because we act like a family. Because we take care of each other. Because we really believe we are saved through no merit of our own. Come be a member of this church because God is using us in huge ways to impact his eternal Kingdom.

When we receive one another as Christ received us, when we forgive one another as God forgives us, when we love one another as God through Christ loves us, that will attract many more people to Jesus than a “correct” worship service on Sunday morning. Our focus will no longer be inward, on the “correctness” of our Sunday morning hour, but outward, toward loving one another and sharing God’s mercy and grace to a lost and dying world.

Just a dream? Maybe.

But I hope to pass it on to my children as the holy will of our God and something that needs to be pursued by his people with everything we’ve got.

Peace,

Allan

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