Monday Ministry Musing: Could Your Gospel Transform a Hoarder?

Hoarders.  I cannot hardly stomach watching this show.  I am not even sure why--of all things in my Netflix Instant Queue—I decided to watch this show last night.  But I did and it was painful.  Not because of the rat feces, or the rotten squash, or the other disgusting debris that cluttered houses.  No, what made it really painful to watch was the sheer brokenness of the people portrayed. 

One of the stories that I watched last night was of this guy, Bill:

What you saw there was nothing.  There was one scene where Bill pretty much chose a box of old woodworking magazines over his daughter.  These people were created in the image of God and their obsession with stuff has made them much like the idols that they have bowed down to.  Their families are broken and their whole life is consumed by “stuff”. 

One of the most angering things about the show is the really shallow counseling that happens.  That is not surprising because I doubt A & E would not show stories of how the gospel transforms a hoarder.  Yet, as I see the brokenness in these peoples lives and all of the root issues that need to be dealt with I could not help but think—Jesus could transform this. 

You Can’t Just Clean The House

One thing that the counselors do get right, though, is that they cannot simply have a team of dumpsters go into these peoples homes and start throwing everything in the trash.  If you really want to help a hoarder you are going to have to get to the root issues.  Of course, they believe the root issues are things like “self-esteem”, etc.  Which may in part be true but they do not go deep enough and apply the only thing that can bring lasting change in the life of a hoarder; namely, the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

As I think through Hoarders I am left to wonder whether or not my preaching only “cleans up the house”.  If I am preaching in such a way that people are simply cleaning up their lives, but I am not getting to root issues then the gospel is not really being preached. 

If I preach against alcohol, homosexuality, anger, cheating on taxes, gambling, pornography, or any other sins but the root idolatry is not being addressed then I’m not really pointing them to Jesus.  I’m just making sure they don’t have rat feces in their house and that they live lives sanitary enough that they get to keep their kids. 

Transforming a Hoarder

Consider the story of Bill.  If I convince Bill that his hoarding is silly or that this spray can doesn’t have much worth he may reluctantly throw away the spray can.  I may have added to his shame but at least there is one less piece of junk in his home.  We may be able to keep plodding along with Bill and convincing him that he is hurting his family.  At this point it becomes a matter of whether he loves his “wife” (I don’t think they were married) and daughter more than woodworking magazines.  That may get a few more nuts and bolts thrown in the trash.  But at the end of the day it’s not going to go deep enough.

The only thing that will transform Bill is a beautiful Jesus.  Bill’s deeper issues of shame and idolatry do need to be addressed.  But they must be addressed in light of the glorious gospel of Christ.  It is only through the beauty of Christ that a naked man can stand before the Lord—otherwise he continues to hide (in Bill’s case behind piles of junk).  It is only when Christ is seen as a treasure that sticks, magazines, screws, bolts, and saw blades are seen for what they really are; namely, tools.  Bill will not be actually healed until he is swept up into the much bigger than himself story of the gospel. 

So I’m left to ask, is your gospel big enough to transform a hoarder or would it only clean his house? 

Monday Ministry Musing: Praying for Preachers

Last night as I was preparing my heart and mind for preaching the Word in the Sunday evening service the Lord laid a heavy dose of conviction on my heart.  I found myself fervently praying for the preacher (myself), praying for faithfulness, praying that the gospel would go forth clearly, praying for what us preachers call “unction”.  Then it hit me.  I don’t pray like this when other people are preaching.

So I asked myself a few questions.  Why do I not pray as fervently when others are preaching?  What does that tell me about my heart and my passions?  Do I care more about the spread of the gospel or my spread of the gospel? 

Now I don’t want to be too hard on myself (if that’s possible).  I do know that anytime you buy a White Honda you begin to notice everyone else in town that is driving a White Honda.  When something is personal our eyes are more attentive and our hearts more fixated.  I think it’s only natural that I would be fervently praying before my preaching—and probably more so than when somebody else is preaching. 

However, this did serve as a rebuke to my heart and an encouragement to fervently pray for other pastors before they preach.  I preach on Sunday evenings and our lead pastor Jason preaches on Sunday morning.  This is a reminder for me to be very fervent in prayer for him not only throughout the week but also before he preaches.  My passion ought to be for the gospel to go forth no matter who is preaching. 

Monday’s Ministry Musing: How to Preach the Whole Counsel of God

One of my ministry goals is to be able to say with Paul at the end of ministry, “I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”  (Acts 20:26-27)

If the Ephesian church became jacked up a few years after Paul’s ministry he was innocent of their blood.  He was faithful in His ministry.  He declared to them the whole counsel of God.  He left nothing out.  He preached on the joyous things and the difficult things.  He preached in tears and he preached with smiles.  He unfolded for them the entire redemptive plan—the parts we like and the parts that are hard to swallow. 

I want to be able to say that at the end of the ministry that the LORD has called me to. 

I am convinced, however, that verses 26-27 do not happen without being able to say with Paul in verse 24, “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”  If I have a tight grip on my own life and I try to preserve my life, my job, and my comfort then I will not be bold enough to “preach the whole counsel of God”. 

Preaching the whole counsel of God means more than preaching an expository sermon from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22.  Preaching the whole counsel of God means standing up against power-hungry leaders that would happily damage the flock for their own gain.  It means faithfully preaching a text even if it’s hard to be heard of the moo of the churches sacred cow.  It means getting in the lives of broken and rebellious people on a Thursday afternoon when you would rather be doing sermon prep.  It means being poured out continually.  Suffering.  Being misunderstood.  Being at times lonely.  Being rejected.  Being an outcast. 

Unless you’ve already become convinced that what is precious is not my life—organized, controlled, comfortable—just the way I like, then you will not preach the whole counsel of God.  You’ll play it safe.  You’ll be silent when you should speak.  You’ll speak when you should be silent.  You’ll hedge your bets and call it “protecting the church”.  You’ll avoid conflict like the plague and offer a dying people “peace, when there is no peace”. 

When the Gospel Transforms

But when the gospel transforms our lives like it did the Apostle Paul we truly get over ourselves.  We come to see that what is really precious is the unchained, unbound, unstoppable gospel of Jesus Christ?  We come to believe with Zephaniah that "The LORD…will famish all the gods of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations.”  When Christ who cannot be lost is all that we have we are able to preach boldly because all that matters is already ours.

Not only will we preach boldly but we will also loosen our grip on the flock that the Lord has entrusted to us.  Because this is no longer “my ministry” but it is only a small part in a much bigger story we can become like Paul and “commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified”.  When the ministry is no longer mine and my name is no longer attached to it, then I can actually entrust the people to the Good Shepherd. 

Paul was no super-hero.  He was drinking from the same fountain that is available to us today.  The gospel is deep enough, wide enough, and powerful enough to captivate any minister of the gospel and stir our hearts to say, “my life means little, what I really want to see is the kingdom advance.” 

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Fast Tracking Spiritual Growth and Golden Calves

“When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” (Exodus 32:1 ESV)

If this story was not so sad it would be wildly humorous.  The Israelites have been waiting at the bottom of the mountain to hear from the Lord.  They have already promised that “all the words that the LORD has spoken we will do” (Ex. 20:3).  Then Moses jaunts up the mountain to receive the word of the Lord. 

Hours turn into days.

Days turn into weeks.

Weeks turn into a month. 

Finally, the people at the foot of the mountain call together a meeting and say, “Let’s face it…this Moses chap…who really knows what has happened to him.  He’s not coming back down from that mountain.  We liked his vision, we liked his idea about being in covenant with this YHWH, but seriously guys this is taking a REALLY long time.  Can’t you just make us a god so that we can worship, we’re too tired of waiting on YHWH.” 

So Aaron follows the people and they take up a missions offering, throwing their gold into the offering plates.  When the ushers gather together they give all their prosperity to Aaron who then crafts it into a golden calf.  I assume they called this idol something similar to YHWH because they ascribe to this assemblage of metal the work that YHWH had previously accomplished.

They wanted the fruit that YHWH had promised but not the labor of trust and love that it took to see it. 

I would really like to laugh at them.  Then I realize that I’m probably somewhere amongst them--plotting out plans for church success, spiritual growth, and helping people to worship a convenient “YHWH”.  You see, I have my own little sacred cows that I have constructed under the pretext of worshipping the living God.  I have my own plans to fast track the spiritual growth of the flock that I am called to help shepherd. 

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ”. 

Day of Jesus Christ?!?  That’s might be take awhile.  “As for this return of Jesus, we aren’t sure when that’s going to happen”.  Let me help you out, Lord.  I think I can fast track their spiritual growth.  I’ve written these really helpful articles on my blog…

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Lord, Your people are in your hands.  You hold them with an immovable hand.  Your arm is not too short to save.  Mine is.  When I think that I know better, when I am tempted to construct my own sacred cows help me remember that the only thing that brings us to completion is the finished work of Jesus.  Yes, finished work of Jesus.  You don’t need my golden calves.  You don’t need anything from me.  Yet, you bid me come and die.  May I follow you even if at times it looks like I’ve been slaughtered on a scary mountain. 

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Amen’s on Monday

“Carron-shore.  My last.  Some tears; yet I fear some like the messenger, not the message; and I fear I am so vain as to love that love.  Lord, let it not be so.  Perish my honor, but let thine be exalted forever.”  -Robert M. McCheyne

I am at times so shallow in my aims and hopes for those that are within earshot of my preaching.  At times I can be tempted to think that if I get an “Amen” on Sunday that I have done a solid job and that I have been faithful in my task of preaching.  But deep down I know the truth.  I know that I know enough, and have been speaking for long enough, that I can work a crowd.  I know how to get an “Amen” on Sunday. 

But there is a work that is the point of pastoral ministry that I cannot “work”; namely, an “amen” on Monday.  The goal of a pastor and his preaching is that the sacred words of Sunday will generate an “amen” on Monday.  It is to the preacher’s honor that he gets an “amen” on Sunday.  It is to Christ’s honor that he gets an “amen” on Monday!

A preacher that pursues his owner honor will work diligently for Sunday’s amen.  The preacher that pursues the honor of Christ will work diligently to accomplish what only Christ can do—generate amen’s on Monday.  I cannot speak for other pastors but there are a few signs that I am pursuing my honor instead of Christ’s.  Here are a few:

1. Passionless and dutiful praying or prayer neglected altogether
2. “Changing” the message on Sunday morning mid-stream just to get a response
3. Approval addiction rising up in my heart after the preaching event
4. A stupid desire in my heart to “draw all men unto myself”
5. Neutering the gospel message in places of possible offense
6. When I lack confidence that the gospel is powerful enough to change hearts (both of believers and unbelievers)
7. When I measure the sermon by listener response rather than biblical fidelity

Thankfully the gospel is powerful enough to redirect prideful and self-glorifying preachers even on Monday.  The Spirit doggedly pursues us gospel ministers (as he does all believers) and shines the beauty of Christ up against our half-hearted and fallen aims for ministry.  He reminds us that yes, “amen’s” are great on Sunday morning.  But they are even more valuable when the “amen” is Christ-likeness on Monday.  Perish my honor, but let thine be exalted forever.

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Turning “Helps” Into Idolatry

Does God wound thy spirit, does he make it sick, and dost thou seek to unlawful means for help?  Dost thou go to thy company, to music, to good cheer, to relieve thee?  Oh this provokes God against thee!…those that in trouble of conscience seek for carnal helps, by their vain tampering only render their condition worse.  (Jeremiah Burroughs commenting on Hosea 5:14)

There is an assumption that Burroughs is making here that some of our readers may not be willing to agree with.  Namely, Burroughs assumes (as I do) that God is sovereign and everything that happens comes from His hand—whether it is directly or indirectly.  This would include “wounds to our spirit” and “trouble of conscience”. 

I have mentioned previously that I battle depression or perhaps the better term would be “fits of melancholy”.  In fact our nation seems to be very much plagued by this malady.  One particular study notes that, "An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year."   That means that when you go to the grocery store 1 of every 4 people that you see suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder.  That is huge.

I understand that any mental disorder is complex and there are usually not simple answers.  But is it possible that part of our restlessness (our depression, our mental anxieties) may stem from the effects of running to lesser gods?  Is it possible that when we have restlessness and anxiety we first seek unlawful means for help instead of going to the Lord?  Is it possible that this brokenness is meant to cause us “in our affliction to not fly from, but humble ourselves before him”? 

I do believe that the Lord by His grace has provided helps to our brokenness.  I believe that there are ripple effects to the accomplishment of Christ on the Cross.  I believe that there is common grace—such as antidepressants—that the Lord may use as a means to calm the effects of our brokenness and provide substantial healing.  But I also believe that these “helps” can subtly become functional saviors and when we principally turn to them not only does our condition worsen but the Lord’s displeasure is aroused. 

God may not fully heal the pain that I feel or the darkness that sometimes seems to overcome me; at least not this side of a Eden Restored.  Am I willing to have shards of brokenness in my life if it means that His glory shines brighter in my weakness?  Is it possible that I am muting God’s glory or defaming His name by going to “other helps” that may work for a season but won’t give ultimate rest? 

The Case in Hosea

Just so you know that all of this is coming from somewhere consider what took place in Hosea’s day.  The Israelite’s were stuck between two super powers: Assyria and Egypt.  They decided that they could go to both of these super powers for “help” and to gain wealth and security from these “lovers”.  They called it wisdom but God called it “playing the whore”. 

God had given Egypt wealth.  God had given Assyria power.  And it is quite possible (though we have no idea of knowing) that had Israel remained faithful to the Lord he would have employed either Egypt or Assyria as helpers—though not likely.  But when “Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king.  But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound.” 

Here is the kicker, the “sickness of Ephraim” and the “wound of Judah” is one that is given by the Lord.  And while the Lord is administering discipline to his children they run to Assyria (and later Egypt) for protection from the Lord.  But he cannot cure them.  He cannot heal their wound.  Only God can.  That is why Hosea entreats them to “return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.  After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.” 

The Flaw

Blanket statements are dangerous.  Do not apply this as a “when ___ happens then it means that God is ______”.  There is an assumption that is being made in connecting a “wounded spirit” to the days of Hosea.  They were being wounded because of their sin and their idolatry.  The Lord was ripping out of their hearts idolatry and residue from the fall.  This is what He lovingly does with His covenant children. 

This is true in those cases. Yet, we would be in great error to look out on the brokenness and depression of every person and say, “don’t try to find help” just endure the Lord’s discipline and stop bowing to idols.  That was the foolish council of Job’s friends.  Job wasn’t enduring his suffering because of his sin.  He was enduring suffering because he was going through suffering.  But what Job got right was that his only source of ultimate refuge and rescue was in the LORD. 

It takes wisdom to know whether I am turning “helps” into idolatry or if I’m legitimately using “helps” for the glory of God.  It takes even more wisdom and grace to sit in ashes and cling to the Lord of glory and say as Hosea did, “He has torn us, that he may heal us…let us press on to know the LORD…he will come to us as showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” 

It takes grace to trust a lion when Assyria and Egypt look so splendid…

Monday Ministry Musing: Aching Worship

Sometimes worship is in the ache…

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Do We Have a Place for Lament?

…the language of lamented is seriously neglected in the church.  Many Christians seem to feel that somehow it can’t be right to complain to God in the context of corporate worship when we should all feel happy.  There is an implicit pressure to stifle our real feelings because we are urged, by pious merchants of emotional denial, that we ought to have “faith” (as if the moaning psalmists didn’t).  So we end up giving external voice to pretended emotions we do not really feel, while hiding the real emotions we are struggling with deep inside.  Going to worship can become an exercise in pretence and concealment, neither of which can possibly be conducive for a real encounter with God.  So, in reaction to some appalling disaster or tragedy, rather than cry out our true feelings to God, we prefer other ways of responding to it.  --(Christopher J.H. Wright, The God I Don’t Understand, 52)

When you consider that almost half of the Psalms are songs of lament, I think Wright may be on to something.  Is there a place for lament, complaining, questions, longing, etc. in our churches?  Or are these to be stuffed down and dropped off at the door so we can engage in" “worship”? 

Is it possible that the Lord does not want us to leave our baggage at the door but instead to bring it into the sanctuary and offer it up—jaded questions, hopeful discontent, broken longing, indeed every range of emotion—in lament to the Lord of glory? 

Of course this doesn’t mean that we always come with lament.  Sometimes we come with thanksgiving.  Sometimes we come with exuberant joy. Often we come with a mixture of all of these.  But does your church have a place for nearly half of the Psalms?  Or do we only corporately engage in the “happy” ones? 

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Criticism

Death.  Taxes.  A Cleveland Browns losing season.  Criticism.  Four things that are pretty much inevitable.  For those that engage in ministry criticism—whether unfounded or legit is inevitable.  It really is true that you cannot please all of the people all of the time. 

Consider the apostle Paul.  Within the his recorded writings we can discern that Paul was taking criticism from many different opponents.  There were those of the legal variety who believed Paul was being loose on the law and too free in his grace.  But then he often ticked off the other side too—those shouting race, unity, and love—believing the Paul was too light on grace and too strong on the law. 

Those who were more legal in their understanding of the Scriptures would have loved the Paul of 1 Corinthians.  They would have been the loudest members of the “Amen” choir as Paul exhorted the Corinthians to “purge the evil person from among you”.  But as soon as Paul would say things like, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,” the amen’s would cease and the accusatory questions would begin.  “So why don’t we just keep on sinning Paul?  Your view of the gospel is directly opposed to the law.  It has no regard for God’s holiness.  If we follow your gospel then people will be all kinds of immoral”. 

Of course at the same time that Team Legal is accusing Paul of subverting the law then Team Grace is clapping and registering for their seat in the “Amen” choir.  They love hearing that grace covers over sin and that for those that are in Christ you cannot out sin his grace.  But as soon as Paul would say things like “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body” then Team Grace would turn on him and accuse him of subverting the gospel. 

You and I

If you are faithful in preaching the gospel you are going to upset those that are more legal in their understanding of the Scriptures AND you are going to upset those that herald a cheap grace that is marked by shallow unity and weak love.  Both sides may argue with one another about the Scriptures but they will be united in their belief that you aren’t being faithful to the Scriptures. 

The answer then is to keep preaching the gospel faithfully and ignore your critics. 

Or is it…?

While it may be true that you are just faithfully preaching the gospel and those gospel haters are unfairly criticizing you, it may be just as true that you are wrong and only think you are faithfully preaching the gospel.  You and I are just as prone to legalism and antinomianism in our lives and in our preaching as those that criticize us. 

There are two chief dangers when it comes to criticism.  First, is listening too much.  Secondly, is not listening at all. 

If you listen too much then you are going to ineffectively attempt to please everyone and as a result you will prove unfaithful in your sacred task of proclaiming the whole counsel of God.  You need to faithfully proclaim the gospel and offend the antinomians as well as the legalists. 

But not listening at all is just as deadly.  There is a danger when getting leveled with criticism to assume that you are Paul and your detractors are one of the gospel-haters.  But keep in mind that the antinomians and the legalists were pretty confident that Paul was the gospel-hater. 

So what do you do with criticism?  Three steps:

1. Humbly check your conscience.  In Acts 23:1 among other places Paul references his “good conscience”.  It seems that Paul was consistently listening to his conscience.  If he had a nagging sense of guilt he dealt with it by the same gospel that he proclaimed.  If you receive criticism get alone and get honest with yourself.  Is their charge really baseless?  Is it possible that you might have had a misstep?  If so, clear your conscience by grace through faith and repentance. 

2. Rest in grace.  If this charge is baseless your conscience will remind you that there are a hundred other charges that are not baseless.  You are held by grace whether this criticism is true or false.  As Abraham Booth has said, “the Christian in such a predicament may just say, ‘Though I am free from the charge alleged, it is not owing to the superior holiness of my heart, but must be ascribed to divine, preserving care”.  You do not need to needlessly defend yourself or your cause.  Yes, humbly defend where it has a bearing on the gospel—but at the end of the day sleep well because grace reigns. 

3. Live out the gospel you proclaim.  The gospel reminds you that you do not have to be a perfect shepherd because Christ is.  Our identity is wrapped up in the identity of the Good Shepherd who cares for us.  Your fundamental identity before the Savior is not “pastor extraordinaire”; but it is child, bride, adopted, forgiven, servant, etc,.  So by His grace and for His glory we must strive to grow and reflect Him.  We do not strive to be accepted in his Kingdom as a pastor.  We pastor because we are accepted in His kingdom.

I think following these steps is what Abraham Booth means by this:

“For even malevolent attacks and unfounded charges upon a Christian’s character, if his own temper is under proper government, may prove an occasion for promoting his best interests”  (Booth, The Christian Pastors Manual, 97)

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Disciple is Eternal, Pastor is Not.

For there is no reason to fear that a minister, if tolerably furnished with gifts, will be remarkably deficient or negligent in any known branch of pastoral obligation while his heart is alive to the enjoyments and to the duties of Christian character.  It is from the pastor’s defects, considered under the notion of a disciple, that his principal difficulties and chief dangers arise.  -Abraham Booth

First, is this true?  If Booth means something akin to “seldom do ministers get fired for skill but often they are fired for immorality” then it is only partially true.  I can think of more ministers that are politely asked to step down because of inadequacy in their “skills” than because of immorality. 

However, I think Booth means something more eternal than simply being asked to step down from a position.  Booth is speaking of that which is eternal.  We will not be pastors in heaven—but we will be disciples.  Every faithful pastor is first a faithful disciple.  It’s when pastors are no longer disciples that their “ministry” is longer fruitful before the Lord. 

I agree, then, with Booth’s sentiment that pastors are disciples first.  And when being a disciple is neglected the ministry will typically not flourish.  But even here we can be deceived.  Booth continues:

Take heed to yourself, lest you mistake an increase of gifts for a growth in grace.  Your knowledge of the Scriptures, your abilities for explaining them, and your ministerial talents in general may considerably increase by reading, study, and public exercise, while real godliness is far from flourishing in your heart. 

He then says something that I think all of us that preach and proclaim gospel-centrality need to heed:

I have long been of the opinion, my brothers, that no professors of the genuine gospel have more need to be on their guard against self-deception, respecting the true state of religion in their own souls, than those who statedly dispense the gracious truth. 

In other words we can preach the gospel to others quite faithfully while neglecting to preach the gospel to ourselves.  A pastor may begin his day in his study, a disciple will begin his day on his knees.  A pastor may begin his day reading Scripture to prepare for the sermon, a disciple will begin the day reading Scripture to preach a fitting sermon to his own heart and soul.  A pastor may begin his day thinking of ways to serve and extend grace to others, a disciple will begin his day pleading for mercy and grace for his own soul. 

All that the pastor does, above, is not necessarily wrong.  But he has to remember that he is a disciple first.  Pastor he must; but a wise pastor will not forget that he is a disciple before he is a pastor.  Sitting at the feet of Jesus is eternal—pastoring is not.  Or to tweak a wonderful Piper quote, “[Pastoring] exists because worship doesn’t.  Worship is ultimate, not [pastoring], because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, [pastoring] will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.”

Be a disciple first.  A pastor next.

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I know that many of my readers are not pastors.  You can just as easily replace the word pastor with whatever you are doing: mothering, banking, sword-fighting, or working in a factory.  The main point still stands---disciple first, _____ next. 

Monday’s Ministry Musing: The Danger of Not Letting the Text Speak

Sometimes we are told that we cannot come to Christ unless the Father draws us, that without Christ we can do nothing, and that if we live, it is not we, but Christ who lives in us.  Now these views tend to hide pride from man, to create a diffidence of ourselves, and to center our hopes and dependence on Christ; but lest the slothful and wicked servant should make his impotence his excuse, we are called upon to turn and make ourselves new hearts; we are exhorted to ask and we shall receive; and we are assured that God will give the Spirit to them who ask Him…(John Jennings, Christian Pastor’s Manual, 53)

I have seen men of various stripes (myself included) totally blow this one.  I have seen those of a more Calvinistic understanding of the text come to a place that sounds really “Arminian” not let the text speak for itself but simply explain it away.  I have also heard those of a non-Calvinistic understanding of the text come to those places in Scripture that sure sound Calvinistic spend their time explaining why this cannot mean what it sounds like and do not let the text speak for itself. 

What inevitably happens is that when we are guilty of not letting the text speak for itself we have very unbalanced Christians.  I am amazed that whenever my heart and mind wants to attach myself to a narrow view the Scriptures pull me back.  There are so many times that I have ridden a verse for too long only to run smack into another verse that cries out to me, “yeah but”. 

Perhaps one thing that it means to “rightly divide the Word of truth” is to let the Scriptures speak for themselves.  When we come to a text like John 6:44 we should realize that many of these Calvinistic passages are given to us for the purpose of killing our pride, inspiring us to rest solely on Christ, motivating us to have unity, and encouraging us with the power and sovereignty of a faithful God.  Preach the text for those results, don’t go about explaining it away but use the text for what it’s intended to accomplish. 

The same thing goes for passages like Luke 13:24 or Ezekiel 18:23.  Rather than trying to explain them away or make them fit a Calvinistic grid just preach them as they are.  As John Piper rightly says,

“Don't ride hobbyhorses that aren't in the text. Preach exegetically, explaining and applying what is in the text. If it sounds Arminian, let it sound Arminian. Trust the text and the people will trust you to be faithful to the text.”

These text are here to help us have a full understanding of the heart of God.  It motivates us to missions and causes us to love our “enemies”.  When we are tempted to ride a text like John 6:44 into the errors of Hyper-Calvinism these verses a reigns that pull us in to a more balanced and biblical understanding of salvation.  Yes, we must strive to enter this rest.  There is no room for complacency. 

So, if you want to be the pastor of balanced Christians then one way to bring that about is to be faithful in preaching the text as it is.  Let the text speak for itself.  Yes, that’s hard…but that is part of the reason that you are “set apart” for the teaching and preaching of the Word.  You and I are given a charge by God to rightly divide the Word—let us do it, by His grace and for His glory.

Monday’s Ministry Musing: The Necessity of Harnessing Excitement

A pastor will typically spend hours studying over a text to preach it on a Sunday morning.  He wrestles through the difficult parts of the text.  There is much sweat and labor that goes into preparing a message.  Often times God will preach the sermon to our own hearts before we preach it to others. 

I think the best sermons that I have preached have been the ones that have rocked my heart and soul before I even stand in the pulpit.  When I feel the weight of a text and see the beauty of the gospel therein it causes me to be very passionate about the sermon I am getting ready to preach.  I want others to have the same excitement for Jesus that this text/sermon has brought to my own heart.  But if I’m not careful I can come across like this guy:

You don’t have to watch the whole thing to get the picture.  Often times I think we preachers can come across this way.  We are so amped up about the text that has sparked our hearts that we do not give time for our hearers to feel the weight of the text. 

If you start out like this you’ll lose them.  Just like in Mario Kart you can’t floor it out the gate.  If you do you’ll end up burning rubber, creating a lot of smoke, and finding yourself distanced from the people you are trying to lead. 

So, pace yourself.  Allow your hearers to really feel the weight of the text themselves.  Be patient.  Heed these words by Zack Eswine:

…the problem is that the people have not had the preparation time given the preacher.  They do not yet see the truth that has ignited the preacher’s grand style, so they wonder what has the preacher so worked up.  but if the preacher will somewhat restrain while instructing so that all may see the light of the truth clearly, then when illustrating, the mixture of affection and explanation builds…Prophetic emotion describes what springs from a biblical truth rather than from the preacher’s energy, nervousness, or preferences.  Truth unfelt and truth overfelt betrays its meaning.  (Eswine, Preaching to a Post-Everything World, 129 emphasis mine)

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Teenagers and Communities of Grace

I have been thinking lately about how to create and cultivate a culture of grace in our church.  One particular thing that I was thinking about, that I wanted to explore further, concerns using teenagers during our Sunday morning worship service—and other “big” moments for the gathered church.

Teenagers, by way of their level of experience, are probably more prone to make key mistakes.  That is not to insult teenagers, that is just a statement of truth.  We learn from our mistakes, and teenagers have not had the opportunity to make a ton of mistakes—much less learn from them.  So, why not give teenagers more opportunities to make really big mistakes?  That would give an opportunity for the church to extend grace, as well as an opportunity for the teen to experience it. 

Obviously we want to give teens the greatest chance for success.  But that does not mean that we want to nurture them in such a way that we never give them opportunities for failure.  We should be a community of grace that is able to lovingly use failure to further growth—growth for the “failure” and the one being “failed”. 

What does this look like?

When the teenager makes a critical mistake we refuse to treat church like a business.  Rather than getting mad because “a teenager shouldn’t be in such a position” we offer grace and maybe even merciful laughter.  Instead of thinking “what if an unbeliever leaves because of the shoddy production” we ask questions like “what if an unbeliever stays only because of a glamorous production”. 

Our goal is a community of messy grace instead of slick production.  One way to create and cultivate that is by putting a teenager in a critical position. 

Thoughts?

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Video Teaching?

If you attend a traditional church there is a pretty decent chance that at least on of your current Sunday school classes is using a video curriculum of some sort.  I know that smaller churches especially use these quite frequently.  I also understand why churches use these.  Who wouldn’t want to have Louie Giglio teaching your pupils instead of Joe the trucker with no theological training? 

In my past life as a youth pastor I received numerous pleas from companies to try their product for our teaching time.  I never did because one of my great passions is preaching and teaching.  However, I am now an associate pastor and my responsibility in some areas is less “hands-on”.  Rather than teaching myself I am responsible for filling certain areas with people to teach.

Yet, I still would rather have Joe the trucker teaching instead of pre-packaged teaching from some of the best teachers in the world.  Why? 

First of all, God has placed Joe the trucker in our local church and not Louie Giglio.  Therefore, assuming that Joe the trucker has a passion and a certain giftedness for teaching, he is meant to fill that teaching role even if he is less polished. 

Secondly, my job as a pastor is to train the people in our local church for the works of ministry.  I am not certain that I am faithfully doing that if I pop in a video rather than spending the hard work of training an unpolished trucker how to teach the Bible.

There are also other practical reasons that I prefer not to use pre-packaged videos.  And I am not saying that in every instance using videos is wrong for a teaching session.  They can be very helpful if used in moderation and accompanied with more personal teaching.  But as for me I prefer training instead of polished. 

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P.S. I really love the Louie Giglio videos and have used them on occasion myself.  I used the passion teaching series simply as an example.  In my opinion those are actually a great resource to use to compliment the regular teaching of an unpolished Joe the trucker.

Monday’s Ministry Musing: In Defense of Long Sermon Prep

I recently heard CJ Mahaney talk about 20-25 hours of sermon prep.  Mark Dever at another point mentioned upwards of 30.  I remember a discussion at T4G and most on the panel were at least in double digits.  Should a pastor spend 20-25 hours in sermon preparation? 

Apparently this guy doesn’t think so: The Waste and Redundancy of Sermon Prep

Is this neglecting the people?

The underlying assumption is that by spending 20-25 hours in sermon prep you are neglecting your people.  That is why I get tons of mail encouraging me to spend time away from studying and preparing sermons to do what I really want to do—be with people.  The thought is that if I just recycle someone else’s sermon, use a packaged outline, or show a video clip that I will immediately free up 20 hours of my week and now I can go minister to people.

Now I freely admit that many pastors (myself included) can have a tendency to be bookish and spend too much time in the study and not enough time with people.  I personally can have this tendency.  So, I need to hear the rebuke of men like Tim Keller:

If you put in too much time in your study on your sermon you put in too little time being out with people as a shepherd and a leader. Ironically, this will make you a poorer preacher. It is only through doing people-work that you become the preacher you need to be--someone who knows sin, how the heart works, what people's struggles are, and so on. Pastoral care and leadership (along with private prayer) are to a great degree sermon preparation. More accurately, it is preparing the preacher, not just the sermon. Through pastoral care and leadership you grow from being a Bible commentator into a flesh and blood preacher.

And I think Keller is especially saying this to younger preachers (like myself) that lack certain life experiences.  I must confess that I wholeheartedly agree with Keller.  I have on occasion neglected people for the sake of learning. 

But the pendulum can easily swing in the other direction.  And I think that is what has happened in the above article.  There is another side to what Keller is saying.  You will not be able to effectively minister to people as a shepherd and leader unless you are devoting an ample amount of time to the Word and to prayer.  Even if you are not preparing sermons you should be digging deep into God’s Word. 

You can neglect your people by being shallow just as easy as you can by being too bookish.  The wise pastor will find the balance.  Be aware of your own tendencies.  If you are more prone to spending time in the study (like me) then make it a habit to do “people-work”.  If you are more apt to doing “people-work” then challenge yourself to spend a little extra time in sermon preparation. 

The most important aspect to our ministry is the proclaimed word (which is empowered through Word-centered praying).  This happens through “people-work” and through sermons.  Be certain that you are giving ample time to both. 

Tomorrow I want to consider how you could easily spend 20 plus hours preparing a sermon…

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Comprehensible Church

Awhile back, we asked this question: what should the church look like to an unbeliever on a Sunday morning?  Should it be a catering church—primarily for the unbeliever, or should it be a comprehensible—primarily for the believer, but understandable to the unbeliever?

Shortly after that I wrote about the catering church.  One systematic theology paper, a ton of reading, and a T4G conference later we return to this topic.  Today we sum this up by considering the comprehensible church. 

I get this language from Tim Keller (see here), who gets this language from 1 Corinthians 14.  The comprehensible church is also very passionate about reaching lost people; and even doing so through their local gathering on a Sunday morning.  But there is a difference, the comprehensible church is primarily for the believer and the salvation of an unbeliever is a by-product. 

There are some churches that overreact to the attractional model of church.  They, in my opinion, rightly understand that a churches gathering is primarily for believers.  But they wrongly, in my opinion, neglect to speak to unbelievers that may be in their midst.  Some that overreact can give off a vibe that creates an “us versus them” mentality.  Obviously, this is not making worship comprehensible. 

To be a comprehensible church your primary concern is to feed the flock on a Sunday morning (obviously through being faithful to Christ in preaching and worship).  Your language and actions would be understandable to an unbeliever but not geared towards them.  The beauty of the gospel is that it is applicable to believers and unbelievers.  There is a way of preaching that can both edify the saints and present Christ to the unbeliever. 

What does a comprehensible church look like on Sunday morning?

The gospel is always presented clearly; but the sermon and worship service is not geared around the “time of decision” at the end of church.

During certain stages during the gathering of believes an explanation is offered.  Example: “The reason why we have a time dedicated to giving of offerings is because we believe…”  We do not assume that the unbeliever understands why we do what we do.

The preacher does not shy away from teaching on theology or using theological terms, but he is careful to clearly define them. 

The songs selected are unashamedly centered around biblical truth.  They are chosen for content (lyrics) not for instrumentation (how it sounds).  Note: this does not mean that it’s lame and not well done.  See Bob Kauflin for an example of leading worship comprehensibly. 

Everything that you see present is there because it survived the question.  By the question I mean, “What does God think”?  Obviously, the answer is found in the way worship is prescribed through Scripture.  Churches will answer this differently, some more faithful to the text than others.  Regardless, the mark of a comprehensible church is that it is primarily concerned about what God thinks of the gathering.  What you see on a Sunday morning is not there because, “this may draw an unbeliever”.  It is there because it pleases God and it may be a means that GOD uses to draw an unbeliever. 

Effects on the church as a whole

Evangelism is not centered around an event (Sunday morning) but is the lifestyle of the equipped people of God. 

The gospel is applied deeply to believers lives.  The gospel message is not simply presented at the end of the message to provoke a time of decision.  Nor is the “gospel message” relegated to a 45 minute appeal to the unbeliever to convert.  The gospel message is that the cataclysmic work of Christ impacts every area of our lives—believer and unbeliever—and the preacher spends however long he preaches fleshing out the impact of what Christ has done.  Therefore, rather than hearing sermons on 5 steps to a healthy marriage the believer is given confidence that the gospel ought to, and in fact does, penetrate even the marriage. 

Believers are less likely to be “tossed to and fro” because the teaching on Sunday morning is geared more towards their edification.  Let’s face it, in most churches a small percentage of Christian people will be involved in small groups or other discipleship programs.  In the comprehensible church believers will get a more steady diet instead of milk every week. 

The Preacher’s Question:

If you are a preacher there are a few questions to make this practical.

• You have done all of the study work of understanding the passage.  Now you are at the stage of determining how best to preach this passage.  Do you think primarily of the unbeliever or the believer?  Keep in mind your primary charge is to feed the sheep. 
• As you scan through your sermon to the sheep, do you look for words that would need to be made plain to an unbeliever?  Keep in mind you are called to be comprehensible. 
• Do you have a point in the sermon where you make the gospel explicitly clear?  Keep in mind you are called to proclaim the gospel. 

Is it clear now the difference between the catering church and the comprehensible church? 

Catering Church

Yesterday we asked this question: what should the church look like to an unbeliever on a Sunday morning?  Should it be a catering church—primarily for the unbeliever, or should it be a comprehensible—primarily for the believer, but understandable to the unbeliever?

The Catering Church

The catering church can come in all shapes and sizes.  There are the obvious attractional churches—like the church that has decided to celebrate Easter with a million dollar giveaway.  But there are more subtle variations of this.  In my opinion the SBC’s GPS program falls into this category.  You can read more here and here.  If you are still not convinced then read their training manual. 

To be a catering church you do not have to have the 2 Timothy 4 “itching ears” type of preaching.  It often morphs into that, but that is not a necessity.  You are a catering church when your messages are primarily geared to the unbeliever and the edification of believers is a by-product.  Often catering churches hope to train and teach believers throughout the week in small groups or before the worship service in Sunday School. 

Certainly the Lord uses catering churches to further his kingdom.  I would be hard pressed to find biblical examples that a catering church is not a valid option.  (What I mean saying that is that I would be hard pressed to find anything in Scripture that says “do not make your service cater to the unbeliever).  Obviously in its more extreme forms there is a real danger of subverting the gospel.  Even in its most subtle forms I think there are inherent dangers that should cause us to pause.  However, before look at the dangers we should ask a couple of questions to build a foundation.  We must consider what is the church?  And then we must ask what is the purpose of the church gathering? 

The Church/The Church Gathering

There are a good amount of images given of the church in the Scriptures (body, bride, temple, to name a few).  Scouring through numerous books on ecclesiology you will inevitably come across a myriad of definitions; some lengthy, some simple.  The one that I have come up with (and it may be unintentionally stole) is this: A church is a blood-bought community of redeemed believers, brought together for the purpose of displaying the glory of God through their united joyous surrender to Him. 

I am certain that my definition could be improved, but it has several of the key components in it.  For instance:

• The church is bought by Christ. 
• The church is a community (fellowship, koinonia). 
• The church is made up of believers. 
• The church is on mission. 
• The church is to be united. 
• The church is a people and not a place. 
• The church is primarily for the sake of glorifying God
• The church is to be holy and surrendered to her Head
• The church is to be joyous in her surrender

This, then, is how I would define the church.  We know from the New Testament that this group of believers is to gather together (Hebrews 10:25).  And it was the practice of the early church do just that; see Acts 20:7.  What did they do when they gathered together?  It appears to me that when they gathered together it was for the purpose of worship, edification, and fellowship around the breaking of bread. 

It is possible that I am reading the New Testament wrongly and simply missing something.  But what I see is that when the church gathered it was primarily for the edification of believers through the worship of God and rehearsing the gospel in the breaking of bread together.  I see the early believers doing evangelism, such evangelism that shames my practice.  I do not see them locking their doors to unbelievers, but I also do not see their primary focus being evangelism during their gathering together. 

Now, even if I am correct about the New Testament practice that does not mean that we have to do it this way in our day and age.  There are many things in the practice of the New Testament church that is descriptive and not prescriptive.  This could be one of them.  But I believe there are a few inherent dangers in a catering church; to those we now turn. 

Dangers of Catering Church

By no means will these be true of all churches that would be defined as a “catering church”.  Some churches are able to be a catering church without falling into many of these pitfalls.  But what often happens is that the small local churches try to mimic some of these larger congregations and are often negligent of their calling as a church.

When the primary focus of a local gathering becomes evangelization of unbelievers we begin asking the wrong questions as a church.  The worship gathering is often geared around what will “draw” the unbeliever.  As a result believers are often woefully undiscipled.  The theology is often very weak in these churches.  Certainly you do not have to have a Ph.D. in theology to be in a great relationship with the Lord.  But what often happens is that those who are shallow theologically get tossed to and fro by all sorts of strange doctrines. 

You would think that after hearing “the gospel” in its most basic form week after week that believers in these churches would be solid in gospel understanding.  Ironically, what typically happens is that these believers can lead someone down the “Romans Road” but are not quite certain what the gospel message has to say about their finances, child rearing, work, anxiety, fears, and death. 

Another danger is that evangelism is often stale.  Rather than training believers to do evangelism throughout the week, evangelism often becomes attractional.  Rather than preaching the gospel in the community we often give invitations to come to our church.  The church starts marketing.  There are numerous resources out there about the dangers of attractional models, church marketing, church growth, seeker-sensitive approaches etc.  It would not be for our benefit to rehash all that is spoken of there.  Research on your own. 

I am mentioning all of this simply to point to what I envision as a better way.  The point of these articles is not to be needlessly divisive, to tear down churches, or to discourage faithful believers.  My hope is that if there is a more faithful God honoring way that we will embrace it.  If I am wrong and you disagree, then so be it.  

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Screw the Truth

In Richard Baxter’s work The Reformed Pastor he discusses the preachers need to “screw the truth into their minds, and work Christ into their affections.”  As I read over that the phrase, “screw the truth into their minds”, Baxter’s unique wording struck me.  Notice that he did not say “nail the truth” or “drive the truth”, he said “screw the truth”.  I think that is intentional.

Consider the nail.  A nail will go into a board with one swift blow.  Even a child, with minimal labor, can plunge a nail into a board.  Not so, with the screw.  The screw often requires a power tool.  Screws don’t go in easily; you have to laboriously twist and twist.  Putting a screw into a board takes more time and more work. 

A nail is easier to go in, but it is also easier to pull out.  And this, is why I think Baxter said “screw the truth”.  A screw does not come out quite so easy (keep in mind Baxter did not have a local Home Depot with power tools).  A screw is harder to get into the board, but it is also more difficult to rip out and far more secure than a nail.  Is this not the effect that we want truth to have in the minds of those we preach to? 

Therefore, do the hard thing of slow, tedious, twisting and turning through long seasons of biblical teaching. 

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Angels and the Gospel

People are fascinated with angels.  This is not a new thing.  The church at Colossae (or at least false teachers there) had a fascination with angelic beings.  And I suppose they are quite fascinating.  But you want to know what is even more fascinating?  The gospel.

How crazy that angels long to “look into the gospel” (1 Pet. 1:12); we are bored with the gospel and long to look into angels.  What is even crazier is that this idiocy is probably part of what has the angels so baffled.  God redeems a humanity filled with idolaters, guilty of sin no less treasonous than the angels that he refuses to redeem.  The gospel indeed is precious.  If only we had the wisdom of angels to be enamored by all that Jesus Christ has done. 

I am saddened (though not surprised) that I would probably get a better hearing on a Sunday night with a series concerned with unlocking the mystery of the end times than I would a series unveiling the mystery of the gospel.  More people would probably take a class on angelology than they would on atonement. 

This is not surprising; angels are comfortable, the gospel isn’t.  You can talk to a stranger (even if he hates Christianity) about some angel named Gabriel.  Worse thing that will happen is that he will probably consider you a fruitcake and leave smiling.  But the gospel will get you killed.  I cannot remember reading of people getting persecuted to death for belief in angels.  And why would they?  Angels do not divide history.  Jesus does.  

Undoubtedly Satan, an angel himself, would be rather content with you spending your time concerned with angels instead of looking into what angels are concerned with; namely, the gospel of Jesus Christ.  What, then, is this thing that angels are concerned with?  “…that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”.  This is what angels long to look into, and Satan longs to distract you from. 

This is filed under a Monday Ministry Musing isn’t it?  What does this have to do with ministry?  If you are one that preaches or teaches then you will face the temptation to assume the gospel and delve into flashy things, like angels.  But heed what Richard Baxter said:

Through the whole course of ministry we must insist upon the greatest, the most certain and necessary things, and be seldom and sparing upon the rest.  If we can but teach Christ to our people, we teach them all…Other things are desirable to be known, but these must be known or else our people are undone for ever. 

Yes, angels are cool.  But Jesus is much cooler. 

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Should We Serve Our Own First?

Yeah I know it’s Wednesday but I just could not let this go until next Monday.  So pretend that I wrote this on Monday and it got stuck in some cyber filter, wound up in a parallel world, and somehow just posted today. 
I am beginning to see rumblings of people frustrated with the American government providing relief to the Haitian people, “when we have hurting people over here.”  I’ve even seen this little jewel pop up on several people’s Facebook status:

Shame on you America: the only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds, and mentally ill without treatment - yet we have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations. 99% of people won't have the guts to copy and and paste this...

First of all that is one of the most uninformed and narrow minded statements I have ever read.  If you are my friend on Facebook and you thought this would be cool to cut and paste—then I am sorry if I offend you, but this statement is just plain wrong and outright irresponsible.  Do a little fact checking.  Are we really THE ONLY COUNTRY where homeless are without shelter, children go to bed without eating, etc.  Seriously?  Have you seen Africa?  Do you know about North Korea? 
There are numerous places in much worse shape than we are.  But that is not my main issue.  Let’s just pretend for a moment that this statement IS true.  Should we “serve our own” before we serve the needs of others? 
This way of thinking within Christian circles I just do not understand.  Yesterday morning on a Christian radio station I heard an advertisement for some spa/resort business that said something like this, “In 2010 you should finally do something for yourself…come in to blah blah blah and we’ll give you the care that you deserve.”  These advertisers are not stupid.  They are appealing to something within us that wants to say…”Yeah, you’re right, I’ve been always giving—it’s about time I start taking.” 
The  principle is the same as the Haiti response.  Why should I take care of someone else when I myself am hurting? 
As a side note I do understand there are times when you are absolutely burnt out and you have nothing more to give anyone.  You do need to get away for a little while and retreat.  Even Jesus did this (Matt. 14:23).  But notice that Jesus “went up on a mountainside to pray”.  He got His refreshment by spending time with the Father.  He did not get his refreshment by going to a health resort, or calling up his disciples and saying, “hey guys why don’t you serve me for awhile.” 
So, why should you take care of someone else when you are hurting yourself?  Why should our nation send relief to Haiti when we have homeless people and orphans here?  Because that is exactly what Jesus would do.  Jesus would not refuse to serve a Samaritan because the Jews were under Roman oppression.  You look at the Cross and compare that to this “I need to care of my own needs first”, New-Age, Oprah-driven, egocentric junk.  I do not see my bleeding Savior climbing down off the cross and saying, “someone else will have to serve for awhile…I have my own needs”.  You find me one explicit place in Scripture where Jesus put His humanly needs above other people and I will delete this post and copy and paste that silly little shame on you America thing myself. 
Now if you want to point out American duplicity I’ll show you were it is found.  It is not in America helping Haiti.  I fully support our nation in supporting the people of Haiti.  Where you can see American duplicity has its roots in this “serve my needs first attitude”; and we see the fruit in this attitude in the atrocity that is abortion. 
Shame on you America for fighting the genocide of other nations while neglecting to address your own infanticide.  Shame on you America for waving a flag that says we fight for freedom but refusing to fight for the freedom of the unborn.  Shame on you America for exalting a woman’s right to choose while neglecting the much smaller and less developed woman’s right to choose.  Shame on you America for exemplifying an attitude that says, “me first and then I’ll serve you.”