Guest Post: A reflection of Jesus Christ
Lately, I’ve been publishing “guest blog posts.” However, this post is not one of those planned post. Instead, what you read below was left by John as a comment on my post “Guest Post: How does the church respond to poverty?”
However, I thought this comment was too good to be left in the comments. Yes, I know that I could have highlighted it in my “comment highlight” post for tomorrow, but I’m hoping that by publishing it here, even more people will read it.
Why? Because this is an excellent example of what happens when Christians step out of their comfort zones and get to know people that they would normally avoid. We’ve seen stories much like the ones listed below. These kinds of stories are everywhere, because people are everywhere.
Please read John’s story below, and respond to him in the comments.
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Two weeks ago I spent time in Beaumont, Texas with a friend Mike who has been ministering to lower income people now for several years. He was once a traditional pastor and was called by God to leave and follow Him. After many months of waiting and praying he was led to go to into some lower income neighborhoods. He would drive through the different neighborhoods and pray. He did this for weeks. Over time, he got out of his car and began walking around, talking to those who lived there. Six years later, there are now about 120+ individuals who are now believers in Jesus Christ. They were drug addicts, abusers, drug dealers, thieves, sick, and lonely. Today they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Mike took me out with him on his regular Saturday visits. They call them house meetings. Mike prays and the Holy Spirit puts different people on his heart and schedules time to visit with them.
We went to half a dozen houses where we were always warmly greeted. Some people lived in nice clean homes. At the first house a young man in his twenties sat on his front porch in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms. He got up to greet us with his hand extended “Hello”. He led us into his house, sparsely furniture, neat and in order. He walked us into a converted garage that was now a family room. Mike sat on the floor, I sat on a nice comfortable love seat. His wife and cousin joined us on the sofa. Mike asked about how they had been and they talked as I noticed on the far wall a color photo of Dr. Martin Luther King. It was centered on the wall surrounded by four dancing abstract figures, one on the top, one to the right and left and the forth directly underneath. Dr. King had a place of great respect in their home. Our host had been suffering from residual effects of a car accident, his cousin was headed to court Monday morning for a hearing. We all prayed for physical healing from the back pain. Next for God’s will to be done in court. There were smiles and thanks to Jesus all around and a scheduled pick-up time for a ride to tomorrow morning to the community center.
Another man lived in a rat infested blood stained room with blowing sheets for windows. He was asleep on a brown, dirty mattress. Struggling to wake from his dreams and a tattered blanket. He had just gotten out of the hospital and was weak and hungry. But was full of praises for Jesus. A quick trip to the store for the requested white bread, boloney, and fruit punch and he was that much closer to heaven.
Another elderly gentleman had just moved into an apartment from a nursing home. “God answered my prayers Mike, God answered my prayers!” He exclaimed as we walked up to him sitting outside his front door in his wheelchair. “Praise God! He answered my prayer! You know this apartment is from the Lord? He answered my prayers!” he just kept repeating it. “Yes sir!” We replied. His thanks to the Lord was infectious. Despite his physical condition there was nothing but thanks and a face that beamed brighter than any words could express. We introduced ourselves to several others in the building, invited them to the gathering the next day to celebrate Jesus at the community center with us. Some head nods and handshakes as Mike said, “we’ll see you and talk again.”
Mike had one particular women who he wanted me to meet, but wasn’t sure she would let me into her house, as she has a very difficult time around people she doesn’t know. He called her and invited us over. She was concerned, hesitant about having a new visitor. Her room was in an old converted YMCA, repurposed as low income housing. Mike was invited into her apartment as I waited outside until the all clear. Once inside her apartment there as a gold bird cage with two tiny birds, one yellow, one red. She was standing staring straight ahead at the them as I entered the room. I got as still as she was and didn’t flinch a bit. “Those are beautiful birds.” I said. “There’re chirping because they’re afraid of you.” she replied. “They afraid and don’t know what to do, so they’re chirping.” I was frozen. We were all caged at that moment. The birds, this women, Mike and I. “They’re chirping is beautiful and there colors are so bright.” I eventually said. “Yeah” she replied. “Have a seat” Mike interjected. Mike swung a chair out from under a small table and took a seat, I sat on a chair next to a floor lamp. She sat down on an armchair and began caressing it’s arms repeatedly. We soon found out that one of her friends who was a drug addict had OD’d the day before. She had just found out earlier that morning, She was bound with grief, confused and desperate. She slowly opened up and talked as best she could through her pain. We shared in her tears and heartache. When we left she gave Mike a smile and a hug. She looked at me and said, “I’ll give you a hug too” and wrapped her arms around me and I squeezed ever so gently back on God’s little bird.
The next day at the community center about 45 or so believers from the neighborhood gathered to express their love for their Savior and Redeemer. Mothers separated from their children, children without their parents, couples who no longer beat each other, sons and daughters who left their drug use and other addictions behind simply walked in, greeted each other, sat, prayed and worshipped the Lord together. As I looked around at a room of faces I would have just walked on by years ago, I found myself staring at each and every one, a reflection of Jesus Christ.
Much love to you all, may your eyes be opened, your ears hear and your hearts made flesh.
Guest Blogger: A Focus on Catholic Ecclesiology
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 guest post was written by Brian. Brian is a friend from elementary school, and he is Catholic. We recently became reacquainted through Facebook. I’ve previously posted a conversation that Brian and I had in a post called “An encouraging dialog between a Catholic and a Baptist.”
You may disagree with some of the things that Brian says in his guest post. I only ask that you read attentively and interact with him in love. But, that said, feel free to ask questions… Brian expects it. 🙂
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And he said, “Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.” – Mark 4:30-32
I am honored that Alan asked me to write a post for his blog. He and I were in grammar school together in Alexander City, Alabama prior to my family moving to Louisiana in 1977. God works in the craziest ways, and I came across him (and his interesting blog) on Facebook thirty plus years later, and voilà, here I am. One other thing for those who do not know, I am a Catholic Christian of the Latin (or Roman) Rite.
Since Alan’s blog chiefly deals with ecclesiology or the role and leadership of the church with regard to salvation, I thought that I would forego the usual Catholic/Evangelical issues such as purgatory, faith and works, icons and statues, and focus on Catholic ecclesiology as I have experienced it, which incidentally will incorporate to some degree those things above which are contentious issues between us.
What is the Church? If you asked the average Joe and Mary Catholic it is likely they would respond, “It’s where we go to Mass.” While this is true in the narrowest sense of the word (see Alan’s post on the etymology of the English word “church”), as with most things Catholic there are multiple answers to this question and more than one of them is correct, but in the most general sense this is how Catholics define the Church: “the liturgical assembly, but also the local community or the whole universal community of believers.” These three meanings are inseparable. “The Church” is the People that God gathers in the whole world.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 752) That’s all fine and good in theory, but how exactly does it work in reality?
My most basic experience of church is at home. It is here that I pray and study the scriptures and pass on the faith to my children and tend to the family with which God has blessed me. We have a special corner of the dining room (the “beautiful corner”) which is set apart for prayer. This is what may be called the “domestic church”. It is the smallest component which we define as “church”. From this tiny “seed” the church grows to include 1) liturgical assemblies which are groups of families (or domestic churches) which meet to devote ourselves “to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” and are governed by priests, 2) local communities which are groups of liturgical assemblies also known as dioceses (or eparchies in Eastern Catholic Churches) governed by bishops, and 3) the universal community which is the entirety of all local communities across the world governed by the Pope. We are all united through faith in Jesus manifested by being born again “through water and the Spirit”.
The church is governed hierarchically from the domestic church to the universal Church. The government is one of service for the benefit of the body. Therefore, when St. Paul says, “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior,” he is saying that the husband is at service to the wife for both of their benefit. Similarly the priests, bishops, and Pope all are servants of the body, called for its edification and well being.
The role of the church in the world is to spread the gospel, the good news. Jesus tells the apostles in St. John’s gospel, “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” Why was Jesus sent? To reconcile the world to the Father: to heal the sick, feed the hungry, to proclaim mercy and forgiveness to sinners. The role of the church in the world today is the same now as it was in the beginning, to continue the work of Jesus in reconciling the world to the Father. We are to be Christ to the world, to be his mystical body, and each member of that mystical body is gifted with a charism which is shared in order that Christ may be known and his work done.
Since God created not only space but also time, the branches of the “mustard tree” extend not just through space but through time as well. The church includes not only the living on earth but the living in heaven. We are united to the living in heaven through Christ just as we are united to the living on earth through Christ. As we have a lot to learn from our elders on earth, so we have a lot to learn from the saints in heaven who lived lives of heroic virtue through their sacrifices, their writings, and even through their martyrdom, in short through their many and varied gifts. They reflect the light of Christ and reveal to us how Christians have lived through the ages, and quite frankly how we should live today. For this we venerate them, and since we are united with them in Christ, we ask for their intercession with the Lord just as we ask the same from our brothers and sisters on earth to whom we are united in Christ.
So, in this relatively short amount of space, I hope I have conveyed just a little how a Catholic understands the Church, the people of God, which starts small like a mustard seed but grows and spreads out great branches across space and time “so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.”
Laudetur Iesus Christus in aeternum!
Guest Blogger: Not Alone in Feeling Alone
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 Dan from “The Ekklesia in Southern Maine.” You can also follow Dan on Twitter and Facebook.
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So Alan asked me to write a guest post for his blog. I asked him what he wanted me to write about and after saying “the church” which didn’t really narrow things down too much, he asked me, “What is the one thing you would want to say to my readers?”
“You are not alone.” That is the thing that I want to say to you. You are not alone, even when it feels like it. Many readers on this blog see the value of community and meaningful relationships among the Body of Christ. Many readers on this blog have faced resistance when trying to implement those things into their lives and into the group of believers they are part of. That can be very discouraging and often very lonesome. I know. I’m there.
Some of you may have gone to seminary with Alan, and may have had the opportunity to be part of the great community of believers that he is part of in that area. You may have left school thinking that you would find something or be part of something similar when you arrived wherever you were going. If you are like me, you quickly found out that it wasn’t going to be that easy. Strong, community-minded bodies of believers are not found around every corner, and very often they are not as equipped to integrate new people as the one in this community.
Others of you may read about all this stuff and think, “I would move anywhere for this,” or, “This is all wonderful, but completely utopian and unrealistic.” You have never been part of any kind of real community of believers. You have never seen pastors who step aside (or more like “step in”) and let the congregation minister to each other. You find all the talk of these wonderful things to be so far from your experience that you never expect to see it in real life.
One thing is certain, for both of these groups of people, it can be extremely discouraging to read of (or remember) the wonderful blessing of being part of a community of believers who encourage each other to grow in Christ – who laugh together, cry together, and live together – and then look around yourself and see nothing like that.
I had the opportunity to observe this kind of community when I was at seminary with Alan. I never really put the effort into being part of that group. But I saw how they treated each other, and it was really quite wonderful. I saw how people were growing together and helping each other along, and it seemed like such a great expression of the love of Christ among his body.
Then I moved back to Maine. I had stuff going on in my life at the time, and I wasn’t interested in people being close to me. It was a couple of years before all that stuff settled down and I started to really desire to be part of a community of believers, for me, for my wife, and for our kids. That was over a year ago now. We have spent time with many nice people, we have even visited a couple of “house” churches. The people either lived too far away, or the “house” church was just like everything else we had already seen from the institutional church: we all met on a certain day, sang some songs, talked about the Bible, ate some food (this was a nice addition to the traditional service!), and went our separate ways until next weekend. Obviously not the community or “shared life” we were thinking of.
The struggle is that being part of a close community of believers is hard work. You can’t just go to a once-a-week service. You have to take time to spend with those people, care about those people, and make an effort to share your life with them. This is hard and something I am not very good at. It is even harder when there aren’t a group of people already doing that, a group that you can integrate yourself into.
There are lots of other reasons that this is so difficult, but suffice it to say that it’s hard. I think that there may be quite a few people that read this blog, and think that they are the only ones who can’t make this happen, who can’t find and be part of this kind of community, who want to be the church as Christ called us to be but just don’t know how. You are not the only one. It is hard for many of us, and many of us, myself included, are nowhere near anything like that. We are no longer content with traditional church structures and “Good morning brother, how are you?” type relationships. But we can’t seem to find the deeper relationships, the more meaningful fellowship, and mutual edification. So, ironically, in our pursuit of more honest and meaningful relationships with our brothers and sisters, we end up alone and alienated.
I could give you “the answer,” but I don’t have it. We have Christ. We are never alone, but sometimes it sure can feel that way. So when you are feeling discouraged and disappointed about where you are, just know that you are not alone in feeling alone.
Am I the only one who struggles with this? Why do you think it’s so hard? Are you part of a community of believers and still feel this way sometimes?
Guest Blogger: Five Ways to move Traditional Church toward Missional
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 guest blog post is written by Jeremy from “Till He Comes,” “Grace Ground,” and “Grace Books.” You can also follow Jeremy on Facebook and Twitter.
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Five Ways to move Traditional Church toward Missional
Many churches want to become more missional, but are still operating under the mindset of “If we build it they will come.” To move toward missional, churches must develop a mindset that asks, “What are they doing which we can join?” No longer can we call people to come to us; we must take the initiative and go to them.
Here are five suggestions for making this happen in your own community:
1. Service Sunday
It is not enough to preach and teach about meeting the needs of the community. The congregation needs leadership by example. And while a community service project on Thursday night or Saturday morning is a tiny step in the right direction, all churches know from experience that few people turn out to such events.
Church leaders can show they mean business about community service by actually leading their congregation into the community on a Sunday morning when they would usually be in the “church service.”
(See here for a church that is actually doing this: http://www.alanknox.net/2011/04/this-church-is-meeting-for-a-real-church-service/ )
2. Move out of the Building
Sometimes a pastor or church leader can raise awareness and develop relationships within the community simply by moving the Bible studies, board meetings, and prayer groups out of the church building, and into the community. Not into someone’s home, but to a coffee shop, restaurant, beach, park, or even a bar.
If you pick a place, and keep going back week after week, month after month, blessing the business by being good customers, or the location by not being rude or loud and leaving the place clean, relationships will be developed and your own members will begin to see the needs in the community. This recognition of needs helps the church move into the next three suggestions.
3. Open up your building to “sinners”
Lots of churches have policies that restrict the use of the building to “nice religious folks only.” It is never stated this bluntly, but the policy usually states that any outside group wishing to use the building must agree to no drinking, swearing, or smoking on the premises, no loud music, no dancing, and a variety of other things. In other words, our “Building Use Policy” restricts the use of the building for religious people and religious purposes only.
If Jesus was known as the friend of sinners, tax gatherers, prostitutes, gluttons, and drunkards, the church should also be known for such things, including the use of our buildings. If your building policy doesn’t allow for such people to meet in the building, then maybe you should revisit the policy.
If we follow Jesus in the use of our buildings, there is no greater compliment we could receive than to hear a religious person criticize us for allowing drunkards and sinners to meet in our building.
4. Answer your own prayers
Prayer meetings are great, but all too often, we use prayer as a substitute for obedience. Christians would much rather pray for their neighbor than actually go serve them, and then we wonder why God doesn’t answer our prayers for them more often.
Could it be that as God listens to our prayers for the drug addicts down the street, and the corruption in the city council, and the neighbor who has a daughter that got pregnant out of wedlock, that He is saying, “I would love to answer that prayer request..through you. What are you going to do about it?”
Every prayer meeting should be concluded with action steps on what the church is going to do to answer their own prayer requests. A church could even cancel every other prayer meeting so that they could go be an answer to the prayer requests from the previous week.
5. Join Community Events
Many churches love to do community service, but on their own terms, and in their own way, and from their own building, and in a way that allows them to hand out their own literature and Gospel tracts. Sometimes this is effective, but most often it is not. It uses a lot of time, energy, and resources.
A better approach might be to let the city or town do most of the planning and preparing, and then simply join them in what they are doing. Sure, you won’t be able to pass out tracts, but you will still be connecting with people in the city and the town in a real and tangible way, which is better in the long run.
So rather than host a children’s carnival on your own property, go join the city’s kids carnival in the city park. Rather than go clean up the baseball field on your own, join the city when they do it. When the city has their July 4th celebration, offer to provide clean-up crews. There are so many things the city is doing, and the church can make their presence known by getting involved.
Conclusion
When it comes to following Jesus into the community, there is no telling where He might take you. Have you and your church been led into some strange and unusual places? Have you tried any of the suggestions above? If so, let us know in the comment section below.
If a person has called on the name of the Lord, I must be willing to fellowship with them
Last week, I asked the question, “What caused you to start studying the church?” There were several great comments on that post. Also, because of that post, I met several new people.
One of the people who commented on that post was Will from “Rochow.ca.” As a follow-up question to one of his comments, I asked Will if he was still able to fellowship with people who are part of institutional churches.
I loved Will’s reply, and I asked him if I could highlight it here as a post. So, here is Will’s comment:
Just because I no longer attend the traditional institutional church, does not mean that I don’t fellowship very regularly; actually significantly more than I did while in the institutional church. When I tell people that, the ones who most often have a difficult time grasping the concept are those who are still involved in these traditional institutional systems.
On one of my blogs I have a caveat that says that while I have no use for institutional church systems, the people within those systems I continue to love and care for as much as God enables me to (you can find those blogs on my website). But I still haven’t answered your question. Unfortunately, sometimes people misunderstand and think that my speaking against an institution is a word spoken against them. When this happens, it is usually because so much of their identity is wrapped up with that “place.†Therein is the problem; Christianity was never supposed to be about a “place.†Jesus isn’t a “place.â€
Am I still able to fellowship with those who don’t share my views? Not only am I able to, but I often do exactly that. The only initial difficulty, normally, is on their part, not mine. While I’m open to fellowship with whomever is interested, regardless of their background or denominational affiliation (and I totally disagree with denominationalism), they are the ones who usually tend to have issues with it.
Why? I think it has to do with the fact that many people still cannot get their heads around the fact that there are many active and God-fearing and Jesus-loving and fellowship-seeking Christians out there who no longer go to institutional churches. They rationalize that, if you are a Christian, then you “go†to church. I would argue, on the other hand, that if you are a Christian, then you “are†the church. How can you “go†to that which you “are?â€
Most of those I fellowship with on a regular basis have long since stopped going to institutional churches. Having said that, there are also a number of believers who, while still regularly going to those churches, also gather with us on a semi-regular basis. I also am involved with the Christian motorcycling community, most of whom also still go to institutional churches. This has not created a problem for me, nor for most of them. We have all been saved and love to spend time together.
What constitutes a saved believer? Institutional church affiliation? Belonging to one denomination over another one? Tithing? Mode of baptism? Speaking in tongues, or, not speaking in them? None of the above. Rather it is simply, as Peter said in Acts 2:21, “And EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.†So the criteria for fellowship is one: has that person called on the name of the Lord? If so, I MUST be willing to fellowship with them. This is not an option. Nor is it simply a suggestion.
John 3:8 says, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.†If we are truly born of the Spirit, and listening to Him, it may be that on Sunday morning He leads us to such-and-such an institutional church. It may also be that He leads us to a nursing home to spend time with an elderly saint. It may be that God leads us to a park, because that is where He will sovereignly cross our path with someone else that He wants us to talk to. The point is, are we really open to going where he leads us to go and when He calls us to do so? I wonder sometimes.
There is a great video (about 10 minutes long) by Simple Churches. If you haven’t seen it yet, it is on my homepage of my website. I think it will answer a lot of questions that your readers may have on this topic.
Hope I’ve answered your question. Sorry if this dragged on too much. I guess you never really take the sermon out of the preacher.
God bless.
Your brother in Christ,
Will
Those of you who have read my blog for a while know how important unity among the body of Christ is to me. Will’s comment is a great example of how brothers and sisters can still reach out to and fellowship with those who disagree with them.
May we all learn from Will’s example.
Guest Post: How does the church respond to poverty? (from someone who’s living it)
I think this is one of the most powerful posts that I’ve published in a long time. I can say that because I didn’t write it. Instead, a reader sent this to me. I asked for and received permission to post it here. Please carefully consider what she says. This is not a theoretical or academic exercise for her. She’s living it. For now, she wishes to remain anonymous. Here is her story:
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I was struck by a recent post of yours, asking how the church should respond to the fact that over ten percent of the population in Raleigh lives below the poverty line. (She’s referring to this article.) Whenever I hear this sort of discussion come up, I want to speak up, but because my family is one of those who live “poorer” than most, I fear that my comments will come off somehow as ‘self-seeking’ or of ulterior motive, or just whiny. My family has struggled financially for the past several years, and without going into all the details, I will say it has nothing to do with wasting of money or unwillingness to work. My husband spent ten of the last twelve years working 70 hours a week at three different jobs, to pay our bills, before being laid off 18 months ago. We lost our very small home to foreclosure and now rent a small older house. And we are so grateful for God’s provision. It was a devastating experience, but as in everything, He used it to draw us closer to Him. People talk of living paycheck to paycheck…. we envy those who live that way, as we are usually spending next week’s paycheck three days before it’s here… haha.
We live cheap, and we get by, but any little emergency is a huge stressor trying to figure out how to pay for it. I tell you all this, not to try to make you feel pity.. PLEASE don’t… we are so blessed… but just to say that my opinions on the church and poor come from my experience. And we are hardly the worst case. My youngest boys get angry if i use the word ‘poor’ to describe us, and proceed to point out all the stuff we own. To them, poor people don’t have television sets (even if they are ancient and don’t receive any cable). Perhaps I should say we are poor by comparison to those in America, but rich compared to most of the world.
I went to a Sunday School class for several weeks the subject of which was ‘giving’. I was excited to consider my own responsibility and privilege to give, as well as the church’s as a body. I was so deeply discouraged to see how much time we spent talking about all the reasons not to help the poor… they are living out the consequences of their own poor choices, we might ‘enable’ the receiver to stay in a bad situation, the “not work/don’t eat” verses, and most saddening to me, all the stories of people who themselves had been poorer, but pulled themselves out of it, so others should be able to as well.
When I mentioned a friend of mine, who attends a different church, who has eight children, and feeds them on 60 dollars a week, I was hoping maybe someone would see it as a chance to live out what we’d been studying. Instead, there was a shrugging of shoulders and comments that pancakes for supper weren’t so bad. And they’re not. If you aren’t having them four times a week.
I don’t know what the perfect response is to the poor. But what seems to happen is some combination of this:
1. Assume the poor can’t do simple math and immediately ask to help them with their budgets. Because it’s very fun for a man to have another man peruse his income and expenses and tell him what a bad job he’s done in both.
2. Assume the person or family has committed some error or sin that has left them in their current situation. Because nobody in America is poor unless they are either lazy, foolish, or sinful.
3. Give some Bible verses or other encouragements. God’s Word is powerful, and never a bad thing to hear. But you can’t take it to the grocery store and trade it for a meal.
4. Spend lots of time being vexed over whether giving this person or family money is the ‘best’ use for it. As if God’s whole universal budget will be upset if we accidentally give to a less ‘worthy’ cause.
5. Combine all of the above steps so that the person or family feels as much shame as possible for their ‘sin’ of having less. Spend less. Budget better. Earn more. I call it “Nike Christianity”. Just Do It.
Perhaps an unintended consequence is that it drives people to the welfare agencies the church is often so quick to condemn. The woman taking my food stamp application listened more intently and with less judgement than many Christians had.
You learn fast that people get tired of hearing how broke you are. So when you’re invited out for dinner with a group of people, you make excuses so you don’t have to admit you can’t afford it. You or your children don’t go to retreats and other activities that cost money. You feel uncomfortable on Sunday mornings when you see how worn out your child’s shoes are, and know you can’t get a new pair for awhile. It becomes a slow and subtle path to isolation.
HOWEVER. While all I’ve said above is the usual (of my experience), there have also been instances of amazing grace and Christlike giving that have blown us away. At our darkest, deepest time of need, when we had lost our home and were moving into our current two-bedroom house with five children, a dear Christian sister offered my college age daughter to live with her, rent free. Months later, a group of friends insisted we go out to dinner with them, and before we could make any excuse, they made clear the meal was “on them”. When we hesitated, they made our presence seem so desired, we couldn’t say no. That evening, I saw my husband more relaxed, and truly enjoying himself, than I had in months. Another dear brother gave us a very large sum of cash to help us get through. He and his wife said said they so loved us, and wanted to help, that it was an actual ‘relief’ for them to give to us. That was a while ago. When I recently mentioned the gift to this same friend, he looked confused, and then said, “Oh. I completely forgot about that.” He FORGOT?!?!?! Didn’t hold it over us, or didn’t judge us, didn’t shame us. Just helped, and then forgot about it. But not about us, as they are dear friends.
So if you ask me what makes the difference in the ‘typical’ (my assessment), response, and the responses that made a real difference, I would say it is a difference in how you view “the poor”. Are the poor a “problem”? Are they “potential” converts or church members? Are they a good “project” for the church? Or are they ‘people’? God-created, God-loved, died-for people. Even if some people are in bad financial straights through their own devices, is that reason to refuse them help? If someone develops lung cancer from years of smoking, do we excuse offering compassionate care because they ‘did it to themselves’? I hope not.
I hope this doesn’t come off as a rant of bitterness. In truth, I am awed at God’s provision for us. Not big, not fancy, but way more than I deserve. And I am so thankful. And I think part of the reason Christians in America are so confused in our responses to the poor is because we are so rich. We lack empathy because we just haven’t been there. I wouldn’t know how it felt to be “poor” if I weren’t “poor”.
Church, Churches, and Questions
On New Year’s eve, while our family was driving back home from Alabama, a reader named Rob started a good conversation on an older (almost a year old) post of mine called “What does it take to be a church?”
Since many of you may have missed the conversation, I wanted to post Rob’s last comment (which includes two very good questions) as a “guest blog post,” and Rob gave me permission. (If you’re interested, jump back to the original post and read the discussion at the end of the comment thread between Rob, Art, and myself).
Here is Rob’s final comment:
I don’t see any indication that the “churches†of a region considered themselves exclusive of one another either. They seem to have been interrelated and mutually supportive through the movement of ministries amongst them and expressed as in the support of the poor in Jerusalem. But we have no evidence of hierarchical structures ruling over regions hence the plural of ‘churches’ for regions but singular for cities and households. There is no example of elders in one city carrying administrative authority in any other city.
Yes we have come a great distance from the biblical pattern and I agree it was never perfect and perhaps far from it. I have 2 QUESTIONS I think are valuable to consider:-
1) How do we relate to the church in our locality maintain and express unity despite the labels and divisions. In UK (my place of origin) and Barbados my current residence I find that denominational labels mean little compared with previous generations (I do not know if this is the same in the US). The majority of people move among the churches much more on the basis of a) whether the church provides for their needs / wants or b) where they find genuine friends, which is a better motive. However I would like to see more believers being concerned with where they could best meet the needs of others.
The approach I favour is to ignore the labels and build relationships wherever they can be beneficial to the kingdom. We are associated with a network of churches – some of which are house churches, some are cell churches some are also part of various denominations.
2) Do we have hope and / or Biblical grounds for expecting church reformation and a perfecting of the church prior to Christ return e.g. Eph. 4 “maintain the unity of the Spirit … until we cone to the unity of the faithâ€. Does this ‘until’ hold out any promise of its eventual accomplishment?
How would you answer Rob’s questions?
I’ve been re-mixed
Turnabout is fair play. A reader named Harper took a statement that I made in my post “Why I’m glad not to be that kind of pastor” and turned it around. Then, he used my own strike-through “re-mix” style. (Unfortunately, he couldn’t post this as a comment, so he emailed it to me and I’ve published it here.):
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Here is the first installment of “Scripture Alan……As We Live See It #1â€:
Actually, I don’t think the problem is with being a “pastor†per se, but with the unscriptural expectations control that many Christians leaders (especially elders or “pastorsâ€) place on demand over those they recognize as leaders followers (especially elders The Church or “pastors†“sheepâ€).
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By the way, I think the church needs a “course correction” (punt and do-over?) in the area of leadership. And, I believe that this course correction must come from both directions: both from those who are recognized as leaders and from those who are not recognized as leaders.
Stump Chopping Church
Some friends of ours are beginning to meet together with the specific intention of serving their neighbors, co-workers, and friends. He recently sent me a description of their meeting. It may not sound like a typical church meeting… but, that’s a good thing, I think. This is what he said:
Sunday we met with the S.’s and one other family in their home and studied scripture, sang with a guitar, and prayed together. It was good to sit around and talk about all the people we know who we can serve and then move forward right then to contact some of them. This is something we are going to try to do a few times a month as we look to see what the future has for us, while hopefully bringing in a few other families as well.
I ask my friend to explain what he meant by “talk about all the people we know who we can serve and then move forward right then to contact some of them.” This is what he described:
We talked about who we know that needs help and we came up with a person J. works with that is going through some financial hardships (her husband is a Muslim who is opposed to the gospel but she is a professing believer). We called her and she had received help that same day already from her mom with groceries. We found out her windshield has a huge crack that needs to be fixed so we are going to see how to get funds together for that. J. also knows a 97 year old lady in town who she has taken food to and who doesn’t have family around. We tried to call her but wasn’t able to get a hold of her at the time. (This lady is amazing, even though she is old she lives alone and does yard work for her house and a few rental houses she owns). I called a lady from Africa that works in the cleaning department (she lives alone and doesn’t have a car or family close by). We have had her up to our house before, so I called her and setup a time to have her up to our house and to take her grocery shopping (she loves to fix food from Africa). Lastly, a friend of ours who A. and I meet with weekly for breakfast and encouragement has some stumps in his back yard that he wanted to grind but he lost his job recently and is starting nursing school in September so his funds are limited. Instead of renting a stump grinder, A. and I are going to attempt to go over there while they are out of town and chop up some stumps with a couple of axes (they aren’t huge trees and we figure it may be good exercise). As you can see, J. is our person of peace, which makes it easy to come up with people with needs because she naturally meets them or people gravitate towards her.
I love the way they met together! What? Do I love the Scripture they studied or the songs that they sung? Well, probably, but I don’t know what that was.
What I like is that when they gathered together, they thought about and discussed how they can serve others. And, instead of just talking about it, they started doing it right then! Yes!
Sounds to me like considering one another to stir up love and good works… (Hebrews 10:24-25)
All felt themselves an important part of being together
Art from “Church Task Force” left the following as a comment on my post “The weaker are indispensable“:
At what great cost have we gained so little. We have ruled out 95% of the life of a family in our formality and in our quest to keep up appearances that meet the world’s approval.
I think we need to look past sizing up the importance of contributions–and the methods of these contributions–based on how they make us appear in the eyes of the world (and the eyes of those who are careless in their journey). Is speaking the only way to function (must all be mouths)?
And we cannot do this without also considering the environment we craft and choose for our gathering. I mean both physically and the atmosphere we create by our level of formality. Just the idea that a meeting “starts†and now everyone must shut up, only 1 person may speak from here on, and everyone must give undivided attention, and no one must move or do anything without permission–oh how very weird for a family to act like this together! These have a great impact in shutting out the natural functions of these important members of His body.
Sure, at a family reunion, someone may ask for everyone’s attention for a few moments. But it would be rare. Most often, people cuddle up in groups and jabber away, sometimes dragging someone over to join in on some particular point. No one is excluded from functioning in the most natural ways.
Look around, and you will see love and tenderness being meted out generously. You will see the young caring for the old, the children laughing and playing with freedom and security, the men sometimes pulling aside, the women, too, but the gathering continues to flex and flow as everyone interacts, gives, receives, appreciates, enjoys, loves.
There was one family, but it was not a singular meeting in an artificial, formal manner, and so all contributed in constantly shifting collections of people. Think back and recall the family times together with uncles and aunts and nieces, cousins, and nephews and gramma and grampa. Remember the chaotic, ordered, joy of being together? Who has such thoughts of Sundays at 11 AM to noon?
In the end, everyone was fed a meal, everyone found acceptance, everyone contributed in many ways at various opportunities that presented themselves quite naturally throughout the time together. Service–caring for the needs of others–is highly valued and esteemed in these families. All felt themselves an important part of being together; all had a place. Even those unskilled in public oratory.
If the church is a family (and I think it is, not just metaphorically, but really), then shouldn’t we look and act like a family, even when we meet together? One of the great things about what Art said above is that it is often difficult to tell where he’s talking about a family reunion and where he’s talking about a church meeting.