Guest Blogger: Why bother with 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 John. You can connect with John on Facebook or email him at jnotestein [at] aol [dot] com.
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Why bother with the church?
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that, I could gladly report that I am writing this from my beach house in the Bahamas. I hear it from non believers (which I expect), people who have dropped out of church, and even those I worship with on Sunday mornings. The reasons are many, such as the music’s too loud, the music’s too soft, it’s boring, the people are out of touch with life today, all I see are hypocrites there, I need my sleep, I want to catch the pre game show, etc. I’ve even used a few of these excuses and others in my day. But then I asked myself why do we even gather together in the first place?
I grew up eons ago, when families ate dinner together. I didn’t always want to do that either, but I never had a choice. But I can tell you, it helped shape what I think about my family now. My father has been gone for 16 years now, but I can still see him sitting at the head of the table, telling stories or asking us what we were up to (like I was really going to tell him). The point is this: I was a part of something bigger than myself, whether I felt like it or not. The same was true of church. The younger folks may not believe this, but we didn’t always have Children’s Church. Instead, we had to sit in the worship service and be bored to tears. I was busy filling in every ‘O’ and ‘0’ I could find in the bulletin. I learned that if I held my Bible open and rested my head on my Mother’s shoulder, I could sometimes catch a quick nap. When Einstein said the time was relative, I feel he was talking about how a one hour church service could feel like days. But today, I can still recall being there, with lots of old people (probably in the 20’s and higher), from different walks of life and economic backgrounds, all singing ‘old school’ hymns from the Broadman Baptist Hymnal. It wasn’t necessarily what we were doing, but who we were doing it with and who we were doing it for: God.
As I go to worship now, those same thoughts go through my head. If we did everything I wanted to do in church, it would probably be a church of one. But it’s not about me. I know that’s hard to believe for some. We all have needs and we want the church, God, the pastor, or someone to recognize that and take care of them. But at the same time, we don’t want to get to close to anyone (they might want me to actually perform some act of service or something). So how can I get to know other people without spending time with them? The answer is that you can’t.
And you can’t share your life with someone if you not willing to spend time with them. Whether it’s your family, your friends, or fellow believers, it’s all the same. You have to invest yourself into their lives, and that means spending time and energy. Many in our culture today worship the individual, treasure time with themselves, and are busy grabbing all they can from life before someone else gets it. From my experience, Christians are not a lot different sometimes. We are to live in the world but not be a part of the world, but that’s hard to do sometimes. The only way I know of to live that way is to spend time in the Word, time listening and talking to God through prayer, and being around fellow believers. And you can’t do that in one or two hours on a Sunday morning. We need to share our lives with each other. In the coffee shop, on the golf course, in our backyards, and in our homes. As Paul says in Romans:
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:1-6 ESV)
We worship God in our homes, with our friends, alone on the back porch, and yes, even in church. As much as our sinful selves tries to convince us, it’s not all about us. It’s about Him. And He told us to go make disciples, and we can even do that in church. After all, it is the Bride of Jesus.
Scripture… As We Live It #176
This is the 176th passage in “Scripture… As We Live It.”
When they had preached the gospel several passages of Scripture and several important topics in a few popular sermon series to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. (Acts 14:21 re-mix)
(Please read the first post for an explanation of this series.)
Tips for Following my Blog through Social Networks
Last week, I wrote a post called “How did you get from there to here?” In that post, I asked how my readers normally reached my blog, and I also asked if I linked to old posts too frequently (especially on Twitter and Facebook).
While some readers said they would prefer less frequent links to older posts, several people – both in the comments and privately to me – encouraged me to continue linking to the old posts. Plus, I continue to get comments (on the posts, through Twitter, and on Facebook) when I link to those older posts. So, for now, I’m going to continue linking to the older posts on Facebook and Twitter.
But, I want to offer some tips for those who are not interested in reading my older posts.
1) Typically, I schedule new posts to publish at 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. (noon). Some weekends, I only post one post per day, and that post will be published at 9:00 a.m. My 9:00 a.m. post is usually a longer post, while the noon post is typically a shorter post or a response/link to another blogger’s post.
2) During the week (Monday-Friday), I link to older posts on Facebook and Twitter only. I link to one old post each from 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. I try not to link to the same post within the same month, and it’s usually much longer between repeated older links.
3) Except for Google+, all of my other social network connections go out automatically. I use leenk.me to automatically publish links to new posts on Facebook and Twitter. I use HootSuite to schedule links to older posts on Facebook and Twitter. I also use Subscribe2 to automatically send out emails about new posts to email subscribers.
4) My RSS feed, emails to subscribers, and Google+ stream only include links to new posts. No older posts go out through those networks.
5) On Facebook, new posts always include thumbnail images, while the older posts do not include thumbnail images. I usually repeat links to new posts later in the day, but those repeats will not include a thumbnail either.
6) On Twitter, new posts always include “Blogged:” at the beginning of the tweet. Again, I usually repeat links to new posts later in the day, but those repeats will not include the term “Blogged:” at the beginning of the tweet.
I hope these tips help you decide which of my posts to read, even if you don’t want to read my older posts.
However, I do appreciate all the interaction that I continue to get on those older posts. So, if you’re interested, please continue reading and commenting.
Replay: Following Ignatius instead of Scripture
Three years ago, I wrote a post called “Following Ignatius.” When I first read Ignatius’ letters, I remember being encouraged by his focus on the gospel. But, I was perplexed by the weight that he put on the monoepiscopacy (single bishop, multiple presbyters, and multiple deacons in each city). Ignatius admits that he did not learn this from any of the apostles or any other men, but it was instead revealed to him directly by the Holy Spirit. But, I don’t know why I was surprised by the focus Ignatius placed on the bishop, since I had seen that same focus in all the churches I’d ever been part of. Oh, they didn’t focus on the bishop… but on the “senior pastor.”
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Ignatius of Antioch was one of the earliest Christian writers following the apostles. He died sometime around 110 AD in Rome. After being arrested in Antioch, he was led to Rome through Asia Minor. On the way, he wrote seven letters, six to churches and one to Polycarp.
Ignatius was very interested in the gospel. Ignatius’ gospel was a literal interpretation of the historical events and persons surrounding the birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, and continuing ministry of Jesus Christ. His desire was to see Christians living in harmony with the one gospel.
In order to exhort Christians toward harmony with the one gospel, Ignatius also encouraged them toward a three-part church leadership structure that included one bishop, multiple elders, and multiple deacons per city.
Evangelicals are proud of the fact that we follow Scripture and not traditions such as those espoused by Ignatius. But, do we follow Ignatius over Scripture? You can judge for yourself…
By being subject to the bishop and the elders, you might be sanctified concerning all things. (Ign. Eph. 2.2b)
Let us make every effort then not to oppose the bishop in order that we might submit ourselves to God. (Ign. Eph. 5.3b)
Therefore, as the Lord did nothing without the Father, being united with him, neither by himself nor by the apostles, in the same way you must do nothing without the biship and the elders. (Ign. Mag. 7.1a)
The one who does anything without the bishop, the elders, and the deacons, such a man is not clean in his conscience. (Ign. Trall. 7.2b)
Let that Eucharist be considered proper which is either by the bishop or by the one he permits. (Ign. Smyr. 8.1b)
It is not proper to baptize or to have a “love feast” without the bishop. (Ign. Smyr. 8.2b)
The one who honors the bishop is honored by God; the one who does anything without the knowledge of the bishop serves (worships?) the devil. (Ign. Smyr. 9.1b)
It is fitting for men and women who marry to make there union by the approval of the bishop. (Ign. Pol. 5.2b)
These are only a few of the passages. I left out passages where Ignatius said that same thing to different churches. So, according to Ignatius, believers should do nothing with the consent of the bishop and elders. In fact, those who do anything without their leaders obviously have impure motives (unclean conscience). No one should have a love feast (Eucharist, communion) or baptize without the bishop’s approval. No one should get married without the bishop’s approval. If believers stay within the bishop’s will, then they are sanctified. If they move outside the bishop’s will, then they are in trouble, actually going against God himself to serve the devil.
Change “bishop” to “senior pastor”, and I think this fits very closely with many modern teachings concerning church leadership. You can especially find these types of teachings under topic of spiritual “covering”. But, I don’t think you’ll find these in Scripture.
Are we willing to admit that in many of our leadership concepts and practices in the church we follow Ignatius more closely than we follow Scripture?
Does it take alot of money to start a church?
The title of this post is the question that Felicity from “Simply Church” is asking in her post “The financial cost of starting a church.”
Her post is short (as most of her posts are) and very good (as most of her posts are).
Common wisdom (in America at least) states that you must have a full-time staff, a nice meeting location, and a marketing fund. But, are these things actually necessary for a church? I don’t think so.
Instead, I think our thoughts and actions concerning the beginning of a church tell us alot about what we think the church is.
What do you think? Does it take alot of money to start a church?
Life in Christ and the Spirit in Us
In this pseudo-series, I’ve said that life in Christ is synonymous with life in the Spirit (which is the same as being given the Spirit, being indwelled by the Spirit, or being baptized by the Spirit). (See my post “Life in Christ is Life in the Spirit.”) Next, I said that a person who is indwelled by the Spirit can be filled with the Spirit or can grieve or quench the work of the Spirit. (See my post “Life in Christ and Filled with the Spirit.”)
While the Spirit indwells and fills an individual, the Spirit also works through a group of people who are all in Christ (in the Spirit). We see this dual (individual and community) aspect of the work of the Spirit in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, where he recognizes the individual as the temple (dwelling place) of the Holy Spirit and the community as the temple of the Holy Spirit:
Do you [plural] not know that you [plural] are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you [plural]? (1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV)
Or do you [singular] not know that your [singular] body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you [singular], whom you [singular] have from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV)
In each case (both the singular “you” and the plural “you”) there is only one “temple.” The Holy Spirit somehow makes his one home in the individual believer and the gathered community of believers.
We have already seen that the Spirit works within the individual believer to help that person live in Christ. But, we can also see many examples of how the Spirit works through the community to help members of that community to live in Christ. The point, though, is not for someone (or group) within the community to tell others what the Spirit is doing, but for the community to help one another listen to and learn from the Spirit who dwells within each of them.
The work of the Spirit through the community is especially important in situations where an individual is grieving or quenching the Spirit living within. It’s at this time that the community (in the Spirit) can help the brother or sister turn back toward God in order to understand what he is doing in and through them.
We see this kind of interaction of the Spirit through the community in passages such as this one:
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. (Galatians 6:1 ESV)
While that particular passage points toward a brother or sister who has moved toward sin (transgression), problems also occur when a brother or sister is not actively following the Spirit. That’s the kind of community (in the Spirit) involvement that we find in this passage:
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works… (Hebrews 10:24 ESV)
So, we’ve seen that the Spirit indwells us to bring us into the life of Christ. The individual who has been given the Spirit can either be filled with the Spirit (yielding to the Spirit’s work) or can quench or grieve the Spirit (refusing to yield to the Spirit’s work). Now, we see that the Spirit can also work through the community to help an individual (who is also indwelled by the Spirit) to turn back toward the work of God in his/her life through the Spirit.
Those pesky good works
Bobby at “Deconstructing Neverland” has written a wonderful post called “Showing our faith by works.” In this post, he looks at the connection between faith and works and, in particular, asks what kind of works are connected to our trust in God.
As you might expect, Bobby uses James 2:18 as a point of reference to consider the faith and works intersection. While there is a tremendous amount of “good stuff” in this post, I want to highlight one part where Bobby deals with the types of things that might be considered “good works.”
He writes:
Works that come from faith are demonstrated by doing things where there is no return to us.
- Helping others who cannot help us back.
- Feed the hungry
- Serve widows and orphans
- Take care of immigrants and homeless
- Turn the other cheek
- Give your life for a band of folks who will likely abandon you at your greatest hour of need and pretend like they never knew you
- Be the last in line
- Forgive the unforgivable
- Love the unlovable
These works take faith because the results cannot be seen with our eyes and touched with our hands. They lead to a change of heart, deep down inside of those we serve in this way. If we want to see God’s promise come to fruition we must have works that are rooted in self-denying, God dependent faith.
I appreciated Bobby’s distinction between all activities and good works which are “rooted in self-denying, God dependent faith.”
By the way, while you’re checking out Bobby’s post about faith and works, you should also read his post “A fictional non-fiction story with a function.” While it may be “a perfectly pointless story,” it is quite amusing nonetheless. Plus, he mentions my blog.
Life in Christ and Filled with the Spirit
In my post “Life in Christ is Life in the Spirit,” I suggested that to be in Christ (i.e., to be a disciple of Christ, or a believer, or born again, or any of the other terms used to describe God’s children) is the same as having received the Holy Spirit (to be indwelled with the Spirit, to be baptized by the Spirit). I came to this conclusion beginning with Paul’s focus on receiving the Holy Spirit in Acts 19:1-6, then by comparing this to Paul’s statements in Romans 8, especially Romans 8:9.
However, being indwelled by the Holy Spirit is not the end of the story. In fact, receiving the Spirit or being baptized by the Spirit is the initial point in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ. This does not mean, though, that being indwelled by the Spirit is an unimportant or less important aspect of our life in Christ. In fact, everything else that follows in our life in Christ must flow from the life of the Spirit (of Christ) who lives within us.
In fact, at several points, our life as followers of Jesus Christ is defined or described as fruit produced by the Holy Spirit (i.e. “fruit of the Spirit”). This means that the “fruit” such as love, joy, peace, patience, etc. is being created in and through the disciple of Christ by the presence, power, and work of the Holy Spirit who is indwelling that person.
When a person is operating (living, working, serving, whatever) according to the work of the Spirit within, that person is “filled with the Spirit.” It is interesting that Paul contrasts being “filled with the Spirit” with being “drunk with wine.” Just as a person is influenced and even controlled by drinking much wine (more influence/control with more win), a person can be influenced / controlled more and more by the life of the Spirit living in them.
But, that “filling” is not automatic. The Spirit (as with the Father and the Son) does not force himself on any person, even a person that he indwells. He is always there, always instructing, always exhorting, always comforting, always directing. But, we are not always listening or responding.
In fact, we are told by the authors of Scripture that we can quench the work of the Holy Spirit within us. (1 Thessalonians 5:19) It is extremely interesting that this command (“Do not quench the Spirit”) is in the context of encouraging, respecting, admonishing, helping, being patient, rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks. While there are certainly other activities of the Spirit in and through a follower of Jesus Christ, these represent a good example of the kinds of things that the Spirit does through those he indwells.
Also, we are told that it is possible to grieve the Holy Spirit within us. (Ephesians 4:30) Again, this command of setting ourselves against the work of the Spirit (“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God”) is given in the context of transformation (from lying to speaking the truth, from holding on to anger to releasing anger, from stealing to sharing with others, from tearing others down to building others up) as well as putting away things like wrath, anger, and malice and replacing them with kindness, a tender heart, and forgiveness.
These two groups of activities / attitudes (as well as the fruit mentioned above and other similar passages) can help us determine if we are allowing the Spirit of God to fill our lives or if we are quenching or grieving the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit marks the beginning of our walk with Christ. As the Spirit fills us – and we do not grieve him or quench his work within us – we continue to mature in Jesus Christ.
Comment Highlight: When pastors/elders work a full-time job outside the church
Marc from “Back to the Master” left a good, thought-provoking (I hope) comment on my old post “Pastors and Churches and Salaries.”
I think Marc makes a valid point that church leaders should consider. What do you think?
Here’s his comment:
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Years ago, I served as the preacher for a church with about 150 members. One of the wonderful things about this church is their willingness…and just about mandate…that I have outside employment. This worked out for several reasons.
1. It freed up funding to be used for foreign missions
2. It encouraged members of the church to become involved in ministry and not just rely on the preacher
3. It made the elders take a leadership role.
4. It allowed me to preach what I felt the Spirit was leading me to say, without fear of being fired.
I’m ALL for the idea of having pastors/preachers work in a full-time job outside of the church. Makes sense spiritually and financially.
Life in Christ is Life in the Spirit
Our church continues to study the Book of Acts together. Last Sunday, a good friend and fellow elder led our discussion through Acts 19. While there were many good and challenging comments made during our time looking through this chapter, I especially enjoyed our discussion about the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 19, Paul returns from a trip to Antioch, making his way over land (instead of sea) until he reaches Ephesus again. He had stopped briefly in Ephesus before, but had not spent much time there. This time, when Paul arrived in the city, he ran into a group of twelve disciples of John the Baptist.
According to Luke, this is what happened:
And he [Paul] said to them [the disciples of John the Baptist], “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. (Acts 19:2-6 ESV)
At first, it may seem strange that Paul first asks these disciples if they had received the Holy Spirit. He did not ask them what they believed about Jesus Christ. Instead, he asks about the Holy Spirit. But, we must remember that the Holy Spirit only comes into a person’s life through Jesus Christ.
In fact, this question concerning the Holy Spirit makes perfect sense in the context of John the Baptist’s disciples. John himself had pointed out the difference between his own baptism (in water for repentance) and Jesus’ baptism (in the Holy Spirit). (See Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; and John 1:26, 31-34.) This distinction (between baptisms) was so important that Jesus reminded his disciples (of his own words) concerning this just before his ascension. (Acts 1:4-5) Similarly, Peter remembered Jesus’ message and reminded the other believers about the importance of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit when some questioned him about Cornelius’ salvation. (Acts 11:15-16)
For Paul, following Jesus (being his disciple or having new life in Christ) was the same as being baptized by (or indwelled by) the Holy Spirit.
In case the passage in Acts 19 does not convince us that Paul equated life in Christ with life in the Holy Spirit, he spells it out in his letter to the Romans. While this chapter helps us understand many aspects of our life in Christ, it certainly shows us that this life is the same as life in the Spirit:
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:9-11 ESV)
Life in Christ is life in the Spirit. Without the Spirit, we do not have Christ, and without Christ we do not have the Holy Spirit.
How do we know that we are in Christ – that we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ? The Holy Spirit tells us himself. We see this specifically later in Romans 8 when Paul writes, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Romans 8:16 ESV)
Of course, there are also external indicators that we are children of God, followers of Christ, and indwelled by the Holy Spirit. What are those indicators? Well, I’ll talk more about those in my post tomorrow morning when I look at the difference between being indwelled by the Holy Spirit and being filled by the Holy Spirit.
Returning to Acts 19 briefly, since the disciples of John the Baptist did not know that there was a Holy Spirit (much less had they received the Holy Spirit), it was instantly clear to Paul that they were not disciples of Jesus Christ either.