The Monday Muse: The Church as Community

I love reading the book of Acts. It always makes me reconsider the current church landscape. How should the church function? What should it look like? We should all hold the understanding that the church is a body of people and not a building. Sometimes we forget this truth. It is easy to do in the midst of our CEO-driven churches. I fear that many churches function more like businesses than than gathering of God worshipers. I know that is an oversimplification. There is certainly a business element to any group who owns real estate and must manage funds. This is true, of course, if you believe that the church is best served in this form.

In Acts 2 and 4, the church is referred to as a community of believers. They pull together all of their possessions and resources. They share everything. They live in community. It is a challenging notion whether in a literal sense or in principle. But that’s just it…is it principle or a more literal example?

What seems to be the best and most faithful expression of the community of believers?

I will be very interested to hear your thoughts on this topic. I am constantly wrestling with different ideas but never quite settle things. So let’s try to work this out together. Game on.

The Monday Muse: Evangelical

What is an evangelical? Our friends at Merriam-Webster list several meanings for the word evangelical. One definition means “relating to, or being in agreement with the Christian gospel especially as it is presented in the four Gospels.” They also say that it can mean “emphasizing salvation by faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ through personal conversion, the authority of Scripture, and the importance of preaching as contrasted with ritual.” Even a classic dictionary like Webster understands that evangelical is centered around the gospel, the good news. The gospel is the foundation of what it means to be an evangelical.

Now ask a person on the street what first comes to mind when mentioning the word evangelical. I have a sneaking suspicion that it won’t match Webster’s definition. You will likely be given a host of other words that give evangelicals a much less favorable definition. Fundamentalists. Right-wing. Conservative. Judgmental. Ridiculous.

If we were to ask ourselves as Christians who falls under the banner of evangelical, we would have a long list. Fundamentalist. Emergent. Emerging. Traditionalist. Baptist. Methodist. Liberal. Conserative. The list could go on for days. Touchstone magazine posted a forum of six evangelicals discussing the definition of evangelical along with assessing the state of evangelicalism. David Wells, author and professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, has questioned whether or not we should continue to retain the term with all of its baggage and stereotypes. Joe Carter commented on the growing trend of people dropping the term evangelical and declared his intentions to be the last evangelical standing if it comes down to it.

So consider this question…

Should we drop or hold onto the term evangelical? Is it worth retaining?

Much more than hearing your answer to this question, I look forward to hearing why you think it is or isn’t worth retaining. I have several things I want to say on this topic but I will save it for the comments section and possibly a future post. Game on.

The Monday Muse: Church Programs

Following a good discussion on evangelism last week and the prompting of my friend Matt, this week’s question builds from where we left off.

Do church programs help or hurt efforts to promote godliness in our everyday lives?

I posed this question at the end of last week’s discussion in regards to evangelism. To take it a little further, I want to apply it to many other areas. Do programs help or hurt our efforts to promote healthy time in the Word, prayer, meditation on Scripture, evangelism, and service in our everyday lives? This is a wide open question so feel free to be as thorough as you like. And as always, be sure to support your claim.

Union Students to Stay at Church Hotel

I emailed my good friend Ben Mandrell, Senior Pastor of Englewood Baptist Church, the other day to find out what some of us in Nashville might be able to do to help out at Union.  Ben didn’t have much information for me but he did let me know how the Lord’s providence allowed Englewood to tend to a major need of students on campus. A few years ago the church had purchased a local hotel next door. Several ideas were mentioned concerning the use of the property. To my knowledge, it has been used for several ministries within the church while still functioning as a hotel. However, it seems that divine providence has revealed the greatest use of this facility thus far. Englewood has offered the hotel space to Union as a means of housing over 300 students who no longer have a dorm room. The Lord certainly provides.

No Music in the Church?

Greg Gilbert over at Church Matters has posted a thought provoking article about music within the church. Here’s a little taste:

“I think the entire evangelical world ought to put a moratorium on any kind of instrumental music, and just chant psalms in their worship services—for the next ten years.”

Read the rest of the article to find out exactly what he means by this statement.

The Monday Muse

The other day I was thinking that it would be nice to have a particular topic to discuss each week, something to ponder and discuss over the course of an entire week. With all the pressure to come up with new posts, it is hard to really engage in any type of meaningful conversation. And it’s hard to really dig into a discussion when topics are constantly changing. So my humble solution is called The Monday Muse. Each Monday I will post a question to be considered, discussed, and even debated for the remainder of the week. I will still submit other posts throughout the week but The Monday Muse will be a focus point of sorts. If we can all focus in on one topic per week then maybe we can explore issues in a little more depth.

Technically, it is Tuesday so I’m already behind for this week. However, here is the question for the week.

Is the alter call a necessary or deceiving tool within the church? 

Church Set to Protest Ledger’s Memorial Service

In a stunning display of grace, Westboro Baptist Church has stated that they will protest the memorial service of Heath Ledger. Westboro is the same Kansas church that pickets the funerals of American soldiers who are killed in Iraq. Now they have decided that Ledger’s performance in Brokeback Mountain is cause for them to unmercifully protest any type of memorial service for the man and his family.

Though it doesn’t suprise me, especially coming from Westboro, I am still stunned. This planned action is both gutless and heartless. Whether you agree with Ledger’s character or role in protraying homosexuality, protesting a man’s funeral might be the close second to cheering for the man’s death on the graceless scale. At the very least it is like rubbing salt in a wound. How would Jesus treat this family? What would he do in this situation? I can’t exactly answer that question. However, I have a strong hunch that picketing and protesting, and at a man’s funeral no less, would not be his course of action. We are called to speak the truth in love…in love. (Ephesians 4:15) What love can be seen in protesting a man’s memorial service? Can a person disagree with another’s stance and beliefs while showing grace and love toward that same person? Absolutely. Instead of rushing over to Hobby Lobby to gather up picketing gear, how about humbly and thoughtfully reaching out to the family and friends of this man and showing them gentle compassion as Jesus showed compassion. Wouldn’t that go a long way in protraying the truth of the gospel? Wouldn’t that be a better representation of Christ? My hope is that between now and the memorial service Westboro Baptist Church will seriously reconsider their course of action. My hope is that they will put on the character of Christ and discard the radical legalism of the Pharisees.

To the Ledger family…though I am not a person of any great significance and for what it is worth, I am sorry for your loss.

Relevance vs. Distinctiveness: What’s the Real Problem?

Continuing our dialogue on engaging the culture, Baptist Press recently discussed the issue of relevance with Mark Dever. Dever shared several concerns regarding an overemphasis on relevancy in ministry and the church. As he says, “I would like to suggest that the most fundamental problem in the church is not that we are not relevant enough in relation to the world, but that the church is not distinct enough from the world. Our churches must reflect the character of God.”

Dever goes on to challenge church leaders to “channel their energy toward maintaining purity in the church instead of spending great amounts of time and ministry on relating to the culture.” Yes we need to meet people in their context. However, that concept should not require a program within the church. In the midst of normal, everyday life we should find ourselves dealing with the same things as others within our community and sphere. So relevance should be very natural. This natural relevance should also lead to a shifting of priorities within the church. Instead of being driven by numbers or results, we should be driven by faithfulness to the Word of God and the Christian life. We need to be more concerned with pursuing God and less concerned with how many people fills the pews or walk the aisle (which brings on a whole other discussion).

I recommend this article to anyone like myself who is consistently pondering these issues. I think Dever hits the mark dead on.

Convergent Conference

Today I began listening to the recorded sessions from the Convergent Conference at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Let me just say that so far they are stellar. I have listened to the first three and now wish I would’ve been in attendance. J.D. Greear is soon to become one of my new favorite preachers. He gave some great examples of how to better serve your community. Ed Stetzer did a great job of reminding us of the inherent relevance of the gospel. I thought the highlight of his message came when he distinguished between changing modes and changing theology. The methods of reaching out and sharing the gospel can and inevitably will change as culture changes. However, the message of the gospel is timeless and not subject to the popular notions of the day. This is where the most extreme manifestation of the emergent church has gotten it wrong. Stetzer’s discussion naturally led itself into Mark Driscoll’s session. He gave an overview of his life and ministry and then explained the three streams of the emerging church: relevants, revisionists, and reformed.

These messages are quite possibly the best I have heard on the subject of the emerging church, cultural engagement, and differing methods. They are so good that I’m going to post them all here so you can have easy access to them. And if you are an iTunes user you can download all of the audio directly at the Southeastern podcast.

• Session 1 – J.D. Greear
• Session 2 – Ed Stetzer
• Session 3 – Mark Driscoll
• Session 4 – Dr. Danny Akin
• Session 5 – Dr. Alvin Reid
• Q & A – Panel Discussion

Christianity Today on Driscoll

Christianity Today recently ran an article on Mark Driscoll called Pastor Provocateur. For all the flack that Driscoll receives for being brash, I found this article to be insightful and quite fair. I was touched by one man’s account of how Driscoll saved his marriage and ministry. I’ve also been challenged and encouraged by Driscoll’s humility in recognizing his shortcomings. It is always easier to see the faults in others and miss the huge plank in our own eye. I admire his transparency and ability to make God known through his weaknesses. There is a lot more I could say but go read the article for yourself. I believe it will bless you as you seek to live out the gospel daily.