The Sword v. the Cup – the Purpose of Government and Church

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The last 30 years of political involvement by the evangelical movement has left me jaded and cynical.  The failed agenda of the Moral Majority and all its various spawn over the last three decades should bring us to a critical examination of evangelical thinking about the nature of government.

According to Romans 13, the purpose of government is to visit the wrath of God upon the one who practices evil.  This is set over against the closing verses of Romans 12 which admonish us not to take our own revenge upon our enemy, but to leave room for the wrath of God.  The government is the agent of that wrath, a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.  Government is a minister of God for justice.  The church is the minister of God for mercy.  The government is to promote and practice justice and the church is to proclaim and preach the gospel.

The government bears the sword of God while the church bears the cup of Christ.

The government metes out punishment while the church metes out pardon.  There is a wall of separation between church and state and it is the wall of purpose – government and church have different purposes.  The government is to work to make this a just nation while the church is to work to make this a justified nation.  Our political leaders, therefore, should be known for their commitment to justice, not to Christ.  They should be those who are committed to our constitutional rights as citizens and not our spiritual righteousness as individuals.

In short, our President is not our Pastor.

It is not God’s intention that the President turn this nation back to God.  It is God’s intention that our President promote justice and protect the citizens from injustice.  This is the purpose and limited scope of government.  But there are those who want to make it more than it is.

It seems that some evangelicals think that if we could just get ‘our man’ into the White House (or other high offices), this nation could be turned ‘back to God.’  But the purpose of government is not to turn the nation back to God.  The purpose of government is to protect its citizens from evil men and to punish evil men.  In wanting to get ‘our man’ into the White House, some are confusing purposes with results.  Will a Christian President result in a more Christian nation?  Will his influence radiate out and be felt at an existential level in the hearts of the citizens?  So far, the answer to that is a resounding NO.  Carter, Bush1, Clinton, Bush2, and Obama have all claimed to be Christian – but their Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, and United Church of Christ faith have all resulted in – well, not much in terms of the results of righteousness.

Purpose has to do with what should be.  Result has to do with what could be.  When what could be overshadows what should be, we are aiming at results and not focusing on purposes.  When we expect a result from a purpose not engineered to produce that result, disappointment and disillusionment are right around the corner.  If I drive my Ford Focus to pick up twelve high-schoolers in order to take them to camp, I won’t get the result I desire.  I am expecting too much – the load is too great.  A Ford Focus is not a 15 passenger van.

When we expect a whole nation to be spiritually moved by a just President, we are expecting too much.  When we expect a whole nation to be impacted by a godly President, we are expecting too much.  Expected results should be in line with intended purposes.  We are expecting too much of our government officials when we expect them to forward the agenda of the church.

Proverbs 20:8, and similar Scriptures, are sometimes forwarded in this kind of discussion –

A king who sits on the throne of justice disperses all evil with his eyes.

Two things – the President is not a king and America is not a theocracy.  An eastern monarch was a despot (benevolent or otherwise) who wielded much more authority than does a democratically elected President.  He could be arbitrary, erratic, and dictatorial and there were few checks upon his power.  In our day, even the most godly President imaginable will still be surrounded by a vast bureaucracy marked by spiritual indifference and vested self-interest.  And even the most godly President would still need to appeal to the Constitution and not the Bible as a basis for his/her decisions.

Yes, righteousness still exalts a nation and sin is still a reproach to any people.  Yes, Christians should very much be involved in politics and in the political process.  But let’s not fool ourselves into believing that government can deliver more than it is designed to do.  (In many cases it doesn’t even deliver what it is designed to do.)  The government cannot deliver righteousness even as my Ford Focus can’t transport 15 people.  There are two mutually compatible ways to exalt a nation – the exercise of a just administration and the ministry of a Bible informed, Spirit formed church.  Let’s expect from the government what the government is purposed to do and let’s expect from the church what the church is purposed to do.  And let’s pray for mercy from God.

Willing to Change

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“Nobody changes until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.”

– Ed Stetzer

It is hardly debatable that we are creatures of habit. This is proved to me every Sunday as I look out upon the congregation. Almost without fail I know where certain people will be seated. It is as if we have assigned season ticket seating in the sanctuary. Regular routines help ensure a certain level of comfort, and we like comfort. There is of course inevitable conflict; someone is bound to [uneittingly] take your seat. But if there is one thing we can be sure of in this life it is change. Change decreases our comfort and increases our stress, so it is not uncommon to find that we generally resist it.

Our church, Calvary Escondido, has been in a transitional period, experiencing many changes over the last 6+ years. The biggest of those changes has certainly been transition in senior leadership that took place when I began pastoring the church 4 years ago. It was a huge change for all involved; a change that definitely brought about some stress and times of discomfort. By God’s grace and faithfulness it has proven to be a great transition. In my observations and interactions over the last 4 years I’ve come to see that much of the stress of this change has proven to be “eustress” or good stress.

Yes, there is such a thing as good stress. Think of finishing your degree, taking a new job, getting married, going on vacation, buying a house or having a baby. At some level each of these bring about stress, most of which is healthy and enjoyable, but it’s stress nonetheless. In a normal life such things are [essentially] unavoidable. To go a step further, I think that it is important to recognize that in the normal life of a healthy church transitional changes are necessary and good. Such transitional changes are about to become a far more regular and normal occurrence. The overwhelming majority of Calvary Chapel Pastors are among the Baby Boomer generation which, as of last year, has now hit retirement age.

I recognize and understand that retirement for Boomer’s looks quite a bit different than it did for those of the “Builder” generation. This is all the more true for Christians (especially pastors) who find no biblical support for retirement as we [currently] know it in America. That said, I think we all recognize that many of our pastors and churches are in transition, whether we were planning for it or not. Such transition does not mean a rocking chair on a porch retirement, but it may mean a life that looks radically different than the previous 25-30 years has.

Embracing Change

As I set now, 4 years into our [very successful] transition at Calvary Escondido, I am incredibly grateful that, although it was difficult at first, my pastor embraced this transition and change. Pat Kenney had pastored CCEsco for 27 years. He had seen the church grow from 25 to over 500, and move from a school, to rented spaces, to the purchase and buildout of our very own facility. Under his leadership CCEsco had seen great leaders raised up, missionaries and church planters sent out, and new para-church ministries established. When God began to bring the initial winds of change, Pat did not fight against it. I know for certain that he was not planning such a move, nor did he actively set out for transition. If God had so willed, Pat would have continued pastoring this church for many years into the future. But when God began to direct in new paths, Pat was willing and open to what God was doing.

It is very easy for us to hold on to the status quo, and find ourselves kicking against the goads of God’s will. But being lead by His Spirit means being open to His moving, even if we are not initially desiring the change.

Mitigating Change

One of the reasons that our transition has gone so smoothly is that many years before it happened our Elders, in recognize the call God had placed upon my life, began allowing me the opportunity to preach and teach before the larger body. To that point I had been a youth pastor, with very little interaction with the adult congregation, but at 22 I was given the responsibility of leading our Saturday night service and regularly rotated in on Sunday’s and Wednesdays. A year before our transition in 2008, I began teaching nearly all of our Sunday services. This teaching schedule was not the product of a transitional plan, as much as it was out of necessity. Pat’s wife was undergoing treatment for cancer – which ultimately took her life – and Pat was facing health problems of his own that precluded him from taking a regular preaching schedule. Even so Pat was willing to allow the bulk of the teaching responsibilities to fall to his 27 year-old assistant. This openness greatly mitigated the ultimate transition; so much so that when it was announced in April of 2008, there were many newcomers to CCEsco who already knew me as their pastor.

Maintaining Consistency

Sure, we’d like things to stay the same, but they rarely do.  It is however important to maintain a level of consistency in whatever areas possible.  Thankfully we have a great team of elders, leaders and staff at CCEsco.  If it weren’t for the consistent leadership team, I’m fairly certain we would not have had as successful a transition as we have.  There is no way that everything will remain the same when new leadership steps in, but maintaining consistency of core values and mission is critical.  Furthermore, I believe it is important to make changes strategically and slowly in a church with a well established culture.  Even if they are big changes, they should be presented clearly and sometimes implemented incrementally.

After almost 6 years being married and 4 years as a head pastor (it’s hard for me at 32 to use the word senior :)) I’m more convinced now than ever that a church is like a bride; not my bride, but a bride nonetheless.  My bride [Andrea] desires security and consistency.  If I were sporadic or fickle she would have a very difficult time following or being submissive.  Although the church is not the bride of the pastor (some pastors sure live like it is, but that is perhaps a future article), she still desires security and consistency.  Sporadic and fickle leadership will scatter the sheep; thus maintaining consistency wherever possible during periods of change is important.  But resistance to change is not an option.

As the winds of change fill the air among many of the churches in our movement, it is vital that we face them with reasonable thoughtfulness.

What if…

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I’ve been thinking a lot about this simple phrase.
To me it speaks of possibility.
It speaks of transformation.
It speaks of the ways and thoughts of God.

What if…

…we made the greatest commandment our greatest commitment?
…we remembered that you can’t fulfill the great commission by neglecting the greatest commandment?
…we lived out the reality of the resurrection?
…we really chose not to worry or fear?
…we were as committed to unity as those who tried to build the Tower of Babel?
…we were really servant leaders?
…we love our wives as Christ loves the church?
…we didn’t use the ministry to keep us from having to interact with God?
…we viewed the church as a disciple making organism and not as a business?
…we stopped thinking that we had the right to share our opinions and stopped judging another man’s servant?
…we really believed in Jesus’ power to reconcile?
…we were really overflowed by the Holy Spirit?
…older pastor really mentored younger pastors?
…those same older pastors allowed younger pastors to be who God made them to be?
…younger pastors realized that they don’t know what they don’t know?
…we truly prayed without ceasing?
…movements and denominations didn’t resist the continual reforming of the church?
…churches gave their savings to the work of the kingdom in the least reached countries in the world?
…we truly died to ourselves?
…we stopped defining ourselves by what we are against?
…we realized that men will know that we are his disciples by the love we have one for another?
…we only cared what God thought?
…the church stopped being trendy and started being timeless?
…we truly fed the poor?
…we were more Christian than American?
…we were concerned enough for people to actually really share the life-giving gospel with them?
…we stopped snuggling up to the proclivities of our culture?
…we talked to people in person rather than behind their backs?
…if we truly feared God?
…we became the servant of all instead of lording our position over people?
…loved the whole world as God does?
…we lived out the grace that we proclaimed?

Soteriology in the Middle (Part I)

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“…we trust in the living God, who is [the] Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.” 1 Timothy 4:10b

 

Brain Cramps

Over the past ten years of my life as a follower of Jesus perhaps no theological category has caused me to spend hours reading, thinking, and processing as much as the category of Soteriology.  Soteriology is the study of salvation.  More specifically, it is the study of what we might call the fine print of salvation.  Basic soteriology is what unifies all born-again Christians as the universal church.  Basic soteriology simply states the simple gospel.  It is the truth that though all people are sinners we can be saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in the Jesus Christ of the Bible alone.  Basic soteriology affirms the basic concepts of the gospel message.

 

But beyond the basic truth of the simple gospel the systematic theology category of soteriology goes much deeper.  It discusses such things as the order of the decrees of God in salvation.  It discusses the place of divine election and sovereignty and their relationship to human responsibility in the salvation of people.  Does God choose us?  Do we choose God?  Is it both?  Soteriology addresses the extensiveness and intensiveness of the effects of sin and the curse in the lives of human beings.  Did man lose free-will in becoming a sinner or does he retain free moral agency as God’s image-bearer?  Soteriology addresses the extent of the atonement of the cross of Christ on behalf of human beings.  Did Jesus die for every individual sinner or only the elect who ultimately become believers? Soteriology address the application of redemption in the lives of God’s people.  Do we exercise faith through which we become born-again, or does God make us born-again so that we exercise faith?  Soteriology addresses the security of the believer in Christ.  If I am born-again does God keep me saved or do I?  Can I lose my salvation through habitual sinning after coming to Jesus, or does the grace of God and work of the Holy Spirit cause me to persevere ultimately faithful until I see Jesus face to face?

 

My Early Soteriological Journey

Early on in my Christian experience I was discipled in what would be considered a Reformed church.  The first Bible study I attended of any kind was a study through eminent Reformed theologian R.C. Sproul’s book Chosen by God.  Needless to say, looking back that probably wasn’t the most helpful study I could’ve engaged in as a new Christian given the gravity and meaty nature of the topics that book articulates.  Non-the-less, that study and subsequent reading on the subject over the next few years resulted in my becoming an avid and, I would say, militant Five Point Calvinist.  A Five Point Calvinist is one who adheres to all Five Points of the acrostic TULIP which describe what most today consider the finer points of Reformed Soteriology.  In short the Five Points teach as follows:

 

Total Depravity: As a result of the curse on mankind which we have partaken of due to our willful rebellion against God in Adam, all mankind is depraved,  or completely sinful.  The effect of sin in our lives is not merely extensive though, it is also intensive and destroys the freedom of the will in humans.  Mankind is in a state of total inability and cannot trust in the gospel nor does he desire to do so.  But for the elect God graciously softens their hearts and removes the barrier of total inability that they might see their need for Him and trust in the gospel.

 

Unconditional Election: God chooses whom He will save and whom He won’t simply in accordance with His own pleasure and plans without consideration of what man would or wouldn’t, could or couldn’t choose when presented with the gospel message.

 

Limited Atonement: Jesus did not die for every individual sinner in a saving way.  Rather, only those whom God unconditionally elected to salvation in eternity past have their sins atoned for savingly by Jesus on the cross.

 

Irresistible Grace: All those whom God unconditionally elected and provided atonement for in the cross of Christ will be saved through the irresistible call of the Holy Spirit.  God is able to overcome even the hardest heart and bring the spiritually dead sinner to faith.

A sub-doctrine of Irresistible Grace is the Reformed understanding of the doctrine of Monergistic Regeneration.  This doctrine is summarized by R.C. Sproul this way: “We do not believe in order to be born-again.  We are born-again in order that we may believe.”  Simply put, this doctrine teaches that God makes people new creations before they ever exercise or express faith in the gospel.  When someone responds to the gospel in faith it is because God has already done a secret work in their heart bringing them to spiritual life and saved them.

 

Perseverance of the Saints: All whom God unconditionally elected in eternity past, made atonement for on the cross, and who are born-again through the irresistible work of the Holy Spirit will persevere in faith in Christ till death or the Second Coming.  Of all who are found, none will be lost.  It is argued that if we didn’t choose to be saved then we cannot choose to be unsaved either.

 

Soteriology in the Middle

Whereas in the past I would’ve preached and been able to affirm my whole-hearted agreement with the above declarations, today I’m in a different place.  To be sure I see a lot of value in some of the statements above.  But there are a couple key areas of disagreement I have with some of the propositions of Five Point Calvinism.  If you were to attend a Refuge Distinctives class at our church you’d hear us say in regard to our theological streams that we are Evangelical, Missional, and Moderate.  On the Moderate point one of the things we are getting at is that we are neither Five Point Calvinists or what is often seen as the only other option, Five Point Arminians.  Instead, we are moderate.  We are in the middle of these two systems of soteriology.  We say this because though we would affirm the basic concepts of Total Depravity and Perseverance of the Saints for instance, we particularly would disagree with Limited Atonement and Irresistible Grace.

 

Something Just Isn’t Right

Theses points have become to me the most troubling of the Five Points in recent months.  I remember the first time I heard those words, “We do not believe in order to be born-again.  We are born-again in order that we may believe.”  Even as a new Christian they just didn’t feel right.  I had heard people say that to be saved I needed to trust in Jesus.  I had thought I’d read that in the Bible.  But this doctrine seemed to say that I trusted in Jesus because I’d been irresistibly saved without my knowledge or choice in anyway before I exercised or expressed faith in Jesus.  I also remember hearing for the first time that if you looked closely enough at the Bible you’d see plainly that Jesus didn’t really die in an atoning way for all individuals.  That just seemed wrong as well.  I didn’t understand how you could fit “some” or “the elect” into verses like John 3:16, 1 Timothy 4:10, or 1 John 2:2.  Still I was fully discipled in Calvinism and shown how it all made “logical” sense.  Years later after reading both sides of this issue along with my Bible I’ve come back to that place of discomfort with these doctrines.  However logical the doctrines may be in connection with the Calvinistic system, I don’t see it as scripturally supported logic.

 

To Come…

In my next posts I will flesh out some of what I now see as a more biblical and moderate approach to the issues of Limited Atonement and Irresistible Grace and what I would call Moderate Soteriology.  I’ll look forward to the discussions that hopefully roll out from opening up this series of posts!  But in this area almost more than any other we need to remember to stand together and speak what we believe to be the truth in a spirit of unity and love.  Until next time…

 

Failures and Lessons Learned

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Two weeks ago I blogged about ways to remain motivated in ministry. In the article I mentioned a string of painful events that led to my resignation from the pastorate in Monterey in 2006.

One of the comments on that post was from Gunnar Hanson, who asked me the following question:

“You planted the church and were there for 27 years when something bad happened (I have no idea what this was other than what you shared above) that caused you to resign. As I young pastor, I am very curious about what happened and the lessons you learned through this to serve as a warning for us younger guys that might get to big for our britches so to speak…hope this makes sense.”

I’m going to use today’s blog in an attempt to respond. I could speak for hours on the subject, but I promise to be brief here.

There were several things that happened that led to my resignation. The big one was that my marriage was in need of major repair, as we attempted to recover from my wife’s infidelity and issues that may have contributed to it. The public nature of our issues created unrest and some anger in the church. Approximately 5% of the people had been identified with varying degrees of angst. The board was supportive of me continuing on, but I was majorly challenged on three fronts: I was fighting to save the marriage, there was a need to work with the 5%, and there was a significant church body to continue pastoring. I figured I could handle two out of the three (with much grace, of course), but not all three. So I resigned. I do not regret it, although it was extremely painful to do so. I loved the church and people of CC Monterey Bay.

What lessons did I learn? Great question. Mistakes can be a great teacher, and I made my share of them, including in the last couple of years.

1.    Don’t become relationally disconnected from leadership. Unfortunately, I did just that. The senior pastorate is a privilege, and since we senior pastors normally have a great deal of freedom to determine our own schedules, pace, appointments, etc., we must use our freedom well. In the last couple of years, I focused more on the machinery of the church than on people.

2.    Don’t go “corporate” with your leadership structure. Because I had allowed relationships to wane, I tried to adjust to the relational deficiencies by adopting a corporate model of leadership, with a top to bottom org chart that further isolated me from some. The result: there were reporting channels to maintain, and some no longer had access to me, and I to them.

3.    Don’t raise up the wrong people. I put a couple of people in positions of authority that should not have been given that kind of responsibility or visibility. The “do not lay hands on anyone hastily” admonition in 1 Timothy is tremendously important. I knew that … was usually very careful for 25 of 27 years, but I got careless and paid for it.

4.    Talk to yourself with proper “self talk.” David talked to himself, and the results were most often very good. 

“Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” (Psalm 103:1)

“O my soul, you have said to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.’” (Psalms 16:2)

“Why are you cast down, o my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.”

But there was at least one occasion when David’s self talk was inaccurate and harmful—and almost led to his destruction.

And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.” (1 Samuel 27:1)

David was NOT going to perish at Saul’s hand! It was not gonna happen! He was God’s anointed and chosen king. But in spite of the truth, David acted on that lie he told himself, and went to live with the Philistines for 16 months. Near the end of those months, David’s men were talking about stoning him to death! It was a horrible decision David made, based on very bad information.

I lied to myself in those last couple of years, and my decisions reflected it. God had been faithful, He was being faithful, and He would continue to be faithful. I needed to believe what was true, what I truly believed! We pastors need to speak God’s truth to ourselves.

5.    Don’t believe your own press clippings. In the pastorate, there will be those who love us to pieces, there will be those who are real fans, and there will be others of different categories. People will talk, people will write things, and lots of opinions will flow and circulate. 

We mustn’t rely upon these things. The only true thing about us is what God says about us. He identifies and knows us completely. His estimation is what matters.

Next to God’s estimation of us is our wives’ estimation of us. She knows the truth better than anyone else.

Humility is the state of realistic thinking about one’s self. It’s a constant struggle to be sober-minded, but we must trust the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to help us.

6.    Keep the main thing, the main thing. My marriage didn’t survive, after all. I ended up divorced … it was a divorce I did not want. I have since remarried to a godly, beautiful woman who is a great source of encouragement and support for me. The Lord gave Sheri to me, and I have found a good thing (Pr. 18:22). 

I am therefore entrusted with a stewardship, which is to take care of her and treat her as Christ treats His church. I am one with her. I am called to obey 1 Peter 3:7 just like any married Christian man is called to obey 1 Peter 3:7.

Right now, I am trying to learn the kind of intimacy and oneness with my wife that I haven’t known well enough in the past. It’s a major challenge for me, but I must follow through. I want to follow through.

Next to my relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is my relationship with this woman. It’s got to be my main thing.

There’s much more I could say, but I’ll stop there. Maybe in another blog I’ll add to these thoughts. Thanks for reading.

Gunnar, thanks for asking the question.

Air Prayer

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You’ve heard of Air Guitar, but have you heard of Air Prayer?  They are alike in significant ways.  WIKIPEDIA describes Air Guitar as –

… a form of dance and movement in which the performer pretends to play rock or heavy metal-style electric guitar, including riffs/solos/etc.  Air guitar is generally used in the imaginary simulation of loud electric guitar music.

There is a lot of pretend and the imaginary in Air Prayer.  Air Prayer pretends to be a serious approach to God and is the imaginary simulation of coming before Him.

Air Prayer is a professional hazard for the pastor.

One of the characteristics of Air Prayer is that it is formal and ceremonious.  And in pointing this out I mean that it is required and official and something that has to be done.  Routinely, prayer is structured into the very form of our public times together.

We all have formal times we pray – because we have to or feel obligated to – at meals/at service/before and after Bible studies, etc.  There are times that, if we didn’t pray someone would say or think, “Hey, we’re supposed to pray before we eat, teach the Bible, begin the service, go street witnessing, etc.”  Routinely, prayer is structured into the very form of our public times together.  And this is a very good thing – and yet it poses a professional hazard. You are very acquainted with this professional hazard.  Just examine your own experience.

We have all prayed and then 10 seconds later can’t remember what we prayed.  We have all prayed and then 10 seconds into the prayer realize that we are just mouthing platitudes and really aren’t (if we’re honest) addressing ourselves to our holy God.  The prayer is addressed to Him, but our hearts and minds are engaged with what’s next.  We pray the same thing at the same time over and over again.  Anyone who has been paying attention can, after a while, get up and repeat our prayers.  (Caveat: we can pray the same thing over and again and, because of faith, we do connect with God and the people do experience the heartfeltness of it.  Yet, I have to be honest with myself and realize that often this doesn’t happen).  There is a difference between formal times of prayer and the prayers that are prayed during these formal times.  Yet the prayers prayed at formal times can easily become formal prayers – this is the professional hazard.

I’m a great air pray-er.  It’s easy for me to pray a formal prayer out of obligation and not from thoughtful consideration.  I often find myself 10-15 seconds into a public prayer and realize I am just mouthing platitudes.  When I preach, I will announce my text, read it, and then say, “Let’s pray.”  One-tenth of a second later I am praying, “Father, bless this time.  Help us to hear Your voice. We want to meet with You. We lift our hearts up to You.  May we hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.  In Jesus’ name, amen.”  Do I mean what I pray?  Sure.  Am I thinking about what I pray?  Not so much – it just rolls of my tongue without thinking.  Mealtime prayers, beginning of service prayers, end of service prayers, Bible study prayers, baby dedication prayers, healing prayers, etc., have become so familiar that I can thoughtlessly and seamlessly spew them forth.  I told you, I’m a good air pray-er.  But I have come to the place where I despise not formal times of prayer, but formal prayers, froth and foam prayers, thoughtless prayers.

One of the greatest lessons of prayer I have ever learned, I learned in 45 seconds one afternoon.  I was at some pastor’s event and Tony Holyde (pastoring CC Shoreline in Morro Bay at the time) was asked to pray.  We all bowed our heads and for 15 seconds there was silence.  I thought, “Maybe he’s just thinking of something to pray that will impress us pastors.”  Another 15 seconds of silence rolled by.  I cocked my head and squinted through one eye to see if he had heard that he was requested to pray and was getting ready.  I couldn’t discern anything with my subtle squint.  Another 15 seconds passed and finally Tony began to pray.  It was a simple prayer.  It was heartfelt.  It was in the moment – no pre-cooked words.  I connected with God through Tony’s prayer.  I was edified.  Tony wasn’t trying to impress us pastors, he was quieting his heart before God.

When you are asked to pray – 45 seconds is a long time to wait before you begin.  People begin to wonder/to look around/to feel uncomfortable.  A 45 second pause is, well … an inefficient use of time.  Yet Tony’s 45 second pause helped me in my prayer life more than 10 books on prayer ever could.  My greatest challenge in prayer is quieting my heart before God.  When I don’t still my heart before God, I default to automatic mode and pray what routine and repetition have programmed into my mind.  When I don’t quiet my heart and launch right into prayer, froth and foam come forth.  When I still my heart, gather my thoughts, zero in on what is needed in the moment, my prayer becomes a thoughtful, meaningful approach to God.  The words may be the same words I have prayed 100 times before, but the mood, the spirit, the Spirit is different – and the people can feel it.  And I can sense that the people have experienced God in the prayer and not just heard the words of the prayer.

I could still hold my own in an Air Prayer competition, but what I learned in 45 seconds of silence has helped to revitalize and preserve my prayer life – both formal and otherwise.

Sanctity of Human Life

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My thoughts are focused on the Sanctity of Human Life as it approaches this January 22–which also marks the 39th anniversary of Roe V. Wade. Think about this. It is estimated that 92,000 people died as a result of the earthquake in Haiti a couple years ago. This is the number of children that have been aborted every 22 days since this ruling in 1973. Let that sink in. 1.5 million babies have been aborted each year, on average, since 1973.  These numbers are greater than our ability to comprehend.

A few years ago I was pursuing a doctoral degree, but withdrew from the program during my dissertation phase (my guilt speaking, but I will save that for another day).  During the summer of 2007 I attended a seminar that rocked my world. The topic was abortion. During the seminar, we met one of the director of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform an organization that is fighting to protect babies that are facing abortion. During this seminar, he showed a very powerful video on abortion. I opted out for a number of reasons–primarily I didn’t want to face the reality of what it was. A few months after the fact, I decided I should watch it to see what it actually was.  As I watched the video the veil was lifted concerning abortion.  I could no longer live in denial about what it was–anything but a choice.  I encourage you, especially if you are pro-choice, to watch it by following this hyperlink:  This IS Abortion

The majority of Americans seem quite content living under an allusion that abortion is all about “women’s rights” and claim many reasons to justify it. You may be included, I know I was. If this is you, I implore you to watch the posted video so that you gain understanding concerning the truth of abortion.

God used this seminar to shake me to my core. It culminated January 2008, as I found myself pastor of Valley Baptist Church and preaching every Sunday. The Sanctity of Human Life Sunday was fast approaching and I had to decide would I comment on the issue.

Many factors seemed to be at play. First, I stumbled across a chapter in John Piper’s book, “Brothers, We Are Not Professionals” that challenged pastors on this topic–me in particular. I felt like such a coward. Then, I realized that I was finishing First Timothy the Sunday before Sanctity of Human Life Sunday…what would I do? I had no excuses. Ultimately, I decided that I needed to take a stand. I would preach on the topic from a biblical vantage point. This was the hardest sermon I have ever preached. I came with great personal pain, anger, and sorrow. I have preached on this subject ever since without regrets.

In my heart I don’t think that someone can remain “pro-choice” after viewing this posted video, yet I know that I am wrong because many people are involved in this “medical procedure” day in and day out and are not moved by their actions. Our conscience is truly seared concerning this subject.

There are a few things that I want to say specifically on this matter:

1. If you have been involved in abortion (both female and male), Jesus has paid the penalty for you sin. Forgiveness is available to you if you ask Him. Forgiveness and consequence are two separate matters. Once forgiven, I believe it can take many years to sort through the guilt, shame, and scars.

2. I believe aborted children are resting in the arms of God. They are safe with Him.

3. Concerning abortion to day. This is murder. We must act to defend the lives of the innocent. I am not suggesting that we murder abortionist, but we must rise up and help the helpless through political means, supporting your local pro-life pregnancy clinic, reaching out to abort-intent women, along with caring for young single moms who decided to keep their kids.

To you apathetic Christian, I implore you to watch the video and ask yourself, “What does God think about this?” Do you say, “Personally, I would never do it. But, I could never tell someone else what to do.” Really? Watch the video, then tell me that! Then I would encourage you to read Proverbs 24:11-12 and ask yourself, “How does this passage relate toward abortion?”

To you apathetic pastor, you must realize that in your seats sit those young, older, single, with kids and without kids who are contemplating abortion.  I sit on the board of Alternatives Women’s Center in Escondido, CA.  I am shocked to see the social-economic range of ladies who come in considering an abortion.  Yes, pastor, your people included.  Also, realize that statistically 1 out of 3 women in your church have had an abortion and are suffering in silence.  I am shocked at the number of pastors who are cowards, I use this word coward very intentionally, when it comes to the speaking of abortion.  You have an obligation to speak on this matter for three reasons: 1) to education your people on the biblical reasons against abortion,  2) to offer hope and healing to both men and women who are suffering in silence with the scars of abortion, and 3) help your people get involved in this battle to protect the lives of the unborn.

Please people, watch this video. Let it hurt. Let the tears flow. Let it move you into action.  Be ignorant no more!

Looking Back, Looking Up and Looking Forward

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I wrote this for the folks at Crossroads Community Church. Since this is the start of a new year, I thought it was apropos.

So in just a few days, we will be turning the page on the year 2011. It is amazing to think how quickly this year has flown by. When I was at Crossroads last week, I had the pleasure of sharing God’s word with the church at our Sunday morning gatherings. What an amazing time! But I was also overjoyed to share a short devotion with the Crossroads and Cornerstone staffs at our Christmas party. I shared about looking back (to 2011), looking up (in the present) and looking forward (to 2012). I thought that the main points would be worthy of consideration for all of us as we prepare for a new year.

God bless you all and we cannot wait to join you all in the Pacific Northwest in just a few days!

LOOKING BACK (the past)

1) Embrace the lessons/disappointments
2) Own your part (and don’t forget to give God His glory)
3) Repent for your failures and your successes
4) Cast it upon Jesus, trusting Him

LOOKING UP (the present)

1) It’s about God and you (mind your passion)
2) Take some time to rejoice, enjoy the step that you are on
3) Make a gracious but honest self-assessment of where you are presently
4) Acknowledge God’s prevenient grace – you are here now for His foreordained plans

LOOKING FORWARD (the future)

1) Tell God that you believe but to help your unbelief for 2012
2) Ask for a God sized vision for your life, your specific ministry, our shared work at Crossroads
3) Please make some action plans to change what needs to be changed
4) Let’s travel this path together with unity, love and joy with a lot of laughter

THE PERFECT BRIDE?

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“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” Revelation 19:7-8

 

“Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them [and be] their God. “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:2-4

 

If there is a day on which a bride appears nearly in a state of perfection it is  her wedding day.  She isn’t wearing old and tattered clothing.  Whatever perceived flaws of skin and appearance are covered.  For many brides the joy of being united to their groom in marriage subdues even the most negative dispositions or would-be sources of discouragement on that day.  Little things that would seem monumental on any other day seem to fade away into insignificance at the joy of how she looks, feels, and what she is experiencing.

 

So it will be with the Bride of Jesus Christ (the church) in a similar way on her wedding day, yet her perfection will be entirely literal.  The scars she now bears will be utterly healed.  Her struggle with sin and unfaithfulness will be transformed and redeemed.  Her vulnerability to deception and discouragement will vanish.  God’s Word goes so far as to tell us that every tear will be wiped from her eyes.  Death will hold no threat in her life anymore.  And the greatest of all gifts is that she will never be separated by time, space, or sin from her glorious Groom, Jesus Christ!

 

The Bride

In the Bible the Bride is symbolic of the  church.  She represents all of Jesus’ people who are His through faith in the biblical gospel.  If you know that you’ve offended God in your behavior, thought-life, and attitude toward Him, there is good news! God came to earth as the Man Jesus Christ on a rescue mission of love for you.  Knowing you could never live a truly righteous life from the inside out, Jesus fulfilled that requirement for you.  He lived a perfect human life in your place never acting unrighteously at the level of thought, desire, emotion, or behavior for you.  He took the penalty you deserve to undergo because of sin.  The Bible tells us the wages of sin is death and Jesus died in your place for yours sins on a roman cross some two-thousand years ago.  Further, while on that cross He became a propitiation for you.  This means He soaked up the wrath of God the Father which was directed at your sin like a sponge soaks up water.  And victory of victories, He rose from the dead conquering satan, sin, demons, death, and hell on your behalf.  His offer of love is that if you understand your sin and trust in all He did for you to be a sufficient remedy to your sin and a bridge between you and the God from whom you are separated, He will forgive you.  He will clear your spiritual record forever.  He will consider you His perfect child, and part of His perfect Bride, in spite of your enduring imperfections in this life.

 

Already/Not Yet

Faith in this gospel brings the believing person into an already/not yet relationship to individual perfection.  Positionally, because of our faith in the gospel, we are already considered perfectly righteous because our proverbial spiritual bank account has been credited with the very righteousness of Jesus.  This is due to what Martin Luther called the Great Exchange.  At the cross Jesus took all of my sin. At the moment I trusted in the gospel Jesus credited me with all of His righteousness.  This Great Exchange makes us positionally perfect in this life.  And yet, practically and experientially we are not yet literally perfected until we as the Bride are united to Jesus our groom in the age to come.  Until that time we still sin, struggle, and wander at times.  But even in the hardest of times we have hope because we know that “He who began a good work in (us) will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6)

 

Application

What the already/not yet reality of the Bride of Christ means for us today can be looked at from at least two ways:

1. Pastors need to keep working toward a perfect church with perfect Christians, but stop looking for a perfect church with perfect Christians prior to the wedding day.  Lately I’ve found myself dealing with a lot of heart-breaking sin in the lives of God’s people.  Fornication, adultery, marital conflicts, sectarianism, and other things seem to abound.  At times I’ve found myself wanting to think that somehow our church is disturbingly special in our consistent experience of these things.  But when I surveyed the writings of the New Testament recently what I saw was that nearly every book contained words of necessary rebuke and exhortation to sinning Christians, and an imperfect Bride.  Pastor, the reason that letters containing rebuke about sexual sin, relational sin,and  rebellion are the letters God saw fit to govern His Bride for all time is that those problems would persist in ALL generations of her stay on earth, including ours.  If you really seek to be the church and lead the people to holiness we should expect dealing with an imperfect bride in our hearts and churches to be the norm.  The reason we as people need pastoring is that we are not yet a heavenly people, though we will be one day.  Keep working toward spiritual growth and maturity in yourself and the body, but don’t think you and your church are special because you don’t hit that mark before the wedding of the Lamb.

 

2. Christians need to keep working but stop looking for a perfect church with perfect Christians on earth as well.  One of the most common and saddening things I see in the church is people quickly leaving their local church when they’ve been offended by another sinner.  God’s call to us is to hold each other accountable and be willing to be held accountable.  If we continue to simply go find another group of Christians to hang out with at every little offense we face we will never learn how to pursue reconciliation with others through the gospel, our offenders will never grow because of a lack of loving but firm accountability in their lives, and we will continue to bounce from church to church as we are let down by the reality of offenders causing offenses in every house of prayer we enter.

 

Exhortation

The Bride of Christ is already perfect positionally, but we have a long way to go practically.  Let’s all look forward in eager anticipation of that day of perfection when we meet Jesus together face to face, and let us practice the grace of the gospel toward one another in the meantime as the Holy Spirit trains us together in this life for that final and only true utopia.

We Blew the Trumpet for You

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Bill Waldens’ post of last week (We Played the Flute for You) got me to thinking about the pastoral longevity that is tied to spiritual sanity that is anchored in Biblical vision.  I can’t recall the stats, but it appears that many men are leaving the pastorate and, in addition, there is a sizable number who would do so if they could.  Undoubtedly,the vast majority of those who do leave the pastorate succumb to discouragement after a long, drawn-out struggle.   (Some would suggest that, if you are really called of God, you’ll endure – it’s only the ones who are called by man who eventually step out of the pastoral ministry.  Sadly, such is not the case.  Calling from God doesn’t, in and of itself, bestow perseverance.  And beside, many who are called by man or who are ‘self-called’ endure to the end.  I wish that some of today’s pastors would get discouraged and quit and stop their theological nonsense.)

The discouragement that waylays so many of us is a combination of two elements – confusion and insecurity.  A confused and insecure pastor is a disaster waiting to happen.  If you are a pastor and don’t know what to do – that’s a problem.  But there is help for you – yet  this help often comes with a price tag.  With so many voices telling us ‘how to do it’, ‘what our generation(s) need’, ‘the cultural mandate’, ‘the church of the 21st century’, ‘reinventing the church’, etc., with so many trumpets blowing and signaling the direction in which the church is to make its way in the 21st century – it’s easy to become confused.  It’s easy to become disoriented and to begin to wonder if you’re on the right track, going in the right direction, pursuing the correct ministry course.  Confusion and disorientation breed insecurity.

I know all about insecurity.  My church has never been big enough or cool enough or influential enough.  Big enough, cool enough, or influential enough for what?

It’s never been big enough, cool enough, or influential enough to take away my insecurity.

An insecure pastor is dangerous to those he serves and can be either uber-stubborn and closed to any counsel or uber-impressionable and be open to all counsel and advice and a sycophant of the latest and the greatest.

There was a time when I was desperate to have a large church so I would be able to hold my head high at pastor’s conferences and be considered a somebody.  For the longest time, I felt like a second tier member of the pastor’s guild.  When others spoke of the hundreds and the thousands who attended, I could only speak of the dozens and the scores.  When others spoke of their staffs and assistant pastors, I could only speak of my part-time volunteers.  When others spoke of the hundreds coming to Christ with regularity, I could only speak of the ones and twos coming sporadically.  I was clearly falling behind.  Many uber-pastors were blowing the trumpet and so I collected a number of tunes during that time – how to: grow a church, turn visitors into members, grow a staff, have global impact, influence a community… all were neatly laid out.  Various melodies would attract my attention and then I would lost interest.  I was confused AND insecure – the formula for discouragement.

After all my years and all my praying and all my reading and all my thinking and all my striving and all my wounds I have come to a conclusion – I don’t have a clue how to grow a church.  That’s right, after pastoring in the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, the ones (is that what those are called?), up until now, I am clueless as how to grow a church.  It was a conclusion that was a long time in coming and one that didn’t emerge into my consciousness without resistance – both emotionally and intellectually.  But it finally surfaced and I came to grips with it at long last.  And here’s the amazing thing that utterly floored me – in the recognition and admission of my inability, in the face of my insecurity, the peace of Christ flooded my soul.  The security I looked for in accomplishment came to me from Christ in the moment of my greatest vulnerability.

I have come to the place where I don’t believe it is my job to grow the church (i.e., numerically).  The Lord will add.  It is not my job to increase the size of the church, but it is my job to insure the health of the church.  When I read the letters to the seven pastors of the churches in Revelation 2-3, I see that the Lord never scolds or corrects the pastors for the size of the churches they serve – His concern is for the health of the churches.  He doesn’t say, for example, to the pastor of Ephesus, “I have this against you, that you should be running 300 in worship by now.”  Instead, He thunders out, “You’ve left your first love…”  And so on…

I don’t read where Paul advises Timothy or Titus how to increase the numbers of the churches they pastor.  His concern is with the health of these churches.  Can you have a small(er) healthy church?  Of course.  Can you have a large(r) unhealthy church?  Of course. (Of course, this begs the question: what is a healthy church?  I guess that’s a post for another time.)

I still hear the trumpets (and I don’t disrespect them by any means).  But they are not nearly as beckoning as they used to be.  My security isn’t in the size or the influence of the church I serve – my security is in Jesus.  He is the One who called me, He is the One who has given me my assignment, and He is the One to whom I will give an account.  I have a real sense of spiritual sanity that is anchored in Biblical vision.  I have peace.