One Mark of a Truly Spiritual Church

“We don’t have bulletins”, said the pastor quite proudly.

“Why not?”, enquires a sheepish visitor.

The pastor confidently answers, “We want to give the Spirit freedom to work and move in our worship services. We do not want to be shackled and confined by some order of service”.

--

That is a real conversation I overheard in a church that I was visiting. At the time I was giving the pastor a thumbs up. I grew up in a Baptist church where the only time you shouted or raised your hands was if somebody elbowed you in the kidney when you nodded off during the pastors sermon. Therefore, this new found freedom of worship was something I was really digging.

Then it got weird.

Nothing like holding snakes or clucking down the aisle like a chicken. But it just got weird. I never knew what to expect from one Sunday to the next. Would we enter into a building with no chairs and start roasting marshmallows while singing Chris Tomlin songs? Would we see a live goat sacrificed as an illustration for the one week sermon series on Leviticus? Would I be called on stage and exposed for something? How long would this meeting last? Who would be speaking?

I never knew the answer to those questions. And eventually I stopped coming because of that. I started believing that it was less about the Spirit and his activity and more about the ideas that this pastor dude got at 2am after a night of indulging in a Chinese buffet. So I went to a church with a little more order.

Some might say that I was simply uncomfortable with the Spirit’s moving. If I really wanted to be in a spiritual church then I wouldn’t need a crazy church bulletin. Maybe, that’s true. But I kind of think the apostle Paul agrees with me.

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace…But all things should be done decently and in order.

According to Paul one mark of a truly spiritual church is a godly order that intends to build up the congregation. It’s the exact opposite of we-don’t-have-bulletins-because-we-have-the-Spirit dude. I’m not saying that bulletins are necessary. In some instances they are just a waste of paper. But order is necessary. The Spirit works in the midst of order not against it.

So the next time some dude invites you to his church that is really spiritual because they just do as the Spirit leads, you might consider 1 Corinthians 14 before signing up.

How I’d Destroy a Church

If you desired to destroy a local church how would you go about doing it?

Obviously I am not talking about the building itself, nor do I mean destroy it as an outsider.  If you recently joined a relatively healthy local church, with the intention of destroying it within 3-5 years, what steps would you take to accomplish this task?

Here is how I would do it:

I would spend the first year or so building good relationships with a diverse number of people.  My goal would be discovering what the church is most passionate about.  During this time I will “become all things to all people” so as to destroy the whole lot. Their passions would become my passions. With such passion it shouldn’t be difficult to move into a leadership position, like teaching a Sunday school class. 

With my new Sunday school class I will begin by digging into the really tough topics. We will lead our class through seeing what the Bible says about them. During this time I will focus on minor things as if they are major things. The gospel will be assumed. My goal will be to get people’s eyes off of the gospel and the kingdom of God and onto these “important issues”.

Just as in any church there will be natural differences of opinion within the body of Christ. I will devote my energy to exploiting these differences. In time I will lead people to view these different expressions as unfaithfulness instead of simply differences of opinion or personality.

When I spend one-on-one time with people I use all my charm to convince them that I am on their side in these “important issues”. It doesn’t matter what side I really take on these important issues so long as I can breed factionalism I have succeeded.
 
People should begin falling into certain camps. (Even if one of the camps is to be disinterested in the “issues”). Once this happens I will find an opportunity to express my grief at all of the disunity within the church. I will now make a major issue about all of the disunity within the body, thus taking peoples eyes off of Christ and firmly fixing them on one another. We will even begin prayer meetings to start praying for God to help us with our disunity. I will do everything I can to get the pastor to start preaching on unity. I’ll even come up with a 5 step plan to resolve our “unity problem”.

After being there for about 3 years I should be a respected leader in the church.  My brokenness over the disunity would make it obvious that I care deeply about the church and the people.  At this point I could move into the final stage of my plan.

I will donate a large amount of money anonymously and I will be certain not to designate it.  The only stipulation will be that the money must be used to advance the ministry of the church, and it must be used in full within the next two years.

Because of all the “disunity” in the church every suggestion for using the money will be met with suspicion. Whenever people disagree on how to spend the money (as they likely will) they will be accused of “furthering disunity”. The church should split into several groups.

Hopefully, each faction will think themselves the godly ones.  This means that anyone that opposes them are the ungodly ones.  The decision has to be made on where to spend the money, and one group has to win this decision.  But, regardless of the decision one group will consider it ungodly.  Who wants to stay in an ungodly church anyways?

I’ll probably try to stay neutral and “godly” in this whole discussion.  I will make it known how broken hearted I am by this disunity.  When the decision comes down on where to spend the money, I will lead the charge of leaving this ungodly place.  Not even because of the decision but because of the way that everything was handled.  That should successfully take all of my “godly” followers with me and those on the losing side should leave too.  That which the winning side spent the money on will now become their makeshift savior and they will slowly fade away into idolatry.

That’s my rather long answer.  What is yours?

Oh, and by the way this does have a point…

---

Originally posted here.

Why 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Has Been Rocking My Soul

It was just another Sunday and we were playing one of countless videos for the Lottie Moon offering (at least I think that’s what it was). Maybe it was a video about Loving Muslims, I can’t remember. But it caught my attention. Not the video. I have no idea what it was about. One of the missionaries is what caught my eye; or rather my heart.

I have no way of actually knowing what was going on in his heart at the time, but from all appearances it seemed as if he was a man that deeply loved the Lord and loved people. You could see it in the glimmer in his eyes. It wasn’t that he was “loving people” because that’s what he was supposed to do. No, I think he really loved these people, because he’s spent some serious time with Jesus.

The missionary was laughing and joyously interacting with people of whom he probably only shared a handful of words. Words didn’t matter. Love did. And it was their shared smiles that the Lord used to break my crusty heart and reopen it towards love.

In a whirlwind as my eyes fixated on the missionaries smiling face, the Lord spoke to my heart saying, “you don’t love people”, while simultaneously drawing my attention to the first three verses of 1 Corinthians 13.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Reading it in the Message really drove the point home:

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. ²If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. ³If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love

That means all of the work I put into being a good writer…bankrupt without love.

All of my effort at honing my pastoral skills…bankrupt without love.

Books.  Knowledge.  Seminary education.  Study of church history…bankrupt without love.

Bankrupt without love.

Jesus, help me love.

no labor is in vain

“Well, that was for nothing”

That is a really dangerous statement when it comes to ministry.  (Do not hear, “vocational ministry”—I mean the ministry that every believer is to be engaged in).  It’s a dangerous statement but I bet we have all said it.  As one that preaches, teaches, leads, writes, etc. there is much of my labor that I never see the fruit to.  And sometimes I can be given to discouragement and think—“well, that was for nothing”. 

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul is encouraging the church at Corinth to steadfastly engage in ministry as a result of the truth of the resurrection.  For 57 verses Paul defends and expounds upon the reality of the resurrection.  Then in verse 58 he makes this doctrine practical:

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

In other words Paul is saying, “because of the reality of the resurrection—drink from no other fountain, bring others in to drink, and do so confidently knowing that every bit of kingdom work is not in vain.” 

The resurrection of Jesus marks of his exclusivity.  Jesus is the fountain of life.  All other fountains are murky waters that only sustain you for a season.  Only the fountain filled with the blood that flows from Immanuel's veins is able to remove the sting of death.   All others cannot remove our death sentence.  But Jesus gives eternal life and immortality. 

Because of this exclusivity we must “be steadfast, immovable”.  That means that we must reject the silly notion that any other fountain may satisfy.  With Spirit-induced power we must resist the fleeting glamour of the perishing and cling to the often unattractive but yet eternally satisfying fountain of grace. 

This also means that our enjoyment of Jesus is tied up in “abounding in the work of the Lord”.  Jesus is not satisfied until all His people are home.  And while we drink from the fountain of grace we do it with one compassionate eye towards those that are drinking themselves full of the perishable. 

And we do all of this—both our own clinging and our calling others—knowing that no kingdom work is ever in vain.  Everything else has the danger of vanity and emptiness.  But that which will be eternal—namely, the kingdom of God—is the only thing that is never in vain. 

Lord help me remember that my plodding today is not in vain.  May I remember that the shiny moments and the dull moments are both—if done “in the Lord—for the sake of the kingdom and therefore are never in vain.  May I, with my brothers and sisters in Christ, be about kingdom work.  May this be my eternal aim.

Apostles or Corinthians?

8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

1 Corinthians 4:8-13

If God answered my prayers would I look more like the apostles or the Corinthians?

Church Destruction 101: The Key

Yesterday I shared my evil plot on how to destroy a church.  I promised that it had a point—I was not being devious for the sake of being devious.  That entire story was just one expression of the key to church destruction: taking the focus off of Christ and His gospel.

I can even do that through “holy” things.  Moralism will destroy a church because it takes its eyes off of Jesus.  Liberals can destroy a church and so can conservatives.  Good theology (wrong applied of course) can close the doors just as easy as rank heresy.  Even something as holy as a plea for unity can destroy a church if it leads people to take their eyes off of Jesus. 

So if you desire to destroy a church be sure to not keep Jesus the main thing.  That’s the key.   Make something or someone else the head of the church and it crumbles.  It only takes a matter of time before a body severed from its head loses its life.  It happened in Corinth and it happens in many churches today.

Church Destruction 101

If you desired to destroy a local church how would you go about doing it? 

Obviously I am not talking about the building itself, nor do I mean destroy it as an outsider.  If you recently joined a relatively healthy local church, with the intention of destroying it within 3-5 years, what steps would you take to accomplish this task?

I asked this question on Facebook yesterday and received a healthy dose of response.  Which I think speaks volumes for the truth that there are numerous ways that a church could be destroyed.  As I have thought through this I have decided how I would go about destroying a local church.

I would spend the first year or so building good relationships with a diverse number of people.  It would be my goal to discover the things that drive this church.  I would become all things to all people so that by any means I may destroy the whole lot.  Their passions would become my passions.  Slowly but surely I would move my way into leadership positions such as teaching a Sunday school class. 

As I begin my new Sunday school class I will be certain to dig into some really tough topics to see what the Bible says about them. I will focus on minor things as if they were major things.  At this stage I will be certain to assume the gospel.  My goal here will be to get people’s eyes off of the gospel and the kingdom of God and on to certain “important issues”.
There are natural differences within every local expression of the body of Christ.  I would devote my time to exploiting these differences as if they were expressions of unfaithfulness rather than simply differences of opinion and personality.  When I spend one on one time with people I will do everything I can to convince them I am on their side in these “important issues”.  Hopefully this will begin to breed factionalism. 

After I sense that people are falling into certain camps (even if one of the camps is to be disinterested in the “issues”) I would become “really grieved” by the disunity in this church.  We would make a major issue about the disunity within our body, thus taking peoples eyes off Christ and firmly fixing them on one another.  Prayer meetings would be set up to pray for unity.  The teaching would be geared around unity.  At business meetings I would suggest solutions to solving our unity problem. 

After being there for about 3 years I should be a respected leader in the church.  My brokenness over the disunity would make it obvious that I care deeply about the church and the people.  At this point I could move into the final stage of my plan. 

I will donate a large amount of money anonymously and I will be certain not to designate it.  Now every opposing suggestion for using the money will be thought as “furthering disunity” and the church should split into several different groups. 

Hopefully, each faction will think themselves the godly ones.  This means that anyone that opposes them are the ungodly ones.  The decision has to be made on where to spend the money, and one group has to win this decision.  But, regardless of the decision one group will consider it ungodly.  Who wants to stay in an ungodly church anyways?

I’ll probably try to stay neutral and “godly” in this whole discussion.  I will make it known how broken hearted I am by this disunity.  When the decision comes down on where to spend the money, I will lead the charge of leaving this ungodly place.  Not even because of the decision but because of the way that everything was handled.  That should successfully take all of my “godly” followers with me and those on the losing side should leave too.  That which the winning side spent the money on will now become their makeshift savior and they will slowly fade away into idolatry.

That’s my rather long answer.  What is yours?

Oh, and by the way this does have a point…

Examples in Gospel Neutering

Yesterday I made this statement:

The Corinthians attempted to blend the gospel with the thriving, competitive, and self-sufficient Corinthian culture.  As a result they were in danger of losing the gospel.  Rather than unleashing the power of the gospel they were neutering it.  And we do the exact same thing when we try to be “somebodies” to show that Christianity is a “somebody” type of faith.  A crucified king is “foolish” lets just admit that. 

I thought it may be beneficial to give a few examples of how we do this in our day:

Whenever we try really hard to show unbelievers that Christians can be cool.  The entire reason why we hang out with unbelievers, watch certain television programs, and listen to certain music is to prove to a watching world that Christians aren’t boring.  We can be fun too.  That’s all well and good until our “coolness” morphs into worldliness.  You do not win people to the gospel by being worldly.  You might convince them that you are cool, but I am not certain you will convince them that Christ is mighty to save. 

I have heard stories of televangelists soaking up air conditioning in luxury hotels in the third world countries as a display of the power of God in blessing people.  Whenever we think that we have to look glamorous to make Christ look beautiful we have missed the gospel entirely. 

If we are convinced that what the world really needs is a cogent and fine-sounding argument for the validity of Christianity, the existence of  God, the historicity of the resurrection, etc. then I think we are moving away from Paul’s primary means of apologetics.  This is not to say that Christianity is based upon blind faith devoid of reason.  This is to say that Christianity is founded upon claims that the unregenerate finds foolish.  So while you are studying how to tackle the logic of Epicurus, pray that the Lord may tackle the depravity of heart. 

What are your suggestions????

When Nobodies Become Somebodies

On Sunday evenings I am preaching through 1 Corinthians.  As I have been studying the letter itself and other references concerning the culture at Corinth I have a theory as to why the church had so many problems with arrogant division.  In sum:

In a culture of somebodies, a group of nobodies got saved and thought they were now somebodies that could fit in with all the other somebodies. 

If you desire to study Corinthian culture you will find plenty of sources.  And preachers love to talk about the city of Corinth (probably because it is so much like our culture) more than they do many of the other cultures in the Scriptures.  Ben Witherington, I think sums up the Corinthian mindset quite nicely when he says, “In Paul’s time many in Corinth were already suffering from a self-made-person-escapes-humble-origins syndrome…”  Corinth was a culture of “somebodies”. 

However, in every culture there are also a group of “nobodies”.  These are the unwise, the weak, the poor, the outcasts of society.  A culture of “somebodies”always has a much larger amount of “nobodies” that want to be “somebodies”.  Corinth was no different. 

That all changed when the gospel came to Corinth.  These nobodies received the foolish message of the cross and found “righteousness, sanctification, and redemption” in Christ Jesus.  These nobodies became somebodies. 

Those that were once lowly in society now saw became rich.  The ignoble became kings.  The poor became strong.  The fools of the world became wise.  Those in disrepute were now held in honor.  Those that once were the scum of the earth have now became somebody. 

Now they could fit in with the culture.  In fact they had the answers that the culture did not have.  Rather than being equal with their culture they were able to see through it—they were now above even their own culture.  The Corinthians are now the new somebodies.  So to reach the wise they had to prove that Christianity is wiser.  To reach the powerful the Corinthians had to prove that Christianity is where real power lies.  Whatever the culture had to offer Christianity could top it.

The Corinthians attempted to blend the gospel with the thriving, competitive, and self-sufficient Corinthian culture.  As a result they were in danger of losing the gospel.  Rather than unleashing the power of the gospel they were neutering it.  And we do the exact same thing when we try to be “somebodies” to show that Christianity is a “somebody” type of faith.  A crucified king is “foolish” lets just admit that. 

Paul’s Counsel for Carl

Last Friday I asked how you would counsel my friend Carl.  Obviously, Carl is a made up dude.  But I used a familiar group of people to craft his portrait.  The Corinthians.  They were pretty much like Carl if not worse.  And we have the blessing of knowing how Paul addressed him (them). 

“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

“Sanctified in Christ Jesus”.  Seriously?!?  Is that how you would begin counseling someone like Carl; remind him that Jesus has already made him holy? 

Such counsel is surprisingly what Paul gives.  He unashamedly applies the gospel to the Corinthians.  Then he throws out praise to God for them in verses 4-9.  He says they have been “given grace”, they were “enriched in him”, and he even went so far as to say, “the testimony of about Christ was confirmed among you”.  Paul ends with confidence that God will sustain the Corinthians “to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Paul is teaching as he is encouraging them.  He wants them to see that God is the one that saves, and God is the one that saves all different types of people not just the Corinthians.  Their fundamental problem is that they have a tiny gospel.  In their mind the gospel is only big enough for the elite, like themselves.  But Paul shows the wideness of the gospel in calling many diverse peoples.

As Paul teaches the Corinthians he teaches me as well. 

I suppose there would be one type of person that would hear what Paul is saying and say, “Duh, once saved always saved.  They made a profession of faith it doesn’t matter how they live for the rest of their life.  God’s will hold them to their decision to accept Christ regardless of whether they endure to the end. ”  I don’t think that squares with the many passages that warn against apostasy and threaten hell if we do not endure to the end.

But Paul’s counsel here does rebuke those like me who struggle with what Richard Sibbes termed, “killing a fly with a mallet”.  I’d probably be pretty quick to dismiss Carl as an unbeliever.  I get the idea that Paul was far more patient with struggling believers.  And I get the idea that I should be too. 

There is more that could be said about this.  But, what do you think?

Charles Simeon’s “Rules for Himself”

In preparing for a lesson on 1 Corinthians 13 I skipped across this by Charles Simeon out of a Robert Rayburn sermon:

1. To hear as little as possible what is the prejudice of others; 2. To believe nothing of the kind till I am absolutely forced to it; 3. Never to drink into the spirit of one who circulates an ill report; 4. Always to moderate, as far as I can, the unkindness which is expressed toward others; 5. Always to believe, that if the other side were heard, a very different account would be given of the matter.

This certainly would go far in building up the body of Christ if these rules were observed. If you are unfamiliar with the life and ministry of Simeon I would suggest reading John Piper’s excellent biography. You can also buy Piper’s Roots of Endurance book.

Is Paul Defensive in 1 Corinthians 9?

As I am studying 1 Corinthians 9 I find that many believe Paul is defending his apostleship. Many believe that Paul's apostleship is being questioned in Corinth (I think I agree to an extent with this point). 1 Corinthians 9 is then read through that lens as if Paul is defending himself with all of these rhetorical questions. Each question is thought to be a jab and a defense of Paul's apostleship.

Those that have such a view often have a hard time understanding why the change of tone and the seeming change of topic only to pick it back up again in chapter 10. This has led some to question the unity of 1 Corinthians.

But, I have a few questions. What if the presupposition is wrong? What if Paul's rhetorical questions are not defensive jabs but things he expects a reserved "amen" to? What if 1 Corinthians 9 is not departing from chapter 8 and chapter 10. What if Paul is merely using all of these rhetorical questions to show himself as an example of what he has just discussed in chapter 8?

I see verse 12b as the main point of this passage, "Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ." Is this not the same thing that he is encouraging those in Corinth to do in 8:13?

Does Paul not say in verse 15 "nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision"? To me Paul is helping them see that his point is not to say, "you need to listen to me, you need to pay me better, I want a wife, and did I mention you need to pay me". All of these leads up to the climax of the passage, "I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings".

As I have read through 1 Corinthians I do not see a distrust of Paul and a deep questioning of his apostleship as the fundamental and root issue. Instead what I see is pride, disunity, a lack of love, exalting of knowledge at the expense of love, and fundamentally a lack of love and submission to Jesus. I think the main point that Paul is proclaiming to the church at Corinth is this: Jesus is enough, live your life in such a way that Christ and his gospel is the foundation for everything you do.

Having said all of that...am I way off base with 1 Corinthians 9? How do you read it? Would you agree with what seems to be the majority that Paul is defending his rights? Do you see what I see? Or do you see something else? Help!