Church Service
Our weekend was filled with church service. No, not that kind of church service. In fact, we did not attend our church’s weekly meeting yesterday. And, while we missed seeing and spending time with everyone, there are some things that are more important than meeting.
Saturday morning we helped a family move (actually, other friends finished packing the truck before we got there, so we just spent some time with everyone before they had to leave). After that, we spend some time in the neighborhood and in the nursing home. After that, we helped some other friends work on their house. (I have a great story about this. I hope to share it later this week.)
Sunday morning, as we were getting ready to meet with the church, Margaret got a phone call from one of our closest friends. Her father is dying of brain cancer, and she had had a rough night. We decided to drive down to South Carolina where he is in the hospital and spend some time with them.
So… alot of church service this weekend… and alot of meeting with the church at various homes and even in a hospital… but we didn’t attend the “church meeting”.
Oh… and today is my birthday.
The Downward Path of Jesus
Dave Black (Thursday, March 26, at 12:36 p.m.) gave us a glimpse into the content of his newest book, which he has recently sent to the publisher. The book is called The Downward Path of Jesus. This is what he says:
I argue in The Downward Path of Jesus that New Testament ecclesiology is much more than “doing church right.” If we are to be true to the New Testament vision of the church as a family, then we must insist upon a more costly and participatory manifestation of the unity and diversity of Christ’s Body. The patterns that I read in the New Testament lead me to conclude that a successful church is much more than an organization with a hard-working paid staff, a large and expanding membership, a growing budget, and a multiplicity of programs. The church, to me, is simply a group of radical Jesus-followers ministering to each other sacrificially and reaching the community about them with the Gospel in word and deed. This kind of radical discipleship as taught by Jesus and modeled for us by the early church is, in my thinking, the great need of the hour. Being a citizen of Christ’s kingdom involves a commitment to a radical way of living that both rejects the corrosive influences of Christendom and embraces a citizenship status quite apart from political or official church structures in any given time or place. Christian discipleship means trading everything for the privilege of gathering voluntarily around the person and example of Christ and giving all for the cause of Christ’s mission in the world. That’s why I argue that restoration, not reformation, ought to be the goal of church renewal today. As I mentioned to my publisher yesterday, nobody will really be happy with my book. It will please neither traditionalists nor emergents, neither red Christians nor blue Christians, neither age-integrationists nor age-segregationists (or any other -ists), neither those on the left nor those on the right. I hope, however, that it will appeal to anyone who is prepared to pay any price necessary to develop churches dedicated exclusively to life and faith under Jesus’ authority. The Jesus way of life is a consistent lifestyle of sacrificial service rather than occasional acts of solidarity with people who cannot give us anything. We are called to be revolutionaries by acting (and not only thinking) like Jesus. Our only loyalty should be to Him and the Kingdom He is building. We cannot have two allegiances. We cannot serve two kingdoms.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
Learning by Watching and Doing
In yesterday’s post, “The inadequacy of seminars and conferences“, I copied an email from Art Mealer, a new friend. Art said that a seminar or conference (such as the one that put on last weekend) is inadequate – something is missing. What is missing? Art says that “Process” is missing. He says:
In your assembly, isn’t it in seeing the modeling day by day, the close interactions with one another, the personal experiences that forge and reinforce a more biblical way of being together that is the Process through which the Spirit works? It isn’t lecture alone that produces obedience and transformation; it isn’t even learning. It is being shown how to by example that births new behaviors and values. It is being held a mirror by the faithful wounds of brothers and sisters so we can see where we are off balance. It is being in a place where we are safe, accepted, for all of our flaws, that we can let go of defenses and face the fear of taking off masks. The place where we can admit sin and find help. Where we can take root in Him. Outside of being present at the birth of new life, nothing is more precious than seeing another man or woman as they learn to humble themselves under the Spirit in this moment and that, and be transformed bit by bit into an image of the Son, pure love beginning to work in and through them.
And, Art is correct! I struggled with doing a seminar for this very reason. While we made the seminar as relational as possible, and included as many people and examples as possible, something was still missing. The process of learning from one another by living with one another was missing.
Christianity today is infatuated with seminars and conferences. We travel long distances to learn from people that we don’t really know. We will listen to their words without knowing or seeing their lives. We read books by people that we’ve never met. We read their words without knowing or seeing their lives. And, we call this learning. This is not learning – at least, its not discipleship.
But, to be honest, we came to this point naturally. What do I mean? Well, for most Christians, week in and week out, we “learn” from people that we don’t really know. We listen to someone speak during our church meeting, but the only contact we have with this person is during our church meeting. (See my post “Learning from Strangers“.) Again, we call this learning and discipleship, but it is so far from what we see in Scripture.
Remember that when Paul wrote letters to churches, he primarily wrote to people who knew him and had met him and had seen his life. Or, in the case of the church in Rome, he was planning to go there soon. He did not write in a vacuum. He wrote in the context of his own living example. In fact, he would often point his readers to his manner of living (Philippians 4:9; 1 Thess 2:9; 2 Thess 3:7-8; 2 Tim 3:10-11; plus many others). He expected people to learn from the way he lived, not only from his words, either written or spoken.
We’ve lost this today, to some extent. We’ve forgotten that Peter told elders to be examples to others in the way that they live their lives (1 Peter 5:3). In fact, in his instructions to elders, Peter said nothing about the way they should speak, but he said alot about the way they should live – as examples to other believers.
Today, we want a leaders who is a fine speaker, and we often don’t expect to actually spend time with him – we don’t expect to learn from his example.
As Art says, we’re missing “Process”. We don’t have the benefit of learning from those who are more mature or who have lived through this. We only have words. What do we need? Yes, words are important, but we also need people to give us a living example and to walk through life with us. We need people who can show us by example what it means to be the church – the family of God.
Toward the end of his email, Art asked this question:
What if, for example, it would not be out of character for the Spirit to call one or two or three of the families at Messiah (etc.) and make them available to spend two months or eight months (whatever time it turns out to be), living among another assembly as they help them make the transition from a faulty church attendance model to becoming the family of God together?
What if? I would say, “Praise God!” Yes, we would be excited to send part of our group to help another group of believers learn what it’s like to live as family with one another. Why? Because we recognize that the church is more than us, and that we are here to help one another – anyone in the family actually – to grow in maturity toward Jesus Christ.
It’s time we started learning by watching and doing as much as we try to learn by listening and reading.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond
I like Pink Floyd, but not in the same way that my friend (and co-worker) Gary likes Pink Floyd. He plays it often in the office. Last week, he played “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”:
Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there’s a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom,
blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,
come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision,
rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!
I had heard this song before, of course, but I had never paid attention to the lyrics. I asked Gary about the lyrics, and he told me the story of Syd Barrett.
He was one of the founding members of Pink Floyd and played with the band from 1964 to 1968. However, as the band became more popular, the pressures on Barrett caused him to have emotional and psychiatric problems. These issues were compounded by his increasing use of hallucinogenic drugs (especially LSD). People reported seeing Barrett on stage playing one chord on his guitar for an entire concert, or not playing at all.
David Gilmour was asked to play along side Barrett (since Barrett wasn’t functioning on stage), until Gilmore finally completely replaced Barrett. In 1975, He returned to watch the band record the album (no, it wasn’t a CD at this time) Wish You Were Here, which included the song “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”.
As I read the lyrics, and heard Gary tell Barrett’s story, I couldn’t help but recognize the comparison between Barrett’s life with Pink Floyd and the life of the church. Just as Barrett got sidetracked, I think the church has been sidetracked. Just as Gilmour came in to work beside and eventually replace Barrett, other groups have come along side and eventually replaced the church (i.e. government, welfare, parachurch groups).
The church had a fascinated beginning. The people truly did “shine like the sun”, and their world noticed – either rejecting them, killing them, or embracing them. Today, the church seems irrelevant, and the world doesn’t care. The church has chased the wrong secrets (hierarchy, structures, philosophies, etc.) and has been “exposed in the light”.
Just as Pink Floyd was hoping for Barrett to return, I’m hoping the same for the church. I know the church is out there. God has never forsaken his church. The Lord is still leading his church. The question is, “Will the church be willing to turn away from the distractions and turn her eyes back toward Jesus? Will the church be willing to be seen once again as a raver, a seer of visions, a painter, a piper, a prisoner? Will the church shine?”
What do you think? Do you see a similarity? Is the church giving up its ability to shine? Can the church shine once again? If so, how?
Thinking the things of God
My son, Jeremy, and I left our house just before 8:00 a.m. this morning. It is our month to help set up the chairs and sound system for our church meeting. Two of our friends joined us, and we had a good time talking to one another as we prepared for the meeting. We returned home just after 9:00 a.m. to pick up Margaret and Miranda.
Margaret had started a pot of beef stew this morning, so when everyone was ready (a little after 10:00 a.m.) we loaded the stew into the van and drove to our meeting location. We put the stew on the stove there so it would cook little longer. Then we talked with some of our friends while we waited for the meeting to officially begin.
We caught up with some old friends and met some new friends. One couple who has been meeting with us for a few weeks invited us to dinner next week. Another couple who we’ve known for several years told us about their plans to move to South Carolina in the couple of weeks.
If I’m at the meeting, I usually start our meeting. Its not necessary for me to start the meeting, in fact, sometimes I don’t and someone else does. But, sometime around 10:40 a.m. I started our meeting by reading Hebrews Chapter 1. (We usually read through a book to start our meetings. We just started Hebrews today, so we’ll read through it over the next 13 weeks.) This was a great chapter to begin our meeting with the reminder that God now reveals himself through Jesus, who is not like angels.
My friend Jared led us in singing a few songs. Two brothers played guitar while another brother played bass. A fourth brother played keyboards. One of the young ladies was going to play flute, but she decided to sing with Jared instead. We sang some old hymns, new hymns, and new choruses.
At one point, my friend Jim read 1 Corinthians 2, which I had chosen to go along with the passage that I was teaching. (The person who is scheduled to teach also chooses a passage of Scripture to be read and asks someone to read it during our meeting.) This passage reminds us that God speaks to us through his Spirit, not through rhetoric or fancy speech. Plus, we can now know things about God that were once unheard of. The phrase “what eye has not seen and ear has not heard” refers to what we now know because we have “the mind of Christ”.
Next, I taught from Matthew 16:21-23. Jesus had just praised Peter because God had revealed himself to Peter (16:17). However, now Peter has begun to think “the things of man” again. Instead, Jesus rebukes Peter and exhorts him tothink “the things of God”. This is a great exhortation for us to think with “the mind of Christ”, not in the ways of the natural man.
My friend, Mael, facilitated the remainder of the meeting, encouraging brothers and sisters in Christ to share what God was doing in their lives or what they had been learning lately. Several people responded to the passage that we studied today, confessing how that had been thinking “the things of man” – trying to talk God out of something, telling God they can’t do what he wants them to do, etc.
One man shared how he was learning that the more mature you get in the Spirit, the more you realize how dependent you are on God. In other areas of life, the more you know the more independent you get. Not so for our life with God.
After several people had time to share, we laid hands on and prayed for Geth and his wife, Katie. Geth wants to work with prisoners, and the church affirmed him and his desire to serve God through serving prisoners.
We spend about 30 minutes talking and fellowshiping with one another. Then we served our beef stew to our family and another family and whoever wanted some. Other people brought in food – either food they had made and brought from home or had picked up at a local restaurant. We ate and talked some more.
Eventually, as people started leaving, we put away the chairs and the sound system and headed home. We got home around 3:00 p.m. So, we spent about 5 hours with the church (not counting the setup time this morning). This is the format of our normal church meeting. We have time for singing and scheduled teaching, but we also have time for sharing and fellowship.
As a church, we think that all of this is important – in fact, I would say it is all part of “thinking the things of God”. So, since we think this is important, we set aside time for singing, teaching, and fellowship.
Get behind me, Satan
Tomorrow, God willing, I plan to teach from Matthew 16:21-23. I say, “God willing”, not just as “Christianese”, but my plans are not always God’s plans – as he showed me last week.
But, here is the passage:
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance1 to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” (Matthew 16:21-23 ESV)
While there are many things that I could write about, I want to discuss about the non-verbal communication in this passage. Non-verbal communication includes things like gesture, posture, expressions, etc. There are two specific instances of non-verbal communication in this passage:
First, Peter takes Jesus aside. He removes Jesus from the presence of the other disciples, before he rebukes Jesus.
Second, after Peter’s statement, Jesus turns around – probably turning away from Peter. This action puts Peter behind Jesus.
Think about how Peter’s non-verbal action communicates along with his “rebuke” of Jesus. Think about how Jesus’ non-verbal action communicates along with his statement to Peter (and probably to others).
This type of communication does not use words, but it can be very loud – very expressive. Plus, could it be that Peter taking Jesus aside tells us something about the way Peter “rebukes” Jesus? Could Jesus turning his back on Peter reveal something about Jesus comment to Peter?
These actions communicate meaning, and we should take these into account, both when we’re studying Scripture, but also when we are communicating with other people.
stories: The Neighborhood
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
Not too long ago, we met a lady named Cathy. Cathy began meeting with the church on Sundays, and we were able to get to know her a little more. There are many stories that I could tell about Cathy, but this story is about her neighborhood.
Cathy lives in a government assisted housing development – a project. Every Sunday, she would ask for prayer or for help for her neighbors. We would pray for them and help them as we could. We furnished her next door neighbor’s apartment when he moved.
As Cathy continued to talk about her neighbors, I realized that God was giving me an opportunity to get to know some people who were very different from me in many ways. I talked with Cathy and told her that I would like to meet her neighbors. She was excited about it and said that she would introduce me.
I was glad that Cathy was going to introduce me, because I wouldn’t be going in as a stranger. But, I also wanted some other way to demonstrate Christ’s love to the people in the neighborhood. After talking with a few people, I decided to take small bags of fresh produce with me to give to Cathy’s neighbors. I knew that some charities took food to this neighborhood, but they usually took old cakes and cookies or old food that the grocery stores couldn’t sell. Since our family had recently started eating healthier, I decided to bring fresh produce to encourage healthy eating habits.
The next Saturday morning, I stopped by the roadside produce stand and bought some vegetables and fruit for five small grocery bags – potatoes, beans, squash, apples, oranges, onions, tomatoes… probably only about $5 worth in each bag. Then, I drove to Cathy’s apartment. I gave Cathy the first bag of produce and talked with her for a few minutes. Then, she introduced me to two of her neighbors and told me about a few other neighbors.
As she introduced me to her neighbors, she simply said, “This is my friend, Alan. He wanted to meet you.”
I would then explain that I had some fresh vegetables and fruit for them, then start talking with them. It was easy to get to know them with Cathy there, because they trusted her. Eventually, they would start to trust me as well. But, at this point, I just wanted to get to know them… to listen to their stories… to learn from them.
Eventually, Cathy had to return to her apartment. I still had one bag of produce left, because some of the people she wanted to introduce me to were not at home. So, I knocked on someone’s door – someone that Cathy had not introduced me to. A child opened the door, and I told him that I was a friend of their neighbor’s (Cathy), and I wanted to give them some fresh produce. (This neighborhood is used to getting handouts, so this would not be surprising to him.) I asked if his mother or father was at home, and he told me his mother was on the phone. Each week that I came back to that house, the mother was on the phone. The children would thank me for the vegetables and fruit, then shut the door. I thought it was rude… but eventually we became very close to this family… but that’s another story.
The next Saturday, my family joined me. We knocked on the doors of the people that I had met the previous week. Most of them remembered me, and were happy to meet my family. Again, when we had talked to everyone we knew who was at home, there was an extra bag, so we knocked on another door, and met someone new.
We’ve been visiting the people in Cathy’s neighborhood for almost a year now. Over the months, another family and a few other friends started going with us. We were able to spend more time talking with the neighbors and buy more produce than when I started. But, we always made sure that people remained the most important. If someone was outside their apartment, we would stop and talk to them, even if we did not have produce. If the people wanted to talk, we would talk. If they did not want to talk, we wouldn’t talk. But, we made ourselves available.
We’ve had opportunities to drive some of the neighbors to doctor’s appointments, or pick them up when they were released from the hospital. We’ve had opportunities to tutor some of the neighbors and provide toys at Christmas. We invited friends to help us rake leaves last fall and sing Christmas carols in December. We’ve laughed and cried and listened and talked and prayed and encouraged and admonished and lived with these wonderful people for almost a year.
Through this time, we’ve seen God change some of the neighbors, and we’ve seen God change us. I have many, many more stories to tell from the time that we spend in the neighborhood. But, I will have to tell those stories another day.
Used up and worn out… in a good way
Chris at “Filtering Life Through the Cross” has written a blog post that you don’t want to miss. The post is called “Used Up and Worn Out or Neat and Tidy?“
First, Chris shares this lessons from a man who runs ultramarathons (longer than a marathon):
As a running buddy once said to me: Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming: ‘WOW! What a ride!’
Next, Chris compares this to a life of following Christ. He mentions several passages of Scripture that encourage us to live our life completely for Christ. He ends with this:
When we see our Lord and Savior face to face, let all who see Him fall into His strong loving arms because we are worn out and used up because we lived our lives for Him and His purposes.
What a great encouragement and admonition!
The seminar keeps getting better
Less than two weeks away (March 21) from the “Developing a Biblical Ecclesiology” seminar, and it keeps getting better. No, not my part of the seminar. But, the other parts of the seminar. Let me explain.
First, if you’re not familiar with the seminar, I’ve written about it in these posts: “Upcoming Seminar: Developing a Biblical Ecclesiology“, “Promoting the Developing a Biblical Ecclesiology seminar“, “A Relational Seminar“, and “What’s in a seminar name?” Also, Dave Black has written about the seminar a few times on his blog (you’ll have to search for the seminar).
Originally, we planned to meet together at a local restaurant Friday night (March 20) before the seminar for dinner. This was going to be a great time to meet people and get to know one another before the seminar itself. This dinner, along with several of us spending the night with host families Friday night, was very important for the relational aspect of the seminar.
But, now I’ve been told that a family has agreed to open their home for us on Friday night. Instead of having dinner at a local restaurant, we will be able to talk together in this family’s living room! They are also providing finger foods so we will be able to eat and talk. This will be a much more relational atmosphere than the restaurant!
As I explained in my previous blog posts about the seminar, the relational aspect is extremely important. In this family’s living room – overlooking a lake, I’ve been told – we’ll be able to talk to one another, get to know one another, learn about our hopes and fears and concerns, and talk about some practical aspects that we will not cover in the seminar. This Friday evening meeting will be foundational to building relationships and to the content of the rest of the seminar.
So, if you can be in the Roxboro, NC area Friday night (March 20), please plan to join us. If you can join us that evening, contact Jason Evans. The host family requested only a certain number of people come Friday night because of the size of their living room and amount of food. See the seminar brochure (here) for Jason’s contact info.
International Women’s Day
Today is International Women’s Day. Originally, I had planned to write a post concerning women and spiritual gifts and the church, but that didn’t work out.
Instead, I want to take this opportunity to thank the women who have allowed God to use them in my life. Certainly, this starts with my wife and my daughter. But there are many, many women that God has used to teach, encourage, comfort, admonish, and grow me toward Christ-likeness.
When I think about these women, I recognize that they are not perfect. But, that’s okay. I am reminded of women like Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, Rachel, Tamar, Abigail, Bathsheba, Naomi, Ruth, Mary, and many, many other women in Scripture. They were not perfect. They often made very serious mistakes – very serious sins – but by God’s grace and their trust in him, God used them.
Think about the only three women who Matthew names in Jesus’ genealogy: Tamar, Ruth, and Mary. One seduced her father-in-law and became pregnant. One was a foreigner and was not (legally) allowed to be part of Israel. One was almost sent away because she became pregnant while engaged.
This was a motley bunch… a messy bunch… People looked down on them, but God showered them with grace and used them.
That’s the kind of women that we all need in our lives – motley, messy, despised, but grace-filled women. I thank God for this kind of women in my life.
So, while I didn’t write a post for International Women’s Day, I hope this little reminder helps make you thankful for the women that God has used in your life. Perhaps you might even tell them how much you appreciate them.
Here are some real posts for International Women’s Day:
Julie Clawson on the God who sees
Steve Hayes on St. Theodora the Iconodule
Sonja Andrews on Aunt Jemima
Sensuous Wife on a single mom in the Bible
Minnowspeaks on celebrating women
Michelle Van Loon on the persistant widow
Lyn Hallewell on women who walked with God
Heather on the strength of biblical women
Shawna Atteberry on the Daughter of Mary Magdalene
Christine Sine on women who impacted her life
Susan Barnes on Tamar, Ruth, and Mary
Kathy Escobar on standing up for nameless and voiceless women
Ellen Haroutunian on out from under the veil
Liz Dyer on Mary and Martha
Bethany Stedman on Shiphrah and Puah
Dan Brennan on Mary Magdalene
Jessica Schafer on Bathsheba
Eugene Cho on Lydia
Laura sorts through what she knows about women in the Bible
Miz Melly preached on the woman at the well
AJ Schwanz on women’s work
Pam Hogeweide on teenage girls changing the world
Teresa on the women Paul didn’t hate
Helen on Esther
Happy on Abigail
Mark Baker-Wright on telling stories
Robin M. on Eve
Alan Knox is thankful for the women who served God
Lainie Petersen on the unnamed concubine
Mike Clawson on cultural norms in the early church
Krista on serving God
Bob Carlton on Barbie as Icon
Jan Edmiston preached on the unnamed concubine
Deb on her namesake – Deborah
Makeesha on empowering women