Filed under: The Church
So, I went to go see the Bourne Ultimatum last night. Good flick. I am one for the action movies so this one definatly fit that catagory. And I love that they can keep a story going without it being this intense movie about love. Not every movie has to be about relationships in that sense.
Either way, while walking to entrance of the mall to go to the see the movie I ran into an aqauintance. I was with a friend of mine. We stopped to say hi and this aquauaintance came right out, after introducing themselves and said to my friend, “Are you a born again christian?” Now, while this question is valid, their asking it raised a few concerns in my own head and heart.
Are we—the church, teaching and discipling people properly? It seems a bit rude to meet someone for the first time and not really care about who they are, or what they are up to but instead ask if they are saved? Now don’t get me wrong I am all about God saving people. ALL about it. Being saved is the truth of the gospel. However I think Jesus would never have asked what my aquaintance asked my friend last night. We as christians need to not just be saying things like that without
- a) thinking of the implications it will have on non-believers; usually steering them away from christianity and
- b) we need to consult and ask God when to speak on His behalf and only ask questions that He desires us to ask and in His timing; which means we do in fact need to be in constant communion with the Father and capable of hearing His voice in our lives (and He does speak, so take a second to listen)
We, the church gets so caught up in “saving people” that we forget to love people. We forget that not out of blind efforts to save people do they find God, but when they are loved like He loves us, cared for like Jesus cared for people, confronted like Jesus confronted then people will see God for who He really is; a loving father who gave His son—who is jealous for us and who has a valid reason to judge us. For us it is not about saving people. We can’t. God can, and maybe if we are lucky and obediant He will use us as vessels to do so. But it is not our mission to save people. The great commission was about making disciples of all nations and teaching people (see Matthew 28:16-20). Teaching people. Think about this. We can’t make disciples of people who are unwilling to fallow Jesus. So it seems to me that the great commission applies more the church as a whole; not un-believers.
So let’s just face it. People who don’t know God will genereally (not always, tho) react negitivly to really blunt, upfront questions. We as believers need to learn some “bed side mannor” and quit trying to save people all the time and instead be loving people like we have never loved before (and this is found through the power of the Holy Spirit) and listening to God tell us when and what to speak—because I promise you, He does speak.
So I am reading a few of my books in prep for going to school in the fall. This week I go out and Visit St. Stephens Univeristy, the town, and surrounding cities. I am way excited about that.
One of the books I am reading is Emerging Churches. I don’t hate it, but I definatly don’t love it. One thing I am struggling with is the idea of the gospel being centered around Jesus’ life, not his death. While his life is just as important as his death, his life wouldn’t be important to us without his death. I am feeling like the emerging church movement is putting more empahsis on his life while yes, it is important to look at his life but with eyes that understand why his life is the perfect example of how we are to live; through his death.
Another thing I am frustrated with in the book is the fact that they are using the term “church” out of biblical context. A church simply is a group of believers meeting together. They are using the term church as in “organized religious activity”. Quite frankly, I want nothing to do with organized religion. If God leads me to a church body that is organized and says “be here for a while” then yes, I will be there. But generally, organized religion turns me off.
as some of you know, I am into graphic design, photography, marketing and communication. I get particularly frustrated when a church has terrible marketing and communication. I ran across this web page today…. check it out.
By this all people will know you are my disciples, by our doctrine.
opps wait, let’s re-think that.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35
I have been reading different church’s doctrine for the past few days. Where in the bible does it say that we have to hold strong to this perfect doctrine? Don’t get me wrong it is important to have a statement of faith but no one has the perfect doctrine. Not one church that I can think of, not one doctrine that I have read. Each one tho, has had peices of what I have found to be true of our Father in heaven. That is encouraging.
I think the apostle Paul would be really, really angry at us right now. If he saw how we are taking his letters, which are really just his testimony to what he knows to be true of the living God, and splitting his words, fighting over them and making them this doctrinal thing he probably wouldn’t have even written them. I can only imagine what type of letter he would be writting to the church today. And who said that the bible is this almighty thing we are supposed to fallow? Wait, rethink that. I know and believe the bible to be true, and it is God given to us for a purpose. But the New Testiment isn’t over. We are the New Testiment. The “bible” ie testimony of God’s faithfulness to us, isn’t done being written. Each and every one of us is writting our testimony as we fallow God when he speaks to us. Paul wasn’t looking at the old testiment (at least not often since it was tough to get your hands on a scroll) as he wrote his letters to the churchs however many years ago. He was hearing from God. Because yes, we have a God that speaks.
God affirms us through the bible, but He also says things that can’t be found in the bible. Example would be me saying, “Hey God, I really want to get that 2003 pontiac vibe. Is that cool?” If God only said things that are found in the bible it would go something like this… “_______________.” Yea He would say nothing because there arn’t cars in the bible. But here’s the thing… just because it cant be found in the bible doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Scary, isn’t it? God is a black and white God, but we live in a grey world that we have to allow Him to speak into. There are things now that weren’t found back when Paul was around. God is the same God but we are a different time, and He will speak to us. If we hold onto this “only if it’s in the bible thing” then we are missing what God might have for us, and really we are just guessing. But if we fallow what Jesus says in the gospel of John “my sheep will hear My voice” we will begin to come into the fullness of what our Father in heaven has for us.
So let’s get rid of this doctrinal thing. Let’s love God, desire to hear Him (or ask Him to instill in us a desire to hear Him) and love eachother. Let’s fallow the things He speaks to us, whether that be through the bible or through His voice unto our hearts.
Filed under: The Church
“He’s working in us and through us despite us. ” – Nate Streed
This is something I am coming to terms with in my life. God is working in us and through us despite us. Despite our slugish ways, we are His vessels. Just broken ones. But as Jim Erickson said a few weeks back in his sermon at City Hill, “There is no plan b. We’re it.”
Something for you to ponder today. Not everyone is right in their thinking or theology. As a matter of fact I can assure you that most of us are wrong—but God has grace for that. We are it, despite how much we suck a majority of the time He uses us to teach others, and to teach ourselves through His Holy Spirit. And what a good God He is.
And on another note that relates back to that…. take a look at these cartoons I got from Dan Kimball via Dan Wilt’s Blog. Pretty interesting… food for thought.
Filed under: The Church
ter·mi·nol·o·gy (tûr’mə-nŏl’ə-jē) Pronunciation Key n. pl. ter·mi·nol·o·gies The vocabulary of technical terms used in a particular field, subject, science, or art; nomenclature.
Churches these days are full of what I call the “system”. This is disheartening to me because this said “system” puts a lot of things in a box. God doesn’t like boxes. Jesus fought against this same system. However on the other hand, terminology is used in the most basic means of communication. You wouldn’t really understand what I was typing if we didn’t put it in terms that make sense to you. So where is that line drawn?
I just watched a video on the Missional Church Movement and the Emergent vs. Emerging Churches. In the western culture church there are too many terms to be put up next to a church. Missional, Emergent, Reformed, Reformed-Charismatic, Emerging. When did it become so important to make a church just one of these things? I submit to you that the church today is maybe supposed to be all of these things. That we do focus on God being a sovereign and supreme being who is the author and finisher of our lives, that he does desire us to move with His Holy Spirit in an outward expression (charismatic, if you will), that He does desire us to be community oriented or “missional”… the ideal church should be all of these things, and more. So why give a church just one term? Why just one name?
