Yes, we’re all equal in Christ, but whose name is on the sign?
I’ve noticed something over the last seven (almost) years that I’ve been blogging: posts about leadership among the church typically get a huge (often emotional) response from all sides of the issue. I’ve written several posts and several series of posts about leaders, elders, etc. among the church. Those posts tend to get the most comments and the most push back – again, from all sides of the issue.
I don’t write posts for these reactions, but those are the reactions that I typically get. And, as I read posts about church leaders on other blogs, I’ve noticed the same kind of reactions – regardless of the author’s views on the church and leadership.
In other words, regardless of what we say, we care alot about what people think, say, and write about church leaders. Why? Because we recognize that among the church today, leaders carry alot of weight… they have alot of influence… they often have control and power over people (even if they don’t want to)… their name is on the sign (even if it’s a little smaller than Jesus’ name).
I was thinking about this fact (the fact that leaders carry alot of weight among the church) over the last few days when I browsed through several really good posts about leaders. Here are several of them:
- “Leadership and the New Testament” by Chris at “Journeys of heart and mind“
- “No One Has Been Called to be a Professional Pastor” by Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress“
- “Because Elders Need More Time in Word & Prayer” by Miguel at “God Directed Deviations“
- “The Super Guru Culture” by Rob at “Real Church Life” (ht: Jim)
And, of course, earlier this week I published a post called “The changing face of full-time ministry.”
Because of my views on leaders among the church, I’m often charged with believing that there should be no leaders at all.
If by “leader” you’re talking about a hierarchy of control, power, responsibility, vocation, and service that is reserved for a few among the church who function on behalf of the church, then, yes, I’m in favor of removing that kind of leadership. I think the church would be healthier without those kinds of “leaders.”
If by “leader” you’re talking about mature followers of Jesus Christ who lives and words are a demonstration and example of what every believer should be like and who are among the church and function along with the church, then, no, I’m not in favor of removing that kind of leadership. In fact, I think the church would be far healthier with more and more of these kinds of leaders.
How can you do for the least if you don’t know the least?
A couple of days ago, Jeremy at “Till He Comes” wrote a great post called “16 Ways to Build Relationships With the Poor.” (UPDATE: Thanks to Jeremy for pointing out that this post was actually written by Sam as a guest post on Jeremy’s site.)
As you can tell from the title, the point of Jeremy’s post is to help people build relationships with people in need. Why would Jeremy focus on “the least” among us? Well, Jesus did say something about God’s people (the righteous) being those who care for “the least.”
But, there’s another reason to focus on finding and building relationships with the least. Several years ago, I realized that I was living an isolated life – isolated from unbelievers and from the poor, hungry, sick, prisoners, etc. I was living in a “Christian bubble” (some call it a ghetto).
You see, as great as it is to spend time with other believers (and people who are like us), it’s just as important that we also disperse and spend time with those who are not believers (and people who are not like us). But, for Christians like me, this may be difficult to put into practice.
Because of that, examples like the ones that Jeremy gives in his post can be very beneficial. Jeremy lists these 16 ways to build relationships with the poor:
- Help unemployed single mothers and families find jobs.
- Help families find housing they can afford.
- Buy products and services from people you know are struggling to keep a roof over their heads. Don’t look for the “cheapest” option, but for the person or business that most needs your business.
- Refer people you know to a business or person who needs the business.
- Tip generously at restaurants, especially when you know that the person who served you really needs it. Sometimes you can tip people who don’t usually receive tips, such as the guy at the car alarm shop who repaired your car alarm.
- Give commendations to managers of businesses for employees who helped you, especially for employees you know really need their job.
- When things don’t go right in your dealings with a business, do not threaten an employee with “I’m going to get you fired,” or “You will get you in a lot of trouble.” That vicious threat can terrify someone for whom that would mean losing their only source of income, and their only way to provide food, clothes, and housing for their children.
- Volunteer to help. This might mean helping repair someone’s house or car (so they won’t need to pay someone to do it), taking them to the doctor (so they won’t have to pay someone to drive them), or even picking up something they need (so they won’t have to pay for the gasoline to get them there).
- As you walk, run, or drive around town, keep an eye out for furniture and other household items set out on driveways with “Free” signs attached. Some of these items are in excellent condition and can be given to someone who needs it.
- Find out what your friends need and decide if you can meet any of their needs with some of the “stuff” you have in the closets, garage, and attic.
- After an event where a lot of food was prepared, contact certain people who are short on food and plead for their help in “taking some of this food off our hands so we won’t have to throw it away.”
- Invite your friends to dinner and making sure they take plates of “extra” food home with them.
- If you find something at a store, garage sale, or thrift shop that you know one of your friends needs, buy it and give it to them.
- Remember friends on their birthdays and at Christmas. This might include flowers, a gift, or inviting them for dinner, but always includes spending time with them when possible.
- Pick up trash on inner city streets and alleys. This improves living conditions in several ways for the people who live there, many of whom are poor. Explaining how that works would require a post of its own.
- Spend time with your friends, especially when you know they need someone to sit with them, listen, hug them, weep with them, and rejoice with them.
Obviously, there’s nothing more right about doing the things above than doing other things to help, serve, and love the people around you in Jesus’ name. Of course, there’s nothing wrong about doing those things in Jesus’ name either.
The great things about Jeremy’s list is that he focuses on building relationships – getting to know people – not just treating them like a project or anonymous group.
So, whatever it takes, get to know the people around you – especially those who are poor, hungry, thirsty, sick, prisoners, etc. Serve them and love them in Jesus’ name… and while you’re doing that, don’t forget the first part: get to know them. You may be surprised to find that God will use them to teach you something about himself.
Learning to live as a follower of Christ is not a private thing
Fred at “On the Journey” wrote a very good post last week called “Lessons From The Man Who Ate New Orleans.” The post was triggered by an event called A Place at the Table that Fred and his wife Jan participated in back in January.
Fred describes part of the event like this: “[W]e watched a film titled The Man Who Ate New Orleans, about a minister who ate at every restaurant in New Orleans to learn about the city and its people.The film discussed the seven cardinal virtues of New Orleans: community, generosity, openness to outsiders, celebration, resiliency, diversity, and tradition.”
There are some great things to think about in those “cardinal virtues,” but for this post, I’d like to focus on two paragraphs later in Fred’s post.
While thinking about community, Fred writes this:
Learning to live as a follower of Christ takes more than hearing a sermon, singing songs, or sitting in a class. It is not a private thing. It must be lived out in community with others, and that must go beyond what happens in a once-a-week gathering. The second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus takes this further when he commands us to love as he loved us. That is a sacrificial love that can only be shown in relationship with others.
Living in community is messy, whether that community is a neighborhood in a city or a group of Christians. We’re dealing with human beings here! If we seek to live in community with other believers, we will get dirty helping other believers, we will be frustrated by other believers, and we will be hurt by other believers. Look all through Scripture and other histories. You will not find a Utopian community. We will sin against one another. That is why we are called to be people of grace and forgiveness. When we have a true view of sin, we can forgive others and love them. Forgiveness is one of the things we must practice in order to live in community, along with being a friend who listens and understands compassionately.
If you’re seeking to live in community in Jesus Christ, then I’d highly recommend that you think about what Fred wrote. None of us are perfect at following Jesus Christ and demonstrated the nature of our Father. Because we are not perfect, we will cause problems among our brothers and sisters in Christ. The problems are compounded when we realize that none of our brothers and sisters in Christ are perfect, and our imperfections and disobediences and preferences and selfishness will cause… well, like Fred said, a mess.
We are a messy people, even at our best. God loves us and forgives us in spite of our mess. In the midst of our messiness, God offers us grace.
This is an image of how we should treat one another in the midst of all of our mess: love, forgiveness, and grace.
The only other option is to stay away from other people, so that you don’t have to offer them love, forgiveness, and grace. But, for a follower of Jesus Christ, this is not a real option.
Some nuts are hard to crack. So stop trying to crack them!
Miguel at “God Directed Deviations” has written a very interesting (and thought-provoking) post called “Do Christians have an obligation to pry into the lives of others?”
In his post, Miguel brings up instructions and statements in Scripture such as “You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16) and “Be imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example” (Philippians 3:17).
These passages indicate a certain amount “transparency” or familiarity between brothers and sisters in Christ. But, does that mean that we are supposed to “pry” into one anothers’ lives?
Miguel makes a few interesting comments regarding this question (beginning with the point about identifying believers by their fruit):
Yes, I suppose that their just might be a place for fruit inspectors within the body of Christ. Might be…
But there’s a major flaw in some thinking here. People are not cans that need to be pried open to have their fruit inspected. Are they? Neither are they Tupperware containers of different opacities whereby others can examine their fruit in degrees of transparency. Fruit grows and should be visible. If it’s not visible yet, it seems presumptuous to pry someone open to see if there are any fruit inside so as to make judgments regarding their spiritual state.
There is certainly a level or purposed, or intentional transparency needed for others to grow.
Like Miguel, I believe this type of “transparency” is necessary for people to grow in maturity in Jesus Christ. But, also like Miguel, I think this transparency must be “intentional.” What does this mean?
Well, it means that we are not to pry into the lives of other people. What?!?! How will we know their fruit if we don’t pry? How will we “consider one another” (Hebrews 10:24) if we don’t pry?
It’s simple. You see, “pry” indicates that we’re going somewhere where we’re not invited or wanted. We’re using force to try to break into something that’s not open to us.
But, when we intentionally open ourselves to one another, there is no reason for prying. When we invite each other into our lives, we do not need to use force to understand what’s going on.
No, we don’t pry into the lives of other believers. Instead, we go where we’re invited. When people share their lives with us and when we share our lives with them – when we live together in community in Jesus Christ – there will be no reason to pry. We will understand the importance of having other people observe our way of life, and they will understand the important of having us observe their way of life.
But, if someone doesn’t share their life with you? Well, you can’t make them, and shouldn’t try. Encourage them? Yes. Show them by example? Yes. Explain the importance? Yes. Pry? No.
Instead of prying, we need mutual transparency with mutual concern and care for one another… no prying involved.
How has your understanding of the church changed?
A few years ago, I wrote a post called “I used to believe… Now I believe.” In that post, I explained several ways that my understanding of the church has changed over the last few years.
Last week, Joe at “More than Cake” wrote a response called “I used to believe, but now…” In his post, Joe shared some of his own experiences with the church by comparing and contrasting with some of mine. Also, he explained how some of his understanding of the church has changed as well.
Here are some of my favorite explanations from Joe’s post:
I have never been one to make an idol of leaders. But at one point in my life I did see leadership as something reserved for a certain few. Now I see leadership as a mark of maturity in every believer. I also agree with Alan that serving is the ultimate kind of leadership. Finally, I have moved away from the “Senior Pastor” model of leadership. Now, within the diversity of Christian-leadership, I see a place for the kind of leadership that gathers together the saints under the guidance of Elders…
I don’t regret any of the discipleship classes I took, but I am glad there is so much more to the Christian faith beyond the classroom. I agree with Alan, classes can be good, but the way we structure our training should more about developing relationship and accountability and intimacy. I have put these principles into practice while writing my own Bible-study materials and I would love to see this kind of approach from more publishers…
There were several periods in my life, in total about 12 years, where I got NOTHING from the sermons I was hearing. I used to feel guilty, but then I realized that the Sunday sermon was not about me or for me. The sermon is for the church and there are some people who need to hear the sermon. When I listen to a sermon, I look for ways to build on what the speaker is teaching and pray the Spirit will help me find discipleship opportunities…
What about you? When you look back over your own experiences with your brothers and sisters in Christ, how has your understanding of the church changed? What triggered that change of understanding? Have you put that new understanding in practice?
Who are the strong and who are the weak among the church?
Arthur at “The Voice of One Crying Out in Suburbia” recently wrote a short review of Dave Black’s new book Paul, Apostle of Weakness: Astheneia and Its Cognates in the Pauline Literature. Arthur’s review is called “Book Review: Paul, Apostle of Weakness.”
Last week, Arthur published another post called “The Strong Must Accept the Weak” in which he responds further to Dave Black’s new book. While his review is really good, I appreciated this post even more.
Arthur begins by reviewing his own history with the “strong” and the “weak”:
I have always gravitated toward traditions in Christianity that focus on “being right” and often those traditions made “being right” a lot more than just an honest attempt to live faithfully. Instead they all too often became a way to lord over the “less mature”, uninformed or just plain ignorant among the Body.
Arthus ends with some new thoughts after reading Black’s new book:
The church is not set up to be a place where the strong dominate the weak but where the strong love the weak.We tend to naturally gravitate to a hierarchy where we place the strongest at the top and the weakest at the bottom. The strong are recognized by title and prestige. There is of course nothing wrong with recognizing the more mature among us but they should be noted for their service and exemplary lives, not for dominating and demanding.
The church is only as strong as it treats the weakest among us. If we see the weak as people to be ostracized and avoided lest they infect us or as fools to be corrected by our superior knowledge, perhaps we are not quite as strong as we think we are.
As I read through Arthur’s post and as I thought about this topic (i.e., Paul’s use of the term “weak” – astheneia), I realized something.
There are times when Paul counts himself among the “strong”:
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. (Romans 15:1 ESV)
And there are times when Paul counts himself among the “weak”:
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. (2 Corinthians 11:30 ESV)
So, is Paul “strong” or “weak”?
Typically, today, when people talk about the “strong” and the “weak” among the church, they point to some as being the “strong” and others as being the “weak.” The strong are always strong, and the weak are always weak. (By the way, I’m not suggested that either Arthur or Dave Black are saying this. I’m simply relating the way I’ve typically heard these terms used.)
However, it seems that Paul thought that he could be strong at times and weak at other times. And, I think this is the right way to think about this. I can be strong at times, and I can be weak at times. Sometimes, you are strong; at other times, you are weak. This is true of any followers of Jesus Christ – male or female, young or old, mature or immature.
And, it also seems that the “weak” rarely recognize their weakness, but often they see their weakness as a strength.
If we recognize this in ourselves and others, we would accept that we might be the “weak” and our brother/sister might be the “strong” in any particular situation. We would treat our brothers and sisters in Christ with more respect and honor, even when we disagree with them.
I think this would greatly improve our ability to relate to one another, to disciple one another, and to be discipled by one another.
What do you think? Would it be beneficial to treat someone with whom we disagree as “strong” instead of “weak”? How would it benefit our relationships and ability to disciple one another if we recognized that we may actually be the “weak” party?
Those zany house churches
Ok, so the title of this post is extremely “tongue-in-cheek.” I have nothing against churches gathering in homes. In fact, I think it would be beneficial for many Christians to gathering in homes. If I were backed into a corner, I would tell you that I prefer to gather with my brothers and sisters regularly in homes.
My good friend Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” wrote a post recently called “Why I Am A House Church Proponent.” His post is a very kind and very well-written to a post I wrote a little over a year ago called “Why I’m not a house church proponent.”
Eric gives the following reasons for being a “house church” proponent:
- House church follows the most common biblical pattern.
- House church is inexpensive.
- House church offers a relational atmosphere.
- House church keeps numbers low.
- House church can be rotational in nature.
- House church promotes the priesthood of all believers.
(If you haven’t yet, please take the time to read Eric’s post. It’s not very long, and he explains each of his points above very well.)
And, in fact, I agree with his points. Gathering in homes with other believers (as opposed to gathering in dedicated buildings or even in rented spaces) can promote the things that Eric lists. And, those are good things.
The problem is, meeting in homes does not guarantee those things… especially the most important aspects of gathering relationally (#3) and seeing everyone live out the priesthood of all believers (#6).
In fact, in a comment on Eric’s post, someone named Seth left this comment to me:
Alan, you said “meeting in homes does not guarantee that we are meeting for the right reasons.” I agree with you. But how do we overcome that mentality of meeting for the wrong reason? What is the cure then? I’ve been in numerous house churches where it is basically an institutional church stuffed into a home. Same issue. Been wondering how to break out of that rut. You have any ideas?
Yes, unfortunately, I also know of many house churches which are “basically an institutional church stuffed into a home.” In fact, in our area, the most hierarchical, authoritarian leader who I know is part of a house church.
So, I greatly agree with Eric (and others) that meeting in homes can be beneficial for the church. I agree that for a group of Christians desiring to meet to edify one another, gathering in a house can promote that kind of mutual discipleship.
However, for a group of believers who do not understand their roles and responsibilities in building up each other in faith, unity, and service in Jesus Christ, then moving their meeting to a home will not help, and might actually hurt.
So, for me, I’d much rather see a church gathering in a dedicated building but learning to meet for mutual edification, than a group meeting in a home without mutual edification.
Tune in at 10:00 for Fellowship
Christopher from “Life With Da Man CD” has hit the nail on the head with his post “The Question of Fellowship.” (By the way, Christopher, being from the other side of the pond, you may not understand good English. Here, “hitting the nail on the head” means you wrote something just right.) 🙂
As you might guess from his title, Christopher’s post is about fellowship… you know, that word in the Bible that, when realized, makes our life full of people and their messes and disorder and love and laughter and tears and joy and pain and blood and sweat and tears. It’s the stuff we have with one another and with Jesus Christ when we truly get to know each other (including Jesus). (1 John 1:3)
So, Christopher says that when we get together with our brothers and sisters in Christ, fellowship is very important. He writes:
The experience of sitting in a seat (standing at the appropriate bits) as part of row of other people sitting in seats (standing at the appropriate bits), and looking up at a group leading singing and then some dude or dudette talking at me, before being dismissed seems to miss this purpose pretty significantly.
Am I edified by seeing the bulk of the work of it done by a group of others? Well, actually, yes. Yes I am. The songs can be moving and uplifting. What the dudette has to say can be stirring and stimulate the passion for following Jesus Christ. I am edified. But … and here’s the thing … I can get all that at home. I can. I do, often.
The aspect then of MUTUAL edification and fellowship requires a lot more engagement and interaction than a lot of experiences provide. And just because it’s the way it has always been done, and just because attendance is the measure of spiritual commitment in some places, that does not mean we’re living any better lives as a community through these experiences.
As you think about Christopher’s words above, let me add this. Most of us would agree that we can’t just listen to the radio and get what we need to grow and mature in Christ (even if the radio preacher is right and good and godly). Similarly, most of us would also agree that we can’t just watch a great preacher on TV and get what we need to grow and mature in Christ (even if all that stuff I said about the radio preacher). Again, most of us would agree that we can’t get what we need to grow and mature in Christ by listening to a great podcast on the internet (even if all that other stuff).
So, why do so many feel that they can get what they need by listening to someone else in person? It doesn’t work that way. That’s not the way that God designed us to work, and it’s not the way that God works in and through us.
Like Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:16, if we want to grow in unity and faith and maturity, then it takes the whole body (the WHOLE body) working together. Period.
That’s not something you can “phone in” or “tune in” or “sit and watch.” And, it’s not something that you can get someone else to do for you.
Coming together to build each other up in the Lord
The title of this blog post is the subtitle of a blog that I’ve recently started reading and enjoying. The blog is called “Synerchomai,” and it’s published by Tim, who often reads and comments here.
If you’ve been around my blog for even a short time, you know that I focus on followers of Jesus gathering together in order to build up one another. So, I was very interested to read Tim’s blog as well.
In fact, like I said earlier, I’m really enjoying his post. They do not come from theory or idealism, but from the real world of gathering together with brothers and sisters in Christ.
Here are a few of Tim’s posts that I’ve enjoyed the most:
- Simple Evangelism Lesson, and a Question
- Why Study Church?
- Does it Annoy God when I don’t Sing during Worship?
- Why I Can’t Chill Out Over Leadership
- Organic Church is not Always Fun: Dealing with Issues
I love the fact that Tim interacts with other bloggers and other blog posts, and I love that Tim writes about real world issues and problems. So far, he’s written about evangelism, singing, leading, children, and many other topics… and not just the idealistic principles behind these, but the blood-and-guts, down-in-the-mud true life version.
I hope you enjoy Tim’s blog as much as I have.
Watching the church change from barren to fruitful
Roger at “SimpleChurch Journey” has shared a very interesting list in his post “Choudhrie’s Challenges Re-Visited.” The post is a summary of an essay written by Victor Choudhrie titled “Mega Church to Meta (Beyond) Church” and subtitled “21 Steps to transit from being a barren church to a millionaire of souls.”
Here are some of the interesting “steps” (interesting to me):
3. Phase out programmed Sunday ‘services’ while implementing informal, small
gatherings. The Bride of Christ must have intimacy with her Lord every day, not only for a
couple of hours a week, lest she become unfaithful.4. Replace Mosaic tithing with Christian sharing, thereby harnessing the enormous,
financial resources, hospitality and goodwill available in Christian homes.5. Dispense with wafer-and-sip Holy Communion and promote breaking of bread with
simple Agape meals (love feasts) from house to house, that believers take with glad
hearts, ‘and the Lord added to His numbers daily’.7. Shift from being a spectator-oriented church to a ‘metastasizing’, interactive,
participatory, prophetic church. Empower men, women and youth, to get the dragon off the driver’s seat.10. Know your identity in Christ: You are a royal-priest, made so by the blood of the Lamb.
Dismantle the ‘Reverend’ culture that divides clergy from layman.14. Empower every Sunday school, bible school, prayer cell, women’s fellowship, and
cottage meeting, by calling them full-fledged, authentic churches.18. Reorient your personal paradigm. Your business, workplace or home, wherever you
spend most of your time, is your ‘primary nuclear church’. It matters little whether you
are the CEO, or the janitor or the kitchen queen; you are a full-time minister there and
accountable.
Obviously, there are other “steps” in Choudhrie’s essay besides the ones listed above (14 other steps, to be exact).
I love that the focus of these “steps” is to empower, equip, and send all believers as priests in God’s kingdom, wherever they live, work, etc. These steps recognize that the Spirit indwells all of God’s children, and, therefore, he can and does work through all of them. He does not only work through a few of them.
Given the many exhortations in Scripture toward mutual service, mutual discipleship, mutual edification, mutual teaching, etc., I agree with Choudhrie that taking these steps would help the church grow toward maturity and fruitfulness.
What do you think?