Casting off Churchianity

I recently had a conversation with a middle school student that got me to thinking about orthodoxy and orthopraxy - right beliefs and right actions, loosely defined.  We were talking about some work that I would like some of our groups at church to do.  He was saying that he could just do it himself, and I was trying to explain how that can stunt someone's spiritual growth.

For too long in the church we have read this scripture Ephesians 4:11-16 incompletely. We read verse 11 with gusto - "It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers," and we stop there. We stop because most of us can say "God didn't give me to that calling" and we move on. The problem is in the remaining verses: "12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature. 14 So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. 15 But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. 16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body grows in love."

The purpose of some being called is "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ."  For too long we have professionalized things and left these jobs that were designed for the lay people to be done by the clergy.  We are doing no favors when clergy does jobs that God has for the laity.  It stunts the spiritual growth of the laity, it doesn't build up the body of Christ as it should be, and it burns out the clergy.  This has been going on for way too long - more than 1000 years.  The good news is that it seems to be changing.

In our little tribe we have people who are volunteering to visit the sick and the shut-ins. We have people working in the nursery.  We have groups of young adults and teens looking for service opportunities in the community.  And we are working to find those opportunities so they can grow their faith.  James declared that faith without works is dead.  That is so true. We need to have our beliefs drive our actions which reinforces our beliefs which drives new actions.  It is how we grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We are committed to helping all believers achieve their God-ordained potential in Christ. Sometimes that means we don't do the easy thing and do things for them.  We have to let them work through the bumps so they can grow their faith and become the people God wants them to be.  It also means that those who have chosen to sit and do little and not fulfilling what God has for them.

Tough stuff, but good stuff.  Let's reclaim biblical Christianity and cast off Churchianity

How long would you stay under this man's leadership?

I cannot imagine this happening in a service where the Good News of Jesus Christ is supposed to be preached.  Evidently something is going on there, and it appears that it isn't good. A step back to reassess the situation might be in order here.

I am proud to be a Nazarene

This General Assembly we have elected 2 great men to be General Superintendents. Dr. David Busic was elected on Tuesday, and Dr. Gustavo Crocker was elected on Wednesday. Both are Godly men with very different backgrounds. Dr. Busic

Dr. David Busic

is a pastor who comes to the Board of General Superintendents from the presidency of Nazarene Theological Seminary. Dr. Crocker is a Guatemalan who has been serving as the Eurasia Regional Director. This makes the 2nd General Superintendent who is not an American citizen, and the 3rd multi-lingual General Superintendent. We truly are a global church. Praise God for His faithfulness to us as it took 53 ballots to finish the elections.

Dr. Gustavo Crocker

Love = Obedience

Our text this week was John 21:1-19 and there are some great lessons in it.  When Jesus restores Peter, he asks him three times if he loves him.  After each of Peter's responses, Jesus gives him a task to perform - feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep - that is clearly linked to Peter's love for Jesus.  It is strikingly similar to the three denials of Christ that Peter uttered during Christ's Passion.

It follows on a theme from John 14 where Jesus told Judas:
²³ Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

Too often in this life we equate words with faith.  We confess that we believe certain things, but our lives do not show evidence of that faith.  We are caught in a trap where we have orthodoxy - right beliefs but we do not have orthopraxis - right actions- in our life.  We talk a good game, but like Peter, when the rubber hits the road, we fail.  We fail to do that which we claim to believe.  We fail to be the hands and feet of Christ.  We fail to avoid the sins that ensnare us.  We fail to do that which Christ has commanded us:

Great Commission

Great Commandment

Good Samaritan

This is a year to put actions to our words.  A year to be the people we are called to be.  We no longer have a privileged position in society.  We have to go out and earn that position by our actions that show the love of Christ to a hurting world.  

Let's be that people.

Saying goodbye to a good and Godly man

This week we will lay to rest Rev. Gerald Walworth, a pastor for more than 50 years, and a good man.  Jerry was my friend, my mentor, my congregant all wrapped up in one joke-telling, people-loving, and church-loving bundle

As a first-time solo pastor, one could view having your predecessor still in your congregation to be a challenge.  Jerry and Jean never made it an issue.  He had retired after serving the Hobart congregation for 37 years, and he was retired.  He was also battling the disease that ultimately claimed his life.

In the 2 years I knew him, I was able to laugh, cry, tell jokes, and run ideas past him.  I valued his counsel on things in the church and in the town.  I also appreciated having someone to talk to about ministry.  Being a solo pastor is hard because you have to work to find people with whom you can share some of your ideas, fears, burdens and frustration.  Jerry had already been there, done that and had a couple of T-shirts to prove it.

Jerry, you fought the good fight and made a difference in the lives of many.  Well done good and faithful servant.  I will miss you.

Pat Robertson has done it again

Pat Robertson and Joe Biden suffer from the same disease - terminal foot in mouth - because more often than not they end up regretting opening their mouths to speak in public.

This one just makes me cringe and shake my head at the same time.

So dating a woman who has adopted children internationally is akin to taking on the United Nations?  Will someone at CBN please tell the emperor that he has no clothes?  And then take his microphone away?

As Kenny Rogers said, you have "know when to walk away..."

Political Chicken

This week has been interesting to say the least with the Chick-Fil-A controversy.  I know the Hobart location was crazy busy all day long, and it was almost a rally atmosphere.  People would cheer in line, cars would honk in support, which elicited more cheers.  Then the rhythmic clapping started and it reminded me of waiting in line to ride the Beast at midnight at Kings Island near Cincinnati.

What I find interesting about all of this is the way certain folks reacted to a private citizen saying the same thing that President Clinton said when he signed the Defense of Marriage Act in the 1990s.  President Obama also espoused the same view when he was campaigning in 2008.

It is interesting that Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Boston, and Chicago aldermen did not attack candidate Obama they way they have attacked Dan Cathy for espousing his views on marriage.

In my opinion, this is a battle that is going to go on for a long time, just like abortion has.  It will raise millions of dollars on both sides, and little will be done to resolve the issue in the political arena.  What needs to be done is for the church focus on teaching what the Bible says in a POSITIVE manner and not engage in Westboro Baptist tactics that do not show the love of Christ in any way.

If we are going to change the culture, we are going to have to be the shining city on the hill that calls people to seek forgiveness and grace as they repent of behaviors that are sinful.  That is what the First Century church did, and it changed the very corrupt and highly-sexualized Roman culture over time.  The church needs to be the church and remain a voice that can speak to all parties in politics.  It's hard to watch your country go down some of the paths it has chosen, but God is not an American, and not all Americans recognize God's authority.  That is an unfortunate reality.