Running and Camping
This morning, our family is volunteering to help the Franklin County Humane Society. Normally, we are a foster family for orphaned puppies. Today, we’re also helping them with their 5k run/walk. Some of Jeremy and Miranda’s friends are also helping us.
I’m looking forward to the free Starbucks coffee and free lunch. But, I’m even more interested in continuing to build relationships with some of the humane society volunteers. Actually, Margaret is farther along is developing those relationships than I am, but hopefully I’ll be able to help (and not hinder) her today.
After we help the humane society, we’re heading to the lake to meet up with the church. We’re camping together this weekend. The church has camped together five or six times, but this is only the third time for our family. We’ve either had other plans or have been out of town during the camping trips.
The camping trips have always been incredible. We get to fellowship with one another for almost 48 hours straight – except for sleeping times.
So, today will include two of my favorite activities: service and fellowship. In fact, the service will include time of fellowship, and the fellowship will include times of service. And, God willing, we’ll be making disciples all the time.
A contrite heart and a life of good works
The title of this post comes from a quote by John Sailhamer concerning Isaiah 58. I found the quote in the very good post by Mark from “unlikely christians” called “Talk is Cheap.” This is the full quote from Sailhamer:
The kind of repentance God required of his people is a contrite heart and a life of good works. There was little value in fasting if one’s life did not reflect compassion and obedience to the will of God.
Then, Mark replied with this:
What good is singing a song (hymn? chorus? psalm?), attending church, praying, fasting, or (even) reading my Bible if my actions and attitudes do not legitimate these practices. Thank God for grace to try again, for a holy dissatisfaction regarding my unholy life, and disdain at my hypocrisy.
I can remember recognizing my own hypocrisy. I remember clearly recognizing that I could sing a great song, attend church meetings regularly, pray for hours, fast, and read my Bible consistently… but my life was not filled with good works. Why? Because I had been taught (and I had bought into the teaching) that these things were the good works that God wants. These things are good, but they are only the beginning of living a life demonstrating the love of God. (By the way, I’m not saying that I’ve arrived. God continues to show me my own hypocrisy.)
What if they thought of the church?
Two years ago, before our family started spending time in “The Neighborhood“, I wrote a post called “What if they thought of the church?” The post was about some of the people that we already knew who lived in that government assisted housing development. I wondered out loud what would happen if the people in that neighborhood thought that the church cared enough to help them…
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What if they thought of the church?
Last week, I published a short post called “Missional Christians in 360 AD“, commenting on the how Emperor Julian recognized that Christians took care of the poor and needy, even the poor and needy who were not Christians. Last Sunday evening, as I met together with some brothers and sisters to pray and discuss service opportunities, I thought about Emperor Julian again.
One of the ladies who meets with us on Sunday morning lives in government housing in our town. When we first met her, a man was living with her because he needed medical attention. He had been in the hospital, and when he was released, no one would take care of him, so she took him in. As I’ve gotten to know here, I’ve found that she is one of the most giving and caring persons that I know – even in the very difficult situation in which she finds herself.
A few weeks ago, another unit opened up in the government housing facility. They allowed the man to move out of her apartment, into the open apartment. However, he had nothing for his apartment – no furniture, no kitchen utensils, no dishes, etc. Nothing. Our friend asked her brothers and sisters in Christ for help. They responded by providing everything he needed plus more.
As we were discussing possible ministry opportunities last Sunday evening, I thought about this lady and her friend. What would happen if other people in the government housing facility heard about the generosity of the church? What would happen if they began to think about the church when they were in need? What would happen if they asked our friend if we would be willing to help them as well?
This may sound like a never-ending cycle of giving and giving and giving… perhaps to some people who would take advantage of our generosity.
But, would it not be amazing for people to begin turning to the church again when they were in need? I hope the church would be willing to trust God to provide for those needs.
I do not think it means what you think it means
I love the movie Princess Bride. I love to quote that movie, especially the wedding scene. I don’t think anyone will ever ask me to marry them.
But, I also like the scenes where Vizzini exclaims, “Inconceivable!” Of course, what he considers to inconceivable actually happens. This leads Inigo Montoya to postulate, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Lately, I’ve been paying attention to the way that Christians use words like “minister” and “ministry.” I have to agree with Inigo that I do not think these words mean what many people think they mean. You see, in Scripture, the “minister” means “servant” – yes, as in the menial, get your hands dirty, lowest rung of the ladder sense. And, the term “ministry” means “service” – yes, as in the work that a servant does.
But, when I’ve listened to various conversations, I’ve noticed that you can’t always substitute the word “servant” for “minister” or “service” for “ministry”. For example, consider these 100% true statements that I’ve heard or read recently:
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“Are you an ordained minister?”
Substitute the word “servant”:
“Are you an ordained servant?”
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“Has God called you into the ministry?”
Now substitute the word “service”:
“Has God called you into service?”
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“Before you do that, you should get permission from the minister.”
Again, substitute the word “servant”:
“Before you do that, you should get permission from the servant.”
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Again, I do not think these words mean what many people think they mean.
Is that a problem? Well, no, not if people admit that they’re using the words in a completely unscriptural manner.
But, it is a big problem when we start reading these mis-definitions back into Scripture.
Not even to eat with such a one
In the beginning verses of 1 Corinthians 5, Paul instructs the church in Corinth to separate from a person who calls himself a brother in Christ and yet is acting in a way that even the surrounding culture considers reprehensible. I’ve heard alot about the first part of 1 Corinthians 5. We use it to talk about “church discipline”. But, I don’t hear as much about the last half of that chapter:
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13 ESV)
It’s seems that Paul is saying that we do not even eat with a brother or sister who is living an immoral life, but that it is okay and even expected that we eat with someone who is not a brother or sister even if they live an immoral lifestyle.
From my experience, the church has this backwards. Is it just me? How should this passage affect us as individual believers? How should it affect us as a church?
Church Life #5
This series is about our life with the church as we attempt to live together as brothers and sisters. (For a more detailed description of this series, see my post “Church Life – A New Series.”)
Monday: I had lunch on Monday with Adam, Danny, and Jonathan. Jonathan had written a paper for one of his classes, and he wanted our input. Concerning his paper, we primarily offered advice about presentation and structure. But, his content led to a great conversation about who we are as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Wednesday: Dave Black invited me to lecture on the topic of the church gathering in Corinth. I knew a few of the students, and I was able to meet more of them before, during, and after class. I appreciated both their questions and their encouragement. It is awesome to see people comparing the modern church to the church in Scripture!
Thursday:I had lunch Thursday with someone that I met through my blog. We’ve had lunch a few times, and he’s always been an encouragement to me. When we first had lunch together, he had a desire to live in community with his brothers and sisters. It is exciting to hear what God is doing in his life!
I haven’t said anything in this series about my Latin class. I teach a Latin class on Thursday afternoon to several homeschool students (primarily high school aged). I really enjoy interacting with the boys and girls in my class.
Friday: Our friends (the Barbours) had planned another Game Night for Friday night. We took Jeremy and Miranda and hung out for about an hour or so. But, Margaret and I didn’t stay at Game Night this time. Instead, we went out to dinner (to a great Thai restaurant) with some friends. We had a great dinner and even better conversation. These times of fellowship are so important!
After we returned to the Barbour’s house, we hung out with the teenagers for another hour or so before returning home.
Saturday: Margaret and Miranda helped the Franklin County Humane Society with their bi-weekly adopt-a-thon Saturday afternoon. Not only does volunteering with the humane society give us the opportunity to take care of homeless dogs, we also get to interact with some of the other people who volunteer. I could probably fill several posts with those stories!
Sunday: We gathered with the church again on Sunday morning. We had seen many of the people throughout the week. There is still some excitement running through our little group concerning the Black’s presentation last week. They invited us to help them serve the people of Ethiopia, and we are praying individually and as a church to determine how God wants us to help.
After singing, Mark taught from Matthew 22:23-33 – the passage where the Sadducees tried to trick Jesus with a question about the resurrection. The resurrection is so important to who we are as the church. His teaching led to a great discussion about the resurrection and also about being led by God.
I shared with the church that I had been struggling over the last few days. There was not one big issue that I could point to, but I simply shared that I was more easily frustrated and less patient and loving. I didn’t like, and I asked the church to pray for me. The church was very encouraging!
That night, we helped some friends who are out of town for the week. They have goats, and they needed someone to milk their goats. Our family and another family is going to take turns milking their goats for them, so we met together to make sure we all knew what we were doing.
After milking the goats, and before we all headed back to our homes, one of my friends stopped me and prayed for me again. What a great family!
Re-defining Worship
A few days ago, in a post called “Sabbath and Synagogue and Church,” I quoted from a book called Sabbath and Synagogue: The Question of Sabbath Worship in Ancient Judaism by Heather A. McKay (Leiden: Brill, 1994). In that book,McKay concludes, based on archaeological and manuscript evidence, that the Jews did not consider their synagogue meetings to be “worship,” at least, not around the time that the New Testament was written.
In yesterday’s post “Eating Together,” I quoted from the book Witness to the Gospel: The Theology of Acts (edited by I. Howard Marshall and David Peterson). In his chapter “The Influence of Jewish Worship on Luke’s Presentation of the Early Church,” Brad Blue concludes that the early church acted as a Jewish synagogue in most respects.
However, he does not think that McKay’s conclusion concerning worship carries over to the church. He says:
McKay contends that the Jewish community did not worship in the synagogue… Reading, studying and explaining sacred texts, according to her argument, did not constitute worship… [Next, Blue lists several activities that coincide between the early church meetings and synagogue meetings.] The church, then, was a Christian synagogue.
This takes us back to McKay’s assessment of the Jewish material since she argues that the practices of the synagogue community do not constitute worship. Must we infer that the early Christians did not worship or is McKay’s definition wanting? According to our study the latter is the case provided that our understanding of worship incorporates the activities of the early community including God’s communication with his people. (pg 496-497)
Thus, Blue concludes that the early church did meet to worship, if in our definition of worship we include the church meeting or the activities that took place during the church meeting.
But, I think Blue’s argument misses the main point. In McKay’s research, she found that neither Jews nor others writing about the Jewish practices described their synagogue meetings as times of worship. They did not use worship language for these meetings. They used worship language to describe other aspects of their lives, but not synagogue meetings.
I’ve found the same to be true when the New Testament authors discussed church meetings. They did not use worship terminology.
There is another problem, however. Blue sets up a false dilemma when he asks, “Must we infer that the early Christians did not worship or is McKay’s definition wanting?” In fact, the answer to both of these questions is, “No.”
McKay’s “definition” is simply a description of what she found in her research. So, her findings that the Jewish synagogues were not described as time or places of “worship” is not lacking.
Similarly, the early Christians did worship, but they did not consider their church meetings (the times when they gathered together with other believers) to be a special type or kind or place or time of worship. Instead, they recognized that their entire life was lived as worship to God. Certainly this included the times they met with other believers. But, it also included other activities as well.
Certainly, reading and discussing Scripture can be worship. Certainly, sharing a meal together can be worship. Certainly, praying for or with someone can be worship.
But, in the same way, the early Christians could also say that going to the marketplace can be worship. Reading Scripture alone can be worship. Praying or singing alone can be worship. Preparing and eating a meal for your family can be worship. Working to earn support for your family can be worship.
The New Testament authors were consistent in writing that the early Christians gathered together as the church in order to edify, encourage, comfort, etc. one another. I think they recognized that as they served their brothers and sisters in this way, they worshiped God.
But, they did not use worship terminology to distinguish their times of meeting together from other times in their lives. Perhaps they recognized that doing so would have re-defined what it means to worship God.
I think the church is experiencing the ramifications of this type of re-definition today.
Introduction to When the Church Was a Family
As I continue to write a review of Joseph H. Hellerman’s book When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus’ Vision for Authentic Christian Community, I thought I would share a few quotes from the Introduction:
Spiritual formation occurs primarily in the context of a community. (pg 1 – the first sentence in the book)
It is a simple but profoundly biblical reality that we both grow and thrive together or we do not grow much at all. (pg 1)
I am hardly naive enough to suggest that modern Americans ought to return to the extended family systems of generations ago… But we must realize that we have paid a tremendous emotional and spiritual price to be released from the cultural shackles reflected in the strong-group values of our ancestors. (pg 6)
As church-going Americans, we have been socialized to believe that our individual fulfillment and our personal relationship with God are more important than any connection we might have with our fellow human beings, whether in the home or in the church. We have, in a most subtle and insidious way, been conformed to this world. (pg 7)
Contextualizing New Testament social values in our congregations requires us to significantly revise the way that we conceive the church. (pg 9)
Eating together
In Witness to the Gospel: The Theology of Acts (edited by I. Howard Marshall and David Peterson), Brad Blue writes a chapter called “The Influence of Jewish Worship on Luke’s Presentation of the Early Church.” Blue concludes that while there were a few changes, “[I]t is abundantly clear that the Jewish antecedents to Christian assembly… are felt throughout… The church, then, was a Christian synagogue.” (pg 497)
In one section, called “Eating Together,” Blue discusses the Jewish synagogue practice of “breaking bread”:
[T]he Jewish rite of ‘breaking the break’ or simply ‘the breaking’ was the coinage for the ritual for the opening of a meal. The ritual included the following elements: (1) the host (with bread in hands) would offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God; (2) those at the common table would respond with ‘Amen’; (3) the host would then break and distribute the bread; (4) the host would begin to eat and would be followed by the guests. Thus the ‘breaking (of the bread)’ is a metonym for the prayer of blessing and the distribution. With respects to the NT evidence, this meaning satisfies the contexts (cf. Luke 24:35; Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7, 11; 27:35).
It is clear that ‘the breaking’ is always, at this early date, a constituent of a meal scene: by its definition it necessitates a meal scene here. (pg 488-89)
The early Christians were Jewish. The people who wrote the New Testament manuscripts were Jewish. For the most part, early church practices were Jewish.
Even eating together was part of Jewish “religious” practices. This was not something new or inventive for the church (although it seems new and inventive today). It was as much a part of synagogue and church practices as reading and discussing Scripture (the idea of the sermon came along much later).
However, many things changed. Concerning the common meal, one thing in particular changed: the host. The head of the synagogue was no longer the host of the common meal. Jesus Christ was now the host. It was his meal, his table, and he served his family.
This is Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV)
The Corinthians were eating and drinking (1 Corinthians 11:20-21), but they demonstrate by the way they eat and drink (that is, in the way they treat one another while they are eating and drinking) that they are not eating or drinking from the Lord’s table. The Lord is not their host. The people have become their own host.
When Paul quoted Jesus’ words, he was not given the church a formula to repeat. He was reminding them who instituted, who serves, and who hosts when they eat from the Lord’s table. That is, it is the Lord himself.
Paul told them to examine how they were treating one another when they dined together. Why? Because they were dining with the Lord.
Scripture… As We Live It #74
Here is the 74th passage in “Scripture… As We Live It“:
(This passage was suggested by my friend Jonathan.)
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another preach the gospel correctly and practice Baptism and the Lord’s Supper correctly. (John 13:35 re-mix)
(Please read the first post for an explanation of this series.)