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Category: Hebrews (Page 1 of 9)

Genuine Authority

June 1, 2023 / / 0 Comments

This Sunday, we are ordaining four new elders here at GCR Church. These four, plus the seven current shepherds, will be charged by the congregation to shepherd us in the name and manner of Jesus. And the church family will pledge to obey and submit to their leadership so their work will be a joy, not a burden.

Obey and submit?

Well, yeah, that’s what it says in Hebrews 13:17.

Obey and submit? Do we really want to use those words anymore? It makes it sound like the elders are ruling us with some kind of authority. What kind of authority do the elders have over us?

The only kind of authority that matters in God’s Church. The only kind of authority that exists in the Kingdom of God. The genuine authority of sacrifice and service. The authority of a life lived not to be served, but to serve.

In the spirit of the upcoming ordination service at GCR; to all church elders past, present, and future; and for all churches that occasionally select elders, I submit this passage from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together (1938):

Jesus made authority in the fellowship dependent upon brotherly service. Genuine spiritual authority is to be found only where the ministry of hearing, helping, bearing, and proclaiming is carried out. The desire we so often hear expressed today for “authoritative personalities” springs frequently from a spiritually sick need for the admiration of men, for the establishment of visible human authority, because the genuine authority of service appears to be so unimpressive.

The bishop is the simple, faithful man, sound in faith and life, who rightly discharges his duties to the church. His authority lies in the exercise of his ministry. In the man himself, there is nothing to admire.

Genuine authority recognizes that it can exist only in the service of Him who alone has authority. Genuine authority knows that it is bound in the strictest sense by the saying of Jesus: “You have only one Master and you are all brothers” (Matthew 23:8). The Church does not need brilliant personalities, but faithful servants of Jesus and the brethren. Not in the former, but in the latter, is the lack. The Church will place its confidence only in the simple servant of the Word of Jesus Christ because it knows that then it will be guided, not according to human wisdom and human conceit, but by the Word of the Good Shepherd.

Genuine authority is determined by the faithfulness with which a man serves Jesus Christ, never by the extraordinary talents which he possesses. Pastoral authority can be attained only by the servant of Jesus who seeks no power of his own, who himself is a brother among brothers, submitted to the authority of the Word.”

Peace,

Allan

If Not You…

April 23, 2022 / / 0 Comments

“See to it that no one misses the grace of God.” ~Hebrews 12:15
As children of God and disciples of Christ Jesus, we demonstrate his grace to the people around us. We make sure all the people we contact every day know the truth about our God because they experience it in us. They encounter his grace in us. They see it and feel it in you.

This is as practical and tangible and as real as the Christian life gets. Whatever you have received from the Lord, you generously pass it on to others.

“Forgive each other just as in Christ God forgave you.” ~Ephesians 4:32
Forgive the person in your life who doesn’t deserve it. Forgive the person who’s never apologized. We’ve got more than enough people out there accusing and condemning. Who’s going to forgive? Christians who, by God’s grace, have been forgiven.

“Accept one another just as Christ accepted you.” ~Romans 15:7
Invite somebody over to your house who is 30 years older or 30 years younger than you. Take somebody to lunch who’s a different race or speaks a different language. Have a conversation with somebody from a different culture than yours and learn something. We’ve got lots of people out there dividing us and categorizing us and drawing lines and excluding others. Who’s going to accept others? Christians who, by God’s grace, have been accepted.

“Love one another as I have loved you.” ~John 15:34
Take a Sonic drink to your grouchy next door neighbor. Say something kind and encouraging to the customer service agent. Compliment the cashier at the gas station. Give up your own rights and give in to the demands of someone else. There’s enough hate out there, there’s enough haters – more than enough. Who’s going to show love? Christians who, by God’s grace, have been eternally loved.

Peace,

Allan

Weakness Turned to Strength

May 11, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I know you make mistakes and you mess up. Me, too. I know you sin. I know you leave things undone that should be done and you do things you should not do. Me, too. But those mistakes are not what define you. Those sins do not characterize who you are as a person and they do not limit how our God relates to you. It is God’s grace that defines you. It’s his grace that covers you. It is his grace that enables you to keep going in the trust and faith that God is powerfully at work in you.

I look at the Faith Ring of Honor in Hebrews 11 and I don’t see any perfect people.

Sarah had a laughing problem.  Abraham had his own laughing problem and a problem with lying and the kid with Hagar. But the Bible says they never wavered in their faith. That means Abraham is not defined by his many mistakes. Sarah is not characterized by her poor choices.

In Hebrews 11, Rahab is not condemned for being a prostitute. All these people are commended for their faith. Gideon? He’s a spineless, wishy-washy doubter. Barak? He’s gutless. Samson? He’s arrogant and selfish, a violent womanizer. Jepthah? He’s stupid and thoughtless. David? An adulterer, a liar, and a traitor to his country. Samuel? Maybe one of the worst parents in all of Scripture. But here they are in this list of heroes with all their sins and all their flaws. Hebrews 11 says these are the people who conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword. These are the people, it says, whose weakness was turned to strength!

You know, the Bible says God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.

His grace is also made perfect in the places where you need it most.

Peace,

Allan

Let Us Go To Him

June 24, 2020 / / 0 Comments

We know this in our heads. We understand the call and the logic to leave our comfort zones, to sacrifice our status and security, to minister to the marginalized and forgotten. That’s what Jesus did. That’s what his followers do. We know all this. But it’s difficult to feel it in our hearts. It’s even more difficult to embody it in our lives. But here’s the truth: Christians live with Christ as outsiders in this world.

“Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” ~Hebrews 13:12-14

Christians learn how to resist power and influence. Disciples of Christ avoid the centers of wealth and success and learn to feel more at home on the margins. Christians hang out with the outsiders, they become outsiders, they embrace living outside the city gates for the sake of the Kingdom that’s coming.

And I know we’re tempted to grieve the loss of our secure city. The tendency is to be troubled when we see and feel more evidence that the Church in the United States is being shoved to the outside. But the good news is that there’s tons of opportunity here. We’re actually finding ourselves where God has intended us to be all along: outside the gates! Instead of working from a position of power and authority, the Church in the U.S. is being forced now to work like it did in the first three centuries, from a position of weakness and marginal standing.

And we shouldn’t spend too much time and energy attempting to reverse it back. Trying to prop up the Church with power isn’t going to work. It’s time for all Christians in this land to follow Christ outside the gates. Let us go to him outside the camp, to the place of sacrifice and redemption. Let us renounce the world’s ways of power and wealth and be more at home working and ministering among the marginalized outside the camp. Like our Lord Jesus, let us go to and identify with those outside the city gates.

Like minorities. By the very definition of the word in conjunction with the broken ways of this world, minorities, generally speaking, do not experience status anywhere near the same level as others. In this country, because of past history and current structures and a thousand other very complicated factors, African-Americans do not have the same chances. The playing field is not level. In our city, Amarillo, African-Americans make up less than six-percent of the total population. They are marginalized. And there’s a confederate statue in Ellwood Park and there’s a Lee (Robert E.) elementary school in a black neighborhood in North Amarillo and there are confederate flags flying out the backs of pickup trucks from Pullman Road to Soncy. Where are the followers of Jesus?

Slippery slope arguments about erasing history and heritage are missing the point. The question for Christians is, will you identify with the city that’s fading away or with the enduring city that’s coming? Will you go to Jesus, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore? Will you love your neighbor more than you love a flag or a statue? Will you love the African-American men and women of our city and this country more than you love the history and the heritage of the South?

My question for Christians who display that flag is this: If you know how African-Americans read that flag, if you know how that flag makes them feel vulnerable and oppressed, why would you continue to fly it? Why would you insist? Why would you actually fight with your words and your good name for a statue that you know causes others deep pain?

Scripture says be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position, people who do not enjoy the same status or success. These are the very people chosen by Christ, remember? Not influential, not of noble birth, weak people, lowly people, despised people, vulnerable and oppressed people. Have we forgotten who we are?

Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Love does no harm to its neighbor. Let us go to Jesus outside the camp.

Following Jesus means going where Jesus is. Our Lord went outside the city gates to offer the sacrifice of his own blood to make people holy. We follow him outside the camp to also make sacrifices, the sacrifice of praise (v.15), the “fruit of lips that confess his name.”

“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” ~Hebrews 13:16

Doing good to others and giving praise to God. Making sure we’re not setting up shop in the wrong city. Going where Jesus is, outside the gates. Where there’s no status, no security. Where it’s dangerous and intimidating and threatening. Where we’ll face certain opposition and accusation and persecution. Where just about all we’ve got is faith, hope, and love.

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More than fifty Amarillo churches are coming together outside the downtown courthouse this Sunday evening for a praise and prayer service to express our Christian unity. “Uniting as One” will be a powerful testimony to our city and to anyone who’s paying attention that disciples of Jesus here are not going to be divided by race, by geography, by national politics, or by anything else this world uses to draw lines and build walls between us. We’re going to cry out to God for healing and for harmony and we’re going to sing to the Lord in spirit and in truth.

James Tudman, the Lead Pastor at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church here in Amarillo, and I are quoted in today’s Amarillo Globe-News story about this city-wide, all-church, interracial, interdenominational worship assembly.

If you’re a Christian in the Texas panhandle, you’re invited to join us. Black, white, Hispanic, young, old, all races, all colors, all ages — bring your friends, bring your lawn chairs and blankets, grab some free parking, and let’s show this city that we really do belong to the Prince of Peace and he’s bigger and stronger than anything that might possibly divide us.

Peace,

Allan

Jesus Also Suffered

June 23, 2020 / / 1 Comment

The preacher of Hebrews ends his sermon by showing Christians a different way to view their position in the world. He tells us to go outside the camp, where Jesus is. He encourages us to bear the same disgrace Jesus did. Why? Because this ain’t our city. We’re living for the city that’s coming.

Earlier in Hebrews 13, he eludes to this radical shift in priorities by reminding us to “not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” The stranger, the foreigner, the alien — open your door to them and an angel might walk in! They may look homeless and hungry when you invite them in, but for those who have the conviction or the certainty of things not seen, you’re inviting in the very presence of God!

We’re also told in that same context to “remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Those in prison, those who are mistreated, some translations say “victims of abuse.” Put yourselves in their shoes. Empathize with them. Act like what’s happening to them is happening to you. Feel it.

This is our calling. Why? Because Jesus also suffered.

“Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” ~Hebrews 13:12-14

This is our missional mandate. This is the great commission. If Jesus went outside and suffered public abuse to make his sacrifice, then his disciples should be willing to follow him outside to make ours. The question here, and the decision we Christians have to ultimately make, is do you find your identity in the safety and security of Judaism and the pagan temples, or the Empire with its government and military and law, or is your identity grounded in Christ Jesus and the ways of the Lord? It can’t be both. It’s really the choice.

Going where Jesus goes will cost you status and security.

Why was Jesus crucified? Not because he was powerful, not because he was violent, not because he was exclusive and judgmental. Our Lord was rejected and mocked, he suffered and was killed, because he loved so unconditionally. Because he was so liberal with his forgiveness. Because he ate with prostitutes and partied with sinners and hugged the lepers. He was killed because he gave everybody the benefit of the doubt, because he worked so hard to tear down walls that divided people, because he refused to label people. And the world was offended by the way he lived. The government tried to shut him down, the religious leaders tried to shut him up. In the end, they all decided that Jesus was unpatriotic, that he wasn’t working in the best interest of society’s law and order. And they killed him.

And then he was raised. Romans 1 says Christ Jesus “was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord!” The resurrection and the ascension to the right hand of God validate this Jesus Way as the right way. It’s the eternal way. It’s the only way to live.

So show hospitality to strangers and aliens, show empathy for prisoners and victims of abuse. Share the shame. Bear the disgrace.

Peace,

Allan

Outside the Camp

June 22, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Preachers are fond of saying Paul’s letter to the Hebrews is not a letter, it’s not written by Paul, and it’s not addressed to Hebrews. I tend to agree. It’s clearly a sermon, not a letter; it doesn’t sound like anything Paul ever wrote, and it’s directed to a church that’s made up of both Jews and Gentiles.

We know this church was enduring some pain. At the end of chapter ten, the author/preacher makes explicit what’s been implied throughout the whole sermon: You’re experiencing some trouble. He reminds this congregation that, so far, they’ve stood their ground in the face of suffering. They’ve been publicly exposed to persecution and insult, they’ve been thrown into prison, some have had their property confiscated. In chapter twelve the author says, yes, you haven’t had to shed any blood yet, but you’re enduring some significant hardship.

See, for Jews, embracing Jesus Christ as the Messiah means leaving the security of Judaism and the temple in Jerusalem. For Greeks, it means leaving the safety of the gods and pagan temples of the national religion. These Christians were feeling isolated and shut out. When it comes to their neighbors and families, to their government and their culture, these Christians were living in danger. They had no status, no security, no nothing.

That’s why a lot of them wanted to quit. A lot of them had stopped coming to the worship gatherings and some of them had stopped confessing that they were Christians. They didn’t like the way it felt. It scared them. The whole sermon of Hebrews from start to finish is about perseverance. Don’t give up. We’re not quitters. Keep running the race. Don’t throw away your confidence or your salvation. Don’t drift away. Hang in there.

Don’t. Give. Up.

It’s easy for Christians to feel like outsiders because the world isolates us and insults us, the culture minimizes and marginalizes us, and the government persecutes and imprisons us. Followers of Jesus have always been on the wrong side of government and culture.

But today in the United States, we Christians resist being pushed to the margins. We don’t quit, we fight!

For the past fifty years, the Church in America  has had less and less influence, less and less power, less and less status and standing. The society doesn’t prop us up, the government doesn’t encourage us, and our neighbors don’t care. Christians in this country feel betrayed by the culture, we feel discarded by the powers, and ignored by the masses. The Church is losing its influence and its status in the United States and that’s got a lot of Christians really shook up. So we push back!

Because we like being in control. Being on the margins may be fine for the Church in the Bible, but we’re not going to be shoved out today! The Church in the United States has not intention of being irrelevant to the government or the culture. We’re resisting. You can hear the fear in our conversations, you can feel the anger in our forwarded emails and Facebook posts, you can see the determination in our posture and in our positions. We’re not going there. We like being mainstream and important. We like being the ones in charge. We like making and enforcing the rules. We are not going to be shoved aside and ignored like outsiders. We are Christians!

“The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” ~Hebrews 13:11-14

Those verses sound really important, don’t they? The language is strange, a little provocative. And it just sounds important, like something we should pay close attention to.

The preacher of Hebrews is giving Christians a different perspective. He’s telling them about a better way to view their place in the world. He calls these Christians to follow Jesus, to go where Jesus goes, to live and die the way Jesus lived and died. The preacher calls them/us to reject the safety and security of the city and go to the place of sacrifice and service outside the gates. Out where Jesus is. Outside the camp.

These four verses have some very important implications for where God’s Church is right now. There is some holy instruction here we dare not ignore. We’ll spend this week in this space — in the middle of a pandemic, economic uncertainty, and racial injustice and demonstrations — exploring what it means for disciples of Christ to go outside the camp.

Peace,

Allan

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