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Recommendation #8: Choose a church where you will be equipped and encouraged to live out your life as a minister of Christ.
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, June 13, 2008
Part 11 of series: Choosing a Church: Some Recommendations
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You might expect the Senior Director of Laity Lodge to say something like this. After all, I’m part of an organization committed to the ministry of the laity, the non-ordained people of God, if you will. But the idea that every Christian is called into the ministry of Christ didn’t originate with Howard Butt, Jr., the founder of Laity Lodge. Rather, it flows from the pages of Scripture.
You can find the ministry of all of God’s people throughout the New Testament. It’s found in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the earliest believers in Jesus, an action that Peter interprets in light of the prophecy of Joel in the Old Testament:
“In the last days,” God says,
“I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on my servants—men and women alike—
and they will prophesy.” (Acts 2:17-18 // Joel 2:28-29)
If the Spirit will now be poured out on all people, then all people will be empowered for ministry.
The ministry of all of God’s people is found often in the letters of Paul. In 1 Corinthians 12-14, for example, Paul explains that the Holy Spirit empowers every Christian with special gifts, which are to be used for building up the church. We find no hint in this passage of professional clergy who do ministry and non-professional laity who receive it. Rather, all believers are to be actively involved in the ministry of Christ.
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians contains one of the clearest and most compelling biblical descriptions of the ministry of all of God’s people:
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. (Eph 4:11-16)
Notice that all of God’s people are “to do his work and build up the church” (v. 12). More literally, this sentence says that the saints (hagioi in Greek, meaning all believers, not just special ones) are to be equipped “for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” Ministry is what all Christians do, and all are necessary for the church to be what God intends it to be. This is especially clear in verse 16, which underscores the necessary participation of each member in the body.
So if every Christian is called into ministry, what do those we sometimes call “ministers” do? What is the role of pastors, priests, and preachers? Verse 11-12 show that these people have the responsibility of equipping the people of God for their ministry. The clergy are not to do all the ministry themselves. Rather, their particular ministry involves preparing the people in the church for their own ministry in the church and the world.
Given what Scripture teaches about ministry, it follows that you should look for a church that believes this and does it. So, Recommendation #8 reads: Choose a church where you will be equipped and encouraged to live out your life as a minister of Christ. I realize, of course, that I’m swimming upstream here. Ordinarily, people look for churches that provide the ministries they value. They want “ministers” who do “ministry” well, preaching, praying, caring for the people, etc. And churches generally play into this vision of church as well, enticing potential new members with lists of need-meeting ministries and one or more professional ministers. I don’t think it’s wrong for churches to have need-meeting ministries or professional ministers. But at the top of the list of ministries offered by churches should be equipping ordinary Christians for their ministries. And at the top of the job description of every pastor it should read: Equip members for ministry.
You might expect that megachurches are especially vulnerable to falling into the “we provide great ministries and ministers” trap. But, in my experience, megachurches often do a fine job teaching their members that they are to be ministries and then equipping them for ministry. This is one reason why churches become megachurches, actually. It’s often the smaller, more traditional churches that feature a traditional “pastor as minister and members as ministry receivers” model. This is one reason why such churches are not growing, and may well be struggling to stay alive. However, there are megachurches that are almost entirely based on the charisma and celebrity of the preacher, and there are smaller, traditional churches that are committed to equipping members for ministry. So don’t let the size or style of the church get in the way of an honest evaluation of the church’s commitment to the ministry of God’s people. (Photo: Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, where Rick Warren is pastor. This megachurch, with over 15,000 members, does an excellent job equipping and encouraging people for their ministries in the church and in the world.)
How can you know if a church will equip and encourage you to live out your life as a minister of Christ? First, look for evidence of a biblical understanding of church and ministry on church websites and in other printed material. Do they talk about equipping people for ministry? Do they feature the ministries of God’s people?
Second, listen to what you hear in worship services. Churches that value the ministry of God’s people will feature the ministry of God’s people in their corporate gatherings through lay witnesses, lay worship leaders, etc.
Third, see if the church you’re interested in offers any classes for training people in ministry. Some churches have intentional programs that train folks to find and do their ministries.
Fourth, ask questions of church members, such as: Does this church encourage you to live as a minister of Christ in your daily life? If people can answer this question positively, chances are that you’ve found a church that truly values the ministry of God’s people.
Topics: Choosing a Church | 2 Comments »
Jeremiah Wright and Otis Moss Clarify the Reasons for the Delay in Rev. Moss’s Installation as Senior Pastor
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, June 11, 2008
On Monday I put up a post having to do with the delay in the retirement of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright from Trinity United Church of Christ. My post was based largely on an article from the TIME website called “The Unretirement of Reverend Wright.” According to this article, Rev. Wright used his power to delay both his retirement and the promotion of Rev. Otis Moss III as the new Senior Pastor. The claims and tone of the TIME piece suggested that Rev. Wright was doing what was best for himself, not for the church or Rev. Moss.
In my post, I admited that “there is much I don’t know about this situation.” I’m well aware of the tendency in the secular media to misunderstand or misrepresent things happening in churches. One of my blog readers told me that TIME had badly erred in this story. His source was a streamed portion of last Sunday’s worship service at Trinity Church. So I went to the Trinity website to see what I could discover. There, on the home page, was a new link called “Click Here to Read the Pastors’ Response to the Times/CNN Article.” I did click and was taken to a PDF version of a letter sent jointly from Rev. Wright and Rev. Moss.
One thing I noted right away was the letterhead. It was Trinity United Church of Christ letterhead, and included the following names and titles:
Rev. Otis Moss III, Pastor
Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. Pastor Emeritus
I’ll summarize what is found in the two-page, single-spaced letter:
1. The recent media reports about the leadership transition are “divisive and distorted.”
2. The Trinity Church faces “a congregational moment, where we lay claim on our charge to be a community totally committed to Chirst. We call our congregation to family meditation and prayer and now we arm you with the facts.”
3. Trinity Church follows the polity of the United Church of Christ. According to these guidelines, Rev. Moss cannot be fully vested with the authority as the church’s pastor until he has jumped through all of the required UCC hoops. This will happen in the fall of 2008. So the delay in Rev. Moss’s installation is not a matter of Rev. Wright’s hubris, but rather a requirement of Trinity’s denomination.
4. Even before his full installation, Rev. Moss “has been assigned full pastoral, administrative and management responsibilties.”
5. Rev. Moss will be given the honorary title of “Senior Pastor” just like Rev. Wright, even though this is not an official UCC title.
6. Curiously enough, the closing of the letter included the title “Senior Pastor-Elect” under Rev. Moss’s name, rather than “Pastor,” as on the official letterhead.
So, according to this official communication from Trinity Church and its leaders, there is no potential schism among leaders or the church. Rev. Wright is not seeking his own gain. The delay in Rev. Moss’s installation is not Rev. Wright’s fault. The transition between these two pastors is going well.
Given some of the eccentric things Rev. Wright has said from the pulpit and in recent public appearances, one might be inclined to doubt his truthfulness in this letter. But, though I have cringed at some of Rev. Wright’s statements, I what is said in this letter. Why? For one thing, though Jeremiah Wright has said some exceedingly odd things at times, he has demonstrated over the years a true love for the Trinity Church. Moreover, though I don’t know much about Otis Moss III, what I do know has been most impressive to me. On top of that, if this letter contained serious falsehoods, this would be obvious to the lay leadership of Trinity Church, and would not be acceptable to them.
But, more than this, I have seen time and again how the secular media gets things wrong when it comes to the church. Sometimes this reflects ill intent. Perhaps the TIME reporter wanted to “get” Jeremiah Wright. But, more often, the failure of the mainstream media to tell the truth about churches is a result of ignorance. It may be that the TIME reporter didn’t know much of anything about United Church of Christ polity, or relied on unreliable sources, or . . . you name it.
Of course there might very well be still another side to this story. I hope not, however. The good folk of Trinity Church have been through hard times recently. They need a time out of the spotlight, and they desperately need a smooth transition between Rev. Wright and Rev. Moss.
So, as of this moment I withdraw what I had said about Rev. Wright’s unwillingness to let go of his church. Of course this is just another way of saying that I was wrong. For the sake of Trinity Church and the church of Jesus Christ, I hope I really was wrong, and that I continue to be wrong.
Topics: Church Life | 6 Comments »
Yes! You Drive (and Walk!) in the River
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Perhaps one of the most distinctive features of coming to a retreat at Laity Lodge (and Laity Lodge Youth Camps) is the fact that you drive in the river to get to the retreat. No, you don’t simply drive across the river. You drive up or down the river for anywhere from a quarter to a half mile, depending on which camp your attending.
If you’re not familiar with the northern section of the Frio River, you’ll be reassured to know that it’s very shallow almost all of the time. Right now, because we haven’t had much rain in the Hill Country in the last several months, the portions of the river where you drive are anywhere from an inch to three inches deep. If we get some badly needed rain, the depth will rise only a little. On rare occasions the river floods, but then only for short periods of time.
If you ever visit Laity Lodge, and I hope you do, you’ll get to drive in the river. But for added fun, you can also walk in the river. Bring some good water shoes or decide to let your running shoes get a good bath. In the photo below, you can see my wife and daughter walking in the river, with a truck approaching from behind. The large stone blocks keep drivers from entering deeper sections of the river. Yes! You both drive and walk in the river.
Topics: Sharing Laity Lodge | 2 Comments »
Another Chapter in the Sad Story of Jeremiah Wright and Trinity United Church of Christ
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, June 9, 2008
I’ve been following a story that has scarcely been reported in the news. So far, I’ve only seen it at the TIME and Fox News websites. No doubt this story has been ignored by the media because it has little impact on the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, who has now withrdrawn his membership from Trinity Church. But for those of us who care about the church of Jesus Christ, this next chapter in the Jeremiah Wright/Trinity story is both sad and worthy of our attention.
According to news sources, two years ago, Jeremiah Wright began a process that would lead to his retirement from Trinity Church. Following a course that was not standard in his denomination, Rev. Wright hand-picked his successor, Rev. Otis Moss III. Rev. Moss was full of promise as a brilliant, winsome, caring pastor. I heard Rev. Moss interviewed on the radio a couple of months ago, and I was most impressed with his discretion and quiet wisdom . . . a far cry from the histrionic Rev. Wright. (Photo: Rev. Otis Moss III)
Sunday, June 1, was the day Jeremiah Wright had established for his official retirement. We would become the Pastor Emeritus of Trinity Church and Otis Moss would assume full authority as the new Senior Pastor. But this did not happen. Instead, Rev. Wright hung onto his role as Senior Pastor, while allowing Rev. Moss to be merely the Pastor. Rev. Wright also told his protégé that he needed additional “supervision,” and that he had to fire one of the staff people he had hired. On June 1, which was supposed to be Rev. Moss’s first day as Senior Pastor, Rev. Wright didn’t even show up. A few hours after the worship services, Rev. Moss left for a vacation. No kidding!
According to TIME, Trinity church officials are mostly playing mum about this story. Many members of the church are understandably distressed by what seems to be a flat-out power play by Jeremiah Wright.
Now I freely admit that there is much I don’t know about this situation. But, on the surface, it looks like a classic case of an older pastor who is unwilling and unable to let go of his church when the time is right. This often happens in churches where the pastor is the church founder, or in cases like Trinity Church, where a pastor has had a long and influential ministry. During Rev. Wright’s thirty-six years at Trinity, the church grew from 87 to over 6,000 members.
As someone who recently had to let go of a beloved church I pastored for sixteen years, I can understand some of what must be brewing in Rev. Wright. Yet I am deeply saddened by his actions and their impact on this church. Unless something is seriously wrong with Rev. Moss and his leadership, for which we have no evidence, then Jeremiah Wright seems to be injuring something he worked long and hard to nurture . . . not unlike what his actions may have done to the political future of Barack Obama. From my admittedly underinformed perspective, it seems like Rev. Wright is once again letting his ego get the better of his judgment.
Today I’m praying for Trinity Church, that God’s peace will be granted to them. I’m praying for Jeremiah Wright, that he will have the wisdom and grace to step down as he had promised. And I’m praying for Otis Moss III, who must be terribly hurt and discouraged. May God work his will in this church!
Topics: Church Life | 5 Comments »
Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, June 8, 2008
Treasures in Heaven
“Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.”
These words of Jesus are as relevant to us as they were to his first audience. But if he were speaking today, he might not refer to moths, rust, and thieves. Perhaps he would say something like: “Store your treasures in heaven, where inflation won’t eat away at their value, where corporations won’t defraud you, and where you won’t lose your job in company downsizing.” No matter when or where we live, the basic truth stays the same: Earthly treasures are, at best, temporary. They won’t last forever.
So, then, how are we to store up treasures in heaven? How can we do what Jesus commends in this passage? Whenever we do that which honors God, we are adding to our heavenly treasures. This could be teaching Sunday School or going on a mission trip. But it could also be treating our colleagues at work with kindness, forgiving our boss when she speaks rudely to us, or seeking to pay our employees fairly. When we live out our faith in the world, we receive the reward of God’s good pleasure, even as we look forward to heavenly treasures yet to come.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How are you storing up treasures in heaven? Where do you find it challenging to live for God in your workplace?
PRAYER: Gracious Lord, you know how easy it is for me to store up earthly treasures. It’s one thing to enjoy the good gifts of your creation, and quite another to value them as if they were what matters most in life. I must confess that I sometimes love my earthly treasures more than my heavenly ones. Forgive me, Lord.
Help me to live for you each moment of each day, not only in the “religious” part of life, but in every part. In fact, help me to live out the truth that you care about everything in life, not just the parts we consider to be spiritual.
So, whether I’m contributing to a meeting at work, or helping my daughter with her science project, or mowing the lawn, may I do all things for your pleasure. Amen.
Daily Reflections from The High Calling.org
This devotional comes from The High Calling of Our Daily Work (www.thehighcalling.org). You can read my Daily Reflections there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace.
Topics: Sunday Inspiration | No Comments »
Recommendation #7: Choose a church where you can experience genuine Christian fellowship.
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, June 6, 2008
Part 10 of series: Choosing a Church: Some Recommendations
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From a biblical point of view, when a person enters into a relationship with Jesus Christ through faith, that person also becomes a member of the body of Christ, the interconnected network of all believers in Jesus. Each member of the Christ’s body is expected to invest deeply in the lives of others, both receiving and giving care, prayer, and love.
Many churches provide contexts in which you can experience this sort of thing in reality. Unfortunately, many churches do not. They have bought into the non-biblical vision of the church as a provider of services. Consumers (read “church members”) come to church for what they need: inspiration, hope, teaching, etc. They may choose to chip in to help pay for these provisions, or they may not. But, at any rate, when they’re done getting their needs met, they leave and go about their business until another need for the church arises.
This vision of church life is often embodied in many of a church’s core realities. Consider, for example, the design of the classic church sanctuary. Whether we’re talking about a giant cathedral or a small country chapel, this classic design includes a stage on which the action occurs (called a chancel or altar). There are seats for the audience (called pews for the congregation), so they can see what’s happening on the stage. The seats are designed to facilitate face-forward observation and little else. The main door into the sanctuary opens onto the street, so people can come from the world into the sanctuary, observe and receive, and then go back out into the world with minimal interaction with others. This is not only thought to be okay, it is encouraged by the very architecture of thousands of church buildings. (Photo: On the contrary, when we designed our sanctuary at Irvine Presbyterian Church, we intentionally made the entrance contiguous to the patio. One could not enter or exit the church without passing through the folks on the patio.)
Of course you can find churches with sanctuary doors opening to the interior of the church campus where genuine fellowship is hard to find. And you can find churches with traditional architecture in which you’ll quickly be folded into genuine fellowship. The main point isn’t the architecture, but rather the reality of genuine fellowship and the existence of many points of entry for new people. Some churches do pretty well with the members-caring-for-each other idea, but they make it difficult for new people to join the relational network. You need a church in which genuine fellowship is present and you can join in.
In small churches, you may be able to become an active part of the community simply by showing up at all-church events (worship services, potlucks, mission projects, etc.). In most churches, however, and especially in large churches, genuine Christian fellowship necessarily happens in smaller groups (classes, covenant groups, prayer groups, mission groups, etc.).
Let me emphasize that genuine Christian fellowship isn’t just friendly handshakes and greetings on the patio after church. It necessarily involves a much deeper sharing of life. It requires a context in which “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it” (1 Cor 12:26). This sort of thing requires intimacy, longevity, and mutual commitment.
So, when you’re looking for a church, I’d encourage you to examine online and printed information for evidence of ample contexts for genuine fellowship. Are there Bible studies? Men’s groups? Women’s groups? Prayer groups? Sunday classes? Midweek gatherings? etc. etc. etc. If so, then you may have found a church where you can become involved in true fellowship. Try out some of these groups to see if you might fit there. Your experience of the people in the church will help you discern whether they are welcoming of new people, and therefore will be eager to include you in their fellowship.
Topics: Choosing a Church | 5 Comments »
Recommendation #6: Choose a church that encourages you in your worship.
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Part 9 of series: Choosing a Church: Some Recommendations
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This recommendation might seem so obvious as to be almost not worth mentioning. What is a church, if not a place to worship? But finding a place where you can worship, truly worship, is not quite as simple as it sounds.
For one thing, worship isn’t just sitting through a so-called “worship service.” It’s not listening to a sermon. It’s not evening singing songs and reading Bible passages. Worship, at its core, is intimate communication with God. It’s responding to God’s nature and activity by offering to God praise, thanks, honor, love, and, most of all, yourself. (I’ve had much to say about worship over the years, most of all in my series, The Soul of Worship.)
So, when you’re searching for a church home, look for a place where you can worship, where what happens in the service facilitates your offering to God. The main point isn’t the excellence of the sermon or the music. It isn’t even whether you like the worship services or not. Rather, the main point is whether a church helps you to offer yourself to God in the weekly gathering, and, by extension, in the rest of your life.
What helps people to truly worship God varies widely. I have dear friends who, though once in low-church, evangelical congregations, have found deep inspiration for their worship in Eastern Orthodox worship settings, with its elaborate liturgy and pageantry. I have other friends who grew up in very formal churches, but who have been set free to worship in free-flowing, band-led services full of praise songs and other contemporary expressions. And then there’s everything in between. (Photo: The Festival of Carols at Irvine Presbyterian Church, one of my favorite worship experiences.)
I don’t mean to imply that a worship service can be anything you want it to be. A true worship experience is focused on God, God’s grace, God’s nature, God’s activity, God’s love. It regularly holds up the good news of the gospel, in word, in song, in prayer, and in deed. It includes the reading and preaching of Scripture. The sacraments of communion and baptism and regularly shared. But these various elements of worship, which are common to all true Christian worship, can be experienced in a wide variety of genres and styles. I don’t care whether you go to a church that uses a choir and hymns or a band and praise songs or some combination. I do care that you find a church in which you are let to the throne of grace, where you might experience mercy and find grace afresh, and where you might offer yourself to God on a regular basis.
I must qualify what I’ve just said, however, if you’re something other than a single person. If you’re a member of a family, then you’re facing a potentially more complicated issue, because you need to find a church that facilitates the worship of your family, and not just yourself. This may be easy, but probably won’t be. These days, it’s quite possible that your spouse is moved to worship through a different style from the one you prefer. And if you have teenage children, as I do, it’s almost certain that their preferences won’t be the same as yours. So you may very well be looking for a church that offers a variety of worship experiences.
I’m not interested in debating in this post whether it’s good or not for a church to have diverse worship services. I’ll save this for another time. But, given what I’ve said above, you can probably surmise that I’m less concerned about the style(s) of worship in a church than I am about the understanding of worship and the way it is facilitated. A church with a right theology of worship and wise worship leaders will be leading people to offer themselves to God in their traditional service, their contemporary service, their blended service, their vanilla service, their chocolate-chip service, and who knows what else.
These days, many churches have developed theological statements in which they discuss their understanding and practice of worship. If the church you’re considering has such a statement, it might help you discover whether this church is right for you. You can find an example of such a statement on the website of Irvine Presbyterian Church, where I served as pastor for many years. The leaders of this church and I developed this statement primarily as a guide for our own worship. But it also helped potential new members learn what we believed and practiced.
In the end, however, statements will only take you so far. You will only know if you (and your family) can truly worship in a given church by regularly joining the congregation in their worship.
Topics: Choosing a Church | 2 Comments »
Driving in Texas
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, June 2, 2008
My first experiences of driving in Texas left me with the impression of an endless, flat countryside. When I was a child, my family and I drove through north Texas on a couple of occasions. It was hot, dusty, and boring. Then, when I was moving from New England back to California, I drove across the state from Texarkana to El Paso, a trip of over 800 miles. This time around it wasn’t quite as boring, because I had to deal with black ice for about 200 miles near Dallas. This kept me on the edge of my seat, and added a few hours to the trip.
When moving from California to Texas last year, I was surprised to find that the speed limit on long stretches of Interstate 10 is 80 miles per hour. That’s right, 80 mph! I’d never seen anything like that before. (Let me add, for those of you inclined to speed, that the state troopers take 80 mph seriously. A friend of mine was recently ticketed for going only a few miles over 80. So if you’re used to driving in one of those states where the posted speed limit is 55 but everybody is going 70, beware!)
Driving in Texas has given me more than just the freedom to go 80 miles per hour without fear of getting a ticket. I’ve also found myself driving through the middle of a herd of sheep. Some of the backroads of Texas go through people’s ranches, where livestock runs free. So it’s not unusual to find yourself driving alongside, or perhaps even through a bunch of animals. The other evening I was driving on a road about ten miles from my house when I found myself caught in a sheep traffic jam. Seriously, it took about five minutes to go a couple hundred yards because the sheep seemed utterly unimpressed by me and my truck. If you’re interested, you can check out this 24-second video:
But the most unusual driving I do in Texas isn’t through sheep or speeding along the interstate at 80 mph. It’s driving in the river at Laity Lodge. The only way you can get to Laity Lodge in a vehicle requires that you drive for about a half mile in the Frio River. Yes, I don’t mean you drive across the river. You drive upstream in the river. In the photo to the right you can see several cars driving in the river. Most of the time, this stretch of the Frio River is very shallow, only a few inches deep at most. On rare occasions the river floods, in which case there’s no way in or out of Laity Lodge. Don’t worry. Flooding of this sort is rare, and it doesn’t come in the flash flood variety.
Topics: Texas | 1 Comment »
Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, June 1, 2008
A Call to Truthfulness
”Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.”
In the time of Jesus, people made vows to offer assurance that they would do as they had said. But they didn’t “swear to God” for fear that if they failed to perform as promised, then God’s name would be besmirched. So swearing by something became a kind of game, offering reassurance but also an “out” so people could break their word.
Jesus cut through the confusion by calling his disciples to speak the truth clearly and simply. They were to do what they had said, rather than making excuses or conniving ways to defend their dishonesty. The followers of Jesus were to speak and to live the truth.
Two millennia later, Jesus’ words challenge us to avoid the verbal games of our spin-saturated culture. We can be tempted to break our promises by finding verbal loopholes through which to wiggle. Or we twist our words so as to misrepresent the truth without actually telling blunt lies. Such ruses are not the way of Jesus. He calls us to speak plainly, simply, and truthfully.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: When have you been tempted to twist the truth for your own benefit? What did you do? What helps you to be more truthful, both in your words and in your actions?
PRAYER: God of Truth, even as you are truthful in all you do, so you call me to imitate you. I’m to speak the truth and to live in your grace; sometimes I do this, even when it’s hard. But then there are other times when I bend or break the truth for my own advantage. I can “spin” with the best of them.
Yet my heart senses the error of my ways, even if my mind tries to rationalize my behavior. Thus I turn to you in confession, laying my inconsistencies and falsehoods before you. Forgive me, Lord, by your grace.
Help me to be a person of truth, one who speaks honestly and lives accordingly. Help me especially in places where I’m tempted to twist the truth: in the office, at home, or when I’m out with my friends. May the truthfulness of my life reflect your own truthfulness, dear Lord. Amen.
Note: I have written extensively about truthful speaking and living in my book, Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. You can order this book through Mark’s website.
Daily Reflections from The High Calling.org
This devotional comes from The High Calling of Our Daily Work (www.thehighcalling.org). You can read my Daily Reflections there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace.
Topics: Sunday Inspiration | No Comments »
Recommendation #5: Choose a church that proclaims and embodies the gospel of Jesus Christ
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, May 30, 2008
Part 8 of series: Choosing a Church: Some Recommendations
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It is often said that the Holy Spirit gives birth to the church. I’ve said such a thing on Pentecost Sunday, and there’s a large measure of truth in this statement. But it could also be said that the gospel of Jesus Christ gives birth to the church. On the first Pentecost, the Spirit was poured out upon the disciples, and this drew lots of curious onlookers. But what got these folks to put their faith in Jesus and thus be joined to the church? The preaching of the good news by Peter.
Without the gospel of the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no church. Oh, to be sure, there are some so-called churches that don’t believe or communicate this message (Unitarian “churches” for example). But, from a biblical point of view, the church comes as a response to and an outgrowth of the gospel. This is true, not only of “the church” of Jesus Christ, but also of individual churches. How did the Pauline churches get started, for example? Paul went to a certain city and began speaking about what God had done in Jesus. People who accepted this good news not only “got saved” and “became Christians” (our language, not Paul’s), but also were joined to the church of Jesus Christ, broadly speaking, as well as to the specific church that met in their city.
One of the primary callings of the church is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ so that those who believe it already might be encouraged and so that those who don’t believe might have a chance to do so. Every single Christian church should preach the gospel regularly and faithfully. Many, perhaps most churches do. But others seem to assume the gospel and proclaim many other things instead. These other things can be good things, like how to live obediently or how to seek justice in the world. But these activities find their true goodness only as a response to and reflection of the gospel. (Photo: A sanctuary of an Anglican church in London at dusk. Churches need to shine outward with God’s light as well.)
There are actually some churches, ones we’d usually call “liberal” though they might prefer the label “progressive,” that do not preach the good news of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus because they don’t actually believe this. They have replaced this gospel with another, perhaps “God loves and accepts everyone, period” or something like that. Such churches ought to consider something Paul said about the gospel when writing to the Galatians:
Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed. (Galatians 1:8-9)
There are other churches that preach the good news of Jesus, yet don’t live it. Remember, I’ve already said that there are no perfect churches. This means that no church lives the gospel without lots of mistakes. Nevertheless, churches should both preach and live the gospel. So, for example, if a church preaches the good news of Jesus, but then uses legalism to get people to shape up, this church falls short of the standard. Or if a church proclaims the gospel but then treats certain sorts of people with contempt (gays, liberals, etc.), this church is missing the boat big time.
One of the guiding documents of my denomination (the Book of Order of the PCUSA) includes a statement of “The Great Ends of the Church.” These are:
The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.
Notice that the first great end is “the proclamation of the gospel of the salvation of humankind.” This is consistent with what I’m saying about finding a church that proclaims the gospel. The last great end, “the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world” refers to living out the gospel, though using different language.
How can you tell if a church “proclaims and embodies the gospel of Jesus Christ”? The proclaim part is relatively easy. Listen to what is said in worship, especially in preaching. Soon you’ll know. I don’t believe that every single sermon needs to be specifically evangelistic, complete with an altar call, though this would surely be the proclamation of the gospel. But every church should regularly speak of the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection as well as its implications, both for this world and the next.
Whether a church embodies the gospel may be harder to determine. You can look for evidence of outreach and mission. Is the church making a major effort to help others hear and respond to the good news? But you’ll also want to sense the way people relate to each other. Does grace abound in this church? When people wrong each other, do they reconcile and forgive? It will take time for you to know whether a church that proclaims the good news also walks the talk.
Again, I’d encourage you not to look for perfection. You won’t find it. But you’ll be well served by a church that regularly speaks of what God has done through Christ and seeks to embody this message in the way they live, both with each other and in the world.
Topics: Choosing a Church | 2 Comments »
Recommendation #4: Meet with the Pastor
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Part 7 of series: Choosing a Church: Some Recommendations
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So far I’ve put up three recommendations for those who are looking for a new church home:
#1: Clarify what you value most in a church, though with an open mind and heart.
#2: Look for a church that is essentially orthodox, unless . . . .
#3: Use the Internet.
Today I discuss Recommendation #4: Meet with the Pastor.
Dozens of times during my tenure as senior pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, I had appointments with potential church members. Usually they had visited several times and liked what they experienced of our church. But before they took part in one of our new member’s classes, they wanted to talk with the pastor.
Sometimes these visits were relaxed and informal, just “get-to-know-you” sessions. People would tell me a bit of their story, sometimes relating their spiritual testimony. If they didn’t bring up how they became Christians, I’d ask. They’d ask me questions about my background, my family, and so forth. These were pleasant, low-blood-pressure kinds of conversations.
Sometimes, however, people came with literal lists of theological questions. Before joining our church, they wanted to know what I and other church leaders believed about a wide variety of subjects, including: salvation, the nature of Christ, the authority of the Bible, women in ministry, spiritual gifts, speaking in tongues, homosexuality, abortion, politics, and predestination, just to name a few issues. I would do my best, not to “sell” the church to the potential “buyers,” but to describe our core beliefs as accurately as possible.
On quite a few occasions I’d tell people things about our church that they didn’t like, knowing that this would in all likelihood mean that they weren’t going to join. Some folks were unhappy that our church was inadequately political, either on the right or the left. Some were miffed that we regarded all homosexual activity as sinful. Others were disappointed that we ordained women as pastors and elders. I remember one man who was almost incredulous: “You really ordain women as leaders? But you’re such a great church! And your preaching is so biblical? How is this possible?” When I tried to explain that we believed the Bible pointed in the direction of women in leadership, and that I’d be willing to work through the relevant texts with him, he was not satisfied. “There’s no way I’d ever be able to join a church that ordains women. But I’m really upset about this because I like this church so much.”
Many of my conversations with potential members had to do, not so much with theology as with practical questions about ministry and mission. Folks wanted to be in a church where they could get involved with the work of Christ. They were excited about our church’s ministries in the local community and beyond. They wanted to join us as we fed pizza to high schoolers or built homes for homeless families in Mexico.
While I was pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, the congregation grew from the upper 500s to the upper 700s. We are one the larger side of mid-sized churches. This meant is was possible for potential members to meet with me personally. In larger churches, it’s sometimes difficult or impossible for people to meet with the senior pastor. While I was on the staff of Hollywood Presbyterian Church, for example, a person who wanted to make an appointment with Lloyd Ogilvie was able to do so, but there was often about a one-year waiting period. Given the size of the church, then over 4,000, and the widespread popularity and influence of Lloyd Ogilvie, this kind of delay was understandable. But it meant that, in reality, most people who wanted to learn about the church were better served by meeting with one of the associate pastors, with whom they could get an appointment in just a few days. So, if you’re considering a large church, my advice would be: Meet with one of the pastors. (Photo: Lloyd Ogilvie and me at my installation as pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church)
It may seem like I’m giving the pastor or pastors too much of a role in the church-choosing business. After all, isn’t the church far more than its pastor? Yes, indeed. But, in my experience, pastors are usually able to represent accurately the church they shepherd. Plus, it’s important to know what the chief preacher(s) and teacher(s) believe.
Before my family joined St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Boerne, I did indeed meet with Pastor John Watson. Over lunch at the Boerne Grill we became acquainted. It was more of a “get-to-know-you” meeting than an theological examination. I was especially interested in the kind of person he was. One of the things that matters most to be about a church is the integrity of the pastor. I need to know that my pastor is truly seeking to honor Christ, not only in ministry, but also in daily discipleship. After my meeting with John, I knew I’d be glad to be one of his flock.
Topics: Choosing a Church | 12 Comments »
Recommendation #3: Use the Internet
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Part 6 of series: Choosing a Church: Some Recommendations
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In my last post, I wrote that if you’re looking for a church, you should find one that is “essentially orthodox.” The church should affirm as essential beliefs that which Christians have affirmed as essential for centuries (Jesus as fully God and fully human; God as Trinity; Jesus as Savior of the world, etc.).
This raises an obvious question for the one who’s looking for a church: How do you know what a church really believes?
This question isn’t as easy to answer as one might assume. You might think, for example, that you could read a church’s statement of faith. Some churches have them; others don’t. And, to make matters more complicated, some churches have quite extensive statements of faith. A church in the Presbyterian Church USA, for example, affirms eleven creeds and confessions, which take up more than 200 pages in our Book of Confessions. Yet members and even leaders of a PCUSA church don’t have to affirm every statement in the official Book of Confessions. Moreover, some churches have strayed quite far from classic Presbyterian doctrine such as found in the Westminster Confession of Faith (in the Book of Confessions). To make matters even more complicated, a few PCUSA pastors and churches actually deny some of the basic doctrines of Christianity, like Christ as the Savior of the world. So if you are considering a PCUSA church, the official statements of faith won’t necessarily tell you what the church really believes (though they tell you what a church should believe).
Quite a few churches have simple, relatively short statements of faith, in which they summarize core beliefs. Consider, for example, this two-page statement by Oak Hills Church (where Max Lucado is senior minister). If a church has gone to the trouble of condensing their essential beliefs in a statement, chances are that the church really believes what it affirms.
Of course this raises the question of whom we’re talking about when we wonder what a church really believes? Are we thinking of the people in the church? Or the senior pastor? Or the elders? Or the deacons? Or . . . ? In most churches today, you’d find a wide range of belief among the members. Therefore, when you’re considering a church, it may not help very much to talk with a few members about their beliefs. When I talk about what a church believes, I’m thinking especially of what the central leadership of the church affirms. Usually this would include the pastor (or pastors) and key lay leaders (elders, deacons, vestry, council, etc.).
In days gone by it was hard to find out what a particular church believed without actually attending that church. Often you had to ask for a statement of faith, if one existed. From what was preached on a given Sunday, you might be able to discern something of what the pastor and core leadership believed, though one sermon wouldn’t give you too much to go on.
Today, the Internet has made choosing a church much, much easier. Most churches of any size have websites. And you can learn a lot about a church from spending even twenty minutes browsing a church website. Most of the time you’ll find a statement of mission or vision. Often you’ll discover a church’s statement of faith. You can usually read something written by the pastor, and this can give you a good sense of a church’s core values and beliefs.
As you peruse a church website, you can look for certain keywords that succinctly reveal much about a church. If, for example, a church highlights being “biblically-based” or “Bible-centered,” that usually means the church holds the Bible as God’s Word in a strong sense, with teaching and preaching that assumes the full truth of Scripture. If, however, a church claims to be “open and affirming,” this phrase usually indicates that a church accepts homosexual behavior as God’s will in some cases. This almost always implies that a church gives less authority to Scripture, and more authority to human experience in discerning what is true and right. (In my experience, I’ve never known a church to have a high view of biblical authority and hold that homosexual behavior can be correct. Most churches that are “open and affirming” let the experience of gay people trump the teaching of Scripture about homosexuality.)
I should add at this point that I don’t think you can choose a church simply on the basis of clever web browsing. To be sure, you will need to visit a church that you’re seriously considering, many times. But the Internet will allow you to narrow your search by eliminating churches that would be a bad fit for you. And it may point you to the right church before you visit. This happened to me recently, in fact.
Last year, when my family and I were considering a move from Irvine, California to Boerne, Texas, one of the first things I did was to check out the local Presbyterian church on the Internet. There I found statements of mission and vision that revealed a great deal about this church. I knew that St. Mark was essentially orthodox and centered in Jesus Christ. I could see that the church remained significantly engaged with the PCUSA, even as it affirmed a solid evangelical faith. I learned from the St. Mark website that they were active in mission and fellowship. From reading church bulletins and recent newsletters I sensed that St. Mark was an active, caring church . . . one I could imagine being a part of. All of this I learned from an hour on the Internet, weeks before I had ever visited Boerne. As it turned out, my family and I joined the fellowship of St. Mark Pres. (Photo: the chancel of St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Boerne).
I have left out one crucial way to know what a church believes. This I’ll pick up in my next post.
Topics: Choosing a Church | 2 Comments »
Some Texas Critters
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, May 26, 2008
One of the things I’m enjoying about Texas is the wildlife. My family and I live in the Hill Country outside of San Antonio, a relatively rural spot with lots of wildlife, both native to the area and exotic. (Did you know the word exotic comes from the Greek word exotikos, which means “from the outside” or “from elsewhere”?)
This part of Texas once had native buffalo. In fact, I used to live on “Cibolo Basin” street in Boerne. Cibolo is a Spanish word for buffalo, and is common in the Hill Country, reflecting the fact that buffalo were once found here naturally, and that many who found them spoke Spanish. When settlers came to the Hill Country, however, they soon decimate the native buffalo population. In recent years, ranchers have begun to raise buffalo, partly because the meat is high in protein and low in fat. I’ve had a buffalo burger (in West Yellowstone, Montana), and it was quite tasty.
In the foreground of the photo to the right, you can see some wildflowers growing alongside the fence. I have been amazed by the number and variety of Texas wildflowers. Quite a delight! In the background you can see the larger herd of buffalo on this ranch outside of Medina, Texas. You can also see that it’s a hazy day, rather cloudy and, therefore, not yet very hot. I’ve been enjoying how much the weather in Texas changes. Yes, it can get pretty hot here, but the variety of weather is impressive, nevertheless.
A few days ago at Laity Lodge I had a personal encounter with an Axis deer buck. Axis deer are native to India and Nepal, but are “the most abundant exotic ungulate in Texas” according to The Mammals of Texas - Online Edition. (Ungulate comes from the Latin word ungula, which means claw or hoof.) Indeed, Axis deer cover the Hill Country, along with the native White-Tailed Deer. You can identify an Axis deer by its telltale spots. (Photo: This is the Axis deer that was having breakfast about fifty feet from my back door at Laity Lodge. If you look carefully, you can see that another deer was right behind the buck. That explains the multiple legs.)
Finally, the other night I was working in my workshop with my daughter Kara. All of a sudden we heard a loud noise, as if someone had thrown a rock at the side of the building. Looking up in alarm, we saw a gigantic beetle struggling on the ground. It had obviously flown into the side of the building, which explained the loud noise we had just heard. I had never seen such a large beetle before. Doing some online research, I discovered that it was a Rhinoceros Beetle. I learned that my visitor was a female, because the males have horns on their heads, which explains the name Rhinoceros. Near as I can tell, these beetles aren’t dangerous to human. But I sure don’t want one crawling up my leg! (Photo: Another Rhino Beetle I captured a couple of nights ago. You can see how its size compares to a quarter. The first beetle I saw as a good bit larger than this “tiny” one.)
Topics: Only in Texas | No Comments »
Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, May 25, 2008
Blessed Are Those Who Are Maligned for the Sake of Jesus
”God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.”
The last of the beatitudes is an elaboration of the previous one: “God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs” (Matt. 5:10). Though verse 11 includes persecution among the evils that the followers of Jesus will face, the emphasis is upon verbal attacks. You are blessed, Jesus says, when people mock you, lie about you, and malign you because you are my followers.
Most of us in the Western world won’t experience the sort of persecution that plagued the early church, and that still impacts Christians in many parts of Asia today. But it is increasingly common in American and European society for Christians to be victims of the verbal abuse Jesus mentions in this passage. This can happen in the media, in the workplace, in the university, to name just a few contexts where Christians are sometimes belittled for their faith.
When people speak poorly of us because of our faith, we must be prepared to explain and defend our beliefs, yet always “in a gentle and respectful way” (1 Pet. 3:15). We must not return evil for evil, attacking with words those who attack us.
It’s not easy to offer a Christ-like response when we are belittled for our faith. A year ago, I found myself in a three-hour radio “debate” with Christopher Hitchens, author of god is not Great and a fervent critic of Christianity. One of Hitchens’ techniques was to insinuate that I was a fool to believe as I did. He also misrepresented the facts of Christianity several times. It was hard for me to keep my cool, and to treat Mr. Hitchens “in a gentle and respectful way,” but that was my intent.
Jesus gives us motivation to turn the other cheek when we are maligned for our faith. “Be very glad!” he says. “For a great reward awaits you in heaven.” What will be that reward? Surely it will include God’s good pleasure in us and the knowledge that we remained faithful even in difficult circumstances. What a joy it will be to hear from our Lord: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Have you ever been maligned for your faith? What did you do? What helps you to treat people with gentleness and respect even when they are mistreating you?
PRAYER: Dear Lord, from your own experience, you know how hard it is to be maligned by people. It hurts when they lie about us or say wrong things in attacking us. When this happens, our gut instinct is to hit back. But you call us to a different way. We’re to turn the other cheek, to walk the second mile, to offer gentleness and respect to those who have been harsh and rude to us. Help us, dear Lord, to do this.
Thank you for giving us the hope of a future reward. This sustains us in hard times. But it keeps me going to know that when I am mistreated for your sake, and when I respond as you would respond, you are pleased right now.
All praise be to you, dear Lord, for helping us to endure when we are mistreated for your sake. All praise be to you for the hope of a future with you. Amen.
Daily Reflections from The High Calling.org
This devotional comes from The High Calling of Our Daily Work (www.thehighcalling.org). You can read my Daily Reflections there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace.
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You Know You’re in a Small Town When . . . More from the Boerne Police Blotter
By Mark D. Roberts | Saturday, May 24, 2008
April 4
544 mile marker Interstate 10, 8:42 p.m., Police stopped a vehicle and arrested the driver for possession of marijuana. A passenger was issued a citation for an open container. [MDR: An open container? Of what? Or is it illegal in Texas simply to have any open container in your car: peanuts, jam, etc.?]
April 7
400 block of W. Bandera, 9:08 a.m., A man pulling into a parking space at H-E-B said his foot slipped off the brake pedal and hit the accelerator. That caused the vehicle to jump over a curb and strike a tree. No injuries were reported. [MDR: But what about the tree’s injuries?]
April 16
600 block of Rosewood, 11:50 a.m., After police received two reports of a white Toyota being driven recklessly, a caller was able to direct officers to a house where the vehicle was located. Officers identified the 18-year-old driver and advised him about his driving habits. The driver was also issued a citation for minor consumption of alcohol. [MDR: Is it illegal in Texas to consume minor amounts of alcohol? Apparently so.]
May 2
Ammann Road, 9:27 a.m., A caller reported having problems with a neighbor’s peacock coming onto her property. [MDR: Pesky peacock!]
May 3
29000 block of Ralph Fair Road, 1:45 a.m., While on patrol, an officer located an unattended vehicle parked at Fair Oaks Ranch Elementary. A not on the car indicated that the vehicle was broke down and would be retrieved the next day. Police ran the tags on the vehicle and found that the license belonged to another car. [MDR: Oops. Boerne Star editors: Did you mean a “note” on the car that was “broken” down?]
May 8
200 block of W. Lohmann, 2:58 p.m., An officer was called to the school to help with a child that was kicking and trying to hit the faculty. [MDR: The faculty? The whole faculty? That’s one angry kid!]
700 block Water Street, 10:51 p.m., A caller reported a man laying in her front yard unconscious. [MDR: If he was unconscious, he was probably lying in her yard, to be more lexically precise.]
Topics: Small Town, Police Blotter | No Comments »