Replay: If the family were a church
People often say that the church is a family. Sometimes they think of church as family in name only. But, usually, people know that the church should actually act like family, that is, they should act like brothers and sisters.
However, what if we flipped this around? Three years ago, I wrote a post called “If the family were a church,” wondering what it would look like if the family acted like a church. I found it helpful to recognize the many ways that the church does NOT act like family.
What do you think?
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If the family were a church
One of the most common scriptural metaphors for the church is “family”. In fact, the “metaphor” is so prevalent that it probably isn’t a metaphor at all. In other words, we truly are brothers and sisters in Christ. However, the church rarely acts like a family.
But, what would happen if we turned the picture around? Instead of encouraging the church to act like a family, what would happen if the family acted like a church?
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Two young men walked in the den where grandma was watching her “stories”. They shuffled their feet, made small talk, but finally got down to business.
“Grandma, we’ve all talked about it, and we don’t think you’re doing your job the way you once did – the way we need you to,” the first man started.
“What do you mean, son?” the older lady asked, trying to see the TV around the two men.
“Well, you can’t cook or clean anymore. You don’t tell us stories of the old days. We haven’t heard any wisdom from you in a long time. You usually just watch television and sleep. We’re going to have to let you go,” the second man said.
Grandma hung her head. “I realize that I’m getting older and can’t carry out my duties that I once did. Will you at least give me a few weeks to find a new family?”
“We’ll give you two weeks and a good recommendation. I’m sure that God is calling you to a good older family out there somewhere,” her son said.
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“Hey, Sis!” the lady said as she walked through the open door.
“Hi, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” her older sister asked as she closed the front door behind her.
The younger lady found a place on an overstuffed sofa and replied, “Well, we heard that you gave birth, and we wanted to see the new baby.”
As the older sister brought in coffee, she looked around the room. “I don’t think the baby is here.”
“What do you mean?” her sister asked as she sipped her coffee.
“Well, I’m not very good at raising kids. I just give birth to them and let someone else raise them. In fact, that baby is probably still at the hospital.”
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The parents brought dinner into the dining room for the family. The dining room was immaculate, with heavy drapes, carved furniture, silver place settings, and a crystal chandelier hanging over the middle of the table.
Father prayed an elaborate prayer and set the food down for each family member: a small piece of bread and a sip of juice.
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“This is very difficult for me to say,” Father began with tears filling his eyes. “Do you all remember the people that visited us a few weeks ago?”
The family members nodded as the looked around, trying to discern what Father’s important announcement might be about.
“Well, those visitors were actually a Father Search Committee from another family. They believe that God is calling me to be their Father. After much tearful prayer, I agree. So, in two weeks I’ll be leaving this family to become the Father of their family. Don’t worry. I know that this is all in God’s plan, and I’m certain that God will provide another Father for this family.”
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I suppose I could go on, but I think you get my point. If the church is really a family, then the church would not act like it does towards one another.
So, we should ask ourselves, “Are we not living according to our nature? Or, are we living according to our nature?”
More thankful for what God has given; less wishing for more
This coming Sunday, we’re doing something a little different when we gather together with the church. Instead of having a particular passage to study and having someone designated to guide us through that passage, we’re simply setting a theme: thankfulness. Everyone is planning to come together with a song, a passage of Scripture, a lesson, a prayer request, etc. concerning thankfulness and gratefulness.
(Yes, I know that many believers meet together in this way all the time. We’ve met together this way before. However, this is not the way we normally meet together.)
As Margaret and I were talking about being grateful to God this week, I kept thinking about a passage in Habakkuk. Yes, Habakkuk. This is actually one of Margaret’s favorite passages.
To set the passage in its context, Habakkuk foresees the coming invasion of the Babylonians. They are growing in strength, and he knows that God is going to use that nation to punish Israel for its disobedience.
At the end of this short book, Habakkuk records this prayer/song:
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19 ESV)
The prophet looks forward to a time (perhaps after the Babylonians invade the land) when there are no figs, no grapes, no olives, no grain, no sheep, no cows, nothing. The people will be starving.
Yet, in this midst of these, Habakkuk says that he will find joy in God. This is the attitude that I want in my own life.
There have been many struggles in our life lately, and we often do not find joy in the presence of God, even though we know that he is with us. In spite of our struggles, we have never been in a situation where we had nothing, where we were hungry.
If Habakkuk can look ahead to a time when he has nothing and yet continue to see himself finding joy in God, surely I can do the same thing.
Unfortunately, today, I still look at times when my wants are not met (my wants, not my needs), and I still seek others things for my joy.
I recognize that in order to live continuously and consistently in a state of gratitude and joy in the Lord, I must be content in him and only in him.
Decompartmentalizing the Misson: Strengthening Believers
In the introduction to this series, I explained how I thought that people today tend to compartmentalize their lives. Because of this, we often compartmentalize what we consider the mission of God as well. In the previous post, I considered proclamation of the gospel as part of the mission of God as demonstrated and taught by Jesus and Paul. In this post, I look at their example of strengthening believers as part of their mission.
(As an aside, I recognize the irony of working through a series on “decompartmentalizing the mission of God” by separately consider various aspects of that mission. Please stick with me until the last post where I intend to bring it all together.)
I need to make one point before I jump into evidence. When I say, “Strengthening believers,” I’m talking about helping people who are already following Jesus to follow him better. This kind of “help” is called by many names in Scripture: discipling, strengthening, edification, etc.
While Jesus spent much time speaking with people who were not currently following him, he also spent significant time helping people who were already following him. For example, he often spoke in parables to the crowds and then explained his parables to those who were following him:
All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable… Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered… (Matthew 13:34-37 ESV)
In the previous post, I mentioned the “commission” passages as examples of Jesus instructing his followers of proclaim the gospel. The “commission” passage from Matthew also includes the command to help others follow him:
…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you… (Matthew 28:28 ESV)
Paul also spent time helping those who had already received the gospel and were already following Jesus. It is significant that (what we call) Paul’s second missionary journey was begun with a desire to return and help those who received the message during the first missionary journey:
And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” (Acts 15:36 ESV)
There are many passages in Paul’s writings where he instructs his readers to strengthen others as part of their mission. Here is one example:
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV)
For both Jesus and Paul, helping those who were already following Jesus was clearly a part of what they considered to be their mission. In the same way, in both of their cases, they instructed others to follow their example in helping others follow Jesus. Remember that the type of help that I’m talking about goes beyond proclaiming the gospel. This is the kind of help that is offered to those who have already received the gospel, are already following Jesus, and are already indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
Whether we call this by the terms strengthening, edification, building up, discipling, or something else, it was part of the mission of both Jesus and Paul, and should be considered part of the mission of God today.
What would you like to add to my discussion of strengthening believers as part of the mission of God?
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Decompartmentalizing the Mission of God Series:
What is a false teacher?
Jeremy at “Till He Comes” is continuing a very good series on heresy and false teaching. So far, he has stepped through several passages to show that “heresy” in Scripture is about divisiveness, not false teaching.
However, there are warnings about false teachers, and Jeremy begins to cover that in his latest post “Beware of False Teachers.”
I love the way that Jeremy begins this part of his series. He suggests that everyone who disagrees with us is not necessarily a “false teacher.” So, what does Jeremy say we should do about those disagreements? He writes:
It is far easier to call someone a “heretic” or a “false teacher” then it is to actually learn and understand the views of those who disagree, and then either lovingly state our disagreements or adjust our own views to fit with something we learned from someone else.
It is always easier to continue believing what we already believe, and condemn everyone else, then it is to take the risk of having our views and ideas challenged by someone else.
It is always easier to dismiss someone out of hand, then it is to consider their views.
Wow… so if someone disagrees with us, Jeremy suggests that we should listen carefully and consider their views. He even suggests that we may need to adjust our own views.
What is this world coming to…
Seriously, I’m looking forward the Jeremy’s posts on false teaching.
What do you think Scripture means when it refers to “false teachers”?
Audience of One?
Have you heard someone say before that Christians always perform for an audience of one? Whether that person is preaching, teaching, singing, dancing, praying, whatever, everything is always done for an audience of one – meaning God, of course.
In a sense, I understand what that means. Obviously, everything that we do can and should be done for the glory of God. However, that does not mean that God is our only “audience.” In fact, there is at least one context where we should NOT act only as if we are alone and acting for God.
What is that context? Whenever we are with other Christians. (There may be other contexts as well, but this is the context that I’m going to examine.)
To begin with, there are several activities that Jesus’ followers often say should be done only for God. For example, some say that good deeds or works of righteousness should only be done for God (and some would say that only God should know about these activities). Of course, this is one possible interpretation of Matthew 6:1-4. However, this interpretation fails to take into account those times when we are specifically instructed to do good deeds in a manner that others see and recognize those actions for what they are. For a few examples, see Matthew 5:13-16 or the many passages in which one of the authors of Scripture offer their own good deeds as an example for others to follow or in which we are exhorted to live in a manner that others can see our good deeds as well.
Often, fasting as presenting as an activity that should be done for an audience of one. Again, there is a particular passage that can be interpreted to mean that we should never let others know that we are fasting: Matthew 6:16-18. However, we know about every fast in Scripture (i.e., the fasts are not “secret”), and we even have several examples of group fasts in which the group obviously knew that the others were fasting. (For example, see Acts 13:2-3 and Acts 14:23.)
But, there is a passage of Scripture in which believers are specifically instructed NOT to do things only for an audience of one – i.e., things should not be done only for God. This passage, of course, is 1 Corinthians 14. After explaining that people do not generally understand what is spoken through tongues (without interpretation), Paul says:
Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue. (1 Corinthians 14:13-19 ESV)
Similarly, when specifically giving instructions to those who have been given a tongue (by the Holy Spirit), Paul writes:
If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. (1 Corinthians 14:27-28 ESV)
Paul does not deny that the tongue is a gift of the Spirit. Nor does he ever deny that the tongue can be beneficial to the one speaking it. He never says that God does not desire for the person to exercise that gift (tongues). However, Paul consistently states the same admonition: When gathered with the church (i.e., other Christians) always and only do and say things that will benefit the group. Thus, God is not our only audience. We must be concerned with what others will understand and how our words and/or actions will benefit them (i.e. for edification).
It is perhaps surprising that Paul even includes prayer in these instructions. If others cannot understand your prayer, then Paul says it should not be spoken (even if it is spoken directly to God). Why? Because we are speaking both to God and for the benefit of others (i.e., for their edification). Even prayer.
Of course, if you read any of Paul’s letters, you will see that he almost always included a prayer. Why would he write out a prayer if it was only for God? Because it was not only for God; it was also for the encouragement of his readers.
Yes, everything we do should be done for the glory of God. We should do everything recognizing that God is our audience. But, when we are with other believers, God is not our ONLY audience. We should also keep the others around us in mind, and do everything for their edification as well.
Online community and discipleship?
Once again I want to point you to a post by Miguel at “God-Directed Deviations.” This post is called “Virtual Community & Virtual Discipleship.”
Miguel is asking some very good questions about the role of online communication both in developing community and in helping people follow Jesus Christ. As with many of his posts, there is some good discussion in the comments.
As part of his post, Miguel says:
If we say that there are no virtual communities, then the issue of online discipleship is moot. If we say, however, that virtual or online communities do and can exist, then some would have to “Go” to those communities, no problem – “Teach them to observe all things that Christ commanded,” slight problem – and ”baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” bigger problem. Or perhaps you may have a differing point of view with respect to how online discipleship would be done. I would say that online evangelism, at least on the surface seems much more possible than discipleship, but I’m open to here what you have to say here as well.
Again, I encourage you to read Miguel’s post and interact with him there.
However, I want to ask a couple of questions here as well. Is it possible to have virtual or online community only (i.e., you never meet face-to-face)? Is it possible to have virtual or online discipleship only?
(By the way, I wrote a short series last year that began with “Internet Ministry: What is it?“)
Running through Adversity – Living in Christ
Last weekend, a group of friends and I ran in a 5K race with a new local running club. We’ve had the opportunity to get to know some of the people in the running club over the last few weeks. Since this was their first sponsored race, we wanted to support them. (Plus, we enjoy running together.) All of my friends finished the race, and we all had a great time hanging out with running club.
Later, I realized that several of my friends did not run in the best of circumstances. In fact, some people may have chosen not to run if they had been in the same situations.
For example, one couple had their young daughter with them. One of my friends had to run the entire race pushing her in a stroller. But, he did it, and they both had a great time.
Another friend ran a half marathon a week before and was extremely sore. It would have been easy for her to choose not to run this race since she was still recuperating from the earlier and longer run.
This was the very first time one of my friends had run in a 5K. Another friend run a slower pace than normal so they could run together. Both of them ran under less than ideal circumstances.
Finally, one of my other friends has not been sleeping well the last few days. He decided to run anyway, even though he was extremely tired.
As I was thinking about my friends running together under adverse circumstances, I was reminded of this passage in the Book of Hebrews:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12:1-3 ESV)
As we read through the Book of Hebrews, it’s clear that the audience/readers are facing severe struggles (although, they haven’t been killed because of their faith yet – Hebrews 12:4). In order to continue living faithfully in spite of this adversity, the author exhorts them to “look to Jesus.”
Specifically, he told them to remember the shame and hostility that Jesus faced with joy. Just as Jesus continued his mission in spite of adversity and struggle, the readers should continue their own life of faith in spite of their own troubles.
Obviously, running a race is not the same as living in a manner worthy of the gospel. But, just as my friends chose to run in spite of adversity (or even to run through adversity), we must choose to follow Jesus in spite of any problems or struggles we may face.
Also, just as my friends faced different kinds of obstacles (different from one another and different from the obstacles that they’ve faced before), we will all face different adversities in our own life of faith as well.
Finally, my friends were able to encourage one another to continue in spite of the problems they faced. We also need encouragement from one another to continue following Jesus through the struggles of this life.
I appreciate my friends for offering these living illustrations for me and others!
Modeling an environment among the church that encourages others to speak
On my post “Discernment: Part of the edifying process of the church gathering,” Art left a very encouraging and challenging comment. In the comment, he offered some examples of how discernment worked among the groups of believers that he meets with.
In response to his comment, I asked the following: “Among many Christians, there is a concern about being “right” about everything they say. Many will not say anything because they might be wrong or someone else may disagree with them. I’ve had difficulty helping people overcome that. Any suggestions?”
Art then responded with the comment below:
I remind myself of various things, such as:
Without meaning to, we often model being right, and speaking/teaching very thoroughly/well. We studied hard to prepare, we know things that may not readily stand out, and we say way too much when it is “our turn.” When you don’t know or see several ways of taking things, say so. Puzzle out loud. Admit some lack of clarity when it is there. Rather than impressing them as a competent TEACHER/PASTOR/PREACHER, we need to reveal our own inadequacies and struggles as real people. Model reality, not caricatures that no one lives up to.
Don’t dismiss someone who disagrees with you–model being wrong, or possibly being wrong–without fanfare. When someone disagrees with you, take a breath, get small before our God, and ask them to explain more, seek to understand them, and leave it at “not sure now” or “never saw it that way” etc. if that is really the case if you were honest with yourself before God. No one needs false confidence.
When we aren’t experts and accept being wrong (or at least being unsure), that makes it safer for others to be that way. It also means that their own lack of knowledge is no reason for not following God with abandon.
And I wonder where the fear of being right comes from–underneath the “importance of handling scripture rightly,” and underneath all the other fears, such as the fear of speaking in public, the fear of failure, and the fear of looking foolish. Can it be the underlying issue is acceptance? Performance based acceptance is pretty much a cultural anchor most people carry, with attendant wounds and scars.
Whatever is going in within us, any hint of negative response to what anyone shares will heighten fears–especially in the beginning, where people aren’t experienced interacting in this way together. People also catch on to disingenuous affirmation with similar reaction. While we should be careful not to evaluate things said as “right” or “wrong,” we should also take care not to lay value their view as “good” or “interesting” or, “That’s one way of putting it.” Honest reactions are OK, just don’t be patronizing. You have to be in touch with yourself if you want to touch others. Too often, our encouragements to others are just performance enhancers for ourselves–where we are more concerned with how we look as leaders facilitating a discussion, than who we are as simple, fellow disciples who make mistakes and are fragile, too.
Those who struggle often aren’t used to being listened to. I’ve seen more than one person tear up when they start making sense and people start responding to what they share.
When someone is timid or hesitant, don’t evaluate or affirm what they say at all. Instead, we affirm them and state the obvious. “This is hard for you, isn’t it?” “You aren’t used to speaking in a group, are you?” “You don’t have to be a TV pastor with this–none of us are!” It can be helpful to let them take a new perspective by asking things like:
“How would you explain this to a small child?”
“How do you think your (mom/dad/friends/pastor) might have understood/understand this verse?”
“What one thing jumps out at You? Why”
“How does this verse make you feel? Why?”
“How would this look in real life?”
This fear of being wrong or even speaking up seems to be heightened in a large group, so getting people started sharing in a smaller size group is helpful.
Using the discussion method I’ve described above has proven very helpful. Everyone takes a turn, so everyone is supportive and patient. In an hour, you can visibly see signs of people finding confidence, surprising themselves with their thinking and putting ideas into words. In a few weeks/months, the capabilities are very different than when they began.
How do you model an environment (among other believers) that encourages them to speak? What do you do (how do you respond) if you think someone is wrong? Do you expect everyone to teach using the same resources and methods that you use? If so, why? If not, how do you express that other resources and methods are valid as well?
Replay: Christian Sacramentalism
Three years ago, I wrote a post called “Christian Sacramentalism.” It would have been more appropriately title “Evangelical Sacramentalism,” since, of course, some Christians accept sacramentalism. Evangelicals, on the other hand, state that they are not sacramental. However, in this post, I suggest that many evangelical actually live sacramental lives.
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According New Advent, the online Catholic encyclopedia, “sacraments” are “outward signs of inward grace, instituted by Christ for our sanctification”. Since the Reformation, many protestants have verbally denied that participated in certain activities actually imparts grace on the one performing the activity.
However, while sacramentalism is often verbally denied, I believe that is still practiced by most Protestants, including evangelicals. In fact, I think that modern Christianity – as it is practiced by most believers – is steeped in sacramentalism.
For example, many believers attend church meetings – “worship services” – because they believe they are supposed to attend as a Christian and because they believe they get something from it. However, few have considered the purpose of attending these meetings as described and prescribed in Scripture. Thus, they are attending a meeting – “worship service” – for a sacramental reason, not to carry out another purpose.
Instead, Scripture teaches that believers should meet together for a specific purpose: building up one another, exhorting one another to grow in maturity in Christ, encouraging one another toward love and good works. In fact, simply attending a church meeting does not impart grace on a believer. God does not keep attendance. (See “But I have perfect attendance“)
The same argument could be made toward various activities that happen during the church meeting (“worship service”), such as singing songs, giving money, bowing our heads, closing our eyes, listening to teaching, etc.
Similarly, why do believers read Scripture or attend Bible studies? If they read or listen simply to say that they’ve done it, then this is a sacramental view of Scripture. They are reading or listening because they think they get something from God (grace?) because they performed a certain activity. Those who approach Scripture in this manner – sacramentally – may find that they read through the Bible each year, but they will rarely find that their life has been transformed.
Paul tells the Corinthians that there is nothing special about carrying out certain activities. The Corinthians were eating and drinking and calling it the “Lord’s Supper”, but Paul told them that they were not actually partaking of the “Lord’s Supper”. Why? Because they forgot the purpose of eating together. (1 Cor. 11:20-21)
As followers of Jesus Christ, we must always evaluate our activities, but we must also evaluate our purpose in doing those activities. If we are simply doing something for the sake of doing it – because we think its required or because we think we should or because we’ve always done it or because we think that we receive some reward for doing it – then we are practicing sacramental Christianity.
Who is wise and understanding among you?
How do you know if someone is wise? How do you know if someone has understanding? Who do you think of when you think of someone who is wise and/or understanding? What makes you think about that person?
Last Sunday, we had the opportunity to get together with some friends of ours. During this time, we all read and talked about James 3:1-18.
James begins with a warning to teachers, then shifts immediately to a discussion about the destructive and untameable tongue.
But, at the end of that chapter, in James 3:13-18, he shifts again to a general discussion of wisdom. (Although, I think all of these topics are related.)
Notice how James begins his shift to the discussion about wisdom:
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. (James 3:13 ESV)
Did you notice what James says? The person who is wise and understanding will demonstrate that through his or her manner of life. That right, it’s not what someone says that determines whether or not the person is wise or understanding. Instead, it’s the way the person lives…
So, who is wise and understanding among you? You will know who those people are based on the way that they live their lives. (Seems like this is a repeated exhortation in James… such as James 1:22 and James 2:14.)