2007-12-10 The Brief

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Culture:

Last week I posted on the The Golden Compass and I plan to see the film sometime this week.  Why would I want to see a film that aims to destroy the church?  First, I think there is much we can learn from this film.  Much of what the film hates about “Christianity” is something we should hate.  In the film, the Magisterium, the ruling authority in the Catholic Church, represents “Christianity” as a whole.  While this attack is clearly directed at “Christianity” as a whole, I do not think his terminology here is accidental.  Much of what the world perceives as “Christianity” is not; it is a stagnant cultural force, an institution, which exists to enforce nonsensical cultural forms on others.  I think the same can be said about much of society, what they perceive to be “Christianity” is not and we should rally to put that stagnant, dead, deceptive, manmade “Christianity” to death.  We do that by submitting to the Lordship of Christ and living as the people of God and incarnating the gospel in our culture as servants of those in culture.  Second, I wholeheartedly agree with Al Mohler, “This is about the battle of ideas and worldviews.”  I have had two conversations this week, one about this film and one about another film, which deeply convicted me because I was unable to engage them in the battle of ideas because I had not seen the films.  As Christians we should not be retreating.  We must see these films, discern their true meanings, and then engage in the battle of ideas.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.  We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (II Corinthians 10:4-5).

Since the last post on this topic, Al Mohler has done a phenomenal post on the film entitled The Golden Compass — A Briefing for Concerned Christians.

Blogsphere:

Nick Cooper has returned to the blogsphere with his slick new blog Moderate Obscurity.

Justin Tapp has two great posts up on the translation of Scripture: Psalm 1:6 and John 10 and the Jews.  I have commented on the latter post; however, I hope that some of you with an understanding of Hebrew will comment on the first post.

Vintage Faith: While this is not a blog, it is on the internet and there is a blog on the site.  I have recently found Dan Kimball’s website Vintage Faith . . . exploring the emerging church and vintage Christianity.  The website has many great resources that need to be read with discernment.  Yes, that was an oxymoron.  Here is what I mean.  Dan is painting a picture of what he feels the future of the church needs to look like if it is to impact post-christian America.  Much of this picture is extremely helpful and much is not.  His criticisms of stagnant cultural and institutional “Christianity” are very helpful; however, his proposed solutions are not always helpful.  Far too many have reacted in extreme ways against the Emerging and Emergent Church and in so doing have robbed themselves of many fantastic resources to aid them in ministering to the emerging American culture.

I think an example will illustrate this quite well.  For many Karl Barth and Neo-Orthodoxy are viewed as liberal theology.  However, Barth served to buttress the faith against the assault of liberal theologians like Friedrich Schleiermacher, Albrecht Ritschl, and Adolf Harnack.  During this time, the main battle was between Liberalism and Fundamentalism while Barth’s Neo-Orthodoxy appeared and combated Liberalism it was also attacked by Fundamentalists.  Looking back it is clear that Barth had numerous critiques of Liberalism which would have greatly benefited Fundamentalists had they taken the time to understand him.  We need to learn from our mistakes and listen to and learn from the Emerging and Emergent Church and move forward to reach these emerging cultures as better-informed and better-prepared followers of Christ.

With that said, Karl Barth is not for everyone and Dan Kimball is not for everyone.  The key is in the word “discernment.”  Honestly, most people are not very discerning and for that reason, I hesitated to post this.  However, for those discerning individuals who do not want to buy his books but would appreciate his insight check the site out.

Unexpected Insights:

These problems, and the answers, are not new.  But the way we intend to tackle them using the small groups of local churches in large numbers is revolutionary.

The bottom line is that we intend to reinvent mission strategy in the 21st century. This will be a new Reformation.  The First Reformation returned us to the message of the original church.  It was a reformation of doctrine – what the church BELIEVES. This Second Reformation will return us to the mission of the original church. It will be a reformation of purpose- what the church DOES in the world.

In the first century, mission strategy was always congregationally based.  The first missionaries were sent, supported, and accountable to local churches.  The church at Antioch was the first to do this.  There were no mission societies, mission boards, or parachurch organizations.  Local churches accepted the responsibility for Jesus’ Great Commission and his Great Commandment, and the growth of the church worldwide was explosive.

Today, most local churches are sidelined and uninvolved when it comes to missions.  The message from most mission and parachurch organizations to the local church is essentially “Pray, pay, and get out of the way.”  But in the 21st century . . . [We] intend to help thousands of other local churches move back to the frontline in missions, in compassion, and in providing the social services that historically the church provided.  I believe the proper role for all the great parachurch and relief organizations is to serve local churches in a supportive role, offering their expertise and knowledge, but allowing the local churches around the world to be central focus and the distribution centers.

I deeply believe that any organization that marginalized or minimizes the local congregation’s responsibility to “Go”, or bypasses the local church’s moral authority to fulfill the Great Commission,  is out of sync with the strategy God intended, and modeled in the book of Acts.

I was quite surprised when I found out who said those words.  I will do another post on this in the coming week and will announce the author then.  In the mean time, I would urge you to resist the urge to “Google” the above quote and simply discuss it.

2007-12-03 The Brief

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Politics:

            Campaign 2008: Foreign Affairs presents “a series of articles by the top U.S. presidential candidates previewing the foreign policy agendas they would pursue if elected.”  So far, these are the essays that they have made available, with two more arriving every month.

            The War We Deserve: “Americans now ask more of their government but sacrifice less than ever before.  It’s an unrealistic, even deadly, way to fight a global war.  And, unfortunately, that’s just how the American people want it.”

Culture:

            The Golden Compass: If you have not heard of the controversy surrounding the upcoming film The Golden Compass then it is likely that you will sometime soon.  Al Mohler provides a phenomenal commentary on today’s radio program, “The Golden Compass”: A Clash of Worldviews at the Box Office.  The LA Times is also running an article entitled Religious furor over ‘The Golden Compass’.  If you have not seen the trailers for the film, they are available at the Official Golden Compass website here.  I would agree with Mohler’s advice that spiritually mature individuals should see the film and then seriously discussing the underlying themes which the film promotes.  Sadly, far too many Christians are so ill-equipped in the areas of discernment and apologetics that such a task is impossible.  What about you will you be seeing the film?  If enough people see it, I may have a post where individuals can discuss the film.

            Fire: I am not sure how many of you have heard of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education; however, I find their website to be especially informative and it should be a daily read for students who want to stay informed of how their rights are being violated by the educational institutions of this country.

            The Gospel of Judas: I am sure you all remember the controversy caused by the Gospel of Judas last year, which was honestly nothing new as there are numerous Gnostic texts available.  Well the Gospel of Judas is back and causing controversy again, this time the National Geographic Society’s flawed translation is being put under the microscope.  Al Mohler discusses April D. DeConick’s new book, The Thirteenth Apostle:  What the Gospel of Judas Really Says, and her recent New York Times article, Gospel Truth, in his post Revising the Revisionists — New Controversy over “The Gospel of Judas.”  I appreciate DeConick’s willingness to call out the National Geographic Society on their inexcusable mistake, I only hope this stirs up as much controversy as the flawed work’s original publication.

Economics:

            The Dying Dollar: Der Spiegel profiles the plunging value of the US dollar and its affect on the global economic situation.

Random News:

            Ironically, I was talking just this week about the disappearance of the payphone and the LA Times is currently running an article on AT&T’s plans to cut its payphone business by the end of 2008.  The article is available here.

Towards a Deistic View of Hell?

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Sadly, I think many so-called American “Christians” are headed in that direction.  We have a problem with a God who would eternally and personally pour out His wrath on sinful man in hell.  So we cope with that by making Satan the ruler of hell and we have skits and plays where Satan and his demons drag people into hell kicking and screaming.  If you have read Revelation lately then you will note that Satan, the beast, and the false prophet have actually been thrown into hell prior to the Great White Throne Judgment.  Who threw them in?  God did.  If Satan and his demons are already in hell then who throws those who are not in the book of life into the lake of fire?  God does.  Scripture is quite clear that God’s wrath is personal, which is why you read phrases like “the wrath of God” and “the wrath of the Lamb.”

“Ok, so I can cope with God throwing people into hell, after all He is just, but can’t hell just exist?”  “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17).  Nothing exists that God has not first made.  Furthermore, nothing that God has made can continue to exist apart from being sustained and held together by Him.  Not only did God create hell but He also sustains it.  We appreciate a personal God when it comes to redemption but when it comes to wrath and judgment the God of most evangelicals looks more like the disinterested uninvolved god of deism who has created a clock-like universe and a clock-like hell that exist and function apart from divine intervention.

Jonathan Edwards paints a sobering picture of hell, “God aims at satisfying justice in the eternal damnation of sinners; which will be satisfied by their damnation, considered no otherwise than with regard to its eternal duration.  But yet there never will come that particular moment, when it can be said, that now justice is satisfied.”[1] 

What does this mean?  Why is this important?

I think this serves as a sobering reminder that we serve a just God, a holy God, and a wrathful God.  At the same time, we live in a world filled with rebels, with enemies of God, who are storing up wrath for themselves and not just for the Day of Judgment but for eternity.  Brothers let us live and breathe the Gospel.  Oh that we would be like Paul, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (I Corinthians 2:2).

[1] Jonathan Edwards, “A Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World,” in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, 2 vols. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1834), 1:121.

When Programmatic Become Problematic: Willow Creek Apologizes

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Earlier this month on Christianity Today’s blog Out of Ur there was an interview concerning Willow Creek Community Church’s recent admission of an apology for failure.  The article “Willow Creek Repents?  Why the most influential church in America now says ‘We made a mistake.’” is available here.  Before going any further, I have to give props to Justin Tapp for e-mailing me this article.

The article begins:

Few would disagree that Willow Creek Community Church has been one of the most influential churches in America over the last thirty years.  Willow, through its association, has promoted a vision of church that is big, programmatic, and comprehensive.  This vision has been heavily influenced by the methods of secular business.

Willow Creek recently published the findings of a lengthy qualitative study of the ministry at Willow Creek in a book entitled Reveal: Where Are You?.

The article summarizes Willow Creek’s philosophy of ministry saying, “The church creates programs/activities.  People participate in these activities.  The outcome is spiritual maturity.”  To their shock and disappointment, the study revealed that:

Increasing levels of participation in these sets of activities does NOT predict whether someone’s becoming more of a disciple of Christ.  It does NOT predict whether they love God more or they love people more.

I appreciate their humility in coming out and admitting their mistake and then publishing their failings in a book.  I think that the book will be an invaluable resource to all who have bought into the Willow Creek model and subsequently need to reevaluate their flawed philosophy of ministry.

What I do disagree with; however, is their proposed solution:

We made a mistake.  What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become “self feeders.”  We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.

Fundamental to their proposed solution is individual autonomy.  While that may be an easy product to sell to narcissistic Americans, it is not a biblical understanding of the church.  The church is at its core a community and the Word of God is meant to be studied and applied within the context of that community.  Now what I do not mean is the medieval Catholic understanding of this where only a trained clergy can read the Scriptures, nor should we chain Bibles to pews (if you even have pews), nor am I advocating a church-endorsed translation of Scripture as prominent within Roman Catholicism.  What I am advocating is what you find in passages like Romans 12:1-8 where we see that spiritual gifts are given to be used in the context of community; or Ephesians 5:18-21 and Colossians 3:12-17 where we are called to teach and admonish one another; to the glory of God, or Ephesians 4:11-16 where we realize that pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc. are given to equip the saints for the work of the ministry so that the body of Christ can build itself up in love.  The point being that individuals do not grow toward spiritual maturity, the body of Christ does.  Just as in the human body, the body of Christ is comprised with numerous parts, each of which has its own functions.  When these individual parts do not grow as one the result is dysfunction and distortion.  If a grown man has the legs or the heart of a five year old, he will certainly not function as he should and yet such dysfunction and disproportion is far too often accommodated within the body of Christ.

Willow Creek’s failure serves as an alarm to remind us that no matter how popular or successful a particular church paradigm may be if it is not based on Scripture then it will ultimately fail.  Willow Creek is no exception they based the church on popular business philosophy, to the point that outside of Bill Hybels’ hangs a poster that reads, “What is our business?  Who is our customer?  What does the customer consider value?”  They may have enjoyed a season of success; however, it is clear that unbiblical ministry is not sustainable ministry.

This is also a reminder that church growth must be organic growth, “so that the Church may be a living organism within an environment.”[1]  Furthermore, “it must not be allowed to grow in a foreign form but in a form suitable to the world in which it lives.”[2]  Organic growth stresses both proportion and indigeneity.  The stress upon proportion means that the church must be in a state of equilibrium where growth occurs equally on all planes; failure to do so results in distortion as certain aspects are emphasized while others are neglected.[3]  Understanding this is crucial in both evaluating you ministry as well as developing your philosophy of ministry.  Far too many churches are buying into things like “the Willow Creek Model” and other various paradigms; however, we must remember that the local exists within a particular environment and what works in one environment may not be successful or healthy in another.

[1] A. R. Tippett, “Indigenous Principles in Mission Today,” in Verdict Theology in Missionary Theory (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1973), 128.

[2] Ibid., 128.

[3] A prime example is modern pop Christianity’s stress on numerical growth at the expense of genuine spiritual growth.

Should we Plant Churches or Revitalize Old Ones?

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This is the questions Al Mohler tackles in his most recent post, Church Planting Movements and the Great Commission.  In the end, he concludes that planting new churches must compliment and not castigate the revitalization of older churches.  Ultimately, “churches will grow only as Christians share the Gospel with people who desperately need to hear it — and that will hold true no matter how old or young the congregation may be.”

For those of you wondering my surgery went fantastic yesterday.  My leg, which I thought would hurt the worst, is feeling great although my back feels like someone just beat me.  The stitches will come out next Friday just in time to go help and older congregation under new leadership catch a vision for being a missionary in their community.