City on a Hill

So last Sunday a night some friends gathered and we were discussing culture and church. We started by identifying the make-up of the culture we live in. Money, materialism, status, and freedom were shouted out. We agreed to sum all of this up as individualism.

This was important for us to do because we are talking about building a community. The trap, I have seen, is that we (churches) simply read Acts 2 as the standard of church and try to live that out as a community. What we tend to forget is the culture that the early church was a part of.

The Roman Empire was heavy on a class system (rich/poor, slave/free, Jew/Greek). It was also central to the worship of Caesar. Common slogans were, "Caesar is Lord" and "There's no other name by which man can be saved except that of Caesar." Roman citizens would gather and worship the Caesar and if they were shown to be in true worship then they were called and 'ekklesia'...or church.

Interesting.

Counter-Culture.

The church was a dangerous place. To join it meant you were risking your life. They took the propaganda from the Roman government and made it their own.

"Jesus is Lord"
"There's no other name by which man can be save expect that of Jesus"
"There's no Jew, nor Greek, nor free, nor slave, nor man, nor woman"
"Church"

They shattered the class system by sharing their possessions and caring for the poor; they worshiped and devoted themselves to the Apostle's teachings; they had all things in common.

This is probably the most punk rock movement in history.

I'm reminded of Rage Against the Machine when Zack says, "Why stand on a silent platform, fight the war, f*ck the norm."

In love, the church stood up, declared Jesus (not Caesar) is Lord, and they lived as ONE; having all things in common.

So then, we agreed Sunday night that our American culture is summed up as being individualistic. We then asked if our church reflects the American culture; the answer was yes. We can't just sit and wag our fingers so we asked if we reflect this American-Evangelical culture; the answer was yes.

Here's a sidebar story: My friend and I recently had lunch and he asked me what I do for my church. As I was sharing my thoughts on building a community that is counter-cultural he asked if people were willing to do it. I said that the majority, now, won't. His response was, "Man I'd hate to be in your position."

It struck me as we were talking: Having a community that reflects the Acts 2 community is highly spiritual. The Holy Spirit was extremely present in that community, and it was only by the power of the Holy Spirit that people were able to live counter-culturally.

I think we lack the Holy Spirit, but I think it's accessible.

An insight into the early church: Before Pentecost came the Apostle's were waiting for the Holy Spirit to come, because Jesus promised it would. They didn't start gathering AFTER the Spirit descended but BEFORE. They were all together in one place praying. They wanted it...big time.

They must have remembered Jesus' words in John 16:7, "It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, The Helper (Holy Spirit) will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you."

It was better for Jesus, in the flesh, to leave.

A young man said to me last night, "I just wish Jesus would come back and run the church."

"It was to your advantage that I go away."

If the Apostle's sat around feeling sorry for themselves, or pointing fingers at what is wrong, who knows what would've happened. However, they had something I, and most of us lack; Faith. They expected the Holy Spirit to come and help them build a community.

Do I? Do you?

When my friend asked me if he offended me, by saying he would hate to have my job, I replied no. The burden is not on me to convince people to believe. I can't make anyone want to be a part of following Jesus or building a community, that's the Holy Spirit's job. However, I felt convicted to continue to pray and seek the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Jesus loves the Church. He might be sad with its current state, but He still loves it; us. I know He wants to have a healthy bride that is a radiant city on a hill.

I want to be a part of that.

It starts with my own personal devotion.

Worship

I had lunch with some friends today and we were discussing corporate worship. For all my underground Christian friends I am fully aware that worhsip entails our whole life so please don't be distracted...but this post is specifically about 'singing' worship. As we were discussing the subject it was obvious that we were all desiring to cultivate a community that would, with passion, worship God together.

Because we are not a homogeneous group it is a little difficult for people to be stretched, open, or quick to embrace what could be seen as a slightly different worship style. The classic finger pointing could be from an older generation down (too loud, too fast, etc) but I was fully aware of the criticalness of a younger generation (boring, outdated, etc). So the question that was running through my mind was, "How do you solve this?" It's an honest question that many churches ask but I was reminded of the answer, you can't!

Worship is an expression the body does to proclaim the glory of God. This proclamation is a spiritual issue. If our affections are for the Lord then we desire to give Him praise. During these times worship is powerful because we are either aware of our brokenness and we cry out to God or we are aware of God's riches and grace given to us causing us to cry out to God. Being that you can't make someone be affectionate towards God then how do you lead a community in worship?

I have been a part of all types of services, from traditional to post-modern, where the performance of the worship team has been phenomenal but, frankly, the worship time was completely dead. Sure, the crowd clapped after a song or followed the directions of the leader; "Stand up, Sit down, Let's pray" but there was no joy. So, here's my question: Will an electric guitar with a slight overdrive make younger people want to worship God? Will a well played organ make older people want to worship God? It may make them more tolerable of worship but, surely, it doesn't make them a good worshiper.

The key to being a good worshiper is to actually WANT to worship God. Isn't it fun to worship the Lord when we actually are walking with Him? Isn't it great to cry out to the Lord in our moments of clarity that we are broken and in desperate need of Him? Isn't it amazing to praise our God when we've seen Him move mountains in our life?

Repent, Believe, Repent and Believe

My buddy Brad gave a good analogy on having faith in Jesus. It goes: I can believe that a chiropractor is a legitimate doctor that is licensed, works on people, and is available; however, I don't believe that going to a chiropractic works, so, I use modern medicine and go to the hospital instead.

What I have began to witness, a lot, lately is that people believe in Jesus to the extent that He existed, died, and rose from the grave but when it comes to Him solving their problem they turn to 'modern medicine' instead.

Faith is believing that the teachings of Jesus offer healing and wholeness. Our faith rests in the promises of the Christ. Jesus dying on the the cross and raising from the grave is backwards thinking. Repentance is our admittance for the need of the cross but BELIEF is faith in the promises of the cross.

To say we have faith in Jesus but not turn to His teachings for healing illuminates our lack of faith in Him.

Here's something pretty hardcore: When we deny Christ, and sin, we confess that we do not have faith in His promises. We actually don't believe in Jesus, not salvationally, but that He offers a better solution.

Faith says, "Yes!" to Jesus' teachings. "I believe that the teachings of Jesus IS the solution to my problem."

Simply repenting and acknowledging Christ death and resurrection isn't all that hard to do. Putting FAITH in Jesus' teachings as a better way of life is.

I'm not that good at math but...

I know that I have 7 friends who are divorced or separated and waiting for a divorce. I also have countless friends who are on the verge of trading in their faith for good. I was never any good at math but I'm pretty sure these are not positive numbers.

With each case the church has played a major part in these peoples lives. My 7 friends who are divorced were ALL staff members in their church. One of them was also a Marriage Family Therapist.

All divorced.

Each one of these people have had deep encounters with the Lord but still gave up.

Some of the offspring hate the church and mom and dad because of this.

Sometimes you work through a situation and you identify who you're mad at, what they did, how this affected your relationship, pray a blessing and forgive them, and then identify what character flaw was revealed in you. This last step is how we learn what the root of our problem is. There are instances, however, when you realized that actually there is no character flaw in you. An example of this would be physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. When this is present you simple say, "Mom and/or Dad are sick." This means that their sickness is so disturbing that it abuses the innocent which is totally out of your control.

For so many that have been chewed up and spit out by this beast we call church we simple have to say that mom and dad are sick. This act is on of spiritual abuse. Many families go to church looking for a new life or to further their growth in Christ but the church has been ill-equipped to solve their problem.

The church can teach us the do's and dont's but not how to deal with the root symptom. For example, men often struggle with pornography. The solution often taught is confess when you've fallen, put spy ware on your computer, look down when an attractive woman walks by, etc.

NONE of this is the root problem.

You haven't dealt with the source.

This is why spiritual step work is vital to Christian living. When we understand what drives us to act out (lust, anger, gossip) we are able to find victory. The source could be a variety of things; I am lonely, I am controlling, I am arrogant, I am scared.

These are all character defects and they are the source to our brokenness. Most churches do not teach you to embrace your brokenness but to suppress it and 'try harder'. Soon enough this leads people to self destruction because ultimately they can find no victory.

The goal is not 'Victory over my character defects', the goal is 'Victory in the midst of my character defects'.

Being a new creation doesn't mean the old isn't still present. It means that we are walking in a new way under new principles. Our old creation pops up all the time. Suppressing that or being condemned by that is a bad understanding of grace.

The principle of Poor in Spirit.

Total surrender.

This is not weakness but strength.

The world didn't end?

I'm just taking a chance here, being that it's Tuesday night at 7:18 and the results aren't final yet, but the world didn't end! A liberal African-American is the president of the United States!!! For many this is amazing and for many there is fear.

The election of Barack Obama says a lot. It's demonstrates that an African-American from a broken home can have hope, that in and of itself is beautiful. It demonstrates that an inexperienced Senator with a liberal voting record can become the leader of the free world by being inspirational and eloquent in his speech. It demonstrates that Americans are willing to take risk and not just be conservative or centrist. It also demonstrates that a majority is counting on government to help solve their problem.

So what does this mean? For the Christian it should mean nothing. After all, hasn't the church been on the foreground of racial reconciliation, spreading our wealth, fighting for social justice, making peace with our enemies abroad, etc.? Don't forget I tend to be sarcastic.

Let's go down the fear road for a minute. What if the worst judgments about President Obama are true? What if he's a closet socialist, maybe even a Muslim? What if the the rich are taxed more than 40% of their income. What if jobs continue to dry up and go over oversees like they have been? What if we get attacked again by terrorists? What if our freedoms are threatened?

Will this effect how you live as a Christian?

Let's go down a more positive road. What if President Obama brings us out of our economic disaster? What if the middle class is restored? What if disenfranchised African-American community see President Obama's election as the last hurdle for equality and begin to thrive. What if America rebuilds it's reputation with other countries continuing to lessen the threat of terrorism at home?

Will this effect how you live as a Christian?

Remember, YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH. It was never, "Behold, Obama who will restore the middle class" nor "Behold, McCain who will protect us and allow us to pursue prosperity", rather, it was, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." Jesus didn't come here to put the church in power politically but to empower her spiritually to help solve the spiritual problem the world, our nation, is in need of.

So please remember, the day after, that our security is not in the policies of elected officials, our wealth is not measured by hard work in our vocation, our freedom is not in democracy but, instead, you already live in the Kingdom of Heaven when you are poor in spirit. Also, our influence as the church is NEVER dependant on what government we are under but we are influential when we are willing to care for the sick, fight for the oppressed, seek justice, and live a life of love that is foreign to the very culture we are a part of.

MxPx once said, "Politics-Shmolitics, it's too confusing" and I would agree with this below average punk band.

Faith

An interesting story takes place in Luke 8:22-25. Jesus invited His disciples on a journey with Him to travel from one side of a lake to another. As soon as the adventure began Jesus fell asleep. The story goes on as a rather large storm arises which cause the disciples to be afraid of their well being. Naturally, the ran down and woke up Jesus saying that they are on the verge of perishing. Jesus woke up, saved the day, and then challenges, albeit rebukes, them for their lack of faith.
The story hits home, for me, on many levels. One, Jesus invited me this great journey in following Him and sometimes I feel like He's asleep at the wheel leaving me alone to fend for myself. Two, in these moments of fear, and even abandonment, I cry out to the Lord and He's pretty faithful in providing me with comfort. And thirdly, as I process the issue I began to see where I lacked faith.
So, what is faith? A good Christian answer is that faith is a belief, or hope, in something we cannot see. What I've been learning is that faith is the belief in promises of the Christ (and that the promises are available now, not just when we die!). In the sermon on the mount Jesus was very specific on how to live a blessed life. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Faith is an act of surrendering to the teachings of the principles of the sermon on the mount and through this act the promises of the Christ are given. This act of surrender changes our hope from finding security in our circumstances to finding security from the Lord in spite of our circumstances.
Faith in the Christ allows us to be confident in the midst of our storms. It actually produces a peace in our storm to the extent that we find no fear. Jesus was pushing His disciples to have this level of faith. He was preparing them for what were to lie ahead of them. When being persecuted, famished, or being faced with any other circumstance their faith in the promises of the Christ would provide them a peace that would surpass all understanding.
The promises of the Christ will not return void.

Hmmm

So, my main passion is discipleship. It's kinda all I think about. I use to be really political a few years ago but I began to see how the church can actually be more influential in society than some suit, if she wants to be. So, now, I have become much more self critical on our methodology as a church rather than getting fired up over how legislation will help solve the real problem in America. I don't seek to take away from those who enjoy politics but rather I hope to always remind the bride that she is the salt and the light and how by putting our faith in the principles of the Christ, we, as a community, can become a much greater movement.


I have heard it said from many grass root type of Christians that the church, for too long, has just focused on herself and cared only for the sheep and how we need to move away from that paradigm of church and become more focused on become intertwined with society. Also, we have focused on discipleship but now it's time to get outside the walls.


At first I buy into the heart of moving from being an exclusive community to being a community that becomes all inclusive by seeking out and rubbing elbows with 'non-Christians'. One thing that is important for us as believers, to be self-critical. This attribute is not negative but actually very positive. It' s hard to be self-critical because of, well, us. When things are going well then being self critical is easy because we really don't have to do anything different, however, when things are at an impasse or simply not working being self-critical is a difficult task because we all have ego's.

So my initial question is: If we understand the tenants of being a disciple of Jesus and we understand how cultivate these principles with others (this comes from the premise that the church has been discipled and it's time for the next step) then why is the church highly irrelevant within our culture?

My initial thought is: In the spirit of being self critical, and how that's a good thing, maybe we've missed out on some key principles of Jesus which prohibits us from being salty.

I hear it left and right, and I am guilty too, of how 'our church is striving to be the Acts 2 church'. I often wonder to myself; really? So does that mean your church is seeking to gather daily and worship, pray, and receive the word? Are you really sharing your goods in common or even selling your homes and giving the money to the elders in the church? The church that lives in that manner is truly distinct. Being that the early church was one step removed from the Christ they understood His principles in a practical manner. The early church served as the means of the social welfare system, and they didn't even have political power! It was an act of disciples who understood the cost of what it meant to follow the Christ and the willingness to surrender their identity for the sake of the kingdom.

This act of kingdom living is inspiring to me but I am selfish and struggle with my own identity crisis. I like the principles of the Christ on one hand and I know that a church united around building the kingdom can have more influence than a Democratic or Republican majority. However, the reality is that because these principles are so hard to live by, because we are weak, the concept of community (one which understands and follows the principles of the Christ) is what keeps us accountable to remembering our role as a body.