Guest Blogger: Leadership by the laity in traditional churches – Part 2
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post is part 2 of a 2 part series and was written by Art. Art lives in the Raleigh area, and we’ve met in person several times. You can follow Art on Twitter (@Art_n_Deb) and Facebook.
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When we last left off, our question had become (See Part 1):
In the church, how can I lead without exercising authority, under inappropriately granted and exercised authority?
May I change our question once more? Now that we have examined our hearts around the issue of “leading,” the question might be more enlightening if we ask,
In the church, how can I love without exercising authority, under inappropriately granted and exercised authority?
Better question? But love costs, “For God so loved, that He gave His only Son…” It pays, too, in surprising, freeing ways, “…for the joy that was set before Him.”
Love costs time
Giving other people time is an incredible gift to you both. You are free to invite others over to your home, or out to a restaurant, or to accept their invitations to their homes for dinners and breakfasts and lunches. We often think of episodic things to do. Things like going over after work to help someone repair a stuck window, or helping them clean their sick neighbor’s yard, or comforting a family whose son is in the hospital, or sharing with a husband who is struggling with loving his wife. It doesn’t have to be so dramatic. Simple time shared together apart from some purposeful ministry can be the most selfless gift. Just play cards. Play Scrabble. Parchesi. Sorry (the game, I love it by the way). Just hang out and talk (especially, listen). It is the relationships and encouragements shared over a long period of time that are very important and effective, but not very strenuous. Consistently give others your selfless attention and you will find joy and peace as you discover fascinating people all around you. But loving others costs our time, and their needs come at inconvenient times. Even when unable to be with another, you will spend time in prayer on their behalf. The more we understand ourselves as a servant to Christ and to all, the more we realize we have no time, or possessions or rights of our own, and the more we find that when we are slaves we are the most happily free.
Love costs possessions
Loving others will impact your finances. (II Cor 8:2-5; Gal 4:14-15; Col 4:12-13; Phil 1:7-8). You will always be losing your stuff by giving it away. You become aware that all the things in your life are temporarily in your care and that He expects you to pass them along. Doing so breaks the exhausting and pointless cycle of accumulating and protecting things (often at the expense of time with family and friends). The day comes when you see another struggling without a car, and you look at the two you have and figure out how to make do with one. It all becomes such a wonderful privilege to share, and it starts with little things, and it grows until you are free.
Love costs rights
You lend things without expecting (or requiring) them to be returned. When someone says something bad about you, rather than defend yourself, you can consider how you might have contributed to their thinking, and go and humble yourself as you confess wherever you find fault. Especially with “leaders.” Could you have been more open? Could you have informed the Pastor, and even asked for his permission and advice? In the traditional setting, the Pastor may very well be threatened by your actions. What are you doing to minimize his concerns? Does the pastor feel safe with you, or does he fear you are undermining him and that as you get to know him, you will use the personal knowledge gained to wound him some day? Have you found ways to love him and his family? Of course, this goes for every person in the church, but the Pastor is the one whose position and power will be most threatened.
But, to really check our hearts on the ego and pride thing, does the tightly controlled, formal meeting times of your church put into practice the examples we see in the scriptures when the saints gathered? No. Do you have a right to speak or bring a song when the saints gather? Say it: No. We have NO rights. If it will cause so many to stumble where you gather, among those you love, you will give up your right to the “right” way. But you won’t feel oppressed. You’ll feel privileged.
When we see these traits and actions working out in the lives of others, esteem them very highly. Look up to them and follow them. If you look closely, you are likely to see these traits developing in the Pastor.
If these things are working their way into your life, you can do some good in an imperfect system. That is, until that system asks you to leave, which it will do in many cases. However nicely and kindly you serve others, you are breaking rules by your activities, and your kindness and care will naturally develop alliances among those you serve and these will look like cliques and power grabs to many and threaten the equilibrium. Just be sure the tensions that erupt in division aren’t triggered by your own heart’s pride and desire to lead (and to have the benefits of power and position), I Pet 2:19-23
Love does no harm
For others, you will have to leave because you can’t sit by while the system is so badly broken (and the saints so under developed). You know if you stay doing the “right” things will do more harm than good. On the other hand, real change might take place within the congregation and the pastor in the process. Let’s not be naïve. Then there will be a split, within the church or from the denomination. Families will leave at the least. Pretty much, if the system is broken and you do the right things, the system will hate you and “kill” you. We are not above our Master, but we learn to rejoice in suffering for Him (John 15:17-19; Heb 12:2-3; I Pet 4:1)
When you leave, and whenever you have opportunity, you will only rehearse to others all the good things, all the good people, all the good times. It is more than enough that God knows any slights or wounds, and of course, you will have forgiven those and prayed (and mean) that God will not lay anything against you to their charge. Perhaps wisely, you will also ask God to forgive you for all that you did poorly and for all that you could have done but didn’t.
So, where are you today? As long as He leads you to remain within the traditional church (and they don’t throw you out), what sorts of things do you find you can do in loving others even within the confines of the clergy/laity structures? Among the saints, what sorts of things get you in trouble and what can you do to avoid or minimize these problems?
Finally, love risks doing good
1. If you have left the traditional church, have you thought much about what defines the local church (say, for example, by locality rather than by incorporation with the US government or by a group of people declaring themselves “independent” of other Christians)? If so, how has that helped you approach this problem differently?
2. Have you thought about the impact that seeing examples of another way for the church to function and for leaders to serve might have on the local church? How are you (or could you) act on that?
3. Have you thought about ways for the disconnected church to build mutual relationships and efforts? How and where is He leading you in these things today? For example, “parachurch” organizations often connect churches for specific tasks where they would otherwise remain at odds with each other. How can this working together and getting to know one another be used to bring about change?
Guest Blogger: Leadership by the laity in traditional churches – Part 1
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post is part 1 of a 2 part series and was written by Art. Art lives in the Raleigh area, and we’ve met in person several times. You can follow Art on Twitter (@Art_n_Deb) and Facebook.
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Recently, Alan posed the question:
In the church, how does someone lead without exercising authority?
For me, this question assumes an environment where it will be OK for you to lead without exercising authority because in your congregation no one is exercising authority (thus, no-one’s position or value is threatened by you serving others). Everyone is expected to function and interact, and most do.
But within the typical church tradition where authoritarian leadership is the norm, the answers to the above question speak best to only about 1 in 85 Christians, to those who are “Pastors” and who can choose to set aside their authority and seek to lead by example. This has danger for the church because in doing so, most Pastors will ultimately lose their job or leave it. The laity has bargained for and expects the Pastor to take on positional authority (and therefore, their responsibility). If you as a lay person begin functioning outside the expectations of the pastor and the congregation (i.e., “leading without exercising authority”), in time you will frequently create a perceived danger to the church that will result in power struggles and divisions.
Therefore, let’s reframe the question to consider this issue from the perspective of the typical Christian (the “laity” if you like) sitting under the authority of a Pastor or Pastors with the explicit acceptance of the rest of the church members—in other words, everyone in “this church” accepts the clergy/laity power arrangement as normal, good, and right. Let’s also make the question personal as we include the setting by now asking,
In the church, how can I lead without exercising authority, under inappropriately granted and exercised authority?
Here is the first step: some of us most exercised about this issue don’t realize it isn’t our pursuit of Truth that energizes our passions on the clergy-laity issues, but our own ego and pride. Deep in the recess of our heart we want to lead more than to serve; to be esteemed, more than to esteem others better; to be loved by others, more than to love others. Of course, we know better than to say this out loud, or even to think it, but for some of us (and for far too long), this drive motivates our actions and distorts our thinking. Just as the traditional church is blind to its error, we, too, are likely to be blind to this fault. But God isn’t. Maybe if we can feel safe enough in His arms we can ask Him to help us examine our heart?
Imagine with me that you are sitting in the pew on a Sunday morning. Tilt your head and listen. Hear the sounds of people talking, feet shuffling, their laughter carrying across the room. Look around. You see people smiling and nodding in greetings. Others are quiet and alone in the crowd.
1. As you watch the saints, does your heart swell with love for them? Does your breath deepen? Do you look into their faces and feel genuine affection? Most likely, yes.
2. Now look at the pastor as he goes to the podium and says “Good morning,” pausing for the audience to murmur a response. “This morning, please turn in your bibles to…” Everyone else—You—week after week sitting in silence, unable to function. Are your feelings for him (or her) the same as for the saints gathered here? Is your heart swelling with love for this man? Or, did a cloud overshadow the scene as you watched him take the pulpit? Listen to his voice as the sermon begins. How many different thoughts and feelings are going on in your heart at this moment?
3. Now, don’t dismiss this. Do you feel something else mixed in when you think of the Pastor? Something like anger, frustration, envy? I’m not asking you if you can justify these feelings, if you see how much this structure hurts the saints and enfeebles them. I’m not asking if you also feel love and appreciation towards the Pastor. I am asking to consider if in the mixture of your heart you find something dark towards the Pastor that you don’t generally feel towards the rest of the saints.
Where does this come from? Those most gripped by these truths of biblical leadership without authority and who know influence is based on relationships and demonstrated lifestyle that others trust and follow, often have the most animosity towards the clergy. I’m asking you not to hide from letting I Jn 2:9-11 pierce your heart.
Count the Pastor as an enemy if it helps to get on with doing what Jesus told us to do with our enemies (because this Pastor “oppresses” and suffocates us). Love him, and love his family, and every time you feel belittled or hamstrung by the Pastor’s position, count it as joy. God will work with us to bring light and healing to an unresolved root of pride that produces resentment, envy and jealousy and we’ll find His cleansing (Heb12:14-15). Pastors are hurting in many areas, as we all are, but they are also isolated from others helping them bear their burdens. They have public acclaim but few intimate friends in a typical congregation. Forgive the Pastor and accept him. Go all the way and find thankfulness for this man, and for his family. They sacrifice much. Forgive the congregation if you find their complicity frustrating. Even forgive God for allowing such a mess in His house! Yes, I’m serious. God, too. (I certainly had to do all of this.) He …is patient with us. But you have got to get rid of the bitterness and unforgiveness and find contentment and thankfulness in its place.
Listen, it is called by God a “good thing” if you want to serve others (I Tim 3:1). I do not want to discourage you from laboring in His vineyard! There is no higher calling than to be a simple servant (as was Jesus Matt 12:18) and there is no reward (nor fruit) in feeding our ego and pride. Examine your heart in His safety and allow Him to over and over peel away the layers of our deceitful and desperately wicked hearts, each new step bringing forth His new life as rivers of living water.
Guest Blogger: Who are we? Seeking God together without a formula.
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by JRo. You can follow JRo on Twitter (@JRo1919) and his website.
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Seeking God together without a formula
When Alan asked me to write to you guys and tell you about the group I meet with I wondered exactly what I was going to say. I mean I know what we do and what is going on but how do I communicate it to others who read this? Well, here is my attempt. May God bless you in reading this as he has us in finding community and relationships as we seek out God’s desire for what the church is and how it functions here in Jefferson City, MO.
It all started as 3 of us guys had met, all having a desire for more than what we had been getting through church. A roommate of mine, Brett who attends the Spanish church, and I began to go to coffee shops when I was a youth pastor and decided about 5 months ago over dinner we needed to hang out with more people. About that same time I started working at a coffee shop in Jeff and one of the guys I work with started talking about a Bible study. We invited some people to meet on the patio where Justin and I work and so we began.
Being primarily made up of twenty something’s we naturally ask a lot of questions of church functions, structures and how to have community but also serve others as well. We desire to build relationships that reach people’s needs being faithful to the Gospel to go. Those opportunities are being explored as we find areas in our community where we can serve, hopefully breaking down walls that generations have produced within our culture in America. In our society older people have a lot of untapped knowledge that the younger generations write off. Personally, I desire older men to invest in me and mentor me as I realize more and more how much they have that I don’t in all areas of life. I believe all in our group think this way in the directions they are headed and careers they pursue.
So, what are we? A bible study, a church, a group of friends? The answer: yes. We are all of those things. We eat a lot of meals together and with our cultural experiences that is diverse as well. Just this past weekend we trekked to Columbia, MO to eat at a new Cajun restaurant. But it’s more than different types of food. It’s about building relationships. One of my friends told me he heard a pastor say, “People in this younger generation take a solid year to build a substantial relationship with another person.” We have only been meeting for 3 months, every other week, and only a handful has known each other before we all met.
We are still meshing friendships and growing to being a group that, together and individually, reaches others with the pure love of the Gospel of Christ. We aren’t against typical church but realize the current church structure leaves us hungry… actually all of us have other congregations we attend on Sunday mornings. God is the Father and the church, being the bride, is our mom… and you don’t talk bad about my mom. We all need work, but the point lies in the searching. We don’t desire status quo and “always has been” just because “that’s what we do.” We have legit questions and legit searching and are relying on the Father, the Son and the Spirit to guide us as we continue to grow.
It’s not about formulas and to be honest we are learning that it’s ok not to structure our worship times together around what we have “always done”. Our prayer is that God would use this time in our lives to grow us. We may not last long in our small group as 3 of our girls are almost positively leaving for other countries to live for extended times to teach and one couple, Justin the co-worker, is leaving soon with his wife Kallie to attend seminary in KC. Brett, my roommate, is trying to leave as well to teach or just live in another country. Whatever result it will be for God’s glory but I’m convinced he is using us to meet a need here now and mature us for the future.
This is what it’s about right? Building relationships, living life with one another… because I think you would agree formulas get old and many times they attempt to limit a limitless God through our control. Fact is we are being pursued each moment by the Father who crafted each one of us. I agree with Donald Miller in Searching for God Knows What that God, as a perfect being, did what only a perfect being could do. He was selfless and created us to enjoy Him. He also pursues us even though we are fallen and undeserving of any grace He bestows. I just don’t find that in a formula. My prayer is that God’s children would let walls fall by the second each day so more and more we can be fluid and flexible in loving people. Remember it’s not a battle against flesh and blood and so, together, we have to rely on the Spirit to mesh our messy lives bringing a loving light into a dark world.
May God get ALL the glory!
JRo
Guest blogger: Building a culture of discipleship
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
This is a guest post by Ben Tayler. His website is at benandcatherine.org.
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Building a culture of discipleship
Jesus did not say “Go and re-arrange the chairs”. He told His Disciples to “Go and make disciples” through baptizing people and teaching them to be obedient to Him.
I read with interest the recent post about the British Experience of House Churches.
From my experience of working in the UK believers are happy to re-arrange the chairs, think up modern ways of doing the same old thing and generally discuss and talk about ideas that are working in other cultures and contexts. When presented with the challenge of obedience though normally nothing is ever done. Someone commented on this recent post and said, “Our impression, too, is that many of the new churches are souped up versions of the more traditional churches they came out of. It’s why a major paradigm shift has to occur in the view of what church really is.”
What is this paradigm shift that needs to happen?
Well for us and the growing band of people we are working together with (see www.missionbritain.com) it’s all about building a culture of discipleship. Jesus said that those who love him will be obedient to him (John 14:15) Many folks who are having conversations about Church and Discipleship are missing what Jesus is saying to us all – “If you love me, obey my commands” (John 14:15) It’s very simple. Forget models and great ideas and be obedient.
Jesus left us a challenge – baptize people and teach them to obey. So if you are followers of Jesus then join us in regularly asking yourselves
- Are we baptising people?
- Are we teaching people to be obedient to Jesus?
It’s not about meeting in a house. It’s not about doing a certain model of Church. It’s about a shift in our hearts and lives that leads to obedience.
Over the last week or so the UK has seen rioters causing panic and fear across our major cities. A million and one people have offered analysis and ideas about the causes and reasons for these problems. Whilst all these ideas might have some value. It is not helping things to move forward.
I cannot help but look at how Jesus trained His Disciples to recognize and be the answer to problems. Two situations sum up what I am trying to explain…
The first is when Jesus and His followers are faced with the problem of feeding thousands of people with a tiny amount of food. Jesus puts the responsibility of feeding the crowds onto the shoulders of the disciples. He says to them, “They don’t need to go away, you give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:16) Prayer is good. Planning is great. Obedience to what Jesus tells us to do is even better.
The second situation is when Jesus is about to leave the earth and is helping his Disciples to recognize another problem. Jesus is departing but the whole world needs to hear the message of the Kingdom and find freedom through obedient faith in Him. Jesus again puts the responsibility onto the shoulders of His Disciples, “Go and make disciples of all nations………” (Matthew 28:19) Are we asking Jesus to do something that He has already asked us to do? He said “Go” 2000 years ago what are we waiting for?
A Disciple of Jesus is someone who asks “What am I doing and what am I going to do?”
A million and one people have commented about the riots in the UK. They are asking what the government is doing and what “they” are going to do about it. The response of a Disciple is always “What do I need to do?” For Disciples of Jesus Christ in the UK our hope lies not in the ability of our Government but in the obedient and gracious response of the body of Christ. Christ is working in the nations through obedient followers – like He always has!
So we come back to the paradigm shift that needs to happen. In most Churches the talk is about “What do the leaders need to do?” “What is the Church doing?” “What are they doing?” At conferences all the talk is about what so and so is saying or what so and so is writing about at the moment. Whilst it’s great to listen to the thoughts of others – it’s better to do what God is telling you to do. This is the Discipleship paradigm. Hearing God and obeying Him.
In the Discipleship paradigm the focus is on “I will” statements. “I will be a witness of Jesus” “I will obey scripture” Here in the UK there is a need to move on. We have discussed the issues. We have recognized the challenges. We have seen the huge harvest fields and crowds. Let’s begin laboring together with God to build a culture of discipleship and consider what we are going to do.
When we gather together with other believers let’s hear what God is saying to us. Let’s examine the scriptures. But let’s move on from that and commit to what we are going to do about it. The Church has traditionally focused on the accountability of coming to meetings and listening to the preacher. Let’s make a shift to focus on the accountability of what we do as a result of listening to teaching/scripture.
“Now that you know these things you will be blessed if you do them…….” (Jesus, John 13:17)
Guest Blogger: House Churches: British experience to teach the USA
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
This is a guest post by Peter Kirk, who blogs at Gentle Wisdom. It is based in part on material from his 2008 post there Reimagining Church: Review, part 1.
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House Churches: British experience to teach the USA
A pastor I know here in England says that the church in the USA is five years ahead of the UK church – and uses that as an excuse for following the latest trends from North America. In some ways what he says is true. But in other ways, from what I have observed, the US church is decades behind its British equivalent. For example, we have already moved a long way from the traditional model, still dominant in the USA, in which everything in a local church is led by a small group of salaried pastors.
Another example is the recent house church movement in the USA. When I read about this, for example in Frank Viola’s books and at blogs like The Assembling of the Church, I feel that I am seeing again what was happening in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s.
In his 2008 book Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity
Maybe this really was new to most North American Christians, or maybe they just had short memories. But my memories, based on over 30 years as an evangelical Christian, go back to a British house church movement which started in the 1960s and was influential in the 1970s and 1980s. I was never personally involved in such a group, but had good friends who were, and heard a lot of teaching from that direction, mostly in the early 1980s.
That was a time when many British Christians who had been touched by the charismatic movement re-examined what it meant to be church. Many left traditional congregations to set up or join what started out as house churches. Among the groupings which started out at that time was Newfrontiers, pioneered by Terry Virgo; some of the early days of that movement are described in an extract posted at Adrian Warnock’s blog from Virgo’s recent book The Spirit-Filled Church
These churches soon outgrew the homes they met in and started to meet in hired halls. The UK is now well covered by more or less informal networks of mature churches which originated in houses. They retain a generally charismatic approach. Many now have their own buildings, often converted warehouses which don’t look at all like traditional churches. Despite this they still teach and practise many of the things which Viola is now teaching in America decades later.
Concerning leadership and authority they have taken various directions. Newfrontiers took on “Reformed” theology and allows only men to have authority in the local church. Other groups became involved in the shepherding movement, whose teaching on authority is the antithesis of Viola’s, but many have now rejected this. Most avoid having a single salaried pastor, although there may be a full time “lead elder”.
But perhaps I am wrong to suggest that the house church movement is a British invention. Since the early 1980s I have kept a copy of The Community of the King
A problem Viola doesn’t address in detail in his book is the one which the 1980s British house churches quickly faced: what happens when a congregation grows too large for a home? Perhaps this is not such a problem in Viola’s central Florida. But in England there are few homes which can comfortably house meetings of more than about 20 people. Viola writes (p.85):
What did the church do when it grew too large to assemble in a single home? It certainly didn’t erect a building. It simply multiplied and met in several other homes, following the “house to house” principle (Acts 2:46; 20:20).
But if a group of about 20 divides, or multiplies, because it has filled a home, it becomes two groups of about ten, each not really large enough to be a viable independent church or provide a broad base of fellowship for its members. In fact they become the spiritual equivalent of nuclear families, rather than the extended family model which is more appropriate for the church. If each group needs several leaders, it can be very hard to find enough people who have the necessary gifts and maturity to lead even a very small church. And Christians isolated in such small groups are likely to become very inward-looking.
It is for reasons like these that many British churches have adopted a home group or “cell church” model, offering a combination of small group meetings in homes with larger central meetings. But of course the central meetings require a building, owned or hired by what must become some kind of organised church. Viola does allow for large group gatherings but apparently only on special occasions, not regular ones which might encourage ordinary Christians to find their sense of belonging in a larger group.
Viola is right to point out that the chief New Testament model for the church is the family. But it is not the modern American or British nuclear family. He is right that many people today are looking for the kind of close community offered by this family model of the church. But some churches with their own buildings work very hard on offering community like this. And the very visibility of a church building at the geographical heart of a community draws into the family people who might never be reached through home based fellowships. So I cannot agree with him in his general commendation of house churches.
Guest Blogger: Hospitality and the Life of the New Testament Churches
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by Art. Art lives in the Raleigh area, and we’ve met in person several times. You can follow Art on Twitter (@Art_n_Deb) and Facebook.
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Hospitality and the life of the NT churches
We live in a culture that is highly individualistic. We like our privacy, and we manage to keep our friends at a distance by compartmentalizing them. We have friends at work, friends at the gym, friends among our neighbors, friends in sports, and friends at the stores we frequent. Typically, they each stay in their domain: we rarely cross connect friends and we rarely see them outside the area of our relationship. For the most part, we do this with our “church friends,” too. But is this OK for Christians?
The unique thing about the church is that we are all made one—“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28); there is “neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.” (Col 3:11)
Hospitality opens up our lives and our life spaces to others; it also encroaches on our “me” time and our “private space” (whether you are the visitor or the visitee). Largely, this highly relational aspect of Christian life and service was folded and stored away in the closet of the cathedral church centuries ago, and remains presently set aside in favor of our cultural comfort zones. Still, hospitality is meant to be a normative function among the saints.
Hospitality is one of the key functional ways the church interacts and one of the ways it demonstrates this new unity to the lonely, isolated society around us. (In doing so, we confront our culture with something strange; for all the focus lately on “cultural relevance,” the church always has substantial elements that run against the grain of any culture where we live). Two of the key areas where hospitality plays a major role include:
- Providing for the hosting of the church in our homes (for example, Priscilla and Acquilla, Rom 16:5, I Cor 16:19; Nymphas, Col 4:15, Philemon, Philemon v.2; Gaius, Rom 16:23)
- Providing an intimate context to be together and serve one another day to day (see acts 2:42; Rom 12:13; I Pet 4:8-10)
Anyone who has regularly opened their homes for the church at large and for brothers and sisters daily knows how exhausting and intrusive that can be for we North Americans. It’s hard to have people traipsing in and out of your house at all hours (as well as delightful). They also know the joy of deep relationships and connectedness, and the positive impact on our growth and intimacy with the Lord and with each other. But, the full biblical employment of hospitality is fairly rare today.
Besides these two purposes that are meant to deepen relationships and enhance the impact we have on each other as it provides for mutual service in the local church, there is even a more obscure function of hospitality: enabling and amplifying the work of itinerants.
Imagine, for a moment, that itinerants were a normative function in the life of the churches. Imagine, too, that typically elders were especially to be given (addicted) to hospitality. As in so many areas elders were to be teachers by example to the saints in the way they lived and functioned, and so in this too, for all the saints hospitality was the common practice in the daily life of the church. In that light, let’s look at this described in the NT:
I Tim 5:10 (widows) “lodged strangers”
Titus 1:8 (elders) “lover of” strangers
I Tim 3:2 (elders) “given to hospitality” (Young’s Literal “a friend of strangers”)
Heb 13:2 (all) “don’t forget” to entertain strangers
II John v. 10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine (of Christ), receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed…” (conversely, if they do, receive them).
Imagine these itinerants living in the homes of the church for weeks and months on the road, not lounging at Holiday Inns. Remember, a major source of impact of itinerants (as well as of elders and saints on each other) is in demonstrating/manifesting the life and power of God in us—teaching by example. By the itinerants living in homes of the churches they were working with (and they usually traveled in teams, so several homes would be involved), the opportunities to “teach by example” were greatly multiplied by the living arrangements of becoming “room-mates.”
In regards to their work described in II Tim 2:2 and Titus 1:5 (what I think of as the “traveling seminary”), and the fact that elders were to be “addicted” to hospitality, it is likely that some of the itinerants would be staying with recognized or emerging elders (see again Rom 16:23), thus amplifying the development of elders as servants to the church.
Our Lord used hospitality as an enabler in His own ministry (for example, see Luke 10:1,5,7,8; Luke 10:38). John, Peter and Paul also utilized and recommended hospitality to further itinerant movement:
Acts 9:32,38,43 Peter at Lyda/Joppa, Simon the tanner
Acts 10:22,48 Peter to Caesarea, Cornelius the centurion
Acts 16:14,15 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.
Acts 21:8 And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.
Acts 21:16 There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.
Rom 16:23 Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. (I Cor 1:14)
Philemon 1:22 But withal prepare me also a lodging: for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you.
III Jn 5-8, “Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; Which have born witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: Because that for his names sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.
III Jn:9-11 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. Beloved, follow not that which is evil,
It is likely the following passages represent Paul requesting not only acceptance of his coworkers in ministry, but also their lodging:
II Cor 8:23,24 “Whether any do enquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellowhelper concerning you: or our brethren be enquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ. Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love, and of our boasting on your behalf.”
Phil 2:19-30 Sending men to the Philippians: receive them…
Col 4:7-10 sending men: receive them…
Hospitality is vital to the life and mutual ministry of the local church, and hospitality is vital to the work and functioning of itinerants among the churches.
- What are some ways you can begin to use hospitality in your current circumstances?
- I know of several people who offered to have their homes open for getting together on the same day every week. No one showed up. Why do you think that is? How can this be overcome?
- Would you consider having an itinerant (who may be with wife and family) stay in your home for say, three weeks? Can you see yourself traveling in that way?
Guest Blogger: Weekend Christians
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by Lew. I’ve been friends with Lew for several years, and we’ve even worked together. You can follow Lew on Twitter (@lewayotte) and Facebook.
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Have you ever heard the term “Weekend Christians” or “Car Trunk Christians” or “Whitewashed Christians”? I’ve heard these terms several times, usually during a Sunday morning sermon, and usually about those people who “act one way on Sunday and act a different way Monday through Saturday.” I was thinking about this today, about how we do act differently on Sunday, in the church building. But it occurred to me that this is usually the desire and is often encouraged.
I was chatting with Alan a few days ago and he sent me a link to a video about a special needs child who was removed from a church meeting for being loud. This child has cerebral palsy and is prone to uncontrollable outbursts. The mother was obviously offended but took the opportunity to reach out to the leaders and asked them if she could help them start a ministry for disabled children. Their response to reporters was that they focus on “worship” not “ministry” and later a spokeswoman said, “It is our goal at Elevation Church to offer a distraction free environment for all our guests. We look forward to resolving any misunderstanding that has occurred.”
A “distraction free environment”? Do we have a distraction free environment, Monday through Saturday?
Jesus said, “And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” – Matthew 18:5-6
Does your preacher wear a suit on Sunday when he teaches? Does he wear a suit Tuesday morning when he’s preparing his sermon? I doubt it. I have heard a semi-famous seminary president say that you should be wearing your best clothes (e.g. a suit) when approaching God before prayer. I instantly imagined him wearing a suit before asking God to bless his food or putting his suit on before saying his nightly prayers.
Jesus said, “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” – Matthew 6:6
I really believe that the traditional church thrives on Weekend Christians… people who think that Sunday is more important than any other day, people who think that you need to wear special clothes, and act a certain way in a special building are only encouraging these Christians. We manipulate our meetings with special music, special seats, special food… and then expect our brothers and sister to head out into a real world with uncomfortable chairs, uncontrollable music, revealing clothes, and water fountain conversations to not act differently?
I also believe that the traditional church is starting to fall apart because many Christians have ceased believing that Weekend Christianity actually exists. Even Paul said, “One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.” (Romans 14:5)
The next time you find yourself questioning a fellow Christians day-to-day ethic, ask yourself, “Am I encouraging Weekend Christianity?”
Guest Blogger: A simple post about simple church
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by Bobby from “Deconstructing Neverland.” You can also follow Bobby on Twitter (@reformedlostboy) and Facebook.
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I was honored, humbled and frankly a little intimidated when Alan asked me if I would write a guest post for his blog. I love Alan’s blog because he has the ability and desire to make biblically educated and articulate arguments for many of the things I am beginning to learn about assembling with the church. Me? I usually blog on my phone on my lunchbreak and fly by the seat of my pants sharing the things that are on my heart at that particular time. I guess that’s what Alan wants since he asked for this post. Ask and you shall receive, my man.
I feel like the kid who was just handed the microphone on stage for the first time. I’m imagining you all in your underwear now…someone told me that would help. Guess you didn’t need to know that. Anyways…okay, deep breath, spill it.
I decided to share with you all some of the lessons I’ve learned so far in our journey into simple church life. It’s been quite a ride so far, kinda like being on an ancient roller coaster where the joy of the ride is coupled with the fear of your car flying off the tracks. It’s exhilarating and frightening. I’ve been warned of the ruts of even simple church becoming a religious exercise but thankfully it hasn’t become that for us. We are slowly and steadily growing together as a family.
When we gather together it’s pretty obvious that we have absolutely no idea what we’re doing. We’re depending on an invisible leader to make Himself visible through us. (before I felt like the visible leader made the rest of us invisible) It is quite remarkable! There have been times when a ten year old boy spoke words that the Holy Spirit used to change my heart in a very profound way. With no scripted order or designated speakers, God has a way of making the foolish and base things have extraordinary power.
My mind is reeling now with all the things I’d love to share: the intimacy between brethren that is steadily growing, the equipping of the younger members by the entire body, the food (THE FOOD!!!), sharing a meal together every week, knowing how to pray for one another and being able to pray right then and there for those requests, the various and sometimes disagreeable interpretations of scripture that provide variety without division, the nature to share and help one another as often as any has need, the ability to have questions asked and answered at any given time of the gathering, and so much more. I really could go on and on and write a post on each of these 🙂
What I’ve been learning lately is to be patient while Christ builds His church. Relationships take time to form. Our part is just to trust in Him, take off our masks with one another and be real. That’s how maturity comes to the body. Letting the ugly and sickly parts of the body be tended to and cared for by the rest. It’s a mutual thing to keep one another on the straight and narrow. We just focus our hearts on Christ and help one another do the same. When we are all about Christ together, we are the best church a church can be, no matter our size.
The beauty about Christ is you can point others in His direction no matter where you are. Institutional or simple doesn’t matter if He is the focus. We are all called to be that kind of minister. The abundant one anothers of scripture all lead us to one place: filled with the fullness of Him who fills all, in all. That is true for each and every believer. The fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Him and now He dwells in us. Let’s be his body and walk in faith together. What do ya say?
Guest Blogger: Adoption lived out in the church
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by Arthur from “The Voice of One Crying Out in Suburbia.” You can also follow Arthur on Twitter and Facebook.
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Adoption is a hot topic in the church, both the adoption of orphan children and the doctrine of the adoption of believers by God as Father. For example, taking its cue from the Together for the Gospel conferences, a group has started holding a series of conferences called Together for Adoption led in part by Dr. Russell Moore who is a leading voice for the adoption of orphan children in evangelical circles. I think this focus on the adoption of orphans is by and large a healthy movement in the church and a sign of taking James 1:27 seriously.
While I love the adoption of orphans and really anything to do with caring for them, for purposes of this post I want to look at adoption from a soteriological standpoint, i.e. the adoption of believers into the family of God. One of the weaknesses that I have discovered over the last year or two in my own understanding of adoption is that I and many others have focused almost exclusively on the theology of adoption and how it impacts us positionally: we were once outside of the family of God and now we are in. What I gave little thought to was how this precious doctrine should impact how we function as the church. In fact few of the most eloquent expositors of the doctrine of adoption seem especially troubled by the splintering of the adopted family of God beyond perfunctory lip-service.
This is due in large part to how we view adoption, because adoption is often seen as an individual doctrine. Because I have been born-again, I have been adopted into the family of God. That is absolutely and wonderfully true but the implications of adoption for the Church go beyond a bunch of individuals who all became part of the family of God. Not only are we now in the family of God, likewise the rest of the church is also adopted into His family. In spite of what our culture teaches, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists and Mennonites are all part of the same church. We are not merely a group of people who associate with one another voluntarily based on class, race, political affiliation or any of a myriad of other factors. We are a family, just as real as a “biological” family and perhaps more so given the eternal nature of this adopted family of God. Christ was pretty blunt that we would be united together as a new family and that in fact this reality would cause schism in many cases with our earthly family. Given this reality, why do we seem so willing to accept artificial barriers between us and other members of our adopted family?
Imagine a family in your church made up entirely of adopted children. What if those children divided themselves up into subgroups and while they would affirm members of the other subgroups as brothers and sisters, in practice they would have virtually nothing to do with one another? They don’t sit together, they don’t drive to and from church together, they eat after church meals separately. How would we view that family? Probably as dysfunctional or messed up but in the “real world” that is precisely how we treat the vast majority of our adopted brothers and sisters.
One of the big culprits in this splintering is the way we have elevated the local church to an unhealthy place of prominence. Don’t get me wrong, local groups of believers gathering together is a Biblical and healthy practice. What I am speaking of is the almost idolatrous way that we have elevated the local church system with each local church becoming both a focal point of life and a divider of the people of God. We were not adopted into a local church. We were adopted in the church of God, the family of God with God as Father and Jesus Christ as the Head. Unfortunately the local church system has been used to erect what are assumed to be protective walls between believers, walls that keep believers from associating and being in community with one another. If you think your local church is doing you a favor by “shielding” you from other Christians who disagree with you on secondary issues, allow me to burst your bubble. The more walls and barriers your local church puts between you and other believers, the less Biblical that local church is. That may sound harsh but I am afraid it is true. If one local church erects barriers between its members and members of another local church that believes almost identically, what is truly being promoted is not orthodoxy but rather the self-preservation of that local church organization. No matter how orthodox the other teachings of that local church might be, in one area at least it is working at odds with God’s design for the church. Local churches should encourage and facilitate fellowship and cooperation among Christians, not hamper it.
I firmly hold to the doctrine that those who are adopted by God are chosen, predestined as His elect if you will, from before time began. I am not looking to pick a fight over predestination and election here but I do want to point out the ramifications of that doctrine. If God chose me in His sovereignty, He also chose every other Christian and made us all part of the same family and did so in His perfect wisdom. I don’t think God made a mistake in adopting any Christian. That reality must impact how we live in community with the other members of our family or it makes adoption nothing more than a topic for theology conferences. The solution to this problem has nothing to do with seeking some sort of manmade hierarchical authority that we all are accountable to or superficial one-off events that do nothing to foster community. It has everything to do with intentionally breaking down the barriers between believers. Those barriers have the weight of centuries of tradition propping them up and they will not come tumbling down unless the adopted family of God makes it a priority to start chipping away at those walls and rejecting those traditions that keep us apart from others that God has called and adopted into our family. If we do any less we are telling the God who accepted us that we question His judgment in choosing our adopted siblings and that isn’t a conversation that I am interested in having with Him!
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What questions or comments do you have for Arthur after reading his post?
Guest Blogger: Not salary but support
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by Doug from “DouglasRea.com” and “Connections.” You can also follow Doug on Twitter and Facebook.
(By the way, this guest post may read a little different than some of the other ones. This post is a series of questions by me, and answers from Doug. Doug gave me permission to post the conversation here.)
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[I asked, “How does your church (Connection) handle paying pastors?”]
You asked me about Connections and our view of “paid staff.”
Here’s our thinking in the most general of terms.
Connections did not hire me, nor do I work for them. They support me – one who was among them for a few years before there was a Connections. They do this in order that I might be free to dedicate my time to the word, prayer, and the equipping of those who call Connections their place of assembly. I am not above or below them, and they know this. The people of Connections have no by-laws in place that I am to adhere to. In agreement, they see me as one who has been sent by God to lead them from the religious institution to a place of freedom and ministry. The other elders that God has placed in this local body recognize this as well. We do not think in terms of salary but rather support. We recognize what God is doing among us and give to support it. (“It” being in this case me.) And since we find no prohibition in Scriptures, we set one person aside to lead. Alan, I am not paid to grow the church, and there are no expectations that I do so. Frankly, we don’t subscribe to that philosophy. We are more concerned with the care of one another and those outside of ourselves.
Simply put, they see the advantage of freeing me to devote myself to the work and to this vision that God has seemed to have placed within me of demonstrating to Southwest Georgia that Jesus is not what religion has made Him out to be. Further, because I am supported by the people of Connections, I am free to meet with them one-on-one and in small groups at all times of day. Receiving support affords me a greater opportunity to help them mature until they are doing the work of the ministry. I do not trade services for money and have no committee to answer too. I am but one elder in this body. I am neither the head elder nor the highest authority – I am but one gift.
I would never leave Connections – it doesn’t work that way. Connections is far removed from that type of religious mindset. I will always be connected here in some fashion but may not always receive support from Connections – or at least not to the degree I now enjoy. If that time should come, we, the elders of this body, would discern His will and make the necessary adjustments. Money would have nothing to do with our decision.
[I asked, “How do you receive this support?”]
We are a hybrid type church. We are a tax free organization and the people of Connections give to it like they are used to. We have overhead – wish we didn’t but we do. We have a CFO who collects the money by way of a weekly offering. She pays the bills, meets the needs of those within, and writes me a check.
[I asked, “What would you do if they no longer wrote you a check? What if the people decided to use that money in other ways?”]
The people of Connections trust the elders of the body. They would make the decision so to speak. To answer your question, money changes nothing. If the people thought that I should get a job… I would rejoice that they see that the clergy/laity tradition for what it is. More directly, I would still be the pastor and find other support… A job for example.
[I asked, “How do you help people understand that they are also responsible for serving others and that they can’t leave that to you?” Doug gave me the following as a short answer.]
I first started teaching Connections that they are in fact the house of God. That’s where we began. I challenged them to take that truth to it’s end. As we looked at that subject for weeks, we/they began to understand that they are the very “place of ministry” that they once assumed was found in the church building and it’s leaders.
We went from there…2 years later we are just now getting to Matthew 28:18-20. I always dared to allow the word to challenged them. I would ask question and insisted they answered.
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As with all of the other guest bloggers who have written posts for me so far, I am greatly appreciative of Doug allowing me to include his thoughts on my blog. If he is able, I’m sure that Doug would be glad to answer your questions. Feel free to leave questions in the comments.