Progression or Digression

Last weekend I started an elective course in Youth Minitry for my MA degree.  During the course there was much discussion around the topic of the general attitude of the established church toward youth.  There are about twelve people taking the course.  I am fifty-seven years old and the remaining eleven students are around twenty-five and under.  Most of them are full-time students, working part-time as Youth leaders/pastors.  To say that I felt a bit out-of-place is an understatement. 

Among the handouts given to us by the professor (also about fifteen years younger than me) was a DVD entitled Misplaced: A Compilation of Thoughts by Young Adults on the Church.  I was not encouraged after watching the DVD, and actually a bit shocked.

http://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=5085 

I have been in the Church a long time and never experienced the level of negativity toward it as was expressed by the young people on the DVD.  Every new generation needs to accept the fact that there will be difficulties to change from the previous generation.  Change will come but only through patience and understanding, and a blending of thoughts and ideas that are based upon a willingness to be in caring and loving relationships of acceptance with each other.

The expressions made by the young people on the DVD were troubling to me.  In one sense I understand their frustration with the established church.  We need to be more relevant to the needs of the new generation before us.  But there also needs to be a blending into an inter-generational family of God.  The church from everyone's perspective is about caring and loving each other, and praising God.  We can never reduce the church down to the level of personal tastes.

I feel that these generational "Worship Wars" are subliminally influenced by Satan himself.  We have been pulled away from what is most important about church - to be in the service of worship for God.  Instead we are lulled into believing that worship is about us: our likes and dislikes, and our preferred style.  In other words, we put our wants in terms of church above the needs of our community, and whether or not people are going to hell.  That may seem bluntly judgmental, but I think there is a lot of truth to it.

My comments may seem a bit exagerated, but I would challenge you to think them out to their full conclusion.  As a pastor I have been very disallusioned by reasons people give for leaving the church or not attending.  There is seldom any "Great Commission" reason or purpose.  It is simply because "We don't care much for the pastor," or "I'm not being fed by this church," or "the music does nothing for me."  If there is a lack of something where you are attending maybe God has called you to help make your particular church more relevant.  Surely there are people with needs in your church of which you are gifted to serve?

If I understand my calling correctly, (as it should be with everyone), it is all about full surrender, including service to the church.  I wonder if Christians from the church of Ephesus became disgruntled with their church and decided to go to Philippi to attend - what would Paul have said to them?  I firmly believe he would have encourage Christians to serve God where they currently lived.  How have we come to the place in our thinking that church is about service to us?  Is that not heresy?

I believe that God strategically placed New Life Baptist Church in the Prospect Road Communities so that Christians here could serve Him and His purpose for the sake of the community-at-large.  Church needs to be a force to be reckoned with against evil where it exists and where you live.  It should be a place where Christians join together to be a family and to carry out the will of God - not for its own sake and benefits, but for Gods.

As you can see I am not all together happy with the direction church is headed.  The very first concern we should have is: Help me to find Your purpose and will in this church; and not, what is here for me?  The starting point for all of us should be: How can we best serve God together for the salvation of our community?  All other decisions should be based upon answering that question.

Blessings,

-Leo

Volunteer Enslavement

Last night at Bible Study we discussed Philemon 1:1, "Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus."  We are using John Juneman's video study entitled, The Life Message of Philemon.  If interested in this study contact: http://www.lifemessageinternational.org/

John does a great job at disecting a verse in order to find out every little detail about God's wonderful truth.  He is a true Bible scholar and a teacher by trade.  One of the facts he was teaching in last night's lesson struck a chord in me that remained in my deep thinking into the wee hours of the night.

Paul, at the time of writing the letter to Philemon was a prisoner in Rome.  He was under house arrrest which allowed for certain privilages such as receiving and entertaining guests.  One of those guests of course was Onesimus, a runaway slave who belonged to his master Philemon.  He and Paul became close friends and eventually Onesimus became a follower of Christ.

But the focus of last nights lesson was mostly on the fact that Paul was a prisoner in two different ways and from two different perspectives.  It's true he was held against his will under house arrest.  But he opened his letter to Philemon from a different perspective - as a prisoner to Jesus Christ.

These two different perspectives about enslavement greatly intrigued my thinking.  One was imposed upon Paul against his will, but the other was self-imposed.  One made him duty bound according to the law, but the other he volunteered for it; he signed up for it.  Paul actually exercized himself on a daily basis through prayer and solitude to keep himself bound to his volunteered enslavement.  

Even though being a prisoner represents breaking the law in today's society and is historically looked upon in a very negative way, to be a prisoner to Christ is a badge that every Christian should wear with great honor.

John reviewed the Greek word desmois which means "to be bound to."  This is the word used to understand what Paul meant in terms of being a prisoner of Christ Jesus.  This binding obviously flows out of the love and grace of almighty God through Jesus the Son, and empowered within us by God the Holy Spirit.  Once smittened by the power of His love we are truly bound forever.

I'm a prisoner for Jesus Christ!  Praise the Lord!

-Leo