Now, where did I put that blog series on that topic?
Occasionally, I’ll get a comment, or email, or Facebook message from someone asking for a link to a blog series that I wrote on a certain topic. I’m certainly not bothered by those requests, but I often have a hard time finding the links myself.
So, I’ve decided to put together a separate “Series” page that lists some of the series that I’ve written over the last few years. (I think I wrote my first blog series during 2006, which would be just over 5 years ago now.) I’ve only added a few of my series to the page so far, but I’ll add more as I have time (and find the series).
If you have a favorite series, feel free to request it in the comments, and I’ll add it sooner.
You can find the link to the “Series” page in the menu bar at the top of the blog.
But, as always, if you’re looking for a series or a post and can’t find it, drop me a note. I’ll still be glad to hunt it down for you.
What Kind of Christian Are You?
I grew up in a background that included Southern Baptist churches primarily. I continue to attend a Southern Baptist seminary, and I’m part of a church that associates with the Southern Baptist Convention. Does “Southern Baptist” then, define the kind of follower of Jesus Christ that I am? No. Certainly my background and education has worked to shape me, but my goal is not to be the best Southern Baptist that I can be. While I appreciate many things associated with the Southern Baptist Convention, there are others that I think are not helpful to the church.
Today, I am often associated with the simple church or organic church movement. I’ve read (and reviewed) many books associated with these types of churches, and I’ve agreed with many of the things that I’ve read. Does that mean that “organic church” defines the kind of follower of Jesus Christ that I am? Nope. That doesn’t either. While I appreciate many of the things that I’ve learned from those who are part of simple or organic churches, and while I focus on the relational aspect of Christians sharing their lives together in Jesus Christ, I am not part of the movement.
I’ve also enjoyed reading and interacting with people who are Anabaptist, Reformed, Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist, Pietist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Charismatic, and many, many other “kinds” of Christians. However, I do not identify myself with any of those different groups.
My goal, then, is to identify myself with Jesus Christ without separating from any brothers and sisters in Christ who may identify with a particular group or denomination or organization or whatever.
The funny thing is, if I refer to completely identify with one group, it’s often difficult for others to interact with me. Perhaps it’s because I don’t fit many of the molds. I’m not baptist enough for many baptists. I’m not organic enough for some in the organic church movement. I’m not reformed enough or separatist enough or traditional enough or whatever else.
And… I’m okay with that.
You see, I’m fine with asking people to respond to me as a person in Jesus Christ and not as a certain denomination or organization or set of doctrines.
Often, people will assume I believe certain things or do certain things or refuse to do certain things because of my background or education or some other association. I like to surprise people, and then interact with them one-on-one instead of denomination-to-denomination or system-to-system.
So, whatever you think about me, I’m probably not that kind of Christian. And, when we interact with one another, I will try to treat you as a brother or sister in Christ and not like a system of beliefs.
Hopefully, this approach – either online or in person – will lead to encouraging and helpful dialog in which we both grow in maturity in Christ.
Can we begin by assuming unity in Christ?
Last week, Arthur at “The Voice of One Crying Out in Suburbia” wrote an excellent post called “The Assumption of Disunity.”
He begins his post by giving a quick synopsis of a book called Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism. If you’re interested in the book, you can jump over to Arthur’s blog and read what he says.
The point that I want to bring out comes at the end of the synopsis. Arthur says that the four contributors to that book assume disunity, not only among the church as a whole, but even among the sub-group called “Evangelicals.” Arthur explains, “All of these conversations invariably work within a framework where the church has just decided to shrug our collective shoulders, throw up our collective hands and just accept disunity and assume it is normal and unavoidable.”
How does Arthur respond to this?
I reject this. I don’t reject it because I think it is not the reality on the ground and has been for centuries. I reject assumed disunity because it is something that the Gospel simply demands that we reject and overcome. There is simply no way to read the New Testament and come away with practices that lead to a disunified church made of up thousands of competing local churches. The New Testament spends a ton of time breaking down the walls between believers and we have promptly spent the last two thousand years building them right back up in new, innovative ways.
Think about this for a moment… What would happen if we assumed unity in Christ instead of assuming disunity based on our traditions and backgrounds and interpretations? Is that even possible? I think it is…
In fact, I want to expressly state something that I hope has been apparent through my blog posts: If I disagree with you, or if you disagree with me, I do not automatically assume that we are divided from one another because of that (those) disagreement(s). Instead, my first assumption is that we are united in Christ – brothers and sisters – whose bond is stronger than flesh and blood and able to withstand our disagreement.
Idealistic? Maybe. But, like Arthur, I believe that the gospel demands our unity in Christ, and I will seek to live in it.
Because we feel like we’re not doing anything important
I’ve had several conversations over the last few weeks – really stretching back a few months – and, if I really tried, I could probably think of conversations over the last few years – about the difference between doing things officially as “church” and simply doing things with other brothers and sisters in Christ. From what I can tell, it boils down to this: When we do things sponsored by “the church,” it makes us feel like we’re doing something more important, more holy, more eternal, more official.
Now, don’t get me wrong… when I stop and talk to people about this, they admit that comforting a sister who is mourning over a cup of coffee is extremely important discipleship type stuff. But, it’s not quite as… something… as doing an activity or attending a meeting that is sponsored by “the church.” “Yes,” I’ve heard people say, “the friends were sisters in Christ,” and, “yes,” they would continue, “they were gathered in Jesus’ name,” and, “of course,” they insist, “they were encouraging and comforting her and helping her to respond to her problems in a godly manner,” and, “it’s true,” they might even conclude, “that time together with one another was more similar to the examples we read about in the New Testament”… but, still, that was just friends having coffee together. It wasn’t really a “church” thing.
So, what is it about having something sanctioned by the church that makes it seem more important, more holy, more official? Is it simply something that people have been brought up to think? A group of co-workers meeting for prayer during lunch is great, but it’s not quite the same thing as a prayer meeting at church. A few friends gathering to study the Bible is awesome, but wouldn’t it be even better if it was a church sponsored “Bible Fellowship Club Meeting”? You’re taking some food to a family in need? That’s amazing! But, why not take part in the church’s benevolence program? The committee meets every fourth Tuesday.
I know these questions sound sarcastic, and there is obviously tongue-in-cheek to my examples above. But, the point is serious.
I’ve talked with so many people who are loving their neighbors and serving their communities and proclaiming the gospel and discipling friends and praying for others, but they feel like their activities are somehow LESS because they are not church-sponsored activities. I’m assuming that their church leaders would be ecstatic that these people are actually living out what we read about in Scripture, and perhaps they are. But, for some reason, the people I’ve talked to are made to feel as if they are not actually loving, serving, evangelizing, or discipling people because the things they are doing are not part of the official programs of the church.
“Yes,” they have been told, “Please continue to do those things. But, you should also take part in these events that we sponsor.”
Again, I’m hoping that this is unintentional. And, thus, the point of this post. Are you a church leader, either recognized or not, either official or not, either paid or not, either professional or no? Consider what you’ve said to people. Are you encouraging them to serving God by loving him and loving others in any opportunity that God brings into their lives? Or, are you somehow – even unintentionally – communicating that it only “counts” if what they are doing is part of the officially sanctioned and recognized programs and activities of your church organization?
Trust me, these people are serving God. You’re not helping if that’s what you’re doing… even if it’s unintentional.
More Families acting like Churches
A couple of weeks ago, I “replayed” an older post called “If the family were a church.” In that post, I wondered what it would look like if families acted like churches, especially when it comes to leadership, growth, and organization.
Now, someone else has taken up the gauntlet and has written another “episode.”
Over at “New Covenant Bible Fellowship of Las Vegas,” someone wrote a post called “Membership in the Family of God,” continuing the theme from my post above.
In this post, the author tackles the question of “membership.” How does one become a “member” of a family? Through membership classes, of course:
Then the father announced the dates for the new family membership class and all the recent “new” family members were expected to participate. The father said they must be taught all about being a member of our family, the do’s and don’t’s, the responsibilities, and all the good works they could do to show they were members in good standing in the family. If they did not graduate from the class, they would not become full-fledged members of the family, would not be able to vote at family meetings, and would not be able to teach any other family members anything…
You should read the remainder of the quote. It’s a good tongue-in-cheek sarcastic approach to looking at how the church acts today… not much like a family.
The Lord’s Supper, Communion, or Eucharist in Jeremiah
A few years ago, I came to the conclusion that the phrase “breaking bread” as used by the New Testament authors did not refer to what is commonly called “The Lord’s Supper” (or “Communion” or “The Eucharist”) today. (I’m using all three phrases “The Lord’s Supper,” “Communion,” and “Eucharist” because different Christian traditions use different phrases to refer to the same thing.) In other words, “breaking bread” did not refer to small pieces of bread. Instead, I believe that “breaking bread” is an idiom that refers to sharing a meal together.
Idioms are figures of speech whose meanings are not made up by the normal meanings of the components of the phrase. For example, the phrase “an axe to grind,” does not refer to an actual wood-chopping tool nor does it refer to sharpening that tool or anything else. Similarly, if someone “goes out on a limb,” they may be nowhere near a tree. These are idioms whose meanings are not made up by the component meanings.
Now, idioms are difficult to decipher. Unless we know that something is an idiom, or unless some writing explains the idiom for us, we may think that the idiom refers to what is literally described in the phrase.
There is a passage in Jeremiah (yes, in the Old Testament) that can help us see the relationship between the phrase “breaking bread” and a shared meal. God had just told the prophet that destruction was going to come to his land. Now, in preparation, he tells Jeremiah not to marry or mourn for the dead. In the part about mourning, he says this:
Both great and small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or cut himself or make himself bald for them. No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother. You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. (Jeremiah 16:6-8 ESV)
In the Greek translation of Jeremiah (the LXX) the phrase translated “break bread” is one of the same phrases found in the New Testament which is often seen to refer specifically to “The Lord’s Supper,” “Communion,” or “Eucharist.” You can find very similar phrases in Acts 2:46; Acts 20:7,11; and 1 Corinthians 10:16. The noun form of the verb “break” is used along with “bread” in Acts 2:42. The same phrases are used in the Gospel accounts of the feeding of the five thousand and four thousand and when Jesus interacts with two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus. In other words, in the passages that are normally connected to some type of sacramental meaning in the bread and cup, the NT authors uses the same phrase found in Jeremiah 16:7.
Yet, in the Jeremiah passage, it is clear that a sacramental meal is NOT in view. It is a common meal. God tells the prophet not to share a meal with those who mourn. In fact, both the “breaking of bread” and the “cup of consolation/encouragement” are included as phrases which refer to eating a meal with those who are mourning. These are certainly not references to the Lord’s Supper, Communion, or the Eucharist. Instead, the phrases refer to sharing a meal.
(By the way, the Greek translation of the Old Testament was probably begun sometime in the 3rd century BC, or about 300 years before the New Testament was written. However, the translators started with the Torah – Genesis-Deuteronomy. Jeremiah was probably translated after that, closer to the date of the writing of the various New Testament letters. The same idiom “break bread” is found in the Hebrew text as well, which shows that the idiom has a much older beginning in that culture.)
If “breaking bread” refers to sharing a meal – which I think it does – then the church is missing something very important by limiting the scope of this phrase to some type of sacramental ritual referring only to little pieces of bread.
Share with those who want to know more?
Felicity at “Simply Church” has shared an interview that she did with John King in her post “How do you invite people to something that is Bible based?”
While the entire post is well-worth reading, the first question and answer is the one that resonates and helps me the most right now.
Felicity asks: “Give me some examples of simple ways to invite other people–especially those who are not-yet-believers–to join in a Discovery Bible Study.”
And, here is part of John’s answer:
Too many believers attempt to ram the Word down the throat of not-yet-believers and wonder why they don’t appreciate it. We need to use discretion. When an interest is shown, then give them a brief summary statement about God’s character or about a blessing that he recently gave. Keeping this short is critical because they may only be curious, not open, yet. The goal is to see if that truth or blessing resonates with this person. Then if the person wants to know/experience more, she/he will let you know. Spend the bulk of your time looking for those who God is preparing to hear the gospel. These are the people who will be blessed by a Discovery Bible Study.
For the most part, churches today are designed to spread the same teaching to a large number of people. This may be good from time to time, but it is not effective for the most part.
Instead, we must meet people where they are. Who should we share the gospel with? Everyone? Sure, but especially those who are interested in hearing more. (Read through the book of Acts and notice how many times this happens.)
What do you think? Do we constantly and continually share the gospel with everyone, or do we focus on those who are interested? If it is both, then how do we share differently with the different groups (i.e., everyone and those interested)?
Guest Blogger: Focus on delivery does not increase our effectiveness at discipling people
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 to me as an email by Chris. You can follow Chris at his website or on Twitter (@ChrisBranscome).
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[From Alan: In a comment, Chris indicated that he was in “professional ministry” but was considering leaving that profession. In an email, I told him that I would like to hear more about his reasons and struggles. The following is his response, which he graciously allowed me to post here for my readers.]
I think the thing that’s driving me away is that we continue to hold to the idea that if we have better programming, slicker lighting and media, better bands, and cooler facilities, then we’ll be able to do a better job of making disciples. We’ve seen again and again that this focus on the delivery and production of our message doesn’t increase our effectiveness in transforming people.
We work hard to put together friendly events like Fall Festivals and I hear people say things like “if we can just get them on the campus…” While I think it’s nice to do things for the community, I don’t think that if a non-Christian just steps foot on campus, they’ll suddenly meet God in a way that they can’t off campus. I think there’s also the idea that if people come to our worship event, they’ll be ministered to by “professional” ministers, and that this is more effective.
We continue to inadvertently teach, through our methodology, that 1) God is most present here at the Church building, 2) God is MORE present when our productions are better planned, polished, and executed, 3) You’re being most Christian when you attend an event on a church campus, and 4) “real” ministry is carried out by the full time church employees.
Because we believe that the organization and its few leaders carry out the most effective ministry at the organization’s events, there’s a focus on bringing people in rather than on equipping people and sending them out. Evangelism has come to mean “inviting people to a worship gathering.”
We continue to do all of these things in spite of the fact that we KNOW that what we’re doing isn’t creating many new believers or turning believers into more Christlike people.
I know there are exceptions, and I also fully acknowledge that I am where I am today, spiritually speaking, at least in part because of the fact that I grew up in a pretty normal church organization. I think the organization definitely has its place, and that it will continue to be effective for a (shrinking) number of people.
So, personally speaking, I don’t like that working for this kind of organization means that I spend 90% or more of my working hours inside of the walls of a church building, planning and executing things that will take place in the building – things which will only impact (and that’s questionable) people who come to the building. I work within this very different Christian culture, isolated from the rest of the world, the world which we are called to reach.
I hope I don’t sound too cynical or critical. I’m actually coming out of a year and a half period of serious burnout, bad enough that it gave me an ulcer. I was really, really busy with very inwardly focused things, getting ready to launch a new building campaign, etc. My attitude during that time was pretty bad, but with God’s help, things are better. My current strategy is to see if I can find gainful employment outside of the church, but in the mean time, to continue to work as well as I can and focus as much as possible on things that are more effective at making disciples and reaching people outside of the church.
If you know of anyone who needs someone to create some music for them, or do some graphic design or video editing, especially if it’s full time, please let me know! 😉
Scripture… As We Live It #185
This is the 185th passage in “Scripture… As We Live It.”
And when it was day, he [Jesus] departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well I am excited that you are seeking me out. You are just beginning to understand who I am. I will stay here until you are all completely discipled; for I was sent for this purpose.” (Luke 4:42-43 re-mix)
(Please read the first post for an explanation of this series.)
Concentrating on things that seem hard
If you’ve been following my blog over the last two weeks, then you know that I just wrote a series called “Decompartmentalizing the Mission of God.” In the series, I suggested that the mission of God includes proclaiming the gospel, strengthening believers, and caring for the least. The mission includes ALL of these things integrated into the life of a follower of Jesus Christ and the life of a community of believers.
However, most followers of Jesus do not find in natural (or even super-natural) to function in all of these different ways. Thus, we tend to focus on only one (or perhaps two) of the aspects of the mission of God. In spite of this, we must ensure that we do not neglect any aspects of God’s mission even if we occasionally emphasize one or more aspects.
But, how did I want people to respond to this series? Well, my new friend Linda gave a perfect example of a response in a comment on Facebook. She said:
I guess service comes easiest for me so this is a great reminder that I should concentrate on the things that come hard. There must be a reason that I think that they are hard.
Yes! Some things come easiest for us, perhaps because we’re gifted in that area, or because we’ve seen God work through us in that way, or because we’re passionate about that aspect of the mission. However, if we recognize that God desires to work through us in an integrated way as we follow him in his mission, then we can open ourselves up to new and different opportunities. These opportunities may fall in areas that seem to “come hard.” But, that’s just another opportunity for us to rely on God, his strength, and his grace!
Like Linda, I want to follow God, even if it means doing things that seem hard.