The Church: The Character of God’s Family
This week, I’m publishing a few posts on “The Church” which explain the basis of my ecclesiology. In the first post, I said that our understanding of the church must begin with God. (see “The Church: It All Begins with God“) In the second post, I continue from that first point by concluding that our relationship with God and with one another is dependent upon God’s re-creative work, not any work of our own. (see “The Church: God’s Children and God’s Family“)
The way we act is defined by who we are. We are God’s children and God’s family, and thus we act as if God is our father. In the Gospels, we see Jesus giving us example after example of what it means to live as God’s children. Since we have been re-created, we have the opportunity and the ability to live as God’s children.
God loves. As his children, then, we also love. We go because God goes and sends. We care because God cares. We give because God gives. We serve because God serves.
When we love, serve, teach, care, etc., we do so because we are God’s children and we have been re-created to imitate our father. We do not become God’s children because we do these things, but we do these things because we are God’s children.
Similarly, we do not do these things (and other things) because we are the church. We are God’s children, and we do these things in demonstration of his character. The character of the family should be a demonstration of the character of the father.
Again, while this may seem obvious, we sometimes delegate this to a side story. If someone goes to another part of the world, they do not go because they are part of the church and the church sent them. They go because God’s cares about the people of that part of the world, and because God has sent them. If someone chooses to take care of a homeless person, they do not do so because the church has a homeless outreach, but because God cares for this person and their concern is a direct reflection of the father’s love.
Finally, this brings us to gathering together. As a family, we gather together. This does not make us family. Instead, gathering together is a demonstration that we are family. We love one another and desire to spend time with one another. That will be the topic for my next post in this series.
Ethics are for living
Ethics are for living, not for study. At least, that is the claim of Ben at “Casting Out Callicles” in his article “Against Armchair Ethicists.” Concerning the study of ethics, Ben concludes:
There is something higher to which those of us who study ethics should aspire. We should hope not only to discover and explain what is good, but to love it, and to inspire the same love in our readers.
Interesting. If this applies to ethics, does it also apply to theology? What about ecclesiology? You mean, we’re supposed to live this stuff and not just study and write about it?
How weird.
(ht: adam)
Casting my worries and reeling them back in
Peter says it so nonchalantly:
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV)
Yeah, so the “humble yourselves” part is bad enough… but lately I’m realizing that I haven’t been casting all my anxieties (worries, cares) to God. I mean, I might cast them, but then I reel them back in and try to deal with them myself.
But, then, perhaps the casting and the humbling go together. In order to cast, I have to admit that I can’t handle them myself… and that takes humility. And casting, then reeling them back, simply indicates that I think I can handle my anxieties on my own. Not much humility there… but alot of pride.
So, I think God for giving me people (like my wife and other friends) who help me cast my worries on God… and leave them there… and leave them there… and leave them there…
God is closer than we think
I drive by a few church buildings every day. Some of those have signs out front. Often, those signs cause me to groan. For example, recently one of the signs included the following message: “Lost? God’s GPS is inside.” I hope they really don’t think that God’s “directions” are found inside a building. And, in case you think they might mean the people, the building was usually empty when I drove by.
But, there’s a sign downtown that I completely agree with. It reads: “God is closer than we think.” That is so true! God is so much closer than we could ever imagine!
(The sign in the image is NOT the actual sign.)
Jesus cares more about people than rituals
Three years ago, I took part in a meme called “Five Things I Dig About Jesus.” Not only did I come up with 5 things, but I wrote a post about each one. One of those posts was called “Jesus cares more about people than rituals.” Whenever I think about this, I’m forced to ask myself, “Do I care more about people, or about rituals, structures, plans, things, etc?”
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Jesus cares more about people than rituals
I was tagged by Bryan at “Charis Shalom” to post five things I dig about Jesus. I “dug” this meme so much that I decided to blog through my five things. Number four on my list is that Jesus cares more about people than rituals.
God commanded the Israelites to carry out certain rituals. The most important of these rituals were the sacrifices and offerings. In fact, the children of Israel were required to sacrifice certain animals, food, or drink. But, the prophets tell us something interesting.
According to Isaiah, God did not delight in the sacrifices and burnt offerings. Instead, God wanted his people to “learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause”. (Isaiah 1:17 ESV)
Similarly, the prophet Micah rhetorically asks what delights God:
“With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8 ESV)
Micah recognized that God required justice and kindness toward others before sacrifice.
In Malachi, God accepts the sacrifices of Israel when they do not lie to each other, when they do not oppress the hired worker, the fatherless, and the widow, and when they do not misuse the immigrant. (Malachi 3:3-6)
God cares about people more than sacrifices and offerings. God cares about people more than rituals. The children of Israel could carry out all of the sacrifices and offerings and all of the rituals required by the law, but those rituals were worthless if they were not treating people properly.
What about Jesus? What did Jesus think about ritual? Remember that many of Jesus’ healings occurred on the Sabbath. Why? Because Jesus cared more about the people than following the rules of the Sabbath. Certainly, these rules were man-made, but they were rituals that the religious people kept. Jesus did not keep rituals in order to be religious. He healed people and cared for people.
But, these were man-made Sabbath rules. What about God ordained rituals? Did Jesus put people before God ordained rituals? Jesus told the man about to offer his sacrfice to first reconcile with his brother. To Jesus, relationships came before ritual. In fact, this parallels with what the prophets taught. Sacrifices and offerings are meaningless if people are not treated with justice and kindness. (Matthew 5:23-24)
Remember also that Jesus used the priest and the Levite – those responsible for carrying out the rituals – as negative examples in the story of the good Samaritan. Many believe that the priest and Levite refused to stop because they would become “unclean” and would not be allowed to carry out their ritual duties. (Luke 10:30-33)
Let’s be honest… there are alot of rituals associated with the organized church. Attend on Sunday and Wednesday… sit down, stand up, kneel… Bow your heads and close your eyes… Read this passage, sing this song, pray this prayer… Put your money here… Rituals.
Are there good reasons for these rituals? Certainly, just as there were good reasons for the sacrifices and offerings. But, people must come before rituals.
Jesus puts us before rituals. His compassion for us does not depend on standing the right way, or sitting just so, or bowing our heads and closing our eyes, or singing well. His love for us does not rise and fall with the frequency of our attendance at certain meetings. Jesus cares more about people than rituals.
Thirty Years of Learning
On his blog this morning, Dave Black remembered and meditated on his last 30 years of learning (30 years since he graduated from seminary). He says (Thursday, June 10 at 7:41 a.m.):
There is pain in these reflections. The past 30 years have not, for the most part, been lived for others. Not, at least, in any sacrificial sense. Nor has love been my constant priority. To fail in love is to fail completely in our witness to Christ. I have grown, perhaps, in my theological grasp, my teaching ability, my leadership qualities, my publishing record, my loyalty to the local church. The fact remains, however, that all of these things are irrelevant in the eyes of a lost world. My academic attainments, my scholarly reputation, my list of publications — these are purely secondary when it comes to my witness to others. What the world knows, and sees, and recognizes, and values, and needs is love. As Francis Schaeffer once put it, love is the distinguishing mark of the Christian and the greatest apologetic for Christianity. Has love been my constant priority these past 30 years? Hardly. But gradually, year by year, I’ve begun to realize that the great blows of God are designed to awaken me from the slumber of my tiny humanity and make a Christian out of me. My trials have produced spiritual muscles even as my body grows feeble and flabby. I have been forced — yes, trials push one towards the love of God! — forced, I say, to stop trusting in my own looks, eloquence, power, or ability and to trust instead in the incredible grace of God in Christ. 30 years ago I had the world wrapped around my little finger. Christianity was easy. Today I gladly admit: There is no such thing as easy Christianity. As never before, Christ’s love has gripped me, propelled me, and impelled me along one magnificent obsession: To know Him and to make Him known. I am rich in Christ, and these riches have nothing to do with diplomas or degrees. That sounds too simple, perhaps, but it is the voice of 30 years of experience speaking. If you are a Christian, you are rich too. I hope that you too will find true riches, know them, claim them, and live in the proved experience of them.
I was headed in the same direction that Dave Black was headed 30 years ago. I think I’m learning a little sooner thanks to his example and the example of other brothers and sisters that God has brought into my life.
Minister of Web Development
Recently, I was having breakfast with a friend of mine, when he started talking about recent opportunities that he’s had to minister to people because of his work as a web developer.
(Paraphrasing) He said that he once envied people who were paid by a church to serve others. He thought they had it made because they could spend all of their time serving people and didn’t have to worry about supporting their family.
But, now, he says, he’s learning that he has opportunities to serve people every day through his work as a web developer – people who would never seek counsel from someone who was paid by a church. But, these people are willing to talk with him because they know him and have worked with him and trust him and don’t think he’s just trying to make another convert.
Sure, the people who would say that are wrong about the vast number of paid professional ministers who truly care about people and want to help them. But, the perspective is there. My friend does not have to deal with that because they respect him as a web developer and friend, and he’s able to serve them and introduce them to Jesus Christ.
Of course, this “minister of web development” isn’t the first or only person who has told me recently about opportunities that God has given them to serve others within their spheres of influence that are outside the normal “church” spheres. The exciting thing (to me) is that more and more people are recognizing that God has called them, ordained them, and gifted them as ministers wherever they live, work, shop, play, etc. And, more and more people are taking this calling serious and are beginning to serve people in their neighborhoods and workplaces and schools etc.
Now, my web developing friend says that those who are paid by a church should envy him. He gets to serve others while doing what he likes, and he doesn’t have to deal with being paid by a church. (I think that last part was said in jest… sorta.)
So, what about you? Where has God placed you to serve others? How are you taking advantage of those opportunities?
Led by the Spirit
What does it mean to be “led by the Spirit”? Often, when someone says something like, “I think the Spirit may be leading me to do something,” what they really mean is, “I think this is what I should do, but I want to sound spiritual.” But, of course, they also don’t want to blame God for any bad moves they make, so they give God an out by saying things like “I think” or “maybe” or “I’m trying to discern” etc.
I was thinking about that when I read this passage in Acts:
And they (Paul and his team) went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (Acts 16:6-10 ESV)
Notice a few things… first, Paul and his team attempted to make at least two moves that were not in God’s plan. They tried to “speak the word in Asia” and they attempted to “go into Bithynia.” Luke does not say that they thought God was leading them to do this.
But, second, they knew that God stopped them from doing it. Twice Luke says that the Spirit stopped them. This was a definite act of God, but whether they knew it before hand or afterwards, Luke doesn’t tell us.
Finally, Paul has a vision of going to Macedonia. It’s only after a direct communication from God that they were willing to say that God was telling them to do something. Even then, there appears to be some consideration of the vision, since they had to “conclude” that God had called them to Macedonia.
While there are plenty of other passages in Scripture that helps us understand how God leads his people by his Spirit, we can see a few things in this passage.
Paul and his team did not feel the need to credit (or blame) God for every decision that they made. Just in these few verses we see that Paul and his team made decisions and began following plans that were later changed by God. Reading through Acts, you could probably say that this was their default way of making decisions. Certainly they prayed and considered all their options and started along the path that seemed best to them.
But, they were also always cognizant of the fact that they might make decisions that were contrary to God’s plans, and thus, they were also willing to change their plans. If God clearly revealed to them to stop what they were doing (as he did concerning Asia or Bithynia), or if God clearly revealed something that he wanted them to do (as he did concerning Macedonia), then Paul and his team would change their plans.
God is our Father, and he loves as. We can make decisions based on the information that we have and the wisdom that he’s given us. We don’t have to say something like, “I think God is leading me to…” But, at the same time, we should always be ready to change our plans if he reveals something else to us.
You see, being “led by the Spirit” is not a feeling that you get. It is a definite direction that God reveals to us.
Follow up about preaching and sermons
I left this as a comment on a previous post, and thought I should share it here:
I think that the announcement/proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ to unbelievers is of utmost importance. I think this is the type of proclamation (i.e. “preachingâ€) that we see in the New Testament. I also think that this NT form of proclamation has little (if any) resemblance (in form, content, or context) to what is normally called “preaching†or “sermons†today.
People love explanations
People like explanations. They like to explain things and have things explained to them.
When it comes to “theology” – what we think about God, which would include what we think about ourselves, others, and the world around us – we really, really like to have things explained to us. Unfortunately, Scripture doesn’t always explain things the way that we want them explained.
So, we explain them. Or, our favorite theologian or author or professor explains the things. Usually – almost always – we must go beyond what Scripture actually says in order to explain things in a way that is satisfactory. If not, things just seem… ummm… unexplained.
That’s fine. It’s good to think about things and try to understand. Of course, our explanations are probably wrong. We are imperfect creatures. But, still, we want things explained to us, or we want to explain them ourselves, and so we go about explaining things.
The problem comes along when someone else explains something in a different manner than the way that we explain them. It doesn’t matter that both explanations are interpolations and extrapolations of Scripture combined with our favorite philosophy and tradition. We like our explanation and so the other person’s explanation must be wrong… more wrong that our explanation certainly.
And, thus, we disagree, and label, and attack, and separate… over our explanations.
But, we love explanations. And, making everyone accept our explanation is what being a follower of Jesus is all about… right?