It's hard to believe that almost nine years ago I moved to Orange County to work with my pastors, Jeff and Sandra Morgan, at SouthCoast. It's even harder to believe that almost seven years ago GOD blessed me with my other self and—over the next few years—our four beautiful daughters. For most of the last nine years I have served as Assistant Pastor to the Morgan's and SouthCoast; a role made easier when Olga joined me (gotta love marriage). But today starts the beginning of the end of this leg of our journey.
Around four years ago Olga and I began feeling that GOD was calling us to launch a missional community in New Orleans. For several reasons this has been something with which I've struggled ever since feeling the first call. While we both feel that GOD has called us to New Orleans, we also know that we are not quite ready. We have been in prayer over this call, along with our pastors—and both our parents—for the past year. Even though we haven't felt the release to head south, we knew that GOD had something else in His Purpose for us.
Olga and I knew that June was going to be a monumental month in our journey. We began to pray very intently for GOD to illuminate His Purpose in our lives. We were willing to even force the door open in New Orleans, if this was what GOD intended for us.
Isn't it great how GOD always knows exactly when to answer?
After much prayer and seeking GOD's Purpose, Olga and I are accepting a pastoral ministry position at Life Church in Anchorage, Alaska. We will be working with Pastors Jim and Heather Blackshear, and are very excited about the door that GOD has opened to us.
This is going to be a major adjustment for us, having lived in Orange County for almost a decade, but we know that GOD is leading us into this opportunity. There are a lot of aspects of ministry that we'll be working in at Life Church, and I'll make sure and keep everyone posted.
I have learned so much over the last 8-1/2 years working with Pastors Jeff and Sandra Morgan. Their transparency, consistency and godliness have taught, inspired and occasionally rebuked me, and I thank GOD for their leadership in my life and in my family. They are two of my closest friends. In addition to this, they are also the GODparents to all four of my daughters, a role that they've filled with grace and class, and a role that Olga and I take very seriously. We will miss the late nights and long Sunday afternoons together, but we know that the friendship and closeness will never go away.
I want to thank the entire Morgan family for the past 8-1/2 years. It will be hard for us to leave all of you, especially Logan (I've got a close affinity with Logan, as I see a lot of myself in him. Good luck buddy, life's going to be interesting).
We are sad to be leaving, but excited about where GOD is taking us. No, it's not what I expected, but GOD knows what He's doing (what with Him being GOD for as long as He has), so I trust Him.
All that remains is to simply turn the page and begin the next chapter.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Isaiah 1 — Deconstructed
My daily devotions this week are through the Book of Isaiah. This is one of my favorite Old Testament books, and it serves as a thumb-nail glance at the entire Story of GOD as depicted in the 66 books of the Bible.
One of the most powerful themes that leaps off the page (or in my case, the computer screen) when I'm reading the first chapter of Isaiah's prophecy is this: GOD is ticked off. The first 39 chapters of Isaiah are basically a prophecy of judgement against Judah; a nation that has assumed itself secure from judgement because of its covenant relationship with GOD. However, GOD tells Judah that the covenant cannot protect them from His judgement when they have broken it through idolatry, injustice, cruelty and by their following after ideals which oppose GOD's Law.
I'm using The Message paraphrase here primarily because it's easier to grasp the nuance of the Text, and I appreciate how it has been interpolated into current nomenclature. This does not, however, mean that I value a paraphrase of the Text over a translation.
Verse 2 launches us into the fray:
Heaven and earth, you're the jury: Listen to GOD's case…"*
The case GOD makes is pretty straight-forward and summed up in His opening statement.
I had children and raised them well, and they turned on me. The ox knows who's boss, the mule knows the hand that feeds him, but not Israel. My people don't know up from down… My people have walked out on me, their GOD, turned their backs on The Holy of Israel, walked off and never looked back.**
After He describes in great detail the condition in which He views Judah, GOD begins pleading with His people to stop what they're doing, in His name no less.
Why this frenzy of sacrifices? [GOD's asking.] Don't you think I've had my fill of burnt sacrifices, rams and plump grain-fed calves? Don't you think I've had my fill of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats? When you come before me, whoever gave you the idea of acting like this, running here and there, doing this and that—all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship?***
There are several questions that come to my mind when I read through this section of Chapter 1. Question 1: didn't GOD institute animal sacrifices? What could have made GOD sick of a practice that He had instituted Himself in the Garden?
In my opinion GOD is saying two things here: I'm sick of what worship has become, and I have a plan to change this because your sacrifices aren't enough (Messiah). This being said, I can't help but place myself in this story. Has my worship to GOD become ritual and rote? Are my sacrifices of praise not getting past the tips of my upraised hands? Have I been simply going through the motions, acting as though I'm worshiping GOD yet never truly changing anything? Am I making GOD nauseous with my praise and worship? Does my life make Him sick?
Question 2: what is the sheer commotion in the place of worship that He's referencing in verse 12?
I have heard people posit that this is GOD demanding reverent worship rather than exuberant, active praise (ie, running, jumping, etc.). This is not necessarily a theory with which I agree; especially in the light of the example of David's worship. However, I do have to wonder if often times we are more ready to run around the church simply for the sake of running more than as true, heart-felt expressions of adoration for Jesus Messiah.
Could the commotion in verse 12 have been a reference to the commotion connected with the preparation of each worship experience (ie, the getting ready for church whatnot)? Could it be that the preparing to go to the House of GOD—and the preparing of the building itself for the worship experience—should involve more reverence? Should I and my wife dedicate the time spent in dressing ourselves and our four daughters for a church service as an aspect of worship, rather than the frantic frenzy that is Sunday morning at the Young house? Should the tech team tune the sound system, adjust the lighting, warm up the video equipment reverently? I'm not saying this is the answer, just simply asking the questions. I could be taking this Text waaaaay out of context. I'd love to hear your feedback.
The reason these questions are in my mind is because of the next few verses:
Quit your worship charades. I can't stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—meetings, meetings, meetings—I can't stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You've worn me out! I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I'll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I'll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you've been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. ****
Evidently, GOD viewed Judah's worship process as a charade. It is important to note that the primary reason that GOD rejected Judah's worship was because of the backslidden state. Their worship was not rejected because of the form of worship, but because they continued to go through the motions of worship (ritual, rote, habit, religion) despite the fact that their hearts were no longer connected to YHWH. GOD says that they were playing at worship (religious games). He then describes the religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—meetings, meetings, meetings—I can't stand one more! But didn't GOD institute the Sabbath? Is this saying that conferences and meetings are wrong? Are we wearing GOD out with all of our religious hypocricy?
The answer to these questions cannot be to simply do away with the Sabbath (Divine Rest), or to stop holding all our conferences (wait, that actually may be a good idea. I'm just saying…), or to cancel our staff meetings, etc. Or can it? What if our understanding of true Sabbath is completely and utterly wrong? What if we're so busy meeting with the planning committee for the planning of the committee meetings at myriad quarterly conferences that we've forgotten that there is a GOD somehow supposed to be connected with all of our efforts, and that He has a Mission? Again, I'm not saying this is the answer, only asking questions.
GOD says, I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. He then says, When you put on your next prayer-performance, I'll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I'll not be listening.
Ouch! GOD has a way of cutting to the bone (I can faintly hear Ace Ventura yelling, It's in the bone! It's in the bone… but I digress). GOD has the audacity to call my prayers performances (remember, I've placed myself into the story). Does He really mean that no matter how loud and long and often I pray He won't be listening? Doesn't He recognize my humility? I mean, doesn't He see that I've got everything right? I tithe, I don't miss church services, I dress the part, I act the part (when I'm around other church folk), I can throw the gratuitous contrived tongue into my public prayers with the best of them… isn't this what He's wanting? Is it possible to go through all the motions and get everything in the ceremony correct, yet still be backslidden?
GOD answers these questions with one of His own: And do you know why? Because you've been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. What does this mean? Who am I tearing to pieces? How can my hands be bloody when I can't see the the blood on them? Am I so blind to my own actions? Have I become so accustomed to the carnage that I no longer see the visceral dripping from my own hands? Is this really how GOD sees me?
GOD then provides the solution to the mess in which Judah had so firmly ensconced themselves:
Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don't have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.*****
The next few verses also provide hope in their seemingly hopeless situation:
Come. Sit down. Let's argue this out. [This is God's Message]: If your sins are blood-red, they'll be snow-white. If they're red like crimson, they'll be like wool. If you'll willingly obey, you'll feast like kings. But if you're willful and stubborn, you'll die like dogs. [That's right. God says so].******
When I place myself into the story, I can see that GOD is calling me to repentance. But not the typical I'm sorry for my sins quasi-repentance to which I've grown so accustomed. GOD is calling me to true repentance. True repentance consists of three distinct and integral processes: confession of my sins; rejection of my sins; and submission to GOD's Purpose for my life. Confession is not enough, I have to turn away from my carnal nature, and turn to GOD. Repentance for too long has been relegated only for the sinner coming to GOD, but even those of us who've been cleansed from our sins and baptized by His Spirit and into His name can also enjoy the blessing of repentance. Paul called this dying daily.
The underlying theme of Isaiah 1 is that GOD's people had drifted far from Him, but were so entrenched in their religion that they failed to see that the GOD of their religion was nowhere around. Their obedience to His institution of sacrifice had become nothing more than habitual action. They had lost their wonder of GOD. They had lost their reverence of just how awesome and powerful He truly is (I changed tenses purposefully, as GOD is timeless, therefore always present, even in our past). Yes, obedience is better than sacrifice, but sacrifice simply for the sake of sacrifice is no better than no sacrifice at all.
GOD says, Come. Sit down. Let's argue this out. If my life is one way, He can make it another way. If my worship is false, through repentance I can make it pure and He'll accept it. If I'll willingly obey, GOD will honor and glorify me. But, if I'm willful and stubborn, I'll pay the price for my sin, thus negating His sacrifice.
Just an aside: if GOD is so willing to sit down with us and work out our misunderstandings, how come we are so reticent to do the same?
In going through this Text I am both humbled at how well GOD knows me, and amazed that He still reaches for me. I've made His worship ritual. I've busied myself by playing religion. I've ignored His heart and love for the defenseless and down-and-out. I've ran from good to passionately embrace wrong. My hands are bloody from my tearing people to pieces with my words. I'm arrogant. I'm full of pride. He called me to His Purpose, yet I've chosen my own credenda instead.
GOD forgive me. I'm rejecting myself and choosing You. I'm running away from the temporal and embracing the eternal that You've prepared for me. I'm washing myself of the desire for the latest thing (1:24-31) so there is only room in me for Your Truth.
I'm choosing Your Abundant Life over my existence.
* Isaiah 1:2
** 1:2-4
*** 1:11-12
**** 1:13-17a
***** 1:13-17b
****** 1:18-20
One of the most powerful themes that leaps off the page (or in my case, the computer screen) when I'm reading the first chapter of Isaiah's prophecy is this: GOD is ticked off. The first 39 chapters of Isaiah are basically a prophecy of judgement against Judah; a nation that has assumed itself secure from judgement because of its covenant relationship with GOD. However, GOD tells Judah that the covenant cannot protect them from His judgement when they have broken it through idolatry, injustice, cruelty and by their following after ideals which oppose GOD's Law.
I'm using The Message paraphrase here primarily because it's easier to grasp the nuance of the Text, and I appreciate how it has been interpolated into current nomenclature. This does not, however, mean that I value a paraphrase of the Text over a translation.
Verse 2 launches us into the fray:
Heaven and earth, you're the jury: Listen to GOD's case…"*
The case GOD makes is pretty straight-forward and summed up in His opening statement.
I had children and raised them well, and they turned on me. The ox knows who's boss, the mule knows the hand that feeds him, but not Israel. My people don't know up from down… My people have walked out on me, their GOD, turned their backs on The Holy of Israel, walked off and never looked back.**
After He describes in great detail the condition in which He views Judah, GOD begins pleading with His people to stop what they're doing, in His name no less.
Why this frenzy of sacrifices? [GOD's asking.] Don't you think I've had my fill of burnt sacrifices, rams and plump grain-fed calves? Don't you think I've had my fill of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats? When you come before me, whoever gave you the idea of acting like this, running here and there, doing this and that—all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship?***
There are several questions that come to my mind when I read through this section of Chapter 1. Question 1: didn't GOD institute animal sacrifices? What could have made GOD sick of a practice that He had instituted Himself in the Garden?
In my opinion GOD is saying two things here: I'm sick of what worship has become, and I have a plan to change this because your sacrifices aren't enough (Messiah). This being said, I can't help but place myself in this story. Has my worship to GOD become ritual and rote? Are my sacrifices of praise not getting past the tips of my upraised hands? Have I been simply going through the motions, acting as though I'm worshiping GOD yet never truly changing anything? Am I making GOD nauseous with my praise and worship? Does my life make Him sick?
Question 2: what is the sheer commotion in the place of worship that He's referencing in verse 12?
I have heard people posit that this is GOD demanding reverent worship rather than exuberant, active praise (ie, running, jumping, etc.). This is not necessarily a theory with which I agree; especially in the light of the example of David's worship. However, I do have to wonder if often times we are more ready to run around the church simply for the sake of running more than as true, heart-felt expressions of adoration for Jesus Messiah.
Could the commotion in verse 12 have been a reference to the commotion connected with the preparation of each worship experience (ie, the getting ready for church whatnot)? Could it be that the preparing to go to the House of GOD—and the preparing of the building itself for the worship experience—should involve more reverence? Should I and my wife dedicate the time spent in dressing ourselves and our four daughters for a church service as an aspect of worship, rather than the frantic frenzy that is Sunday morning at the Young house? Should the tech team tune the sound system, adjust the lighting, warm up the video equipment reverently? I'm not saying this is the answer, just simply asking the questions. I could be taking this Text waaaaay out of context. I'd love to hear your feedback.
The reason these questions are in my mind is because of the next few verses:
Quit your worship charades. I can't stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—meetings, meetings, meetings—I can't stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You've worn me out! I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I'll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I'll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you've been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. ****
Evidently, GOD viewed Judah's worship process as a charade. It is important to note that the primary reason that GOD rejected Judah's worship was because of the backslidden state. Their worship was not rejected because of the form of worship, but because they continued to go through the motions of worship (ritual, rote, habit, religion) despite the fact that their hearts were no longer connected to YHWH. GOD says that they were playing at worship (religious games). He then describes the religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—meetings, meetings, meetings—I can't stand one more! But didn't GOD institute the Sabbath? Is this saying that conferences and meetings are wrong? Are we wearing GOD out with all of our religious hypocricy?
The answer to these questions cannot be to simply do away with the Sabbath (Divine Rest), or to stop holding all our conferences (wait, that actually may be a good idea. I'm just saying…), or to cancel our staff meetings, etc. Or can it? What if our understanding of true Sabbath is completely and utterly wrong? What if we're so busy meeting with the planning committee for the planning of the committee meetings at myriad quarterly conferences that we've forgotten that there is a GOD somehow supposed to be connected with all of our efforts, and that He has a Mission? Again, I'm not saying this is the answer, only asking questions.
GOD says, I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. He then says, When you put on your next prayer-performance, I'll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I'll not be listening.
Ouch! GOD has a way of cutting to the bone (I can faintly hear Ace Ventura yelling, It's in the bone! It's in the bone… but I digress). GOD has the audacity to call my prayers performances (remember, I've placed myself into the story). Does He really mean that no matter how loud and long and often I pray He won't be listening? Doesn't He recognize my humility? I mean, doesn't He see that I've got everything right? I tithe, I don't miss church services, I dress the part, I act the part (when I'm around other church folk), I can throw the gratuitous contrived tongue into my public prayers with the best of them… isn't this what He's wanting? Is it possible to go through all the motions and get everything in the ceremony correct, yet still be backslidden?
GOD answers these questions with one of His own: And do you know why? Because you've been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. What does this mean? Who am I tearing to pieces? How can my hands be bloody when I can't see the the blood on them? Am I so blind to my own actions? Have I become so accustomed to the carnage that I no longer see the visceral dripping from my own hands? Is this really how GOD sees me?
GOD then provides the solution to the mess in which Judah had so firmly ensconced themselves:
Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don't have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.*****
The next few verses also provide hope in their seemingly hopeless situation:
Come. Sit down. Let's argue this out. [This is God's Message]: If your sins are blood-red, they'll be snow-white. If they're red like crimson, they'll be like wool. If you'll willingly obey, you'll feast like kings. But if you're willful and stubborn, you'll die like dogs. [That's right. God says so].******
When I place myself into the story, I can see that GOD is calling me to repentance. But not the typical I'm sorry for my sins quasi-repentance to which I've grown so accustomed. GOD is calling me to true repentance. True repentance consists of three distinct and integral processes: confession of my sins; rejection of my sins; and submission to GOD's Purpose for my life. Confession is not enough, I have to turn away from my carnal nature, and turn to GOD. Repentance for too long has been relegated only for the sinner coming to GOD, but even those of us who've been cleansed from our sins and baptized by His Spirit and into His name can also enjoy the blessing of repentance. Paul called this dying daily.
The underlying theme of Isaiah 1 is that GOD's people had drifted far from Him, but were so entrenched in their religion that they failed to see that the GOD of their religion was nowhere around. Their obedience to His institution of sacrifice had become nothing more than habitual action. They had lost their wonder of GOD. They had lost their reverence of just how awesome and powerful He truly is (I changed tenses purposefully, as GOD is timeless, therefore always present, even in our past). Yes, obedience is better than sacrifice, but sacrifice simply for the sake of sacrifice is no better than no sacrifice at all.
GOD says, Come. Sit down. Let's argue this out. If my life is one way, He can make it another way. If my worship is false, through repentance I can make it pure and He'll accept it. If I'll willingly obey, GOD will honor and glorify me. But, if I'm willful and stubborn, I'll pay the price for my sin, thus negating His sacrifice.
Just an aside: if GOD is so willing to sit down with us and work out our misunderstandings, how come we are so reticent to do the same?
In going through this Text I am both humbled at how well GOD knows me, and amazed that He still reaches for me. I've made His worship ritual. I've busied myself by playing religion. I've ignored His heart and love for the defenseless and down-and-out. I've ran from good to passionately embrace wrong. My hands are bloody from my tearing people to pieces with my words. I'm arrogant. I'm full of pride. He called me to His Purpose, yet I've chosen my own credenda instead.
GOD forgive me. I'm rejecting myself and choosing You. I'm running away from the temporal and embracing the eternal that You've prepared for me. I'm washing myself of the desire for the latest thing (1:24-31) so there is only room in me for Your Truth.
I'm choosing Your Abundant Life over my existence.
* Isaiah 1:2
** 1:2-4
*** 1:11-12
**** 1:13-17a
***** 1:13-17b
****** 1:18-20
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Justification
For centuries there has been much debate over the subject of justification, and no doubt any discussion here will do very little to settle the debate once and for all. This being said, I'd love to read your views on the subject.
Here's the launching point for this discussion: Romans 3 & 4. For the sake of legitimacy, please stay true to the Text.
Justified — δικαιόω [dikaioō - dik-ah-yo'-o]
Here's the launching point for this discussion: Romans 3 & 4. For the sake of legitimacy, please stay true to the Text.
Justified — δικαιόω [dikaioō - dik-ah-yo'-o]
- to render righteous or such he ought to be
- to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered
- to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be
Justification — δικαίωσις [dikaiōsis - dik-ah'-yo-sis]
- the act of God declaring men free from guilt and acceptable to him
- abjuring to be righteous, justification
I look forward to reading your responses.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Galatians 3
Have you ever noticed how people completely ignore biblical Truth and principle so that they don't have to face the fact of their personal misunderstanding of the Text? Textual awareness and understanding vs religious and denominational ignorance; this ought to make for a good discussion.
One of—in my opinion—the greatest lies ever perpetuated by our enemy is religion. You see, religion lies to her followers, fooling them into believing that they are following GOD, when in truth they are sold out to a lie. The deeper sadness here is the fact that GOD gave humanity His Truth and far too many don't even recognize Him.
Someone once said that the Text is the story of GOD wanting to reconnect with humanity, personally (the "personally" applied to both GOD and each individual). GOD personally became flesh so that He could personally become sin so that He could personally redeem each and every person, personally. When we deny the humanity of Jesus we deny the true power of salvation. Without the shedding of Jesus' blood there could be no redemption for sin. GOD's flesh had to bleed. Spirit can't bleed. The Spirit had to become flesh; thus the intensifying power of Jesus' human-ness. To all my fellow monotheists, don't be afraid of Sonship. The role of the Son proves beyond all measure the Unity and One-ness of our GOD. However, to truly understand Sonship you have to be willing to truly study the Text and history to discover why the phraseology of referring to Jesus as the Son of GOD was used in the New Testament.
So, if the Text is GOD's story of reconnection, then He must have included His Purpose within the various letters. I believe that He did. While there are many examples of GOD's Purpose throughout both the Old and New Testaments, one of the most powerful examples of GOD's thought-process is found in Paul's letter to the Galatian Community. The study of the Galatian Letter is of critical importance to Christians today. Not only to we learn of a departure from the Gospel in ancient days, we also see that there is a similar error being proclaimed today. Many Christians have accepted this divergence from the Gospel, not knowing the seriousness of their error and misunderstanding. We have to understand the importance of identifying the Galatian Error so that we can recognize similar false teachings that are becoming more and more widely accepted. The time has come to identify false teaching for exactly what it is—a departure from the Gospel, thus a departure from Salvation.
The Community at Galatia was somewhat divided into two regional groups. For this to make sense we have to agree upon the approximate date of Paul's writing the letter. The date of authorship helps to define the region of Galatia. The difficulty in determining what Paul meant by the term Galatia results from the fact that Galatia can be used in two different ways: 1) as a reference to the whole Roman administrative district (especially the southern part of this district); 2) to designate ethnic Galatia (only the northern part of the district). For example, Paul used the Roman provincial names in his letter, while Luke—in his Acts of the Apostles—used the ethnic designations (Acts 14). Because of this we can infer that Paul is speaking of the larger territory which included the southern portion of Galatia. Why is this important? This designation is important because the Jewish population was greater in the south than in the north, thus a problem with Judaizers would be more likely in that region. In his letter, Paul assumes his readers have a fair knowledge of the Torah and Judaism in general, an assumption that would be more likely in the south. Also, because of Luke's reference in Acts 14, we know that there was considerable opposition to Paul's preaching in the cities of South Galatia. This would date this letter slightly before the Jerusalem Council (circa 50 AD). Around this time Paul and Barnabas had embarked on their first missionary journey, traveling to the South Galatian cities of Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. The team then returned to Syrian Antioch and spent a considerable amount of time in the locale (Acts 14:28). Peter had come to Antioch to see how this community was doing and fell into hypocrisy when some other Jews arrived from Jerusalem. Paul then rebuked Peter publicly (Galatians 2:11-21). While in Antioch, Paul must have received word that some of the community were falling prey to the teaching of the Judaizers. The arrival of Judaizers in Antioch would have intensified Paul's concerns. Because of this timeline, we can conclude that Paul's letter to the Galatian Community was written some time before the Jerusalem Council. The fact that there is no mention of the Council's decision in His letter to the Galatians also provides strength to this contention.*
So, by now you're wondering what all this has to do with this article. The connector between this brief history lesson and this article are the Judaizers. The Judaizers were a group of Jewish Christians in the 1st Century who preached to the Gentile Diaspora the need to conform to the Torah, even after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. There's not a lot of specific knowledge about this group, but most scholars agree that the group originated in Jerusalem, and that at least some were Pharisees (Acts 15:5). No one knows how organized they were as a movement or any of the names of the individuals within the movement. The most important thing that we do know about them is the fact that they attempted to make Jews out of Gentile Christians. The importance of this group is not so much what they taught but the reaction to their teachings. Paul attacks their teachings head-on in his letters. He wanted to demonstrate to these diasporic communities that Jesus had instituted a new covenant, thus fulfilling the Torah (Law) and making null and void the activities performed under the Mosaic Covenant. To break this down, the Judaizers taught that because the Jews were GOD's Chosen People, when a non-Jew was Spirit-baptized they must become a ceremonial Jew (via circumcision and tradition) in order to access Salvation. In essence, Salvation is based on works rather than on faith.
We have now come full circle back to the introduction of this article. The Judaizers preached a religion of works-based sanctification: the better you are, the more of GOD you have. Sound familiar? Walking with GOD was saddled with a list of actions that were acceptable and necessary and any variance from these confines constituted rebellion and back-sliding. The Judaizers essentially said, live by our rules because we are GOD's mouthpieces. This didn't sit well with Paul. We see him attacking this religious bigotry in his letters to Galatia, Corinth, Colassae and Rome. When a Judaizer would yell Torah, Paul would declare Grace. The Judaziers denied the fact that Jesus had fulfilled the Torah at Calvary, that His Passion ripped the veil to allow Grace to cleanse humanity. The Judaizers denied the power of faith and preferred works.
If you study Paul's Galatian Letter you'll find him painstakingly demonstrating Jesus' fulfillment of the Torah and the advent of Grace. He points out that anyone who tries to live by his own effort—independant of GOD—is doomed to failure. He then provides Text to prove his contention: Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the Law, [Galations 3:9-10, quoting Deuteronomy 27:26]. Paul then drops the bomb in verses 11-12: The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with GOD that way. The person who lives in right relationship with GOD does it by embracing what GOD arranges for him. Doing things for GOD is the opposite of entering into what GOD does for you. Habakkuk had it right: The person who believes GOD, is set right by GOD—and that's the real life. Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: The one who does these things (rule-keeping) continues to live by them. [Galatians 3:11-12, The Message. Paul first quotes Habbakkuk 2:4, then Leviticus 18:5].
In verses 13-14, Paul shows us that Jesus-Messiah [literally the Salvation of YHWH] redeemed us from the cursed life of rule-keeping by absorbing that life into Himself. Jesus became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse of the Law. But, the only way to receive GOD's life (l'chaim: true life over existence) is by believing, by faith.
The purpose of the Law was to keep a sinful people in the way of Salvation until Jesus-Messiah came. The Law was not a first-hand encounter with GOD, but was administered through a middle-man, Moses. But, relating to GOD via an intermediary runs contrary to GOD's promise to Abraham. This original promise is the direct blessing of GOD, and was then, and must now be received by faith. Paul points out that the Law fulfilled the role of a tutor who escorts children to school and protected them from danger or distraction, making sure that the children actually arrive at the place for which they set out [Galatians 3:23-24]. But he doesn't stop there, he continues, But now you have arrived at your destination: by faith in Jesus-Messiah you are in direct relationship with GOD. Your baptism in Jesus-Messiah was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Salvation's life, the fulfillment of GOD's original promise, [Galatians 3:25-27, The Message].
There are those who would negate faith and the power of true relationship by saddling every member of the Community with addendums to the New Covenant, but any addition to this Covenant negates it. The New Covenant established by Jesus-Messiah says that He would fill us with His Holy Spirit to keep us and lead us by the hand into all Truth. This Covenant says that there is no way that you or I will ever be able to be good enough, but because of Grace our sins were forgiven once and for all. This New Covenant says that when we sin (and we will because we are flawed flesh and not yet perfected) that all we have to do to return to right relationship with Jesus is repent (confession and turning away from our sin and turning to His Abundant Life); our repentance allows Grace to kiss Mercy, thus enabling our faith to usher us back into GOD's holy Presence.
Stop trying to be good, you'll never make it. Start living life within the confines of Jesus-Messiah's New Covenant; a Covenant of Grace and Mercy through faith in an Eternal GOD. The Law is fulfilled, don't step back under it. If you do you're damning yourself to an eternity of failure, because you'll never be able to make it. Jesus never intended us to die trying to prove ourselves worthy of His Grace and Mercy; He already knew we could never be worthy. But… He is worthy, He is perfect, He is complete, He is pure…
All we have to do is believe.
* Here are a few authors that you can read to find out more about this subject:
1. Cf. William Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, Rev. Ed., 1976), pp. xi-xiii.
2. F. F. Bruce,Commentary on Galatians (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1982)
3. R. A. Cole, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965)
4. Herman N. Ridderbos,The Epistle of Paul to the Churches of Galatia (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1953)
One of—in my opinion—the greatest lies ever perpetuated by our enemy is religion. You see, religion lies to her followers, fooling them into believing that they are following GOD, when in truth they are sold out to a lie. The deeper sadness here is the fact that GOD gave humanity His Truth and far too many don't even recognize Him.
Someone once said that the Text is the story of GOD wanting to reconnect with humanity, personally (the "personally" applied to both GOD and each individual). GOD personally became flesh so that He could personally become sin so that He could personally redeem each and every person, personally. When we deny the humanity of Jesus we deny the true power of salvation. Without the shedding of Jesus' blood there could be no redemption for sin. GOD's flesh had to bleed. Spirit can't bleed. The Spirit had to become flesh; thus the intensifying power of Jesus' human-ness. To all my fellow monotheists, don't be afraid of Sonship. The role of the Son proves beyond all measure the Unity and One-ness of our GOD. However, to truly understand Sonship you have to be willing to truly study the Text and history to discover why the phraseology of referring to Jesus as the Son of GOD was used in the New Testament.
So, if the Text is GOD's story of reconnection, then He must have included His Purpose within the various letters. I believe that He did. While there are many examples of GOD's Purpose throughout both the Old and New Testaments, one of the most powerful examples of GOD's thought-process is found in Paul's letter to the Galatian Community. The study of the Galatian Letter is of critical importance to Christians today. Not only to we learn of a departure from the Gospel in ancient days, we also see that there is a similar error being proclaimed today. Many Christians have accepted this divergence from the Gospel, not knowing the seriousness of their error and misunderstanding. We have to understand the importance of identifying the Galatian Error so that we can recognize similar false teachings that are becoming more and more widely accepted. The time has come to identify false teaching for exactly what it is—a departure from the Gospel, thus a departure from Salvation.
The Community at Galatia was somewhat divided into two regional groups. For this to make sense we have to agree upon the approximate date of Paul's writing the letter. The date of authorship helps to define the region of Galatia. The difficulty in determining what Paul meant by the term Galatia results from the fact that Galatia can be used in two different ways: 1) as a reference to the whole Roman administrative district (especially the southern part of this district); 2) to designate ethnic Galatia (only the northern part of the district). For example, Paul used the Roman provincial names in his letter, while Luke—in his Acts of the Apostles—used the ethnic designations (Acts 14). Because of this we can infer that Paul is speaking of the larger territory which included the southern portion of Galatia. Why is this important? This designation is important because the Jewish population was greater in the south than in the north, thus a problem with Judaizers would be more likely in that region. In his letter, Paul assumes his readers have a fair knowledge of the Torah and Judaism in general, an assumption that would be more likely in the south. Also, because of Luke's reference in Acts 14, we know that there was considerable opposition to Paul's preaching in the cities of South Galatia. This would date this letter slightly before the Jerusalem Council (circa 50 AD). Around this time Paul and Barnabas had embarked on their first missionary journey, traveling to the South Galatian cities of Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. The team then returned to Syrian Antioch and spent a considerable amount of time in the locale (Acts 14:28). Peter had come to Antioch to see how this community was doing and fell into hypocrisy when some other Jews arrived from Jerusalem. Paul then rebuked Peter publicly (Galatians 2:11-21). While in Antioch, Paul must have received word that some of the community were falling prey to the teaching of the Judaizers. The arrival of Judaizers in Antioch would have intensified Paul's concerns. Because of this timeline, we can conclude that Paul's letter to the Galatian Community was written some time before the Jerusalem Council. The fact that there is no mention of the Council's decision in His letter to the Galatians also provides strength to this contention.*
So, by now you're wondering what all this has to do with this article. The connector between this brief history lesson and this article are the Judaizers. The Judaizers were a group of Jewish Christians in the 1st Century who preached to the Gentile Diaspora the need to conform to the Torah, even after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. There's not a lot of specific knowledge about this group, but most scholars agree that the group originated in Jerusalem, and that at least some were Pharisees (Acts 15:5). No one knows how organized they were as a movement or any of the names of the individuals within the movement. The most important thing that we do know about them is the fact that they attempted to make Jews out of Gentile Christians. The importance of this group is not so much what they taught but the reaction to their teachings. Paul attacks their teachings head-on in his letters. He wanted to demonstrate to these diasporic communities that Jesus had instituted a new covenant, thus fulfilling the Torah (Law) and making null and void the activities performed under the Mosaic Covenant. To break this down, the Judaizers taught that because the Jews were GOD's Chosen People, when a non-Jew was Spirit-baptized they must become a ceremonial Jew (via circumcision and tradition) in order to access Salvation. In essence, Salvation is based on works rather than on faith.
We have now come full circle back to the introduction of this article. The Judaizers preached a religion of works-based sanctification: the better you are, the more of GOD you have. Sound familiar? Walking with GOD was saddled with a list of actions that were acceptable and necessary and any variance from these confines constituted rebellion and back-sliding. The Judaizers essentially said, live by our rules because we are GOD's mouthpieces. This didn't sit well with Paul. We see him attacking this religious bigotry in his letters to Galatia, Corinth, Colassae and Rome. When a Judaizer would yell Torah, Paul would declare Grace. The Judaziers denied the fact that Jesus had fulfilled the Torah at Calvary, that His Passion ripped the veil to allow Grace to cleanse humanity. The Judaizers denied the power of faith and preferred works.
If you study Paul's Galatian Letter you'll find him painstakingly demonstrating Jesus' fulfillment of the Torah and the advent of Grace. He points out that anyone who tries to live by his own effort—independant of GOD—is doomed to failure. He then provides Text to prove his contention: Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the Law, [Galations 3:9-10, quoting Deuteronomy 27:26]. Paul then drops the bomb in verses 11-12: The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with GOD that way. The person who lives in right relationship with GOD does it by embracing what GOD arranges for him. Doing things for GOD is the opposite of entering into what GOD does for you. Habakkuk had it right: The person who believes GOD, is set right by GOD—and that's the real life. Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: The one who does these things (rule-keeping) continues to live by them. [Galatians 3:11-12, The Message. Paul first quotes Habbakkuk 2:4, then Leviticus 18:5].
In verses 13-14, Paul shows us that Jesus-Messiah [literally the Salvation of YHWH] redeemed us from the cursed life of rule-keeping by absorbing that life into Himself. Jesus became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse of the Law. But, the only way to receive GOD's life (l'chaim: true life over existence) is by believing, by faith.
The purpose of the Law was to keep a sinful people in the way of Salvation until Jesus-Messiah came. The Law was not a first-hand encounter with GOD, but was administered through a middle-man, Moses. But, relating to GOD via an intermediary runs contrary to GOD's promise to Abraham. This original promise is the direct blessing of GOD, and was then, and must now be received by faith. Paul points out that the Law fulfilled the role of a tutor who escorts children to school and protected them from danger or distraction, making sure that the children actually arrive at the place for which they set out [Galatians 3:23-24]. But he doesn't stop there, he continues, But now you have arrived at your destination: by faith in Jesus-Messiah you are in direct relationship with GOD. Your baptism in Jesus-Messiah was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Salvation's life, the fulfillment of GOD's original promise, [Galatians 3:25-27, The Message].
There are those who would negate faith and the power of true relationship by saddling every member of the Community with addendums to the New Covenant, but any addition to this Covenant negates it. The New Covenant established by Jesus-Messiah says that He would fill us with His Holy Spirit to keep us and lead us by the hand into all Truth. This Covenant says that there is no way that you or I will ever be able to be good enough, but because of Grace our sins were forgiven once and for all. This New Covenant says that when we sin (and we will because we are flawed flesh and not yet perfected) that all we have to do to return to right relationship with Jesus is repent (confession and turning away from our sin and turning to His Abundant Life); our repentance allows Grace to kiss Mercy, thus enabling our faith to usher us back into GOD's holy Presence.
Stop trying to be good, you'll never make it. Start living life within the confines of Jesus-Messiah's New Covenant; a Covenant of Grace and Mercy through faith in an Eternal GOD. The Law is fulfilled, don't step back under it. If you do you're damning yourself to an eternity of failure, because you'll never be able to make it. Jesus never intended us to die trying to prove ourselves worthy of His Grace and Mercy; He already knew we could never be worthy. But… He is worthy, He is perfect, He is complete, He is pure…
All we have to do is believe.
* Here are a few authors that you can read to find out more about this subject:
1. Cf. William Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, Rev. Ed., 1976), pp. xi-xiii.
2. F. F. Bruce,Commentary on Galatians (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1982)
3. R. A. Cole, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965)
4. Herman N. Ridderbos,The Epistle of Paul to the Churches of Galatia (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1953)
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Followership
I've discussed the obsession with leadership in other posts, but today I want to delve into another subject: followership. Followership is defined as the state or position of being a follower. To put this into practical understanding, the true measure of a leader is in his/her ability to encourage true followership. This begs the next question: who or what are you following? When it all shakes out, GOD won't judge you on who you know or how well you parroted what they've said, you will be judged on who you are and how well you followed what He says.
Now, because I know where many reader's minds will automatically go, followership is not blind obedience to your leader. In fact, followership—in the context of our discussion—goes right past our human leaders to the Source of all Authority: GOD. Because far too many individuals have only cursory interaction and understanding of the Text it becomes all too easy to simply obey everything their selected leader says without ever filtering the instruction through the Word of GOD. The narcissistic leader then misuses the Text, obedience is better than sacrifice [1 Samuel 15:22], thus creating followers of himself rather than followers of GOD. The only obedience that is better than sacrifice is obedience to GOD and His Word. In the context of 1 Samuel 15, Saul was not being reprimanded for disobeying GOD's prophet, he had disobeyed GOD's commandment concerning pre-war sacrifices. Sure Samuel was the mouthpiece of GOD, but Samuel wasn't flavoring or adding to GOD's words, he was simply repeating what GOD had given him to say. If the leader isn't saying what GOD says obedience is not required.
Do a quick study of the job of the watchman that GOD placed on the wall. You'll find that the watchman was only to say what GOD had specifically told him to say. He was not to add to it nor take away from it, simply repeat it.
I listened to a sermon recently in which the minister made abundantly clear the notion that his words from the pulpit were just as vital, and necessary, and GOD-breathed as those of the Old Testament prophets or the New Testament writers. To paraphrase another point of his sermonizing, if the members of his congregation didn't obey his instructions explicitly, they were disobeying GOD. The major problem with all of this is the fact that almost everything that he was preaching wasn't based in the Text, it was all his opinions (or more accurately, the opinions of the individuals he himself had chosen to follow; and thus the degrees of separation increase exponentially). I know this an extreme example of misusing the pulpit for personal credenda, but this is becoming more the norm than the minority.
How often is the goal of my lesson or sermon to create followers of me rather than followers of GOD?
Be honest, it feels good to challenge people's thinking or to drop that nugget in their lap. It's easy to become addicted to the accolades. But is this truly what GOD called His mouthpieces to be: credit seekers or demagogues? Our purpose as ministers of His Good News is to point the way to Him, not to our opinions about Him. If—as a minister in a pulpit—you've ever saddled the congregation with your personal convictions or opinions about the Text you're guilty of trying to replace GOD in the hearer's lives. If we were honest, we've all done this in some way or another, but now that we see the error of our ways, we must avoid it at all costs.
Someone said recently of a local congregation that is experiencing attrition, "For months they [the ministry] encouraged the congregation to read and study the Bible every day. Then, when the congregation had dropped by more than a third, they never said that again." Is there a connection to this congregation's attrition and their studying the Text? Why would studying the Text encourage attrition? What did those who relocated to another congregation see in the Text that was contrary to what was being taught and/or preached? When Peter gave the instruction that ministers should feed the flock [1 Peter 5:1-3], he wasn't empowering us to choose the feed; we have to feed the congregation what has been left by the Good Shepherd. It's interesting to note that in verse three of this Text, Peter instructs that this shepherding (or feeding) is not be administered through domineering over those in your charge but by example.
To foster true followership of GOD we have to stop trying to dominate the congregation and begin leading by example. Paul told the Community at Corinth that they should imitate him in the same manner in which he imitated Christ, or simply because he imitated Christ [1 Corinthians 11:1]. Something to point out here is the fact that when a New Testament writer referred to Jesus as Christ, they were emphasizing His Messiahship. Messiah can be interpreted as the Salvation of YHWH. Another way of looking at Paul's instruction is like this: imitate me as you see me imitating Salvation; when I stop imitating Salvation, stop imitating me. But, for this admonition to become something more than just skilled rhetoric, there is a major responsibility placed on the shoulders of the congregation. All of us have a responsibility to not only read the Bible, but to also study the Text, to become intimate with GOD's thoughts and Character. If we don't, we'll never know when we're being led astray.
Mark Batterson made this statement: my job as a preacher is not to interpret the Text for you, my job is to teach you to properly interpret the Text yourself. What a declaration! This is a minister who has discovered his responsibility as GOD's mouthpiece.
How often is my life as a minister not imitating Salvation?
How often are my words not Salvation's words?
How often do I keep the responsibility and joy of understanding the Text from the people I'm serving?
Perhaps we should adopt this credo:
Now, because I know where many reader's minds will automatically go, followership is not blind obedience to your leader. In fact, followership—in the context of our discussion—goes right past our human leaders to the Source of all Authority: GOD. Because far too many individuals have only cursory interaction and understanding of the Text it becomes all too easy to simply obey everything their selected leader says without ever filtering the instruction through the Word of GOD. The narcissistic leader then misuses the Text, obedience is better than sacrifice [1 Samuel 15:22], thus creating followers of himself rather than followers of GOD. The only obedience that is better than sacrifice is obedience to GOD and His Word. In the context of 1 Samuel 15, Saul was not being reprimanded for disobeying GOD's prophet, he had disobeyed GOD's commandment concerning pre-war sacrifices. Sure Samuel was the mouthpiece of GOD, but Samuel wasn't flavoring or adding to GOD's words, he was simply repeating what GOD had given him to say. If the leader isn't saying what GOD says obedience is not required.
Do a quick study of the job of the watchman that GOD placed on the wall. You'll find that the watchman was only to say what GOD had specifically told him to say. He was not to add to it nor take away from it, simply repeat it.
I listened to a sermon recently in which the minister made abundantly clear the notion that his words from the pulpit were just as vital, and necessary, and GOD-breathed as those of the Old Testament prophets or the New Testament writers. To paraphrase another point of his sermonizing, if the members of his congregation didn't obey his instructions explicitly, they were disobeying GOD. The major problem with all of this is the fact that almost everything that he was preaching wasn't based in the Text, it was all his opinions (or more accurately, the opinions of the individuals he himself had chosen to follow; and thus the degrees of separation increase exponentially). I know this an extreme example of misusing the pulpit for personal credenda, but this is becoming more the norm than the minority.
How often is the goal of my lesson or sermon to create followers of me rather than followers of GOD?
Be honest, it feels good to challenge people's thinking or to drop that nugget in their lap. It's easy to become addicted to the accolades. But is this truly what GOD called His mouthpieces to be: credit seekers or demagogues? Our purpose as ministers of His Good News is to point the way to Him, not to our opinions about Him. If—as a minister in a pulpit—you've ever saddled the congregation with your personal convictions or opinions about the Text you're guilty of trying to replace GOD in the hearer's lives. If we were honest, we've all done this in some way or another, but now that we see the error of our ways, we must avoid it at all costs.
Someone said recently of a local congregation that is experiencing attrition, "For months they [the ministry] encouraged the congregation to read and study the Bible every day. Then, when the congregation had dropped by more than a third, they never said that again." Is there a connection to this congregation's attrition and their studying the Text? Why would studying the Text encourage attrition? What did those who relocated to another congregation see in the Text that was contrary to what was being taught and/or preached? When Peter gave the instruction that ministers should feed the flock [1 Peter 5:1-3], he wasn't empowering us to choose the feed; we have to feed the congregation what has been left by the Good Shepherd. It's interesting to note that in verse three of this Text, Peter instructs that this shepherding (or feeding) is not be administered through domineering over those in your charge but by example.
To foster true followership of GOD we have to stop trying to dominate the congregation and begin leading by example. Paul told the Community at Corinth that they should imitate him in the same manner in which he imitated Christ, or simply because he imitated Christ [1 Corinthians 11:1]. Something to point out here is the fact that when a New Testament writer referred to Jesus as Christ, they were emphasizing His Messiahship. Messiah can be interpreted as the Salvation of YHWH. Another way of looking at Paul's instruction is like this: imitate me as you see me imitating Salvation; when I stop imitating Salvation, stop imitating me. But, for this admonition to become something more than just skilled rhetoric, there is a major responsibility placed on the shoulders of the congregation. All of us have a responsibility to not only read the Bible, but to also study the Text, to become intimate with GOD's thoughts and Character. If we don't, we'll never know when we're being led astray.
Mark Batterson made this statement: my job as a preacher is not to interpret the Text for you, my job is to teach you to properly interpret the Text yourself. What a declaration! This is a minister who has discovered his responsibility as GOD's mouthpiece.
How often is my life as a minister not imitating Salvation?
How often are my words not Salvation's words?
How often do I keep the responsibility and joy of understanding the Text from the people I'm serving?
Perhaps we should adopt this credo:
- As a minister of GOD's Good News, I commit to only shepherding His people with His Words.
- As a minister of GOD's Good News, I commit to never saddling GOD's people with my personal preferences.
- As a minster of GOD's Good News, I commit to strive for godly followership rather than narcissistic leadership.
I would be willing to wager that very quickly the attrition would stem.
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Importance of Revolution
Revolution can be defined as a forcible overthrow of a government or social order or system of operation in favor of a new system. I would, however, like to utilize the etymology of the word to demonstrate a truer meaning. Revolution has its origin in late Middle English and comes from the Old French word revolvere, which means to roll back.
It is my honest belief that GOD is calling His Community as a whole to a godly revolution; not an action that forcibly overthrows the current system with violent action, but rather a steady and purposeful rolling back of our processes and systems to GOD's original intent. GOD is calling us to return. There's an old adage that says if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'm not sure who added this, but another adage continues, and the Church ain't broke. I agree. GOD's Body isn't broken, but our system is. We can either choose to ignore the reality that is occurring all around us, or we can determine that we will roll back and become what GOD intended.
So, you're probably asking, how was the 1st Century Community different than today? Notwithstanding the political and socioeconomic differences between then and now, there are vast differences between what was and what is. The primary difference was the diaspora [referring to the contagion-like spread of the Good News after the Day of Pentecost]. Before Paul ever wrote the first book of the New Testament there were thousands of missional communities functioning all across the known world. I recently read a dissertation by a theologian in which he posits proof of missional communities as far out as the Britannic Islands before the advent of cath holos in the 4th Century. I have no idea if there were Britannic missional communities, it doesn't really matter, but I bring this up to point out that the Good News spread like an unstoppable virus, and it spread fast. Luke tells us that GOD added to the Ekklesia, daily [Acts 2:46-47]. The spread has slowed. In many ways, the contagion of the Good News has been staunched. Much of this is part of the process, but there is much of the staunching that lays at our feet as well.
How did diaspora occur in the 1st Century? To again reference Luke's account [Acts 2:46, 5:42], we see that the Ekklesia not only worshiped in the Temple every day, they also met in their homes. These home meetings were missional communities that were established specifically to not only grow together in unity, but also to grow in numbers through personal and collective discipling. If you do even a cursory study of the diaspora you'll find that these missional communities would spring up almost overnight, then—once established—duplicate themselves and start all over again. This is why the New Testament references specific Communities by city rather than by leader [i.e., the Community at Rome, the Community at Jerusalem, etc. vs. Pastor ________'s church]. They were dedicated and sold out to GOD, not the pedigree of their pastor. In fact, Paul openly addressed this issue in his letter to the Corinthian Community [1 Corinthians 3:1-15]. In this section of his letter, Paul openly admits to a practice that not a few of our modern pastors would shy away from: he says that he's a part of a team. He says that he laid a foundation, but someone else built. He says this after he questions who he is, who Apollos is. Paul was not setting himself up as the ultimate authority in the minds and lives of the Corinthian Community, he was establishing himself as one aspect of a GOD-inspired team. A team that has at its core a strong dependence upon GOD [verse 6]. Diaspora is a result of team efforts, not individualistic kingdom building.
Is it possible that the spread of the Good News-contagion has slowed because we're more focused on building our individual congregations rather than GOD's Kingdom?
How many of the individuals in our congregations are in attendance simply because they are addicted to the dynamics of their pastor's personality and/or preaching style? This can be measured by observing how many people don't attended services if they know the pastor is not going to be present. This is also a result of our event-oriented methodology, where we focus our outreach and worship efforts on one or two primary weekly events [i.e., our weekend and mid-week gatherings]. Call it what you will, but this is nothing like our 1st Century predecessors. In my opinion Paul would have a field day with the modern day Community. Far too many of us have reduced living for GOD to our congregational gatherings, completely ignoring the fact that GOD wants to interact with us daily, relationally.
Diaspora has been staunched because we're not spreading.
Examine the congregations here in North America that are experiencing the most rapid and sustaining growth. Each one of them will attribute the majority of their swell to their in-home communities. Some call them small groups, some use the moniker cell group… at a glance the name doesn't really matter as long as the purpose is to provide community between a smaller group at a more intimate level (although you could make the argument that the group becomes what you call it; call it "small" it will stay that way). These congregations have discovered the truth that if individuals are given the opportunity to experience community throughout the week rather than only in one or two mass events, that they will become more connected and ultimately stronger believers. Forget for a moment all of your philosophical differences with these congregations, you can't deny the fact that this is truly 1st Century. This is nothing new. People have been trying cell groups, small groups, whatever for years. Some have experienced solid diaspora, others haven't. If your congregation hasn't seen true diaspora after tying this, you might be missing one small, yet integral component: common unity.
In an event-driven congregation it is very difficult to experience real common unity [community] because the congregation only interacts at the events. It would be extremely difficult to stand in front of several hundred or more people and openly confess sin, thus making it nearly impossible to bear up our brothers and sisters who have stumbled or are struggling. Yet, we were instructed by James to confess our sins to each other so that we may be healed [James 5:15-17]. While this is virtually impossible in a congregational sense, this transparency and trust is a key ingredient to a thriving, healthy missional community.
People being Spirit-baptized is not, in and of itself, diaspora. Yes it is a fundamental part of the process, but if we're not discipling, nurturing and developing these new believers they won't last; and as a result, diaspora will not continue. Perhaps our multiple text messages, tweets and or reports should focus on the number of new believers who last out the month (just a thought). If we roll back to the concept of team, in which we all are involved in the growth of a new believer, will see the holes in our net steadily shrinking.
In the 1st Century—because of the reality of the common unity that existed in the Ekklesia—it is highly doubtful that there were any individuals who weren't heavily involved in the function and operation of the individual missional community. It's easy to disappear in the crowd, but a far more difficult task to shirk responsibility when there are less people in the room. Add to this reality your missional community receiving letters from GOD's Apostle reminding you that if you don't pull your weight that you should be cut off.
How many of your congregation simply attend the main events?
Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not advocating a desertion of our mass congregations. Nor am I asserting that the existence of large congregations are somehow against GOD. I simply want to point out that this was not the original plan, but a result of outside influences. Imagine how much more effective every member of your congregation would be if they were interacting with each other, shining Jesus and discipling individuals, daily.
We've got to shake ourselves out of this lethargy. GOD is calling us to a revolution, a rolling back to His purpose. We've got to cast off the trappings of cath holos and Protestant denominationalism and return again to His Commission: to go make disciples. Yes, I talk about this a lot, but I have no choice. This is my passion, this is my Calling. It would be easy to shrug off this call to revolution as the "next new thing." But, shrugging it off won't make it go away. Either we are contagious and are effecting our world or we're not. And if we're not, who are we to think that GOD's just going to ignore our ineffectiveness? Have we forgotten that He turned away from His chosen people because of their inability to fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant? Are we so arrogant to assume He won't do it again? GOD told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. He told Abraham that He was blessing him so that he could bless the entire world. He Commissioned His disciples to go make disciples. Are you starting to see the theme? Diaspora is GOD's plan. Attrition is the result of our apathy, not the enemy. We need to stop blaming everything on the devil and man up to the fact that we're not fulfilling our task.
To quote Jack Black, it's time to get naked and start the revolution. We need to strip away all of the trappings of everything that we are that isn't GOD. We need to leave behind so much of our process that stems from the 4th Century and go back further to where it all began. We need to roll back to our Commissioned Purpose. When we fully engage in revolution the contagion of GOD's Good News will be spread around the world.
It is my honest belief that GOD is calling His Community as a whole to a godly revolution; not an action that forcibly overthrows the current system with violent action, but rather a steady and purposeful rolling back of our processes and systems to GOD's original intent. GOD is calling us to return. There's an old adage that says if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'm not sure who added this, but another adage continues, and the Church ain't broke. I agree. GOD's Body isn't broken, but our system is. We can either choose to ignore the reality that is occurring all around us, or we can determine that we will roll back and become what GOD intended.
So, you're probably asking, how was the 1st Century Community different than today? Notwithstanding the political and socioeconomic differences between then and now, there are vast differences between what was and what is. The primary difference was the diaspora [referring to the contagion-like spread of the Good News after the Day of Pentecost]. Before Paul ever wrote the first book of the New Testament there were thousands of missional communities functioning all across the known world. I recently read a dissertation by a theologian in which he posits proof of missional communities as far out as the Britannic Islands before the advent of cath holos in the 4th Century. I have no idea if there were Britannic missional communities, it doesn't really matter, but I bring this up to point out that the Good News spread like an unstoppable virus, and it spread fast. Luke tells us that GOD added to the Ekklesia, daily [Acts 2:46-47]. The spread has slowed. In many ways, the contagion of the Good News has been staunched. Much of this is part of the process, but there is much of the staunching that lays at our feet as well.
How did diaspora occur in the 1st Century? To again reference Luke's account [Acts 2:46, 5:42], we see that the Ekklesia not only worshiped in the Temple every day, they also met in their homes. These home meetings were missional communities that were established specifically to not only grow together in unity, but also to grow in numbers through personal and collective discipling. If you do even a cursory study of the diaspora you'll find that these missional communities would spring up almost overnight, then—once established—duplicate themselves and start all over again. This is why the New Testament references specific Communities by city rather than by leader [i.e., the Community at Rome, the Community at Jerusalem, etc. vs. Pastor ________'s church]. They were dedicated and sold out to GOD, not the pedigree of their pastor. In fact, Paul openly addressed this issue in his letter to the Corinthian Community [1 Corinthians 3:1-15]. In this section of his letter, Paul openly admits to a practice that not a few of our modern pastors would shy away from: he says that he's a part of a team. He says that he laid a foundation, but someone else built. He says this after he questions who he is, who Apollos is. Paul was not setting himself up as the ultimate authority in the minds and lives of the Corinthian Community, he was establishing himself as one aspect of a GOD-inspired team. A team that has at its core a strong dependence upon GOD [verse 6]. Diaspora is a result of team efforts, not individualistic kingdom building.
Is it possible that the spread of the Good News-contagion has slowed because we're more focused on building our individual congregations rather than GOD's Kingdom?
How many of the individuals in our congregations are in attendance simply because they are addicted to the dynamics of their pastor's personality and/or preaching style? This can be measured by observing how many people don't attended services if they know the pastor is not going to be present. This is also a result of our event-oriented methodology, where we focus our outreach and worship efforts on one or two primary weekly events [i.e., our weekend and mid-week gatherings]. Call it what you will, but this is nothing like our 1st Century predecessors. In my opinion Paul would have a field day with the modern day Community. Far too many of us have reduced living for GOD to our congregational gatherings, completely ignoring the fact that GOD wants to interact with us daily, relationally.
Diaspora has been staunched because we're not spreading.
Examine the congregations here in North America that are experiencing the most rapid and sustaining growth. Each one of them will attribute the majority of their swell to their in-home communities. Some call them small groups, some use the moniker cell group… at a glance the name doesn't really matter as long as the purpose is to provide community between a smaller group at a more intimate level (although you could make the argument that the group becomes what you call it; call it "small" it will stay that way). These congregations have discovered the truth that if individuals are given the opportunity to experience community throughout the week rather than only in one or two mass events, that they will become more connected and ultimately stronger believers. Forget for a moment all of your philosophical differences with these congregations, you can't deny the fact that this is truly 1st Century. This is nothing new. People have been trying cell groups, small groups, whatever for years. Some have experienced solid diaspora, others haven't. If your congregation hasn't seen true diaspora after tying this, you might be missing one small, yet integral component: common unity.
In an event-driven congregation it is very difficult to experience real common unity [community] because the congregation only interacts at the events. It would be extremely difficult to stand in front of several hundred or more people and openly confess sin, thus making it nearly impossible to bear up our brothers and sisters who have stumbled or are struggling. Yet, we were instructed by James to confess our sins to each other so that we may be healed [James 5:15-17]. While this is virtually impossible in a congregational sense, this transparency and trust is a key ingredient to a thriving, healthy missional community.
People being Spirit-baptized is not, in and of itself, diaspora. Yes it is a fundamental part of the process, but if we're not discipling, nurturing and developing these new believers they won't last; and as a result, diaspora will not continue. Perhaps our multiple text messages, tweets and or reports should focus on the number of new believers who last out the month (just a thought). If we roll back to the concept of team, in which we all are involved in the growth of a new believer, will see the holes in our net steadily shrinking.
In the 1st Century—because of the reality of the common unity that existed in the Ekklesia—it is highly doubtful that there were any individuals who weren't heavily involved in the function and operation of the individual missional community. It's easy to disappear in the crowd, but a far more difficult task to shirk responsibility when there are less people in the room. Add to this reality your missional community receiving letters from GOD's Apostle reminding you that if you don't pull your weight that you should be cut off.
How many of your congregation simply attend the main events?
Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not advocating a desertion of our mass congregations. Nor am I asserting that the existence of large congregations are somehow against GOD. I simply want to point out that this was not the original plan, but a result of outside influences. Imagine how much more effective every member of your congregation would be if they were interacting with each other, shining Jesus and discipling individuals, daily.
We've got to shake ourselves out of this lethargy. GOD is calling us to a revolution, a rolling back to His purpose. We've got to cast off the trappings of cath holos and Protestant denominationalism and return again to His Commission: to go make disciples. Yes, I talk about this a lot, but I have no choice. This is my passion, this is my Calling. It would be easy to shrug off this call to revolution as the "next new thing." But, shrugging it off won't make it go away. Either we are contagious and are effecting our world or we're not. And if we're not, who are we to think that GOD's just going to ignore our ineffectiveness? Have we forgotten that He turned away from His chosen people because of their inability to fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant? Are we so arrogant to assume He won't do it again? GOD told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. He told Abraham that He was blessing him so that he could bless the entire world. He Commissioned His disciples to go make disciples. Are you starting to see the theme? Diaspora is GOD's plan. Attrition is the result of our apathy, not the enemy. We need to stop blaming everything on the devil and man up to the fact that we're not fulfilling our task.
To quote Jack Black, it's time to get naked and start the revolution. We need to strip away all of the trappings of everything that we are that isn't GOD. We need to leave behind so much of our process that stems from the 4th Century and go back further to where it all began. We need to roll back to our Commissioned Purpose. When we fully engage in revolution the contagion of GOD's Good News will be spread around the world.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
What I'm Reading Now
I'm asked often what books I'm reading, although I'm not sure if people want to know this to see where I'm getting my "damnable doctrine" as one person put it (ha), or if there is genuine interest. Either way, here goes. I try to read as many books as I can with as many different views as possible, as I don't want to be anyone's parrot. It's also important to note that I'm constantly reading the Text in various translations and paraphrases.
Recently Finished:
Primal [Mark Batterson] — by far the best book I've ever read… I read it twice, back-to-back
A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23 [W. Phillip Keller] — third reading, awesome book
Outliers [Malcom Gladwell] — very good read, helps to affect change
Currently Reading:
Crazy Love [Francis Chan]
What Paul Meant [Garry Wills]
Everything Must Change [Brian D. McLaren]
Irresistible Revolution [Shane Claiborne]
New Covenant, New Community [Petrus J. Gräbe]
Wild Goose Chase [Mark Batterson]
I don't make it a practice to do book reviews, but I recommend that everyone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus read Primal and Crazy Love. If you're a pastor, or desire the office of pastor, I highly recommend A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23.
It would be great to see what you're reading as well. Feel free to post your book list.
Recently Finished:
Primal [Mark Batterson] — by far the best book I've ever read… I read it twice, back-to-back
A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23 [W. Phillip Keller] — third reading, awesome book
Outliers [Malcom Gladwell] — very good read, helps to affect change
Currently Reading:
Crazy Love [Francis Chan]
What Paul Meant [Garry Wills]
Everything Must Change [Brian D. McLaren]
Irresistible Revolution [Shane Claiborne]
New Covenant, New Community [Petrus J. Gräbe]
Wild Goose Chase [Mark Batterson]
I don't make it a practice to do book reviews, but I recommend that everyone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus read Primal and Crazy Love. If you're a pastor, or desire the office of pastor, I highly recommend A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23.
It would be great to see what you're reading as well. Feel free to post your book list.
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