Church Rant

“I’ve heard it hundreds of times: I’m looking for a church that meets my needs. Can you admit for a moment how incredibly unbiblical that statement is?”

--Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor, lifechurch.tv

I ran across this statement the other day and was struck by how familiar it feels, how I can relate. One of the hardest aspects of working with students is encouraging them to connect with a local church. Yes, I’m going to pick on students, but this tirade has much much broader application, and I have to confess that during my time as a typical student at the University of Oregon, “I am the worst of them.”

After pure, unadulterated sloth the excuse I receive most often as to why a student hasn’t connected with a local church is that they haven’t found ‘the right church,’ but when pressed on what that is, ninety-nine times out of a hundred they fall back to ‘one that meets my needs.’ It’s a consumer mentality. They want a church they can really ‘get something out of.’ It rarely, if ever, occurs to them that they should really be seeking a place they can give something back to. There are, of course, exceptions, but most want a place where they can sit with a large group of people who look, talk, act and smell like them so they can all feel comfortable doing as little as Christianly possible. OUCH! And yes, I just made up a new word, but try to focus on the point, which is that we have GOT to get better at challenging one another to live richer lives in Christ (Hebrews 10:24-25). And I believe that begins by connecting more closely with the entire body of Christ, not just those parts that seem most attractive to us.

Statistically we, who claim to follow Jesus, who claim to be empowered by the Holy Spirit of the Living God, are nearly identical to the world around us. (I say nearly because the argument can be made that we’re actually a little worse off.) Statistically we are NOT being transformed by the renewing of our minds, but instead doing a nifty job of conforming to the world (Romans 12:1-2). Perhaps if we disciplined our bodies a bit more rigorously (1 Corinthians 9:27) we’d be a bit more likely to actually share the light of Christ with the world.

What would happen, do you suppose, if a million college students actually went to bed one Saturday night (while it was still was Saturday night and not Sunday morning), got a good night’s sleep and went to church on Sunday with a mindset of giving instead of receiving? What if a million students walked into sanctuaries across America next week and asked all those pastors, “What can I do to help?” My guess is that once the shock wore off we’d see a revival break out. Of course, that assumes that the students are actually willing to serve in whatever capacity the church leaders see fit. I’ll never forget hearing one of my seminary professors, whom I greatly admire, tell us that the one of the best things we could do to prepare ourselves as pastors was serve in a church nursery for a year. Rocking babies and entertaining three-year-olds may not seem like much, but it’s actually some of the most valuable service you can offer. Likewise, vacuuming the sanctuary or cleaning the church bathrooms or mowing the lawn around the building; all amazing feats of ministry that many Christians haven’t got the spiritual maturity to handle. Helping park cars for Jesus makes a difference! What would happen if a million college students gave an hour a week—or even half an hour!—to help the local church?

The unfortunate truth is that we may never know. Because the typical student goes to a church once, and if they don’t see a large group of other students milling aimlessly about they leave and never come back. And whether it is called ‘church shopping’ or ‘church hopping’ the result is the same. They walk in with a Me First mentality and look for the exit at the first sign of discomfort. They walk in looking for an excuse to not come back! Ouch.

Now, if you’re a college student and you’re reading this, don’t act all surprised and offended. First, you know I’m generally right, and second, it’s not all your fault. The vast majority of you grew up in churches where were were marginalized from birth. I know, I know, that sounds ridiculous, but think about it. How involved are the youth and children of your church in the life of the congregation? Not, how central, how involved? Kids generally are central to a church; they tend to get their share of space and money from the budget, parents wouldn’t have it any other way, but what is expected of them? Are they ever invited to business meetings? Are they included in planning for outreaches and celebrations? Do they as individuals and a group have any responsibilities to the body of the local church? Or are they coddled?

I serve in an association of over 50 churches. Every year we meet to talk about what’s going on with one another and discuss any pressing business. Then we break for a meal and have some sort of ministry rally. During that time we traditionally have one rally for adults and one for youth… in separate locations. Now, the youth rally is really cool, with good speakers and a kickin’ band and lots of kids are effected deeply by the experience, which is awesome. However, think about this for a minute. We’ve taken them away from the rest of the church. They have no responsibilities at the main meetings, no input, no expectations, no involvement whatsoever. Nothing. Nada. ZERO. They DO have an awesome time with one another in a controlled environment where they don’t have to do much other than show up and hang out with other youth. And that’s the problem. All they see is one another and that’s the view they develop of what a healthy church should look like, and it’s wrong. Listen, people argue about what a healthy church looks like all the time, but everyone agrees that it’s multi-generational. You need senior adults and children and people of all ages to really understand what the body of Christ was meant to be. To give up, or substitute a generic campus ministry (as I did and many other students continue to do) and call that ‘church,’ is a cop out.

Sometimes we do the most damage with the best intentions. We have a tendency to keep the bar low for our kids, spiritually, and wonder why they underachieve later. This generation of college students grew up getting trophies for being on the team, as if that was an accomplishment, they had kindergarten graduation parties; they were spoiled. We’ve given them everything we could except self-esteem. They’ve never had to work for accolades so they feel entitled. They are the children of the original “me” generation, and true to form (at least when it comes to church), they’re as self-centered as their parents. We’ve valued such that they don’t understand value. In a sense, we’ve denied them hard labor, and we’re surprised that they’re soft.

So, in order to avoid the ‘cranky old man’ label, I’m not only going to sound the alarm like a good watchman, I’m going to offer a couple of solutions.

Solution 1: Responsibility—Churches need to get children, youth and students used to having responsibilities early on. Let them clean a couple of Sunday School rooms when they’re young, help take the offering or light candles or help with the audio/visual systems as they get older, and give them a place in front of the congregation as opportunity arises. In America you have to be 35 to be president, but in far too many churches you have to be over 65 to pray in front of the church…

Solution 2: Involvement—Get youth and college students involved in the business of the body. Yes, that means inviting them to business meetings and even encouraging them to talk and give input on decisions. No, you don’t have to do everything they say, but if you don’t train them to speak, don’t be surprised by their silence. As a man sows, so shall he reap…

Solution 3: Expectation—Or accountability. If we’re going to get younger generations to participate in body life, we have to raise the bar for them and hold them accountable for reaching it. This means giving establishing goals and consequences for them. We have to give them a path to follow and apply both the carrot and stick to keep them on it. Keeping with the farm metaphor, how do train an ox? You put the younger one with an older one to guide it along until it knows how to do the job. We’re not doing that much in America today, and we’re paying for it with generations who aren’t looking to till a field, just munch the grass they find growing on it.

Can I be honest here? I think that students today represent the best hope the world has for real change. Your passion for social justice is overwhelming. Your desire for relationship is incredible. Your environmental awareness is nearly omnipresent. And your empowerment is at an all-time high. Never have so many had so much to do so good. If only you would stand up and seize that potential! If only you would become the leaders you were meant to be!

We all know people are basically selfish. Face it, you are. I am. Every child coming straight from the womb is entirely self-centered. I’m not saying that’s wrong, but it is a problem you have to overcome. But that’s not my point. My point is that selfish people often do selfish things. Slavery? Selfish. Rape? Selfish. Physical abuse? Selfish. Selfish. Greed? Selfish. Pride? Selfish. That burning desire to do what YOU want to do is what drives us. And sometimes that leads us to accomplish great things, but let’s not pretend to altruistic motives for progress just yet. The United States first landed a man on the moon not because we wanted to explore outer space, but because we wanted to beat the Soviets to the “high ground” in a war of nuclear proliferation. Drug companies spend millions of dollars on research to cure diseases not just to help people, but because billions of dollars are at stake.

People are basically selfish. And selfish people do selfish things, often to one another. And for that reason there is a ton of social evil in the world. People are killing each other. Children are starving. Poverty, illiteracy, homelessness—take your pick, they’re all out there; sexual slavery, genocide, drug abuse... The world is full of bad things. But they’re often preventable. And your generation knows that. Your generation cares. And that compassion can drive you to do great things, good things for the right reasons. Don’t let that slip away.

Keep following the dream of a better world. Keep volunteering at shelters. Keep giving to charities. Keep shopping at socially aware businesses. Keep writing letters to the editor of your local paper about the injustice you see and the opportunities to fix it. Keep planning your careers and families around the idea that your life matters not just to you, but to the entire world. Keep starting socially aware businesses. And above all else, keep positive. Don’t get dragged down by news of defeat. Don’t sink to the level of violence and deceit that you’re trying to abolish. Don’t give in to the money. “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…” You and your generation can change the world, but you have to commit yourself, your whole life to that idea.

Be the difference

I think the world needs to change, don’t you? Children are starving. Disease, treatable disease, is rampant. People are homeless, illiterate and poverty-stricken. Sexual slavery still exists. So does war and AIDS and a host of other evils. And the greatest instrument on the planet for doing something about it is us. Me. You. We are the ones tasked with changing the world, and we have everything we need to get it done. God gave us the instruction manual for global change (The Bible). And he gave us an example to follow (Jesus Christ). And he gave us the resource to carry it out (The Holy Spirit). And he gave us the responsibility to do it (The Great Commission). So we really are without excuse.

The world is broken and God has made it clear that you are his plan for fixing it. It’s not about the money. It’s not about the time. It’s not about the resources it takes to make something happen; the brains, the talents and abilities. It’s about your commitment. God will use ordinary people to do extraordinary things, but you’ve got to be ready!

Listen, I want to change the world. I want my life to be the difference between what is and something better. According to God I am part of the thin red line between heaven and hell, and since it’s the blood of Jesus that makes that line red, I take that responsibility seriously. And the odds are that I’m not going to be the guy that cures cancer, but I’m pretty sure I can accomplish something, not only because the Bible says I can, but because my life is like that story about the little boy and the starfish:

Once there was a storm, and the storm left a particular beach covered with starfish. A man was walking along the beach looking at the devastation when he noticed a small boy picking up the starfish and throwing them back into the ocean one by one. The man said to the boy, “Why are you doing that? There are thousands of starfish here and you’ll only get to a few before they die. You really won’t make any difference.” And the boy picked up another starfish, threw it into the surf and replied, “I made a difference to that one.”

There are billions of people on this earth. What difference can I make? I don’t know. But each and every person whose life I can help change is a person who matters. Everyone counts. So if I only change one, isn’t that something worth doing?

I heard another story about a woman who lives on the East Coast. I can’t remember where exactly, but she grew up in somewhere in that mess that used to be Yugoslavia. As a little girl her life was torn apart by the genocidal war between the Serbians and Croatians and Bosnians. I don’t think the war has a name, but the words “Ethnic Cleansing” were used a lot. Anyway, I can’t imagine being a child in a war zone, how that must feel. Bullets and blood and bombs going off, and fear and violence everywhere… not much to be happy about. Then one day, at Christmas, she got a shoebox from a group called Samaritan’s Purse. Seems silly really. I mean, what difference could someone in America make by filling a shoebox with toys and mailing it to some random kid who might be gang raped and butchered before they get to open it? Well, this woman opened that shoebox, and inside she found hope. Someone had put a gospel tract inside the shoebox along with the requisite toys, and reading about Jesus, she found hope. Today she works full-time for Samaritan’s Purse, sending thousands of shoeboxes to kids all over the planet. The irony is that whoever put that shoebox together probably has no idea what a difference they made!

But this isn’t about starfish or shoeboxes, this is about you. This is about your life. You see, God didn’t give the responsibility of changing the world to me alone. He gave it to everyone who calls themselves a follower of Jesus. He wants us all to be committed. He wants an army of His children on the beach throwing back starfish together. Too many of us are strolling along with our hands in our pockets admiring the view when we should be actively engaged in creating a better world. He’s given you everything you need to be the difference, to stand firm, to be the thin red line of hope. What are you waiting for?

Ways to create change:
1) Draw near to God (We are called to BE the difference, not just MAKE a difference.)

a. Memorize one verse each week.
b. Read your Bible through in a year.
c. Fast for a day.
d. Take notes during church and talk about it over lunch with someone.
e. Journal (Blog about God to God. And keep it private!

2) Volunteer (Churches, shelters, etc, always need help.)
3) Make your major matter (Know how your career makes a difference.)
4) Tithe (Give 10%, save 10%, live on the rest. It’s God’s plan, but you can hear it from pretty much any financial advisor regardless of their religious leanings.)
5) Write a letter (… to the local paper, your congressman, interest groups, etc.)
6) Vote (Let your voice be heard!)
7) Educate your children (Give them a voice worth listening to!)
8) Shop at socially aware businesses (i.e., Tom’s Shoes.)
9) Recycle (Duh.)
10) Pray (I mean REALLY pray, not just once-in-a-while-if-I-remember pray.)
11) Clean out your clutter (See how much you can donate to Salvation Army or Good Will.)
12) Give generously to charity (She needs it.)
13) Share Jesus with someone (Not only is it expected, it is also the most loving thing you can do for someone.)
14) Buy eco-friendly. (Yes, it will probably cost more, but so what?)
15) Go on a mission trip. (LIFE is a mission trip, but we don’t think of it that way often enough.)
16) Give random street people gift certificates to McDonald’s (They can’t spend it on alcohol or drugs that way!)
17) Go to a protest. (Or protest a protest…)
18) Conserve resources (What’s YOUR carbon footprint?)
19) Plant a tree. (Earth Day 2009 is on April 22.)
20) Bring someone with you into any of the above mentioned activities. (2 Timothy 2:2)

Faith and Sound Doctrine

I find so many of us as Christians today disparaging the importance of theology and am grieved. In truth, my heart is cleft by the willful ignorance and outright rebellion against learning sound doctrine. After all, faith without sound doctrine is faith without foundation. Yet that is where millions of us find ourselves today. Instead of applying ourselves (heart, soul, mind and strength) to the study of God’s direct revelation—the Word of God—we choose instead to rely on personal experience to interpret who He is. Though God has given us the Bible as a telescope, “to see Him as He longs to be seen,” we look instead through the kaleidoscope of thoughts and feelings that swirl around us and see wonderful and entertaining patterns which we label “God,” but is at best only a pale shadow of who He really is, and many times is a complete distortion of the truth. As one theologian put it, “God made man in His image, and man is returning the favor.”

Instead of developing a Biblical worldview, we develop a chimeric understanding of reality built from a combination of desires and opinions and fears we experience as we are buffeted by the storms of life raging around us. When faced with hard or even merely moderately difficult decisions we rarely say, “The Bible says…” More often we are inclined to spew out such gems as, “Well, I think…” or “I feel…” or “I believe…” and then we go on our merry way. Who cares what I think/feel/believe?! As followers of Jesus Christ, the only opinion that truly matters is the Lord’s! Of course, ultimately we will have to incorporate our thoughts, feelings and beliefs into our decisions. They are, after all part of who we are and were created to be by the same God we’re blessed to follow. My point is that those things must first be tempered by prolonged exposure to the Word of God.

Indeed, that we should have a deep and abiding concern for sound doctrine is evident both implicitly and explicitly in scripture. Implicitly we can see the “messenger formulas” given hundreds of times throughout the Old Testament which point out that it is not just another person speaking, but the Lord himself. (A messenger formula is the phrase used to describe the source of a particular message, i.e., “Thus says the Lord.”) In the New Testament we see the Lord Jesus Himself quoting scripture repeatedly in His teaching and most poignantly in His confrontation with Satan during a time of temptation (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13). As a child He is lost for three days and later found in the temple debating scholars who were, “astounded at His understanding and His answers.” (Luke 2:41-50) And one might be tempted to argue that He was God and therefore theology was moot for Him. True, but He also left us a record of Himself continually throughout His human existence engaging people with sound doctrine, in the temple, the marketplace, the street, and even in the wilderness. He wanted His followers to understand Him that way! Beyond that we have the example of Jesus’ apostles at the beginning of the church. Their earliest activities as described in Acts 2:42, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching…”

Explicitly, we have both what the Bible says about itself as well as the admonitions it contains to pay attention to what we believe. In the Old Testament we find God telling His people in no uncertain terms, “These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) God is creating a culture there based on the understanding of His Word. Then in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul says, “Be conscientious about yourself and your teaching; persevere in these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16) And, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn't need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) In context we find a young pastor fighting bad doctrine—poor theology—in his church. Paul’s answer? Sound doctrine. And where does that come from? “For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints, and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) “so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and will prosper in what I send it [to do].” (Isaiah 55:11) “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

And maybe you’re reading this now and saying, “I don’t need theology, I just need Jesus.” That’s great, but which Jesus? I mean, there’s a lot of people out there who agree with that simple statement; Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science Church, Moonies and Unitarians to name a few. Unfortunately, unless you want to buy into universalism—the idea that EVERYONE goes to heaven—somebody has the wrong Jesus. Jim Jones loved Jesus too. Want some of his Kool-Aid? David Koresh loved Jesus so much he thought he was Jesus. Didn’t turn out so well for his followers (Branch Davidians), but that’s just more theology you don’t need… or is it?

Listen, everyone is a theologian. We all have opinions about who God is and what He’s like. Even atheists have theological ideas. The question I think we need to focus on is where do those ideas come from? Have we thought them through? Muslims call Christians, “Followers of the Book,” meaning we live according to what the Bible says, but do we? When we pooh-pooh theology, complain when a pastor teaches deeper thoughts about God instead of “Ten Steps to Better Living,” or whatever other “me first” sermon we want to hear, are we really doing ourselves any favors? I don’t think so. Next time, instead of whining about how boring it was to hear about the authority and inerrancy of scripture, or the importance of Baptism, or the person and work of the Holy Spirit, perhaps we should focus on how amazing it is that we serve a God who cares enough to let us hear and understand so much about Him and His world.

When a husband bears his soul to his wife, should she ask him to be more relevant to her and turn up the television, or praise him for his openness and apply herself to understanding him all the more? Isn’t intimacy desirable in marriage? Yet we, the Bride of Christ, don’t want to hear much about Him. We want to hear how he’ll bless us and make our lives easier, but we really don’t want to invest much time in understanding who He really is. It’s as if we’d rather be married to a vending machine. We’d put it in the attic (so our guests wouldn’t know it’s there), then when circumstances warrant, say for instance, when we needed a better parking spot, we could put in a little prayer and out pops a miracle! And we wonder why our faith is so weak, why our lives don’t reflect the joy we were promised, why the “abundant life” for which Christ came seems so flat… We lack sound doctrine. We treat it like spiritual broccoli. We live only a shallow faith, one built on the shifting sand of personal experience, and we wonder why life isn’t better than it seems.

Maybe it is. Maybe it is and we don’t know it because we’re spiritually malnourished. Faith without sound doctrine is faith without foundation.

Mormons. Wow.

"I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man
that has even been able to keep a whole church together since the days of
Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul,
John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a
work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day
Saints never ran away from me yet."

--Joseph Smith, History of the Church

Jenni's note on "why"

My friend Jenni Perkins wrote this great blog on her facebook page and I wanted to save it because I believe she dead-on right.

THOUGHTS ON ASKING "WHY"

The question “Why?” is posed about 420 times in the Bible (according to The Strongest NASB Exhaustive Concordance). Some of the questions are directed to God from man, others to man from God, and still others between men.

We begin asking “Why?” at a very early age, usually as a toddler. It is in our human nature to want to know the reason or purpose for actions we must take or events that happen in our lives (or the lives of others). I remember a little boy I used to baby-sit, who is now driving, by the way… Wow, that makes me feel old! He was never satisfied with any answer I gave to his questions. Each answer was followed with another “why?”

“Why is the sky blue?”

“Because God made it that way.”

“Why?”

“Because He wanted to.”

“Why?”

“Because He thinks it’s a pretty color”

“Why?”

“Because…..”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why?”

Eventually you can distract a 4-year-old with a toy or game and his inquisitive mind gives you peace for a time. However, as we get older, we become more persistent in ask “why?” Especially when we don’t understand the reason God allows certain situations that bring us grief or pain or lack the knowledge of purpose behind it. Thankfully, our Father is patient with us when we continue to question Him and comforts us with His Word. His answer is often a simple “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

In the Bible, Job’s questions with questions (and a bit of sarcasm) that bring the realization of the Lord’s supreme authority over all things.

God answers:“Would you discredit My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like His? Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.” (Job 40:8-10)

Job replies:“I know that You can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You ask, ‘Who is this that obscures My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.”(Job 42:2-3)

I really like Job’s response. He humbly acknowledges God’s ability to do “all things” and his inability to understand the reason why God allows suffering. In the end, we may still have questions and they may never be answered to our satisfaction, yet, we must trust that God knows what He is doing. He created us and everything around us. He causes everything to work together for a purpose, even when we don’t know what it is. This is a difficult lesson to learn (and re-learn) during difficult times in our life. We so often want to be in control and want to know the “why” of everything. Sometimes we just have to trust.

I pray that my heart will be as the following verses—with earnest trust in our Father’s lovingkindness and faithfulness.

“LORD, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child with its mother. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—now and always.”(Psalm 131)

Maybe God is trying to tell me something here, I don't know. I've been thinking a lot lately about the problem of evil, and read Jenni's blog only minutes after finding this passage in J.B. Phillips' You God Is Too Small:

Modern man has a lust for full explanation and habitually considers himself in no way morally bound unless he is in full possession of all the facts. Hence, of course, the prevalence of non-committal agnosticism. Yet it would seem that Christ, God-become-Man, did not give men a full explanation of the origin and operation of the evil forces in this world. (It is perfectly possible that in our present space-time existence we could not comprehend it, anyway.)

I think there's something in us, a hubris, that leads us to believe that we have the right to question God regarding evil. But honestly, whether it be the result of sinful actions (our own or someone else's), or some natural calamity, who are we to judge?

Of course, that doesn't mean that we'll never understand any of the evil that troubles us, occasionally we do understand and I believe we should always try to understand, but the idea that we can always understand, or that we have a right to understand... where does that come from? Certainly not the Bible.

Which leads us to our application. (After all, contemplation without application leads to constipation.) I guess, for me, the application is comfort. Not that I've suffered unduly in life, but I've been through my fair share of "evil" and I expect a lot more is coming, but I take comfort in the knowledge that although I will try to see the reasons behind it all, I don't have to understand it all. It helps me keep the world in a proper perspective, really. God is God. He's infinitely bigger that I am. He's infinitely smarter than I am. He's ultimately more wise than I am, and He's going to take care of everything. My life might never be the same. I might be completely shattered by circumstances, but He's not surprised, He's not in panic mode, He's in control. And yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take comfort in the sure knowledge that evil is only a shadow. It will be cast away by the light of heaven where in the end all things are made new, right and holy. This life will be marked by suffering and pain. Only a fool would deny that. If it hasn't come yet, it will. So the application comes in the hope of a future set apart, in the comfort of knowing that justice and healing will come in God's perfect time.

I don't get it... or maybe I do.

I was thinking recently about the Problem of Evil. It is, perhaps, he greatest quandary of the Christian faith. I've read several books on the subjects and I'm sure I'll continue to study it in the future, but one thing I realize that amazes me continually is that I don't get it... And by that I mean, I can't get it. The Bible speaks quite clearly to this issue in both Job and the Gospels and the answer that God gives, however unsatisfactory, is that there are some things we just can't understand. And that may sound anti-intellectual, but its true nevertheless. The fact is that there are things out there that are fully incomprehensible, metaphysical questions that we will just never grasp. And at some point we need to embrace that. I don't mean we should stop funding science or anything like that. I just mean that at some point we must come to grips with the fact that we ourselves are not capable of understanding everything, that it is only intellectual arrogance to assume that all knowledge is within our grasp.

I think the event that prompted this little nugget of wisdom occurred about nine years ago, with the arrival of our first child. When Alyssa born and I held her for the first time, there arose within me a feeling that was hitherto unknown. It was the love of a father for his daughter. And I remember thinking at the time, "Oh, that's what they meant." It was at that moment that I finally understood what it was my parents had been telling me for 28 years when they said that they loved me. Up to that point my perspective on love had been limited to the understanding of a son to a parent. Now, I stand on the other side of that relationship and I can say with absolute certainty that it's completely different. Until I was a father myself I had no idea what my own father meant when he said that he loved me. I understand now, but I had to actually become something else to gain that insight.

On perhaps an even simpler level, consider this: what is it like to be a mother? I will NEVER know. I'm a man. I can talk to mothers. I can try to serve a mothering role to a child, but I will never go through a pregnancy or give birth. I will never develop the bond that a mother has with a child she has felt grow inside her body. I cannot understand. No man can.

Anyway, my point is that I had to BE a father before I could understand the whole measure of a father's love. One who is childless simply cannot get it. Oh, sure, there is some limited understanding, like seeing a bride through her veil though, it's not the same thing. SO, without trashing science or philosophy or any other pursuit of knowledge, when it comes to God's response to the problem of evil, I get it. I understand why the Bible doesn't offer a likable explanation. It's not that God can't explain it, its that we're too dumb to understand it. And, yes, that's a gross oversimplification, but the point is made: There is a realm of mystery we just can't unravel, and the answer to the problem of evil often dwells in that realm.

And I realize that might be incredibly frustrating for some people. What makes it okay for me personally is the knowledge that even though I don't always get it, sometimes can't get it, I know that God can get it, does get it, and is on my side. I don't have to understand every evil that happens around the world, or even to me personally, because I serve a God who is good and who will ultimately take care of it, even if I die before justice is served.

In the end, I don't enjoy ignorance on these matters, but neither do I fear it. Evil is still evil, and we should always try to understand the world around us, but let us not be so arrogant as to assume that the answers are ours for the having. Sometimes they're just not...

What must I do...

A friend recently asked me a great question about salvation. She wanted to know what the minimum is that a person needs to believe to be saved. Her point was that there are a lot of people out there calling themselves Christians that tend to believe that salvation rests in, “Jesus and.” Jesus AND baptism. Jesus AND good works. Jesus AND sacraments. Jesus AND having a bus load of kids so you can populate your own planet after you die…

Honestly, it’s a hard question to answer. I mean, who wants to be the one who says that someone is or isn’t going to heaven based on a conjunction? And frankly, I have a lot in common with a host of those folks. Still, it’s an honest question that deserves an honest answer. So, here it is. Simply put, Jesus saves. Jesus alone saves. I think where most cults and false religions go wrong is with the conjunction of faith and works. “Jesus and,” is a killer. There is no "AND." There is salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Not Jesus and baptism. Not Jesus and good works. Not Jesus and populating your own special planet. Not Jesus and any other thing. Just Jesus. "Jesus and," means that I'm not really depending on Him for salvation. He's just helping me out a bit. But that's a theological crock of pooh. When I was an undergrad at the University of Oregon, my campus minister put it to me this way, "Jesus isn't my crutch, He's my iron lung." I like that. It shows how silly it is to think that I have anything to do with my own salvation, which is what all those “Jesus and” people want to think.


At the end of the day though “Jesus and” is really only subtraction by addition. “Jesus and” teaches that Jesus Himself is not enough to save us. It subtracts from the power of the cross by adding some other prerequisite for admission into God’s presence in Heaven, which is totally bogus. Jesus is pretty explicit in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.” He didn’t say that He is one of many ways, or part of the way, or the way for some people but not others; He is THE way. The only way. “Jesus and” implies that He’s not enough on His own. It implies that something else is necessary, something I supply, something I am responsible for. And that just isn’t true.

I think the real problem for all those “Jesus and” people out there is that they haven’t really put their faith in Jesus Christ. Oh, they say they have, certainly. But they don’t mean it the same way that the “Jesus only” people do. You see, their understanding of who Jesus is is fundamentally flawed. They make Him less than savior and lord. They make him partially responsible for salvation, and I’m just not sure that’s enough. As I read the New Testament accounts of who Jesus is, I am struck by how totally clear it is that salvation comes by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and I just don’t think “Jesus and” fits that description. (I wonder if this could all be summed up by pointing out that Jesus is THE Christ, the Messiah, the one who saves. You can believe in some dude named Jesus, but if your Jesus isn’t Christ, you’ve got the wrong Jesus.)


SO, I’ll stop short of condemning all the “Jesus and” people to hell. After all, it isn’t my job to determine their eternal destiny, BUT I will say that I’m pretty I’m glad I’m not the one who has to face God the Father and explain why I don’t believe that his Son’s death, burial and resurrection are insufficient for salvation and He should let me into heaven because I also got dunked in the right church, knocked on enough doors, and tithed properly.
Diatribe over.

Jesus the What?

People often say about Him, "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I won't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

Thank you, Dr. Lewis.

Relativism? Give me a break already!

There's so much more to say. I hate to even post this because it seems so shallow, so uncritical. It ignores important arguments to draw light to certain issues, and I hate that, but what can I do. I'd write a book, but within the context of this issue, there's not much to be said. It just needs said louder...

Moral relativism is a concept I've been wrestling with since I was in high school, over 20 years ago. And I'm just dumbfounded that it still exists. "True for you, but not for me," should've died out a long time ago. Given it's porous philosophical underpinnings, I can only attribute it's longevity and current popularity to the desire of man to ignore God and justify sin. Its impressive failure as a viable worldview should've sent it the way of dinosaurs and 8-track tapes, but it clings tenaciously on, as hip as ever, even if it does have the intellectual appeal of the emperor's new clothes. Its like the bacteria of the philosophical world; ubiquitous, often annoying, and unevolved.

What explains this unexpected stamina? I think it must be the sin nature of man. Because man is basically selfish, or evil, he desires above all else to serve himself. Anyone who's ever watched a baby sleep might argue, but everyone who's ever had a child knows this to be true. Babies are pre-programmed to get what they want, and they usually do. Nothing against children here, after all, I have three of my own whom I adore, but they are all undeniably selfish at heart. They have to be taught to share, serve and be considerate of others. It doesn't come naturally.

Altruism, which undeniably exists in human culture is an issue of conscience. C.S. Lewis called it the voice of God. But conscience dictates what we ought to do, not what we actually do. In this sense, conscience represents an understanding of Truth that exists apart from ourselves. Adam Smith called it an "impartial spectator." Whatever we might call it, it is the driving force behind that truth we each call 'morality.' Now, morality might be different from person to person and culture to culture, but it exists universally in the human condition. We are ALL moral people, even if those morals might put us at odds with one another. Some people might be immoral, but no one is amoral.

oops, I digress...

My point is that relativism, which is just, philosophically speaking, pooh, bunk, brain plaque that survives because we are all pre-programmed to fulfill our own desires (regardless of conscience) and relativism gives us the framework to do that. It makes it okay for me to do whatever I want because whatever I want is right for me. Relativism says that its okay for me to cheat on my wife because if that's what I feel is right, then it is right. Never mind the messy painful (for her)divorce, the psychological damage to the children, the awkward uncomfortable plight of friends. If I want to have an affair, its okay because its what I want. Relativism is the supreme elevation of the I within the philosophical moral framework. You are ultimately irrelevant. So if, for instance, I want to start bashing gays, or promote slavery, or forsake preserving the planet for future generations, you shouldn't have a problem with it. After all, as a moral relativist, you can't in good conscience impose your beliefs on me.

"But what about tolerance?!" you might cry. Tolerance is only a virtue if it exists outside the relativist framework. For that matter, the same can be said of diversity. The moment you start blathering on about tolerance, you refute your relativist position, you forsake your own moral high ground, hoping to have it back when non-relativist truth is imposed. But rationally you've lost. Like a spaghetti strainer, your worldview holds no water. Sorry.

The Truth is that relativism is a shallow excuse for people who want to thoughtlessly pursue their own selfish agenda without consequence. It is the philosophical low road. That university professors or their students embrace such claptrap remains unconscionable, not even worthy of the oft misabused title of Dogma.

Why churches suck at reaching students

It is no secret that one of the greatest challenges in campus ministry is getting students to connect with local churches. It is a never-ending battle that has become increasingly difficult as they witness the relentless infighting, back-biting, political wrangling and moral game-playing that takes place in every denomination and most churches. And although a big part of that is ignorance and immaturity on their part, part of it is also ignorance and immaturity on the part of the church. The sooner we own up to that fact, the sooner students are likely to embrace the church. Right or wrong, students sense that churches are in competition with one another, and too busy taking care of their own, in between doctrinal shouting matches, to reach out to the world. And since every student, given the opportunity, wants to change the world, we have a problem with connection. Frankly, one of the most attractive qualities in a local congregation is community outreach. Apart from that, don't expect to see many students on Sunday morning.

Movie Day

So yesterday was a 3 movie day. I am so ashamed. We watched Horton Hears a Who, Surf's Up, and I Am Legend. Of the three, Legend was the worst by far. It was disappointing on more levels than I can easily share, or care to. Horton Hears a Who, on the other hand was pretty good. Not only was it somewhat entertaining, it had some pretty decent theological implications that I was glad my kids got to hear. The whole thing revolves around the idea that Horton the Elephant is in contact with people he can't see because his ears are so big. Soon, the rest of the jungle shuns him, led by a vicious kangaroo who boldly (and errantly) claims that if you can't see it, hear it, or feel it, it doesn't exist. Horton is labeled a dissident and the fun begins. The kangaroo will go to any length to rid Horton of the clover on which his invisible friends rest, including violence.

How like our own society. How like the atheist movement. It was uplifting to know that my children were there to witness on screen how easy it is to persecute someone who might not fit in exactly with the culture even though that person is totally justified in their beliefs and actions. Horton took a stand for what he believed, facing down even an angry mob because he knew he was right. How noble. How integritous. (I think I just invented a word there.)

The truth is that Horton's belief in his invisible friends, who had proven beyond reasonably doubt their existence to him, was the metaphorical equivalent to my own belief in Jesus Christ. He has proven to me thousands of times over that He is not only there and real, but Lord and God. That many others don't agree is a shame, but it doesn't make me wrong to believe as I do. The Flying Toaster and Spaghetti Monster crowd can shout and rant and rave all they want, they only look increasingly silly, ignorant and desperate for doing so. They can persecute the truth all they want, but they can't change it.

On the opposite side of Horton's dilemna is the mayor of Whoville, himself beset by weak-minded fools who impugn his reputation and resort to name-calling to prove their position. Again, the resemblance to most neo-darwinists I've encountered is uncanny. Yes, there exists an informed minority in the humanist/materialist/atheist crowd who are willing to politely engage in reasonable debate, but they are just that, a minority. Most of them fare no better than Seuss's kangaroo.

WARNING: May be offensive to some college students.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed , accurately handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

I weep for the Bride of Christ. I weep because my kids do a better job of this than most of the young 'leaders' in the church today.

In the Spanish epic El Poema de Mio Cid there is a line:

“¡Oh Dios, qué buen vasallo
si tuviese buen Señor!”

Translation: "God! What a good vassal, if only he had a good Lord."

And it is this line that I am horrifically remined of time and again as I look out across the current generation of young (under-25) leaders in the church. There are so many good followers of Christ, and so few good leaders. On a recent trip to El Salvador I spent the better part of a week meeting with national, regional and local leaders and was shocked, truly shocked at how poor the country is in its leadership. There are a few bright stars in the night sky, but most of the church is flailing about in the darkness, desperate for men to lead them. We visited somewhere in the neighborhood of a dozen churches and without exception they yearned for discipleship and evangelism training, and PASTORAL LEADERSHIP. After surveying the wreckage that passes for leadership in the Church in El Salvador, I returned smugly home to my ministry among college students here, thinking how blessed we were in the church in America, only to discover an even worse tragedy; not only is there a desperate need for the same training and leadership, here exist as well the twin spirits of apathy and arrogance.

I am saddened that there is an entire generation of leaders growing up in our churches and schools who think they are soooo cool. Too cool. Many of them are arrogant enough to think they've got it all figured out. Others too apathetic to care. And still others who make the unfortunate mistake of rejecting the present to embrace a future they are ill-equipped to understand, articulate or justify. They're so invested in orthopraxy that they've forgotten orthodoxy completely. They're in such a rush to do good things they forget that it is only through long centuries of hard study by previous generations that they even have the slightest clue what 'good things' are.

I am saddened that they, the leaders, so quickly throw away "traditional" methods of education, like seminary, in favor of their own wisdom, usually gleaned from trolling the internet for quotes, surfing Wiki-pedia, and midnight discussions with peers over pizza. Wow. Now THAT'S what I call "being diligent." The hubris is as heart-breaking as it is spectacular. And many who read this won't even know what I just said. But rather than looking up 'hubris' and 'orthopraxy' in the dictionary they'll write it off as irrelevant because I'm too old-fashioned, or just plain too old. (The King James, BTW, of 2 Timothy 2:15, says, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." They believe instead that they can get closer to God, not by studying His word, but by "living it out." (What exactly they're living out, they wouldn't know because they haven't studied the book--indeed, don't know how to study it--which they're supposedly embracing more deeply, but hey, let's not go there.)

I am saddened because if I have to listen to one more ignorant fool raving about how important it is to get on with living the Christian life without taking the time to seriously consider what that means (and by 'seriously consider' I mean study deeply, not just read another Shane Clairborne or Donald Miller novel)... I just might vomit.

Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe in my desire to serve God and His people I have overreached. Maybe. Maybe the people I think of as leaders, aren't. Maybe I need to rethink my whole leadership paradigm. Maybe the people I see desiring influence in the kingdom of God are really just a bunch of pretenders. Or maybe they're just a lot more immature than I thought. I should know. I was a late bloomer myself. I piddled through college in a blazing five and a half years with a scorchin' hot 2.4 GPA. It wasn't until I had already been in ministry for a year that I fully realized that in order to be effective I had to get educated. I started in seminary at 28 years old.

Look. What I'm saying is pretty simple. If you think God is calling you to be a leader in the church (music/youth/children/pastoral/missions/etc.) and you haven't taken time to seriously consider your spiritual education, you're a joke. And the Bride of Christ deserves better than that, and God's word demands more from you. "Just Do It" was a greatNike slogan, but they left it up to YOU to define what IT is. That won't fly in the church. If you would be a shepherd of God's flock, a lead in Christ's bride, you have to be the one to define IT, and that requires more than most of you are giving. It requires formal education. It requires reading, STUDYING. The Apostle Paul understood that. He was educated. And apparently the Holy Spirit thought it was important enough to write down. Consider that the next time you open you Bible. Are you skimming though a chapter, or are you meking every effort, being diligent, studying so that you can lead effectively God's people.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed , accurately handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

Just when you thought...

So I'm coming home from the Parents' Night Out fundraiser tonight at 10:30 pm, and I almost hit a guy crossing against the light on 4th street. Nothing crazy about that, except he was on HORSEBACK! What an idiot. I assume he was drunk. Why else would you ride through downtown on horseback at 10:30 at night?