I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a conversation I overheard about a year ago. I was at a major Sunday School convention here in Kentucky in line for lunch, and overheard two youth pastors behind me discussing their youth groups and meeting with them at school for lunch or other activities. About half-way through the conversation one pastor said to the other something along the lines of “well, the school won’t let me on campus to meet with my own students, but that is okay with me, because if I can’t come on campus, then neither can the Satanist or any other crazy group”. Now, for clarification, this was not just any pastor, but a Baptist pastor. And this wasn’t just any Baptist, but a Southern Baptist. And if anyone has learned anything in the last 20 years about confronting problems, it’s the Southern Baptists. We learned in the 1980’s the true cost of turning a blind eye to problems when we worked to overcome the liberals who had run the denomination for too long. We shouldn’t be making the same mistake in allowing the liberals in society to erode our freedoms just because we don’t want to fight. I say its time to bring it to them.
Since when did Baptists stop believing in the freedom of religion? You see, if we cannot get into schools, like the Supreme Court has affirmed we have the right to as ministers to our youth, then no one associated with anything religious can, and that my friends is exactly the reason Baptists for so long have fought for freedom of religion. Do I care if a Satanist comes onto the campus of any local high school? NO WAY!!! Why? Because I believe in the freedom of religion, and because of the freedom of thought in the marketplace of ideas, I can rest assured that the best idea, the best system, always wins. It’s the capitalist way. Capitalism requires that the best system wins, and it does so without any external force or manipulation. I don’t have to try to force out anyone except Baptists from the schools. More than that, I can comfortably rely on the Truth of the Gospel to win out over the lies of Satan. Since when did we start getting scared of Satan? Let me tell you, he may have power over this world, but its time Christians start living the way they should. We must stop living like Satan has beat us, and start living like we beat him, because Christ has won the victory. We have to stop running around like frightened, victimized losers and start acting like bold, courageous winners. WE HAVE ALREADY WON THE WAR!!!! There’s no good reason to fear the free exchange of ideas unless we are limited by the fear of failure. But if your success comes from the Spirit, then it doesn’t matter who is standing against you, because He is on your side.
So the next time you are told you can’t be somewhere, you can’t go somewhere, remember that its time to stop laying down and taking it. It’s time to stand up tall and take on the liberals and beat them at their own game, because we’ve already won the war, they just keep trying to ignore our victory. You have the right to be in the schools, kids have the right to be Christians even at school, and for the love of everything people, we have the right to stand up for what we believe and tell other people. So get out there and do it!!!
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Sunday, October 30, 2005
What Makes a Moderate?
Time for a CCC Poll. In evaluating the Conservative Resurgence within the Southern Baptist Conventtion, I have discovered a phenomenal difference of opinion regarding what makes someone a Moderate. It seems the Conservatives call the Moderates Liberals, and the Liberals don't seem to care who is what, and the Moderates call themselves, usually it seems, Conservatives. So I ask, What then makes someone a Moderate? I know it means, by definition, they are not "extreme" in their views, but does a Reader Response method of inspiration of the Bible make you a Liberal or Moderate? Or is it the claim that the Bible is not inerrant in the original manuscripts that makes you a Moderate or Liberal? Or is it a cumulative effect, so one disagreement makes you a semi-Moderate, two is full blown Moderate, and three or more makes you a Liberal? Any thoughts?
Monday, October 17, 2005
Let the Toe-Stepping Begin!!!!!
After a rather invigorating discussion with a buddy, I decided an update was fitting. I have been wrestling with the issue of how church is “done”, particularly about the failings and areas that can be improved.
Fundamentally I see two basic structures, the hierarchy, ie Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, and many more, and the Congregationalists, ie Baptists, and others we will leave out for the sake of space. While there has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth over the debates between these two structures, what the issue boils down to is the imperfect imitation of the headship of Christ and His rule over the body. And in the end, both structures try their best to model themselves after that relationship of Christ and the Body, each emphasizing different aspects.
Then it hit me. Polity isn’t the only area this imitation affects. In fact, it is present in everything we do in “doing” church, just like it is in everything we do in living our lives as Christians. The net result is that all of our debates are not and should not be about which method is better than another, but how can we achieve better methods by learning from both.
Elder rule is the attempt at perfect leadership of the congregation, and congregation rule is the attempt at perfect personal responsibility and freedom. Witnessing is the attempt to recreate the impact of one Man upon the 12 individuals He ministered to and led to faith. Preaching is the attempt to formulate the most effective communication of the inconceivable. In the end, in every area, we must fall short, must be imperfect, must miss the mark, because we fall short, are not perfect, and miss the mark.
Jesus will always be a better evangelist than we ever could be. Jesus will always be a better preacher than we ever could be. Jesus will always be a better leader than we ever could be. So lets stop vain debates over which method is better, and just start doing our best to emulate, imitate, personify, magnify and mirror the One who did it all perfectly. Lets stop leaving the example of Christ in the arena of Christian living and bring it into every area of life, including how we “do” church.
Will this produce some differences? You bet. Is that okay? Absolutely. Of course, we must guard against heresy and false teachers, but lets wake up and smell the coffee folks!!! If your theological “debate” can’t make it to the pew, is shouldn’t be happening. If it doesn’t make an impact on the people, then it isn’t worth it. Advocating right doctrine is not bad, but advocating sectarian doctrine to the loss of right doctrine as of primary importance does nothing but hurt everyone.
Highview Baptist Church here in Louisville, KY is a good example of positive steps in this direction. While they may or may not like to admit it, their new approach is semi-Presbyterian though they are Congregational in their polity. They have two campuses for one church. Technically, there should be two separate congregations for two campuses in the strict congregational model. Yet, they have flexed the boundaries a bit, learned something from the Presbyterian model it seems, and in the end, have a stronger ministry because of it. Andy Stanley in Atlanta leads two congregations in much the same way.
While I am not advocating a thesis-antithesis=synthesis approach, for I don’t think the two can adequately be blended into one form (mostly because that’s Heaven!), I think that in our imperfection, maybe we can find a way to continue to learn from one another and our right, biblical, and true understandings of the teachings of Scripture and continually allow this greater understanding of the Word to lead us to continual refinement. What I am saying is lets quit thinking and acting like the 1500’s are the pinnacle of theology and polity. Lets continue to avoid Liberalism, Postmoderism, Modernism, heresy, and every other theological error we can name, yet allow new, fresh thinking into our methods.
Another first step we could take is start learning from our views on anthropology and cultural anthropology about how to reach people here in the US and not just overseas like we have. Sojourn is a church here in Louisville that seems to have done this. Lets learn from this and start having fewer conferences where we try to learn exactly how X Baptist Church in Somewhere Else did it and they try to recreate the exact thing in our completely different situations and start having more conferences where we try to learn the exact principles behind the success of X Baptist Church, like Sojourn, and apply those principles to our situation. This then takes what is reproducible and leaves behind the rest. We had to learn this lesson in the mission field, but we never applied it here at home. If a white Englishman cannot minister to people anywhere other than England without analyzing the culture and adjusting the methods of evangelism (as any successful missionary soon learned they had to do, ie William Carey, and just about every other modern missionary movement leader), then perhaps we ought to realize that just because two people live in the same country, state, and even city, does not mean they have the same culture. We have no problem admitting there are multiple cultures with multiple variations in methodology needed because of this if it is in Africa or South Asia, but we seem to be unable to admit the same variation in North America. Tanzania is a country where the IMB (International Mission Board, the Southern Baptist foreign missions organization) has recognized both multiple people groups and the need for multiple methods of evangelism. You cannot reach the urban hard-core Muslims on the coast of Tanzania the same way you reach a tribe in the interior jungles of Tanzania. And just the same, you cannot reach an urban, hard-core atheist at a major university the same way you reach a family in the upper reaches of the Appalachian Mountains. Yet we don’t usually bother with anthropological investigations into the best way to take our Message, the Gospel once for all delivered to the Saints, to those different groups in the best way possible since they are both in the US.
So, those Willow Creek and Purpose Driven things may work for the ones that they worked for, but lets stop trying to grow a Purpose Driven Willow Creek where the creek bed is dry and there has not been a purpose for years. Lets instead learn the principles that can be gleaned, from Presbyterians, Seeker-sensitives, and maybe even some of the better Postmoderns, and apply them to our situations. In the end we will have relevant, radical, reformational (as in life-changing) churches that are perfect for our target culture. And for heaven’s sake (literally) lets stop competing with one another and figure out how to work together for the glory of His Kingdom. What do you say, is the Gospel worth it? I think so, and I hope you do too.
Fundamentally I see two basic structures, the hierarchy, ie Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, and many more, and the Congregationalists, ie Baptists, and others we will leave out for the sake of space. While there has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth over the debates between these two structures, what the issue boils down to is the imperfect imitation of the headship of Christ and His rule over the body. And in the end, both structures try their best to model themselves after that relationship of Christ and the Body, each emphasizing different aspects.
Then it hit me. Polity isn’t the only area this imitation affects. In fact, it is present in everything we do in “doing” church, just like it is in everything we do in living our lives as Christians. The net result is that all of our debates are not and should not be about which method is better than another, but how can we achieve better methods by learning from both.
Elder rule is the attempt at perfect leadership of the congregation, and congregation rule is the attempt at perfect personal responsibility and freedom. Witnessing is the attempt to recreate the impact of one Man upon the 12 individuals He ministered to and led to faith. Preaching is the attempt to formulate the most effective communication of the inconceivable. In the end, in every area, we must fall short, must be imperfect, must miss the mark, because we fall short, are not perfect, and miss the mark.
Jesus will always be a better evangelist than we ever could be. Jesus will always be a better preacher than we ever could be. Jesus will always be a better leader than we ever could be. So lets stop vain debates over which method is better, and just start doing our best to emulate, imitate, personify, magnify and mirror the One who did it all perfectly. Lets stop leaving the example of Christ in the arena of Christian living and bring it into every area of life, including how we “do” church.
Will this produce some differences? You bet. Is that okay? Absolutely. Of course, we must guard against heresy and false teachers, but lets wake up and smell the coffee folks!!! If your theological “debate” can’t make it to the pew, is shouldn’t be happening. If it doesn’t make an impact on the people, then it isn’t worth it. Advocating right doctrine is not bad, but advocating sectarian doctrine to the loss of right doctrine as of primary importance does nothing but hurt everyone.
Highview Baptist Church here in Louisville, KY is a good example of positive steps in this direction. While they may or may not like to admit it, their new approach is semi-Presbyterian though they are Congregational in their polity. They have two campuses for one church. Technically, there should be two separate congregations for two campuses in the strict congregational model. Yet, they have flexed the boundaries a bit, learned something from the Presbyterian model it seems, and in the end, have a stronger ministry because of it. Andy Stanley in Atlanta leads two congregations in much the same way.
While I am not advocating a thesis-antithesis=synthesis approach, for I don’t think the two can adequately be blended into one form (mostly because that’s Heaven!), I think that in our imperfection, maybe we can find a way to continue to learn from one another and our right, biblical, and true understandings of the teachings of Scripture and continually allow this greater understanding of the Word to lead us to continual refinement. What I am saying is lets quit thinking and acting like the 1500’s are the pinnacle of theology and polity. Lets continue to avoid Liberalism, Postmoderism, Modernism, heresy, and every other theological error we can name, yet allow new, fresh thinking into our methods.
Another first step we could take is start learning from our views on anthropology and cultural anthropology about how to reach people here in the US and not just overseas like we have. Sojourn is a church here in Louisville that seems to have done this. Lets learn from this and start having fewer conferences where we try to learn exactly how X Baptist Church in Somewhere Else did it and they try to recreate the exact thing in our completely different situations and start having more conferences where we try to learn the exact principles behind the success of X Baptist Church, like Sojourn, and apply those principles to our situation. This then takes what is reproducible and leaves behind the rest. We had to learn this lesson in the mission field, but we never applied it here at home. If a white Englishman cannot minister to people anywhere other than England without analyzing the culture and adjusting the methods of evangelism (as any successful missionary soon learned they had to do, ie William Carey, and just about every other modern missionary movement leader), then perhaps we ought to realize that just because two people live in the same country, state, and even city, does not mean they have the same culture. We have no problem admitting there are multiple cultures with multiple variations in methodology needed because of this if it is in Africa or South Asia, but we seem to be unable to admit the same variation in North America. Tanzania is a country where the IMB (International Mission Board, the Southern Baptist foreign missions organization) has recognized both multiple people groups and the need for multiple methods of evangelism. You cannot reach the urban hard-core Muslims on the coast of Tanzania the same way you reach a tribe in the interior jungles of Tanzania. And just the same, you cannot reach an urban, hard-core atheist at a major university the same way you reach a family in the upper reaches of the Appalachian Mountains. Yet we don’t usually bother with anthropological investigations into the best way to take our Message, the Gospel once for all delivered to the Saints, to those different groups in the best way possible since they are both in the US.
So, those Willow Creek and Purpose Driven things may work for the ones that they worked for, but lets stop trying to grow a Purpose Driven Willow Creek where the creek bed is dry and there has not been a purpose for years. Lets instead learn the principles that can be gleaned, from Presbyterians, Seeker-sensitives, and maybe even some of the better Postmoderns, and apply them to our situations. In the end we will have relevant, radical, reformational (as in life-changing) churches that are perfect for our target culture. And for heaven’s sake (literally) lets stop competing with one another and figure out how to work together for the glory of His Kingdom. What do you say, is the Gospel worth it? I think so, and I hope you do too.
Friday, October 14, 2005
A Terrible Turn To Politics (Temporarily)
Well, its time for a descent into politics for a moment. After having an extended, forced break, I have decided to take a different tack for today’s post. We should return to our regularly scheduled topics tomorrow. While I personally would rather swallow glass than be a politician (thanks Paul for the line!), there are some interesting trends developing that I am a bit worried about, and so I must throw my two cents into this before this year’s elections.
What I am talking about is the current leanings toward McCain and Giuliani as nominees for 2008. The reason this worries me now is because if Republicans do well this November, as we probably will, this could go a long way to cementing the appeal of one of these men.
Now, having lived in Arizona, I can definitely say that McCain has done some good things. But, the guy is not really all that Republican. Arizona is more often than not a Democratic state. Our governors have all been Democrats or incompetent, I mean, Republican. No wait, they were incompetent. In recent history the most notable was Fife Simington, the famous felon governor of Arizona who resigned after being convicted. While each governor has had their share of troubles, it seems the only Republicans that do well long term in Arizona are the compromising, semi-liberal yahoos like McCain who in the end are Republican in name only.
Giuliani is another story. After 9/11 he has made his political straw into gold. He may have been voted out of office but he was the best lame-duck known to mankind and in the end, may have a better career for it. Not many people can say that the best thing for their career was losing a job running the largest city in the nation.
In the end, the problem is that neither of the guys are conservatives. At least, they are not conservative enough. I have to be honest, Bush is not even conservative enough for my taste, but beyond my personal feelings, these other two are not even close to being the reasonable compromise that Bush was. I was not afraid for my rights or my freedoms when Bush ran for office. I cannot say that I would feel the same if either McCain or Giuliani were selected as the nominee. But if the grassroots organizations don’t get out there and start developing viable, truly conservative candidates that don’t compromise like these other two, the anticipated November victories are going to cause a lot of problems for those of us who are concerned about things like freedom of speech (including the freedom to let my money speak in any way or amount I choose) and the freedom to own guns and even the freedom to call abortion murder could be in danger, if one of these guys makes it to the big show.
I’m not trying to be alarmist or inflammatory at all, but I think we have to consider what happens when everybody starts to get serious about 2008. I know it’s a little early, but things take time, so we have to start now. I don’t know about you, but I like have a conservative in office, and I don’t think we should waste our power now by electing a moderate when we could have another conservative. Rush Limbaugh won’t run for president, but maybe someone else will, so lets get out there and let them know, we won’t settle for moderation.
What I am talking about is the current leanings toward McCain and Giuliani as nominees for 2008. The reason this worries me now is because if Republicans do well this November, as we probably will, this could go a long way to cementing the appeal of one of these men.
Now, having lived in Arizona, I can definitely say that McCain has done some good things. But, the guy is not really all that Republican. Arizona is more often than not a Democratic state. Our governors have all been Democrats or incompetent, I mean, Republican. No wait, they were incompetent. In recent history the most notable was Fife Simington, the famous felon governor of Arizona who resigned after being convicted. While each governor has had their share of troubles, it seems the only Republicans that do well long term in Arizona are the compromising, semi-liberal yahoos like McCain who in the end are Republican in name only.
Giuliani is another story. After 9/11 he has made his political straw into gold. He may have been voted out of office but he was the best lame-duck known to mankind and in the end, may have a better career for it. Not many people can say that the best thing for their career was losing a job running the largest city in the nation.
In the end, the problem is that neither of the guys are conservatives. At least, they are not conservative enough. I have to be honest, Bush is not even conservative enough for my taste, but beyond my personal feelings, these other two are not even close to being the reasonable compromise that Bush was. I was not afraid for my rights or my freedoms when Bush ran for office. I cannot say that I would feel the same if either McCain or Giuliani were selected as the nominee. But if the grassroots organizations don’t get out there and start developing viable, truly conservative candidates that don’t compromise like these other two, the anticipated November victories are going to cause a lot of problems for those of us who are concerned about things like freedom of speech (including the freedom to let my money speak in any way or amount I choose) and the freedom to own guns and even the freedom to call abortion murder could be in danger, if one of these guys makes it to the big show.
I’m not trying to be alarmist or inflammatory at all, but I think we have to consider what happens when everybody starts to get serious about 2008. I know it’s a little early, but things take time, so we have to start now. I don’t know about you, but I like have a conservative in office, and I don’t think we should waste our power now by electing a moderate when we could have another conservative. Rush Limbaugh won’t run for president, but maybe someone else will, so lets get out there and let them know, we won’t settle for moderation.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Will we ever Get Smart again?
We have truly lost a legend today folks. Don Adams passed away of lung cancer today at the age of 82. Who is Don Adams? Well, folks my age and younger may remember a certain Inspector Gadget who first inspired the love of gadgets and gizmos in us as small kids. Others may remember the James Bond spoof Get Smart in which Adams played Maxwell Smart, code name Agent 86 (see pictures below). I don’t know about you, but I learned what was funny and what was not from this guy and his shows. With the re-releases of old TV shows on DVD that seems to be the trend, maybe they’ll put Get Smart out on DVD. That would be wonderful. As Bill O’Brien at technudge.com says, the Cone of Silence is at half-mast.
More here
More here
from Technudge
Sunday, September 25, 2005
CE: Coaching Evangelism
Ever since I first advocated a shift to making positive statements about our beliefs instead of primarily negative ones I have struggled with ways to make clear how this should be done. This past week, one practical suggestion came to mind. After asking several individuals who have grown up in the church to explain to me, pretending I am unsaved, why they believe what they do, what they believe, and why I should believe it, my eyes were opened to the radical need for a clear testimony. Who among us can readily answer these questions? Why is it that every believer cannot?
The work of God in our lives is perhaps the most meaningful thing we can share with those who we know and are trying to reach, and yet it seems to be the most difficult thing to express without digressing into limited jargon and technical terms that most unbelievers don’t understand. The testimony is a perfect way to speak the truth of the Gospel while avoiding an excess of negatives. It is the perfect positive witness, and we ought to be sharing it instead of complicated systematic-theology driven presentations that most people will not be interested in anyway.
While FAITH and the Roman’s Road and EE all have their place, if you want to inspire people to share their faith, you have to start somewhere that is much less daunting. Too many churches are filled with people who are too intimidated by the aforementioned programs. They then give up and resolve to not share their faith at all, because they have mistakenly thought they must have some complicated method or it will not work.
If we are going to turn the tide in this nation, it will come as we are more effective in actually reaching the lost and not just gaining members from churches and denominations. We have to take the “ministry” of the church out of the pulpits and start mobilizing the congregations, encouraging them to just tell people about their walk with God.
Will this take some work? You bet. Will it take some training? Probably. At the very least our people will need coaching as they go. We can help them express themselves better, we can give them opportunities to practice, and we can then suit up like the rest of the team and get out there and do it. While this is just like coaching baseball/football/pick-a-sport, the difference comes in the last point. Most football coaches do not get out on the field and play, but they do guide their players, and they do make them practice. We ought to be like those coaches, those of us leading our churches, to equip them to get out and play the game. We then have to take it a step further and get out there ourselves and play too. If we adopted this sort of model to our evangelism efforts, I would imagine that we would see a difference.
100 percent mobilization will yield much greater results than 10 or 20 percent mobilization any day. And our congregations will be fulfilling their calling to be as salt and light, as a city shining on a hill, and every other command we are given in the New Testament. So what do you say? Join us on the field or keep warming that bench Coach?
The work of God in our lives is perhaps the most meaningful thing we can share with those who we know and are trying to reach, and yet it seems to be the most difficult thing to express without digressing into limited jargon and technical terms that most unbelievers don’t understand. The testimony is a perfect way to speak the truth of the Gospel while avoiding an excess of negatives. It is the perfect positive witness, and we ought to be sharing it instead of complicated systematic-theology driven presentations that most people will not be interested in anyway.
While FAITH and the Roman’s Road and EE all have their place, if you want to inspire people to share their faith, you have to start somewhere that is much less daunting. Too many churches are filled with people who are too intimidated by the aforementioned programs. They then give up and resolve to not share their faith at all, because they have mistakenly thought they must have some complicated method or it will not work.
If we are going to turn the tide in this nation, it will come as we are more effective in actually reaching the lost and not just gaining members from churches and denominations. We have to take the “ministry” of the church out of the pulpits and start mobilizing the congregations, encouraging them to just tell people about their walk with God.
Will this take some work? You bet. Will it take some training? Probably. At the very least our people will need coaching as they go. We can help them express themselves better, we can give them opportunities to practice, and we can then suit up like the rest of the team and get out there and do it. While this is just like coaching baseball/football/pick-a-sport, the difference comes in the last point. Most football coaches do not get out on the field and play, but they do guide their players, and they do make them practice. We ought to be like those coaches, those of us leading our churches, to equip them to get out and play the game. We then have to take it a step further and get out there ourselves and play too. If we adopted this sort of model to our evangelism efforts, I would imagine that we would see a difference.
100 percent mobilization will yield much greater results than 10 or 20 percent mobilization any day. And our congregations will be fulfilling their calling to be as salt and light, as a city shining on a hill, and every other command we are given in the New Testament. So what do you say? Join us on the field or keep warming that bench Coach?
The Eagles and the Lamb
The Eagles Farewell Tour is a perfect example of making an “old” message relevant for today. Flipping channels I discovered the broadcast of a concert they relatively recently performed in Australia. I was amazed that this band, who seemed to have captured the “spirit” of their time, and yet today are a group of near-geriatric, semi-has-been rockers who are still packing out stadiums. They may have changed their outfits and made their stage full of fancy lights and video displays, but their message has not changed, it seems, in too drastic a fashion since their early days.
A quick scan of the crowd finds though, not just other gray-hairs, but even some who could not have been born when the Eagles’ music was released on tapes for the first time. It is amazing to see this daily demolition of the PoMo (Postmodern) argument that language is limited to certain communities, for I am sure that there are vast differences between the oldest and youngest members of that audience, yet that evening, they all spoke the same “language”, no matter what vastly separated “communities” they were part of.
It served as a reminder to the universality of some themes, like love, freedom, having a good time, and yet also reminded me that as Christians, our themes also have that same sort of universal impact. The sinful state of mankind, the need for a relationship with God, and the provision of that relationship through Jesus, are all what this world desperately needs to hear. While the Eagles may not always sing about the best things, or be the best role-models for us, we can surely find motivation in their example. If they can stay true to their message, even after all these years, who among us can claim that our message is outdated or irrelevant to people today when the issues we speak to are of such greater magnitude than those of the Eagles?
A quick scan of the crowd finds though, not just other gray-hairs, but even some who could not have been born when the Eagles’ music was released on tapes for the first time. It is amazing to see this daily demolition of the PoMo (Postmodern) argument that language is limited to certain communities, for I am sure that there are vast differences between the oldest and youngest members of that audience, yet that evening, they all spoke the same “language”, no matter what vastly separated “communities” they were part of.
It served as a reminder to the universality of some themes, like love, freedom, having a good time, and yet also reminded me that as Christians, our themes also have that same sort of universal impact. The sinful state of mankind, the need for a relationship with God, and the provision of that relationship through Jesus, are all what this world desperately needs to hear. While the Eagles may not always sing about the best things, or be the best role-models for us, we can surely find motivation in their example. If they can stay true to their message, even after all these years, who among us can claim that our message is outdated or irrelevant to people today when the issues we speak to are of such greater magnitude than those of the Eagles?
Saturday, September 24, 2005
A Canterbury Shorter Bible
Well, another dilemma has come my way. It seems that in England a minister there has created a new edition of the Bible, which he calls his “100 Minute Bible” as it can be read in l00 minutes, as opposed to the “regular” Bible, which, according to the news story requires at least a week of solid reading to read through. While the last paragraph of the story reminds readers of recent innovations such as the “teen” magazine format Bibles that also contain dating and beauty advice and other secular information, I am not sure this work is in the same category.
Truthfully, I have a hard time calling it a Bible at all. I know we print New Testaments all the time, and they are not the “whole” Bible, and we even have copies that are just one book, like John, or just the Psalms and Proverbs, for certain things, but to date, I have never known of a “version” that actually edits out portions of the individual texts themselves that does not in the end distort the text to resemble nothing at all like the Scriptures they started out as. In fact, the editor/”author” said “he had found it painful to edit out the Book of Ruth, which was one of his favourite sections of the Bible, and he was also aware that the personality of St Paul had been diluted. ‘But other than that there is nothing I deeply regret leaving out, given the constraints.’” The problem is that every genealogy was left out, as well as all the “law” books, Song of Solomon, Proverbs, and all but two of the Psalms. And to boot, they took the four Gospels and rewrote them as one story.
So, we have a harmony of the Gospels, and eradication of the Old Testament foundation for the Gospel, as well as the dilution of Paul’s writing as well. While many people may not know the Bible, somehow I don’t think this is the answer. First of all, it doesn’t have to take a week to read the entire Bible, and second, I am certain that it is difficult if not impossible to maintain the integrity of the Bible after such severe editing.
While I object to “Revolve” and other “magazine” style Bibles that include such things as dating and beauty tips for clear and valid reasons, I must say, at least they are still printing the actual Bible. If you want to just give someone a New Testament, then that is great. But to edit the text in whatever way you see fit to make it short and “readable” I think crosses the line in a serious and reprehensible way. I may not criticize the publishers of Revolve and other types of Bibles for tarnishing the Gospel and the very ministry of Christ as they did not change it but merely add around the fringes issues and items which merely distract and draw away the focus from where it belongs, I must criticize the publication/creation of a text like this “100 Minute Bible”. In fact, it cannot be a Bible at all, for it is closer to the “Bible” created by the heretic Marcion than anything that would be acceptable in conservative churches today.
The “author”/editor rightly recognizes that Jesus is the central figure of the Bible, but by removing the beginning of His work as recorded in the Bible, especially in the Law and other places, like the Psalms, you end up with an inaccurate picture of Jesus. While absolute agreement on theology can never be required for salvation, there are certain issues you do not change, and the understanding of who Christ is cannot avoid being changed when you edit as they have in this new “version”.
Hopefully this will serve as a reminder of our need to proclaim the Gospel, once for all delivered to the saints, just as it was delivered, without error, to avoid the troubles that these human revisions such as the “100 Minute Bible” will cause. This is yet another opportunity to get out there and tell people what we actually do believe, in a positive fashion. If we just focus on informing them of the truth of Christ from Genesis to Revelation, in the end, there will be no need for a “Cliff’s Notes” version of the Bible, because people will not be willing to compromise on this. But this will only happen if we make clear the need to for the truth, for the entire story, for the right story. It is said that the US Treasury folks study real bills to better find counterfeits, not studying all the counterfeits to find others like them. While I know this can be misused, it seems this is another case when the real, complete Bible is the one we must study, to know the real Jesus, to better be prepared to know what is true and what isn’t, instead of a “counterfeit” version.
More here.
Truthfully, I have a hard time calling it a Bible at all. I know we print New Testaments all the time, and they are not the “whole” Bible, and we even have copies that are just one book, like John, or just the Psalms and Proverbs, for certain things, but to date, I have never known of a “version” that actually edits out portions of the individual texts themselves that does not in the end distort the text to resemble nothing at all like the Scriptures they started out as. In fact, the editor/”author” said “he had found it painful to edit out the Book of Ruth, which was one of his favourite sections of the Bible, and he was also aware that the personality of St Paul had been diluted. ‘But other than that there is nothing I deeply regret leaving out, given the constraints.’” The problem is that every genealogy was left out, as well as all the “law” books, Song of Solomon, Proverbs, and all but two of the Psalms. And to boot, they took the four Gospels and rewrote them as one story.
So, we have a harmony of the Gospels, and eradication of the Old Testament foundation for the Gospel, as well as the dilution of Paul’s writing as well. While many people may not know the Bible, somehow I don’t think this is the answer. First of all, it doesn’t have to take a week to read the entire Bible, and second, I am certain that it is difficult if not impossible to maintain the integrity of the Bible after such severe editing.
While I object to “Revolve” and other “magazine” style Bibles that include such things as dating and beauty tips for clear and valid reasons, I must say, at least they are still printing the actual Bible. If you want to just give someone a New Testament, then that is great. But to edit the text in whatever way you see fit to make it short and “readable” I think crosses the line in a serious and reprehensible way. I may not criticize the publishers of Revolve and other types of Bibles for tarnishing the Gospel and the very ministry of Christ as they did not change it but merely add around the fringes issues and items which merely distract and draw away the focus from where it belongs, I must criticize the publication/creation of a text like this “100 Minute Bible”. In fact, it cannot be a Bible at all, for it is closer to the “Bible” created by the heretic Marcion than anything that would be acceptable in conservative churches today.
The “author”/editor rightly recognizes that Jesus is the central figure of the Bible, but by removing the beginning of His work as recorded in the Bible, especially in the Law and other places, like the Psalms, you end up with an inaccurate picture of Jesus. While absolute agreement on theology can never be required for salvation, there are certain issues you do not change, and the understanding of who Christ is cannot avoid being changed when you edit as they have in this new “version”.
Hopefully this will serve as a reminder of our need to proclaim the Gospel, once for all delivered to the saints, just as it was delivered, without error, to avoid the troubles that these human revisions such as the “100 Minute Bible” will cause. This is yet another opportunity to get out there and tell people what we actually do believe, in a positive fashion. If we just focus on informing them of the truth of Christ from Genesis to Revelation, in the end, there will be no need for a “Cliff’s Notes” version of the Bible, because people will not be willing to compromise on this. But this will only happen if we make clear the need to for the truth, for the entire story, for the right story. It is said that the US Treasury folks study real bills to better find counterfeits, not studying all the counterfeits to find others like them. While I know this can be misused, it seems this is another case when the real, complete Bible is the one we must study, to know the real Jesus, to better be prepared to know what is true and what isn’t, instead of a “counterfeit” version.
More here.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
PoMo's Strike out by going Back into The Future
With the current emphasis on “emergent”/PoMo methods, I was thinking how has this affected the ministry of those involved? You see, if the PoMo’s argue that language is limited to certain communities, or some other such argument regarding the non-universal idea of language many of them support, then doesn’t that defy their attempts to return to “ancient practices”? Anthony Jones, in Postmodern Youth Ministry, talks about using things like labyrinths, The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius, and the Benedictine Rule section the Lectio Divina (and even a cursory analysis shows he is not alone). The problem is that teens, or anyone alive today really, does not by definition, fit into the “community” from which these works/methods were derived, and therefore, according to the PoMo standards, communication would not be possible.
While I am quite aware that there is little agreement or uniformity amongst PoMo’s, it is obvious that more than a few subscribe to such views of limited communication. Yet at the same time, they urge a return to a form of communication we can’t possibly understand by their methods. It just is not consistent.
By their own devices then PoMo’s become obsolete and irrelevant, unable to reach today’s man because they don’t speak the same language, if the PoMo’s presuppositions about language are truly correct. If they are not, then we must by necessity reject their conclusions as well, as they are too closely linked. Then, the same old Gospel story is as relevant today as it was the first time it was told, and reasonable, valid communication is available no matter the “community” or timeframe. Then we truly have a Gospel, once and for all delivered to the saints that is dependent upon the revelation of God, and not a disjointed, reinterpreted, reinvented message that is community dependent.
While I am quite aware that there is little agreement or uniformity amongst PoMo’s, it is obvious that more than a few subscribe to such views of limited communication. Yet at the same time, they urge a return to a form of communication we can’t possibly understand by their methods. It just is not consistent.
By their own devices then PoMo’s become obsolete and irrelevant, unable to reach today’s man because they don’t speak the same language, if the PoMo’s presuppositions about language are truly correct. If they are not, then we must by necessity reject their conclusions as well, as they are too closely linked. Then, the same old Gospel story is as relevant today as it was the first time it was told, and reasonable, valid communication is available no matter the “community” or timeframe. Then we truly have a Gospel, once and for all delivered to the saints that is dependent upon the revelation of God, and not a disjointed, reinterpreted, reinvented message that is community dependent.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
MasterCard: giving back a slice of the pie sort of
Well, if enslaving the nation to high interest and massive credit lines was not enough, now it seems we will be able to own a piece of the addiction that ensnares many Americans starting in January. MasterCard is planning on selling 61.5 million shares worth as much as 2.45 Billion dollars. So, for the first time, the people in debt will benefit by getting more people in debt. Will we see a rise in referrals for credit card? Where can the credit card industry go if it is no longer part of the banking system but publicly owned companies? Who knows. All I know is if I am paying them a bill every month, it would seem kind of stupid to then pay them more money for the privilege of earning a few bucks now and then.
All this though leads to a more important issue. What are we doing in the churches about debt? To my knowledge, over half of the people I went to college with are now severely in debt. And by severely I mean over 10K. The sad part is that this is from Bible College graduates. There seems to be no difference between the Christian and the non-Christian when it comes to debt. I know we have people like Crown Financial out there, and they do wonderful work. I even know some folks who like Dave Ramsey, though he's a bit too rude for my taste. That said, beyond that, at the local level, do we discuss money enough?
I know we all talk about how much people hate it when money comes up in the church, because it's usually the church asking for money, and people are of course loathe to part with more than they "have" to. That said, I don't think I have ever heard of anything in any church I have been a part of that dealt with wise money management, beyond being beholden to money in a sinful way.
What I am looking for I guess is a Titus 2 sort of approach. This is just another area where the older saints could really help the younger generations by teaching them the principles that have helped them avoid the pitfalls of the world's money-focus. And if you are one of the younger ones who has made the mistakes so many of us have, and you are starting to get into debt, I urge you to not fall into the trap my friends have, and to get some sound advice from those who have navigated these issues.
Lastly, one other point. So much of what is bought on credit these days, is not even that necessary. Where is our sense of anti-materialism to the extent that we advocate contentment relating to possessions? I know we preach sermons about trusting God, cause he clothes the flowers and knows when a bird dies, so He'll take care of us. But what we don't talk a lot about is how easy it is to make it without lots of "stuff". I was talking to a couple last night who are retired, have 6 TV's, all over 15 years old, most of which were gifts or bought used very cheaply, who don't have cable, a computer, internet, or even, heaven forbid, anything even close to an iPod. They are perfectly happy with how things are. They have a VCR, and record some shows, and watch what they want, and are completely content. I know other people who cannot be satisfied if they have less than 100 channels. Perhaps it is time again to renew an emphasis on some sort of modified minimalism. Maybe not to the extent of the austere and severe measures taken by some in the past (like some monasteries), but perhaps it would be good to advocate slimming things down some. Maybe then if we stop focusing on keeping up with the Jones family we'll have more opportunities to witness to them.
More on MasterCard stock issues here.
All this though leads to a more important issue. What are we doing in the churches about debt? To my knowledge, over half of the people I went to college with are now severely in debt. And by severely I mean over 10K. The sad part is that this is from Bible College graduates. There seems to be no difference between the Christian and the non-Christian when it comes to debt. I know we have people like Crown Financial out there, and they do wonderful work. I even know some folks who like Dave Ramsey, though he's a bit too rude for my taste. That said, beyond that, at the local level, do we discuss money enough?
I know we all talk about how much people hate it when money comes up in the church, because it's usually the church asking for money, and people are of course loathe to part with more than they "have" to. That said, I don't think I have ever heard of anything in any church I have been a part of that dealt with wise money management, beyond being beholden to money in a sinful way.
What I am looking for I guess is a Titus 2 sort of approach. This is just another area where the older saints could really help the younger generations by teaching them the principles that have helped them avoid the pitfalls of the world's money-focus. And if you are one of the younger ones who has made the mistakes so many of us have, and you are starting to get into debt, I urge you to not fall into the trap my friends have, and to get some sound advice from those who have navigated these issues.
Lastly, one other point. So much of what is bought on credit these days, is not even that necessary. Where is our sense of anti-materialism to the extent that we advocate contentment relating to possessions? I know we preach sermons about trusting God, cause he clothes the flowers and knows when a bird dies, so He'll take care of us. But what we don't talk a lot about is how easy it is to make it without lots of "stuff". I was talking to a couple last night who are retired, have 6 TV's, all over 15 years old, most of which were gifts or bought used very cheaply, who don't have cable, a computer, internet, or even, heaven forbid, anything even close to an iPod. They are perfectly happy with how things are. They have a VCR, and record some shows, and watch what they want, and are completely content. I know other people who cannot be satisfied if they have less than 100 channels. Perhaps it is time again to renew an emphasis on some sort of modified minimalism. Maybe not to the extent of the austere and severe measures taken by some in the past (like some monasteries), but perhaps it would be good to advocate slimming things down some. Maybe then if we stop focusing on keeping up with the Jones family we'll have more opportunities to witness to them.
More on MasterCard stock issues here.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Well Folks, Sleep is Important
First, it appears that lack of sleep and excessive homework does lead to a decrease in brain function. As such, four attempted posts have ended in a jumbled mess and I must retire to bed.
Second, in the meantime I give you three sources of interesting times until my next coherent though comes along.
a: the MediaShout resources for the upcoming Narnia film look great here.
b: There are some interesting videos available about the stories of individuals ravaged by Katrina available for download here.
c: For more to read to catch up on technology news see Bill O'Brien's great blog here and of course Dr. Mohler's insightful work here.
Goodnight, see you tomorrow.
Second, in the meantime I give you three sources of interesting times until my next coherent though comes along.
a: the MediaShout resources for the upcoming Narnia film look great here.
b: There are some interesting videos available about the stories of individuals ravaged by Katrina available for download here.
c: For more to read to catch up on technology news see Bill O'Brien's great blog here and of course Dr. Mohler's insightful work here.
Goodnight, see you tomorrow.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Part of the Solution, Not the Problem
aka What we can learn from crashing and burning:
I don't know if your dad told you to be part of the solution and not the problem as much as my dad did, but it is definitely one of the lasting pieces of advice he gave me. The SBC recently completed a "Younger Leader" emphasis, with discussion boards, meetings, and other various activities and events. While I think that Dr. Draper had a great idea, and there is much to be learned from/taught to those my age and slightly older in these types of interactions, this particular attempt ended up crashing and burning in a spectacularly visible way.
While I don't fault Dr. Draper, I do think that much could have been done to change the outcome of this focus. The problems began when the call to younger SBC "leaders" went out. For all the "leaders" we have in our seminaries, you know, not a single person involved in these events was a seminary student. That is, if there were any, they were either hiding or not saying much. For those who have not been to one of the seminary campuses in a while, these institutions are a veritable hot-bed of young leader activity. In fact, I would hazard a guess that you could walk across any Southern Baptist seminary campus between classes and encounter at least a dozen men and women involved in off-campus ministry, many of them as part of their job, secular and religious. While there are all these young individuals running around these institutions, who, dare I say it, know where "today's culture" is probably better than most people who are 35-45 do, when the invitation to participation in "younger leader" events is made, there was nowhere near the publicity at those institutions necessary to achieve successful turn-outs by those who are actually on board with the SBC in a substantive and committed way to the extent that most of our seminary students are. While it is hard to say why this happened from my perspective, as whether it was overlooked, thought unnecessary, or even dismissed is impossible to tell, it is clear that it did happen. If there was a "younger leader" event near me, someone ought to have been talking about it. They weren't. If you want younger leaders to show up, they have to know it is going on to be there. I only found out about it by mistake, and even then after the events were completed. Now, that's not to say that no one showed up. Some people did. And that's the next part of the crash scene we must visit.
In a nation full of young people, who, according to many recent surveys are becoming more and more conservative and traditional every day, it would be no surprise that there were some willing to show up to help the "old guard" see it from a "younger" perspective. However, perhaps due to the limitations of the first part of the crash scene (see above) or some other phenomenon, only the Postmodernists showed up. Wait a second! There were non-PoMo's there? Oh, well, lets put it this way. The discussion boards are filled with a plethora of emergent scrap, the repackaged whining of the new and improved seeker-sensitive church and not much else it seems. If there were any others at meetings and other places, you have my sympathy, but at this point, there is not much left accessible except these emergent rants. More about that later. You see, because we did not tap into our greatest number of currently active, in-touch with the culture, quite young, "younger leaders", we missed out on what could have been a very traditional, evangelical, Southern Baptist, non-postmodern process. That leads to the product of the events, crash scene part three.
Part three comes in two varieties. The first is the product of the discussion boards. Now, truthfully, I didn't have the patience or the ability to digest much more than three hours of reading the old discussion boards, so I may have missed a point or two that could have been helpful. With this in mind, there may have been beneficial, constructive, truly useful results I somehow missed. That said, in three hours all I saw was a whole lot of whining. Yep, things like, "no one listens to us" and "if things don't change we're all going to jump ship" and even "I've paid my 'dues', where's my spot in getting to say what goes?". Now, over and over they said things like "we don't want to run everything, just a voice", but then they proceeded to talk about how the "old guard" ran everything, and they were left out. So, for part one, the discussion boards, of crash scene three we have only a bunch of whining individuals.
For part two of scene three, we have the fact that no solutions or plans or even ideas for a way forward came out of the event. Maybe because the PoMo's were trying to justify their presence or prove they are really Christians, or maybe even because they just haven't gotten over Dr. Carson's latest criticisms and they are just having a hard time dealing with it all. Whatever the case, we had a whole list of problems, and not a single solution among them. That is unless you consider a "napkin" to be the revolution of the century. From the Lifeway article here we learn "Harris proposed what may very well become known as the 'Napkin Test'. 'If you can’t tell somebody what you stand for in the space of a napkin, then you don’t clearly understand the message you are trying to communicate,' said Harris, pastor of Gracepoint Church, San Antonio, Texas, and featured speaker for the summit". Yep, that's it, put it on a napkin. And this is from a hired speaker, a guy they paid to come up with answers, not the participants, the "younger" ones that are supposed to be fueling this radical new thing. I'm sorry, but what size napkin are we talking about? A dinner napkin, the big giant ones a fancy dinners, or the little tiny ones they put your drink on at a restaurant? Soundbites aren't the answer to our irrelevance and disconnect with culture, nor to our need to involve younger guys and how to do it. Try telling President Bush that Judge Roberts ought to be confirmed based solely upon what can be put on a napkin and see what happens. What we are talking about is bigger than just a one liner or fancy diagram. We're talking about the future of our ministry as a cooperative body. We're talking about what it going to take to honor our predecessors and mentors, and protect the Resurgence they won while still looking toward the future. Just because the fight of the past is over doesn't mean we push past it and "move on". I'm not talking about continuing to argue on the doctrines of Inspiration and such, but about protecting our doctrines from the corruption of the emergents, the seeker-sensitive (sometimes the same people), the liberals, the uninformed, and anything else that comes our way. And here's the kicker. While the result of these meetings was a crash and burn panorama of disaster, they were right that things have to change.
So here comes my decision. I decided to be part of the solution, and not the problem. I am not going to whine. I will inform others, and try to get them to join me, or at least do their thing in the same general direction, but I won't whine. And, that's not all.
I cannot remember who said it now, if the person who told me this reads this, let me know so I can give you credit, but someone told me this past week, "we've done a great job of telling everyone what we are not and do not do, but they don't know who we are and what we do". So, I am going to do two things in solving this problem. Realistically, I am not sure we can ask for much more, because a lot of this is going to take improvisation and just working it out as we go, because no board room session will find the solutions we need.
First, I am going to get out there. We have a disconnect when it comes to making sense of the culture, and relevantly impacting it. So, I'm going to get out in it. Just like we were commanded to, be in it, not of it. I think this will be my new phrase, "in it, not of it". You want to know how to reach a college student? Talking to one is a good starting place. Knowing the people, figuring out what makes them click, why they do what they do, is the first step. And as much as I love Dr. Rainer and all his work, and even that Barna fellow comes out with something helpful now and then, but no list of facts or stats helps when Suzy is crying because her drunk father beat her dog and yelled at her mom and blamed it on Suzy because she drives him crazy, or whatever else is going on in her life. If you don't know what to say, just be there, and then work it out and tell her later, it'll be okay. We don't have to convert every person in 10 minutes, and we certainly don't have to fix every problem in one encounter. I would guess that the majority of the people who struggle with knowing how to reach the lost don't have many lost friends. Or if they do, they don't spend much time with them. I know I don't. So, that's my first step. I am going to get out there, and get to know some of them, and maybe, I'll understand the culture a bit better when I'm in it and not of it.
Second, I'm going to tell my new lost friends, at some point, who I am and what I do, not who I am not and what I do not do. In my last post I made the point that believers need to tell others about Christ, and pastors equip them to do it, not that the pastor is the only one doing "ministry", but the church does it, and pastors help. Here's the thing, pastors, by definition, do not cease to be part of the church as they become equippers of the church. So we still have the same burden as everyone else in the pews. So, if I want to live up to my role, then I have to be telling people about me and what I believe, and the sooner I get over the "nots" and "don'ts", we'll have a much easier time of connecting. If people say "oh your a Southern Baptist, the guys who don't drink and don't dance" then they don't really know who we are (thanks Mr. S for the line). We have to start helping people understand we are not the Disney-boycotters or the anti-homosexuals or the pro-lifers. We've got the Good News, and all most people know about us is that we've got the Big List of Rules. So, as I'm getting out there, I'm going to be talking about who I am and what I do, and if I do that enough, they'll understand what I do not do and what I am not on their own and we'll all be better off for it.
Now, I know I have said a lot. But I think its time we realized that the best way the younger leaders of the SBC can make a difference, and prepare ourselves for the handoff of leadership of the Big Show is to remember that the Convention and all its glitz is secondary to our calling, and to get out there and just do ministry. I am as guilty as anyone of wanting recognition and a "place at the table" or even just a sympathetic ear from those I respect and look up to, but I'm not going to play politics anymore. I'm going to get out there and fulfill my calling as a Christian by being a new kind of Southern Baptist, one who hangs out with the lost and tells them about who I am and what I do. I hope to see you there.
I don't know if your dad told you to be part of the solution and not the problem as much as my dad did, but it is definitely one of the lasting pieces of advice he gave me. The SBC recently completed a "Younger Leader" emphasis, with discussion boards, meetings, and other various activities and events. While I think that Dr. Draper had a great idea, and there is much to be learned from/taught to those my age and slightly older in these types of interactions, this particular attempt ended up crashing and burning in a spectacularly visible way.
While I don't fault Dr. Draper, I do think that much could have been done to change the outcome of this focus. The problems began when the call to younger SBC "leaders" went out. For all the "leaders" we have in our seminaries, you know, not a single person involved in these events was a seminary student. That is, if there were any, they were either hiding or not saying much. For those who have not been to one of the seminary campuses in a while, these institutions are a veritable hot-bed of young leader activity. In fact, I would hazard a guess that you could walk across any Southern Baptist seminary campus between classes and encounter at least a dozen men and women involved in off-campus ministry, many of them as part of their job, secular and religious. While there are all these young individuals running around these institutions, who, dare I say it, know where "today's culture" is probably better than most people who are 35-45 do, when the invitation to participation in "younger leader" events is made, there was nowhere near the publicity at those institutions necessary to achieve successful turn-outs by those who are actually on board with the SBC in a substantive and committed way to the extent that most of our seminary students are. While it is hard to say why this happened from my perspective, as whether it was overlooked, thought unnecessary, or even dismissed is impossible to tell, it is clear that it did happen. If there was a "younger leader" event near me, someone ought to have been talking about it. They weren't. If you want younger leaders to show up, they have to know it is going on to be there. I only found out about it by mistake, and even then after the events were completed. Now, that's not to say that no one showed up. Some people did. And that's the next part of the crash scene we must visit.
In a nation full of young people, who, according to many recent surveys are becoming more and more conservative and traditional every day, it would be no surprise that there were some willing to show up to help the "old guard" see it from a "younger" perspective. However, perhaps due to the limitations of the first part of the crash scene (see above) or some other phenomenon, only the Postmodernists showed up. Wait a second! There were non-PoMo's there? Oh, well, lets put it this way. The discussion boards are filled with a plethora of emergent scrap, the repackaged whining of the new and improved seeker-sensitive church and not much else it seems. If there were any others at meetings and other places, you have my sympathy, but at this point, there is not much left accessible except these emergent rants. More about that later. You see, because we did not tap into our greatest number of currently active, in-touch with the culture, quite young, "younger leaders", we missed out on what could have been a very traditional, evangelical, Southern Baptist, non-postmodern process. That leads to the product of the events, crash scene part three.
Part three comes in two varieties. The first is the product of the discussion boards. Now, truthfully, I didn't have the patience or the ability to digest much more than three hours of reading the old discussion boards, so I may have missed a point or two that could have been helpful. With this in mind, there may have been beneficial, constructive, truly useful results I somehow missed. That said, in three hours all I saw was a whole lot of whining. Yep, things like, "no one listens to us" and "if things don't change we're all going to jump ship" and even "I've paid my 'dues', where's my spot in getting to say what goes?". Now, over and over they said things like "we don't want to run everything, just a voice", but then they proceeded to talk about how the "old guard" ran everything, and they were left out. So, for part one, the discussion boards, of crash scene three we have only a bunch of whining individuals.
For part two of scene three, we have the fact that no solutions or plans or even ideas for a way forward came out of the event. Maybe because the PoMo's were trying to justify their presence or prove they are really Christians, or maybe even because they just haven't gotten over Dr. Carson's latest criticisms and they are just having a hard time dealing with it all. Whatever the case, we had a whole list of problems, and not a single solution among them. That is unless you consider a "napkin" to be the revolution of the century. From the Lifeway article here we learn "Harris proposed what may very well become known as the 'Napkin Test'. 'If you can’t tell somebody what you stand for in the space of a napkin, then you don’t clearly understand the message you are trying to communicate,' said Harris, pastor of Gracepoint Church, San Antonio, Texas, and featured speaker for the summit". Yep, that's it, put it on a napkin. And this is from a hired speaker, a guy they paid to come up with answers, not the participants, the "younger" ones that are supposed to be fueling this radical new thing. I'm sorry, but what size napkin are we talking about? A dinner napkin, the big giant ones a fancy dinners, or the little tiny ones they put your drink on at a restaurant? Soundbites aren't the answer to our irrelevance and disconnect with culture, nor to our need to involve younger guys and how to do it. Try telling President Bush that Judge Roberts ought to be confirmed based solely upon what can be put on a napkin and see what happens. What we are talking about is bigger than just a one liner or fancy diagram. We're talking about the future of our ministry as a cooperative body. We're talking about what it going to take to honor our predecessors and mentors, and protect the Resurgence they won while still looking toward the future. Just because the fight of the past is over doesn't mean we push past it and "move on". I'm not talking about continuing to argue on the doctrines of Inspiration and such, but about protecting our doctrines from the corruption of the emergents, the seeker-sensitive (sometimes the same people), the liberals, the uninformed, and anything else that comes our way. And here's the kicker. While the result of these meetings was a crash and burn panorama of disaster, they were right that things have to change.
So here comes my decision. I decided to be part of the solution, and not the problem. I am not going to whine. I will inform others, and try to get them to join me, or at least do their thing in the same general direction, but I won't whine. And, that's not all.
I cannot remember who said it now, if the person who told me this reads this, let me know so I can give you credit, but someone told me this past week, "we've done a great job of telling everyone what we are not and do not do, but they don't know who we are and what we do". So, I am going to do two things in solving this problem. Realistically, I am not sure we can ask for much more, because a lot of this is going to take improvisation and just working it out as we go, because no board room session will find the solutions we need.
First, I am going to get out there. We have a disconnect when it comes to making sense of the culture, and relevantly impacting it. So, I'm going to get out in it. Just like we were commanded to, be in it, not of it. I think this will be my new phrase, "in it, not of it". You want to know how to reach a college student? Talking to one is a good starting place. Knowing the people, figuring out what makes them click, why they do what they do, is the first step. And as much as I love Dr. Rainer and all his work, and even that Barna fellow comes out with something helpful now and then, but no list of facts or stats helps when Suzy is crying because her drunk father beat her dog and yelled at her mom and blamed it on Suzy because she drives him crazy, or whatever else is going on in her life. If you don't know what to say, just be there, and then work it out and tell her later, it'll be okay. We don't have to convert every person in 10 minutes, and we certainly don't have to fix every problem in one encounter. I would guess that the majority of the people who struggle with knowing how to reach the lost don't have many lost friends. Or if they do, they don't spend much time with them. I know I don't. So, that's my first step. I am going to get out there, and get to know some of them, and maybe, I'll understand the culture a bit better when I'm in it and not of it.
Second, I'm going to tell my new lost friends, at some point, who I am and what I do, not who I am not and what I do not do. In my last post I made the point that believers need to tell others about Christ, and pastors equip them to do it, not that the pastor is the only one doing "ministry", but the church does it, and pastors help. Here's the thing, pastors, by definition, do not cease to be part of the church as they become equippers of the church. So we still have the same burden as everyone else in the pews. So, if I want to live up to my role, then I have to be telling people about me and what I believe, and the sooner I get over the "nots" and "don'ts", we'll have a much easier time of connecting. If people say "oh your a Southern Baptist, the guys who don't drink and don't dance" then they don't really know who we are (thanks Mr. S for the line). We have to start helping people understand we are not the Disney-boycotters or the anti-homosexuals or the pro-lifers. We've got the Good News, and all most people know about us is that we've got the Big List of Rules. So, as I'm getting out there, I'm going to be talking about who I am and what I do, and if I do that enough, they'll understand what I do not do and what I am not on their own and we'll all be better off for it.
Now, I know I have said a lot. But I think its time we realized that the best way the younger leaders of the SBC can make a difference, and prepare ourselves for the handoff of leadership of the Big Show is to remember that the Convention and all its glitz is secondary to our calling, and to get out there and just do ministry. I am as guilty as anyone of wanting recognition and a "place at the table" or even just a sympathetic ear from those I respect and look up to, but I'm not going to play politics anymore. I'm going to get out there and fulfill my calling as a Christian by being a new kind of Southern Baptist, one who hangs out with the lost and tells them about who I am and what I do. I hope to see you there.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Pastors as Shepherds, Not Laborers
What I really came here burdened to discuss was of course something completely different. Lately, I have been wrestling with the entire meaning of pastoral ministry as I face the soon coming move into full-time professional ministry (by soon of course, I mean in two years, probably).
I look at the churches I have been a part of growing up, and those around me, and I struggle with wondering how we ended up where we are. Our society is consumer-driven. We are told from the day we are born that we exist to consume stuff. And consume we do, even in the hospital we're born in. That's it, and one day, we'll stop consuming, and someone or something will consume us, probably a funeral home and their profit-guided endeavor, so from beginning to end, hospital to funeral home, we are consumers. (I have nothing against funeral homes themselves by the way, or hospitals.)
And it hasn't stayed in the culture. It has crept into our churches. Everyone I know has either left a church themselves or knows someone who has who said "We just weren't being fed" or "No one every noticed me" or "They just aren't that nice, I didn't feel welcome". These are all symptoms of consumerism creeping into the churches.
I have decided, the next time someone says something along those lines to me, I need to ask them: "Well, did you feed yourself? Or introduce yourself? Or make yourself feel welcome?" That is what we need to be asking. So many people come to church like a baby bird expecting to just open their gullet and have "mama bird" (the leaders/pastors) pour regurgitated food down their throats, when the Pastor and other ministry leadership is not there to feed them, to make sure they stay spiritually alive week to week. And we've done nothing, for too long, to prevent it. I can't tell you how many sermons and lessons I have heard about needing to have quiet times because church isn't enough to feed you for a week, giving the idea that this is the purpose of church, an infusion of critical dietary supplements for the starving believer.
We need to get radical about how we do church if we want to keep on doing it for very long. I am not going to go so far as to say we need anything like a "Reformation", but we sure do need something drastic.
If we seriously believe Ephesians 4:11-14, then the leadership in our churches is meant for the "equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ" (NASB), or as the HCSB states it "for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ". Either way, it is training/equipping the church for the work of ministry/service. Now I don't know about you, but I hear all the time how 10 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work, or similar statements. When did it stop being 100 percent doing 100 percent? Why is that okay with us? Why has it been okay for so long? How are we going to change? Is anyone changing?
I seriously hope and pray things do change. I fully intend to do everything I can to help those I will serve as an "equipper" to realize I don't do the ministry of the church for them. I only equip them so they will go and do the ministry of the church. If you want to know why we aren't reaching the culture, it is because we haven't even reached the people in the pews with the full message of the Gospel. Baptism doesn't mean a free ticket to sit on a bench every Sunday and Wednesday. Its gives you the punch card for God's timeclock. I see some churches that are giving the people the tools they need to minister to the world around them, I hope we are succeeding in this at my church. But the time has come for it to no longer be and issue of this church or that church that is doing it well. We all need to get better at it (and I include myself in this), as leaders, as ministers of the Gospel, because it is our calling. It has been said you are immortal until God's purpose for you is complete. I wonder how many people in our churches, leadership included, end up leaving their purpose half-completed?
I look at the churches I have been a part of growing up, and those around me, and I struggle with wondering how we ended up where we are. Our society is consumer-driven. We are told from the day we are born that we exist to consume stuff. And consume we do, even in the hospital we're born in. That's it, and one day, we'll stop consuming, and someone or something will consume us, probably a funeral home and their profit-guided endeavor, so from beginning to end, hospital to funeral home, we are consumers. (I have nothing against funeral homes themselves by the way, or hospitals.)
And it hasn't stayed in the culture. It has crept into our churches. Everyone I know has either left a church themselves or knows someone who has who said "We just weren't being fed" or "No one every noticed me" or "They just aren't that nice, I didn't feel welcome". These are all symptoms of consumerism creeping into the churches.
I have decided, the next time someone says something along those lines to me, I need to ask them: "Well, did you feed yourself? Or introduce yourself? Or make yourself feel welcome?" That is what we need to be asking. So many people come to church like a baby bird expecting to just open their gullet and have "mama bird" (the leaders/pastors) pour regurgitated food down their throats, when the Pastor and other ministry leadership is not there to feed them, to make sure they stay spiritually alive week to week. And we've done nothing, for too long, to prevent it. I can't tell you how many sermons and lessons I have heard about needing to have quiet times because church isn't enough to feed you for a week, giving the idea that this is the purpose of church, an infusion of critical dietary supplements for the starving believer.
We need to get radical about how we do church if we want to keep on doing it for very long. I am not going to go so far as to say we need anything like a "Reformation", but we sure do need something drastic.
If we seriously believe Ephesians 4:11-14, then the leadership in our churches is meant for the "equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ" (NASB), or as the HCSB states it "for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ". Either way, it is training/equipping the church for the work of ministry/service. Now I don't know about you, but I hear all the time how 10 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work, or similar statements. When did it stop being 100 percent doing 100 percent? Why is that okay with us? Why has it been okay for so long? How are we going to change? Is anyone changing?
I seriously hope and pray things do change. I fully intend to do everything I can to help those I will serve as an "equipper" to realize I don't do the ministry of the church for them. I only equip them so they will go and do the ministry of the church. If you want to know why we aren't reaching the culture, it is because we haven't even reached the people in the pews with the full message of the Gospel. Baptism doesn't mean a free ticket to sit on a bench every Sunday and Wednesday. Its gives you the punch card for God's timeclock. I see some churches that are giving the people the tools they need to minister to the world around them, I hope we are succeeding in this at my church. But the time has come for it to no longer be and issue of this church or that church that is doing it well. We all need to get better at it (and I include myself in this), as leaders, as ministers of the Gospel, because it is our calling. It has been said you are immortal until God's purpose for you is complete. I wonder how many people in our churches, leadership included, end up leaving their purpose half-completed?
First of all....What were they thinking?
While I was shocked by this, perhaps it should be expected. Youth Specialties has once again proven its lack of sense when it comes to appropriate content and given in to the culture's drive to constantly push the envelope. Here you can see the list of free resources from YS, including a "Bible" study built around the film The Brothers Grimm and another on MTV Music Video Awards. While I would never ignore the culture in addressing the issues of today's youth, when your "Bible" studies come with a disclaimer as theirs do, I think we ought to have second thoughts about what we are doing and why.
Taking kids to see The Passion was one thing, but finding "truth" in these stories crafted by Hollywood in Grimm is clearly inappropriate. The Bible verses "used" in the study are nothing more than proof-texting the ideas that are supposed to be "found" in the movie. Just because it is contemporary doesn't make it relevant or useful. In fact, if we teach kids to find religious truth in culture and then "prove" it from their Bible, we have done them a disservice. And to evaluate MTV videos by showing them, is NEVER appropriate. Do know how many youth pastors would get fired if they showed those videos at a youth event? And they should if they do, by the way. It is one thing to prepare our kids to deal with the sinfulness of the world, it is another to steep them in it.
What YS is continuing to do is a shame. That they would be so far from the mainstream now makes me wonder if they were ever there to begin with, and it is a tragedy that a potentially valuable source of quality, engaging, fresh materials would cave to the pressures of what is "trendy".
(Of course, this does not even address the issue of EmergentYS, but that is merely the head feeding this decline amongst the rest of the body I think. A tragedy!)
Taking kids to see The Passion was one thing, but finding "truth" in these stories crafted by Hollywood in Grimm is clearly inappropriate. The Bible verses "used" in the study are nothing more than proof-texting the ideas that are supposed to be "found" in the movie. Just because it is contemporary doesn't make it relevant or useful. In fact, if we teach kids to find religious truth in culture and then "prove" it from their Bible, we have done them a disservice. And to evaluate MTV videos by showing them, is NEVER appropriate. Do know how many youth pastors would get fired if they showed those videos at a youth event? And they should if they do, by the way. It is one thing to prepare our kids to deal with the sinfulness of the world, it is another to steep them in it.
What YS is continuing to do is a shame. That they would be so far from the mainstream now makes me wonder if they were ever there to begin with, and it is a tragedy that a potentially valuable source of quality, engaging, fresh materials would cave to the pressures of what is "trendy".
(Of course, this does not even address the issue of EmergentYS, but that is merely the head feeding this decline amongst the rest of the body I think. A tragedy!)
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Nouthetics, Right or Wrong? Decision still pending...
So I will have even more Sunday evening, but for now, in Richard Ganz’s book Psychobabble he makes some rather interesting propositions. Essentially, it seems, psychology is flawed because it is based on God-less systems that reject His existence, therefore they cannot rightly understand man either, thus their conclusions are flawed due to faulty beginnings. Then, he says, counseling is primarily a sin issue, helping those in need understand their need for salvation first, then with believers, helping them understand how repentance is needed if it is the result of their sin, or biblical understanding to deal with the issue if it is due to someone else’s sin. To be honest, I am not sure how this deals with every part of counseling, but it is interesting. My biggest concern is how do we then determine good Biblical counselors? By evaluating their theology? So Calvinists can’t counsel Arminians? I don’t know. I’m reading Jay Adams next, and he started the movement that came to be called Nouthetic counseling, a.k.a. Biblical counseling, so maybe I’ll find more there. I’m also interested in what you all might have to say, so drop me a comment.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Katrina's strength
For those of you who may not have seen the full image of Katrina's size and scope as she came ashore, there is an astounding image here. In light of the vast power and devastation this storm carried as it charged up through the nation, it is truly amazing that the devastation was not even worse. While the current situation in many areas is horrendous on the coast, it was truly a blessing that the storm dropped to a Category 4 before it hit, and that it didn't damage more levees, submerge more cities under water, and ruin even more than it actually did. For those who did not realize it at first, yes, Katrina covered not only the Louisiana-Alabama-Mississippi area, but reached, at the edges, almost to the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico and Lake Michigan at the same time. Even in the greatest natural disaster of this nations history, the protective hand of God is evident in that this storm and its aftermath could have been so exponentially worse that it is a humble reminder that even here, now, after all this, God is still in control.
Yep, I'm gonna tease you...
Tonight's final entry is a teaser. Tomorrow, probably later in the evening, we will have here a review of a book on Christian Counseling, and more. Thanks for coming, everyone who's visited, Massachusetts, Montana, Virginia, Australia (!), Kansas, New York, Indiana, Washington, Florida, Colorado, Kentucky, California, Iowa, and Canada (!). Hope to see you all again!
Friday, September 02, 2005
9/11: a Reminder
As the month of September will probably be a time of remembrance for our fallen heros and the innocent victims of the attacks of terror on 9/11 for many years to come, it can be difficult to remember sometimes the motivation we felt then. There is a stirring reminder of why we remember these men and women, and why we continue the fight against terror around the world here. Amidst the struggles and devastation of Katrina, let us not forget our fallen from the past, and pray for those continuing to defend our way of life and our freedom as well.
The Gift of a Life
Just a thought concerning the plight on the Gulf coast. For those who are looking for more than just the opportunity to give money, who feel like they wish there was more that they could do, I wanted to let you know, there is one more thing you can do. The Southern Baptist Disaster relief agency, the North American Mission Board, will be taking volunteers down to the coast in about 12 weeks. That does fall right around the Thanksgiving-Christmas season, and would be the best Christmas/Thanksgiving gift many of the people down there could ever receive. I would imagine the Salvation Army would be taking volunteers as well, and perhaps even the Red Cross, and if you signed up now, you would perhaps have time to take an necessary training courses as well. I don't know about you, but I fully intend to head down there this November/December, because what's a week of vacation compared with the opportunity to help in such a personal and intimate way then helping people salvage, rebuild, and even just survive as efforts continue on the coast. For those interested, you can contact your locak Salvation Army office about volunteering here and the Southern Baptist Relief agency will post information about volunteering here as soon as it is available.
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina
Thursday, September 01, 2005
To help Katrina victims
Three options for contributions to the recovery/rescue efforts for Katrina victims are worth noting for those looking for more information. The Red Cross is always a great place to give, and one of the leading aid agencies in the nation, to donate, see this page. The third largest disaster relief agency is the North American Mission Board (which is the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief agency) and they are currently there helping as well and you can donate here. The third option, is start a drive in your neighborhood or school, to get people to donate, pass our flyers with donation information on them, put a banner or link on your web pages, put announcements in your church bulletin, start a donation drive at your school, whatever you can do to get people involved in helping. This is going to take time and lots of energy, man power, and money, and many people makes for a lighter load. Lets show the Gulf coast the love of Christ.
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina
Katrina, Katrina, Katrina...
It is said over and over that in this age of the 24 hour news cycle, with there never being a non-news moment, images and topics are repeated and sometimes repeated to the point of numbness. New Orleans is suffering immensely, yet many will begin to turn off their televisions, to stop producing special reports, and moving along to other issues. With confirmation hearings for Judge Roberts looming, there will be many opportunities for those who have had their "fix" to move on, and New Orleans, and it's people, will be the ones to suffer. Al Mohler does well to remind us that God does have a plan and that He is a loving God who is smiling upon us, and even in this tragedy for the city of New Orleans, He is still with them, and will care for His children. It can however become easy to move beyond for the rest of us. Dr. Mohler had on his page a link to a video on CNN.com, and if you haven't seen it, it is the perfect reminder that the tragedy in New Orleans is about the people and their plight. Don't let the media's over-saturation of the current situation numb your response to the needs of those on the Gulf coast. People around the nation are worrying even now if their friends and family made it out alive, and each one of us can be a source of strength and encouragement to those hurting around us in addition to helping as much as we are able with the needs of those on the coast as well.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Change and the Mythical "way it has always been"
Tonight was the second evening of the revival, and this brought to mind my earlier comments about the need for doing things differently from "the way it has always been done", and what I realized, is that this mythical "standard" of tradition, doesn't really exist. Sunday School is less than 100 years old, the common use of music in church is less than 200, even pastors that are not bi-vocational is a recent development. The truth is, it's not about doing things by this "standard" of tradition that is most important to people, it is preventing change. In a world where everything changes every day, if not every hour, it is no wonder the church is struggling with relevance when we are hampered by slavish devotion to theologically and morally neutral methods. These methods were developed at a point in time for a specific reason, that have now outlived that time and reason, and must change. They served their time, but they are not relevant to preserving the fabric of our belief system, merely the preservation of our comfort zone. So really, our struggle with relevance is a struggle against living the Christian life the way Christians are supposed to, since I'm pretty sure that there is nothing in the Bible that guarantees Christians any sort of comfort zone. It might be nice to do things the way we grew up doing them, but when it comes to the eternal state of those around us, possibly hampering their response to the Gospel merely for our comfort, I think our comfort-seeking stops being nice and starts being sin.
The Evangelical Slide: the review of a publisher and a book
Christianity has never been without wolves amidst the flock. Whether it is a Judas, or "wolves" attacking the Ephesian church, or rotten priests at the time of Martin Luther, there have always been those who have attempted to bring destruction to God's people from within by pretending to be one of them. Today, though not exclusively, this infamous position is largely held by the so-called "Emergent Church". The signs of this have never been more clear. Baker Books, long a conservative publisher many evangelicals have relied on, have fallen prey to this insidious disease within evangelicalism. While the Emergents run around trying to convince everyone that they are just like us, but more "relevant" and "cutting-edge", they know that the public defense of their position is not where their victory will be found. They have learned well the lessons of the last generation. Evolution was combated, not because it was wrong, but because it was a direct assault on the beliefs of many. While evolution is still wrong, had the proponents of the system found more circuitous means to spread their ideas, they would probably have been ignored until it is too late (or at least nearly too late). Liberalism almost succeeded at taking down the entire edifice of Evangelicalism in this way, and in truth, evangelicals took a stand, really almost at the cusp of disaster, to salvage their conservative, biblical ideals. The Emergents have learned from all this, and are now using those same devious means to mislead and misdirect so that they can slip their ideas in without others noticing. This is where Baker comes in. In 2004 they published a book titled Alternative Worship: Resources from and for the Emerging Church. Why is this a problem? Well, first, Baker, according to their own website (here) states that their mission is "to publish writings that promote historic Christianity, irenically express the concerns of evangelicalism, and reflect the diversity of this movement." The problem is, there is nothing historic about the "Christianity" in this book, nor is there any true allegiance to the evangelical movement by the authors of this book, despite what they may say. A simple evaluation of their ideals and theology reveals a gross disparity with traditional evangelical thought. Second, Baker was founded by Herman Baker with the intent to produce "conservative, scholarly, biblical material--a book that had more than an even chance of becoming a standard reference work" even from his very first book (here). If this publication is in keeping with the intent of the founder then Baker must intend this work to be biblical, conservative, and a standard reference work. If they are the source of so many trusted resources, like Haddon Robinson's Biblical Preaching and Millard Erickson's Christian Theology, should we not demand that they hold fast to their mission statement and not produce the works of wolves in sheep's clothing? I understand there will always be differences of opinion, yet those who deny universal truths and metanarratives, and there-by the meta-unifier status of Jesus, must always be considered as outside the camp of conservative evangelicalism, not merely another voice from within. The real tragedy arises when those who are unaware of the rampant influence of both Feminist and Liberation theology upon those who created this system of "Alt Worship" as Baker will promote this book to anyone, not just those who are prepared to do battle with postmodern thought. Our Christian book stores are not always staffed by those who are able to weed out every erroneous book, and our churches are certainly not filled with those who are able to do so either, unfortunately. Too many people trust our "conservative, evangelical" publishers to provide only those works that are both reputable and trustworthy. Too many others, those who know what is going on, are letting the buck pass, and not saying something about it. Were it not for the cries of the few watchmen on the walls in the past other issues like Liberalism and evolution would have swamped the evangelical movement, and we are in the same situation today. If we do not stand up and declare that Baker must change their ways or lose business, then we are neglecting our duty. If Christian authors do not refuse to have their books published by those who are so willing to give in to these "other gospels", then they are remiss, for making a buck is never worth the compromise, and we ought not publish books with publishers who compromise on the essentials with one side of their mouth and claim to hold those same essentials of the faith with the other. We must educate the people in the pews, we must stand up for what is right, and we must tell Baker, and anyone else who decides that standing firm is not worth the effort, that we will not follow them down this slide into heresy.
Saturday, August 27, 2005
The Death Knell of the Church
The cries for continuing to do things "the way we have always done them" are even now the death knell of the Church. As I was thinking over yesterday's posts, I realized that is the reason the Emergents are cornering this market, why we are losing relevance, and why so many under 35 today are tuning out what the Church is saying. Case in point: one of the most invigorating things I have seen in a local church recently is what is called "Faith for Today, Hope for Tomorrow". It is a revival in south Louisville that is not just one church renting an amphitheatre to have plenty of space, or someone trying to be loud and obnoxious to try and at least stir up the curiosity factor. Instead it is 5 churches, in a close, and inter-woven relationship coming together, though all Southern Baptist, to reach out to the community. And this year, for the first time, 6 more churches are involved in supporting the crusade as well. Including corporate sponsors, over a dozen Louisville entities are involved now in putting on what began as the passion of a small group of men who began meeting to minister to each other and have ended up starting a movement in south Louisville. I don't know about you, but churches cooperating in the way I have seen these churches is rare, and if those five men had decided to only do things the way they have always been done, not only would all 11 congregations be missing out, the entire surrounding community would be as well. If we are really serious about making a difference, and about regaining our impact on society and culture, we have to begin by finding new ways to take the message once for all delivered to the saints and tell it in a new, relevant way without alteration. For more information on the crusade see here. More thoughs coming soon.
One final thought for tonight: Narrative and why we must use it.
I have done a lot of thinking about the use of narrative in the average church. Narrative is all the rage in the Emergent pulpits, it is what they say works for this generation. While I may not agree with their implementation of it, I would have to say narrative does work, but not because it is for this generation. Narrative works because it has worked for every generation, since the beginning of mankind. From the first time God breathed life into man, mankind has used, in fact needed, narrative. Stories make us who we are. Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, preached this past Thursday (August 25) in chapel about why we do not use narrative in our pulpits, and why many conservative pastors don't in fact (hear message here). After hearing that sermon, I was struck by the fact that Dr. Moore is right, that conservative, non-Emergent pastors avoid narrative, often because we can't see how it relates to the rest of the Bible. He said we often don't see that every story ties into the grand story of the Bible, the metanarrative, and therefore miss the great truths there for us and our congregations. In fact, he said, it is the fact that we don't see that every one of those stories ties into the story of not just the Bible, but one Person, the one who the story of the Bible is about, Jesus. And that's when I realized that just like every sermon is supposed to have a unifier, an idea that brings it all together, (as per several preaching books, classes, and other sources of advice) Jesus is truly the "metaunifier" of the Biblical texts. I don't know that I have run across this idea before, especially of the term meta-unifier, and in fact, when I realized this term Thursday afternoon, I saw how it perfectly fit into the concept. The Emergent church is not just dismissing the metanarrative of the Bible in their assault on universal truth, but they are in the end, nullifying the work of the one described in that metanarrative, the metaunifier, Jesus. Just like Dr. Moore said, everyone around us is looking for a story that will make sense of what is going on around them. We believers, who know the metaunifier of the metanarrative that is not only a story with answers, but a true story, have a burden to share that story. Don't let the Emergent church corner the market on narrative, because it is not their market to corner. Don't give in to the temptation to avoid narrative, because the Bible gives the clarity necessary to see it weave together. That is how we can reach people in our day and age with stories that are relevant. By being willing to get out there and tell them.
On another, very similar note:
A scan of the commonly available additions to this grand internet community, in the area of religion and faith, is alarmingly one-sided. Where are all the non-Emergent folks? I am sick and tired of this outlet of ministry being swallowed up by one or two factions, when the rest of us have something worth saying, and aren't making use of it. I don't blame the Emergents for getting out there and using it, I blame us, the conservatives, the traditionalists even, for being so locked into our boxes of what ministry is that we don't move into cutting-edge things. I've had enough. I have spent enough time reading other people's ideas. How about the rest of you?
Where are the young leaders?
I've been thinking, with all that the Southern Baptist Convention has been doing to promote young leaders within the Convention, where is the evidence of their impact? I know it takes time for things to grow, but if you look at other groups out there right now, most of them have no problem at all tapping the strength and ingenuity of their younger members. Take for instance the "Emergent" movement. There is a plethora of emergent leaders, seemingly a new one every day, and maybe they don't last long, maybe they do, but they are getting out there. Yet when you look at the typical Southern Baptist event, most of those involved are not under 35. Our churches are full (or partially-full truthfully) of older people, and we say we don't know how to reach those of my generation, but when we have opportunities to really give those under 35 a voice, do we? Hopefully this trend of involving younger leaders will continue until there is actual, long-term results and the hero's of the denomination won't just be the senior citizens but everyone who is able, including the younger generation.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Christian Cleric arrives on scene
With blogs being the new “niche” or “trend” it is not unusual that lots of people will start them, and most of them will start them just ‘cause it’s cool, or it’s what their buddies are doing, or maybe for no reason at all. Heck, there may already be someone out there writing what I intend to write, there probably is in fact, but oh well. This is a place of new horizons, a place where the struggles of the up-and-coming minister, even a Southern Baptist one, will be tried out, vented, even disseminated, into this many-voiced conversation we call the Internet. I hope you get as much out of it as I do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)