So, you don’t like church?

A lot of people are turned off by “church.” My premise for this article is that people are repulsed not by the church, but by something else that bears that name but is not the genuine article. Let’s start off with a few basics.

First of all, the word “church” is a wimpy translation of another Greek word, “ekklesia.” Trust me…a better translation would be “assembly” in some contexts, “community” in others. If you don’t trust me, check it out for yourself and you’ll see I’m shooting straight with you. In the New Testament we learn some solid facts about the word we translate “church.”

1. It never refers to a building.
2. It always refers to people.
3. It sometimes refers to a gathered assembly.
4. It sometimes refers to groups or communities in regions.
5. It sometimes refers to all believers in the world.
6. It sometimes refers to the un-gathered community of the saved.
7. There is only one ekklesia or flock belonging to God and all the saved are in it (Acts 2:47).
8. It never refers to a particular denomination (As in, “Which church do you attend?”).
9. It is always a noun and never modifies another noun (As in, church building, church treasury, church property, church members, etc.).
10. Jesus built it (Matthew 16:18).
11. It is God’s household (I Timothy 3:16)
12. Christ is the only head of it, eliminating any other head…(Ephesians 1:22, Colossians 1:18 et al.).
13. Christ sustains a loving, nurturing relationship to the church (read Ephesians 5).
14. It is His body (Colossians 1:24).
15. He purchased it with His blood (Acts 20:28).

The monstrosity we so often see today is a corrupted, human-manipulated, man-dominated, misguided version of the church (ekklesia) revealed in God’s word. In many cases institutions called “churches” are merely clubs. They do not resemble the “church” of the New Testament in description or function. But make no mistake, if you are a penitent, immersed believer, God has added you to his community, flock, assembly whether you like it or not.

The ekklesia Christ built is a perfect concept. We ought to appreciate it for what it is. It is, however, made up of flawed humans (you and me) and will never be perfect in expression. We ought to struggle for what it can be.

We are our own worst enemy

 

 

Sometimes the opposition seems overwhelming. Most of it has been self-inflicted.
History – people doing horrible things in the name of Christ. The world of observers, not knowing any better, makes uninformed assessments and forms terrible opinions of Christianity.
Televangelists – money-grubbing, high-living, charlatans and false teachers giving religion in general and Christianity in particular a bad rap (1 Timothy 6:3-5).
Division & infighting – people who should be loving each other and thus proving to be disciples (John 13:35) fighting and slinging mud in the most unloving ways. Dividing into yet another denomination over the slightest perceived doctrinal error, we assist the world in its dismissal and unbelief (John 17:20-23).

 

We are our own worst enemy.

Paltry, Hodgepodge Evangelism

I believe that one of the most beneficial changes the church could make is to correct our misunderstanding of evangelism. We’ve made such a monster of it in our minds that very few of us do any of it at all. Instead, we count on the drawing power of user-friendly churches with seeker-sensitive assemblies featuring state-of-the-art equipment and methods. We rely on doing Bible classes and assemblies so well that when people visit us to do their “church shopping,” we hope they’ll choose us instead of that other church down the road. There are four things wrong with that.

· First, it’s not evangelism. It’s marketing.

· Second, it’s not conversion, it’s accumulation.

· Third, people who have to be won by attractive methods and surface cosmetics will only last as long as those do.

· Fourth, it is a focus and emphasis unknown by, and alien to, Jesus, the apostles and the early church.

The church that won the Roman Empire knew nothing of “user-friendly churches” or expensive, explicit, exploitive, explosive methods of reaching the unconverted. They simply knew that they were salt and light. To live was to be like Jesus to their world. Mark Galli writes,

What it did have seems paltry: unspectacular people, with a hodgepodge of methods (so hodgepodge they can hardly be called “methods”), and rarely a gathering of more than a handful of people. The paltry seems to have been enough, however, to make an emperor or two stop and take notice. Without publicized campaigns or even an explicit evangelistic strategy, Christianity made its way quietly and effectively in an environment not wholly unlike that in the post-Christian West today (Christian History, Issue 57, p. 8).

Glenn Hinson writes, “Most churches had the same goal: evangelism.” But it was not evangelism based on getting people into church buildings since it was nearly 300 years before the first one was built. This was evangelism by friendship and relationship. It was outreach through good works such as feeding the hungry and rescuing abandoned children (1 Peter 2:12). It was the message of a moral and pure way of life (1 Peter 3:2) proclaimed by word and deed. It was seen in their keen pursuit of justice. Each disciple was ready to tell their friends and associates the reason for their hope (1 Peter 3:15).

Evangelism (being salt and light in our world) is the life-blood of any congregation of the church. We need a transfusion of it! When it begins to course through the veins of the church, when it surges through our sanctified innards and spiritual muscles, then we will see revival.

Cultural Engagement: Every Christian’s Obligation

Let me recommend this article on the Crosswalk.com site.

GET OUT THERE AND FIGHT!

It disturbs me greatly that so many Christians are remaining in the huddle instead of fronting up to the line of scrimmage and fighting the good fight. We stay within our own comfortable groups and pretend that all is well with the world. Well here’s a newsflash: there’s a war going on! The skeptics and atheists are on the attack and we ignore it to our harm and the detriment of our faith.

I’ve noticed most atheists/skeptics fall into two categories:

• Refugees from religion who have chosen a life of skepticism. They are in angry rebellion to the excesses and misdeeds of religious leaders and their contradictory, confusing, erroneous and ignorant teachings.
• People who have never been religious and look with disdain upon those who are. Their rationale is well-fed by the stupidity, misdeeds, inconsistencies, shenanigans and ignorance of religious pundits and their followers.

These are the aggressive skeptics and atheists who write blogs and books and appear on television.

What bothers me about this is how they are largely unopposed. It seems that the majority of religious people just shake their heads and silently go about their business. They’ve given up trying to make sense of it all. They’ve never given theism or atheism much thought. Well, the time has come for that to change. Here is what must happen and it must happen now.

1. Become aware. Realize that the conflict is raging. It is raging all around us. Get your head out of the sand and take a look. There are battles that must be fought.
2. Get educated.
   1. Read the Word. You must know your Bible if you are going to defend your faith. Read it for yourself. You’ll find that some of what you thought was truth is based on someone’s interpretation. Be like the Bereans (Acts 17:11).
   2. Read the books and blogs of those who oppose theism (that’s why I have a part of my blogroll called “The Opposition”). Become acquainted with their arguments. Study science (not pseudo-science but the real stuff). Science is the ally of faith, not its enemy. When you use science to defend your faith, know what you’re talking about.
   3. Read and learn from the books, websites and blogs of those who have been successfully fighting. One apologist I highly recommend is John Clayton. These people have been at it for a long time and you can benefit from their experience.
3. Get real. Some of the ridiculous stuff promoted by self-appointed apologists just doesn’t hold water. Stop trying to defend the indefensible. Stop trying to prove what cannot be proven. The existence of God cannot be proven (or disproven) but you can rally the evidence to show that it’s the reasonable choice. If you take No. 2 and 4 seriously, you will learn which arguments are effective and which are not.
4. Get engaged. There is no better way to learn how to “get real” than getting into the fray. Don’t be afraid to be proven wrong. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. We learn how to fight by fighting. Sometimes we will make valid points; sometimes we will discover a point is invalid. How do you get engaged? Seek out discussions with your atheist/skeptic friends. Comment on their blogs. Write your own blog. Write articles. Speak when you can. Above all…do something!
5. Be humble. You don’t know everything. Some of your opposition will know much more than you do (then again, some of them are dreadfully ignorant). Listen to them. Learn from them. There’s an old Texas saying, “You ain’t learnin’ nothin’ when yer talkin’.” Be polite, be civil, and be respectful. Don’t polarize your opposition by being an arrogant jerk.
6. Don’t retreat…don’t give up. If you lose a battle, learn from it and get back into the war. There’s no more effective soldier than a battle-hardened one.

“Rise up, O men (and women) of God! / Have done with lesser things. / Give heart and mind and soul and strength / To serve the King of kings” – William Merrill.

ASSEMBLY

 

Recapturing the purpose for coming together

In assemblies today a group (the congregation) gathers to observe and lightly participate in a set of rituals (Lord’s Supper, singing, preaching, collection, etc.) and, upon completion, leave for lunch.  This is often referred to as “going to church,” as in, “Sorry, I can’t play golf with you today, I have to go to church.”  This (often legalistic) routine has become the major weekly exercise of the Christian religion.  Great effort and expense is applied to making this production attractive and satisfying to members and visitors.  We want the best preacher and musicians money can buy.  We work hard to script and stage the presentation to please the audience.  We hope that what we do on Sunday will be so well done that the members will keep coming back and visitors will be positively impressed enough to become part of the church. 

Interestingly and unfortunately it is also the major evangelistic effort (usually the only one) for most churches.  In this regard it has a terrible track record.  Almost no one is converted as a result of the most splendid “worship services.”

But what would happen if we decided to fulfill the original purpose of assembly?  In The Urgent Revolution I wrote:

…assembling provides time for encouragement to faithfulness and provocation to love and good deeds.  When our time together is over, I should be filled with a burning desire to bring the love of Jesus into my family and world.  Our sharing together supplies a means (encouraging, edifying, stimulating) to an end (love and good deeds)…In our concern to be scriptural in the form of corporate worship [I have since worked to drop that terminology], we have lost our concern to be scriptural in purpose.  Designed for a time of rallying, assembly equips us and fills us with motivation to become good soldiers in God’s army.  Here we inflame each other with zeal!  We mutually stoke fires of commitment.  We kindle each other’s love and spotlight opportunities for good deeds.  Never designed as a place where people passively observe worship rituals and listen to sermons, scriptural assembly renews our sense of mission and our passion to fulfill it. (pp. 35-37)

I have a suggestion (I obviously lack the apostolic authority to make it a command!): let’s restore the original, God-given purpose of assembly (Hebrews 10:23-25; I Corinthians 14:26).  Let’s make it a priority that no one comes into our assembly discouraged and leaves the same way.  Let’s make it our goal that when someone attends our assembly with a flat faith battery, they leave with their battery recharged.  Let’s provoke the passive, stimulate the sluggish and build-up the beaten-down.

Then the people of God, renewed and invigorated, will march out of our assemblies under the banner of the Lamb to confront the world forces of this darkness assured of ultimate victory.

Then, when Christians say, “I have to go to church,” it will mean, “I can’t wait to assemble with my brothers and sisters!”

Ben Stein’s Confession

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.  He has a quote from Anne Graham that I’m not in full agreement with but the rest of it is worth reading by my thoughtful readers (I don’t think I have any “unthoughtful” ones!).  Let me know what you think.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish.  And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are:  Christmas trees.

Ron Paul Makes Sense

It has been my policy on this blog to avoid politics. I think the answers to this world’s problems can be found in the teachings of Jesus. But I think I will make an exception for a man who seems exceptional — Ron Paul.

I didn’t listen long before I heard him say the things I have been thinking for a long time. Instead of outlining those positions here, let me urge you to give him a hearing. Listen to some of his speeches on YouTube. Check out his website www.ronpaul2008.com.

I was developing a strong “Why bother?” attitude until I explored his positions on the issues.  His sensible analyses of our current problems and the solutions he suggests make sense.

Consumer Christianity

I want to feature guest writer Edward Fudge’s comments on the consumer mentality that has undoubtedly contributed to the decline of kingdom growth. — Dwight

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Edward Fudge

The modern generation, we are told, looks at church through consumer eyes. They are spiritual shoppers, going from one congregation to another, inspecting the “merchandise” for quality, comparing elements of convenience, service and cost. Churches that wish to grow (or even to survive) are expected to be customer-oriented, ever-happy providers dispensing whatever satisfies the public and makes the shoppers content.

It is certainly biblical and desirable to care about people and to serve others joyfully in the name of Christ. It is also wise to try to learn the language of those with whom we wish to speak. But the whole concept described above, I suggest, tragically bypasses the gospel and distorts the New Testament picture of church as God intends it.

TRUTH is TRUTH

            Truth is truth…no matter where you find it.  There is no such thing as “Your truth,” or “My truth.”  Such jargon is simply an attempt to avoid actual truth.  Truth is not relative…it just is.  We may not like the implications or consequences of truth, but that doesn’t change the facts.

• If it is real, then it is real.
• If it happened, it happened. 
• If it can be demonstrated beyond doubt, then it is true. 
• If it is truth, it cannot be denied. 
• If it is contrary to our previous position, then that position must be adjusted.
• To insist upon the truth of a falsehood is to be misled.

Once we are confronted with a new truth or understanding, what restrains us from admission and adjustment? 

• Is it pride?  Are we too proud to admit we were wrong?
• Is it misguided loyalty – the fear that we will “Let the side down?”
• Is it willful blindness — a refusal to consider the facts?
• Is it fear — that we will lose our friends, colleagues, or livelihood? 
• Is it stupidity (a conscious determination to remain ignorant)?
• Is it stubbornness – a bullheaded refusal to move from an unsupportable position?

If we stuck our neck out defending a false or faulty position, then we must humbly eat crow.  It is better to eat a little crow and appear foolish than to keep embracing a lie and remove all doubt.

To remain deceived in the presence of truth is to be duped.  If we understood things to be one way and the facts say they are another, we were mistaken.  Either the method we used to determine the truth was flawed or our understanding was. 

On the other hand, just because we call something “truth,” doesn’t mean that it is.  Many things can appear to be true, but not really supportable by the facts.  Furthermore, just because we want to believe something doesn’t make it true.  If we can’t get hold of the facts, it is probably wise to reserve judgment until we can. 

I’m convinced that most of the quarrels in relationships, religion, science and politics result from refusing to consider the facts as we decide what is true and what is questionable and what is false.  So, let’s get real.