Read more… »

I have spoken a great deal about worshiping through Fowler’s stages of faith; what do I mean by this? I believe that each of us has a primary stage in which we spend most of our time; we have a stage that is our comfort zone. Throughout the course of our life, our comfort zone may shift to a different stage, but there will usually be one primary stage we work out of. This, however, does not mean that we are unfamiliar with, or incapable of working out of, the other five stages.

To worship through Fowler’s stages of faith is to attempt to connect to the part of ourselves that best operates at each stage. I can worship God through the innocent faith my parents bestowed upon me; I can worship God through the critical faith of my twenties (even if I am well past that age and stage). It is useful to discover and worship God through these different lenses.

This raises an obvious question: is it possible to worship God through a stage which we have not yet been through. I am not willing to give an answer to that question at this time, but I believe that it can stretch us to try. I believe that stretching, that effort to connect to God, will help each of us grow in our faith.

Worshiping through the stages of faith is not something that you can do each week. It may be something that you can only do over the course of a year or even a decade. I think to effectively worship in this way, the individual must take a prearranged length of time (at a minimum three weeks) and decide that for that period of time, they are going to focus on worshiping God through a given stage of faith. Then there should be an interval of time, not less than the time spent worshiping in the stage of faith, in which the individual returns to their natural worship habits. After a period the individual may move on to the next stage of faith. This allows the individual to work out their spiritual muscles without destroying themselves.

How does each stage of faith worship? How do force your spirit to worship in a way that is contrary to your current natural stage? These are both important questions. Below I shall take a look at each stage of development and examine how an individual can reflect on their faith and on God by using Fowler’s six stages of faith.

Stage 1 is “the innocent.” This is the stage we are born into. At this stage of faith, all that we know of God is what our parents have given to us. For some individuals there was great instruction of God’s love and care during these early years. For other individuals these early years were completely devoid of Godly influence. Either way it is good to contemplate how our parents formed our thoughts of God.

To worship through this stage is to reflect on the faith my parents gave me. This early faith was a simple faith when my only possible spiritual acts of worship would have been singing “Jesus Loves Me” or saying a simple prayer of grace at the dining table. For those who are worshiping through this faith stage, those are good activities to focus on. The simple songs and prayers of early childhood have a great power to them because they are sincere.

To worship through this stage is to retreat into safety for a time. This was a time when we were loved and protected and all was right with the world. This was a time when our parents were all we knew. Focus on this simple faith and what it has to speak to you.

Stage 2 is “the literalist.” This is the stage of early childhood when we know that everything those we respect tell us is absolutely true. This was a time of fantastic stories such as Noah and the arc, Daniel and lion’s den, Joshua and the battle of Jericho, and David and Goliath. Our acts of worship were learning these stories and learning how God had cared for each of these people.

To worship through this stage is to reflect on the certainty I have in the faith. How could any part of these stories be false or embellished? To worship through this stage is to accept the beauty of these stories and imagine them as fantastic tales of God’s work. Take children’s picture books and try to recapture to imaginative flourishes you gave these stories when you were young. Re-memorize John 3:16 and try to understand it like you did when you were six years old.

To worship through this stage is to retreat into certainty for a time. A time when you could ask an adult a question and they could tell you the answer, and they were always right. During this time of worship take time to write out what the Bible tells me I should believe and what the adults of my church tell/told me I should believe. And then…try to believe it. For a time try to accept it as a six year old child would accept it.

Stage 3 is “the Loyalist.” This is the stage of conformity and comfort in groups. In this stage people do not like to be alone or outsiders. At this stage of faith we cling to creeds and statements of faith. We can hold these and, as a group, affirm them to be what we believe. Staying with the group assures us that we have not strayed into heresy or sin.

To worship through this stage is to reflect on the confidence my community gives our faith. I can boldly proclaim what is true and what is false because those around me will support me and back me up. Write down your community’s creeds and statements of faith. Learn them, memorize them, and treasure them. These are valuable aids to worshiping God.

To worship through this stage is to retreat into community for a time. It can be very difficult for a person whose comfort zone is stage 4 to accept that there is some validity in the community. This is a chance to discover the truth your community is willing to proclaim. This is a time to ask the question: are there things that I only believe because my community believes them? That’s okay. Take time to rest in the comfort of your community.

Stage 4 is “the Critic.” This is the stage of rejecting the norm and exploring divergent viewpoints. In this stage, people begin to wonder if what their community believes is really true. They often ask the question, “is this all there is?” At this stage of faith we explore God in new ways, through new communities and through new methods.

To worship through this stage is to reflect on the fallibility of faith. Just because I believe something does not mean that it is true. There are all sorts of avenues of faith to explore. The Christian right, the Christian left, non-Christian spiritualists, pacifists, humanitarians, deists, humanists. To worship through this stage is to spend time asking all of the “unaskable” questions. To worship as “the critic” can be very uncomfortable. There are no assurances of anything being true, right, or Godly.

To worship through this stage is to retreat into chaos for a time. Through the chaos God’s perfection is perceivable. Through the chaos we can be led to a stronger sense of God then can be had before the chaos. All those “unaskable” questions will not be answered but your spirit and your faith will be better off for asking them.

Stage 5 is “the Seer.” This is the stage that people move to when they have moved beyond the chaos to a place of synthesis. At this stage people have their faith “their” faith, but because of the journey they have been through they are able to comfortably rub elbows with people who do not necessarily share their faith.

To worship through this stage is to reflect on “my” faith. This is a time for direct personal interaction with differing spiritual contexts. Go to a monastery and explore the life of a monk, go on a mission’s trip to a radically different culture and embrace the people. This is a time to explore where faiths converge.

To worship through this stage is to retreat into assurance of my faith for a time. A time when I can interact with communities I do not necessarily agree with because I know what my faith is. During this time write out what your faith is; explore why it is your faith and what events in your life brought you to this point. Take time to go where you would not have previously gone for fear of “losing” your community’s faith.

Stage 6 is “the Saint.” This is the stage few people ever reach. At this faith stage the person is no longer motivated by their faith or beliefs, but rather by a total commitment to the guiding presence of God in all aspects of life. For people at this stage, God is all. There is no other way of expressing it that I know of. God is all. An example of this stage might be Jesus praying on the Mount of Olives in Luke 22:42, when he says, “not my will but your will be done.”

To worship through this stage is to reflect on God’s faith. To worship here is to move beyond my faith, your faith, or their faith. At this stage the only faith that exists is the faith of God. Allow God to do what he will do with you. One of my favorite stories is “The Pilgrim’s Tale,” which is about a man searching for how to pray without ceasing. He walks and walks and walks trying to find God’s leading. To worship through this stage we need to forsake all the world and walk, write, fast, pray, read, do without ceasing until God shows us his will.

To worship through this stage is to retreat into God for a time. To worship here is to allow God to be all. The sum total of your thoughts, desires, wants. Everything you are working for.

That is how you worship through Fowler’s stages of faith; taking each step carefully over the course of many months or years. Stretching and strengthening your spiritual self.

The other issue I wish to focus on is the need for both solitude and community in a healthy spiritual life. It is interesting to note that three of the six stages are best done in community (those stages being 1, 2, and 3). The other three stages require times of both solitude and community.

To have healthy spiritual worship we must take time to commune with God alone and we must take time to commune with God corporately. If we neglect either we are hurting our own spiritual walk and the walk of those who depend on us. There is not Christianity without Christians coming together to be the church. In order to worship God we must be the church community. In order to be the church community, we must be healthy spiritual individuals.

I believe that an excellent way of exercising our faith and our ability to worship God is to worship always, in both solitude and community, and to worship through the six stages of faith. This will help to keep us strong Christians who are part of a strong Christian community.

« Hide it

Read more… »

This is a question that must be explored by every generation of people because there will always be a time when it is time to transfer in the young folks, who they raised and whose faults they have known since birth, into positions of responsibility and leadership.

The way to transfer leadership from one generation to the next is through servanthood and relationship building. If a leader does not first think of themselves as a servant, then they will never be able to lead in directions that are best for the church, rather than best for themselves. If a leader does not build relationships with the next generation, then that leader will always see the next generation as the foolish teenagers they helped raise and will always overlook the God given gifts and abilities of these fellow servants.

In the same way, the emerging leaders in the coming generation must first be servants. They must be willing to submit themselves to their elders so that they can learn from them and not commit the same trespasses that the older generation committed. The emerging leaders must also build relationships. Without strong relationships built up, the older generation will always seem unchanging, uncompromising and out of touch with the world.

Before we delve further into the issue of generational transitions, two questions must be asked: why is generational transitioning in the church a problem and why, as we look at history, does it seem to be such a recurring problem? I believe that there are three answers to these questions. First, different cultures have different ways of experiencing God; second, individuals want thier needs met first; and third, change is hard.

Each generation, to a lesser or greater degree, produces with it a different culture. There are ways of worshipping God that better suit different cultures. The fact that God is worshipped in different ways neither makes one style right and one wrong, nor one style holier than another style. The different ways of worshipping God are just different.

I would take a moment here to say that we do not need to be comfortable in order to worship God; we can worship God regardless of outside style, substance or even theology. Worship of God is a matter between the individual and God. The only one who can keep me from worshipping God is me.

However, when two cultures worship God together there is a tendency for people to be uncomfortable. God is either worshipped in the style which one culture is comfortable with, which makes the other culture uncomfortable, or God is worshipped in a combination of styles, which makes both cultures uncomfortable.

This difference in style makes an older generation uncomfortable in handing over some leadership to the next generation, because it will erode their style and they will thus become less comfortable in the church. It is human nature to make one’s self as comfortable as possible and to defend that comfort. It is for this reason that leaders must be servants; they must be willing to think of others as being more important than themselves. The next generation leader must also be a servant and recognize that their comfort will make someone else uncomfortable.

This leads into the second reason for difficulty in generational transitioning: individuals want their needs met first. Humans are inherently selfish beings. We look to defend that which makes us comfortable. It is human nature for congregants to want the church to serve their needs and then serve the needs of the others. There must be mutual submission from both cultures to create an environment where intergenerational transfer of leadership is possible. Each culture must recognize the importance and value that the other culture represents.

Finally, generational transition is difficult because it requires change. Change is not easy for anyone, but it strikes some people especially hard. Because of this, it is necessary for generations to intentionally build relationships across generational lines. The younger generation needs to not promote change just for the sake of change, understanding that this will hurt other people. The older generation needs to accept that change is necessary and, with proper supervision, will make their church stronger than it ever was.

Having discussed the question of why generational transition is problematic, it would be good to briefly turn to the question of why generational transition of leadership is necessary. It is necessary for the older generation to build up leaders in the younger generation to perpetuate God’s ministry here on earth. If younger leaders are not given a chance to lead while there are still older leaders who can help guide them through the early learning stages of leadership, then the younger leaders are more apt to fail and hurt God’s ministry.

God has called us to go into all the world and spread the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This mission can not be accomplished if we are not intentionally building up new leaders all the time. In Leighton Ford’s book, Transforming Leadership, he speaks of the leadership gap that emerged in the business world of the 1990’s due to old school corporate leaders not building up the leaders who would eventually succeed them. As we look at what leaders emerged in the late 1990’s, they were largely young educated individuals who had tremendous powers of creation. Unfortunately, no one had taught them anything about business. I would suggest that the reason the tech bubble burst was because these brilliant people had not been given the opportunity to learn how to lead. The church should avoid making this mistake at all cost.

As a church’s leadership begins to transition leadership into a new generation there are three things that leader must do and three things that a leader must not do. A leader must not take sides, be alone, or command; a leader must work toward solutions of compromise, involve those he or she disagrees with, and respect all opinions.

When the time has come to transition a new generation into leadership there are usually at least two easily definable sides in the church: the new generation and the old generation. To successfully begin transferring leadership to the new generation, the current church leadership needs to avoid siding with either of these groups. If the leadership sides with the older generation, the church will tend to dismiss the younger generation as irrelevant. If the leadership sides with the younger generation, the older generation will begin to see the leadership as irrelevant. The leadership must submit to both sides and work towards solutions of compromise. By submit, I do not mean letting them have their way, I mean letting them have their say and affirming that they and their ideas are important for the church. When you have worked out a solution of compromise nobody is completely satisfied, but quite frankly that is probably best for the church. When a church meets all the expectations of any one person, it is only meeting the needs of one person.

The church leadership must not work alone; it must involve even the people that the leadership disagrees with. This does not mean that those who are in disagreement set the agenda, rather as the leadership moves toward compromise all ideas are affirmed and taken seriously. When leadership works in a vacuum, group-think takes over, then it becomes impossible to compromise because there are no known positions to compromise with.

Finally leadership must not command, but must respect all opinions. Going back to Leighton Ford’s book, there was no emerging leadership because the old-school leadership had a commanding style that did not allow for new opinions to be brought forth and thus did not allow younger potential leaders to emerge. Respecting opinions rather than commanding does not mean that leadership sways to whichever opinion is most popular, there are times when leadership must make unpopular decisions in order to lead a church where it needs to go. Respecting other opinions is a means of submission and facilitates the growth of relationships.

The “4-R’ model has tremendous implications for intergenerational transition. When we look at relationships, roles, responsibilities and results it becomes apparent that for one generation to successfully begin transferring leadership to the next, there must be considerable effort from the servant-leaders of the church.

Focusing first on relationships, for a leader to successfully begin a generational leadership transition, that individual must have strong relationships with God, him or her self and with other people (specifically the current generation of leaders and the prospective new generation of leaders). Without a strong, growing relationship with God the leader will not know God’s will. Without a strong, growing relationship with him or her self the leader will not be able to deal with the internal struggles that change creates. Without a strong, growing relationship with the current and emerging generations, the leader will be seen as an outsider trying to dictate change upon one group or the other.

The leaders beginning a generational leadership transition must posses all five “DICE+1” characteristics. They must have the dynamic determinism that will enable them to lead others in such a way that the others would wish to follow. They must have intellectual flexibility in order to adapt to the problems and concerns that will present themselves. This will also help them address the difficulties that the new generation leader will encounter. They must have the strength of character to do what God wants them to do, regardless of the outside pressures to do otherwise. They must have the emotional well-being to survive a rollercoaster ride that transition always is. Finally, they must have partner-up-ability so that they can lead the next generation leader and the old-school leaders to work somewhat harmoniously together.

During the generational leadership transition, the roles of the leadership are vital. There must be an agent of change who is willing to bring the idea of building up the next generation of leaders. There must be a strong coach who can guide the church through change, educating them about God’s plan and how it is working. There must be a spokesperson who can explain to those outside the church why there appears to be turmoil within the church. There must be a direction setter who can give hope and explain why it is such an exciting time to be a part of God’s church. If any of these roles are missing, the ability to have a positive generational transition is weakened.

The responsibilities of leadership must also be carried out. A vision must be cast that includes multiple generations leading together toward one central purpose; that is, the purpose of demonstrating Christ to the world. A strategy must be formed as to how the new generation of leadership will be meaningfully incorporated into the church structure. The goal is not necessarily to take power from those already in leadership; the goal is to be constantly building up new leaders. People must be aligned behind the vision to build up new leaders. As Jesus said, “a house divided can not stand.” If the church does not fully support a mentality of building up a new generation of leaders, then it will splinter and the attempt will hasten the decline of the church. Finally, the church must be motivated. The question, why do we have new leaders when the old ones were doing just fine, must be answered. The church is not building up new leaders for the here and now, but for the future expansion of the church.

Results are difficult to determine when dealing with generational transition. The best results for the early work of the next generation leader might be failure. It is important that leaders fail; much can be learned from failure. It is best for the next generation leader to fail while there are still other leaders around who can support and correct. However, it is also necessary for the next generation leader to succeed so the church can see that it is worthwhile to build up new leaders. The eventual result desired is the creation of a culture that is constantly seeking out and building up new leaders; when this happens then much of the tension that exists around generational transitioning disappears, since it becomes part of the normal operation of the church.

Often the problems that are experienced with generational transitioning exist in churches because those churches are failing to see beyond the here and now. I believe that once a church recognizes that it must plan for the future and realizes that the only way to do this is to bring up new leadership then generational transitioning becomes less of a problem. The goal of the church should be to create a culture that is constantly seeking out and building up new leaders who help the church spread the message of Christ to the world.

I know of many churches that have reached the point were generational transitioning is not a problem. These churches seek out and build up new leaders in the church. It is these churches that are growing and are bringing people into the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the church who cannot hand leadership over to the next generation that hurts the reputation of the church community as a whole and harms the message we were sent out to share.

At the end of Matthew chapter 28, Jesus instructed his disciples to, “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” No one person, no one group, and no one culture is able to reach all nations. It takes diversity and an appreciation of the differences that exist between us to work towards Christ’s commission. When we reach the point where we can accept that the people I don’t particularly care for are able to reach people that I have no shot at reaching, that is when we become a healthy church that is able to carry out the will of God and share the message of Christ Jesus with the world.

« Hide it

Read more… »

Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (NIV). Jesus instructs all of his followers to spread the news to the entire world that there is a way we can be close to God.

Humans were created to desire closeness with God. Genesis 3:8 tells us that Adam and Eve would walk with God in the Garden of Eden. Everyone is seeking this closeness. It is the responsibility of all who have found this closeness to God to share it with the world around them.

There is an important progression in the second half of Acts 1:8. Jesus tells his disciples that they will be his witnesses in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is where the disciples were, it was essentially their home base. Then Jesus tells them they will be his witnesses in all Judea and Samaria. Finally Jesus instructs his disciples to spread his name to the ends of the earth. This is like telling a resident of my hometown, Fairfield, Iowa, that they will be God’s witness first in Fairfield and then in all of Jefferson county and the state of Iowa and then to the ends of the earth. It is important to share the news of Jesus with your local community, with the people you come into contact with every day. Then every follower of Christ needs to expand their evangelistic influence in ever increasing circles.

Every follower of Christ plays an important part in determining the eternal condition of all the souls we come into contact with on earth. God, through the Holy Spirit, can use us to save every soul that will ever be on this planet. It is our choice of whether or not we listen to God that determines if some people will be destined to experience an eternity apart from God. God is a timeless entity and knows who will be with him forever and who will be separated from him forever. Humans are not yet timeless; our choices have an effect on the world around us. God wants a perfect world, we are the ones that have messed it up and we will continue to do so.

Sin is our effort to achieve self-salvation. We all attempt to achieve salvation, which is spiritual fulfillment, by our own good works. Repentance is coming to the realization that we must become dependant upon Christ’s good work to achieve spiritual fulfillment. Repentance is becoming aware of the sin nature rebelling against it and placing ourselves under Christ’s leadership.

The evangelist, a category which must include all those who have repented and found salvation through Christ, has the responsibility to follow the leadings of the Holy Spirit and seek out ways to share the gospel of Christ with others. Each Evangelist must not sit idly by waiting for opportunity to come along, rather, each evangelist must prepare. Ephesians 6 speaks of dressing ourselves in the armor of God. We must have truth, righteousness, faith, the Holy Spirit, the word of God, and salvation through Christ. We must develop and nurture each of these aspects of our lives. We must have “the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” This readiness only comes from preparation, practice, perseverance and prayer.

To be a “disciple” is to be a follower. Discipleship is the process by which we learn how to follow Christ. Discipleship is what allows all followers of Christ to engage in effective evangelism; however, evangelism is not the sole reason we pursue discipleship. Discipleship is the process by which God teaches us, brings us closer to himself, and enables us to minister to others.

Matthew 13:45-46 says, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” We are all merchants seeking for “the pearl.” Evangelism is the searching for and finding of the pearl. Discipleship is selling everything we own and buying into the pearl. Discipleship is the process by which we discard all of the things that keep us from a relationship with God. Discipleship is rearranging ones life so that we are living as Christ lived, that is, with the relationship between God and self at its core. The basic components of discipleship are submission, prayer, Christ-centeredness, education, confrontation, collaboration and ministry.

There are times when God wants us to grow closer to him by submitting to him and trusting him. There are times in life when you are figuratively hanging from the thirtieth floor of a burning building and God says, “Jump, I’ll catch you.” In order to grow we just need to jump. In Mark 14:36, Jesus is praying on the night of his arrest. “’Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’” Jesus was hanging from a more treacherous place than most people will ever experience, but he had faith and submitted to God’s plan.

One of the best ways to allow God to bring us closer to him is by talking to him. Jesus’ first act after his baptism was to go into the desert and commune with God in prayer. Jesus spent forty days talking to God. Allowing ourselves uninterrupted time with God is very important. It lets us ask God our questions, tell God our hopes and fears, thank God for all that he has done, and listen to God’s leading.

To be a disciple, to be a follower of Christ, you must be Christ-centered. The goal is to live life as Jesus would lead your life. To be Christ-centered is to have allowed Christ to be the leader of your life. Christ-centeredness is a freedom beyond any other freedom we can experience; it is freedom for the soul.

Education is important for a new disciple of Christ, but it is also a process that never stops. A new disciple needs to learn what it actually means to be a follower of Christ. What did Christ teach? What have other church leaders taught? Is what I believe based on what Christ taught or on my culturally influenced sense of right and wrong? What does the Bible say? These questions are never fully answered regardless of how long one studies. Education is, in my opinion, one of the least emphasized aspects of discipleship. When Jesus visited Jerusalem as a boy in Luke 2 he was knowledgeable enough to converse with the teachers. Paul was instructed by one of the greatest Jewish scholars of his day, Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). God does not shy away from questions, he encourages them, and the more questions that are asked, the more questions there are to ask. God has provided the Bible, teachers, tradition, and other texts to give us more opportunity to learn more about him and become closer followers of Christ. As disciples we need to take advantage of these resources.

Immediately after Jesus spent forty days with God, Jesus faced confrontation. The devil tempted him. Matthew 4:1-11 is often read as if Jesus was never fazed by the offers the devil made. I am convinced that the devil offered Jesus all the things that Jesus would have most wanted. Jesus was fully God, but he was also fully human. As a human he had wants, urges, desires and needs. I am sure Jesus struggled in refuting the devil’s offers. Jesus used his knowledge of God’s teachings to avoid falling to the temptation to sin. Jesus trusted God to help him through a treacherous time. Temptations are important for our spiritual growth. If we are not tempted we are not stretched and we do not grow. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Collaboration is another important aspect of discipleship. We need mentors who can offer us experience. We need accountability partners to hold us to our word. We need encouragers to bring us up when we are down. We need teammates to carry us through the difficult times. In Mark 6, Jesus sends out the twelve disciples for the first time. He sends them in pairs of two. Throughout the book of Acts, Paul always had a traveling partner such as Barnabus, Silas or Timothy. Jesus had Peter, James and John who went with him to pray on the night of his arrest. Collaboration helps us to grow closer to God.

Ministry is at the heart of discipleship. It is impossible to separate Jesus from his ministry. In the same way it should be impossible to separate our ministry from our lives. Ministry is not something we do, it is something we are. Ministry is what allows us to combine all of the other areas of discipleship and implement them into our lives. Ministry is the primary objective, and ministry is the main point at which discipleship and evangelism overlap.

God created all humans with a desire to be close to him. We need to recognize that even the most ardent atheist or agnostic is seeking God in his own way. We need to ask God to use us in whatever manner he needs in order to reach out to the lost.

In any community there are four groups of people. They are the churched, the lost-churched, the semi-churched and the unchurched. The churched are those in the community that have discovered salvation through Christ’s forgiveness and are living their lives to glorify God. The lost-churched have received salvation but are not living their lives to glorify God. The semi-churched have a background in Christianity but have not asked Christ for his gift of salvation. The unchurched have no background in Christianity and no knowledge of Christ.

Evangelism focuses primarily on the last three groups, the lost-churched, the semi-churched and the unchurched. All those in the first category, the churched, are called to be evangelists.

The mission of the church is to move the community out of the lost churched, semi-churched and unchurched groups and into the churched group. Within the churched group, the goal is to be ever moving toward a closer relationship to God.

The lost-churched need to be provided an opportunity to rediscover the glory of God. This can be accomplished by small groups led by the churched that focus on building community and exploring what Christianity actually is.

The semi-churched need to be given a reason to re-explore Christianity. They need an event that will do four things. First it will interest them, second it will not scare them away, third it will assuage some myths they have heard about Christianity and finally it will give them a desire to seek out spirituality in a Christian context.

The unchurched need to be befriended and shown the love of Jesus. Generally, this group has no conception of sin. With no knowledge that sin creates a problem, the unchurched see no need to correct it.

The church is obligated to facilitate the growth of healthy groups in which the churched can provide education, encouragement, prayer, accountability, and ministry and evangelism opportunities. The church also needs to recognize that the events they create to reach out to the lost-churched will not appeal to the unchurched; the reverse is also true. The church needs to create opportunities for ministry that will help all four groups grow closer to God.

It is important for the church to emphasize that at one time we were all lost. Some have been found, but it is our duty to ensure that we give others the opportunity to find this salvation. Finally, it is important that we focus on our immediate community, that we be involved with our larger community and that we be active in evangelizing the world.

Finally it is important to nurture a culture of evangelism inside the church. The attitude around evangelism needs to be changed from “that’s something those people do,” to “that’s what I do.”

Discipleship focuses mainly on the churched group, although, it is often an effective tool in educating and reaching out to the lost-churched and semi-churched. Discipleship and evangelism cannot be separated; one naturally flows into the other.

The mission of discipleship should be to make a fully devoted follower of Christ. We do this in three ways: by connecting with Christ, by being a part of the body of Christ, and by engaging in the mission of Christ.

We connect to Christ by submitting to his will. Our first act of submission is when we admit to God that we cannot save ourselves and we ask for the free gift of Salvation that Christ offers us. The rest of our lives need to be led in such a way that we submit to the leadership of Christ.

We discover where Christ is leading us by communing with him in prayer on a regular basis. God has left the Holy Spirit to be the light that will guide us closer to God if we admit that we do not naturally know the way. We must continually ask God to lead us and we must continually be listening for God’s leading.

The eventual goal is that, through submission and prayer, God will transform us toward the character of Christ. Few, if any, ever achieve this Christ-centeredness in life, but it is the eventual goal. We need to want to lead our lives as Christ would lead in our place.

We become a part of the body of Christ by engaging in education, collaboration and confrontation.

We educate ourselves by studying the Bible, understanding church tradition, listening to and reading from church leaders both past a present and engaging in conversation with those around us who are also on this journey of discipleship.

Each of us experiences confrontation every day. We will always be tempted and, while we should not seek out temptation, we should be thankful when it comes our way. Temptation represents an opportunity to glorify God by submitting to his leadership and, through his power, resisting the things that most tempt us. As we confront these things and, through God’s grace, resist them, they begin to have less power over us. Through this process of overcoming we move closer to the goal of Christ-centeredness.

We collaborate by meeting with other disciples in groups of various sizes. We gather in large group services and corporately worship God. We gather in small groups and gain insights as to how God is working in others’ lives. We gather in groups performing some form of ministry and grow in our faith through our experiences.

Finally, we connect to the mission of Christ by performing ministry. Ministry is both evangelizing the lost and discipling those that have already submitted to Christ’s leadership. It is important to be engaged in both evangelism and discipleship, because both help us grow more Christ-centered. A balanced ministry that reaches to those both inside and outside the church is necessary for a healthy disciple.

« Hide it

Read more… »

Europe in general and England in particular had largely eliminated religious diversity within Christianity. Each part of Europe had its specific Christian identity, be it Catholic, Lutheran, or Reformed, and England was almost entirely Anglican. These monopolies on religion had developed as Christianity became more and more tied to state functions. By eliminating rivalries both the church leaders and the state leaders could maintain their power.

Minority Christian groups viewed the Colonies as providing ample room for them to take their religion and worship as they chose. Over time English Puritans moved to the Massachusetts area in hope of creating a New England, that is, a society where church and state functioned in harmony to fulfill what God required of the people. Catholics settled in Maryland which was founded by a prominent Catholic. Pennsylvania was established by William Penn and became the home to many Quakers. Anglicans were especially abundant in Virginia. A large group of Lutherans from Austria were forced to leave their homeland about the time that the colony of Georgia was established, so Georgia had a substantial Lutheran population.

With this wide array of denominational beliefs came a wide range of opinions of how the other denominations should be treated. There were those, such as the Puritans in Massachusetts, who felt that they were recreating society in the way God would want it to be and therefore removed those individuals who did not share their religions beliefs. There were others, such as the Quakers of Pennsylvania or the colonies of New Jersey and Rhode Island, who felt that there was a strong need for religious liberty. There were still others, such as the Anglicans of Virginia, who attempted to import wholesale the denominational structure of their mother country.

William Penn wrote that there was liberty of conscience for each person to decide his or her religious obligations, and “worship toward God, must not be denied, even by those that are most scandalized at the ill use some seem to have made of such pretense.”[1] About the same time Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, felt outrage when Massachusetts hanged four Quakers and Williams sent a strong letter to the Massachusetts governor when three Baptists were arrested resulting in one being publicly whipped. Williams wrote, “Sir, I must be humbly bold to say that ‘tis impossible for any man or men to maintain their Christ by their sword”.[2]

The Puritan vision of a state structured by religion was in constant conflict with the vision of religious tolerance and freedom (at least within the boundaries of Christianity) that was held by colonies to the south of Massachusetts. The Puritans felt that Christianity overall had become corrupted; this corruption had affected European schools, the Catholic Church, and even the Church of England. The puritans felt that in order to recreate the true church Christ had planted, they needed to cut themselves off from these corrosive influences and from the untrue Christians who would try to infiltrate their society.

At the same time, the very diversity the Quakers of Pennsylvania and other Colonial Christians chose to embrace caused tension within their communities. Pastor Muhlenberg, a Lutheran minister in Pennsylvania, tells the story of a woman who had been baptized a Lutheran at the age of 9 who wished to be baptized into the Baptist church.[3] The Baptist minister had told her that she would not be a Baptist congregant if she was not baptized into the Baptist church. The woman’s husband objected to the minister’s reasoning, and so the couple called Pastor Muhlenberg in to confer with him. He stated that the woman should absolutely not be baptized again, but that he had no objection to the Baptist minister receiving her as a communicant. This is one example of the tension caused by the liberty of conscience again, wrong word.

Pennsylvania’s neighbor to the south, Virginia, never developed the same kind of conflict between differing Christian groups that developed in New England. Virginia, like Massachusetts, was founded with the idea of having an exclusive church-state relationship; the church of Virginia would be the Church of England. Virginia did not welcome in a plurality of beliefs as did Pennsylvania. In fact, in 1641 enacted a statute forbidding Catholics from holding any kind of political position[4]. However, Virginia avoided the kinds of religious conflicts encountered in Massachusetts because of its size. The Anglican Communion imported a parish model hierarchy; in a place as large and spread out as Virginia the parishes became so large that it was difficult for one priest to care for his parish. This inability to organize seemed to keep much conflict from erupting.

Ultimately, much of the tension between those who promoted and those who denigrated the idea of liberty of conscience was due to the traditions the different groups had brought with them from Europe. The Quakers had a tradition which allowed for God to speak to each individual; therefore, individuals could coexist even if there was disagreement over the details of Christianity. The Puritans of New England brought a tradition that combined a strict faith with a need to yoke together church and state; this tradition put them in conflict with many of their colonial neighbors. The Anglicans of Virginia had difficulties because of the parish organizational tradition they brought with them. Virginia was too big a land and the people were too spread out for there to be an effective parish network. Each of these groups had found their “Elbow Room” but their need to maintain their traditions was causing conflict.

Over time these traditions would change and some of these traditions would be cast aside; but as the colonists were entering a frightening new world to explore and settle there was something about repeating a familiar act, a tradition, that comforted them and helped them to rely on God.

« Hide it

Read more… »

It is surprising that any African slave could experience the Protestantism practiced in pre-Civil War America and still have come to a faith in the Christian God. Henry Bibb, a former slave from Kentucky, laments how there is “no one to preach the gospel who is competent to expound the Scriptures, except slaveholders. And the slaves, with but few exceptions, have no confidence at all in their preaching, because they preach a pro-slavery doctrine.”[1] In the same manner William Thomson, a Scottish weaver visiting South Carolina remarks that even though the African slaves were allowed to attend the church (or at least the upper galleries of the church) it was as if they did not even exist, “I was sorry to observe that the minister never turned his eye to the galleries…one would not have known there was an ignorant negro in the house, although there were five or six times as many black skins as white.”[2]

Fredrick Douglass spoke on several occasions of how white preachers would twist any gospel passage in order to condone slavery and to throw out any passage that seems to oppose slavery. At one speech in Boston Douglass said, “It has been said here at the North, that the slaves have the gospel preached to them. But you will see what sort of a gospel it is: – a gospel which more than chains, or whips, or thumbscrews, gives perpetuity to this horrible system.”[3]

In contrast, however, there were many advocates of slavery who believed that even slaves needed to be treated humanely. James Henley Thornwell of South Carolina was one such believer. Thornwell notes that the apostle Paul recognized that slaves possess conscience, reason and will and therefore have a moral character just as any slave owner has a moral character. However Thornwell does not draw this to conclude that slavery is immoral; on the contrary Thornwell notes that Paul also viewed slavery as normative. The thing which needed to be focused on, according to Thornwell, was the treatment of slaves by their masters. Though, by the providence of God, a man is born into slavery, that man still deserves to be treated with certain rights as a human. However, Thornwell would go on to say, that God places specific and unique duties on different individuals, if God chooses to place the duties of a slave on someone then that person should be the best slave they can be and their master should treat them as one of God’s children.[4]

As can be seen from these examples churches had gone from shaping the culture to being shaped by the culture. The Bible was not the resource to which one went when trying to determine if slavery was right or wrong; rather, the Bible was the resource used (by both sides) to confirm previously held opinions.

On the abolitionist front a young printer from New England named William Lloyd Garrison was so opposed to slavery that he was willing to give up certain aspects of the Christianity if they could be construed as supporting slavery. Garrison believed that an individual should search out the scriptures and discard any parts which were judged to be untrue. He held truth to be the highest virtue when he wrote, “To discard a portion of scripture is not necessarily to reject the truth, but may be the highest evidence that one can give of his love of truth.”[5]

This view that scripture could be subjectively divided into the portions that are true and the portions that are false was ultimately self-defeating. If a person can decided for him or her self what parts of scripture to follow, then that person can construct an argument to support practically anything. Those who supported slavery could choose which scriptures to accept as true just as easily as those who opposed slavery.

Ultimately, the disagreement over slavery resulted in the American Civil War (1860-1865). The result of this war was the end of slavery in the United States; although it must be noted that the end of slavery did not mark the beginning of equal rights to persons of all colors. The Civil War was not wholly driven by the moral issues of slavery and the question of its morality. To a certain extent the Civil War can be seen as the natural growing pains of a young nation. Horace Bushnell, a Connecticut pastor spoke the following words at the Yale commencement exercises of 1865:

“in this blood our unity is cemented and forever sanctified. Something was gained for us here, at the beginning, by our sacrifices in the fields of our Revolution, – something, but not all. Had it not been for this common bleeding of the States in their common cause, it is doubtful whether our Constitution could ever have been carried…[yet we] had not bled enough , as yet, to merge our colonial distinctions and make us a proper nation.”[6]

Bushnell believed that the nation could not have survived as a United body had it not been for this shedding of blood to bind her together.

Regardless of whether the war was necessary to bind the nation together it is disturbing to note how commonly both abolitionists and slavery advocates attempted to make religion heel to their social agenda. Each side sought to shape the religious morals of the day to match their agenda. Perhaps no statement so eloquently captured the futility of these actions than did Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address.

“Both [parties] read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered – that of neither has been answered fully.”[7]

Ultimately one wonders whether Protestantism had a greater influence on the American culture or American culture had a greater influence on Protestantism. In any era culture and religion will pull on one another trying to shape the world at large. It seems that in pre-Civil War America that tug-of-war ended in a draw with neither force overcoming the other.

« Hide it

Read more… »

In an attempt to find the answer to this question the pilgrim goes to many great preachers and theologians hoping that they will be able to explain it to him.

First the pilgrim goes to the cathedral church on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. The bishop preaching that day says that it is first necessary to acquire a solid faith before you can pray. This does not satisfy the pilgrim, “how do I acquire it, when faith is not from us. For it is God’s gift.”

Next the pilgrim visits the church of the Theological Academy on the Sunday of the Adoration of the Cross. The preacher at this church spoke forcefully against prolonged prayers and suggested that short but ardent prayers are what is required. The pilgrim disagreed and writes, “The Lord commanded not only prolonged prayer, but also prayer at all times, and he illustrated this in the parable – that it is always fitting to pray and not grow weary.”

On another Sunday in another town the pilgrim heard the archpriest speak. The archpriest taught that there is no use praying constantly if you are not doing acts of piety. Prayer, according to the archpriest will not be heard without works of faith, works of charity and frequent attendance at church. After reading Isaiah the pilgrim concluded that this was incorrect: “First of all, you must seek the Lord and call upon him in prayer. Then, when on account of this he draws near to your soul, you must endeavor to leave behind to works of sin.”

Next the pilgrim visits a learned nobleman but the pilgrim does not understand the nobleman’s words. The pilgrim then visits a kindly monastery supervisor who teaches him out of a book by Bishop Dimitry called Spiritual Training of the Inner Person. This book tells the pilgrim that it is customary to call an act that is performed often unceasing. This did not satisfy the Pilgrim’s quest.

Finally the pilgrim met “a monk of the great habit from the hermitage” on the road. This monk taught the Pilgrim that, “It is not by the wisdom of this world nor by superficial inquisitiveness that the celestial light of unceasing interior prayer is reached, but, on the contrary, by poverty of spirit and practical experience it is found in mysterious simplicity.” The monk goes on to tell the pilgrim that perfection and righteousness are things that we are not capable of. “Consequently, only frequency and regularity are left to the portion of our ability as means to acquire prayerful purity, which is the mother of every spiritual blessing.”

The monk then teaches the pilgrim to pray the Jesus prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Through the ever increasing repetition of this prayer and a constant concentration on Jesus through the prayer the pilgrim is able to nearly find what he has been seeking. “Even though I have not attained unceasing, self-activating spiritual prayer in the heart, still, glory be to God, I now clearly understand what the expression means that I heard in the Epistle: Pray unceasingly.”

There are two important aspects to the Pilgrim’s Tale. First is the journey itself, which itself allowed the pilgrim to find what he was looking for. Second is the use of a book called the Philokalia, which the pilgrim was able to us to better see what the Bible taught.

The pilgrim’s journey is important because without the journey the pilgrim would not have been ready when he found the answer to his question. The journey taught the pilgrim perseverance, and humility. The pilgrim had to persevere in order to find his answer. At any point the pilgrim could have turned away from his journey and gone on to live a perfectly fine Christian life. But the pilgrim wanted more. He wanted to find how he could have the best possible relationship with God, and because he persevered he was eventually led to that place.

It is important to chronicle all of the dead ends that the pilgrim went down before he eventually found the monk who instructed him. Even after the pilgrim found the monk he still had to persevere through the struggle of beginning the discipline of prayer he was pursuing.

The second important aspect of the Pilgrim’s Tale is how the Philokalia is used. The Philokalia, a book filled with the writings of great religious fathers, is not viewed as being the all important book. Rather the Philokalia is used as a means of interpreting the Bible. The monk tells the pilgrim, “No, it is not more sublime nor is it holier than the Bible, but it does contain lucid explanations of what the Bible holds mystically and what cannot be easily grasped by our shortsighted mind.” The monk goes on to explain that just as you use a piece of glass to study the sun, in the same way, you can use the Philokalia to study the Bible.

In today’s world it is important to be reminded that truths are often only revealed to us after periods of perseverance. In fact, we are often not ready to accept the truth until we have gone through the period of perseverance. If the pilgrim had met the monk at the beginning he would have just rejected him as crazy; but because the pilgrim had persevered, God had brought him to place where he was ready to hear what the monk was saying. Only after he had persevered was he humble enough to accept the monk’s guidance. In our Christian walk, in our ministry, in our relationships, the discovery of God and his will is often only revealed to us after we have persevered and been made humble.

Often times in our ministry we elevate tradition to a height that it does not deserve. Tradition is not Jesus, tradition is not God, and tradition is not the Bible. Rather tradition is a means of exploring God, Jesus and the Bible. Just as the Philokalia was only a means of exploring the Bible, so also church tradition is a means of exploring God; it is not an end in itself. It is important to be reminded that books, traditions and other Christian practices, while held in a high esteem, should not be held in a place higher than they deserve.

« Hide it