My Journey

Another natural disaster, another round of blog posts and tweets filling social media questioning whether or not God commanded the storm or not…I’ve written about this before here.  As I’ve perused the recent internet activity of the past couple of days, I want to address it again from another perspective.

In Mark 4:35-41 we have a story of Jesus and the disciples in a boat.  As they are on the water, a strong wind/storm comes upon them, and waves begin to crash over the sides of the boat, nearly swamping it.  Jesus, being awakened by the disciples, stands and speaks to the storm and it ceases and becomes calm.  Jesus questions why the disciples did not have more faith, and the disciples are terrified (startled and amazed), and question who this man is that even controls the wind and the sea…

A casual reading of this account points merely to 1 great truth – when He decides to, Jesus is able to manipulate even creation for His purposes.  The story does not give us the origin of the storm – we do not know if it was purely a meteorological event, a spiritual attack from the enemy, or sent by God so that Jesus could exhibit His godly nature.  We only know 1 thing for certain, and that is that Jesus decided to alter the storm.

When faced with natural disasters today, it’s best that we dare not try to speak on God’s behalf for their origin.  When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast area, I had one lady question why I was going there to do relief work.  She said, “God certainly sent that Hurricane as a warning to that sinful city of New Orleans…why would you go there and help?”  I responded to her nicely, but with firmness saying, “If God was intending to punish New Orleans His aim is off, as a lot of people outside of that city died and lost everything…plus, if it was a warning for sin, I can think of at least 5 other places in a matter of seconds that could be categorized as more sinful than NOLA.”  Not impressed, she drove away in a huff…

In Luke 13:4,5 Jesus addresses a situation – 18 people had died when a tower had fallen on them, and Jesus declares they were “not worse offenders (sinners) than all the others who lived in Jerusalem.”  In other words, Jesus prohibits us from declaring that storms, diseases, or anything else in the world we may encounter are attributed to people just because of their sinful nature.  Instead, He declares that even those in Jerusalem, who would have been considered “in” the kingdom simply by virtue of geography and heritage, would suffer and die unless they repented of their sin.  If Jesus isn’t into placing blame, we should not be either…just love people and respond in love.  God will decide if they need to know the origin of the wind…

One of the primary tenets of the Christian faith is that God is never absent from those He loves and is in relationship with.  Fundamentally, this is taught through the understanding that under the New Covenant in Christ, believers now have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling them, meaning He is always with us and not confined to a temple, synagogue or church building.  Additionally, scripture teaches the fundamental principle that God is with His own – there are too many scriptures to list, but the primary one quoted is Hebrews 13:5 which reads, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’  

Interestingly enough, typically only the end of that verse is quoted, bypassing the context of money and possessions – the writer of Hebrews is quoting from Joshua 1:5 where God promises to Joshua that just as He was with Moses, He will be with Joshua as well.  The context of Hebrews 13:5 points more toward our fulfillment in the riches of a relationship with God than our money/possessions, but is rarely quoted in that fashion.  More often than note, the last half of that scripture is used to comfort or assuage someone’s concerns that they are going through life issues alone…I’m not declaring it’s wrong to quote it in that sense, but we should make sure we understand the context from Hebrews 13:5.

Regardless, the bulk of scripture points to God intimately and intentionally declaring Himself to be active in the lives of His children, particularly through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  So what is happening when He seems to be absent in our lives?  We can look at biblical examples like Joseph, who certainly seemed like he had moments in his life where God was absent (getting ambushed by his brothers, sold into slavery, accused of rape, etc…) or the story of Job (losing family, possessions, essentially his whole life).  In both of those examples however we have the ability to see the end of the story while reading the middle of it, and see how God indeed restored both men.  That lessens our inclination to say God was absent, since we can see the end.  The other thing with Old Testament examples is that theological difference of the Holy Spirit – it was not indwelling within OT era believers.  So what about New Testament examples?  Paul certainly had the HS indwelling within him, yet he also suffered from an infirmity of some sort (2nd Corinthians 12:7-10) but speaks of the power of Christ dwelling within, so we would not say God was absent in that case.

So back to our question of what is happening, when it seems like God is absent…theologically we stand on the truth that He is not, for He is always with His own through the indwelling Spirit.  A standard evangelical response to the question is there must be sin in a person’s life to explain the absence of God.  Romans 8 makes it difficult to stand by that response however – now, our sin might make us feel as if God is absent, but we want to stand on truth, not on feelings.

What spurs this question of an absent God in our lives?  It can have many origins – illness, death, simple everyday life situations.  For me personally, it currently is the absence of clear direction and answer in some areas of the life of our family.  I know the truth that He is not absent, but the lack of confirmation in a few areas seems to suggest otherwise.  As a pastor, this is a question often asked of me, and the reality is that I can respond with a true biblical answer, but in practicality I struggle with it just as much as the next person.  I know all the accompanying truths as well – that God sometimes says no, and sometimes says wait…that sometimes He has another ending planned out that we can’t see right now, a la the story of Job.  Yet it doesn’t make it any less frustrating or confusing.

When God seems absent, what do we do?  Well, for me, I am learning when He seems absent I run to Him more.  Instead of wondering “where” He is, I look for Him…and I see Him in people and places and situations I might have otherwise missed if I wasn’t going through the situation of the moment.  So I encourage you to take heart – to quote an old, traditional Christmas song:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep, God is not dead, nor doth He sleep.  The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.

He is not absent…run to Him.

Since the 1st Sunday of January 2013, we have been on an extended teaching journey of grace at Springwater Community Church.  Grace is, as C.S. Lewis stated, Christianity’s unique contribution among the world religions.  Other religions offer thoughts of karma, of sacrifice in order to get something, of appeasing various gods by various means…but Christianity offers grace – grace that flows from God the Father through the cross and resurrection of Christ the Son, enacted and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Grace changes everything because grace changes the heart.

Currently I am in the midst of a short series titled, “The Grace App.”  Drawing off of the current technology available on smartphones and tablets, we are looking at various ways we “apply” grace to our lives and how that application changes things.  This Sunday I am preaching on the grace application of giving and it has been one of the more challenging messages I’ve prepared this year.

Typically when a pastor or Bible teacher brings up “giving”, thoughts immediately turn to money.  Some people say the church talks too much about money, while others say there is not enough teaching on the subject.  It’s well documented that Jesus talked a lot about money, in terms of what we have recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  Even the remainder of the New Testament letters and accounts deal with money and possessions in the life of a Christ-follower.  So the Bible is definitely not silent on the issue of money and possessions…so why such discord over the subject?

Teaching about money and possessions in America has a distinct challenge to it.  After all, the American Dream as set forth in 1931 by James Truslow Adams’ book, The Epic of America, is “the dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.”  This dream from 1931 dominates thinking in modern day America, with people of all shapes, sizes and color desiring the “best” in life, though not always from their own hard work.  To be an American is to be someone with money, possessions, and some form of financial security.  For the American Christ-follower, this is a particularly interesting conundrum.  The teachings of Jesus and the New Testament letters say very little about financial and material prosperity.  Many health and wealth (also known as the Prosperity Gospel) teachers say things like, “You’re a child of the King!  LIVE like a child of a King!”  That’s all well and good, until we examine how THE child of the King lived on earth – born in less than humble beginnings, to earthly parents who could not afford a lamb to sacrifice (Luke 2:22-24, Leviticus 5:7), without a place to lay his head (Matthew 8:18-22)…Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 8:9 that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ was displayed to us via this, “that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.”

Live like the son of a King huh?  Sort of difficult to reconcile extravagant living here on earth when compared to the life that THE Son of the king lived…but to be sure, we are rich here in the States, particularly when compared to the rest of the world.  So the question becomes, why?  There can really be only one reason in light of the Scriptures, and that is this – that we are blessed, to bless others.  We are blessed to bless others with our money, with our possessions, with our time.  That zero turn mower you own (if you live somewhere that actually has grass, haha)?  Bless others by letting them use it.  That extra vehicle that eats up space in your driveway/garage?  Bless that single mom or dad, or college student by letting them use it.  That extra money at the end of the month?  Maybe someone needs help more than you need a new blu-ray.

Listen, I get it…it’s tough.  I battle it every day.  The American Dream becomes entrenched with our lives, and we feel like we’re “owed” the best…but for those of us who are in Christ, we are already in possession of the best.  Let’s live this life, with an eye on eternity, and use our blessings to bless others…

Earlier today a commercial came on the television for a new pizza offering by one of the major chains.  As I watched the commercial unfold, and saw the pizza take form before my eyes I thought, “I’ve had that pizza…and the one I had didn’t look like THAT!”  Most of you would agree with me – the hamburgers, pizzas and other food offering we see in commercials or print ads rarely if ever look like that in real life.

I think the issue of Foster Care is a lot like food advertising, only in reverse.  In food ads, we see something that looks amazing that rarely is.  In Foster Care, I think most people believe FC is horrible with it’s troubled kids, deadbeat parents and jacked-up systems…but in fact, FC is more amazing than that pizza that I see on television.

To be certain (and honest), there are issues with FC that need to be remedied.  State appointed case workers are often overworked, and unable to give the kind of attention you would like to have toward you and your foster child.  You’ll hear stories of parents which will make you cringe, and wonder how in the world they are allowed to even have kids.  Most likely your foster child will have some type of issue – emotional, physical, mental, etc…the chance of you getting a “perfect” kid is slim to none…and why would they be perfect?  They have just come from a traumatic event, and most have lived nothing BUT traumatic events…very few adults could withstand what these kids do and come out unscathed.

BUT…what you get when you engage in Foster Care far outweighs what you have to put out.  Our oldest foster baby came to us as a newborn, and was diagnosed within the first month as being developmentally challenged.  By the time he was 3-4 months old, he was about 2 1/2 months behind.  This week, as his physical therapist was working with him and watching him, she began to cry a little…for the first time, as far as his motor skills were concerned, he was on track, where he was supposed to be for a 9 month old.  She kept telling him how proud she was of him, how hard he was working, etc…obviously he didn’t understand what she was saying, but we did.  All the issues, all the frustrations with the system, all the doubts about bio mom…all were wiped away by what we were seeing as he crawled around.  What we saw at the first was a pizza poorly made – what we see now is a television commercial worthy pizza.

So don’t allow your preconceived notions affect you getting into the FC arena.  Don’t assume.  Ask other FC parents and families.  Attend informational seminars.  Schedule informational times with area agencies.  Oh, to be sure, you’ll still run into some whiny, woe-is-me type people…but let’s be honest.  Those people would complain about having to drive an hour to cash a lottery check.  Look for the people with the commercial worthy pizza…and be prepared to say “yes”, when the question comes.  You won’t regret it…

As part of our continuing education requirement as foster parents, my wife and I recently attended a class on brain activity, and specifically issues revolving around traumatic brain injury cases.  Many kids enter the foster care system due to abuse, neglect, etc…and often times brain injuries occur as a result.

One of the interesting things we learned was when a baby is in the womb, if mom uses drugs neurons can actually become destroyed.  Neurons in the brain continue to grow from birth all the way to your early 20′s (and we let 16 year olds drive?  but that’s a different post…), so drug use after birth affects neurons for sure, but I was amazed at how it affected babies in utero.  Your neurons basically “plug” into different places in your brain, for all types of uses in the body – speech, motor skills, etc…and when they are damaged or destroyed the brain has to figure out different ways to connect so you can achieve what you need to.  This is why individuals with brain injuries can still learn and do things, but often takes longer.

Here’s where you come in…the lady leading the class was telling us that people who study neuroscience are learning more and more about the importance of environment, particularly in the life of a infant/young child who has suffered brain trauma.  With the right environment and loving patient families who work with and challenge children, they are able to overcome the TBI considerably faster and with greater results.  Even in a situation where a child has neurons destroyed in utero due to drug abuse by the mom, once they are born and placed in a strong environment they can succeed!  With our oldest foster child, now 9 months old, he has made huge strides due to the efforts of his physical therapist, and the way our family works him!  Though he still has delays, he is improving every day and has a great future ahead of him…

SO, maybe you stray away from foster care because you think, “What difference can I make in just 9 months?  A year?  2 years?”  Neuroscience findings state you can make a HUGE difference in a short time…so please, won’t you be a neuron connector?

The month of May is Foster Care Awareness month.  I plan on posting several times over the course of this month about foster care, our experience so far, and other important issues and considerations.  You can find general information on foster care in the nation at this website, and I am also linking the Arizona agency we have gone through, ABCS.  I will link to other organizations throughout the month as well…

My first post for the month is quite a bit different from what I had originally planned.  I had great intentions of this first post being all about the kids – how much they need good homes, how they bless your life as a foster parent more than you bless theirs, etc…and I will definitely speak to those things at some point this month…but for now, I want to travel a different path.  I must confess, I get quite angry when I hear the stories I hear regarding the situations foster kids come from.  When I hear stories of neglect, abandonment, and abuse I have a short fuse with the parents in question – I’ve always heard people talk how in the “old days” if a man wasn’t treating his kids/wife right, etc…a few men from the town would go have a talk with him…that’s code for getting his attention. I have often wondered what it would be like to do the same today, and maybe go grab the attention of fathers (and mothers) today.

As a pastor, one of the things I try to do is think proactively.  I’m not the best at it, and am still learning, but I recognize the advantage there is to realizing things ahead of time and correcting them, as opposed to constantly being in a reactionary position.  As we close in on our first year anniversary of being foster parents, I am beginning to see that by and large, foster care is reactionary, instead of proactive.  As I came to this realization the question arose in my mind, “How then do we change this?”  One of our current placements has 5…yes, 5 siblings that have been severed and adopted.  Just think about that for a second…6 times now this individual has given birth, and has either walked away from a child, or the child has been taken away due to specific reasons of neglect, abuse, endangerment, etc…so 6 times in their life, there has been a reactionary response.  Where is the proactive element in this person’s life?  Einstein said the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.  If this is the truth, then the current foster care system is insane…not that I think the system wants it that way, but I don’t think at this point there is any other option…or is there?

Let’s be frank – for the 14,000 plus children currently in Arizona’s foster care system, reactionary is the best option we have for them.  Get them placed, try to get the family some help, or find the kids new homes that are safe.  But what do we do to prevent 14,000 from becoming 16,000 or 20,000?  In other words, what do we do moving forward nationwide to reverse this trend?  I believe the proactive response can only come from one avenue – the local church.  If you’re reading this as a follower of Jesus Christ, let me ask you this simple question – do you know someone who is pregnant or has children or someday will have children?  Now for the harder question – are you able to see warning signs, red flags, and other indicators that person has issues or troubles?  Now for the hardest question – are you willing to step into their lives to form a relationship with them so they will trust you and enable them to receive the help they need?  The ONLY WAY we reverse the current trend of foster care in America is by being proactively involved with the next potential mom or dad in our neighborhood…and the only way to do that is to lay aside our comfort, our selfishness, and to actively engage with people who need it.  Oh I know what some will say in response to this – “But they don’t want our help…they refuse our friendship…they have messy lives.”  If you could see someone about to walk into the path of an oncoming vehicle would you stop them?  Even if they actively refused your help?  Of course you would…and for these people and their potential children (or children they already have), that’s what they are getting ready to do.  They are in process of walking into traffic…why wouldn’t we stop them?

I realize that what I’m spouting here is mostly ideological in nature – I don’t know exactly how to go about it.  But I do know merely staying reactionary is not going to make the numbers go down…it never does. Think about a modern day disease – if we were purely reactionary with diseases they would run rampant through society.  By being proactive with things like immunizations, education, etc…we are able to stem the tide of those diseases.  We must make the same stand against this situation – reactionary endeavors will not work.  We must intentionally engage the next family and individual before they get into the system.

A while back I began looking at various results of culture when Christianity was adopted as the “official” religion of Rome.  I have been looking at singular results in modern day setting as well, and you can read part 1 here and part 2 here if you have not yet read them.  Today we look at result number 3…

Looking at the picture of Rome, one of the results of the adoption of Christianity was the assumption that all citizens of Rome (except for the Jews) were Christian by birth.  As an individual born and raised in the south – some people don’t consider Kentucky the “south”, but they would be wrong – I see this effect in a modern day American setting as well.  In sections of America like the west coast, and northeast areas this is not as prevalent today to be sure, but to be born in the south or midwest is to be born Christian in many respects.  You might also say one is automatically born Republican as well but that’s a different blog post.

The danger of presuming that you are Christian by virtue of where you are born should be self-evident.  That individual largely lives a life of church attendance, never missing a day of Vacation Bible School in the summer, and attends multiple camps, retreats, and “5th Quarters” (what we cleverly called outreach events after Friday night football games).  In most cases there is a baptism mixed in there somewhere, though not in all cases.  Then the young man or woman graduates high school, attends a local university or begins work, etc…and suddenly there is little to no foundation of genuine Christian faith to sustain them.  Most statistical studies state anywhere from 60-80% of young people leave the local church after high school, and though we can attribute that possibly in some sense to a disconnect from most local churches to modern teenage culture, we can also likely attribute that to teenagers growing up feeling that they are connected to Christ, simply by virtue of birth.

The reality is being born in a nation that believes it is a “Christian” nation is no greater assurance that a person is Christian than it would be if a person were born in a Muslim or Hindu nation.  To be sure, in those nations where those religions are the legal religion individuals are grown up in that sense, but there is a difference between growing up a certain way and making a conscious decision in terms of what path one chooses to follow.  As a pastor, this possibility that people consider themselves Christian merely on the basis of where they were born is disconcerting to say the least.

Some may believe that growing up in a nation where there are multiple religious options is dangerous, but I would beg to differ.  It is far more dangerous to think you belong to Christ simply because of birth, than it is to walk with a child through the multiple options.  In the end, the grace and mercy and love of Christ wins out over all others, and I would rather lead my children through those options than have them live a life believing one thing simply because of their birthplace.  Faith “by birth” is no faith at all, and leads to troublesome times later in life.  Give me a country with religious options every time…for I am confident in the person of Christ, not the religion of the state.

As a pastor, I am constantly challenging myself in areas of teaching and preaching, particularly in the areas of communicating the Gospel.  Growing up in a fairly conservative church background, I’ve heard all the emotional pleas and manipulations of “Gospel” preaching.  You may have heard some of these as well…

I see you in the back, clenching the pew in front of you!  Just let go!  Just come to Jesus!

The Lord is telling me someone here is struggling with lust, with pride, with insecurity!  Yes, I’m talking to YOU!  Come on down…

When you die, all of your life will be played out on a giant screen for everyone to see…but Jesus will stand there and point out each sin and say, “I paid for that one, and that one, and that one…”  Just come accept Him now!

One of the more favorable avenues of “Gospel” preaching in American Christianity runs along the lines of falling in love with Jesus.  To be sure, Jesus does indeed tell us in the Bible that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind.  Other places in the Bible do remind us that the love of God is in us, when we become one with Christ.  Certainly God in His great love toward us blessed us with Jesus.  But this notion of falling in love with Jesus may be doing more harm than good…allow me a few moments to think this through.

I speculate that most of the world does not entertain the idea of “falling in love” in their relationships.  Many parts of the world still work within the concept of arranged marriages or courtships.  I’m not saying one way is more right than the other, but just that they exist.  If you consider the American view of falling in love, particularly among teenagers and young adults, the thought of carrying that view over into a relationship with Jesus should be frightening.  On a daily basis, these particular age groups are declaring through social media their love for another person, as quickly as they are declaring their hatred for the same person the next day.  The concept of deep, sacrificial, long-suffering love seems to be largely lost upon each passing generation.  So my concern is using the same terminology they use for their boyfriend or girlfriend, for their relationship with the King of creation.

Imagine if you will, that young man or woman who at a camp, a retreat, or some other super-hyper-spiritual moment that we are so good at producing in America declaring that they have fallen in love with Jesus!  Typically these moments are sterile and protected, meaning they don’t have access to their phones, their iPods, t.v.’s, some of their friends, etc…in these moments they are spiritually sanitary, and ripe for the picking so to speak.  In these moments they have their fall in love moment…their first date with Jesus, their memory to last a lifetime.  Then life happens…they go back to families that don’t support them, to friends who aren’t ready to walk that path…to schools, jobs, and general life where nothing is sanitary and everything can be turned upside down in a moment.  In those moments, similarly to the moments of young dating relationships, being in love is not enough.  The romanticized gospel of falling in love with Jesus fails them…and life begins to crumble.

So what’s the alternative?  As I mentioned before, love is definitely part of the relationship between us and God.  While were still sinners, He loved us…in Jesus He loves us as His own…nothing can separate us from the love of Christ…these are all truths, great truths that are taught in the Bible. So what’s the disconnect from the falling love with Jesus message?  I think, very simply, it is this – that the Gospel is less about falling in love with Jesus and more about this truth; there is a holy God, who demands sinless perfection from mankind – man cannot achieve this, so in His great love He sends us the One who can achieve it, Jesus, and when we still fail even after acknowledging this great gift of Christ, He stands in our place of imperfection with His perfect life.  That is what we fall in love with, and that is what sustains us…not some hyper-romanticized relationship.

In the business world, there is an old saying, “The customer is always right.”  Most people point the origin of this phrase or notion to the early 19oo’s in America, attributed to a businessman named Harry Selfridge.  There are other reports that point to the late 1890′s and a French hotel magnate named Cesar Ritz who supposedly said it first, though in a little different form – “The customer is never wrong.”  Both saying essentially mean the same thing, and the phrase has become standard to encourage employees to give great customer service, and ensure customers they will receive that great service.

Of course, in theory, this does not work.  As a customer, I could stroll into Emeril Lagasse’s famous French Quarter restaurant, NOLA, and order his famed New Orleans style crab cake – upon tasting it, I could send it back, saying that it needs more salt or less pepper or more sauce, and although I may be correct in my preference for that particular dish, that does not mean I’m right.  I would not dare tell Chef Emeril how that crab cake needs to be prepared, as he is the one trained for that, not me.  So in theory, this saying does not work – the customer is not always right, and should not be treated as such.

So why blog about this?  Well, we live in an American Christian culture where the local church is often viewed as a marketplace.  We choose a church to attend based upon music style, kids and youth programs, seating arrangements, etc…the list is potentially infinite as to the number of reasons we can justify attending or ceasing to attend the church.  Because the culture looks like this, the idea that the customer is always right has slipped ever so silently into the framework of the church.  When this happens, leadership often has to have the ability to switch at the drop of a hat the focus of ministry, fellowship, and other important factors of the church.  This in effect destroys the local church, for now you have an entity with no real centralized vision or focus, but an entity that more closely reflects a storefront window display along the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, changing almost daily based upon the whims of the consumer.

In reality, the idea of the customer always being right is just as bad for business as it is for churches.  Business consultant Alexander Kjerulf notes 5 reasons why the concept of the customer always being “right” spells destruction for businesses:

1. It makes employees unhappy – always having to side with the unruly jerk customer who just wants to make waves creates a no-win situation for employees.  They have to endure much abuse sometimes, and are often left wondering if the business they work for has any loyalty for them.
2. It gives abrasive customers an unfair advantage – once they realize all they have to do is yell, fuss, and fume like a 3 year old, they will never return to the other side.
3. Some customers are simply bad for business – not everyone is going to like your product, and you shouldn’t feel like you have to meet everyone’s needs .  Sometimes, they just need to go to the next store up the street.
4. It actually results in worse customer service – remember the unhappy employee up in point 1?  How do you think he or she is going to respond to the “nice” customer who is just behind the unruly jerk in line?  Most likely once they are done with the unruly one they are exasperated, fed up, and ready for the end of their shift, even if it’s still hours away.
5. Some customers are just plain wrong – just like me telling Emeril how to cook that crab cake in the above example, sometimes the customer is just wrong.  Giving a person a voice who doesn’t have the foundation to speak with that voice is a recipe for disaster.

So where does this leave churches entrenched in a consumer, market-driven culture?  Well, each pastor and staff will have to decide for themselves ultimately.  Many are locked into needing people to attend so they will tithe, so the staff can get paid, and in that setting more often than not, the customer is always right, even when they’re wrong.  Pastors and staff typically hold the vision for the church, hopefully based under the direction of the Holy Spirit of God, and when they compromise that vision to accommodate the unruly “customer”, everyone gets hurt.  The pastor/staff do not enjoy their ministry anymore, the rest of the church suffers because the vision keeps changing, and even the unruly customer doesn’t win for you know that in another month they’ll be back with something else they don’t like and think they are “right” about.

Pastors and staff need to be able to commit to a vision and stick with it – other leadership in the church needs to support that vision with an infectious spirit among the church – church members and attendees need to take a good long spiritual look at why they are attending…and when these things are done maybe, just maybe, some of these situations can be avoided.  You’ll never avoid them all – but if you can limit some by being true to the vision and not letting anyone push you to deviate from it, you just might enjoy your church a little more…and maybe even see God work through it in a greater fashion.

I have been wrapped up recently in a number of articles by Thom Rainer.  Rainer is the current president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources and was the founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  He has written several books in the area of church planting and church transformation, and has a number of studies that speak to the current culture of church life in America.

Several years ago he authored a study revolving around “breakout” churches – these were churches who were declining or plateaued in their attendance and membership, and who somehow managed to avoid closing their doors – in fact, they didn’t simply survive, but they thrived!  Over 52,000 churches were examined, and Rainer was only able to discern 13 churches who achieved this breakout; that’s .0002 percent.  Rainer has revisited the study, to examine why such a high percentage of churches were not able to achieve the same success, and has isolated 4 reasons as distinct among them.

1. Lack of leadership development – many pastors/leaders did not have enough leadership development to sustain growth.
2. Unbiblical understanding of church membership – members of these churches that did not achieve breakout status had a largely self-centered attitude about church, often demonstrating it in leaving if the church did not provide programs, worship styles, etc..that suited them.  I actually wrote about my own questions of church membership here just a few days ago.
3. Unclear purpose – the church lacks a clear, guiding statement that points leadership and members alike toward all they should do as the church.  I myself struggle with this one, as there is SO much to do in our community it is difficult to pointedly address resources and time to most effectively minister to the community and equip and lead the church at the same time.
4. Lack of outward focus – in these churches, 95% of all money and time resources were directed towards the membership, instead of focusing on the community outside the church.  Rainer does not suggest this, but in my opinion, most likely the 5% that was focused outside the church probably was not much more than writing checks to other organizations or persons who were doing ministry, instead of actually engaging the community with ministry themselves.

All of these findings are fascinating and disturbing at the same time.  I could easily do a blog series on each one, and might just do that in the future, but for now I want to focus on the tough question of #4…

If a church spends 95% of its time and monetary resources toward its membership, what sort of impression do you suppose that has on the membership?  What sort of impression do you suppose it has on those outside the church community?  Obviously, those outside the community would not have any idea as to the percentage, but they would have some understanding of the limitation since they were not being engaged with the resources mentioned.  It can be difficult to draw a clear biblical understanding of “how” we should utilize time and money in terms of percentages, as the early church really did not have the same things we have in American church culture today.  There were no grand campuses, there doesn’t seem to be a plurality of paid staff or multiple ministry departments (childrens, youth, singles, etc…) so we cannot point specifically to a verse or series of verses that give us clear instruction.  We can however look at scripture references to gain idea of what was important to the early church, and gain wisdom and application from them.  Here are just a few…

• Romans 12:9-21 is often referred to with the subtitle, “Marks of the True Christian”.  In this passage there is definitely a command from Paul to love those within the church community, honoring them and serving them.  There are also commands in verses 18-21 to live peaceably with all, so much as it depends on you…Paul admonishes them to never repay evil with evil, and on the contrary if their “enemy” is hungry or thirsty, to feed them and give them something to drink.  Matthew Henry states in his commentary that “all men” are those whom we cannot live intimately and familiarly with, and verse 14 precedes the command to love enemies by pointing them out as possible persecutors of the church.  So it seems apparent that this passage is written with importance of loving and utilizing resources for those outside the church community.
• In 1st Peter 2:12, Peter commands his readers to keep their conduct among the Gentiles honorable – in this setting the Gentiles are mentioned as followers of other religions, and by nature enemies of Christians Peter is writing to.  While Peter does not specifically state to use resources for them, we can easily apply the wording of being honorable among them to justify investing and engaging in their lives.  Peter goes on to say in verse 17 to “Honor everyone.  Love the brotherhood.  Fear God.  Honor the emperor.”  Peter definitely makes a distinction here between the church and those outside the church, with “all men” and “brotherhood” – furthermore he calls for believers to honor the emperor, which is particularly interesting since the emperor would definitely have been called “anti-Christian” in today’s world.
• Finally, though not an example from the early church, an example from the life of Jesus shows us the importance of “outward” thinking.  Matthew 9:10-13 has Jesus eating with “tax collectors and sinners” which was a big no-no of the perverse religious leaders of the day.  While we have no reference to state that Jesus paid for the meal, we can definitely assume it took of His time to do so, and He thought it important enough to make it a priority that day.

We face a clear challenge in our culture today – continue to pour out the majority of our resources unto ourselves and “hope” the rest of the community somehow sees the truth of Jesus, or intentionally live sacrificial lives in the areas of time and money in our churches so that we can engage and connect with others.  This can play out in multiple ways and there is no “right” answer for all churches – but for each church there are right answers…someone just needs to be willing to ask the tough questions.