The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Ephesians (Page 13 of 19)

One Faith

November 20, 2012 / / 1 Comment

“…that all of them may be one… that the world may believe.” ~John 17:21

We just concluded our latest three-week church orientation classes here at Central. Three or four times a year, Matthew Blake and I host brand new members and anyone else who wants more information about our church family. We talk about our history and our future, our goals and our dreams. We describe in detail the clear expectations we have of our members. And we spend a good deal of time on our congregation’s vision that, we believe, has been handed to us by our God.

A very important question came up last week as we were discussing the “reconciliation” part of our vision. See, we take the prayer of Jesus in John 17 very seriously. We believe it is God’s holy will that all of his children, that all disciples of his Son, be reconciled. We think God’s great desire is for all Christians to be brought together as a powerful witness to the world of his love and grace. We believe that when Paul writes that Jesus died on the cross to break down all the barriers that exist among men and women and between mankind and God, that includes the barriers between Christian denominations. We’ve very much in to tearing down walls and destroying barriers because our God is very much in to tearing down walls and destroying barriers.

So, I’m talking to this group of thirty people or so about our cooperative efforts with the other churches in Amarillo. I’m discussing our partnership with the Southlawn Assembly of God on the pantry plant, the pulpit swaps with the Christian Church on Washington Street, our prayer breakfasts with the Presbyterians and Methodists, my lunches at First Baptist. We believe these kinds of cooperative efforts and expressions of Christian unity are good for the Kingdom and very beneficial to the city of Amarillo. We believe it shapes our own people more into the image of the Son and moves toward reclaiming our whole city in the name of Jesus.

“But how do you deal with the fact that a lot of these people you’re working with aren’t baptized like we are?”

The question came from my right. And I’ve heard it before. I hear it quite often, actually. There are many variations of the question. “They don’t believe the same things we believe; how can we fellowship with them?” “What about our differences?” “Are they saved?” “Are you saying we’re all the same?” “What are we teaching our kids?” The woman who asked the question on Sunday quoted the same passage I’ve heard quoted many times in these types of discussions: “…one Lord, one faith, one baptism…” from Ephesians 4:3-6. But this woman wasn’t accusing anybody. She wasn’t aggressive or confrontational. She really wanted to know. She was genuinely wrestling with it.

Yes, there is indeed one faith. That is what we believe and what we profess. There is one faith: that the almighty Creator came to this earth in the form of a human to restore that which was broken by sin and to save that which was lost by evil; that he lived and died and was raised to eternal life by the Spirit of God; that he reigns right now at the right hand of the Father in heaven; that he calls us to follow him by denying ourselves and submitting completely to his Lordship, receiving forgiveness of sins and the indwelling of the Spirit of Truth, and participating fully in his sufferings as we work toward that same restoration and salvation for the sake of his world; that he is coming back very soon to reclaim what is his, including all of his faithful disciples, and that he will live with them face-to-face forever. That’s the one faith. That’s it. And the Presbyterians and Methodists and Baptists and any other Christian denomination you want to lump in there all hold to that one faith and that one Lord with the same white-knuckle death grip as you.

It’s one faith, not one expression of faith.

When we start arguing about worship styles or leadership structures, when we start dividing about baptism methods or communion frequencies, we’re not working toward the same things for which our God is working. We’re not moving in the faith we profess, we’re actually moving away from it. Yeah, we’re all a little different. And none of us is perfect in our understanding or our practice. Not yet. So why would God’s grace cover me in my misunderstandings and misapplications, but not cover the other Christ-followers in the other churches in their misunderstandings and misapplications? That is the height of arrogance. An attitude like that actually denies the need for God’s grace.

(I came across this line from Alexander Campbell, penned in The Christian Baptist (ha!) in 1837, that perhaps explains much better what I’m trying to say:

“How do I know that any one loves my Master but by his obedience to his commandments? I answer, in no other way. But mark, I do not substitute obedience to one commandment, for universal or even general obedience. It is the image of Christ the Christian looks for and loves; and this does not consist in being exact in a few items, but in general devotion to the whole truth so far as known… He who infers that none are Christians but the immersed, as greatly errs as he who affirms that none are alive but those of clear and full vision… Every one who despises any ordinance of Christ, or who is willingly ignorant of it, cannot be a Christian; still I should sin against my own convictions should I teach anyone to think that if he mistook the meaning of any institution, while in his soul he desired to know the whole will of God, he must perish forever.” )

The conversation in our orientation class went on for almost fifteen minutes. A couple of our shepherds joined in, explaining that here at Central we like to concentrate on the things we have in common with other Christians, which are many and important, than on our differences, which are minor and fleeting. They described our deep desire to both teach other Christians and to learn from other Christians, recognizing that we cannot do either without being in loving  and trusting relationship.

I received a lengthy text from another woman in the class later that afternoon. In part, it read,

“After hearing the response from you and the elders to the question about baptism this morning, we know Central is the home for our family. We want to be part of a church that is seeking to be like Christ, focusing more on God’s Word than man’s traditions. My husband and I both need to grow in our knowledge and faith and feel that Central is the place to do that. We want our children to look for what people are doing right and not pick at what others are doing wrong…”

I’m never sure how our vision statements and mission explanations are going to be received by long time CofCers. As much as I hate it, and as much as our Lord’s heart is broken by it, there are still many in our faith stream who condemn Christians of other stripes who don’t baptize the same ways they do or sing exactly like they do or read the same English translations of the Scriptures that they do. It still happens. All the time. But I do know that we have to stay true to our God’s calling here at Central. We must boldly proclaim and practice the ministry of reconciliation and the doctrine of unity that are major and explicit in serious discipleship to Christ Jesus. We can’t ever compromise our teaching on the subjects for fear of offending a visitor or running off a potential new member. It’s better that people know exactly what they’re getting in to when they jump in with our congregation. It’s much better having these faith discussions in our orientation classes than a couple of years down the road.

By the way, the woman who asked the questions is officially placing her membership with us, too. I figured she would. Jesus promised that his great truths would set people free.

Peace,

Allan

Christianity’s Las Vegas: Part Three

October 11, 2012 / / 9 Comments

We’re continuing the discussion prompted by Bryan Roberts’ article “Seven Things Christians Need to Remember about Politics.” Before we forge ahead, allow me to backtrack just a tad. Roberts’ fourth thing is “Thinking your party’s platform is unflawed is a mistake,” fits perfectly with yesterday’s first thing, “Both political parties go to church.” The policies of America’s political groups are formed by imperfect politicians fueled by worldly ambition. Not one political party or platform perfectly captures what a disciple of Jesus would stand for. Or vote for. If a Christian is going to vote, that Christian is certainly only choosing between the lesser of two worldly evils. Forcing Christians to choose between parties and then judging them on that choice isn’t fair and it isn’t right. By the same token, believing your party of choice has all the godly answers is short-sighted at best and outright sinful at worst.

Roberts’ second thing Christians need to remember about politics is “Political talk radio and cable ‘news’ only want ratings.” When these stations and hosts tell you they are on a moral crusade, they are lying. Straight up. These networks and personalities get rich by selling ads. And they sell ads by having more viewers and listeners. And they mostly use fear and hatred as a way to get those viewers and listeners.

You know it’s true, from the local newscast in your town to the national cable networks. “There’s something in your kitchen that could be killing your family! (long pause…) We’ll have the story at 10:00!!!” “Which national candidate’s policies contain direct quotes from Hitler’s manifesto? (long pause…) Stay tuned for the shocking story!!!” Come on. Most of these networks and nearly all the hosts are experts at fear and hatred. Their work is to divide the whole country into two warring factions that are each terrified of the other and then to continually stir up the hatred between them to make sure they stay divided. It’s so blatant and so over the top, I don’t blame anybody anymore for getting their news from John Stewart. CNN is a joke. Fox News is a 24-hour Saturday Night Live skit.

It is toxic talk that is poisoning our brains and killing our hearts. I know confessing Christians who watch Fox News five or six hours a day and then listen to conservative talk radio in their cars. That can’t be good for them! I promise these Christian brothers and sisters are not spending that much time every day with their Father in prayer or with the Holy Spirit in Scripture. So they’re filling their minds with fear and hate instead of faith and love. Labeling people and whole groups of people as evil instead of seeing them as children of God created in the divine image of our Father. Insults and threats instead of edification and comfort. Name-calling and angry slurs and violence instead of encouragement and good will.

We shouldn’t be surprised when we hear Christians use angry language to speak about “the other” political party or forward insulting emails around the church that castigate an entire race or socio-economic group or religious belief. It’s all some of them ever listen to! Isn’t it as clear to you as it is to me that most of this makes us less godly, not more? Certainly I’m not the only one who realizes this pulls us away from Christ, not toward him. We’ve been given by God in Christ the ministry of reconciliation; we’ve been commissioned by the Holy Spirit of God to reconcile. Political talk and political news feeds the opposite ministry and instincts.

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” ~Ephesians 4:29

Roberts’ related third thing to remember is “Those who argue over politics don’t love their country more than others.” And that’s the point of all this, I suppose. All this arguing and name-calling and fear-mongering is a sin. Strife and quarreling are not gifts of the Holy Spirit; those things come from a whole other spirit altogether.

The talk show hosts and national networks are increasingly biased, inaccurate, and illogical. For their own benefit and gain. And directly against your continuing Christian transformation. If you’re giving more of your time and energy to them than you are to Jesus and the Word of God, you’re serving the wrong master.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whitney starts her new job today. As of 4:30 this afternoon, she’s a bona fide, working, productive, tax-paying member of society. She’s sacking groceries at the United Supermarket at 45th and Bell. Congratulations, Whit!

Eggs and bread on top.

Peace,

Allan

A Matter of Life and Death

October 2, 2012 / / 4 Comments

(Commenting on this post automatically enters you into the drawing for all the books we’re giving away in conjunction with this blog’s upcoming 1,000th article. Scroll way down to the posts on September 20 and 21 for details.)

While studying this week for our sermon on obedience to Christ’s commands (John 15:10-14, “Obey My Commands”), I’ve come across the text of a sermon from Ephesians 5:21ff preached by William Willimon on the topic of submission. While discussing how the world has subtly attacked the Christian doctrine of submission and declared war on our lives of obedience, Willimon speaks about the importance of our Sunday morning worship gatherings. He calls our worship assemblies “a matter of life and death.”

A couple of years ago, I was invited to preach in the congregation where a friend of mine serves. The congregation is located in the heart of one of our great cities. The congregation is entirely black people who live in the tenement houses in that part of the city. I arrived at eleven o’clock, expecting to participate in about an hour of worship. But I did not rise to preach until nearly twelve-thirty. There were hymns and gospel songs, a great deal of speaking, hand-clapping, singing. We did not have the benediction until nearly one-fifteen. I was exhausted.

“Why do black people stay in church so long?” I asked my friend as we went out to lunch. “Our worship never lasts much over an hour.”

He smiled. Then he explained, “Unemployment runs nearly 50 percent here. For our youth, the unemployment rate is much higher. That means that, when our people go about during the week, everything they see, everything they hear tells them, ‘You are a failure. You are nobody. You are nothing because you do not have a good job, you do not have a fine car, you have no money.’

“So I must gather them here, once a week, and get their heads straight. I get them together, here, in the church, and through the hymns, the prayers, the preaching say, ‘That is a lie. You are somebody. You are royalty! God has bought you with a price and he loves you as his Chosen People!’

“It takes me so long to get them straight because the world perverts them so terribly.”

Paganism is the air we breathe in this current world; consumerism is the water we drink; individualism and imperialism are the oxymoronic values that shape us. These things capture us, they convert our kids, they subvert us Christians. We live in a hostile place for discipleship. That’s what makes our congregations, our communities of faith, and our appointed times of corporate worship, a matter of life and death.

We must regularly speak together about God in a world that lives as if there is no God. We must talk to one another as beloved brothers and sisters in a world which encourages us to live as strangers. We must pray to God to give us what we can’t have by our own efforts in a world that teaches us we are self-sufficient and all-powerful. What we do together on Sundays matters a great deal.

Peace,

Allan

Desperately Needing Exercise

July 8, 2012 / / 0 Comments

“…to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” ~Ephesians 4:12-13

We wrapped up our quarterly Central Orientation for visitors and new members to our congregation this morning by talking about works of service. We read the above passage from Ephesians 4 — it’s quickly becoming a bit of a theme passage for us around here — and reminded one another that these works are prepared in advance by God for us to do. If we really are the body of Christ, it’s vital that each member of the body function according to the gifts he or she has been given by the Holy Spirit to do the works that have prepared for that member by God. We stress this all the time at Central. A member of the Central Church of Christ doesn’t just show up on Sundays and sit there.

Legendary Oklahoma football coach Bud Wilkinson was asked one time if professional sports contributed at all to the physical fitness of Americans. He surprised most everybody in the room when he said, “No.”

“A professional football game is a happening where thousands of spectators desperately needing exercise sit in the stands watching twenty-two men on the field desperately needing rest.”

I hope that doesn’t describe your church: a handful of participants and a whole bunch of spectators.

All of us — you and me, everybody in your church and everybody in mine —desperately need exercise. The passage in Ephesians tells us clearly that working for the sake of others builds up the body. Works of service result in unity. Selflessly serving others causes us to be mature in Christ. Using our divinely ordained gifts to benefit others is part of attaining to that whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Paul goes on to say that these works of service keep us from acting like babies, from being tricked by lies and false teachings. Working hard for our Lord and his church is part of “growing up into Christ.”

“…as each part does its work.”

If you’re in God’s Church, you’re in a work zone. You’re not just sitting there, right?

Peace,

Allan

Change Without Chaos

May 15, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Leroy Garrett’s “What Must the Church of Christ Do to Be Saved?”  wraps up with two chapters that more or less summarize his thoughts. He spent most of the first 18 essays discussing specific changes in attitude, changes in practice, changes even in belief that we must make as a faith community if we’re to have any impact for Christ in our rapidly changing world. His 19th chapter, which we are considering together today, exhorts church leaders to make these changes carefully:

Effect purposeful and meaningful change, free of undue disruption and chaos.

[The Church of Christ] must become a changing church. I am not calling for change simply for the sake of change. The change must be positive and creative, displacing attitudes and methods that are no longer effective. The change must be in keeping with the mind of Christ, free of gimmickry, pride, and competitiveness. And it must be change without chaos, not unduly disruptive and threatening. It must be a balanced change that shows respect for the traditions of the past, the demands of the present, and the possibilities of the future.

God’s Church is always changing, right? Isn’t it? If your congregation is not changing, it’s not growing. Growth requires change. By definition growth means change. You can’t grow without change; it’s physically and spiritually impossible. Spiritual growth, numerical growth, physical growth — it all demands change.

Scripture commands us to be constantly changing.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on…” ~Philippians 3:12

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on…” ~Philippians 3:15

“…attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” ~Ephesians 4:13

“Make every effort to add to your faith…” ~2 Peter 1:5

I  believe our Lord is calling us to always attain to the ideal, to always strain toward bringing the Holy Kingdom of God in its fullness into our world, to practice the righteous will of God here on earth just as it is in heaven. Knowing it won’t be accomplished fully until our Christ returns, knowing we will suffer many setbacks and disappointments, knowing his Church will never be perfect until that day of glory, we strive, we press on, we attain, we add. We change. We evolve. We grow. We push. We move.

Just holding our own is a sin. Just maintaining your church community is wrong. Our Lord did not come to earth to live and suffer and die so we could maintain. Jesus isn’t calling anybody to be middle of the road. He’s calling us to grow. To mature in Christ-likeness. To change.

Here at Central, I’m proud to say we have bought into this biblical concept of change. I’m honored to serve with a group of shepherds and ministers who obsess over passionate and corporate desires to become more like Jesus. It’s thrilling. And it honors our God who calls us to be a sign of change, a sign of salvation to the world.

Our vision and mission statements present discipleship as an active, verb-driven way of life. In fact, everything we do at Central stems from our commitment to discipleship. That’s the main number one thing. We take the call to be more like Jesus seriously. And we understand it requires constant change. If Christ is to be formed in us, we’ll have to change. If we’re to have the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, we’re going to have to change. So we do.

It means partnering with the local non-denominational church and the Assembly of God congregation in a food pantry network for the needy in our downtown community. It means our elders praying with the Disciples of Christ elders. It means working with, not against, multi-denominational evangelism efforts like the Franklin Graham crusades and city prayer breakfasts. It means hosting nurse pinnings and GED graduations and hospice rose ceremonies and marriage enrichment seminars in our building. And, yes, while we’re committed to partnering with God in reconciling all of creation back to him, we still struggle with the nuts and bolts. We still wrestle with it. Growth is difficult.

We play the piano as we worship with our Loaves and Fishes outreach crowd, we run videos in our Sunday assemblies that contain guitars and drums, and we host Christian concerts without compromising our commitment to a cappella one bit. But it’s difficult. We equip and empower our sisters at Central to make announcements and to read Scripture in our Sunday assemblies, to actively participate in the leadership of our church life. But it’s not without its occasional heartburn. We’re wrestling with it. We’re trying.

To be disciples of Jesus means that we put the needs of our community ahead of our own. We must place the needs of the lost ahead of our own traditions and comfort zones. We have to consider the needs of the needy to be more important than our own preferences. And it’s hard. We’re committed to it. But it’s hard.

To do all this without chaos we must lay the proper groundwork for change. We must not surprise people with changes, especially in worship, leading them to respond with, “What’s next!?” We must “talk out” new ideas and methods, involving the entire congregation, before they are tried. And it must not be done at all until the right climate is created and there is general agreement. This can never be realized until the leadership takes the initiative and works for change. Those with objections are to be treated with forebearance. It is to be pointed out to them that they do not have to have their way, and that it becomes a Christian to be yielding. When such ones cannot adjust to changes that are deemed necessary for the good of the church as a whole, the congregation will have to allow such ones to go elsewhere, always of course with a love that is slow to let loose.

My advice would be to always ask the right questions when grappling with difficult decisions. “Will this decision make this congregation look more like what it’ll look like in heaven?” “Will this choice make us more like Jesus or less?” “Is this a selfless move or a selfish move?” “Does this change expand the borders of the Kingdom or restrict them?” “Are more people going to be welcomed to the table with this move or fewer?” “Is this a sacrificial thing to do or not?” “Are we following the difficult path of Christ or the broader way of the world?” “Will this communicate to the world an accurate portrait of the Gospel?”

And know that growth — spiritual growth, numerical growth, physical growth, God-commanded growth — requires change.

Peace,

Allan

Be Assured of Salvation

April 30, 2012 / / 0 Comments

The Mavericks played the absolutely best game they possibly could have Saturday night and still lost to the Thunder in OKC. Durant and his boys are going to take it in five games. Last night Derek Holland looked overmatched, Josh Hamilton pulled something in his back, Ron Washington got tossed out of the game on his 60th birthday, and the Rangers lost their first series since last fall. And the Cowboys used their top draft pick on a guy who just set the record for the lowest score on the Wonderlic intelligence exam in NFL draft history. Tough weekend.

~~~~~~~

Let’s resume our chapter-by-chapter look at Leroy Garrett’s “What Must the Church of Christ Do to Be Saved?” The book is a compilation of suggestions Garrett makes for us if the Church of Christ is to have a redemptive role and an effective ministry in our rapidly changing world. We reach the halfway point of the book today with suggestion number ten:

Have an assurance of our own salvation.

Garrett claims that our members “do not know we are saved; we hope we are.” I know what he’s talking about. I hear it all the time. My own brothers and sisters in Christ talk about their eternal salvation in hesitant, halting, uncertain terms. “I hope I am.” “I pray that I am.” “If God will just give me a tiny back corner in the basement of heaven, I’ll be happy.” “I’m trying as hard as I can.”

The by-product of such uncertainty is a lack of joy. One thing Church of Christ people aren’t, in spite of many noble qualities, is a joyous people. We have little joy because we have little assurance. We don’t talk like people who are assured of their salvation. We don’t sing that way. We don’t pray that way. That is why our singing is unexciting, our prayers dull, and our services generally boring. Take a look at our Sunday morning service at most any of our churches. Is it a funeral? Where is the spontaneity? Where is the joyous excitement of being a Christian? Who would seek solace from a troubled world among folk who go at their religion with a yawn and a sigh?

Garrett says Church of Christ people are scared to live and afraid to die. We have no joy because we’re not really one hundred percent sure we’re good with God. Despite the clear teachings of Holy Scripture, our people have doubts and fears about their standing with God. They’re uncertain. They wonder if they’re doing enough. They wonder if they’re good enough. They wonder if they’ve loved enough or served enough or worked enough. (By the way, the answer to those questions is “No, no, no, no, and no.”)

Garrett’s dead-on analysis is that we really don’t believe in the grace of God. We would never say it, but the reality is that, for the most part, Church of Christ folks actually believe in salvation by works. We’re taught this at an early age. We think and talk this way. We practice this way. It’s been unambiguously modeled for us and by us for decades. Seriously.

We are saved by being baptized in exactly the correct way for exactly the right reasons. We stay saved by taking communion on exactly the correct day — and only on that correct day — in exactly the correct way. We keep ourselves saved and we save others by studying our Bibles and reaching the exact same correct conclusions about all the exact same doctrines. This is what makes us unique. This is what makes us distinctive. This is what sets us apart from all the others. We’ve got it down right. And since we know so much about God’s plan and God’s will, we’d better be about doing it exactly right.

No wonder we’re so uncertain and nervous! Who could possibly measure up to all that? If I’ve misunderstood a part of that doctrine or I’ve misinterpreted part of God’s will or I’ve done something in a worship service that’s not entirely in the proper order, then my salvation must be in jeopardy. I’d better figure things out and get right with God.

We must start believing in the Gospel of the grace of God, the basis of which is that salvation is his free gift to us. There is no work that we can perform to attain it. There is no way for us to buy it. We can’t be good enough to deserve it. There is no power that can wrest it. It is a gift, a free gift, that is ours only because of God’s philanthropy. In short, we must come to see what has been in holy Scripture all along: “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

“[God] has saved us and called us to a holy life — not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” ~2 Timothy 1:9

“I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.” ~2 Timothy 1:12

“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” ~Titus 3:5

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy!” ~Jude 24

Look, I don’t believe in “once saved, always saved;” but I sure don’t believe either in “once saved, barely saved.” We are saved by God’s grace. We are redeemed by his mercy. It’s a free gift from our Father. And if we can ever all get our brains and our hearts and our souls around that, we’ll be freed from our own hangups to live and praise and worship and serve with great gladness and joy. Finally, we’ll be able to forgive people we haven’t been able to forgive before because we’ll be drawing on God’s goodness instead of our own. Finally, we’ll be able to accept those we’ve never been able to accept before because we’ll be depending on Jesus’ righteousness and not our own. We’ll be able to love every man, woman, and child on this planet in ways we’ve never been able to love before because we’ll be experiencing God’s unconditional love in our lives and not applying our own very conditional love to others.

It’ll be a huge shift for us. Huge. Radical. Dramatic. It’ll change us. It’ll mature us and grow us up. And it will have an eternal impact on those around us who just might see Christ in the Church of Christ for the very first time.

Peace,

Allan

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