It's a strange question to ask about the church but I think one that is worth considering. What are people looking for? It seems that many are looking for a satisfaction that they can't quite find with church, so they move on to the next one hoping for a better experience.
Churches seem to be like stores in shopping malls. Christians go into this store and that store with a consumer mindset looking for something unique and extraordinary to satisfy their spiritual cravings. If they can't find it here, or once the experience of a particular style wears off, its time to move on to the next place. We've become churchaholics in nature. We keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting better results, and we all know that this is the definition of insanity.
It seems that gone are the days when churches stayed together for a lifetime (if there ever was such an era). It would be an interesting survey to discover how many times in this present day era pastors and pew-sitters alike change churches for the purpose of a new experience. I wonder what it tells us when faith runs dry and stale in a particular church setting that would cause one to move on to another?
It might mean that individually we are too dependant upon the church to do for us what God would do every day of our lives if we let Him. We don't simply find God in church. We find Him first and foremost in our lives and our relationships with others. It is God working through our lives that makes up the church, instead of the church making up God for us.
After almost 30 years of ministry I have come to the conclusion that the church is first and foremost a place of deployment for ministry. It is a place where Christians gather together in honor and worship of God for the sake of mission in their community and around the world. We exist for the sole purpose of those outside our four walls. It has been a long journey for me to come to that conclusion because I too am guilty of moving on in search of greater meaning and purpose in the name of church; but I must remember that church is not about me, it is about God and His heart for a lost and dying world.
Finally let me say that I believe that the purpose of the church has nothing to do with a greater experience with God. Experiences come through faith and faith is all about following and serving Christ. Therefore, we should have special experiences from God in spite of the church and its movement (or lack of it), because faith is personal. It is an active faith that moves mountains not the church.
A church can offer all kinds of special experiences and still never give any substancial service to Christ. Service is practical, and out of the practical flows signs and wonders from God, not the other way around. So let us be deployed and see the mighty hand of God working through us.
Blessings,
-Leo
Friday, September 16, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
How do We do Church?
Last night at Vesper Service we studied Luke 13:1-9, which ends with the parable of the fig tree. Some scholars believe that Jesus relates this story to the history and judgment of Israel. The fig tree itself represents God's chosen nation, the owner of the fig tree represents God, and the caretaker represents Jesus. The fig tree does not produce fruit after its three year gestational period, the proportion of time for fig trees to bear figs. The owner of the tree instructs the caretaker to cut it down; but the caretaker pleas for the tree's life for one more year.
The moral of the analogy is that much of Israel's approach to religion became mostly self-centred in terms of how it was practiced. They put their stock in their beliefs and traditions, and rules and regulations. It seems for some their practice of religion became a way to control and protect their invested interests. They were more prone to stay away from that which they considered sinful for fear that being in the presence of evil would somehow infect them.
Could this be a lesson for today's institutional church as well. I am proud to say that we at New Life Baptist seem to have a heart for a missional type of evangelism. We care for each other and love each other well. I also know of individuals within our fellowship who care for the needs of others outside the dimensions of our institutional clan, and even among the unsaved. These are good core values to have and most certainly derive from the command of the Great Commission.
Many of the religious leaders of Jesus day had a Jewish centric focus in their religious values. Their belief seemed to be that the standard of who they were was the ladder for everyone else to climb.
They were quick to condemn Jesus' way: His intentional association with the under-belly of society, eating and drinking with sinners, and allowing unclean people such as prostitutes and tax collectors to join His movement. Jesus was a threat for which they would go to great lengths to stamp out, including trumping up false accusations to put Him on trial and see a death penalty served.
What are we willing to do for the sake of the gospel. We usually do not stray much from our comfortable formats of evangelism. It is safe there and we don't have to get our hands dirty or endanger our reputations. One person in my church shared the story of her experience in the Salvation Army church in Ontario. One of the ministries of that church was called a Pub Ministry. She said they went to the pubs on the weekends for the sole purpose of association with people who may need Christ in some way and opportunities to minister to them. She told of one hardened drunkard who actually came to the Lord through this ministry and now is a pastor himself.
The question is: how far are we willing to go for the gospel of Jesus Christ. One conclusion we have come to here at New Life Baptist is that these type of ministries do not generally come knocking on the doors of our church. Maybe that is why Jesus used the word "go" in the Great Commission?
As far as the care takers plea for the fig tree, Jesus pleas for the world which stays off God's final judgment of the evil world we live in. He has this crazy idea that through the birth the church and over time that the world can be saved. Go figure???
Blessings,
-Leo
The moral of the analogy is that much of Israel's approach to religion became mostly self-centred in terms of how it was practiced. They put their stock in their beliefs and traditions, and rules and regulations. It seems for some their practice of religion became a way to control and protect their invested interests. They were more prone to stay away from that which they considered sinful for fear that being in the presence of evil would somehow infect them.
Could this be a lesson for today's institutional church as well. I am proud to say that we at New Life Baptist seem to have a heart for a missional type of evangelism. We care for each other and love each other well. I also know of individuals within our fellowship who care for the needs of others outside the dimensions of our institutional clan, and even among the unsaved. These are good core values to have and most certainly derive from the command of the Great Commission.
Many of the religious leaders of Jesus day had a Jewish centric focus in their religious values. Their belief seemed to be that the standard of who they were was the ladder for everyone else to climb.
They were quick to condemn Jesus' way: His intentional association with the under-belly of society, eating and drinking with sinners, and allowing unclean people such as prostitutes and tax collectors to join His movement. Jesus was a threat for which they would go to great lengths to stamp out, including trumping up false accusations to put Him on trial and see a death penalty served.
What are we willing to do for the sake of the gospel. We usually do not stray much from our comfortable formats of evangelism. It is safe there and we don't have to get our hands dirty or endanger our reputations. One person in my church shared the story of her experience in the Salvation Army church in Ontario. One of the ministries of that church was called a Pub Ministry. She said they went to the pubs on the weekends for the sole purpose of association with people who may need Christ in some way and opportunities to minister to them. She told of one hardened drunkard who actually came to the Lord through this ministry and now is a pastor himself.
The question is: how far are we willing to go for the gospel of Jesus Christ. One conclusion we have come to here at New Life Baptist is that these type of ministries do not generally come knocking on the doors of our church. Maybe that is why Jesus used the word "go" in the Great Commission?
As far as the care takers plea for the fig tree, Jesus pleas for the world which stays off God's final judgment of the evil world we live in. He has this crazy idea that through the birth the church and over time that the world can be saved. Go figure???
Blessings,
-Leo
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