The Church's Response to Current Events

My plan for the last few days has been to keep my mouth shut. As I've seen pieces of news, Facebook picture changes, and listened to conversations I have not offered any opinion. But as I've listened I've felt a growing uneasiness and for the last few hours I have really had something on my heart. I'm still not sure what this is going to look like when it's done, but here we go.

What I have to say is to the Church. Nothing I can say will change the minds of politicians, or those who have a different opinion than I do. There are people who claim the same faith but think differently about the current gay marriage stance than I do. I've read different things over the last few days from both homosexual and heterosexual individuals. I've shared why I believe in traditional marriage in a private conversation with someone who has an opposing view. I've been surprised by some of the people I've seen promoting equality.

I'm not going to share why I believe what I believe, it won't change anyone's mind. And everyone who claims to be a Christian, neither will yours. What if instead of filling Facebook with pictures and Bible verses we focused all on doing something else? What if instead of adding to the noise, we became silent and took the conversation to another audience? What if we prayed?

What if every Christian decided to avoid Facebook tomorrow and invested all of that time in prayer? God has said, "and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

I'll be the first to admit that I have dropped the ball here. I haven't prayed for this as I should have been. But what if the people of God were to humble themselves by holding their tongues, and instead seek His face and pray? God has told us what will happen. He will hear our prayers, bring forgiveness and healing.

Right now the Church needs to pray. If you don't know where you stand on the issue then simply ask for God's will to be done. Maybe that's how all of us should pray regardless of our position. Let us unite in prayer and watch God bring forgiveness and healing.

Instead of adding to the fire, enlarging the division, and driving people away from the love of Christ, let us lift our voices in prayer to God. Who will join me?

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

The Bible on Church, Ephesians 3

My last paper has been turned in for class, a stressful week is over, and I'm finally getting back to this blog.

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3.20-21

The message that we see here is one that comes as no surprise, the Church is to give glory to God. That is the ultimate purpose of the Church. If we look at Philippians 2.11 we see that giving glory to the Father is what Jesus does as every knee bows and every tongue confesses that He is Lord. The Church is to become like Christ, and that entails giving glory to the Father.

Why must God be given glory? Because He is worthy of it. We are told that He is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think by His power that is working within us. We cannot begin to grasp the full power and greatness of God, our finite human minds cannot take it all in. Just the work He has done already is more praise worthy than we can offer, and He is able to do far more than than.

The events we remember this week, Good Friday and Easter, and the relationship they opened to us. The gift of life, both now and eternal. The beauty of creation. And what about how God has provided? Some have received healing, others have found comfort, and still others have found help. God is worthy of glory.

If the Church fails to give glory to God, then the Church fails at it's primary mission. If the Church does not give glory to God, then why does it even exist? If we fail to do this, we fail at everything because it is only in this one thing that everything else is accomplished.

And the more we glorify God, the more He will give us a reason to. The more praise we offer to Him the more praise worthy He will reveal Himself to be. The more grateful we are to Him for what He has done, the more generous He will be. This is not the prosperity Gospel. I am not proclaiming a message of "God will make all your problems go away if you follow Him." My wife and I are currently experiencing things we wish would just disappear, but they aren't. Following God has not solved all of our problems, but God has provided for our needs, and He will continue to provide in ways that are more abundant than we could ask or think.

So with this, don't limit God by what you ask Him for, and don't limit the praise you give Him for what He has already done. The Church's primary objective is to give glory to God.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

The Bible on Church, 1 Corinthians 14

The heading for the second half of this chapter is "Instruction for the Church". But this chapter contains instructions about speaking in tongues, which I don't have any experience with, or much knowledge about (basically none outside of what the Bible says). There is also some instruction about the role of women in the Church, and if I'm honest I go back and forth of my thinking on that, so I'm not ready to put any thought out there yet on the issue. But in spite of all of that, there are still some things to pull out of this for the Church of today.

First those who make up the Church are to be mature in their thinking. Paul says in the previous chapter "When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things" (1 Corinthians 13.11). One of the biggest complaints I've heard about Christian's is that they are ignorant/uneducated. I've been a part of conversations between Christians and Atheists, and can you guess who makes more intelligent conversation? The most popular response that the Christian has is "Well this is what the Bible says, go read it." Everything comes back to that, there is no consideration of history or science, and there is no progress made.

I think part of it is that many Christian's don't know why they believe what they believe. And personally, at times I really do agree with the ignorant accusation that is made. Along with the ignorance comes close-mindedness and an unwillingness to listen. This is what Paul doesn't want to happen. As Christians we have to be educated. Our faith has to be rooted in something personal for us. As Christians we have to be willing to listen and discuss different opinions. And the thing is that when we know why we believe what we believe we don't have to be afraid to listen and discuss with someone who has a different opinion and belief than we do.

We need to be mature in our thinking, and infants in terms of evil. We are to be innocent as a new born baby. Not ignorant, but innocent. Those who make up the Church are to have nothing to do with evil. We are to be born again, and then live holy and righteous lives.

Second, the Church is to be a place of order, not chaos. This is where there is instruction about speaking in tongues and how it is to take place. This section ends with these words, "for God is not a God of confusion but of peace". The Church is not to be a chaotic confusing place. The Church is a place where people come to learn and worship God. In the Gospels Jesus drives people who are changing money and selling animals for sacrifice from the outer court of the Temple, in part, because it was interfering with the worship of the Gentiles who were there seeking God. If Church is chaotic with no order and full of confusion what happens to the person who comes seeking God for the first time?

Third, both items that I have addressed is so that the Church can be built up. In verse 26 it says, "Let all things be done for edification." Christians need to be mature in their thinking and infants in evil so that the Church can be built up. If we have no evil, (no hypocrisy) for people to bring up, they are left with holy and righteous Christlike followers of Jesus. If we are able to have an intelligent, well informed discussion, we can't be called ignorant and uneducated. And if there is order and structure in the Church, people who come seeking will be able to learn the truth about who God is.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

The Bible on Church, 1 Corinthians 12

It's been a hectic week. I'm trying to finish up the last few things for the class I did while in Israel. I found a temporary job at Home Depot in the garden department, which I'm loving and hating (hating because I'm getting a ton of ideas for a yard someday that I can't do anything about right now). I've been trying to work on my new blog, which has also suffered a little this past week. There has been some adjustments to the new schedule, and hopefully there are some big changes in the near future.

But this post has been on my mind all week, knowing I need to write it. This whole chapter is on Spiritual gifts, and their use in the Church. It's a topic that I've preached on trying to get people motivated to serve, but thus far hasn't been that effective. Everyone of us has at least one spiritual gift. Some have several and some have a few, some may only have one, but everyone has at least one. God doesn't put someone on earth with nothing to work with.

Each of us have different gifts, and each use our gifts, even if they are the same, differently. Because of that we need each other. This is why God never gives anyone all of them, if someone had them all they wouldn't need anyone else. Each gift is important and essential to the Church, and if someone decides not to use theirs the whole Church suffers. I won't say that the Kingdom is stalled, but it is effected.

When people refuse to use their gift, when they refuse to serve in their area of giftedness, they are denying their mission from God. When people hoard their gift to themselves they are refusing to take part in Kingdom work. This in an unfortunate act of disobedience. How many people haven't been reached because someone refused to use their gift?

I'm just kind of rambling, there is a lot that can be said about this topic and I'm just sort of letting my fingers fly over the key board. No one outlives their usefulness to God. No one uses up their spiritual gift. If you are still alive God still has a purpose for you. If you pour out your gift you will not run out, actually God may add additional gifts to you. In the Gospels Jesus told a parable about a man who went on a journey and entrusted his servants with various amounts of money. Those who used them increased what they had and the one who didn't gained nothing. In one account the one who doesn't use it has it taken from him and it is given to the one who has the most. " For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him" (Matthew 13.12).

You have a gift and it is essential to the work of the Kingdom. As long as you are breathing God has a purpose for you. The question is will you use what He has given you? Will you see the value in the gift, even if its just one, that He has given you and contribute it to the work of the Kingdom? Will you be part of the work of the Church and help the body be fully functional?

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

The Bible on Church, 1 Corinthians 5

As we move out of the book of Acts and into Paul's Epistles, the instructions get much more specific and in depth. Many of the Churches Paul wrote to were Churches He had been to and worked with. He had a personal relationship with the people of these churches. Because of this he was able to give more specific instructions and deal with more personal issues. And so with that let's look at Paul's instruction to the Church out of 1 Corinthians 5.

Verse 12 is where we find the word "church" in this chapter, but for this one we really have to look at the whole context of the chapter. The biggest thing to note with this chapter is that it is talking about dealing with sin in the life of someone who is part of the body of Christ. This isn't about condemning/judging the person who comes three times a year for Christmas, Easter, and for some special family event. This is about dealing with sinful behavior in the lives of Christians, pretty much to the situation Jesus mentions in Matthew 18.

Here Paul is addressing a sin of immorality that has taken place in the Corinthian church. But instead of dealing with the problem, it has been over looked, and the man in question has been allowed to continue both in sin and as an acting member of the church, even though his actions are publicly known. Paul says that the church must deal with this sin, they cannot ignore it. "Your boasting is not good. Do you knot know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened..." (1 Corinthians 5.6-7b).

Sin cannot be allowed to take place in the Church. When a member of the body of Christ, one who has proclaimed Christ as Lord and accepted Him as Savior, openly lives in violation to the standards of holiness set by God, that person must be dealt with. If sin, any sin, is given a foothold in the Church, it will work like a cancer through all of it. It will infect it, and kill it, and so it must be cut out. Again, this is exactly what Jesus said to do in Matthew 18, sin has no place among God's people, and it must be dealt with.

But again, this is in reference to those who are members of the Church, those who have decided to follow Jesus and live according to His standards. Paul says, "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves" (1 Corinthians 5.9-13).

The expectations are different. Those in the Church are expected to know better, they are no longer ignorant. It is the job of the Church to teach Holiness and help those within the Church live holy lives. It is the job of the Church to reach out into the world with the love of Christ to bring others into it. And at the same time, the Church is to uphold Holiness. It must deal with sin in order to save the person who is sinning, to protect others in the Church, and to show the rest of the world that those within the Church are different.

Those who have become part of the Church, must live like it. This "organization" has its standards and rules, just like any other organization does. Ours are holiness and righteous living, not sinless perfection, but striving towards Christlikeness. Sin and immorality have no place in this pursuit, and are unacceptable for a member of the Church.

And Paul also says that we are not to judge those outside of the Church. We are not to condemn them or look down upon them. We aren't to hold them to our standards because they don't have the same standards, and constantly shoving them in their faces will not help. Instead we are to love them and reach out to them. We are to share with them the life, love, and fulfillment that is found in Christ. As they seek more about it we are to share and show what this life looks like. It is not our place to judge and convict them, that is the Spirit's job. And when someone enters the Church as a believer in Christ, we help them strive to become like Him, and lovingly hold them accountable to the standard of holiness.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

The Bible on Church, Acts 20

"Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." Acts 20.28

I almost skipped over this verse simply because at first it didn't seem to be saying anything new. It presents the same idea that the Church belongs to God that is seen in Matthew 16. But as I thought about it over the last few days this verse takes God's ownership to a new level. In Matthew Jesus says that He will build His Church. It gives the impression that He is building something new, which He is, but it stops there. He says it's His Church but here in Acts we are told why it is His.

He has purchased the Church with His own blood. Jesus died to secure ownership of His Church. This puts a whole new dynamic on those who make up the Church. This isn't something we enter into casually or half heartily because Jesus paid the steepest price possible. Entering the Church is a big deal, and I feel that over the last few decades we've watered it down to an emotional experience.

In Jerusalem on the south side of the Temple Mount there are the remains of the southern steps, the primary entry point into the Temple at the time Jesus walked the earth. The steps are built in a very unusual way, every other step is different. Some are short, and some are long, and they were intentionally built that way. Most stair cases are built so that each step is the same height and length, we get in a rhythm and just climb and descend them without thinking. I've heard that if one step is off, even by a couple of centimeters, from the rest you will stumble as you walk up or down them because that little difference throws off your rhythm.

The steps at the Temple were built that way on purpose, so that people couldn't casually enter the Temple when they went to worship, or casually leave when they had finished. It took time and a conscious effort, and that was the point. The worship of God is not to be done casually, but intentionally and resolutely. We shouldn't casually enter church on Sunday to worship, nor should we causally enter the Church as a believer in Christ.

Entering the Church as a member, not as part of a specific denomination, but as a believer in Christ, is a big deal. As I've been writing this the thought of marriage has hit me, the Church is referred to as the "Bride of Christ". At weddings I often hear something along the lines of, "The covenant of marriage that you are entering into is a life long commitment. Therefore it is not to undertaken casually or in-advisably." Marriage is a big deal, and a serous commitment. It isn't something you just wake up one day and decide to do. It takes time, a foundation, and a relationship for marriage to work. Why has becoming part of the bride of Christ been largely reduced to an emotional conversion?

Jesus said that we are to make disciples, not converts. We are to help people become followers of Christ with faith in Him to stand firm through every trial. A convert is in this for as long as this works. It's like the marriage ceremony that says, "We're together as long as our love lasts." But a disciple is in this til the end, "Til death do we part."

Entering the Church, shepherding the Church is serious job. We've seen how leadership isn't to be taken on quickly or rashly, but with prayer and fasting. Entering into the Church as a believer in Christ is an important decision. I want to make sure I am saying this right, it is a serious decision. Literally it is a decision of life or death. Entering a relationship with God means giving yourself fully to God, holding nothing back, and allowing Him to transform your life into Christlikeness. Christ paid the highest price for the Church, and to be part of it, we must pay an equally high price. But it is totally worth it. The benefits far out way the costs. It is the best decision I have ever made.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you