Singing lies to God
When we get together with the church in our weekly meeting, someone leads us in singing several songs. Usually, this person changes from week to week.
If I’m scheduled to teach, I usually try to talk about some of the songs that we sang that morning. Why? So that the songs becomes more than an activity, but can actually be useful in building us up and helping us grow toward maturity:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16 ESV)
One morning, we sang the hymn “I Surrender All” together:
All to Jesus I surrender
All to him I freely give
I will ever love and trust him
In his presence daily liveI surrender all
I surrender all
All to thee my blessed savior
I surrender all
As we were talking about the songs that morning, I was thinking about the idea of surrender and yielding our lives to God – about trusting him and him alone – about not leaning on my own understanding. But, one brother’s thoughts were elsewhere. He said that he was troubled by singing that song. I asked him why.
He said, “I don’t like lying to God, even when I’m singing. So, I sang, ‘I want to surrender all…'”
He’s right. We often sing things that are untrue. We often sing lies to God. Oh, we may WANT it to be true of us, but that doesn’t mean that it is true. Like this brother said, I think it is much better to be honest with God – and with ourselves – than to sing lies to God.
Do you think about the songs that you’re singing? Do you learn from one another when you’re singing with a group of believers? Do you allow others to admonish you when you’re singing?
I learned that day. And, I was admonished to think carefully about what I’m singing to God. I don’t want to sing lies to God.
A Contest: Examples of Serving
Last week, as I was cleaning up my stacks of books from the last semester, I found a copy of John Perkins’ Beyond Charity: The Call to Christian Community Development that I thought I had lost. I read this book again this year, and wrote about it several times. (I discuss different aspects of this book in my posts “The Gospel in message and mission“, “Beyond Charity – Introduction“, “Beyond Charity – Our Vision“, “Beyond Charity – Our Gospel“, “Lollipop Love?“, and “The poor do not need your money“.)
Instead of sticking this book on a shelf along with my other copy, I thought I would give this book away in a contest. Yes, you heard me correctly. I’m going to have a contest on my blog, and the winner will receive John Perkins’ book Beyond Charity: The Call to Christian Community Development free of charge. I will even ship it to you.
Now, here are the rules of the contest:
Email me (aknox@sebts.edu) an example of how you, your family, or you and a group of people served others. It could be a story of serving people within the church, or serving people outside the church. You are allowed to submit more than one entry. I may choose to publish some of these stories as “guest blogger” posts, so if you want to remain anonymous, let me know. If you want me to include a link to your blog or web site, let me know that as well. I will choose my favorite from among the submissions. (Yes, it will be completely subjective. But, hey, its my book.) Please email me your submissions BEFORE January 19, 2009. That gives you four weeks to submit your stories.
I will announce the winner – and include their story – in a post on Monday, January 19, 2009.
Hopefully, when I publish these stories, they will encourage others to serve the people around them. According to Paul, we were all created for good works that we should walk in them. Let’s start walking in those good works, and encourage others toward obedience and maturity with our stories.
I look forward to reading your stories!
Old Testament Structures and the Church
Last December, I wrote a post called “Old Testament Structures and the Church“. Many modern church practices are justified from Old Testament practices. Notice what I said: these practices are justified from the Old Testament. I do not think they originally arose from a study of the OT. Instead, I think they were brought into the church from the cultural context of the time, and then justified by the OT. But, is it valid to justify new covenant age practices from the old covenant era? I don’t think so.
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Old Testament Structures and the Church
Often, when I’m talking to people about church structures and organizations, they usually point me to Old Testament structure to defend hierarchies, authorities, buildings, positions, etc. After a discussion with Lew from “The Pursuit” and his Question of the Week #17, I’ve been thinking about the trend of associating Old Testament priests, temples, tithes, etc. to New Testament practices.
The conversations tend to go something like this (in a condensed form, of course):
Person #1: “The pastor has authority over the local church.”
Me: “I can’t find anything in Scripture that gives the pastors authority over anyone.”
Person #1: “Well, you have to go back to the priest system of the Old Testament.”
Person #2: “You should give tithes to the local church.”
Me: “I can’t find any teaching in Scripture that tells us to give money to a local church.”
Person #2: “Well, you have to go back to the tithe system of the Old Testament.”
Person #3: “You need someone trained in music to lead your worship.”
Me: “I’m sorry but I don’t see that in Scripture. Nor do I see music called worship.”
Person #3: “Well, you have to go back to the Levites of the Old Testament.”
Person #4: “Why are you not saving money to build a church (meaning, ‘church building’).”
Me: “I don’t see a requirement for having a church building in the new testament.”
Person #4: “Well, you have to go back to the temple in the Old Testament.”
Here’s my concern: I don’t see the New Testament authors making these connections. Instead, I see the New Testament writers calling all believers “priests” (Rom 15:16; 1 Pet 2:5,9; Rev 1:6; Heb 10:19-22 – notice the resemblance to the sanctification of priests). But, pastors/elders/overseers are never specifically referred to as “priests”.
Once again, all believers are taught to share generously with those who are in need, with those who are travelling away from home in order to proclaim the gospel, and with those who teach and lead them well (Acts 2:45; 4:34-35; James 2:15-16; Gal 6:6; 1 Thess 5:12-13; 1 Tim 5:17; 3 John 3-6). But, I do not see the New Testament authors comparing this to the tithe of the Old Testament, nor requiring a tithe to be given to the “local church”.
Similarly, all believers are encouraged to exhort one another with songs, hymns, and spiritual songs (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16; 1 Cor 14:26). However, I don’t see where training, practice, or even talent is a prerequisite for this singing (although, it does seem that being filled with the Spirit is a prerequisite). Also, I can’t find any connection between singing in the New Testament and the Levites of the Old Testament.
Finally, I also see that all followers of Jesus Christ are compared to the “temple” (1 Cor 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:21). But, as far as I can tell, “temple” is never associated with a designated meeting place for Christians.
So, where did this contemporary practices come from? When did we start going back to the Old Testament to find systems of organization and leadership and finances? When did the Book of Nehemiah start teaching how to have a successful church building campaign? The exact details of how and when and why these interpretations of the Old Testament filtered into the church continue to be debated among church historians today. I think they all started when the church ceased to be the people of God and started to become an institution. In order to justify the institution, the leaders had to go back to the Old Testament system – the very system that the author of Hebrews calls a “shadow” of the reality that we have in Jesus Christ.
New and Improved "One Anothers"
Most Christians are familiar with the “one anothers” of Scripture, such as love one another, serve one another, forgive one another, accept one another, teach one another, encourage one another, be kind to one another… These exhortations worked well for the early church, but now they’re outdated.
The modern church lives by a set of “one anothers” that are both new and improved! While on the surface it may seem that these “one anothers” are negative, in reality they strengthen the church by keeping it from being changed or transformed – just the kind of church that God wants!
Be acquainted with one another
Yes, the Bible said to “love one another”, but we know that we can’t love everyone. So, its much better to be acquainted with people. That way, you can call their name when you pass in the hallway. Name tags are especially helpful in keeping this new exhortation.
Ignore one another
This one is related to “be acquainted with one another”, but its a little more spiritual. We don’t want people to think they they are the center of the universe, so its better to ignore people and their problems, especially when you have something better to do. So, when you ask someone, “How are you?”, if they say something more than “Fine” or “Okay”, its best to simply ignore them.
Ridicule one another
Again, on the surface this looks bad. However, in reality, there is nothing better to get people to have the right theology – MY theology – than to ridicule them and their beliefs. The more theological terms you use while ridiculing them the better. This is especially useful in response to new ideas and suggestions.
Give a little to one another
Keep some change in your pocket in case someone needs something. That way, you have fulfilled your spiritual responsibilities while, at the same time, not costing yourself too much. If you want to be very spiritual, keep an extra one or five dollar bill in your billfold.
Organize one another
People need help knowing what to do and how to do it. Who better to show them than you? Keep people in line, or the church could be in big trouble!
Remind one another of their wrongs
People often forget that they are sinners and that they’ve hurt you in the past. Remind them of this… often… especially if someone good happens to someone. Again, we don’t want people to think too highly of themselves, so its our responsibility to knock them down a notch.
Be served by one another
People like to serve you. Let them… but only a little, and only in insignificant things. You don’t want people to think that you aren’t independent. So, give them little, meaningless jobs to remind them that you are too important to do them yourself.
Kick one another when their down
I really don’t have to mention this, because the church is so good at it. But, its always good to have a reminder. When someone falls, make sure you keep them down for a long time. Then, when they get up, don’t help them. They need to learn to stand on their own two feet.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, smile at one another
No one wants to be around someone who is hurting or sorrowful or depressed. So, put a big smile on your face regardless of your circumstances or how you’re feeling.
As long as the church keeps following these new and improved “one anothers”, the church will continue to make a difference in the world – just like it is now.
Loving with Lionel
Are any of my readers in the Dallas area? If so, why not join Lionel (of “A Better Covenant“) and others on December 21st in demonstrating the love of God to the homeless of Dallas? Lionel tells about his plans in a post called “Downtown Dallas Homeless Outreach: The Starfish Mentality“.
If you’re not in the Dallas area, why not do something in your area that demonstrates the love of God? You know… something like giving food to a hungry person, or giving a cup of water to someone who is thirsty, or spending time with a stranger, or providing clothing for someone who needs clothing, or visiting those who are sick or in prison? Why no do for the “least” who can’t do for you in return.
Or, then again, perhaps Jesus was joking when he said that whoever did for the least did for him, and whoever did not do for the least did not do for him. I can’t remember now… what was the outcome of that story in Matthew 25:31-46? Oh well, I’m sure there was some deeper, spiritual meaning that doesn’t require you to actually care for people.
Just Semantics? (Preach)
In this series, I’m going to discuss various biblical terms that are often misused or misunderstood because of the way we use the English terms today. In other words, we often read our modern day definitions into scriptural words. This is not a valid way to understand Scripture.
In this post, I would like for us to consider the English term “preach”. This is what wiktionary says about the verb “preach”:
1. Give a sermon.
2. Advocate or support verbally in an insisting, urging, or inciting manner.
In Scripture, this term usually translates two Greek terms: κηÏÏσσω (kÄ“russÅ) and εá½Î±Î³Î³ÎµÎ»Î¯Î¶Î¿Î¼Î±Î¹ (euangelizomai). κηÏÏσσω (kÄ“russÅ) generally means proclaim aloud, mention publicly, announce. This is similar to definition #2 above. The second term, εá½Î±Î³Î³ÎµÎ»Î¯Î¶Î¿Î¼Î±Î¹ (euangelizomai), generally means to bring or announce good news.
If you study the usage of these two terms in Scripture, you’ll find something very interesting. They are always used in the sense of announcing the gospel or proclaiming the word of God outside the context of the church, that is, to unbelievers. They are never used (as far as I can tell) in the context of the church meeting. For example, consider these passages:
Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed (κηÏÏσσω – kÄ“russÅ) to them the Christ. (Acts 8:5 ESV)
But when they believed Philip as he preached good news (εá½Î±Î³Î³ÎµÎ»Î¯Î¶Î¿Î¼Î±Î¹ – euangelizomai) about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. (Acts 8:12 ESV)
Notice that even when the terms are used in Paul’s letters written to churches, the terms refer to proclamation that happened before the people were part of the church:
For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed (κηÏÏσσω – kÄ“russÅ) to you the gospel of God. (1 Thessalonians 2:9 ESV)
However, today, it is common to use the term “preach” in the context of the church. In fact, many believe that the purpose for meeting with the church is to learn from “preaching”. To take this further, the “preacher” – that is, the one who preaches – has been turned into a title or position for a specific person within the church. Instead, in Scripture, this term relates to anyone and everyone who proclaims the truth of the gospel of the kingdom of God.
For example, consider this familiar passage:
But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching (κηÏÏσσω – kÄ“russÅ)? (Romans 10:14 ESV)
Paul is not saying that people need a “preacher” – that is, an official in the church. He’s saying that they cannot hear unless someone – anyone – proclaims the gospel to them. In the following verse, Paul is not saying that “preachers” are “sent”, but that all believers are sent to proclaim the gospel.
When we read the English words “preach” or “preacher” in the Scriptures, we should think about someone who is proclaiming the gospel to unbelievers outside the context of the church. In fact, we should think about our own responsibility to proclaim the gospel. If, instead, we think about some titled position or office in the church which is synonymous with “pastor” or “elder” then we are not understanding the Scriptures the way the original author (and God!) intended for us to understand.
These (“servant”, “pastor”, “worship”, “preach”) are just a few examples of how meaning is important. It is illegitimate to read modern definitions of these words, and others, back into the Scriptures. Instead, we should understand what the words meant in their contexts – not in our contexts. I picked these words because they directly impact the meeting of the church. But, there are many other words that are often misunderstood in Scripture because of modern usage. Can you think of any?
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Just Semantics? (Worship)
In this series, I’m going to discuss various biblical terms that are often misused or misunderstood because of the way we use the English terms today. In other words, we often read our modern day definitions into scriptural words. This is not a valid way to understand Scripture.
In this post, consider the English word “worship”. According to wiktionary, these are common definitions of the word “worship”:
- The devotion accorded to a deity or to a sacred object
- The religious ceremonies that express this devotion
- (by extension) The ardent love of a person
Of course, in “Christian” circles, the word “worship” is often associated with a church meeting (“worship service”) or a portion of that meeting that includes singing (“worship time”) or a type of music (“worship music”). But, what does the word mean when we find it in the New Testament?
The English word “worship” translates two different Greek terms: Ï€ÏοσκυνÎω (proskuneÅ) and λατÏεÏω (latreuÅ). The first term (Ï€ÏοσκυνÎω – proskuneÅ) is used in this passage:
But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. (1 Corinthians 14:24-25 ESV)
This term carries the sense of devotion, reverence, or subservience. It is similar to definition #1 above.
The second term for “worship” (λατÏεÏω – latreuÅ) is found in this passage:
For we are the real circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh… (Philippians 3:3 ESV)
This term is related to serving in response to a deity, primarily by serving other people. There is not a corresponding definition in the list above. For example, in Acts 13:1-2, the prophets and teachers in Antioch were worshiping (serving) the Lord.
Notice what is missing? Nothing about a church meeting. Nothing about singing. Nothing about music.
Instead, “worship” in Scripture points to someone who is yielding his life to the Lord and serving the Lord – primarily by serving other people.
Yes, I know that we call our church meeting a “worship service”, but its not really worship and its not really service. In fact, if our life is not demonstrating that we are yielding to God and serving others, then we are not worshiping, regardless of what we call our think we’re doing in our church meetings.
When we read the word “worship” in Scripture and we think about our church meetings, then we are reading modern, illegitimate meanings back into the Scripture. When we do this, we are not understanding Scripture the way the the original authors (and God!) intended for us to understand it.
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Contract Pastoring and Discipleship
Lew from “The Pursuit” is a good friend of mine. We worked together before he moved to Georgia. I’m hoping to see him and his wife in a couple of weeks when we’re in Georgia. Over the last week or so, Lew has written two excellent posts – some of the best he’s written.
First, he wrote “Contract Pastoring“. He talked to a vocational pastor and found out what was in the pastor’s job description. Then, Lew put a contract price on each item. While it seems laughable that someone would pay a pastor per service rendered (although, isn’t that what most churches say they are doing anyway?), I do know several “pastors” who are paid by their churches a certain amount only to preach each Sunday morning.
Next, Lew wrote “Who Are Our Disciples?” While the previous post was very good, this one is excellent! A must read – especially the final two paragraphs and the last sentence:
So what are we producing, if not disciples? Judging from many things I have seen and read over the past couple years, it seems like we a producing angry people. Angry because they feel like they’ve been deceived. Some of them have been promised a changed life, but instead were taught Christian doctrines and precepts. We’ve produced Apathetic people. Apathetic to the gospel, to the Church, and even to Jesus. We’ve produced people with false-security. These people went to all the classes, they attended all the services, and followed all the rules, little do they know that these actions won’t save them. There are probably other types of people that we have produced but I think Jesus had a phrase that best sums up these false-disciples, “White Washed Tombs”. On the outside, they look brilliant, pure, and white… but on the inside, they are filled with death.
Who are our disciples? Our disciples are the people who truly follow us… and hopefully watch us truly follow Jesus. Jesus did not force people to follow him, he did not even try to prevent people from leaving him, his disciples were those who recognized him as savior and could do nothing but follow. Basically, Jesus shared his life with everyone, those who shared it back were his disciples.
The ones who shared their lives with Jesus were actually his disciples. The ones who share their lives with you (not attend a class with you) are actually your disciples!
Advent 2 – Preparing WITH Jesus
Today is the second Sunday of Advent. Advent (from adventus, Latin for “coming”) marks the time when the church thinks about the first coming of Jesus Christ as a baby in Bethlehem, and also thinks about the second coming of Jesus Christ in the end times. The focus today is “being prepared” or “being ready”.
In the Old Testament Scripture, the Jews were exhorted to be ready for the coming of their Messiah. They were to look for certain signs that would tell them that the Messiah was present. Again, we see this modelled for us in the New Testament in Simeon and Anna who recognized Jesus as the Messiah.
Similarly, in the New Testament, believers are told of certain signs that will precede the second coming of the Messiah. However, even with these signs, we are told that the Messiah will come when we least expect it – “like a thief in the night”. Therefore, we need to be prepared or be ready all the time.
But, apart from the first coming of the Messiah and his second coming, how do we prepare for the present coming of Jesus. Jesus is with us today in the person of the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of Christ. Jesus is here – in many ways he is MORE here now than he was when he was physically present on the earth.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, Paul teaches the church in Thessalonika about the second coming of Jesus. He ends this teaching with the following sentence:
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV)
There was a purpose for Paul’s writing: to encourage and build up the Thessalonians. This is the same purpose that believers should have whenever they interact with one another. Whether we are meeting together formally or informally, on Sunday or Monday, in a church building or a coffee shop or a living room – at all times and in all places – we should seek to encourage one another and build one another up.
Why? Because in doing so we are preparing one another for the presence of Jesus Christ. He is here now, and we need to be ready to serve him at all times. We help one another to be ready to hear and to answer his call by helping one another grow in maturity toward Christ. So, each individual needs to be ready, but getting ready is not an individualistic activity – it is a community activity. We work with one another to help one another.
As Paul told the church in Ephesus, it is only when the whole church is working together through the gifts that Christ gives to each believer that the church is built up in love. In other words, if one believer chooses not to help prepare the body for Christ’s presence, then the church is lacking. If one believer chooses to exercise his gifts and chooses not to allow others to exercise theirs, then the church is lacking – regardless of how gifted, smart, or capable that one individual may be.
So, it is good that we look back to how the Jews prepared for the coming of the Messiah. And, we need to prepare for the future physical coming of Jesus Christ. But, we also need to recognize that Christ is with us NOW. We need to be prepared for his work among us today. We need to learn to prepare WITH Jesus.
Christmas Giving
Alot of people complain about Christmas. They complain that Christmas has become more about getting than about Christ. If you are one of those who complain, then do something about it. Make this Christmas about Christ by GIVING. Why? Because Christ gave.
Last week, Margaret and I gave blood. She’s given blood as long as I can remember, and she persuaded me to start giving blood last year. I now give “double reds” if they need it. If you don’t want to give blood, then donate or volunteer to support the American Red Cross.
Also last week, we made another loan through Kiva, this time to a young lady in Nicaragua who wants to expand the retail space in her home. (She reminded me of the family that we stayed with when we visited Nicaragua a few years ago.) If you are not familiar with Kiva, this organization allows you to make micro-loans ($25) to people around the world. When the people pay the loans back (usually in about a year), you can loan that money to other people.
Additionally, last week, we went Christmas shopping for some of the children who live in the government assisted housing development that we spend time in each week. We have participated in “angel tree” type of projects before. (If you are not familiar with “angel tree”, it is where you choose the name of a random child off of a tree and buy a present for that child.) We’re excited about this year because we actually know the children that we’re buying gifts for.
Finally, last week, Margaret took an elderly lady to her doctor’s appointment. The lady lives in the government assisted housing development where we spend time each week. She called Margaret one morning and said that there was no one to take her to the doctor. So, Margaret took her.
So, we’ve started our Christmas giving already. Our children (Jeremy and Miranda) are excited about giving; they helped us choose and pay for (yes! with their money!) some of the toys for the children.
Will you start giving too? I don’t mean giving to people who will give back to you. I mean, will you give to someone who cannot give a gift to you in return? You know, the way that God gives…