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.