DownshoreDrift

Consumer Christianity and Its Discontents

Over the past year or so, I have become convinced that the greatest enemy to the Christian faith and biblical Christianity in the West, and especially America, is the philosophy of consumerism, which basically states that personal happiness can be attained through the acquisition of goods, experiences, or a particular lifestyle.  Bombarded by goods, services, brands, commercials, and incessant advertising, we believe ignorance like "you are what you wear," "clothes make the man," that there is a "right" side of the tracks, and that our identity can be purchased by acquiring items of status based on a particular brand name or celebrity endorsement. This philosophy has crept into every area of life as we have succumbed to the idea of commodification of relationships and even religious experiences in that we use people and even God to satisfy our personal desires. When we no longer find immediate gratification, we move on to something else that promises to satisfy. Everything in our life (even God) becomes a means to an end of our own personal pursuit of happiness and self-fulfillment). Of course, these views have always been present in the human condition (i.e., selfishness and sin), but only recently have we built an entire economy and way of life on the proliferation of consumption. Only recently have Evangelical churches grown based on the whims of the consumer class and their preference and choice for religious goods and services that meet their "felt needs."

My friend, David Phillips, writes an outstanding essay on this issue called Reframing Success: The Jesus Way or the Consuming Way?  If we do not understand how the Jesus Way is in complete opposition to the Consuming Way, or the spirit of our age, then true spiritual formation into the image of Christ is impossible. Discipleship in the 21st century almost wholly consists of learning to discern between the way of Christ and the way of our larger culture which is based and grounded on a worldview that is almost totally opposed to Christ when it comes to an individuals personal choices about life and where happiness comes from. David says, regarding the effect of consumerism on the Church: 

What does this consumerism do to the church in America? Large churches are growing, medium-size churches are declining, and smaller churches are struggling. The larger a church grows, the smaller the kingdom grows, because in America, those larger churches are pulling from the smaller churches who cannot offer the same goods and services as the larger churches. The religious consumer, wanting the needs of their family met heads off to the big church where they are busy with activity and have entertainment for all ages. The smaller church suffers, to the point of having to shut down because it cannot sustain itself.

The churches who are surviving are trying to put together the right programs and activities that will attract those religious consumers. They are spending time, money and other resources on buildings and productions so that people will enjoy (or be entertained) by the show that is put on in the church.

But is this real success? The Jesus goal cannot be achieved unless the Jesus way is followed. The end does not justify the means. God’s goal is that we become like Him, conformed to His image and the image of His Son Jesus. The goal is not heaven, the goal is Cruciformity, or conformity to the Cross of Jesus. It happens through Faith, which for Paul was a “total response to obedience to the gospel (Rom 1:5;16:26). It is also…a death experience in which one enters into the experience of Jesus’ crucifixion.” The Jesus Way is a process where God seeks to re-shape and re-form that person into his or her original identity, and to re-fill that person with His original purpose of relationship with God. In embracing the gospel of Christ, a person embarks on a journey out of brokenness and into wholeness that will only be complete as God works to restore all of creation. The Jesus Way does not have as its goal the creation of people looking to have their own needs met. Why then perpetuate the climate of the consumer church in an attempt to see people conformed into the image of God?

Success then is not following the consuming way, but the Jesus way. Maybe our measure of success should be an expression of people being conformed to the image of Christ, obeying the Gospel, and living the crucified life that is an expression of Faith.

A major conversation is beginning about the effects of consumerism on our faith and it is about 50 years too late, in my opinion. But, we were so "consumed" with success and numbers that we failed to see that we have been buying into a system that actually makes discipleship harder. Yes, Jesus meets our deepest needs, but He redefines what those needs are. He tells us that if we want to follow Him, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross. It is ironic that in America, the richest nation on earth, we have the prosperity gospel (which has infiltrated every denomination in one way or another) because we feel like we do not have enough.

Several excellent resources that address this topic are:

The Divine Commodity by Skye Jethani. I have been reading this book over the past couple of weeks (it was my beach reading) and it is probably the best book on any subject that I have read in the past couple of years.  He uses the art of Van Gogh as a metaphor for what consumerism has done to our culture and the church. A review is forthcoming.

 

 

Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church by Paul Louis Metzger.  Metzger makes the case that racialization is embedded into the church through the vehicle of consumerism, choice, and personal preference. He picks up on the groundbreaking work of Emerson and Smith as they detail how racial, class, and consumer preferences are hardwired into the foundation of modern evangelicalism.

 

                                    

The Big Sort: How the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart by Bill Bishop.  Because of unparalled prosperity and emerging diversity in America, we are using our freedom of choice and economic means to cluster together with people who share our lifestyles, values, and concerns. Bishop argues that this is actually not good for America because when people gather based on homogenous views, they become more extreme in their perspective and more alienated against others. Though a secular book, there is an entire chapter on the contemporary evangelical church and the Homogenous Unit Principle.

                                        

ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church by Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost. Okay, this book rates up there with Jethani's. I read it last fall and it was amazing. Hirsch and Frost make the argument that the evangelical church has lost its way because it has failed to follow after Jesus. It contrasts Jesus with the prevailing culture and shows how we have compromised our vision for what the Christian life should be with a culture that seeks to satisfy itself.

 

                                               

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Like I said earlier, I fully believe that those serious about following Jesus in our current world have to begin to use discernment in these areas.  Pastors who want to lead their churches biblically have to become astute at helping their members work through the implications of living in a consumeristic, materialistic world. Emerson says that the religion that most of us have bought into can be defined as "theraputic, moralistic, deism."  If so, then how does that affect the way that we engage in life and ministry? 

I am actually very encouraged, however. Even though there is a lot of talk about what is wrong with us, an understanding of the problem is a first step to overcoming it. I don't know that we have always seen what has derailed us and how joined with the larger culture we really are. We have to understand that methods to proclaiming the gospel and living the Christian life are not neutral. The method becomes the message. Living missionaly in a post-Christian world requires that we understand that world and that we become aware how we are to put it aside. If we love the world the we cannot love God.  More and more people are getting this and I believe that God's Spirit is moving to draw us to Himself. That can only be a good thing.

It is time that we follow Jesus and lay all of this other stuff down. But, that will cost us something - everything, really. Are we willing to pay the price? 

Gateway's 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament Is a Huge Success!

About 9 months ago, we had a big breakthrough in our church when we began to reach teenagers in our community for the first time.  Our youth group went on a mission trip to Houston and came back wanting to reach out to their neighbors. We started a Kid's Club on Sunday afternoons thinking that we would begin to minister to little kids, but instead, teenagers showed up. Hordes of teenage boys. They wanted to hang out and they wanted to play basketball. Previously, we had put up a couple of basketball goals in our church parking lot. The interesting thing is, in the whole eastern half of Montgomery, there are no public courts to play basketball. So, kids started showing up from all over the city. They started coming every day. On an average night, we'd have 40-50 guys hanging out and playing basketball. We had guys coming to church and several got saved. Their lives began to turn around as they encountered the love of Christ and a body of believers who loved them and accepted them. It has been amazing to watch.

A few weeks ago, a LIFE Group in our church had the idea of scheduling a 3-on-3 basketball tournament to give the guys something to do and to develop a platform to minister to them. It was a huge success. We had around 40 people participate and several responded positively to the gospel being presented. A bunch of people from the church volunteered to put the event together and we plan to do it again in the future. Actually, we are starting a summer basketball league on Monday nights in the church parking lot from all of this. The cool thing is that we are building relationships with these guys and they are becoming our family. God is working. (pic taken by my friend, Chris McCorkle)

Our local newspaper, the Montgomery Advertiser wrote an article about the event that appeared in the paper today.   A short video is included. It was very positive and really showed the heart of our church in reaching out to our community. Something amazing is happening at our church where we are reaching a tipping point. No longer are we trying to cast a vision for reaching out and loving others outside of our church family. It is just happening. God is moving in our hearts and it leading us to open our arms to all that we come in contact with. This basketball tournament was a great example of how a simple thing like a few basketball goals can change a church and a neighborhood.

We finished up the tournament today.  I am really excited about what God is doing and can't wait to see what He has in store for us for the future!

Southern Baptist Myopia Reflected in Our Response to the Great Commission Resurgence?

A myopia is a condition of nearsightedness where you can see clearly the things that are right in front of you, but things at a distance are blurry. Southern Baptists struggle with this in regard to our spiritual future and I believe that some of this could be reflected in the response to the new document, the Great Commission Resurgence (GCR).

We tend to look backwards well enough, and we also find ways to look at the present critically, but looking forward seems to be a struggle. While the GCR is good and I signed it as a supporter, it seems that Southern Baptists are failing to address the cultural realities that we find ourselves entering and how those realities are presently affecting us now and in the future.

Defending the Cause of the Fatherless, the Poor, the Widow, and the Oppressed

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 82:3-4                          

"Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatheless, plead the case of the widow." Isaiah 1:17       

"He (the Lord) defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." Deuteronomy 10:18                       

"Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless." Isaiah 10:2                             

Those are just a few of the verses that tell us how God sees the weak, poor, and fatherless. How do we see them? There is an epidemic of fatherlessness in America. 40 percent of children were born to unwed mothers last year in America. Holiness requires that our hearts turn to the fatherless because that is where God's heart is turned. How can we do less?

We have lost two generations since the Great Evangelical Retreat began 50 years ago. It is time for us to turn and face the wreckage that we have left behind and begin to bring healing though sacrificial love. How can our hearts be different from God's and we still claim to walk with Him?

Questions that I am pondering today in prayer. God help us to join you in your work of redemption.

Social Networking, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, and the Pastorate

I now Twitter. I also Facebook. Is this good or bad?  Read my thoughts on making social networking redemptive and tell me what you think about it.

Erika works on me about technology and communication. You would think that she would want be to back off, but instead, she encourages me in it and keeps telling me to move forward in communicating my thoughts.  Lots of wives want their husbands to be quiet. Erika tells me to say more. I'm a lucky guy. Anyway, I started my blog a few years ago because I thought that I had some things to say and as a pastor, I thought that I could use it as a teaching tool.  It has been far more effective than I ever dreamed.  For a long time, I was very content with my blog. Still am, actually. I liked to think things through, write essays, and explore new ideas. My readership is not huge, but I have a few hundred people who regularly check out what I am writing and have had visitors from every country imaginable. So, it has been a good outlet. Like I said, I was totally content.

Then, Facebook came along. I must admit, I am not a huge fan of Facebook. I go there every once in a while and I have enjoyed reconnecting with old friends from the past. I feed my blog into my Facebook page, but I am not one to update with pithy sentences on what kind of cereal I had or how long I was stuck in traffic.  You can only read about  me being late for a meeting so many times before you realize that I have a tardiness problem.  Seriously, it is just too much information. But, everyone was doing it and if everyone is doing it, it must be a good thing, right? I mean, EVERYONE can't be wrong, right? Um, right?  Yeah, right. Anyway, the more I thought about it, the more that it seemed like a good idea, at least for the sake of networking and communication, which is pretty important for a pastor. Plus, Erika starts telling me that I've got to get a Facebook page. She got one first and she actually set me up with my page. So, I blame her.

Yes, it is good to connect with people, but it is not good if we reduce all of life to soundbites and pithy sentences that explain little. We lose something when we don't take time to really think about things in depth or we don't care to engage thought on a level more intricate than what can be said in 140 characters. The danger and superficiality of the technology was keeping me from seeing the possible benefit if used wisely. At any rate, for the first time in my life, I felt myself resisting new technology because it seemed strange and unnecessary to me. I am a pretty fluid thinker, but I suddenly realized that I was getting set in my ways.

So, at the continued urging of my wife, I have now joined the Twitter revolution. I use the term "revolution" loosely. There is no social networking Che Guevera leading us to publish every thought that comes into our head, but the way that people connect is being affected by this in a profound way. I do not pretend to be even remotely interesting enough to chronicle the events of my day for the public, but I thought I'd give it a try. I set it up last night along with a changed format on my blog. My Twitter updates will pop up in the upper right hand corner of my blog and they also update my Facebook status. The cool thing is that I can text Twitter updates from my phone so it takes virtually no time at all. I can do it at a red light or waiting in line at the grocery store, if I want. I might end up using this after all.  You can subscribe to my Twitter if you want, but I haven't tried that yet.  Click on here and follow instructions, I guess.

The more that I think about this, the more that it might be a good thing. I am always thinking about something and it often has to do with where I see God working in the world around me. Now, instead of having to wait and create a blog post once a day or 3-4 times a week, I can pull out my Blackberry and broadcast praises, insights, observations, and things that I am learning and experiencing in the moment. Again, I do not think that my life is all that interesting or that anyone is waiting around to gobble up my latest tweet, but it does organize my thoughts and I have had tons of conversations and connections with people through blogging and Facebook that I would not have normally had. Maybe Twitter will provide the same interaction or more.

Anyway, the whole process can be pretty disingenuous if we are not careful because people rarely write things that do not cast them in a flattering light. The whole social networking experiment has a tendency to cause us to only promote ourselves in the best light possible, which can lead to hypocrisy and vanity, causing us to see ourselves as much more important than we really are as we act as the star of our own life drama, displayed for all the world to see. Spiritually, this can be a very dangerous thing. So, I think that everyone needs to beware of trying to act cool online. For example, if you are going to put a picture of yourself up, make sure that it really looks like the person posting, not you from 10 years ago.  As in all things, we must submit ourselves to God and serve and glorify Him in everything. 

Will this enhance my pastoring?  Perhaps, as long as I am genuine with it and truly reflect what I see God doing in my life, my family, and the world around me. The way I figure it, about half my church is on Facebook. I can send an email to our church and get only one or two responses. Email is so 1999, isn't it? Only a handful of people in my church comment on my blog, even though quite a few read it. Blogging was huge around 2005 but is already fading as a primary means of interacting in Web 2.0. But, I can put something on Facebook and I get comments there and people stop me in the hallways at the church and say something to me about it.  Twitter is basically the same, but easier and faster than Facebook and it updates my Facebook page. Facebook is 2008 and Twitter is 2009-10.  What's next?

This blog will continue to be my main outlet. It feeds into Facebook and Twitter updates here. It is my creative home and I feel comfortable writing long essays about what interests me. They do need to be shorter - yes, I know. But, I am willing to change and adapt to new technologies, especially if I can use them to give praise to God and chronicle the blessings that He pours into my life through my wife, children, church, and through all of my experiences.

By the way, we're getting a puppy today. HUGE learning experience for the family, but good for the kids. If you had read my last Twitter update, you would know that. :)

Inoculated Against the Gospel: Toward a Southern (Bible Belt) Missiology, Pt. 4

One of the major issues in faithfully proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ in the South is that so many people think that they know all about it when the really don't have a clue. They've prayed the prayer and gotten the T-shirt.  Last year, I was volunteering at a big ministry event in our city that was giving out food, health care, and other types of services. I was working in the prayer tent and was asking people if I could pray with them before they got their groceries and went home. There was one lady that I started speaking with and she immediately began to show me disdain. She was looking away, rolling her eyes, and making it obvious that she didn't want to talk with me. I was trying to talk with her some about Christ and she would have none of it. Then, I asked her if I could pray for her and she did not want to. I said, "Well, it is obvious that you do not believe in Jesus, but I will be praying for you."  At that point, she perked up, looked at me, and said, "Oh no, I'm a Christian. I go to so-and-so church."  Excuse me?  She had no interest whatsoever in the things of God, thought praying with me was ridiculous, and wanted to get away from me as fast as possible. I would think that it was me, but I had bathed and was being pretty nice to her. Other people had responded much better throughout the day.

It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to me. I didn't have a problem with that. I do not expect unbelievers to always want to engage in discussion about God. But, what shocked me was that she was fine with her behavior until I assumed that she was not a Christian. Of course she was a Christian, she told me!  She attended church. She prayed a prayer. She believed in Jesus (what she believed, I don't know). Isn't that what being a Christian was all about?  Why does behavior need to change? Why do I need to love Jesus? Why do I need to obey God?  If I am forgiven and all is well, then what difference does anything that I think or do make?

I would submit that instead of really giving people Jesus for who He is, we have actually inoculated people against the power of the gospel. We have given them a little of Jesus - just enough to make them think that they have the real thing, but not enough to bring them to repentance. The gospel that we preach is often a means to the end of our personal happiness and a trip to heaven. Jesus is more than that, but we have reduced Him to a religious afterthought. 

The conversation with that woman frightens me. She wasn't just having a bad day. She actually had disdain for any talk about Christ until it appeared to me that she was not a Christian. Being a Christian and going to heaven was far more important to her than following Christ and loving Him. There is something wrong when that happens again and again. What gospel are we preaching? Are we just inoculating people against the real thing?  How do we break through this in people's lives? 

Matt Chandler, a pastor from Dallas, TX speaks about this at this years Desiring God conference. He makes some great points about the need to separate the gospel from the religion that we so often proclaim and believe. Check it out.

  

The Full Meaning of Holiness - It Might Be Different From What You Think

What do you think about when you hear the word, holiness? Obviously, it means to be separate; to be set apart. But, when I think about holiness, invariably, I think about it from a religious perspective. In other words, I think about holiness as the characteristic that I am to achieve if God is going to be pleased with me. I think about what I need to put on if I am to enter into God’s presence, since God is holy. My religious upbringing has taught me to think about what I am to abstain from and what my life is supposed to look like. The whole, “don’t drink, chew, or go with girls that do,” perspective creeps in.  Often, when I hear about holiness, I look for a rock to crawl under because my first thoughts, if I am honest, point out how I am not holy.  The word itself condemns me and I am undone. Attempts at holiness, however successful I might be in overcoming sin, putting off old behavior, or acting a certain way, always fall short because there is always a new definition of holiness that I am not living up to. I am always falling short of what someone proclaims as “holy.”

                                                       

I think that we have done the word a great disservice, however. We know that God is holy and we declare Him as such. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty” we sing along with the angels and the multitude from Revelation. God is holy. We know that much. But, what does it mean?  Then, you add in that we are to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect (Matt. 5:47) and without holiness no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14), and we are all undone.

                                                       

So, what do we do to reconcile all of this?  How are we to be holy?  Some, have retreated to the monastery.  They have built walls around themselves and have completely withdrawn from the world. Their view of holiness is shown by what they are against and by what they disagree with. They focus on the “putting off” of Ephesians 4:22-24 and show their holiness through outward things. Others, focus on justification and God’s grace and the imputed righteousness that comes from faith in Christ.  They often do not make it around to actually living like Christ, but that is okay. They aren’t perfect, just forgiven. Both of these views miss the bigger picture of what God’s holiness really is.

                                                                     

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship tells Martin Luther’s journey to true holiness, and I think that it is a story that bears repeating.  He says,

                                                       

When the Reformation came, the providence of God raised Martin Luther to restore the gospel of pure, costly grace. Luther passed through the cloister; he was a monk, and all this was part of the divine plan. Luther had left all to follow Christ on the path of absolute obedience. He had renounced the world in order to live the Christian life. He had learnt obedience to Christ and to his Church, because only he who is obedient can believe. The call to the cloister demanded of Luther the complete surrender of his life. But God shattered all his hopes. He showed him through the Scriptures that the following of Christ is not the achievement or merit of a select few, but the divine command to all Christians without distinction. Monasticism had transformed the humble work of discipleship into the meritorious activity of the saints, and the self-renunciation of discipleship into the flagrant spiritual self-assertion of the “religious.”  The world had crept into the very heart of the monastic life, and was once more making havoc. The monk’s attempt to flee from the world turned out to be a subtle form of love for the world. The bottom having thus been knocked out of the religious life, Luther laid hold upon grace. Just as the whole world of monasticism was crashing about him in ruins, he saw God in Christ stretching forth his hand to save. He grasped that hand in faith, believing that “after all, nothing we can do is of any avail, however good a life we live.” The grace which gave itself to him was a costly grace, and it shattered his whole existence. Once more he must leave his nets and follow. The first time was when he entered the monastery, when he had left everything behind except his pious self. This time even that was taken from him. He obeyed the call, not through any merit of his own, but simply through the grace of God. Luther did not hear the word: “Of course you have sinned, but now everything is forgiven, so you can stay as you are and enjoy the consolations of forgiveness.” No, Luther had to leave the cloister and go back to the world, not because the world in itself was good and holy, but because even the cloister was only a part of the world.

                                                                              

Luther’s return from the cloister to the world was the worst blow the world had suffered since the days of early Christianity. The renunciation he made when he became a monk was child’s play compared with that which he had to make when he returned to the world. Now came the frontal assault. The only way to follow Jesus was by living in the world. Hitherto the Christian life had been the achievement of a few choice spirits under the exceptionally favourable conditions of monasticism; now it is a duty laid on every Christian living in the world. The commandment of Jesus must be accorded perfect obedience in one’s daily vocation of life. The conflict between the life of the Christian and the life of the world was thus thrown into the sharpest possible relief. It was a hand-to-hand conflict between the Christian and the world.

                                                                    

Because the monastery was a place that Luther had retreated to justify himself and protect himself from the contaminating evils of the world, it actually became a part of the world system. Everything that sets itself up against the knowledge of God is a part of the world system, even if it looks really good on the outside. Luther could only be justified through faith in what Christ had already done for him and he only came to a point of faith in Christ when he quit believing in himself.

                                                                                  

But, here is what really strikes me about all of this:  For Luther, and for us as well, holiness was not found in the monastery. It was found in engaging the world as an emissary of Christ. When he tried to separate himself from the world through withdrawing, he just demonstrated the world’s ways of self-justification. But, when he died to himself, renounced the world’s ways, and engaged the world for the sake of Christ, he was acting in accordance with holiness. It is all upside down from what we thought, isn’t it?  The reason for this is because Christ is holy.  Only Christ makes us holy and we are declared righteous only by faith in Jesus. But, that righteousness plays out in and transforms our lives when we are conformed to the image of Christ in our thinking and our behavior. We reflect the image of Christ when we become like Him.  What did Jesus do?  How did he act?  Who did he care about? What moved him with compassion?  Holiness is not just a state of declared righteousness that comes from faith, but the outworking of that holiness involves doing what Jesus did.  Caring for the sick, the leper, the persecuted, and the downtrodden is holy. Rescuing the sinner is holy.  Proclaiming justice to the nations is holy. Dining with tax collectors and prostitutes to show them the Kingdom of God is holy. Forgiving others is holy. Loving your enemies is holy.  Everything that looks like Jesus is holy.  Holiness is not just putting off certain behaviors.  It is that, depending on what those behaviors are, but more than that, it is thinking about things differently and putting on the character of Christ. Humbling yourself before others and serving them is a holy act.  We could go on and on. Holiness is not just a state of denial of certain things, it is action that demonstrates the in-breaking Kingdom of God.  Holiness means that we live according to the "Otherness" of God apart and separate from this world system.  It is a positive action, not just a negative renunciation.

                                                                                                                               

We need more holiness in our churches.  We need to put off the old life and see the world differently.  Correspondingly, we need to put on the new life, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:22-24).  Our evangelicalism became destructive when it promoted a life that affirmed withdrawal from the world for the sake of its truncated conception of holiness. Jesus did not withdraw from the world. He engaged the world and brought healing and redemption as He did the will of the Father in all respects. THAT is holiness and that is what God wants from us.

                                                                                   

Instead of feeling condemned by the concept of holiness because I know that I do not measure up to someone’s artificial standard, I now see holiness as being the outworking of God’s character and life in every area.  To see the beauty of holiness in a primarily negative (i.e. what we put off) sense is surely an abomination and it is entirely incomplete.  But, to see holiness the way that Jesus demonstrates and to know that we have been called to be like Him is amazing, creative, beautiful, and life affirming!  It is something that causes me to want to be holy and to violently pursue Christ and lose myself in obedience to Him as He brings restoration to the world!

Has the SBC Reached a Tipping Point? Toward a Southern Missiology, Part 3

Parts one and two are HERE and HERE.

Has the SBC now reached a tipping point for change and reform from which there is no return?

Alvin Reid, professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary seems to think so.  He thinks that we have reached a point of no return when it comes to being aware of the struggles of the SBC and developing a consensus that change is needed. Although my observations are much more limited than his, I am sensing the same thing. Everyone that I talk to in SBC life is finally recognizing that we are facing a catastrophe when it comes to our churches and our future. The population is becoming less and less Christian. Our churches are aging and shrinking. Evangelism is decreasing. Baptisms are declining. The consensus that kept Southern Baptists together has been shredded and churches are trying to figure out what the Convention is really for. 

Reid points out a couple of key issues of concern. One is the Cooperative Program. It is not that churches do not want to cooperate, it is that we are all becoming aware of how much money is wasted on non-gospel issues. When I researched a couple of years ago how our CP money was spent, I was shocked. It is all called missions, but much of it has no resemblance to missions whatsoever. Concurrent with the CP travesty is the redundancy in our ministries. How do we justify spending money on local churches, associations, state conventions, and national structures that are all turning out the same things over and over again - in the South, no less?  I have no doubt that through some simple restructuring and alignment of ministry focus, we could save tens of millions of dollars a year. It is very difficult for me to heed fundraising appeals when the people asking for money do nothing to make sure that it is spent wisely. I find it ironic that a Convention that is conservative politically and is generally for small government allows itself to be organized for mission by a bloated bureaucracy. 

The other issue that Dr. Reid brings up is the future. He says that while those he talks to love the SBC and its gospel heritage, they are way more skeptical about the future. Where are we going? What are we going to be about? How do we engage a culture that is running from Christianity as fast as it can? How do we revitalize our churches? I think that one reason that we are concerned about the future is because we became captive to a larger culture that is also fading into the past and we feel ourselves being carried with it. Southern Baptists after WWII became thoroughly modern. We adapted to assembly line technology and we thought that through systematic programs and management techniques we could build churches that would turn out a consistent product, er, disciple. We expected this culture of efficiency and technology to continue forever. Then, when the full-blown, narcissitic individualism of the 70's, 80's, and 90's hit us, we realized that we must adapt, so we began to cater to a consumer, me-centered culture based on felt needs. We built megachurches and more programs to appeal to a culture that saw the individual and his self-actualization as the focus.  As people moved to the cities, churches grew primarily from transfer growth from smaller, more rural churches and became large suburban enterprises.   The factors guaranteeing our decline had already set in, but because we had large churches emerging, we didn't notice.  In reality, our culture has changed yet again and we are unaware. Time Magazine has a very insightful article this week (The End of Excess) detailing the change from the "bigger is better" mentality to more frugality, conservation, and community. I highly recommend it and I think that the implications of this kind of talk are huge for the future of the church in America and also in the South.  In chasing our culture and growing bigger churches, we could not see the decline that was coming because we didn't see that culture was changing and people's desires were changing with it. The churches that we were building in the 80's and 90's would become distasteful to postmoderns and we would never see it coming.  

Now, however, the decline is evident for all to see. In 2006, I joined a group of blogging pastors who were calling for reform of the SBC. We could see all of these things happening. The movement gained steam and people began to take notice. The policies on baptism and private prayer language with the IMB catalyzed the movement, but the issues were much deeper than that. Our churches were missionally ineffective and we knew it and we wanted to see change. Then, I watched as the reform movement was hijacked by those who had a vendetta against Dr. Paige Patterson of SWBTS, believing that he was responsible for what ailed the SBC. I was never interested in that and did not participate in the attacks against him. He was not the main problem, no matter how much power he seemed to wield. The problem existed in our own hearts and in the pews of our churches. We were rotting from the ground up and any problems at the top only reflected what had been going on for a long time in our churches. We had stopped following Christ in a missional sense and we were pursuing our own comfort and prosperity just like the larger culture. Replacing Dr. Patterson without addressing the real issues of discipleship only guaranteed a continuance of our problems.  Over time, I grew so weary of the political machinations that obscured the real issues of missional ineffectiveness that I withdrew from meaningful discussions about the SBC.

But, articles like the one by Dr. Reid give me hope. I think that we are going to see a much greater decline over the next decade as the dross is removed and lifeless branches are pruned. But, I do believe that a great number of those that are left will turn their eyes to Jesus. If we would focus on Christ, root ourselves in the Word of God, and follow the Spirit, we would not allow ourselves to be captivated by the larger culture. We would heed the prophetic call to return to God and hold out life to a dying world. This can happen and it is happening. We need more Alvin Reid's to speak the truth and point the way. There is hope for the SBC but it will not be found in our strength or our institutions or our plans. It will only be found in abandoning all and following hard after Jesus.    

The Weakness of a Privatized, Individualistic Gospel: Moving Toward a Southern Missiology , Part 2

In my last post, I asked readers what they thought a missiology for the South might look like.  I appreciate the comments, Mike, Bob, Les, and Rick. I was hoping for a little more discussion, but, let's face it, I'm not talking about the latest political brouhaha amongst Southern Baptists or anything exciting like that. I'm just talking about the future of the church in the South over the next generation. Relatively meaningless, I know.  :)

At any rate, as I have been researching the theological weaknesses behind the evils of racism and segregation in the Southern Baptist South of the 1950's and 60's and how those weaknesses continue to affect us today (all for a book that I am trying to write), I have stumbled across an unexpected culprit that has caused me to raise my eyebrows a bit. In my reading, interviewing, studying, and praying, I have come to believe that a major reason that people could fill churches all across the South on Sunday and then treat others horribly just because of the color of their skin without feeling conviction was because of the gospel that was preached and believed. If your view of the "gospel" is that it is mostly a set of propositions that you agree with so that you can go to heaven when you die (i.e., eternal life) and salvation cannot be lost no matter what you do, then the commands of Scripture about loving others will be ignored when they bump up against a culture that ultimately gives you your identity, especially when that culture tells you that the "other" is inferior to you. What is there to fear? You're going to heaven. Of course, fear came in when you committed really bad sins like drinking alcohol, dancing, or broke any sexual taboos. So, belief and lifestyle were connected on some issues but not others, even though those other issues were just as biblical, if not moreso in some cases. This hypocrisy became a major theological problem and it is still embedded in the "gospel" we preach and the theology that we believe. We've never dealt with it adequately. We still face a theological separation between belief and behavior because we desire and offer heaven without the cross. Unfortunately, this separation has weakened our churches to the point of impotence when it comes to standing against the world. This weak, cheap gospel of personal, individualistic salvation without discipleship is what allowed Southerners to be racists while they filled Southern Baptist churches.  It is what allowed the Lutheran church in Germany to turn away from the Nazi brutalities toward the Jews and even accept them as necessary. It is also what allows us today to say that we believe one thing and live a completely different way and feel no shame or conviction.  Isn't hypocrisy a great part of what the baby boomers rebelled against in the 60's? Didn't the church have a stake in that regarding how we treated others while claiming to follow Christ?  

David Fitch in The Great Giveaway says, 

In our doctrine of salvation then, evangelicals must avoid commoditizing salvation into an individualist consumerist transaction, something we have been prone to. There is a reason why it sounds intrusive to ask a stranger the question "Do you know Jesus as personal savior?" We have privatized the relationship with Jesus so as to make him into a gnosticized faith that seems isolated from everyday life. We must un-privatize our faith in Christ and reconnect our relationship with God through Christ to a way of life that we can invite people into and a movement of God in history. Then we can ask, "Do you have a place where you can ask questions about life?" "Do you know a story that can make sense of your life?" When we do this, we focus away from scaring people out of hell to inviting people into a compelling way of life. We realize that making salvation about being saved from hell irrespective of being saved to new life cheapens it into a piece of individualist knowledge, bordering on Gnositicism, that does not take root in embodied lives.

In postmodernity, truth is about character. Religious truth can no longer be relegated to the realm of private feeling or preference. This is because modern science, which pushed it there originally, no longer reigns supreme. Truth is in the living. Any evangelism therefore that separates one's renewed legal status before God from the new life we have in Christ strips the gospel of its power for a postmodern evangelism. For the postmodern world, justification cannot be separated from sanctification and sanctification cannot be separated from a living people of God. The basis for a compelling Christian account of salvation in postmodernity is a changed life among a living community of Christ. (58-59).

Random Thinking

Last night, I couldn't get to sleep. My mind was racing. Finally, I drifted off, but not before I ran through a dozen different subjects. I've been told by friends that I have adult ADD. Maybe so. It would explain a lot. Normally, I write essays for this blog because it is really rewarding for me to lock in on one topic and explore it and I use it as a teaching platform for my church. Today, I'll take you on a random tour of what I'm thinking about in classic, stream-of-consciousness form. Each of these thoughts could be a blogpost all their own and they have been building up in my head. So, I think I'll clean out my brain a little so that I can think more clearly and start over.

I'm going back to India at the end of next month. Around midnight last night, I called Thom Wolf in India and talked with him for awhile. It was almost noon there. He was my professor and intellectual mentor in school back when I lived in San Francisco and he lives in New Delhi. We will go north to the Himalayas and do our normal thing with the ministries there, and then possibly travel with him for a couple of days to the south of India to meet some people doing very interesting things.

I am working through Paul's letter to the Philippians right now in my Bible study and my preaching. I am also writing essays to go along with each topic. Philippians is a great letter to address the "God as a means to an end" syndrome that plagues contemporary Christianity. I am thinking of releasing the essays after I am through with this. It has been really interesting. Today, I am working on one called "Chains" about how Paul volunteered to put himself in less than ideal situations so that the gospel would be spread to others through his life and suffering. Check out Philippians 1:7-14. Am I willing to do the same? 

"According to some estimates, Christians in developed Western countries now represent only 37 percent of believers worldwide. As I travel and also read chruch history, I have observed a pattern, a strange historical phenomenon of God 'moving' geographically from place to place: from the Middle East to Europe to North America to the developing world. My theory is this: God goes where He's wanted." ~ Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places. 

I ran across a fascinating article today on urban development in post-Katrina New Orleans on Newgeography.com by Andres Duany.  Duany, of Cuban descent, says that "New Orleans is not among the most haphazard, poorest or misgoverned American cities, but rather the most organized, wealthiest, cleanest, and competently governed of the Caribbean cities."  He says that New Orleans is not really an American city at all. Rather, it is a Caribbean city.  Jimmy Buffett, after Katrina hit, said that the northern Gulf of Mexico is actually the northern part of the Caribbean, not the Southern part of the U.S.  I agree. Being from there, it is different that the rest of the country, and I love it. Totally different way of thinking, worldview, and lifestyle. Maybe this is why Baptists have had so much trouble reaching the Gulf Coast?  Hmmm. 

My two favorite songs on my ipod right now are "Rocket Man" by Angie Aparo and "A Change is Gonna Come" by Ben Sollee. They are both cover songs, but the music and vocals are really intriguing. If you haven't heard either of these guys, check them out.  Here's a live version of "Rocket Man." I think about this when I am travelling too much.

And, Ben Sollee on the cello.  Yes, the cello.  This is amazing.

This week marks the 3 year anniversary of us finding a lump on Caelan's chest that was a cancerous tumor. It has been a hard three years, but I praise God everyday for His faithfulness. Last night, Erika told me that the little 3 year old girl that my family has been praying for since we saw her at Caelan's last scans died last week. Her name was Cassie. My heart was broken over that. Maybe that is why I keep singing "A Change is Gonna Come." Ben Sollee, covering Sam Cooke, says he doesn't know what's beyond the sky. I do, and more and more each day I pray that God's Kingdom come.

"As heretical as it sounds today, it is probably worth telling Americans that you don't need Jesus to have better families, finances, health, or even morality. Coming to the cross means repentance - not adding Jesus as a supporting character for an otherwise decent script but throwing away the script in order to be written into God's drama. It is death and resurrection, not coaching and makovers." Michael Horton, Christless Christianity.

Baseball season is about to start. I really don't like baseball. Too slow for my taste. During the dead of summer, it is almost like there are no sports going on. I'm just waiting for football. Although, our church has formed THREE softball teams with about 50 players and they'll be playing mostly on Monday nights, so I am glad for the fact that a lot of people from our church will be hanging out together and building relationships. Being blind in my right eye caused me to never play baseball because I have no depth perception, so maybe that is why I don't like it. I do plan to play summer league basketball, though. 

The groundbreaking for our church's new building is April 5, right before we have a huge neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. We've been reaching a lot of teenagers in our community lately, and God really moved in their lives at a youth retreat that we had this past weekend. Several came to Christ and many more opened their hearts to Jesus. We have also started tutoring, GED classes, and are helping with job placement.  God is doing some amazing things. The building is just a tool to help us with this, and it should be finished by October. I'll be very happy.

I keep watching Jon & Kate plus Eight. I don't know why. Erika keeps asking why I stop there when we are watching TV and I have the remote and I told her that I really can't believe how mean Kate is to Jon and I can't fathom how they manage eight kids like that. Wow. It's like a car wreck. I have four kids of my own. Do I really need to watch someone else's stress? Strangely, I'm drawn to it. That, and Clean House, which is about people who live in an unfathomable mess.  I guess that it is cathartic to see other people's stress and mess instead of my own.  Normally, these shows come on right after we put the kids to bed. Hmmm.

I turned in my taxes yesterday and I'm trying to get some insurance stuff taken care of. It's a pain and seems to be taking forever. Car tags have to be paid on Monday and I'm doing a TV interview tomorrow for a local religious broadcasting station about our work in India. I lump all of that together because it all feels about the same to me - stuff I have to do that I don't like doing. I'm not just trying to be humble about the TV thing either. I HATE stuff like that. Communication should be two-way and interactive with feedback, not captured on a television for people to pick over and misinterpret as they wish. Maybe I'm just insecure. 

Books I'm reading right now (they happen to all be "Christian" books, which is not good - I need to vary things up a bit and learn from some other disciplines):

• Finding God in Unexpected Places by Philip Yancey - picked it up in the airport last week. Yancey writes essays about where he sees God working in the world. Excellent.
• Christless Christianity by Michael Horton - states that the American church has given itself over to an alternative gospel that he calls, therapuetic moralistic deism.
• No Place for Truth - Or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology by David Wells. This came out about 15 years ago, but it was recommended to me by a friend of mine. It is pretty dense, but a good read. Makes some of the same claims as Horton, but from a historical perspective.
• People of the Dream: Multiracial Congregations in the United States by Michael O. Emerson. Just picked this one up.

My church is always heavy on my mind and my heart. I graduated from seminary over 9 years ago. I've been the lead pastor of our church for 3 1/2 years. I'm realizing more and more each day that I am not smart enough, talented enough, entertaining enough, or gifted enough to do what needs to be done, no matter how many books I read. God has to work through me. I need Him. I carry the weight of people's struggles pretty intensely. I greatly desire for people to walk with the Lord and to glorify Him and I want our church to hunger after Christ with their whole lives and to reach people who do not know Jesus. But, I am really having to pray about this and release it to the Lord. I can't make anyone do anything. I am completely powerless to make anything happen. God has to do it.  I have always known that intellectually. I am learning that emotionally and spiritually and it isn't easy, believe it or not.

Ashtyn has started soccer.

I have great kids and an amazing wife who listens to me go on and on about everything that I am thinking about. She is really patient and she always gives me great feedback. I do not deserve her, and I'm not just saying that because it is what I am expected to say. She's really something. She texted me two days ago and said that we should go on the mission trip with the youth group this summer. I told her that I agreed. Not many mother's of four kids would do that. 

My city, Montgomery, just elected a new mayor in a special election a couple of weeks ago. In his election night interview, he said that he hoped that he would "rule" well.  Rule #1 in American politics: Never tell the people that you plan to "rule" them. It doesn't sit well in a democracy. Then, he said that he was pushing the inauguration back a week because he was taking his family to the beach. Rule #2:  When we are in a severe recession, don't tell the people that just elected you that you would begin to rule, er, serve them, but first, you have to go to the beach.  Go to the beach in a few months AFTER you have worked for them for a little while. Wow.

Look, a BUTTERFLY!!!! Sorry, had to get that out. Does anyone ever feel that way? Random as can be.

I've lost 10 pounds in the past two weeks and I don't know how. I guess that I haven't been eating as much. Duh. Stress? Busyness? I don't know, but I'll take it. I could stand to lose a lot more.

____________________________________________________

Well, that's about it. Not really, but I figure that no one is still reading at this point, so I might as well stop. Believe it or not, engaging in an exercise in complete randomness actually made me feel better. So, I leave you with a picture of my kids that I really love. 

God is good, by the way.  And, He's always working in every thing. Big, little, important, mundane. God is always at work.

 

Why Do Baptists Avoid San Francisco, New Orleans, New York City, etc. . . ?

Really, why do we have such a problem ministering in the cities?

My time in San Francisco last week was amazing. Ashtyn and I had a great time together and we will never forget it. I know my daughter much better than I did before and I am incredibly impressed with her. She is unbelievably smart, charming, and interesting. I can't wait to see the woman that she is going to become. An added bonus of our trip was that we got to stay in the home of Eric and Linda Bergquist. Eric is the director of the Page Street Baptist Center in San Francisco and Linda is a church planter strategist for the SF Bay Area with NAMB and the California Baptist State Convention. I knew them back when I was in seminary at GGBTS and they graciously invited Ashtyn and me to stay with them while we did the tourist thing. One of the favorite parts of our day, however, was when we got to sit and Linda and Eric's kitchen table each night and talk about what the Lord was doing in the Bay Area.  God is moving.

Churches are being planted as God is placing it on the hearts of individuals and teams to move to the Bay Area. Responsiveness to the gospel is beginning to grow. The San Francisco Bay Area is really like another country and we should treat it as such from a missiological perspective. 6.5 million people live in the Bay Area and every nation in the world is represented. The population is only 2% evangelical Christian. Many are resistent to the gospel, but many are also open, especially among immigrant groups. Unfortunately, there are only 3 SBC churches that are primarily english speaking in the city of San Francisco with it's population of 750,000 people. Linda and Eric and the others working with them are trying to change that.

Ministry in this area is very difficult. Many church planters come and go. However, it is not impossible. More resources and more church planting teams are needed. Really, a great need would be for Christians who can work and support themselves to move out to the Bay Area with an intentional plan to be a part of a church plant. Could we provide theological/missiological training to people who want to move to and work in the Bay Area so that they could help churches grow and reach those communities? Could local associations and state conventions in other parts of America partner with Southern Baptists in the Bay Area? There are SBC associations out there and an SBC seminary along with the state convention, yet not one state convention or local association in AMERICA has a partnership with what Baptists are trying to do in San Francisco. Why is that?  Alabama, my state, has 4 million people. We have over 3,000 Southern Baptist churches. We have over 80 local associations. We have a state convention with 66 state missionaries. We keep tens of millions of dollars of our cooperative program money in our state, not to mention the millions upon millions that we keep in our churches to spend on ourselves. Still, the number of Christians in Alabama is DECREASING instead of increasing. Is this a good investment?

However, if we can figure out how to reach cities like San Francisco, New Orleans, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, etc., then won't we see a change in America as a whole?  The Apostle Paul seemed to understand this when he went to the cities of the Roman Empire to establish churches. He knew that if he reached the cities, he would reach the countryside as well. Why don't we do the same?

Southern Baptists struggle in these cities (even though we have seminaries in SF and New Orleans) because we, as a whole, really don't want to be there it seems. We are more comfortable in the suburbs or rural areas where life makes sense to us. We struggle to go cross-cultural because at that point, we have to change. We have to stop thinking about things in ways most comfortable to us and begin to incarnate the gospel, putting ourselves in the shoes of others. We have to sacrifice. We have to admit that life is not all about us and our needs and our desires. This is difficult for Southern Baptists as it is with most Christians. Yet, isn't this what God calls us to? 

I fear that America has already succumbed to the homosexual agenda that is so accepted in San Francisco. The battle has been lost, even though we do not see it yet. Public opinion has turned.  I truly believe that gay marriage and homosexual rights will be established in America in the very near future. The evangelical church must learn how to minister in this environment or we will be overwhelmed by it.  Yelling at homosexuals has not worked. How do we minister to them with the truth of the gospel and the love of Christ?  San Francisco is a great place to learn. What would it look like if 10 Southern Baptist associations partnered with Southern Baptists in San Francisco to plant 5 new churches over the next 2-3 years? What if those churches that were planted then began to support other church plants and you brought some more associations or churches on board? Within 10 years, you could possibly see an additional 40-50 churches in the SF Bay Area!  That would make a HUGE difference in the spiritual climate of this region that is so important to the future of America culturally, spiritually, and economically.

What if we did the same in New Orleans, LA by partnering with the local association and the seminary there? Many seminary students at NOBTS go there to get an education and then try to get out of the city as quickly as possible. What if we sent some folks there who truly loved New Orleans and its people and weren't just looking to pastor a church somewhere in rural Mississippi?  What if we had families move there and partner with church planters sponsored by local associations throughout the South? How different would New Orleans be in just a few years?

What about the great cities of the north? What if a group of churches worked together to support a church plant in New York City? What if state conventions appropriated some of the millions of dollars that they kept from CP giving and put it toward church planting in urban areas in the northeast, led by the believers that were already there? What we we moved to these areas with the idea that we were going to incarnate the gospel into these cultures, we were going to work and build relationships, and we were going to see the Kingdom come?

What if our missions dollars were used more directly for missions instead of for us?

Anyway, those are some thoughts. Now, for some pictures from the trip:

  

  

  

  

     

Crumbling Housing Market

My last post addressed how America is going to be reshaped by the financial crisis and I looked at some ways that the church could respond.  Today, I primarily wanted to show you this graph of falling home prices and point you to this excellent article that should scare the pants off of you and cause you to look to Jesus alone if you are a Christian:

 http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/quinn/2009/0218.html (HT: John Stickley)

God has a purpose for His Church in all of this if we would but open our eyes and be salt and light. I believe that He has a purpose for the local church that I pastor in our community as people begin to struggle. Isaiah 58 is a guiding passage for me in all of this.  Unless my hope is in the Lord, I will not be able to offer hope to others. Unless I am looking to Christ, I will not be able to point others to Christ. We need to be aware of what is happening in our nation and help people trust in Christ instead of what is fading away.

More on this later . . .

How Will the Crash Reshape America and How Will the Church Respond?

Richard Florida, the director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and writing for The Atlantic, tells us that America has changed forever with the current economic crash. As a country, we will have to remake ourselves and the future will not look much like the past. Gone are the heady days of manufacturing, construction, and the suburbs. The creative class will group in large urban conglomerations of cities and those areas full of educated and versatile people will drive economic growth in America. This is a fascinating essay and if you want to be educated on what is happening and what is coming, I highly recommend that you take the time to read it.

Florida says,

On one level, the crisis has demonstrated what everyone has known for a long time: Americans have been living beyond their means, using illusory housing wealth and huge slugs of foreign capital to consume far more than we’ve produced. The crash surely signals the end to that; the adjustment, while painful, is necessary.

The result of this, according to Florida, is that the suburbs are dying. Housing wealth is declining at a rapid pace and it will not return. People are going to be stuck in areas because they will not be able to sell their homes. This will lead to rising unemployment and suburban blight. Florida says something that I have been saying for about six months now:  It is smarter to rent than to own a home.  Instead of an investment, home ownership is going to be seen as a liability in the future.  Glenn Beck has an amazing video on that HERE (the average American home was worth twice the historic market value in 2006. A correction has started and will likely not stop until the average American home loses half its value from 2006-2007.).

So, how will this affect the church? 

Life and Death in the ER

This is a powerful clip from the TV show, ER, that I read about in Michael Horton's Christless Christianity. A man who was a former police officer and was responsible for the death of an innocent man is asking for answers about sin, forgiveness, death, and eternity from a chaplain who has no answers for him.  She does not speak to him about truth, but instead, about his perspective on living and getting rid of guilt by refocusing. She has no answers - only questions and statements like "I think it's up to each one of us to figure out what God wants."

Powerful video.  If you were in this situation, what would you say to this person?  How would you tell him how to find forgiveness?  What good does her "inclusive spirituality" do in a situation like this?  We have the gospel of Jesus Christ and it is the only message that can save sinners. Romans 3:21-26 talks about this man's concerns as it addresses sin, righteousness, faith, forgiveness, and judgment. People need real hope, not nice platitudes that do nothing for us. What are your thoughts about this? What would you say to him? What would you say to her? 

Christmas Meditations: What If We Had Given All That Money Away?

How much money net worth have you lost since September? With the market crash and the loss of equity in my home, I have personally lost thousands of dollars. I don't even look at my retirement accounts. The belief is that we will eventually get all that back, but many economic analysts are doubtful. Between the plummeting value of our real estate and the markets, Americans have lost trillions of dollars in net worth over just the past 6 months.

So, how are you managing? Are you miserable? Has your life fallen apart? Are you dead yet? Did the loss of money destroy your life? Hopefully, if you are a follower of Christ, the answer will be a resounding NO. Yet, I couldn't help but think about the poor around the world. The 1.5 million children a year who die because they do not have clean drinking water. The 3.5 billion people in the world who live on less than two American dollars a day while the average American teenager spends nearly $150 a week. The 1.6 billion people in the world with no electricity. The 40% of people in the world who lack basic sanitation while Americans use and throw away 49 million diapers per day. 

Trillions of dollars lost in the economic collapse. How much did Christians lose? Recent estimates are the Christians in America give around 2% of their income to local churches for ministry. How much do you think we lost in the last 6 months? How much money just vanished into thin air with nothing to show for it? 

What if we would have used it to bless others? For only $10 billion, every man, woman, and child in the world could have clean drinking water, yet we spend almost $500 billion per year on average on Christmas presents. What if just a fraction of the money that we lost over the past 6 months had gone to bless the poor, to support missionaries, to build the Kingdom of God? What if we had not been so selfish and we had not been trying to build our own Kingdoms of Comfort? What if?

It is all gone now. Moth and rust has destroyed it. Many of us cannot afford our pricey, lavish homes. We've spent the blessings of God on ourselves and we wonder why we lack a sense of purpose and why with all of our wealth, the number of Americans taking antidepressants has tripled in the last decade.

What if we had given it away? What if we had blessed others? What if we had followed the example of the Wise Men who traveled hundreds of miles to lay gifts at the feet of the newborn Savior in Bethelehem? What if we had not just thought about ourselves?

It is all gone now. We will scramble and work to get it back so that we can live in comfort while millions die around the world without their basic needs being met or without knowledge of salvation in Christ. It is not even because of them that we should live differently. It is because of God. God is the great giver. Freely we have received, now we are to freely give. When we live with open hands and hearts, we reflect the glory of God and we live in communion with our Creator. When we store up treasures in Heaven, we worship God with our faith and our lives. When we horde here on earth, we worship ourselves.

Who will we worship this Christmas season?  

If Sarah Palin Were a Liberal Democrat . . .

What would be the reaction of conservative, Evangelical Republicans? Or, Republicans in general? That is the question that is lingering in my mind this morning and I believe that the answer has a great deal to do with the public witness of of the evangelical church in America.

Over the past 20 years or so, I have witnessed evangelical leaders, preachers, and conservative Republicans use instances of working, career pursuing mothers and unwed teen pregnancy as examples of family and moral breakdown in our country. Liberal Democrats were regularly attacked for their views on these issues (see Dan Quayle and Murphy Brown in 1992). I found myself in agreement with the principles espoused by the Right, but uncomfortable with the way that these issues were used in regard to party politics. I am ardently Pro-Life and believe that sex should wait until marriage. I believe that a parent's first priority is to their children over their career and I believe that it is best if the mother can stay home with the kids, although I fully understand that that is not always possible financially. I also would not put that on anyone in a legalistic way because people are free to make their own decisions on this issue. That is my opinion and I would not judge anyone for choosing a different course, as long as their children were taken care of.

When Sarah Palin was first announced, I thought it was a good choice.  I greatly respect the work of governors and I did not see the experience issue as being a concern. I also did not think that the fact that she was a woman or a mother of 5, even an infant with Down's Syndrome, would disqualify her. But, I did wonder how she would manage all of these challenges and how conservative evangelicals would view this, because I have always heard a different message from them regarding motherhood and raising children. Then, when it was revealed that Palin's 17 year old daughter was 5 months pregnant, I expected there to be some type of statement about the dangers of teen sex and/or the need for parents to be attentive to their children and "focus on the family." That is what we've heard for the past 20-30 years from evangelicals, right?  I have been surprised.

From a CNN article entitled Evangelicals Rally Behind Palin After Pregnancy News, this is the response of some of Conservative and Evangelical leaders:

America Becoming More Diverse, Older

In case you haven't noticed, America is rapidly changing. According to a new report issued by the U.S. Census Bureau, America is going through a demographic shift so rapid and severe, that it will look very different in the next 40 years. Here are the highlights:

• The U.S. population is currently at 305 million. By 2050, it is projected to grow 43% to 439 million
• Minorities, which are now 1/3 of the population, will be a majority by 2042 and will reach 54% by 2050
• Hispanics, which are now 15% of the population, will reach 30% by 2050
• By 2030, 20% of Americans will be over 65. By 2050, it will be 25% - most of these are white
• Minorities will comprise more than half of all children by 2023 and 62% by 2050
• The black population is projected to increase from 41.1 million, or 14 percent of the population, to 65.7 million, or 15 percent.
• The Asian population is projected to climb from 15.5 million to 40.6 million. Its share of the nation’s population is expected to nearly double, from 5.1 percent to 9.2 percent.
• American Indians and Alaska Natives are projected to rise from 1.6 percent to 2 percent.
• The number of people who identify themselves as being of two or more races is projected to more than triple, from 5.2 million to 16.2 million.

I think that I had better learn to speak Spanish.

So, what does this mean for the Church? God is really laying on my heart the fact that we MUST understand that the Gospel is for ALL people and the Church must reflect the gospel message in its make-up (if you have read my blog lately, you understand). If we do not learn to diversify our churches, do we even have a witness in a country as ethnically diverse as America? This is not just trying to be culturally relevant. The Bible commands us to be this way. In Christ, there is neither Jew, Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, Slave, Free, Male, or Female. Christ is all and is in all (Gal. 3:26-29; Col. 3:11). In Christ, the dividing wall between races has come down (Eph. 2:11-18). There are many other passages and arguments for this.

If America's original sin is slavery and racism, we still bear the residue upon our collective soul. The sad thing is, it appears that our secular culture is trying to work this out faster than the Church is. But, we have the power of God! We have the Gospel! We have the Holy Spirit!  Think of what Heaven will look like, with all tribes, ethnicities, and languages coming before the Lord! (Rev. 7:9-10). If the evangelical church does not lead the way into this coming reality, then we have truly missed an incredible opportunity to address the sins of our past and help forge the future.

Just think: Who in America knows how to live in a multicultural world like this? Who better to figure it out and point the way than Christians that have been infected and transformed by the love of Christ? If we do not lead on this issue, any claim to care about America or to desire to see her come to God must be disregarded.

This issue of diversity and the accompanying problems of education, poverty, healthcare, and culture development is THE major issue facing our nation and the Church in the coming 40 years. How will we face it? What will it mean to be missional in this context? How can we live out and proclaim the gospel for such a time as this?

Some people say that diverse cultures cannot come together. It is impossible because we are too different. So, they promote multiculturalism, which is the idea that disparate cultures will exist alongside one another in America holding onto their traditional customs. I think that this will happen, to an extent. But, I also believe that Christians are one in Christ and we must learn to submit our culture to Christ so that He can express Himself through us in many different ways. America needs that kind of witness. Instead of seeing the Church as a refuge for each individual culture to be alone and with people just like themselves, my prayer is that the Church would be the one place in this nation where people come together over something bigger than themselves, Someone greater than their cultures, races, and economic backgrounds.

We are one in Christ.

The Power of a Yielded Life: Catherine Rohr and the Prison Entrepeneurship Program

Why would a 27 year old woman who was a Wall Street investor making six figures leave it all to work with prisoners in the Texas penal system?  Simply because she is a follower of Jesus and she saw prisoners through His eyes. She surrendered her life and talents to God and He is doing amazing things through her. Last week at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, I heard Catherine Rohr's story. It is extraordinary. God is using her to radically change lives by seeing the potential that people have and by working with them to help them become what God created them to be. Through the Prison Entrepeneurship Program (PEP), inmates are exchanging the business skills that they have learned through illegitimate crime for training in developing legitimate businesses. And, business leaders from all over America are helping!  Here is an example of how one Christian with a vision from the Lord can work to change the world (click on the pictures to watch the video).

(After clicking on the picture to view the video, enlarge this video by clicking the little box in the bottom right corner when it begins playing)
Woman leaves Wall Street to teach convicts

1 Corinthians 5:14-19 says, "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."

I thought about that passage when I saw this next video.

Danny DeVito Gives Advice on Honesty, Character, and Evangelism

Probably one of the best things I've ever heard on how to relate to people honestly was from the movie, The Big Kahuna (1999) starring Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito. I saw clips from the movie several years ago and they have stuck with me ever since. The movie takes place in a hotel room and involves three salesmen working in the Midwest. Spacey and DeVito are longtime friends and they have taken on a newcomer, "Bob." Bob is an idealistic Christian and he spends a good bit of his time trying to evangelize people. Spacey calls him on what he is doing and says that he lacks integrity for evangelizing on the job. After a blow-up between Spacey and Bob, DeVito confronts Bob about what honesty and character is.  It is insightful and really spoke to me about my motives in my interactions with people. Do I care for people because of who they are, or because of what I can get from them?

For my more sensitive readers, there is one inappropriate word in the clip spoken in context. Sorry to expose you to that, but I felt that the truth of what was said here far outweighed any offense that may be given.                                                                               

A few years ago, I travelled through Europe. I made a decision, thinking about what DeVito said, to not lay my hands on a conversation and try and steer it in a spiritual direction. I resolved to deal with people as people, not as evangelism projects. It was amazing. In spite of myself, I actually ended up getting into about 10 spiritual conversations with people. On several occasions, I ended up talking to people for hours about life and the conversation inevitably turned to God. I had determined to just be a human being, not a pastor or an evangelist. It was very freeing.

One time, I was hiking along the coast of Italy with a guy and he began comparing me to the guys that he had partied with the night before. He told me that I was much calmer and more peaceful than they were. Why? he asked. That was the perfect opportunity to tell him that my peace came from Christ. I actually decided not to. I just told him that I didn't feel the need to talk all the time - that I was pretty content as I was. I had nothing to prove. Instead of thinking that I had missed an opportunity, I trusted God to do with that conversation what he wanted. We ended up spending the entire day together and we talked a good deal about relationships, life, goals, and the future. He ended up asking me how I knew that my wife was the right one for me and I told him that I prayed and God told me. Intrigued, he asked me all about how I could receive guidance from God in issues like that and I was able to tell him what a relationship with God was like and how it worked. We talked a great deal about knowing God as he asked me question after question. Because I entered a relationship with this guy and saw him as a person instead of a project, God used the whole thing in the way that He wanted and far more came out of it than I ever could have created myself. I have continued to try and minister this way.

I've found it much harder to have relationships with people like this since I've been a pastor. There always seems to be this religious barrier up between me and those outside the church, like they think I'm going to assault them with Bibles or force them under the water against their will in some type of extreme baptism ritual. The fact that as soon as people find out I'm a pastor I see them visibly recoil has probably been the hardest part of being a pastor for me. It is not that I don't want to be rejected. It is that I hate the barriers that artificially seem to go up between me and other people. It takes a while to get them down as I have a lot of work to do to convince people that I am just a normal person desperately in need of God's grace and love just as they are.

When I think about it, DeVito was right on the character issue as well.  We don't really have character until we can admit that we've blown it and that we were wrong about things. It is the regret and the desire to change that puts us in touch with our weaknesses and hopefully, connects us with our true source of life and power, Jesus. IF we humble ourselves and look to Him. I think that so many of us as Christians feel like we have to maintain our own righteousness, so we can never admit a mistake or be real with people who are alienated from God. That makes us look pretty plastic because we aren't fooling anyone. Everyone can clearly see that we are not perfect. Why do we continue with the charade?

The times that God's life and power have flowed through me the most were times that I just cared about people and was myself. Religion always seems to get in the way. Religion teaches us to see people as projects to "win to Christ" or "reach" because religion is all about climbing the ladder to God. We have to show how we're further up the ladder than other people because our identity is based on where we are on the ladder. If we have our doctrine straight and we are in the club, so to speak, we feel better about ourselves, especially in relation to others. This kind of religion kills. But instead of falling into this trap, what if we got our identity from Christ and were free to just take an interest in people for who they were? What if we cared about people because they were made in God's image? All people have desires, dreams, hopes, and fears. They all have families, jobs, and most just want to live a good life and make some small difference in the world. I know that we are all born sinful, but our doctrine of original sin should not cause us to despise people to the point that we do not deal with them as the human beings that they are. Jesus was the holiest man that ever lived - He was God and Man. Yet, He caused prostitutes, tax collectors, and "sinners" to be at ease in His presence. How? I really believe that He treated people with respect and that love flowed through Him. He didn't have to rank Himself on the ladder in relation to others because He knew who His Father was and as a consequence, knew who He was as well. He brought the Kingdom of God with Him and people were drawn to the love and healing that He gave.

So, what I have found is that when I see people as people and not as commodities that I can use for my benefit, then I am much more likely to express the love of Christ to them in a way that speaks to their heart. Often, this happens more effectively when I do not have some grand plan, but rather, when I am just friends with people for the sake of being friends. God seems to move mightily through loving, respectful friendship. If you had to ask me, I never thought I'd get this kind of wisdom from Danny DeVito. He's not a very "religious" source, is he? Who knew? I guess that God teaches us in all kinds of ways if we would just be quiet long enough to listen.

The Righteousness of Christ

I write a lot about social justice issues, missions, and reforming culture. But, it is only possible for the Christian to engage in any of that because we have first and foremost been set free from our sin, death, Satan, and Hell by the blood of Jesus and His sacrifice and victory on the Cross and through His resurrection. Because "it is finished" we no longer need to make striving for our own righteousness before God our all consuming focus. We are free to serve God and others!  We can entrust ourselves to God and truly believe that we are righteous with the imputed righteousness of Christ! What a great salvation!

I first ran across Dr. Rod Rosenbladt a few years ago when a friend of mine passed me a little booklet called Christ Alone. It was gold. I happened to see a link to a Dr. Rosenbladt mp3 on The Gospel for those Broken By the Church. I have not listened to this yet, but a couple of excerpts are printed that I found helpful:

If the Ten Commandments were not impossible enough, the preaching of Christian behavior, of Christian ethics, of Christian living, can drive a Christian into despairing unbelief. Not happy unbelief. Tragic, despairing, sad unbelief. (It is not unlike the [unhappy] Christian equivalent of "Jack Mormons" - those who finally admit to themselves and others that they can't live up to the demands of this non-Christian cult's laws, and excuse themselves from the whole sheebang.) A diet of this stuff from pulpit, from curriculum, from a Christian reading list, can do a work on a Christian that is (at least over the long haul) "faith destroying."

He goes on: