Is Gambling a Sin? What About Chewing Tobacco?

Have you ever been asked to deliver a message to someone?

Have you ever altered the message so that it would be better understood by the person who was hearing it?

Perhaps you changed the wording, or the sentence structure. Perhaps you even changed some of the details so that it would be more clear and understandable. Of course, you would only do something like this if you thought it was good for both parties. If done properly, you could likely save misunderstanding and help to create a better relationship.

But...

Should we do that with God's message to man? Should we sometimes change it a little bit so that it will be better understood? Or should we make minor modifications and additions so it will have just a little more impact or power or ability to change lives?

Too often, we as theologically conservative evangelicals have thrown away our ability to say helpful things to and about current issues because instead of simply being messengers who pass on God's message (the Bible), we stretch the implications of Scripture to reach an easier, cleaner position which may be biblically indefensible, but is red meat for those who want to live their lives by a list of do's and do nots.

Allow me to illustrate.

Currently, a popular Christian blogger is doing a series about gambling. His stated premise is that "gambling is a sin." That's it, no exceptions or qualifications, he is arguing that all gambling is sinful.

Several months ago, I listened to a pastor preach a sermon in which he made the argument that drinking alcohol is a sin. He also made no attempts to qualify or discuss exceptions.

Both men cite biblical evidence for their views.

Such black and white pronouncements are easily made and easily obeyed. They are common in my circles of Christianity (particularly regarding issues like gambling and drinking and a few other things). Sadly, they produce a kind of pharisee who is convinced that he/she lives rightly because they adhere to a list of do's and do not's; but they don't really have any idea what the Bible really says.

I'm not saying that gambling is always right or always a good idea.
I'm not saying that drinking alcohol is always right or always a good idea.
It's sad that I had to write those previous two sentences to avoid people attributing those beliefs to me simply because I don't adhere to the unbiblical stances I've sited above.

Here's what I do think.

I think we should talk about things the way the Bible talks about them. I think we should use Scripture as much as possible to form our opinions and shape our practices. I think we should be regularly tweaking our beliefs and practices as we discover or gain new understandings of biblical teaching. I think the beliefs we hold with a vice grip should probably be far outweighed by the beliefs we hold with a firm and relaxed grip.

So what does this have to do with gambling?

Let's be honest, the Bible doesn't have a lot to say about gambling. It certainly doesn't say "all gambling is a sin."

However, the Bible says a lot about how we use God's resources which he has entrusted to us. We should be aware of those passages.

The Bible also says a lot about how we gain wealth. We should probably know those things.

The Bible has a wealth of teaching about how we entertain ourselves. We need those teachings to inform our practices.

If you really want to develop a biblical perspective on gambling, I'd recommend you start with the three topics I just listed.

Our certainty comes from God's ability to speak to us through His Word, not from our ability to make His Word mean whatever we want to say.

Semper Reformanda.

Great Hymns of the Faith... by the Beatles

(working on an upcoming sermon led me to this post from several years ago.)

You tell me... was Paul McCartney a closet fundamentalist?

...or was he at least influenced by Horatio Spafford?

When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree,
there will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see,
there will be an answer. let it be.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blessed assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Let it be, let it be, .....

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light, that shines on me,
shine until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Let it be, let it be, .....

It is well, it is well, with my soul.


(truth is, for all my hymnologically impaired friends, McCartney's song has more Biblicity than Spaffords. Do you know the passage?)

A Comprehensive List of All the Things God Owes You

5 Questions You Should Ask Before You Extend A Fight

Perhaps I am overly optimistic, or have a "pie-in-the-sky" outlook when it comes to the degree of authority the Bible should have in our lives.

However, I do believe the Bible should be the primary authority for all believers in matters of life and faith. Whatever we are doing or not doing, the Bible should be governing us.

I realize this approach makes me appear a bit simple and naive, but in the words of someone, "it is what it is."

So...

Here's five questions I think everyone should answer when attempting to resolve conflict or when discussing concerns they might have about someone or something (family, friends, job, church, etc.).

1. Is this about Christ?
2. Does the Bible speak clearly and specifically about this?
3. Does a clear and specific Biblical principle apply to this?
4. Do any Biblical passages or principles apply here?
5. Do you believe you are acting in clear obedience to God on this issue?

Honestly, if you find yourself in conflict with someone, and you can't answer "yes" (and immediately articulate why) to any of these questions, I would suggest you may be in the wrong for this conflict. The other person may also be wrong, but your inability to answer "yes" to any of these questions probably indicates you are holding on to something you shouldn't be holding on to.

Like Forest Gum, "That's all I have to say about that."

Three Absolutely Unassailable Pronouncements of Leadership

This morning I read Proverbs 18. I came away from it thinking, "This is really good advice for anyone who is trying to lead or influence people." Of course, everything in the Bible is really good advice for anyone trying to do anything. So, whether you are a leader or just someone who wants to be more wise (particularly in relationships), here are my three key lessons from Proverbs 18. I've included some of the specific proverbs so you can munch on them today:

Everything doesn't rise and fall on you; you are a part of a bigger whole.

• Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.
• A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.
  
• A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

The most inspiring speeches are meaningless if they aren't preceded by big ears.

• A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion
• If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.
• The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.

Constantly attempting to attract influential people is a quick fix with devastating results

• It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice.
  
• The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.

Joe Myers, Search to Belong, and Circles of Relationships

I posted this over at my old blog about 3 years ago. I'm reposting it now for my friend Kary, who asked me (at his blog) about Joe Myers (mainly because I brought up Joe). So here it is. If you've ever heard me talk about LIFEgroups or Community at Calvary, you've heard me talk about these concepts:

over the course of my time in ministry, i've seen discipleship processes illustrated in a lot of different ways...

there is the purpose driven model of assimilation. this is familiar to most of us, and really is "person" based. the idea is that all types of people exist in our communities with all levels of connection to God and the church. The assumption is that we should be constantly moving people into the next level of connection.

The problem with this illustration (as with all structures/systems) is that the lines are too rigid. it assumes continual movement in one direction. realistically, people will likely move in and out of each space several times before they settle. and then they'll repeat the process IF they take another step. people are just very slow to commit to a change of lifestyle represented by these steps.

i think north point does a better job of addressing this process. as you would expect from andy stanley, their process is cleaner, simpler, and extremely memorable. they illustrate their assimilation process by identifying three environments in which people move at North Point. Check out descriptions of their environments here.
They've named their environments foyer, living room, and kitchen. Of course, each "room" represents an increasing level of intimacy. While the north point environments afford more fluidity than rick warren's circles, they still seem to imply a hierarchy of relationships that places more valuable on the closer relationships.

joe meyer has proposed another way to view it. his book Search to Belong identifies four spaces within which we relate.

according to myers we have these four different kinds of relationships with people. Each circle represents a higher number of relationships with a lesser degree of intimacy requiring a lesser amount of effort, but also meaning a lesser amount of meaning from the relationship.

Myers suggests the key in this model is to strive for balance as opposed to moving. Rather than trying to force everyone in the church to develop intimate relationships with everyone else, people should be encouraged to develop different levels of relationships with different people.

Myers' model allows for a fluidity of relationships not typically considered in the church. His assumption is that people will have public, social, personal, and intimate relationships within the church. We need to determine how to best use each of those types of relationships for spiritual formation.

The process of bringing people into our community (often called assimilation) is really nothing more than understanding how people migrate relationally from place to place, then utilizing that natural migration to connect them into appropriate life-sharing relationships which provide a tool for spiritual formation.

well, i was going to go on and talk about discipleship models, but the assimilation models seem to have taken all my time. stay tuned for part two...

Checklist Christianity: How to Measure Spirituality

One of the questions I often get asked when talking about discipleship, spiritual formation, and small groups is:

"How do you measure success?"

I'm not a big fan of this question. See, there was a time in my life, when I could have easily answered that question. Back in the day we (me and lots of other Christians like me) used a formula to measure how spiritual someone was. It looked like this:

SQ = [(SUa+TUv)/26]+[(SUp+WPM)/52]+[(TRM+MC)/5]
8 is the perfect score, meaning you are very spiritual.

Of course you could apply a bonus formula to gain two extra bonus points if you wanted. Those two points could come in very handy if you fell short of 8, or if you wanted to be elected to a committee during the annual fall elections. A score higher than 8 virtually assured you a spot on the committee of your choice.

The bonus formula was as follows:

BSQ = SQ+KJV+BAPT
If you grew up in a church like mine, this is all old hat to you. You've seen these equations many times before: on overhead projectors, flannel-graph boards, and maybe if your church was high tech, via slide projector.

For those of you who are seeing these formulas for the first time, let me translate:

• SQ is "Spiritual Quotient". This is your level of spiritual maturity.
• Of course, BSQ is "Bonus Spiritual Quotient".
• SUa is Sunday morning attendance. TUv is Tuesday Visitation attendance. Add up all your Sunday morning and Tuesday evening participation over the course of a year, and divide that number by 26.
• SUp is Sunday evening attendance. WEP is Wednesday evening prayer meeting. Again, add up all your participation over the course of the year, and divide this number by 52.
• TRM is "Tent Revival Meeting" and MC is "Missions Conference". Add up your participation in these and divide by 5. (If your church did more than one of these a year, or they lasted more than 5 days, you're at a definite advantage)
• Bonus points for using a King James Version Bible and for calling yourself a Baptist.

This process of determining spiritual maturity makes things very easy. You can quickly determine who is the most spiritual person in your church, as well as those who probably need to sit closer to the front on Sundays. Deacons and Elders can use these formulas to carry out church discipline and Sunday School Teachers could regularly have their students work out their own scores to inspire them to do better in the coming months.

I personally have several trophies in my basement from my four consecutive "perfect 10" years. (That string was broken when my mother unknowingly gave me a New American Standard Bible for my birthday)

[pause]
[breathe]
[I'm just kidding]

But seriously. Too often people have the idea that Christianity is just about checking off the right boxes. And if you attend all the right things at the right times, then you're going to come out all right on God's scorecard. I call this, "Discipleship by Attendance".

Marianne and I were talking tonight about how difficult it is for some people to shift out of this way of thinking. Particularly if they were reared in a church which emphasized attendance as the primary means of spiritual growth. It took me years to shake loose from this kind of thinking, which too often exhibited itself in my life when I judged others for their lack of attendance at "church stuff." My assumption was that their non-presence represented a spiritual immaturity. Little did I know that my judgement on them for their non-presence represented a much deeper level of spiritual immaturity.

So now, when I get asked how I measure success in discipleship... I sigh deeply and then hem and haw about how it's hard to measure the work of the Spirit. I mention the parable of the sower and the soils and point out that sometimes initial growth is false growth. I talk about Galatians 5 and explain that the fruit in ones life being a dashboard to measure by, but not a checklist to live by. And I keep talking about lots of stuff like that until they're sorry they asked. But I don't really ever talk about measuring success... Because I'm pretty sure as one who doesn't sit on a throne and won't be presiding over any judgments at the end that that's not my job.

But if you really want to know what I think, I have identified 8 markers that I think are Biblical evidences that the Spirit is working in someone. I guess if you want to call these measurements, you can. I think of them more as landmarks along a journey. Here they are:

1. Knowing who God is and what He expects from men
2. Relying on Jesus for salvation from sin and a new way of life
3. Growing in knowledge, devotion, and influence
4. Living out the one another commands in a community of fellow believers
5. Leveraging God's resources to meet the needs of those in close proximity
6. Living uniquely in the world so as to demonstrate the glory of God and bring those in proximity to repentance
7. Seeking to constantly share the message of Christ and show the mission of Christ.
8. Expanding influence to impact people around the world for the good of the Kingdom

I know at first glance this kind of list doesn't seem to be any different than the ones I joked about. But, in my mind at least, this list is far less about the actual "doing" and far more about the actual "being." Any time we try to put "being" type concepts into words we run the risk of slipping into the Pharisaical legalism of "maturity by list", so we need to be careful even with a list like this.

But in the end, the main idea is simple. The more we look like Jesus (the revealed, biblical Jesus who is the image of the Father; not like some Jesus that we made up) the more spiritually mature we are.

Hey, I'm just sayin'.

Ten Idols Revealed in 1 John

The last verse of 1 John says, "Little children, keep yourself from idols." This seems to be a strange way to end a letter that didn't really address idolatry at all.

My opinion is that John realized how easily and quickly idolatry can creep into our lives and our churches. I don't think he was terribly concerned about the Christians turning to worship of Baal or Ra or Dagon. I don't think he was concerned about them carving fish-like ducks out of wood and then bowing down to them. I think he was concerned with the subtle, every-day idols that sneak into our lives and take our priorities away from God.

A survey of the entire letter reveals at least these ten idols that we need to keep ourselves from:

1. The idol of walking in darkness (keeping our sin hidden rather than confessing it).
2. The idol of false security (basing our salvation on a prayer rather than faith).
3. The idol of disobedience.
4. The idol of worldliness.
5. The idol of squeamish theology.
6. The idol of pet-sins (habitual sins).
7. The idol of grudges.
8. The idol of brotherly hatred.
9. The idol of prayerlessness.
10. The idol of whatever gets between us and God.

There's lots more in this book, but these ten are a start.

The Difference Between Christianity and Every Other Religion

Hebrews 9:26 says:

But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Three words in the middle of that verse define the distinction between Christianity and every other religion in the world.

ONCE FOR ALL.

Virtually every world religion shares one fundamental similarity. At the heart of the religion is instruction for achieving "eternal life", or whatever else might be the ultimate goal of the religion (eg. Nirvana, Heaven, etc.). Another way to say this is to say that the majority of religions tell you what you need to do. I think this concept of religion resonates with most people.

Let me provide a few examples.

Buddhism is built on a process of holding to or believing four noble truths. The fourth of these noble truths instructs Buddhists to follow the eight-fold path, which is a list of eight activities designed to help the Buddhist gain liberation from attachment and suffering. Following the eight-fold path means doing the following:

• Right View
• Right Intention
• Right Speech
• Right Action
• Right Livelihood
• Right Effort
• Right Mindfulness
• Right Concentration

According to the Buddha, apart from doing these things, one cannot hope to rid himself or herself of attachment or suffering, and has no hope of reaching nirvana.

Islam is a religion which many consider in the same family as Christianity. Muslims find their roots in Abraham's family tree (albeit their branch is Ishmael, not Jacob). Muslims are monotheistic, a trait they share with Judaism and Christianity (and maybe some "Christian-like" cult groups).

The core of the Islamic ethic is rooted in the Five Pillars of Islam. These five activities are the core of the Muslim's hope to one day find their way into the heaven of Allah:

• The shahada -- a confession that there is no God but Allah and Muhammed is his prophet
• Ritual prayer, five times a day
• The giving of alms to aid the poor and further the advance of Islam around the world
• Fasting during the month of Ramadan
• A pilgrimage to Mecca (those who are physically unable or cannot afford a pilgrimage are exempted)

(I've listed here the Sunni Muslim pillars. Other branches of Islam have slightly different but essentially similar pillars)

As with the Buddhist, performing these duties is essential for the Muslim if he hopes for a "good ending" in the after-life.

Most people assume (understandably so, due to the obvious emphasis of nearly every world religion) that our destiny in the afterlife is directly tied to what we DO in this life. Many people even assume that this is the perspective of Christianity, that our adherence to the rules in the Bible affects our ability to make it into heaven.

This is the misunderstanding that Hebrews 9:26 corrects.

First, let me point out what some might view as the ethical foundation of Christianity. Many people would view the eight-fold path and the five pillars as parallel lists to the ten commandments of Judaism and Christianity, or the three commandments of Jesus in the new testament (Love God, Love your neighbor, Love one another). However, the Bible is CRYSTAL CLEAR that someone who adheres to the ten commandments and/or the three commandments all their life will NOT earn their way into heaven.

The message of Christianity is that no to-do list of good deeds will ever be sufficient to eradicate the sin that separates us from God (if this post wasn't getting too long already, I'd discuss how our first three years of life and college put us so far behind on the good deed-bad deed ledger that we can never hope to catch up).

If you'll notice in this verse, Jesus does ALL the work. Nothing is left to us. While other verses explicitly discuss our weaknesses, this verse clearly implies our inability to be right with God on our own.

Instead, we rely on the fact that Jesus has already accomplished the necessary work to make us right with God. We only need to rely on His work on our behalf. His sacrifice was ONCE. It requires no on-going work on our part, it requires no repetition, it requires nothing in the future. It was a one-time historical event that eradicated the penalty of sin for all who believe. His sacrifice was for ALL. We can understand this to mean that his sacrifice was good for all people of all races, tribes, creeds, etc. We can also understand this to mean that his sacrifice was good for all time, it left nothing undone that needed to be done.

According to the Bible (Hebrews 9:26 particularly), my eternal destiny is completely dependent on ONE past historical event. My ability or inability to follow a list of rules or an ethical code has no impact on my standing with God. phew!

It boils down to this:

Religions require an ongoing process of deeds as the only way to be purified from wrongdoing.
Christianity recognizes one righteous act by God was sufficient to put away sin.

How do you respond to this truth?

• For some, this brings great relief as they willingly place their reliance in Christ's work
• For some, this brings confusion as it conflicts with life-long deeply held notions about religion, God, and Christianity
• For some, this brings frustration as they still cling to the idea that they are good enough on their own to be okay with God and therefore they don't need someone else
• For some, this causes laughter as they simply cannot conceive of such a simple salvation

How do you respond?

The Future Probably Won't Be Like You Imagine It

This morning I was reading about Elijah and the widow at Zarephath. The basics of the story go like this:

• A great famine has spread across Israel
• God sends Elijah to Zarephath because he's prepared a widow to feed him
• The widow is down to her last food supplies, she's going to cook one more meal for herself and her son, then they plan to die
• Elijah tells her to cook the meal for him instead
• She does. God miraculously keeps her food supply from running out until the famine is over.

What I like particularly in this story is the initial interaction between Elijah and the widow. When he asks her to provide him with a meal, she replies, "As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple sticks that I may go in and prepare it for my myself and my son, that we may eat it and die."

She's very matter-of-fact. "We're going to eat this last meal. And then we're going to starve to death." She's accepted the inevitable. She's come to grips with how this story is going to end. She's lost all hope.

But Elijah suggests that the story may not quite be over. He says, "The jar of flour shall not be spent and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth." In other words, he tells her that the story isn't going to end the way she thinks it is. God's agenda is different than hers.

As I mulled this story over this morning, I jotted down (yes, I jotted) four thoughts about God's agenda often being different than mine:

1. God always does that which will bring glory to Himself.
2. In bringing glory to Himself, God always does what is best for us and what will meet our needs.
3. God often works out His agenda in ways we might not expect.
4. God usually works out His agenda in timing we would not choose.

The story almost never ends the way we think it is going to. While we may not always have a Zarephath kind of moment (sometimes God's timing is vastly different than ours), we can rest and be comforted that whatever God is doing in the moment is intricately connected to what He will be doing in 5 weeks, 5 months, 5 years, even 5 decades.

Our hope is not in the expectation that we will get what we want in this moment, but rather our hope is that we will receive all that we need both now and in the days to come, but especially when our adoption is made complete at the end of time.

Just sayin'

The Low-Down on Church Discipline

This post is a precursor to one that's coming. Church discipline is not an often talked about process. It's not considered to be one of the "fun" things that churches do, however it is a crucially vital element in the life of any church. This is one of those things that the Bible talks a lot about, but churches don't seem to talk about too much. The purpose of this post is not to walk through the passages that touch on church discipline, but rather to summarize a process I would recommend based on the study I've done. (Click here to do some of your own study on the topic)

Here then, are some thoughts I have about church discipline.

Foundational Thoughts

• Church discipline should be formative in that the mission of the church is to make disciples.
• Church discipline should be restorative in that confrontation of wrong-doing is for the purpose of restoring a fallen brother/sister to fellowship with God and the church.
• Church discipline should be authoritative in that non-repentant believers are removed from fellowship so that the holiness of the God as reflected in the church is not impinged upon.

When a member of Calvary Church has "wandered from the truth", someone should bring him/her back. Those who share in his/her community (aka LIFEgroup/smallgroup/etc.) of love should lovingly pray with or for the person’s repentance and restoration. (This can be as small a group as one individual if that is all who is aware of the issue)

Continuing to pray, they should address the sinful behavior and call on the person to repent, lovingly keeping the particulars of the issue from becoming a source of gossip within the community or the greater congregation. If the initial rebuke is done by one person and is not heeded, more members of the community need to be made aware and must again call for repentance (Matt.18:15-16).

Upon repentance, and with the counsel of a pastor or other leader (if necessary), they should implement the following measures for restoration:

• Specific steps to eliminate the behavior
• Means by which to communicate repentance to all affected parties
• Person or persons who will faithfully hold the person accountable
• Covenant as a group to continue regularly in prayer for the person

This solution is always the "win-win-win". As the Bible teaches us, when we approach someone who has fallen, "If he listens to you, you have won your brother over".

A Side Note Regarding Repentance:
Biblical repentance is more than a simple acknowledgment of wrong-doing. It includes a willful turning away from the previous behavior and a desire to behave righteously. Such repentance is the goal of restorative discipline.

If he/she refuses to listen to the community of love, the leadership of the church should be made aware of the situation by the a member of the community. The leadership of the church should then engage in prayer for the repentance and restoration of the believer. One member of the church's leadership group should contact the person and gather information regarding the issue so that they can as a group lovingly address the sinful behavior and call on the person to repent.

Upon repentance, the leadership group should refer the person back to their community of love to implement the measures for restitution as listed above

If he/she refuses to listen to the leadership team, they must refer the issue to the church body for authoritative church discipline

At this point, the entire body should engage in prayer for the repentance and restoration of the believer. They should engage in prayer for the repentance and restoration of the believer. Those who know the individual will, as the representatives of the Church, lovingly address the sinful behavior and call on the person to repent. Upon repentance, the church should refer the person back to their community of love to implement the measures for restitution as listed above.

However, if he/she refuses to listen to the church, the church will lovingly and with hope of restoration remove him/her from fellowship.

My next post will pick up here, talking about what this really means.

The Parable of the Sower (the sequel)

A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

And then a very strange thing happened.

The rocky ground began to make noise. The large stones and the small pebbles began to cry out to the sower. "You haven't given us enough time!" they said. If only you would put more dark soil around us, our seeds would grow. So the sower went to the store and purchased more soil and placed it around the rocks. Again the seeds immediately sprang up, but it still had no depth of soil, and when the sun rose they were scorched again.

And then another strange thing happened.

The thorns began to make noise. "It's not our fault that the seeds didn't grow" they said. "You planted the wrong kind of seed. The old sower used a 'thorn-friendly' seed, and it grew just fine here." The sower sighed, the thorns continued, "If you'd just plant seed that worked with us, we'd give you a great crop!" So the sower went back to the store and purchased "thorn-friendly" seeds and sowed them among the thorns. But when the seeds began to grow, the thorns grew up and choked them again.

And then the sower realized, he had no more time to tend to the good soil. And the field was lost.

Learning About Inter-Generational Relationships From Naomi and Ruth

Do you know the Ruth story?

• Family moves to new country. Two sons get married.
• Father and both sons die.
• Mother tells new daughter-in-laws to return to their people and restart life.
• One does. Ruth stays with her new mother Naomi. They return to the old country.
• Naomi is bitter about the harsh hand dealt her by life.
• Ruth works hard to make things work.
• Ruth meets Boaz.
• Naomi helps Ruth navigate the customs to get together with Boaz.
• Ruth and Boaz get together and have baby Obed.

Ruth 3:1-5 serves as the turning point of the story. Prior to chapter three, everything is about survival and recovery from life's bitter turns. Chapter three is the launching point for much more positive things.

One day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you, where you will be well provided for? Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours? Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.""I will do whatever you say," Ruth answered.

I've made three observations from this passage that might serve as a positive guide for intergenerational relationships in churches.

1. Naomi "got her groove back" when she focused on helping Ruth instead of mourning her losses.
2. Naomi didn't just encourage Ruth to chase Boaz, she told her exactly how to do it.
3. Ruth listened, and followed Naomi's advice.

My next thoughts come out of a grid I've already worked significantly on which identifies the key activity for older generations in a church as INVESTMENT and the key activity for younger generations in a church as HONORING. Remember that already in the book of Ruth, Ruth has honored Naomi by choosing to stay with her even after the loss of her husband. So now, based on the above observations, here are some thoughts about intergenerational relationships:

1. We will be much happier, more energized, and excited about church ministry when we focus on investing in those younger than us, rather than mourning the good old days.
2. Just throwing money at problems isn't enough, we need to invest in the coming generations by getting down on our hands and knees and showing them how to live like Jesus in the world.
3. When those older than us model this behavior, it behooves us to listen and follow their advice.

So now this. For those who do read this, I'd love to hear your comments about some specific ways we can INVEST in those younger than us and HONOR those older than us.

(by the way, I really DON'T want you to tell me how those older than you can invest in you, or how those younger than you can honor you. that kind of misses the point.)

Some Thoughts on Global Missions

For years, our missions efforts have been informed by the 10/40 window. the idea is that a huge portion of the world's unreached people groups live between the latitudes 10-40. Thus a common criteria for church's determining which missionaries to support has been whether or not they are headed to the 10/40 window.

the need is still great.

but the times, they are a-changing. the world is becoming more urbanized. the population centers are shifting, and with that the amount of unreached people is shifting.

a while back i emailed friend, missiologist and all-around wise-guru, dave livermore with a question:

is there any sense in which the fabled 10-40 window is shifting? as the world becomes more "urbanized" (in my perspective), are the culturally aware missiologists discussing at all an "abandonment" of tribal and rural missions? (i use abandon in the sense that many have "abandoned in preference" any who fall outside the 10-40 window) how does missions in the city look different today than 10 years ago

his response:

I most definitely think the 10-40 deal has appropriately lost steam. While the "hidden peoples" designations are still used, as places like Dearborn and London have been filled with subcultures of "unreached" peoples--the geographical designations aren't all that helpful any more.

As for urbanization--I think it's a reality that's generally true, HOWEVER--you have places like China--which is experiencing urbanization. But at the same time, nearly 90% of Chinese still live in very rural locations. So it's one of those infamous cases of if we swing the pendulum too far and abandon rural and tribal missions--we're lopping off some pretty significant chunks of our fellow human beings.

i think he's right. we have to be careful not to lose the emphasis on unreached people groups, while still re-focusing on "reached" people groups whose "lost" population is rapidly expanding. i'm guessing that means a new "urban" focus for global missions in the coming years.

today i came across these thoughts at leadership network learnings. they are interesting, and somewhat support my thoughts:

• The huge global urbanization trend. From the 1800’s when only 4% of the world’s population was urban to even the 1970’s when slightly more than a third of the population lived in cities, in 2025, its projected that nearly 60% of the world’s population will live in cities.
  
• And not just small cities, but very big cities. In 2025 its projected that there will be over 650 cities in the world that have a population of over 1 million people.
  
• In the future, the majority of the world’s poor will live in cities. In 2025, the urban poor will number 3 billion people. That’s 38% of the world’s overall projected population.
  
• These cities are huge mission fields. I could write a lot about this, and perhaps will in a future post, but the statistic in this report does it pretty well by showing that right now, in 2007, 146,000 non-Christians come to cities every day!
  
• The percentage of Christians to the total population is projected to remain fairly flat. Its 33% right now and projected to rise to only 34%.

The Parable of the Sower (part one)

Charles Schwab, Edward Jones, Fidelity… How do you

decide who will handle your investments? Living in the

wealthiest, most successful country in the world means that

we have decisions to make that most of the world would

never think of. We wonder how to best invest our money?

Whether or not we are building enough equity in our

houses? Which program to use to save for our children’s

education? These questions are so prevalent that an entire

industry has arisen of “financial advisors”. Basically, these

are people who tell us what to do with our money. I’m

fascinated by this.

I’m not a financial advisor. In fact, I don’t understand a great

deal about how stocks and bonds and mutual funds and

CDs work. However, at risk of oversimplifying, I would

suggest that I do understand what a good investment is. It

seems like a good investment is one that requires the least

amount of investment to yield the maximum result. In other

words, the best investment is the one that takes my

investment and best multiplies it.

Jesus told a story about a merchant who discovered the

most exquisite pearl he had ever seen. He immediately

invested everything he had in the purchase of that pearl.

Once he discovered the “right” investment, he gave all he

had to it.

The same principle of investment applies in other areas of

our lives. If you want to get in shape, some exercises will

yield a much higher return on the investment of your time

than others. Thirty minutes on the treadmill is way better for

you than an hour of lifting french fries. You’ll find yourself

gaining a much better yield on your time at work if you

choose to invest an hour into accomplishing tasks rather

than playing solitaire. This is a ridiculously simple principle,

but it is immensely important to remember that good

investments yield better results than bad investments.

We’re all guilty from time to time of making bad investments.

Bad investments always take one of two shapes. We either

invest too much into the wrong thing or we invest too little

into the right thing. In the 1990s, many people lost

everything they had because they had invested it all in a

company known as Enron. They put too much into the

wrong thing. I cannot begin to count the number of people I

know whose lives have been negatively impacted by an

absent father. Too many men are wildly successful in

business but miserable failures with their children. They

chose to invest too little (or nothing) in the right thing.

Jesus wasn’t a financial advisor, but he understood the

principle of investments which multiply themselves. The first

recorded parable he taught was about an investment which

yielded a 1000% return! Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8

each record Jesus’ story about a farmer who threw his

seeds onto different types of soil. Each soil produced a

varying degree of growth, but eventually the crop died in

three of the four soils. Only the fertile soil produced a return

on the farmer’s investment. This story has been used to

teach many lessons, but the main point is found at the very

end (as is the case with most good stories). The person

who hears and understands Jesus’ words, yields a crop a

hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.

We all invest ourselves in many ways every day. Our

different investments multiply different results, sometimes

good and sometimes bad. Some people invest in financial

stability. Usually, they earn and save a great deal of money.

Some people invest in pleasure. Usually, they are able to do

enjoyable things and go exciting places. Some people

invest in relationships. Usually, they are surrounded by

people and considered by most to be popular. What are you

investing your life in?

Understanding the “parable of the sower” leads to the

conclusion that following Jesus is the greatest investment

we could ever make. Unfortunately, we are often so busy

investing ourselves in so many other places that we make

very little investment into following Jesus. If anything, he

gets our leftovers, or maybe a few hours on Sunday. We’re

making the mistake of investing too little in the right thing.

This book is intended to help you re-evaluate the

investments in your life, and then fully give yourself to the

greatest investment possible.

Jesus told another story about a man who discovered a

treasure in a field. He immediately sold everything he had

so he could buy the field, and claim the treasure for himself.

The man realized selling all he owned was a small

investment when compared to the treasure that would

become his. The words of Jesus are the greatest treasure

you could find. What investment would you make to follow

them?

Five Questions You Should Ask BEFORE You Ask "HOW" we should wors

These are the questions you consider before you think about the question, "HOW should we worship?":

1) Whom do we worship?

2) Why do we worship?

3) When do we worship?

4) How often do we worship?

5) Where do we worship?

Now... go ahead, ask it.

On Those Who Leave Churches and Those Who Want Lots of Options

From Organic Church. Unpacking the Parable of the Sower, the Seeds, and the Soil:
"If ten people accept the Gospel and only two bear fruit, I no longer babysit the unfruitful eight. Instead, I invest my life in the two. These two will bear much fruit."

"I am convinced that we have made a serious mistake by accommodating bad soil in our churches. When we see people come to Christ and then slip away, we assume a responsibility that is not ours. We would not take it on if we truly listened to this parable. We assume that we must be doing something wrong if so many people fall away from following Christ. We then doubt our ministry efforts and search for other ways to keep people. The results are devastating to the local church."

I want to jump and cheer, because this view of the parable seems to truly vindicate the way i have done ministry. It gives a resounding "harrumph" (reference to Blazing Saddles) to ministry that scorns the "value of numbers"... but on the other hand, Jesus talked about the good shepherd leaving the 99 behind to go get the one. I need to take a closer look at that one.

From The Paradox of Choice:

"65 percent of people who didn't have cancer said that if they got it, they would prefer to choose their treatment. Of those who actually had cancer, 88 percent said they would prefer not to choose. Apparently we always think we want choice, but when we actually get it, we may not like it. Meanwhile, the need to choose in ever more aspects of life causes us more distress than we realize."

this is really interesting thinking for the church. our "buffet churches" work so hard to present multiple choices for everyone to do church their way. does less choice mean more satisfaction? maybe.

Thoughts on Community (tailored for Calvary Church)

Is an emphasis on community simply a response to an individualistic culture or is it the appropriate theologically driven direction for the church?

“Community.” Is it the goal or the tool? Certainly, it is our goal to have all our people experience community, but to what end? The answer should be, to the end of having them connect to God and other people. That is the goal. Community is the tool.

I would like to go as far as to suggest that community is not just “a” tool for connecting people to God and others, it is “the” tool given to us by Jesus.

John 13 begins the account of Jesus last supper with his disciples before his death. After washing their feet and sending Judas away, Jesus said to his followers, “A new command I give you: Love one another.” The newness of this command, I believe, is rooted in its distinctiveness from the previous commands Jesus had given.

Many may view this command as similar or a restatement of Jesus’ command to love our neighbor. However, a closer look at the context reveals distinct differences. The parable of the good Samaritan was given in answer to the question of “Who is my neighbor.” The implication from this story is that our neighbor is everyone with whom we come into contact (the amount of neighbors we have has greatly increased as the world has shrunk due to information technology). The object of love in John 13:34 was not neighbors, but was “one another”. The implication is that the disciples were to love those they were in the room with. The absence of Judas meant that one another was distinctly those who were believers in and followers of Christ.

The following verse indicates that this love for one another was to become a definitive trait of Christ-followers (“by this all men will know that you are my disciples”). Love for one another is the tool that Jesus was giving his disciples to live in the world.

John 15 continues this teaching. Here, Jesus teaches that abiding in him is the only way to “bear fruit”(v.4). Abiding or remaining him happens when we obey his commands (v.10). Defining his commands, he repeats the new command, “love each other”. That our love for our brother affects our relationship with God is not foreign. John trumpets the same principle in his first epistle, “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble”(1 John 2:9,10).

As Jesus prayed that night, he prayed for “those who will believe in me through their message”.(John 17:20) We are “those”. We have believed in Jesus through the message of the apostles. The one thing that Jesus prayed for when he prayed for the church to come was community. He prayed, “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.”(John 17:21) His greatest desire for us was that we would live in community mirroring the relationship of the trinity. In such a relationship there is no room for individualism or autonomy, we are all connected to one another in complete unity. This unity, according to Jesus prayer, would serve as the force to connect the world to the Father. He prayed, “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”(John 17:23) Community as connecting tool is also proclaimed in John 13:35.

The community that Jesus desired to exist was defined in the second half of his new command. He directed the disciples to love one another “As I have loved you.”(John 13:34) Thus the community of the church should be patterned after the love Jesus showed the disciples. Much can be said about what this kind of love looks like.

John 15:13 records one of Jesus’ definitions of this kind of love (note that it follows his repetition of the new command). Jesus said, “Greater love has no one that this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” The love Jesus desires is sacrificial.

Sacrifice eliminates individuality. Total sacrifice totally eliminates it. If we truly give our lives for the community, we are required to give up our own agendas, our own desires, our own plans for the sake of the community.

Since the fall, people have desired autonomy. Eve ate the fruit because she desired to make her own decisions apart from God. Cain killed Abel because he felt God should have accepted his sacrifice on his terms. Nimrod built Babel as an expression of human independence. The new creation, embodied for now in the church, must reject the concept of human autonomy and embrace the notion of self-sacrifice for the good of the community.

Jesus love was also characterized by servanthood. Immediately before giving the new command, he washed the feet of his disciples…and Judas. Loving servanthood within community requires a stewardship of gifts for the purpose of servanthood within the body of Christ, even toward those who seek to harm us.

Paul, in Philippians 2, suggested that for the sake of community we should all take the mind of Christ (this seems to be a restatement of “love one another as I have loved you”). He points out the humility of Christ as well as his unwillingness to put his own good above the good of humanity. Loving like Christ in community requires us to humbly set aside our expressions of individuality and instead seek to “look to the interests of others.”(Philippians 2:4)

John wrote of this self-sacrificing love in 1 John 3. He wrote, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”(1 John 3:16) Here is the definition of community, laying down our life for one another. John continued by laying out a specific application of this type of community, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” Sacrificial community exists for the purpose of meeting the needs of one another. When we do this, we love as Christ did.

Wholeheartedly pursuing loving community, then, is not a response to a shift in culture. Rather, it is an effort to fulfill the new command given by Christ. It is an effort to assume the tool given by Christ by which we connect the world to God. Loving one another is not something the church does, it is who the church is. It is not a part of church programming, it should be the focus of all church programming.

Consider that Jesus said evangelism1 happens through loving other Christians (John 13:35; John 17:23). Jesus and John said that spiritual growth2 happens when we love our brothers (John 15:1-17;1 John 2:9-11; 1 John 3:22-23). Paul and John taught that real ministry3 happens through the abandonment of self for the good of the community (Philippians 2:1-4; 1 John 3:16-18).

How better can we connect people to God and others than through the tool of community? How important is it to avoid expressions of individuality and autonomy within the body? How much, then, should we emphasize to our people the importance of self-sacrificial community?

1 Evangelism = Attracting the unchurched?

2 Spiritual Growth = Building the believers?

3 Ministry = Caring for practical needs?

Thoughts on Group Worship

I've written this before, but I like to throw it out there every so often as a reminder:

Worship could be a celebration of our unity through the diversity of our gifts.

Worship is a Godward response. It is not driven by desire, need, pragmatism, or relevance. It is the community of the redeemed approaching their Father through means prescribed by him and in a manner which glorifies him alone.

It is a response because it does not begin in hte human heart, but is initiated by His grace manifested to us.

It is communal because he has commanded us (as HIS redeemed nation of priests) to be characterized by our love for one another and because his priority is that the unity of his people would mirror the unity of the three-in-one.

It is prescribed by him because the clay does not choose its shape, its only concern is to be flexible in the hands of the potter.

I say this 'could be' because I am not willing to say it must be. I am not ready to say it should be. I am too hopeful to say it cannot be. As the church constantly evolves, its self-critique must keep pace with its progress, thus we should seek in all our practices to find that which 'could be', question whether it should be, and make effort so that it will be.

Celebration is a party. It is a ceremony to mark victory. It is done together, often characterized by the many celebrating the accomplishment(s) of the few or the one. We, the many, gather to celebrate God's (the one) accomplishment in bringing us together. We celebrate the mystery of celestial"

S.D.Gaede writes in Belonging, "The Christian community derives its being from the fact that certain things are true. If they are not true, we have no reason for community."

We gather to celebrate those truths. We could list many of the truths we celebrate, for example: grace, redemption, creation, etc...

In our celebrations we can be formed, because we leave as different people then when we arrived. We may be more convinced of those truths, we may be questioning the application of the truths, we may be anticipating our next gathering, we may feel more connected to the truths, we may have a greater sense of identification with the community because of the truths...

What should these celebrations look like? In no particular order, I would suggest:

they should be triumphant -- the greatest truth of all is that good has/will triumph over evil. the celebration at Zion (Matrix reference) gives us a feel for anticipatory triumph. our celebrations should awaken in us a moving sense of the transcendence of God.

they should be meaningful -- the truths which bind us together should be proclaimed in a relevant way so that our celebration is informed. some churches are so taken with the celebration itself that it has lost its meaning... this almost feels like idolatry.

they should be participatory -- we are all celebrating, we are all the community. i think of a pep rally for my MSU Spartans. even though we may all be sitting in rows, we will be extraordinarily participatory. why don't our celebrations look like pep rallys?

they should be reflective -- the truths we celebrate have meaning for us. we must constantly be weaving our story into the fabric of the communities truths. this requires honest reflection. we do a great disservice to ourselves when we celebrate without reflection.

Abiding in Jesus and Bearing Much Fruit

John 15 is about abiding in Christ and bearing fruit. Here's a list of thoughts I have about what it means to abide in Christ and live a fruit-bearing life:

1. Fruit is good works. "Good" is not defined by me. Good works are works God considers good; they are the activities which are in alignment with His law. They are only possible through Jesus. On my own, I have nothing good.
   
2. Fruit is goodness, righteousness, and truth. If something requires me to be less than completely truthful, it is not good fruit. This has greater and deeper implications that I initially think. The more I contemplate it, the more I think this is really a life-altering concept.
   
3. Fruit is a direct result of the controlling forces in your life. The tree is recognized by it's fruit. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. If my life is not producing the kind of fruit God considers good, it is because my branch is not locked into Jesus' vine.
   
4. The kingdom was removed from the Jews because of a lack of fruit. John warned them to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. They were busy producing fruit in keeping with tradition. If our lives are marked by repentance, our lives will be full of fruit.
   
5. God is the gardener. He sets everything in motion. He grows the fruit, not us. The fruit is for His pleasure. He allows weeds (bad fruit) for now, but come harvest time, it's not going to be good for the weeds.
   
6. Every branch gets cut. No fruit branches are cut off. Branches bearing fruit are pruned. Expect to get cut. The gardener disciplines (prunes) those he loves. The pain of pruning will eventually give way to the joy of fruit bearing.
   
7. Different ways to say "Remain in Jesus":
1. Wait with Jesus
2. Stay with Jesus
3. Live with Jesus
8. Remaining with Jesus is NOT having coffee with Jesus. You don't get to come and go.
9. Nothing we do on our own will produce fruit. There is no human formula for fruit production. Believing we can create a checklist for fruit production is arrogance and leads to a lack of dependence on Jesus.
   
10. Branches detached from the vine are burned. Even if this is symbolic, the flames still represent punishment/destruction/etc. This picture leaves no room for universalism, the branches don't get saved in the end.
    
11. When Jesus' words remain in us (see #7), we WILL bear fruit.
12. Fruit is a demonstration of discipleship. The kind of fruit you bear is a demonstration of who or what you are following.
    
13. God is glorified when we bear fruit. While it is tempting to try to explain why, it is not necessary. It is enough to say God is glorified, and allow that to be the motivation.