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discipleship

Faith Communities and the Government

President Obama realizes he needs the support of the faith communities if he is to pass major health care reform. This is the gist of an essay published recently in the Washington Examiner,

One thing seems clear to me: the president will continue the Bush policy of using religion to bolster his policies. This includes holding prayer meetings, supporting faith-based initiatives, and seeking the support of leading evangelicals. If you look at American history, you will see that the church bore most of the responsibility for social welfare prior to the 1930s. After the Great Depression, the U.S. government stepped in to relieve the burden. Some argue that this was necessary, that the church was simply too overwhelmed to carry the load any longer. There is some truth in that assertion. But the real problem, it seems to me, is that the church has failed to live up to its calling. Is it really too late for the church to reclaim its earlier social responsibilities? Sadly, the answer is probably yes, unless Christians of all denominations repent of our materialism and misplaced priorities (our giant salaries, lavish sanctuaries, etc.). One often hears that the Bible contains over 2,000 references to the poor. But these references are to the believer’s responsibility, not the government’s. Fidelity to the Scriptures would seem to require evangelicals to expend more effort working to alleviate the grave social needs of our nation by spending less on ourselves. Here’s an essay about one church’s efforts at doing just that.

In my forthcoming book, Christian Archy, I state the issue this way:

It all boils down to priorities. And there is absolutely no reason why our priorities should not change. We must ask ourselves, “How would God have us use the resources He has given us to have the greatest possible impact on the kingdom?” In practical terms, this might mean using the Bible instead of quarterlies in our Sunday School classes. It could mean renting a facility to meet in rather than building an expensive sanctuary. It will certainly mean using all of our resources with a sense of global responsibility. As Paul said, stewardship requires us to ask how we can use the resources God has entrusted to us more equitably (see 2 Cor. 8:13-15). Each of us must examine our lifestyles for wasted resources that could be invested in the kingdom. We must become better stewards of our time, budgets, homes, and physical recourses.

This readjustment process does not mean falling into the trap of legalism. It does not mean establishing additional “programs.” It is the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, who must be at work so that we may see what the church must become as it emerges from its cocoon and into ministry in the world.

discipleship

The Quest to Find Jesus

From Dave Black Online:

At the heart of my journey has been my personal quest to find Jesus. Not the Jesus of my childhood, neatly compressed into a glossy magazine. Nor the Jesus of my academic research — an analyzable datum of objective linguistic investigation. Not even the Jesus of Southern churchianity — a fossilized relic deeply embedded in literary limestone and hidden from sight by the attendance boards and manger scenes so visibly on display in our sanctuaries. Recently, some scholars have sought Jesus in social convention — a Mr. Nice Guy who models societal decorum for our children. Others see nothing but the Jesus of politics — either the political revolutionary or the societal transformer who eagerly uses our tax dollars for spiritual causes. Oddly, I found Jesus in none of these places. The Jesus I know and love is found in the Scriptures about Him, the Gospels themselves. Here I find the most beautiful life that was ever lived, a life devoted to placing the needs of others over His own needs, a life willing to go all the way down to wash the feet of outsiders and sinners. This Jesus said of Himself that He did not come to be served but to serve. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He is the Model Missionary. And it is like Him I am seeking to become.

discipleship, Discussion

Too Hot to Handle?

From Dave Black Online:

Alan Knox hits it out of the ball park with his latest essay: In Theory. His point? What good is Bible study if we fail to put into practice what we know to be true? This is one of the main issues I deal with in The Jesus Paradigm, and it is why I spent a whole chapter on the Anabaptists. Among other things, these sixteenth century radicals believed in “biblical authority instead of ecclesiastical tradition,” “the Bible as a book of the church instead of as a book of scholars,” and “a hermeneutic of obedience instead of a hermeneutic of knowledge.” For them, the Bible, not tradition, provided the patterns for church life and organization just as plainly as it revealed the basic theological content of the faith. That belief earned for them the implacable hatred of the church hierarchy.

I conclude chapter 2 of The Jesus Paradigm with these words:

There can no longer be any doubt that our churches have departed from biblical norms. Could it be that we lack the prime essential for discipleship — a personal commitment to the lordship of Christ? I ask myself: Where are the young and women of today’s generation who are determined to stand upon Scripture alone, who are resolved to live by it, and who are committed to obeying it in their lives, their families, and their churches? I venture to say that the twenty-first century church is at a vital crossroads. If we should dare to submit ourselves anew to the full biblical witness to Christ and his church, I believe that the most significant renewal movement in the history of the church may yet await us.

Our problem is not one of knowledge but of obedience. The Paul of 1 Corinthians 14 has proven to be too hot to handle, too radical for the established church.

Note: Posts here from Dave Black Online are used by permission.  Thanks!

discipleship

Bonhoeffer – The Church Should Give Away All Its Property

From Dave Black Online:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

The Church is the Church only when it exists for others. To make a start, it would give away all its property to those in need. The clergy must live solely on the free-will offerings of their congregations, or possibly engage in some secular calling. The Church must share in the secular problems of ordinary human life, not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others.

Ouch!

discipleship

On Being a SENIOR Pastor

From Dave Black Online:

My reading in Acts has brought me to the end of Paul’s first missionary journey in Asia Minor. In this passage (Acts 13-14) I was struck dumbfounded by something I had never observed before.

Paul has preached in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, leaving behind a group of converts in each place — a few Jews, perhaps a few more proselytes, and a number of Gentiles. Now, at the end of his ministry there, the way lay open for him to return to Syrian Antioch via the Cilician Gates.

This famous mountain pass lay just to the north of his own home town of Tarsus, and he could expect a pleasant visit there on his way back to his headquarters in Syria. Everywhere he had gone on his first missionary journey he had encountered nothing but terrible dangers, and in Lystra he had even been stoned and left for dead.

Despite all these dangers, however, and without any thought for his personal safety or comport, Paul decided he would take the way he had come and revisit all the churches he had established in order to encourage the believers in the face of persecution. Note also something of greatest importance: Luke records that in every city Paul appointed “elders” to watch over and care for the small congregations in his absence (Acts 14:23).

This mention of elders moves me deeply. Paul went to a great deal of trouble to see that “elders” — not “pastors” — were appointed in every church. That the term is in the plural is also of importance. Finally, note the absence of any mention of a “head” elder or a “senior” leader in any of these congregations. I grieve today when I see such self-conscious titles as “senior pastor” on letterheads or email signatures. In my book The Jesus Paradigm I address this matter in great detail and even dare to suggest that the title “senior pastor” would be an affront to our Lord Jesus in light of what Peter wrote about Him in 1 Pet. 5:1-4. I also suggest that anyone with the title “senior pastor” ought to consider — if he feels he needs a title at all — to use the term “servant pastor” instead. Better yet, why not simply return to the pattern of Acts 14? Why not call our spiritual leaders what Luke called them in Acts? The answer can be nothing less than a slavish adherence to church tradition and ritual. Can you imagine Paul, after arriving back in Syrian Antioch, worn with toil and suffering after his first missionary journey, receiving a letter from the “senior pastor” of the church at Lystra and not being heartbroken?

If we’re going to say that we follow the example and teachings of the apostle Paul, then let’s be fair to him. I know many godly, good, exemplary pastors today who have yet to take this small step of radical obedience to their Master. Titles have no place in the kingdom of God. This is the clear teaching of Jesus and the example of the earliest churches in the New Testament.