Striking the Correct Church Balance

In today's world, what are people looking for in a church?  

This is a question about which everyone has an opinion based upon what they are looking for in a church.  I find even talking about it frustrating.  Why?  All to often the advice given to pastors and to churches is either too general or too personal to the presenter.  I get tired of strange stories that do not ring true to my experience in growing churches.

So what can we do to answer the question?

I think many different church formats and structures can work to attract people to Christ and the gospel.  I believe that every worship style can be attractive.  I know I have been blessed by all kind of worship practices and I have witnessed folks of every age blessed by different worship practices.  Thus, I would say that the answer is not in tips and techniques.

Instead the answer is found in the attitude of the church and individuals within the church to the presence and work of God.  A growing church is marked by a passionate spirituality that is balanced with thoughtful presentation of the truth.  Such a place will grow deeper in the gospel and as we grow deeper, we will grow outward.

Why? People will be attracted to Jesus, there will be conversions, and the gospel will permeate the entire atmosphere of the church.

Why do we not see this more?  If in our fallenness we crave such a place, why are more churches not marked by such balance?

There are many reasons for our lack.  Too many for one post!  Today I will share one error.

Some churches and individuals emphasize the truth while ignoring the heart.  Why does this happen?

To explain I will begin with a thoughtful passage written by John Piper in a new book he co-wrote with D.A. Carson called, The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor.  Piper writes,

Now, how does this relate to the pastor as scholar?  On the one hand, its first effect is to protect the church from the dangers of a scholarly bent.  Many pastors, especially those who love the glorious vision of God's being and beauty and plan of salvation, have a scholarly bent that threatens to over-intellectualize the Christian faith, which means they turn it mainly into a system to be thought about rather than a way of life to be felt and lived.  Of course, it is a system as well as a life.  But the danger is that the whole thing can be made to feel academic rather than heart-wrenchingly real.  That's what Christian hedonism helps us to avoid.

Where the faith is over-intellectualized, many ordinary, authentic saints can smell the error.  Rightly, they start drifting away, but sadly, often into the worst extremes of emotionalism.  But if Christian hedonism is alive- I have found that many starving saints make their way home to a place where head and heart are more in balance, and the reality and power of the Holy Spirit are craved and cherished.

Piper, The Pastor as Scholar, 49.

Some time ago I received an e-mail from someone who knew me tangentially as a scholar working in a seminary.  This man would listen to the end of some of my classes.  He never took a class, but he said he always found what I had to say interesting and thought-provoking.  He often would conclude, "I should check this out."  Unfortunately, he shared that he often did not go further in his enquiries!

What I found interesting about the e-mail was he shared that he thought I was some sort of Calvinist.  He shared that he hated Calvin, Calvinism, and anything to do with this system of thought.  He had been raised in a Reformed Baptist church and now he had no use for anything to do with Calvinism.  He thought we would have some interesting debates.

Interesting debates, indeed.  I am sure the discussion would have been rich and rather sharp at points.  Yet, I wonder how could this rather anti-intellectual Christian man come to hate Calvin, Calvinism, and the entire system of thought?  In place of a biblical system of thought that is primarily God-focused and grace-centered, he had embraced a strange emotionalism that passed as authentic spirituality.  

My guess is that he rejected a balanced, biblical, and heart-transforming vision of Christian spirituality for emotionalism and Christian-lite platitudes because someone shared the glorious vision of God's being, beauty, and plan of salvation as nothing more than a system of thought.  I know for years I was totally turned off to authentic spirituality because I encountered such an arrogant, heart-less presentation of biblical truth!

True spirituality, what some people would label Reformed/Calvinism as a form of thought, is joy producing and heart changing.  It is also logical and according to reality.  The key is that it should be both!

Why would we ever wish to divorce joy from logic or heart-change/true transformation from truth grounded in creation?  To be a believer, one does not need to check either their emotions or their brains at the door!  Bring both because as Piper has written about for years, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

All of us have met people who have drifted to an extreme of being either too intellectual or too emotional.  These folks do not represent the truth in its entirety!  Keep looking for and striving for a faith that is both intellectually deep and emotionally transformative.  This is the heart of true spirituality. It is the heart of the gospel.  It is also the absolute heart of true and authentic Reformed/Calvinistic spirituality.

Prayer and Joy

You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Ps. 16:11

Many years ago, while I was in seminary, I had a friend who shared my passion for seeing the lost come to know Jesus.  We were talking about what we did when someone embraces Jesus by faith.  I shared that I would get them immediately into a bible study and a discipleship group.  In the tradition of fundamentalism in which I had started my Christian journey, knowing scripture and being in an accountability and growth relationship was key.

My friend shared that while he thought that was interesting, but he did not do this.  Instead, he taught them how to pray because he figured if they learned how to pray, they would learn how to walk with God.

For years I have thought about this conversation and its implications.  I do not believe there is anything wrong with bible study and discipleship groups.  In fact, I still encourage them!  Yet, I think my method of encouraging a new believer to grow was a bit short-sighted.  

Why?  I had a mistaken belief that if I changed a person's mind, it would transform them.  Experience has taught me that this is not always true.  In fact, transformation through changing one's mind often does not bring about lasting and deep change.

You see, there is a vast and categorically different experience between knowing about God and knowing God.  

Knowing about God can bring a sort of intellectual satisfaction.  Yet, unless it leads to knowing God it does not lead to the fullness of joy found in the path of life.  Knowing about God apart from experiencing the presence of God through fellowship with Him will grow stale.  It leaves us with the knowledge that we should know better, but it does not have the power to change our heart that actually directs our whole being.  In other words, the heart will not serve the mind, but it must be transformed by the grace of God.

On the other hand, knowing God leads to fullness of life now and eternal life forevermore.  Knowing God transforms the heart.  In so doing, it will activate the mind and demands that the mind come to know more about the God whose presence brings fullness of joy.  Thus, the mind serves the transformed heart.

In light of this, the first question we must ask is do you know God?  Have you tasted the sweetness that is Jesus?  If you have, nourish this relationship by learning how to pray.  If you have not, pray and ask for God to lead you to the path of life.  This path is marked by a faith relationship with Jesus.  Such a relationship begins with prayer and it is nourished by prayer.

Prayer is not merely just us sharing with God our needs.  While this is part of prayer, prayer is much more.  It is also learning how to listen to Him.  The surest means of listen to God is through His Word.  Pray with the Bible open.  Pray through what you read and ask how the Living God wants to apply His Word to you.

Most importantly, pray!  Do not neglect this gift of fellowship with the Living Lord.  Learn how to pray often.  For God's presence is found as we meet with Him in prayer.

Have you known Jesus for years?  Do you find that your relationship has grown a bit stale?

I know at times in life, I found myself in exactly this situation.  Please go back to the basics: pray, and learn how to listen to God in prayer.  Seek after God until His presence is known, for in His presence there is fullness of joy!

How do you know when you have found Him?  Joy, pleasure, contentment, peace, love, and grace.  You will not just know the definition of these words, but you will taste and know them in your heart.  Such grace will transform your mind, your actions, and your life!

May this week be marked by the incredible life-changing grace of God in our experience.  Seek His face and find the fullness of joy in his presence!

Life on the Bumpy Road

The journey to the Island is very like the pilgrimage of life.  Sometimes the way is easy, level going and without hindrance.  At other times we find our way blocked and we can do nothing about it but wait.  No amount of jumping up and down or getting irate will change the situation, unless you are Moses or have the cloak of Elijah!  There are times when we must move forward without delay or the opportunity will have gone and the road before us will be closed.  Sometimes life is all a sea and then another time a road opens up suddenly before us.  At all times we need to accept the wisdom, knowledge, and guidance of those who have gone before us.  We need to plan our journey and be aware of any hazards we may encounter.  Without a doubt we are all travelers in this world, if not pilgrims.  We are all on a journey along the road of life.

David Adam, The Road of Life, xiv.

I have many children and they love the movie Cars.  In this movie, the title song states that "life is a highway, and I want to drive it all night long."  While I love this movie and even enjoy this song, I find that my life is more of an off-road experience resembling driving along a seldom used logging trail.  I guess I am envious of those folks whose life is just a smooth highway!  

It seems to me that the only time my ride is really smooth is when I am sitting still.  I love these times of refreshment and relaxing.  Yet, they are often brief because the Spirit speaks in the midst of them to provoke me onward.  Generally, I then start to move forward on a clearly marked section of the logging road.  Soon there is a bend in the road; and as I take the corner, I see that the road immediately ahead angles into a swamp, is rock covered, or is overgrown with bushes and recently fallen trees.

How do we not only survive but also thrive on this often bumpy road of life?

"At all times we need to accept the wisdom, knowledge, and guidance of those who have gone before us.  We need to plan our journey and be aware of any hazards we may encounter."

What great advice!  We live in a rootless age marked by shallow soil (to mix my metaphors from that of a road to agricultural terms!).  There is such a disdain for anything older than yesterday or wisdom that does not immediately match and suit our accepted contemporary sensibilities.  

Is there any wonder why so many of our youth appear to lack vision for life?  They were told that "life is a highway."  Then they begin to live and find that life is more like a winding logging road through the middle of nowhere!

Thankfully, our journey is not through uncharted territory.  The road of life, the pilgrimage each of us travels, the path we each must choose is charted, marked, and navigated.  Our North Star is the One True and Living God who calls us to true life.  This life begins with an acknowledged relationship with Him.  I say acknowledged; because even if we wish to deny it, this God is the Father of all and He is constantly calling out to us.  We never journey alone.  Learn to walk with Him by faith because He knows the way.

Second, there have been many map-makers throughout history.  These folks may not have had iPhones and the internet, but they had all the temptations and difficulties known to us all.  They have experienced broken relationships.  They have lived through tragedy.  They have been stung by sin's bite.  They have lived through the swamps and pitfalls along the road!

They have also experienced the joys of life that each of us long for.  They have fallen in love, had children, enjoyed their friend's company, thought through questions and issues, and enjoyed the small moments in life.  They have experienced great success.  These folks have lived through the smooth places and level parts of the road.  They can show you the way.

Most importantly, these map-makers can and will point you to the One who knows your path.  They will encourage you in the difficult times and the great times.  Why would we want to walk through life as if we are the only ones who could know our own struggles?

Join with the community of faith throughout all time.  Look, with the community of fellow pilgrims, toward that One True Guide who calls out to you.  Stop your refusal to listen!  Ask Him to tune your ears that you can hear His voice.  Ask Him to change your heart so that you will follow. 

We do not travel alone.  Look to the Guide, for He knows the road you must travel.

Our Spiritual Problem and Cure

"There is such a thing as spiritual depression.  Relationships or a marriage can collapse.  Children can disappoint you.  The business can go bankrupt.  Grief or trauma produce states of mind and emotion that call for spiritual counsel.  Because we're to live to the glory of God, all our moods have to be brought into relation to God, his love, his work, and the ongoing process of sanctification.

The sanctifying of troubles is a prominent NT theme.  Troubles are to be expected, but God can sanctify them.  The pastor, in the Puritan understanding is there to be God's agent, God's lightning rod, the transforming link between the distress of the Christian and the love and power of God."

J.I. Packer, quoted in "Broader Pastures, More Breeds," Leadership (Fall 2000), 34.

As Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need for a physician, but those who are sick.  Go and learn what this means, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice."  For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

Matthew 9: 10-13

One of the roles of a pastor is to be a physician of the soul.  This understanding and idea has been a dominate job description/definition of the pastor throughout the history of church when the people of God experience revival and renewal.

Why?

Our greatest need is spiritual.  Our greatest problem is at its heart a spiritual problem.  We are people composed of a delicate interaction between body, mind, and heart (or spirit).  Each of these elements of human experience play a part in our overall health.

In the earliest church, perhaps the greatest threat to Christianity was a movement called gnosticism.  Gnosticism emphasized the spiritual element of an individual.  It denied the importance of the physical and it believed that the mental and spiritual were almost one and the same.  In the ancient near eastern and Greco-Roman culture. these ideas struck a chord and in many places the gnostic church arose to combat the orthodox church.

Some of the late writings of the NT illustrate the nature and problems with such teaching.  For example, 1 John was written to address the claims of gnosticism.  It presents a vision of a person as a united whole of body, mind, and soul.  It emphasizes that each element is important, that each element needs to be sanctified by repentance and faith, and that each play a role in how we understand and worship God in Christ.

Today we are not gnostics.  We do not emphasize the spiritual and de-emphasize the flesh.  No, we are materialists.  We magnify, emphasize, stress, and worship the physical while ignoring the spiritual.

We do so to our own peril!

Why do our bodies decay?  Why is there illness and death?  While the cause is often not direct, all of these deviations from the created goodness and perfection of creation arise from a spiritual problem.  Sin has entered the world and now things are not as they should be.  Thankful Jesus is coming back to make things aright again!  Come quickly Lord Jesus.

Furthermore, why do some people have such crazy and dumb ideas?  Why are entire people groups led astray to patently false ideas?  Even as I write, some people will say, "Who are you to judge the ideas of others?  Each of us get to determine what is good and proper for ourselves."  This is exactly the type of thinking I am calling crazy!  

As individuals and as people groups, we can be lead astray in our thinking.  We can be caught up in false ideas about right and wrong, about power, about truth because of our fallenness.  In other words, Nazi Germany did not occur because of one evil man or a small group of evil folks.  It occurred because in our fallen world, our thoughts can get twisted and warped.  All that is needed is for people who know the truth to be silent or to be forced to silence.  Within a generation, evil can dominate!

Why?  

At its heart, all evil found in the world comes from the spiritual problem of the fallenness of creation.  We cannot ultimately fix the physical problems of this world nor can we fix the evil thought patterns if we do not understand and deal with our spiritual need.  In other words, 

Deep in the center of all our cultural issues are spiritual problems!

Into this great and ignored need should step the pastor.  Our job is to remind people of their spiritual need.  Our job is to encourage people that in Christ God has brought the cure to all of our spiritual needs!

We are not called to be merely therapists who deal with the physical.  We are not called to be merely self help advocates who encourage people to be all they can be.  We are not caretakers of institutions.  We are physicians of the soul who point constantly to Jesus as found in the gospel as the answer to our greatest need.

The tools that we use may be honed by experts in the physical or mental realms, but ultimately our tool box must be filled with ideas and answers that inform the spiritual.  If we do not do it, who in our culture will bring the truth to bear on our spiritual needs?

The answer is no one.  False answers and false gods will be brought to bear on our spiritual needs.  People and cultures will go from lost and struggling to blind and completely evil.

We need more pastors and more believers to understand the often forgotten pastoral role as a "physician of the soul."  The exploding individual and cultural needs demand a return to this difficult but important work!

Our Life of Struggle

"Blessed by the Lord, my rock, 

who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;

he is my steadfast love and my fortress,

my stronghold and my deliverer,

my shield and he in whom I take refuge,

who subdues people under me."

Ps 144: 1-2

In many places in the world today, Christians have been sold a worthless bill of goods when it comes to understanding life.  We are often told that Jesus will make it all better.  We are affirmed to believe merely that the gospel is our second chance.  We are taught to do our best and Jesus will take care of the rest.

What if the Christian life was more about struggle than victory?  What if our experience was meant to be marked more by warfare than by peace and security?

Against what do we battle?

We battle against the world system that is turned against God.  Its goal is to make the things of God look foolish and to make that which is foolish look great.  The more complete the world's system is against God, the more difficult it is to identify the worldly pull away from truth and righteousness.  We must fight against the world.

We battle against our flesh.  Our flesh or sinful nature never leaves us.  Even in the most godly person alive there is a constant struggle against our inward pull away from God.  When the world also matches perfectly with our flesh, as it does in the affluent parts of the world today, the pull of the flesh looks and feels so natural and good.  We must fight against the flesh.

The battle against the devil.  There is personal evil in this world that seeks to destroy the work of God.  It is personified in the fallen angel named Satan, but he also has a host of demonic associates who work behind the scenes.  These forces empower the world system.  They tempt the flesh.  Then the accuse the believer for being such a hypocrite.  We must fight against the devil and his schemes.  

How do we fight?

First we must realize we are in a struggle.  We have enemies who are shooting at us and the Church.  They are seeking to eliminate truth and righteousness from every area of life.  If we do not "seek His Kingdom and His righteousness" we will be made ineffective in our struggle.  

Do not be surprised at the trials and difficulties you face.  It is part of life.  In our fallen world, we live in a state of constant struggle.  Relationships are so easily broken.  Security is shaky at best.  Trouble is a constantly unwelcome companion.

Yet, God uses them to "train our hands for war, and our fingers for battle."  All that we need to do is recognize the training program!

All of our trials, all of our struggles, all of our conflicts should point us to the only true "fortress, stronghold, and shield in which we find steadfast love, a deliverer, and a refuge."  Even the process of aging and approaching death can be used to prepare us for everlasting life with our creator.

There is more to life than just this life and our experience of our life.

We are created to know and experience God's love and mercy.  It is found in the gospel.  It is lived by repenting of our sin and self-sufficiency while we look to Christ and His righteousness as our bread of life.  Lord have mercy upon me is a prayer God never despises!  He will send His mercy and grace to us, even in the midst of trials, when we ask Him for help.

Today, may we enter the battle.  May we witness, affirm, and engage in God's training program.  He is the Lord and He loves us.  There is no other god.  Come to Jesus and ask for His grace to believe in His love and watch care as enough.

Rest and Peace in the Midst of Chaos

Life is always interesting!  There is so much to observe and learn.

Why?  There is so much chaos.  It is often hard to see what God is doing.  The illusion of control binds us, but it is certainly false.  Given all the difficulty and chaos, we have to walk by faith!

This is certainly one of those times in life.  Instead of knowing with certainty what I should do, I am in place of waiting in trust and rest in the grace of God.

I know this is where I should always be, but it is not always my experience!

I am glad to report that I am growing better at trusting and resting.  I am sad to report that I am still not really good at it!  I am much better at control than trust; at self-effort instead of rest; at worry and fear instead of peace and joy.

In the midst of these struggles, the Lord speaks Ps 86:11.

Teach me your way, O Lord, 

that I may walk in your truth;

unite my heart to fear your name forever.

Unite my heart.  What a great phrase!  This is exactly what I need.

My very real human condition is most often marked by self-reliance.  Yet, I was created to be in complete reliance and trust by faith in the one true God.  When I live in my real human condition, I experience anxiety, fear, depression, and self-pity on the one hand and control issues, self-reliance, self-righteousness, and pride on the other.  Often, I seem to bounce back and forth between these two poles of human experience.  Sometimes I make this bounce within a single minute!

Unite my heart, O Lord.  How?

Unite it so I regain and live in faith and trust in Your love and mercy.  Unite it so learn to walk in Your truth and the gospel instead of in my selfish thoughts and self-righteousness.  

Lord, unite that which is separated!

Weeks like this past one help me to see that God is faithful and He will lead and guide.  Yet, I need His grace to believe it before the next week!  Experience is a good teacher, but God's grace is needed to change my heart, to unite my heart so I can rest in God's grace.

What about you?  I encourage you and I, like David before us, begin the week by praying Ps. 86:11.

Teach me your way, O Lord,

that I may walk in your truth;

unite my heart to fear your name forever.

Brace Yourself Up Like a Man?

"Brace yourself up like a man and I will question you,

and you will make it known to me."

The Lord speaking to Job

Job 40: 7

I believe in today's Western culture, particularly for those under age 40, there is no more confusing passage in all of scripture than this one!

"Brace yourself up like a man?"  What in the world does this mean?

I believe there has been a concentrated and pernicious attack on men and young boys for the past forty years.  With the rise of the Feminist movement, came a prolonged attack on boys and men.  I could go into the many, many statistics to back this up, but defending this claim is not the aim of this post.  All I will say is that much like our modern political debate, instead of positively stating why women are different, special, and so needed in every realm of life, we were told why men were enslavers, manipulative, and content to keep women down.

The result?  We have leveled all of society as best as we can so as to diminish differences between men and women.

Want strange proof?  A recent article affirmed that our new aircraft carriers will no longer have urinals in the men's bathrooms.  This follows a worldwide trend.  I know several years ago a Scandinavian country tried to outlaw men urinating while standing since it was a means of showing dominance over women! 

What has been our message?  Boys and men, stop acting so "manly"!  Be calm, civilized, stop fidgeting, and stop acting like there is a difference between men and women.  We have disparaged being "macho" to the point where we have huge confusion over how a man should act, think, and be in society.

I believe we have done so to a great peril to individual men and women, the Church, and our society as a whole.  I know I have spent way too much time working with young men (and some not so young) encouraging them to act like a man.  I have found so much confusion among young men as to who they should be, how they should act, and what they should do.  For the past twenty years at least: 

Thoughtful men do not wish to be a "chauvinist pig" so they become passive around women;

Many young men struggle with their "failure to launch" so they retreat to video games, extreme sports, and they settle for part-time jobs to pay for their pleasures while they depend upon others to provide for their daily needs;

We have so emphasized our need for egalitarian relationships that men get married, but do not know how to lead a family, a Church, or a business.  Instead, they differ leadership decisions to "consensus" decisions.  Such a lack of leadership often leads to resentment, anger and broken relationships with spouses, significant others, and in all of life;

Finally, there appears to be a true lack of understanding that delayed gratification is necessary for maturity and true manhood.  If our reward is not immediate, it is not coming.  Thus our relationships, business and career decisions, life decisions, and all choices are based on our need for immediate reward.  We seem to have lost the will to live in light of next year, let alone eternity!

So what does it mean to be a man?  Our culture is so confused!  So are many in the Church.  What does the Bible have to say about it?  What does it mean to "brace yourself up like a man"?

I just read a great article in the summer 2002 Leadership magazine that I think gives some insight.  I like this following quote from Robert Lewis because it states positively what it means to be a man.  How I want my boys to hear this message!

What is your definition of manhood?

We compared the first Adam with the last Adam, Christ, and we found four differences.  They are our four foundations stones for authentic manhood.

A real man is one who rejects passivity, accepts responsibility, leads courageously, and expects the greater reward, God's reward.

What do you think of this definition?  Is it helpful?  How do we incorporate this understanding into our lives?  Into the life of our family?

The first place to start is always in repentance and faith.  If this makes you angry since I must be a "chauvinist pig" for saying it, repent and believe!  I am an imperfect person and often shallow thinker, what do you have that is better?  Share it with us!  

If you find that you have not lived as a man, repent and believe.  Confess to God, to others, and to yourself that you fall short.  Ask Jesus to help you live an authentic life.  Also, share this idea with others.  Perhaps others share your frustrations!  Let us press on to know Jesus and what He has for us.