"The Forgotten Ways:" Part 3

In last week's post, I discussed the issue of discipleship as discussed by Alan Hirsch in his book, "The Forgotten Ways," and how it applied to my experience and ministry context. This week, I will discuss the problem of consumerism in the church.

Consumerism is prevalent throughout American culture. A person's success is demonstrated by their ability to purchase expensive items and through outsourcing much of the mundane chores of life. Individual Americans have embraced outsourcing as much as our corporations have - we outsource our laundry to Comet Cleaners, our yard-work to a landscape, our cleaning to a maid and our meals to restaurateurs. And those who haven't are more likely to not do so because they cannot afford it than for any altruistic purpose.

Unfortunately, the church is not immune as consumerism also pervades the church.

The issue of consumerism in the church is intimately tied with the attractional church. When the outreach at churches is oriented to be attractional, come and hear the gospel, consumerism is a pitfall. If the emphasis is on attracting rather than on incarnating the gospel, churches are tempted to provide better programs in order to become more attractive. The emphasis becomes on providing better spiritual goods and services in order to attract more people. Rather than creating disciples, the church is creating consumers, and evangelism, incarnating the gospel in the community, is neglected or forgotten.

Political Ideology, Pastors, and the Unborn

Typically, I publish a post on Thursday regarding an article I find interesting. Considering tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I decided to publish this post today.

On Monday, Lifeway research (which is one thing Lifeway does really well is their research department) released an article discussing the effects of political ideology on pastors regarding how often they preach on social issues such as abortion.

http://www.lifeway.com/article/?id=169835

According to the article:

98 percent of very conservative pastors are pro-life.

I am disappointed in the 2%.

The issue of pro-life is especially near and dear to my heart. Because our birthmom chose life, I have Parker as my adopted son. If she chose to abort him, Parker would not be the precious addition to my family that he is.

This issue has nothing to do with a woman's right to choose. The central issue is whether life begins at conception or birth. According to everything in me, including my experience, the Holy Spirit, God's Word, and my love for my son, Parker, life begins at conception.

What are your thoughts?

"The Forgotten Ways:" Part 2

Last week I discussed the need for churches to promote the gospel as a life lived in pursuit of Christ as Lord rather than just the declaration of Jesus as savior.

The pursuit of Jesus as Lord in salvation is an act of surrender. Surrendering one's life, which Hirsch calls, “unqualified demand” is the first step in becoming a disciple. A church that fulfills the great commission does not do so by making converts. Instead, the church must reorient its focus on making disciples in obedience to Christ’s last command to his disciples.

Out of the six elements of mDNA, Hirsch places disciple making in the most crucial role. He contends that if churches “fail here, it is unlikely that we will even get to doing any of the other elements of mDNA in any significant and lasting way.” In my experience the American church is failing in this regard. According to research by the Barna group, (in Kinniman’s book, “Unchristian”) conversion experiences are relatively common among Americans ages 18-41 as 63% claim some type of conversion in their past. Unfortunately, of the 63% a small segment have a biblical worldview, which Barna uses to discern the success of discipleship. This is a poor reflection on the church’s ability to help transition from convert to disciple. Hirsch points out that while the western church may think it is doing a good job at discipleship in reality “our actual practice of discipleship is far from consistent, and as a result this mismatch tends to obscure the centrality of the problem.” I think this is because discipleship in our churches is primarily an education program.

Traditionally, discipleship occurs on the church campus in a structured educational environment set apart from typical life patterns. In each church that I have been a part of, the discipleship ministry is based on the acquisition of biblical knowledge. Therefore, in my experience, Hirsch is correct that the primary focus of discipleship in Western churches has been knowledge which is only one aspect of discipleship. As a result the church has not been successful in creating disciples. Something else has filled the void of disciple-making and that something else is that the church has been very successful in creating consumers of religious goods and services.

Next week I will look at the problem of consumerism in the church.

Thursdays are for Articles - How Different are dogfighting and football?

The New Yorker examines pro football, concussions, and dogfighting, finding that football and dogfighting are not too dissimilar.

Malcolm Gladwell, the author, concludes, "What football must confront, in the end, is not just the problem of injuries or scientific findings. It is the fact that there is something profoundly awry in the relationship between the players and the game."

Check out this article to learn more:

Offensive Play: How different are dogfighting and football?

"The Forgotten Ways:" Part 1

This spring, in my dMin studies at Fuller Seminary, I read The Forgotten Ways by Allan Hirsch. The book resonated with many things that concerned me about the contemporary expression of American church such as the problem of consumerist congregations, who outsource spiritual development to the church.

I want to explore Hirsch's contention that Apostolic Genius needs to be restored in the western church in order for it to be a transformational power in western society. Hirsch breaks Apostolic Genius into 6 elements, which he terms missional DNA or mDNA.

Over the next few weeks, I will look at one of the three elements of mDNA that resonated in my ministry context. These elements are the confession of Jesus as Lord, the problem in contemporary western churches in regards to disciple making, and the missional-incarnational impulse where churches incarnate the gospel in culture.

Today we will look at the pitfalls of proclaiming a gospel that encourages people to declare Jesus as savior rather than following Jesus as Lord and savior.

The lordship of Jesus Christ, according to Hirsch, is the lynchpin for the powerful movements for Christ in history. These historical movements for Christ often result in intense persecution for the church, requiring a central focus on Christ. The pursuit of Jesus as Lord places a stronger claim on the believer’s life than is often understood in evangelical churches. Lordship is much more than a confession of Christ as savior. Instead, it is best understood as “all of life belongs to God, and true holiness means bringing all the spheres of our life under God.” Hirsch confirms my experiences that Western churches tend to stress the need of Christ as personal savior but neglect to demonstrate that to follow Christ is to submit to him as Lord.

My entire Christian life has been as a member of one Southern Baptist (SBC) church or another. SBC Churches seem to be very strong on understanding and fulfilling the obligation that Christ has placed on the church to proclaim the gospel. However, even more important than this mission mandate is the tendency of SBC churches to obsess over numbers. Every ministry or program is rated based on the number or people who participated or the number of “lost” people who prayed to receive Christ. This fixation on numbers has led to a gospel message where the lordship of Christ is diminished, and all that is needed is a prayer to accept Christ as savior. This leads to more people praying a prayer, but few understanding what Hirsch calls, “the primary theme of the Bible: God’s redemptive claim on our lives.” What should be a movement of God due to the importance of missions within the SBC is inflated numbers of a convention teetering on decline. This particular issue hinges on the substitution of lordship with a gospel in which Christ has no expectation for his followers.

Next week, I will explore the issue of discipleship according to Hirsch’s perspective.

Thursdays are for Articles - the Kingdom Strikes Back

Much concern has been expressed about the rise of Islam in Europe and America through immigration and their high reproduction rates. Today's article should shed some light on the issue.

Check out the late great missiologist, Ralph Winter's study on the intersection between the volatile nature of the history of the world and the history of God's people on mission.

http://www.newcovfel.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/thekingdom-strikes-back-ralph-winter_.pdf

According to Winter, God uses "four different 'mission mechanisms...' to bless other peoples: 1) going voluntarily, 2) involuntarily going without missionary intent, 3) coming voluntarily, and 4) coming involuntarily..."

Great speculation on why the western world may be in decline - because if "we in the West insist on keeping our blessing (the gospel) instead of sharing it, then we will, like other nations before us, have to lose our blessing for the remaining nations to receive it."

Read it, think about it, save it, use it and comment on what you think about it.

Go Where God Is Not “at Work.”

“It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation.” Romans 15:20-21

A few years ago, I felt the conviction that my church should go fewer places much more frequently on mission trips rather than go several different places each year. We started to pursue partnerships so that we could be actively involved in the discipleship and church planting process rather than in just the evangelism. As a result, we started to work in a barrio in Buenos Aires in which there is not an evangelical presence or church.

After 14 trips over 2 and a half years we have just a couple of Bible studies or house churches meeting. There have been few victories and several set backs. So far the work has been difficult.

Hybels has a great leadership phrase, “vision leaks.” Whenever you establish a vision for your church or ministry, over time the vision “leaks out” among your people and some may encourage you to go in another direction.

For whatever reason, lately, I have been inundated with alternative mission opportunities or partnerships. The advocates for a new location justify the change by proclaiming that we need to go to (blank) location because God is at work there. In other words, they are using Blackaby’s old moniker, “find out where God is working and join with him there.”

I have a few problems with this phrase. When I read the New Testament, it seems like Christ commands his followers to do the exact opposite. Instead, as long the aim was to proclaim his gospel, Christ told his followers to go throughout the world, to testify to all nations, and that he would be with his disciples wherever they go.

The idea of finding out where God is working and join with him there is very appealing, especially to the American desire to be successful. Joining God where it seems like he is working is a lot easier than going to a place where it seems like God has not been at work. It would be easier to go to a place where hundreds of people are “getting saved” every week rather than going to Argentina, but is that really what God called us to do?

For example, if God’s people adopt the idea of going where God is at work, we would never go to places in the world where it seems like the gospel is not advancing. Especially places such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. But God has told us to go throughout the world. He promises to go with us. Therefore, we need to go places where it seems like he is not at work.

After all, I would rather go to the Saddleback community of California than Kandahar, Afghanistan. Saddleback is prettier, the weather is nicer, the people are more welcoming and I may not get shot sharing the gospel in Saddleback. On the other hand, if I go to Kandahar I would live in difficult conditions while fearing for my life.

It would be much easier go where God is “at work” than to go where it seems like God is not. However, if we only go where the gospel is presently at work we would not enjoy the rich blessing of taking the gospel to new places.

The choice is hard. The gospel is hard. But seeing God bless a new work is amazing.

Response to Sexual Detox

Husbands and wives are positioned to do the most good for one another and potentially the most harm. Lately, I’ve seen a lot of men taking steps to overcome porn, a bondage that God freed me from several years ago and by grace, He daily frees me from even now. Things reach a crisis point through confrontations that usually go down like this . . .

Husband gets busted.
Wife to H: “Why do you look at this? It’s wrong and makes me feel ugly.”
Husband to W: “If you were more affectionate/sexual/better, faster, stronger, I wouldn’t have to.”
Wife to H: “I can’t be those things, and I don’t want to be those things.” (rejected, she thinks to herself something must be wrong with me)
Husband: (silent and shamed, he thinks something is wrong with me)

Something is wrong, it’s called sin and this is just one of the countless ways it manifests in a relationship. Both a husband and wife in conflict can be deceived if they fall prey to some really common lies. Subtle twists on the truth can bring men and women to false ends, and I guarantee any couple embroiled in an emotional brawl believe fundamentally wrong things about each other regardless of how long they’ve been married.

Lie #1) I am hopelessly defective.
Truth: Sin impacts every person born but is overcome by the blood of Jesus Christ. God did not make you wrong, the “wrongness” is a result of sin-separation and can be corrected.

Lie #2) My spouse is hopelessly defective.
Truth: You and your spouse are in one of two conditions . . . unredeemed (struggling against sin without the help of an all-powerful God) or redeemed (overcoming sin through a life-long process of restoration).

Lie #3) We are forced to medicate our defects.
Truth: The scriptural termination of sickness in the body, in the mind and in the soul is always healing—not appeasement. The body is either healed in this life or the next. The redeemed mind is healed through washing in the Word. The soul is healed by its Maker in ways that are higher than our ways. Nowhere in scripture does God dole out spiritual analgesic to mask symptoms—He only practices medicine that resolves the root issue.

Our culture lulls us into accepting the notion of perpetual prescriptive treatment. We hear all the time about diseases with no present cure, but for which there are endless medicines to combat symptomatic disorder. There is a 100% cure for sin, which means there is 100% hope for freedom from porn. And just so you don’t think I’m picking on men, the confrontation above could have gone like this:

Wife gets busted.
Husband to W: “Why did you tell all your girlfriends that I’m look at porn!”
Wife to H: “If you were more communicative/relational/nicer, tame, controllable, I wouldn’t have to.”

Within the covenant of marriage, God has appointed us agents of His healing to our spouse. Porn tends to blow up in a marriage after a long cover-up operation. The explosion is so loud it seems like the worst sin ever. Truthfully, withholding forgiveness is just as dark and destructive. We have so much opportunity to heal one another—Lord, let us not waste it.

Thursdays are for Articles - Sexual Detox

Check out these two blog entries from Tim Challies's blog on the terrible effects of pornography on sexual expectations.

Sexual Detox 1: Pornifying the Marriage Bed

Sexual Detox 2: Breaking Free

What does it mean for God to Bless?

September 11th was a seminal moment in the history of our nation, and especially my generation. Similar to the JFK assassination for my parents, everyone remembers where they where and what they were doing when they saw or heard about the terrorist attacks. 9/11 was a day full of emotions. I remember being anxious about the lives of those trapped in the towers and angry – wanting revenge against the terrorists. To this day I have similar emotions just recalling that day.

9/11 had a lasting impact on our country. The stock market tanked and gas prices soared which impacted our pocketbooks. Our prestige worldwide took a hit as our veneer of imperviousness was shattered. Very soon after, our military became engaged in what would turn out to be a lengthy war in Afghanistan.

In the months and weeks that followed, our country seemed to undergo a small revival of faith. People were turning to church as a source of hope and protection.

In one of the lasting moments of that period, Celine Dion sang a powerful and moving rendition of “God Bless America” at the Super Bowl. We needed God to bless us again because we equated blessing with everything America had lost in the aftermath of 9/11. We were living in a new reality in which America’s power, prestige and wealth took a significant hit - a hit that still reverberates to this day.

In the years that followed, Americans moved away from the church. The mini-revival was over almost as soon as it began. Churches in America began once again to pray for revival to spread across America. Then in fall of 2008, America went through an economic tsunami in which the stock market hit lows not seen in decades. With wars still dragging on, once again America’s power, prestige and wealth took a hit.

Once again Americans, especially Christians, started to ask God to bless America.

What does this tell me? It seems to me that we as Americans tend to equate blessing with power, prestige and wealth. Anytime we lose one of these characteristics, we ask God to bless America once again – to restore wealth, power and/or prestige.

Instead, what if we began to equate blessing with God doing whatever it takes to turn our hearts to him? As God’s people, shouldn’t we want God to do whatever it takes to bring people into his kingdom?

The Old Testament bears witness to this issue. When Israel was experiencing a time of peace and prosperity, their hearts turned away from God to idols. When God sent invading armies, Israel turned their hearts back to God.

When was God blessing Israel, during their prosperity or hardship?

We as God’s people must be willing for God to do whatever it takes to turn hearts towards God - however it impacts our wealth, prestige or power.