Author: Allan (Page 355 of 492)
In affirming the ideal picture of a diverse community of Christian disciples presented in Scripture and summarized in yesterday’s post and, at the same time, lamenting the failure of most churches to fully understand, grasp, and work toward that ideal, a most loyal reader of this space commented: “Maybe we should leave whitebread land…”
No. That’s not necessarily the answer.
The answer is to keep trying. Keep teaching. Keep working. Like our Sovereign God, keep calling things that are not as though they were. And see it. Live it. Do it. But that can only happen, I know, AFTER a church and its leaders fully understand the Gospel significance and power of a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-generational, multi-cultural, multi-socio-economic body.
As long as we have churches for the poor and churches for the rich, white churches and black churches and brown churches, as long as we refuse to give and sacrifice and bend to one another enough to worship and serve and love and live together, we will be unable to give to the world anything it can’t already get at the social club or the mall or on the internet. I believe that people today are seeking truth. No, make that Truth, with a capital T. People are searching for a Truth that is bigger than themselves. A Truth that means something for eternity, that transcends what we experience on a daily basis, that is gargantuan in its scope and Truth-ness. Real Truth changes lives. It has the power to radically transform men and women and whole neighborhoods and cities. Gatherings of a bunch of people who look alike and think alike, who dress the same and make the same amount of money, can be found anywhere. Organizations that exist to cater to a certain select segment of our population are found everywhere we look. In fact, that’s all there is anymore. That doesn’t really speak a unique word to anyone. It’s certainly not some kind of all-surpassing, history-altering Truth.
The Truth of the Gospel is that God condescended to man, submitted to sinful humans, gave and served and sacrificed for others to the point of dying on a cross, and rose again to destroy eternally everything that separates man from God and man from one another. Christ Jesus destroys all the walls, his death demolishes the barriers, his resurrection defeats the differences. We’re all the same in our Savior. His Church is one body, one people, one eternal congregation of saints for ever. We know these things, we teach and preach these things, we write books about these things and uphold these things as pure soul-saving Truth.
But when we don’t live it, when we don’t show the world what it looks like, why are we surprised that the world yawns and turns away? We proclaim something radically different from the world, but we practice the same old thing that the world sees every day. I’m bored with it, too.
The scandal of the early Church was not that they were worshiping a different God. It wasn’t that they were preaching the Resurrection. The first Church was persecuted because they were destroying the social class systems of the Roman Empire. Greeks and Jews were sharing meals around the same table. Both rich and poor interacted in the same homes. Masters served their slaves. Educated and ignorant, men and women, slave and free, ruling class and no class, they came together to live and worship and serve the Lord and King who saved them and called them to a better way.
That kind of submission and sacrifice spoke a word of Truth to the world. That kind of living turned the world upside down for the Kingdom of God. That kind of spectacle was so different from anything anybody ever experienced anywhere else that it sparked a global revolution that upset governments and changed the course of human history.
But we want to keep our tidy little lines of demarcation between white and black, rich and poor, English and Spanish, in our churches. We think it’s too hard to integrate. We think it’s too much to sacrifice. We think we’d have to give up too much in our worship styles. In the name of culture and comfort we decide it’s too difficult. We don’t think it’s worth the trouble.
Either we have underestimated the people in our congregations or we have horribly misunderstood the Gospel of Jesus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jon Mark Beilue, a long-time columnist for the Amarillo Globe News, stopped by for an hour or so last week to interview me for the paper. His column came out this 
morning. You can read it by clicking here. The Garland cop is Jason Reeves. The cross above my computer is the collage of crosses Tracy Sharp did for me when we left Legacy. I was not a kid in suburban Dallas; I was born and reared in the heart of the Dallas hood, man — PGrove! I’m not sure why the color in the photo is so messed up; there’s no way my hair is really that gray. And Jon didn’t use my favorite line: Working for and with the Texas Rangers every day for four years drives most men into twelve-step counseling programs; it drove me to the ministry.
I really enjoyed my time with Jon Mark and the Globe News Photographer, Robert, who, like me, also hails from Big D. It’s a very nice column. And he’s right about this: our God could not have led me to a better church in a better setting in a better city than where we are right now today.
Peace,
Allan
Our holy Scriptures are full of lofty ideals. We listen to Jesus say, “Love your enemies,” and we realize, “Wait a second, I don’t even like my friends!” Give to everyone who asks. Never lust. Always forgive. Rejoice in persecution. Put the needs of others ahead of your own. Our Lord calls for a single-minded fidelity to following him without reservation. And it’s demanding. Impossibly so. Yes, the Holy Spirit of God empowers us to do what Christ is calling us to do. But we don’t always do it. We mess up. We sin. We fall.
To borrow from Yancey, I find that, personally, I talk and write about spiritual disciplines far better than I practice them. 
How about you?
Yeah, I know.
But we keep trying, right?
We never put our feet on the floor in the morning and allow that, “I’m human so I’m going to sin today. There’s no way I’m going to be perfect today. I’m going to mess up. I’m human.” No! God forbid! We strive with everything in our power and by the strength of the Spirit to pledge that, today, I’m going to be like my Lord! We don’t ever give in to the world’s conclusion that we cannot possibly be like Christ. We keep trying.
Scripture paints a beautiful picture of the Kingdom of God and the coming wedding feast of the Lamb. It’s a gathering of “every tribe and language and people and nation.” We find “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” around the table. Paul makes it clear that, in Christ, there is “neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female.”
I believe the very core of the Gospel of Jesus is that our Christ died and rose again in order to destroy completely and eternally all the barriers that exist between God and man and man and one another. Social distinctions. Cultural differences. Language obstacles. Socio-economic disparity. Zip codes and tax brackets. None of these things register as even a blip on our fellowship radar. These differences don’t even exist in Christ.
But we have black churches. And white churches. And hispanic churches. And rich churches. And poor churches. And somehow we’ve fooled ourselves into thinking that’s OK. We have begun to believe the lie that church has always been this way and it will always be this way. The cultural differences are too great. The language difficulties are too much. We’ve tried to integrate, we’ve tried to come together, but it’s just never worked. And it never will work.
So, why try?
Because there is honor in the trying. Trying is an act of faith. Our Father wants us to engage that struggle and try. He wants us to try.
Scripture gives us a crystal-clear mandate. It tells us in no uncertain terms that the table of Christ and the house of God is to be enjoyed by all. Together. United as one. Everybody equal. Everybody just as wretched and lost and condemned to death without Jesus and everybody just as holy and saved and righteous because of Jesus. Together. We uphold the ideals we find in Scripture. We lift up those ideals and we try with everything we have to bring heaven to earth, to practice God’s will on earth just as it is in heaven.
And we slip. And we fall. And fail. And do really stupid things. But we never give up. We never give in to the world’s conclusions that division along racial and economic and language lines is necessary. We keep trying. And we trust that Jesus, our King, is watching even as we are “straining at the oars.” He’s interceding for us as he watches. And he’s proud of us. He’s pleased with us as we keep trying.
Peace,
Allan
What an amazing day of worship and praise and communion and fellowship with the Body of Christ that meets here at Central! What great energy and enthusiasm among the more than 800 disciples of Jesus in the building! The singing to our Lord was inspired. The words and prayers from our shepherds were challenging and convicting. The example of our Savior to live our lives as huge billboards proclaiming the glory of our God is motivating and encouraging. I certainly felt like God was present in every handshake, every hug, every pat on the back. More than 500 of us Sweatin’ to the Oldies together in the chapel last night and then trying to cool off with Levi’s green chili ice cream is something I thoroughly enjoyed and will never forget. What a marvelous day and great beginning to our ministry together.
What a blessing to pray together with my shepherds and ministers in the chapel early yesterday morning. What a joy to be joined by Paul and John. What an honor to have Paul and Andrea, John and Suzanne, and Darryn and Cindy and Camryn and Ryan here with us Saturday night and Sunday. What a blessing to see Gerald and Joice Ball in the crowd! To have ten people here with us from Legacy means the world to me. What great friends. What true devotion. What awkwardness when Darryn writes on his nametag “Legacy Search Committee.” And wears it all day.
The work here at Central is great, the call from our God in this place is clear, and the challenge is real. Yet, I am filled with a tremendous deal
of confidence and courage, realizing that this is bigger than me, bigger than us, bigger than just the Central Church of Christ. God has huge plans for us. He is working in mighty ways to impact our panhandle communities for his Kingdom.
I want to thank every single person who has encouraged me with a text, an email, or a voice message over the past 48 hours. I received 25 texts of prayers and well wishes in a 90-minute window early yesterday morning. And it hasn’t slowed down much since. Thank you. Every one of you have played and are playing a role in shaping me and encouraging me and pushing me to be God’s servant and a servant of his Kingdom.
God bless us. And may his holy will be done here at Central and throughout this world just as it is in heaven.
Peace,
Allan
I have become the Church’s servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the Word of God in its fullness — the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Peace,
Allan
In less than 24 hours I’ll be preaching to and with my new church family. There will be a dozen people in our worship center who’ve heard me preach more than 200 sermons in person. These dear friends from Legacy know me. They love me and they know my deep love for them. But the overwhelming majority of the listeners tomorrow will be hearing me for the very first time.
And they need to know that I love our Lord. And I love them.
John Newton wrote that his congregation would take almost anything from him, however painful, because they knew “I mean to do them good.”
That is the litmus test for my preaching ministry. That’s my centering point for everything I do. Intending to always do them good means my sermon preparation is a more sacred endeavor than just satisfying my own personal love of study. It means my preaching will have characteristics that are maybe difficult to define but still sensed by my hearers that reflect what Paul meant when he talked about preaching and pastoring:
“We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” ~2 Corinthians 4:5
“We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” ~1 Thessalonians 2:8
“I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well.” ~2 Corinthians 12:15
I have been receiving more phone calls and emails and text messages since yesterday from our brand new friends here at Central wishing me well, showering me with love and encouragement, and expressing their excitement. I received a voice mail this morning from a dear sister here who said, among other things, “We already love you and your family; you can’t do a single thing to make us love you more.”
They need to know I love them, too. God help me; I mean to do them good.
Peace,
Allan
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