Liberating you from bad ideas about God
I posted a new Examiner.com article today, called “The End of the World as We Know It.”
Here is an excerpt from the article:
The Kingdom of Heaven is not about waiting for the world to end when we all get swept up into heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is about doing on earth what is already done in heaven. How will you take part in making heaven on earth a reality?
If pastors are serious about getting people to serve in the community, they must lead the way. I have suggested earlier that one way to show such seriousness is by cancelling one or two Sunday services per month and taking the people into the community serve others.
Such leadership-led church service in the community will show the people that church is not about entering a brick building on Sunday morning, but having a tangible presence in our cities, towns, and neighborhoods. This ultimately is what incarnation is all about, to be present among the people, not asking them to come join us in what we are doing, but to go join them in their activities and events, their sorrow and their pain, their laughter and their joy.
Too many Christians are trying to escape the world when we should be entering more fully into it. Following Jesus is not about escape. We are not here on earth to say prayers, sing songs, study the Bible, and wait for the rapture. We still have something to do. We must love and serve. We must restore peace and joy. We must announce that the morning has come, the sun has risen, the exile is over. People must be shown that God is not mad, the world is not all evil, and the kingdom is at hand. We must reveal hope, restoration, and redemption. And the only way we can reveal such things is by being present in the world with the people.
But presence is not about going where the people are so we can preach on the street corner, sing Christian songs, or hand out bottles of water with Bible verses on them. Presence is not simply being among people. Presence is sharing life with people, spending time with them, being friends for the long haul. It’s not about getting people to reform their lives so they can be accepted by us and our community. It’s about us entering fully into their lives if they will accept us into their community.
To be present with people, it is quite possible that we must change more than they. We must become more like them then ask them to become more like us. Remember Jesus, according to Philippians 2, when He entered this world, emptied Himself of nearly everything which identified Himself as God, and became fully human. Jesus did not ask us to become more like God; He became like us.
And as we enter into the world, we must do the same.
Scientists always get excited about seeing new stars being born on the other side of the galaxy. Well, I get excited about seeing new churches being born. Or maybe I should say, the church expanding in new ways.
Anyway, Sol Stallings over at Looking for Church has recently started meeting with a group of people in his home, and has been making posts about it and getting feedback from several other bloggers I read and follow.
If you are looking at starting a similar group, you will enjoy reading these posts. They answer questions such as: How do you gather people? Who do you start with? Where do you meet? What should you do? Who should lead?
Here are some of the links, as well as some of the other bloggers who have been in the discussion. If you have posted about this on your blog, and I forgot to mention you, post it in a comment, and I will add a link.
From Sol Stallings at Looking for Church:
From Alan Knox at The Assembling of the Church
From Arthur Sido at The Voice of One Crying in Suburbia
There might be a reason circumcision lost it’s significance as a sign of covenant membership…there’s only one way to tell who is “in.”
Herod’s Temple, which was the one Jesus and the disciples would have used, had several different courts, a court of Gentiles, a Court of Women, a Court of Israelites (for men only), and a Court of Priests. One of the duties of the temple priests was to make sure that only the right people got into the right courts. Anyone could be in the Court of Gentiles, and it was easy to figure out who could enter the Court of Women, but how could the priest stationed at the entrance to the Court of Israelite men keep out all those who were not Israelites? There was really only one way to distinguish them from everyone else, and that is through their circumcision. It’s possible that all they did was post a warning sign (like the stone inscription on the left), but it’s also possible that they took other measures to keep out all who were not Gentiles… After all, the Jews were known to do everything necessary to maintain the purity of their temple.
This gives new meaning to the handshake of welcome you receive from the greeter when you enter some churches. Sometimes they even hug you. As forced and as awkward as that is, it could be much, much worse.
Bob Roberts writes WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO PASTOR IN AMERICA THE NEXT 20 YEARS:
The next 20 years are going to be some of the most exciting, tumultuous, confusing, difficult, historical, adventurous, pioneering, years ever in the history of the church to pastor a church …
It will take the same things it’s always taken to pastor a church: prayer, spiritual disciplines, the knowledge of your community and the people in the church, study, a knowledge of the Word of God and the ability to teach it, the ability to inspire and lead, all of that – but there will be some additional things in a way unlike any other time in history.
#1 The ability to learn from the Global church. We are not growing, as much as I would like to say there are – I know of no church planting movements in the US – we will have to learn from them. In addition, they are going to see things from their perspective in the Scriptures that as Westerners we haven’t seen – we must be ready to learn.
#2 The ability to adapt to a global context. It will become more and more impossible to “do church” in your community. We’re just too connected. What happens in one part of the world affects every part of the world.
#3 The ability to work across “party” lines. No longer will we work in isolation from other tribes, denominations, nations, or even religions for that matter – there will be some things that will be necessary that all of us learn to respect one another and get along. For believers, Jesus makes it clear that “they will know we are his by our love for each other” and we have been called to Unity – how in God’s name that will happen will be the greatest supernatural miracle since the resurrection.
#4 The ability to bring value to the community beyond Sunday church. We call it missional – they call it civic or civil society. The church of necessity will be engaged with domains of society because that is the infra-structure of the world.
#5 The ability to take complex issues theologically and make them simple and applicable for everyday followers of Jesus. Jesus told stories, Paul wrote theologies, we write sermons with texts and points – I wonder what sermons will come to look like?
#6 The ability to embrace the Holy Spirit – all of us. Not so much for the supernatural but for everyday guidance for a thousand ethical questions people are going have driven by science and money – as well as recognizing divine moments.
The mass marketing of the Gospel isn’t over, but it’s going to be people driven more than market driven.#7 The ability to celebrate disciples and the whole church and allow them deeply into ministry instead of a “preacher driven” ministry.
#8 The ability to not just tolerate but enjoy diversity in every form – cultures, peoples, expressions of faith – there will be no one box – only one Lord and Savior.
Following the lead of Alan Knox, I was recently approved to write for Examiner.com. My page is here. I learned today that Dan Allen has also started writing.
If you are a blogger, I encourage you to apply also. I don’t know how many applicants they turn down, but one thing I do know. As I was writing my application piece and waiting for it to be read and approved, I watched several of the short videos in their “Examiner University” section which contain tips for writing good articles.
I’ve taken several writing classes, but have never taken a journalism class, and the information in this section of Examiner.com was extremely useful. Even if you are not immediately approved, you can still watch the videos and become a better writer and blogger.
If you do apply to write, please enter my name – Jeremy Myers – in the referral section (or Alan Knox or Dan Allen if you know them better), and when you get approved, make sure you let me know what your page is so I can link to it.
My only problem now is figuring out how to find time to write articles for both my blog and for Examiner.com. Any ideas?
There is nothing more needed in Christianity today than creativity.
We don’t need more doctrinal precision and biblical knowledge, more conferences and programs. We don’t need more cookie-cutter youth groups copied from the megachurch down the street. We don’t want to hear another worship song with the same beat, the same tempo, the same words, and the same three chords as every other worship song.
Christianity suffers from the pandemic disease of just copying each other in what we do, what we say, and how we look. As the world struggles with the ethical dilemmas of whether or not we should allow clones, Christianity should just be shrugging our shoulders; We’ve been making clones for hundreds of years, from the way our buildings look to the way our people look. Sure, there are “cooler” versions out there, but they still gather at the same old places at the same old times to do the same old things for the same old purposes.
When are we going to break out of the mold and do something that shocks, surprises, and amazes?
Let me back up and start from the beginning. The very beginning.
In the Beginning
Christianity must be creative because first and foremost, we follow a creative God. The very first act of God recorded in Scripture is creation. An eye-popping, universe-exploding, noisy, colorful, cacophony of creative power unleashed into darkness and chaos.
But when we see darkness and chaos all around us, all we can think of doing is gathering together in our huddled masses, circling the wagons, and praying for the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ who will ride in on His white stallion with thunder in his footsteps and lightning in his fist, and cast down all our foes, restore peace and justice, and finally set all things right. Then He will rule and reign and wipe away every tear.
Doesn’t that sound great? Of course it does. But I sometimes Jesus is watching all this, shaking His head and saying, “What do they think I left them there for?”
And we cry out, “But what can we do? There are so few of us against the gathering storm! We are weak; they are strong! We are few; they are many!” Hmm, that sounds an awful lot like some cries I’ve heard out of Scripture in various places. I’ll let you find them on your own.
Jesus, I think, tells us the beginning place. The way to find the solution is not with refortifying our defenses, preaching longer, or singing louder. When chaos and darkness descend upon us, the first step toward light and order is creativity. This is what Jesus meant when He said that we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless we become like little children.
Like a Child
One of the things that characterize little children is creativity. They do not think about what they can and cannot do. They do not tally the forces arrayed against them. They simply imagine another world, a place where people never die, where nobody goes hungry, and the lion literally lays down with the lamb. In their creative world, dreams become reality.
Does imagination make the dreams become reality? Of course not. It’s naive to think so. But this does not mean we should not creatively imagine. Without creative imagination, we will continue to tackle age-old problems with dreary and decaying solutions: “Bomb them!” “Tax that!” “Hoard this!” “Sell those!” “Gather the wagons! Get out the guns!”
There has to be a better way. A way of light and love, peace and unity, healing and service. A way of flexibility and freedom, wonder and imagination.
What is that way? Honestly, I don’t know. But we’ll never find it, until and unless we begin with creativity.
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This blog post was part of a Synchroblog on Creation and Creativity. Here are the other contributors:
Free Book Offer! Read Below…
For people who are gay but who also want to follow Jesus, “coming out” to church people probably feels very close to what lepers felt in the days of Jesus when they first found out they had leprosy. A gay Christian often experiences the same rejection. People who used to love them now fear them. People who used to be friends now avoid them. People they don’t know condemn them.
And frequently today, just like then, after all the rejection and pat answers, gay Christians experience deep loneliness, shame, and fear. Sometimes they wonder if the religious people are right…maybe God is judging them. Maybe God is angry at them. Maybe God does hate them. Maybe they really are lepers.
Wesley Hill struggled with all of this. He is a gay Christian, and recently wrote a book called Washed and Waiting about the struggles and experiences he has faced. I don’t know what your viewpoint is on someone being gay and a Christian, but let me suggest that you read his book before you talk about the “choice” Wesley Hill made to be gay (he didn’t), or how his father was abusive or absent (he wasn’t), or how Wesley should just “man up” and fall in love with a woman (he’s tried), or get “cured” by reading the Bible and praying more (he probably reads the Bible and prays more than you or I).
He shares his story in the book, explaining how he struggled with living according to the Gospel as a gay person, and how he experiences deep loneliness and shame in nearly all of his relationships. I think that every person struggles with these same issues, whether or not we are gay, but from reading the book, it seems such struggles are amplified and magnified for gay Christians.
I’m not sure his answers will satisfy everyone (gay or not), but Wesley came to these conclusions:
If you know someone who is gay and trying to follow Jesus, or simply want to understand the fear, pain, loneliness, and struggle that gay Christians feel, I highly recommend this book.
FREE BOOK OFFER: If you post a thoughtful reply to this post (not just “Nice post, Jeremy!”), or share a story about yourself, or how you are showing love and acceptance to gay people, I will enter you in a drawing on February 14 for a free copy of Washed and Waiting.
For everybody else, here is a Free Preview PDF.
I got called a name today by another Christian. I did not especially like it. I was called an agnostic. I looked at him kind of weird when he said it, thinking he was joking. But he wasn’t. We have known each other for about two years, and though we agree on many basic doctrines of Christianity, we don’t agree on everything, and we definitely do not see eye to eye on some central Christian practices like baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and church attendance.
So today he called me an agnostic.
Given the context of our conversation, I was not sure he knew what the word meant, so I tried to get some clarification. “What do you mean?” I asked. “Agnostics do not know whether or not God exists. Atheists believe God does not exist. Agnostics are open to the idea, but unsure. I believe God exists, so I am not an agnostic.”
But he persisted. He countered that even though I believed God existed, he held several beliefs about the attributes and actions of God about which I was uncertain. Therefore, in his mind I was an agnostic.
It’s odd, isn’t it, when we use our own beliefs to determine the orthodoxy of someone else?
Anyway, it soon became evident that I would not be able to convince him that I was not an agnostic. All I could do was chuckle to myself and walk away. If he wanted to call me an agnostic simply because I didn’t believe the same things he did with the same certainty, let him.
Later on, I realized that for him, agnostic is probably equivalent to unbeliever. If so, I guess that would also make me a backslider, and possibly even a heretic. He is probably praying for me right now to “return to the fold.”
Do you ever notice how many names we Christians like to call people? Adulterers, heathens, pagans, unbelievers, unchurched, the list goes on and on. (I wrote a post about this a while back.) I wonder if they dislike it as much as I disliked being labeled an agnostic. Maybe they don’t care. Maybe they don’t know.
But one thing is for sure, labeling others in such ways affects how we view and interact with them. So I propose a label that everyone can except. Let s stop the name calling, and just call people what they are. Let’s call them “people.”
The kind of person who wants to leave this world a better place lives very differently than the kind of person who wants to leave this world for a better place.
Which are you?
(Though I tweaked it a bit, this quote came from Brian MaClaren, Finding our Way Again, p. 69.)
