Do we equip the church, or does it equip us?

On Tuesday I was talking with my friend Gary about many things, including the issues related to my Open Letter from Monday. He told me about a time that he was doing a retreat in Canada on calling and there was a recurring theme in Q&A -- all about how to go about getting permission from their pastors and/or churches to do what was on their hearts to do. (BTW, Gary said his response was if God was telling them to do it, why do they need support from their church?)

I've personally seen this, and heard similar stories. Men and some women who want to do a certain ministry or activity, only to be told by their pastor that it doesn't fit with them and the vision of their church (or mission or purpose of their church). I've been told a couple time by pastors that if I feel called to do what I had just shared with them, maybe it's a sign that I'm not supposed to be with them. I think this is a phenomenon that has grown in recent years as churches have imitated the business world in all the wrong ways -- coming up with vision and mission statements and focusing on accomplishing them.

Strange. I wonder what Bible they are reading?

Throughout Paul's letters, in Hebrews, in Acts, I see a recurring theme -- the church or its "leaders" are to equip the saints. The meetings are to edify and encourage one another. Our communities are to encourage one another to love and good deeds. I don't see anything about meeting the vision of the pastor, or the leadership team. The pastor role is actually mentioned all of once in scripture, and it is in the context of the pastor being for the equipping the saints for service.

Jesus said to the original disciples that they shouldn't lord it over others like the pagans do. But when a pastor or other leader says "we don't do that here" in reference to a good work someone wants to do, how is that not an example of lording it over? If a person is called of God to do something, shouldn't those around him or her help that person confirm it, then support it as God leads them to?

Instead, we get leaders who define roles and encourage service, but only in those predefined little buckets they create? Paul said God works within us to will and to act for his good purpose. Why can't leaders and churches trust God to do what He says? What a church needs to get done will get done what God wants if we trust Him to move and work within His people.

Christianity and the Cult of Celebrity

Trying to settle into a Sunday or Monday and Wednesday or Thursday posting pattern ... but came across this article and thought it fit well here.

Consider this a bonus post.

Christianity and the Cult of Celebrity

An Open Letter to the Institutional Church

Dear I.C.,

We had a great run, didn't we? For most of some 30 years, I was there with you most Sundays (yea, there was that time I was in Sweden for a few months I didn't show up). And you were good to me for most that time.

Through you, I met some great people. Ronnie who taught me about relationships. Bill, who lived service. Marie, dedicated to prayer. Dan, Chris, Dave, Mark, Steve, so many. And Bruce, who taught me to challenge my beliefs. Especially ones that are commonly accepted. Hmmm.

And through you, accomplished some good. What a run you and I had. Officer in Christian clubs, starting a college ministry, starting a benevolence ministry, even starting a men's ministry. Leader's team for a church plant. Planning about four retreats.

I know that inside your doors, many have come to know Christ, or at least met some people who knew him, or maybe some people who knew people who knew him. I came to love the word of God with you.

But along the way, I saw too often others who made you the focus, and too often I have made you the focus. We measured accomplishment in terms of the way institutions do, through "objective" numbers. And when I moved to Maryland, I saw how so many thought in terms of your maintenance and preservation, not in following Jesus. Four years later, I see this even more, with every "church" visited greeting me with the marketing survey (is this your first time? how did you found out about us?).

And discipleship within your walls -- it came as increasing and measuring knowledge. Knowing about God replaces knowing God. Thanks to God himself, that has been redirected in my own life by some so called "parachurch" organizations and the individuals I met due to them, but that learning to know God and to walk with him for so long made it even more distasteful to be in your walls.

At first, this just created anger within me. How could you masquerade as the bride of Christ? I thought of what a more appropriate form of church could be, discussed that with others. Anger probably wasn't the wrong emotion, but it led to the wrong conclusions. The answer isn't in your reform, but in how I viewed church.

Jesus said he would build his church. Luke records in Acts that God added daily to the church. The church is the body. Anyone who professes Jesus and becomes his disciple is in the church. One does not go to church anymore than one goes to themselves. The manifestation of the church in my presence is the other disciples around me that I interact with. No more, no less. No membership in a club or institution that calls itself "church" changes that, and no lack of membership means I'm not a part of the church.

Now, I know I used to blame you for limiting me. I was not a "professional" minister or the like, so you wouldn't let me do certain things. Yes that hurt. And seeking your "endorsement" and support of activities that God was leading me too and getting rejected hurt as well. But realizing that I share in the blame. You are caught in systems to maintain who you are, and I accepted that, and submitted to that. I thought I needed to get your support to build my numbers -- and yet concern of numbers is just another manifestation of your system, isn't it?

If Jesus is the head of the church, and if my mediator and high priest is Jesus, and if I am a part of a royal priesthood, then my acceptance and support should come from Him. Not you. So I forgive you, I.C., for expecting something from you that should come from God.

Well, where do we go from here, I.C.? Well, true church is community, of disciples who mutually support and edify one another. So from time to time, I may grace your doors in order to interact with other disciples as a part of that. Or I may not, finding my community elsewhere.

Anyway, I'll see you around.

Mark

Stumble-It
Technocriti

The Heart determines success

A few years back, I used to have an e-mail list (for the younger set, it was a kind of pre-blog alternative). I'm working on a longer blog post now that is taking quite a bit of thought and prayer, but so that I don't go so long between posts, I thought I'd pull out some of them from my archives:
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A number of years ago, sociologist Charles Garfield studied two groups, Olympic athletes and NASA astronauts to determine what made a successful athlete, and what made a successful astronaut. Another study studied commercial airline pilots and nurses, a field dominated by men and another by women respectively, to try and determine what factors could balance the two gender wise. All the studies determined it wasn't raw athletic ability, courage, strong academics or other traditional factors that determined success. The number one factor in all cases was simply passion, the heart to want it. In the case of the nurses, the report showed two case studies, one woman who was bright, who had full ride scholarships, parents that supported her, just everything going for her, but she didn't make it because she was just looking to qualify for a job. Another woman, who had dropped out of school, had two children out of wedlock, and worked at a diner with no one but herself as support and a mother willing to babysit. She was determined to become a nurse, and today she is.

Harold Whitman once said "Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive". If you want to impact your world, if you want to have meaningful, fulfilling success, just have the courage to follow your heart.

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well-spring of life" -- Proverbs 4:23

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life" -- Proverbs 13:12

"I have come that you may have life, and have it abundantly" --- Jesus

School's started and my son's heart is good

After much apprehension, my son's made it through two good first days of fifth grade.

Why?

He has "fans". No kidding. A third or fourth grader even came up to and asked him "aren't you (for his privacy sake, I'll leave out his name)?". "yea, I am". "I loved you in last year's fourth grade play. You were so funny".

He has a love of drama, and loves to perform. His elementary school skews toward arts and drama (not really a magnet at this level though) and the arts and drama teachers there and those who help love his boldness on stage (no stage fright from this kid), his ability to project his voice, his ability to lend humor to his roles, et al.

Is a career in theater, or acting, realistic for him? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe writing will where he ends up. Maybe not. But we all need to just pursue where our hearts lead. If God put certain desires in our heart, we need to trust him to use that as guidance. Certainly some desires become corrupted, become twisted, but the pure desires in us, we need to pursue.

We adults need to recall what that was that stirred us when we were young ... maybe that's the path back to our hearts.

Getting personal

When I rebooted this blog in what, without looking it up, must have been in late June or early July, I kind of hinted at getting more personal with my thoughts and my own journey. Really haven't done much of that yet.

Part of the reason for my longest break between posts in quite awhile has been this recommitment to getting more personal. Takes courage. Plus, I don't think my wife wants me to get more personal here than I've gotten with her. She doesn't want to read here what I haven't already expressed to her.

So, diving in here, let me just break the surface a bit here ---

This week is the week of another Ransomed Heart Boot Camp. At one point it had looked like I was going to be on the work crew ... but post the Advanced in May I was kind of feeling another event may be too soon. And then I got a call from one of the staff where they talked about hearing from God that I shouldn't be doing it this time. It was great to hear from someone I barely knew confirmation of what I was feeling.

I really wouldn't have been there spiritually this weekend for it. I'm still sorting through so much of what is next in my life. So much to clarify.

Last week may have brought a hint at progress in one area.

When we left Maryland about 54 weeks ago, we were determined to find something quite different in a church community. No more churches that have become stagnant institutions, or wishy-washy vision by consensus, or a number of other issues we've had. It is interesting that scripture states very clearly that gatherings of the church is about mutual edification and support, not worship. That the functions of apostles, evangelists, prophets, pastors and teachers are for the equipping of the saints, not the lording over them. And many other aspects you may have read in this blog.

Well, we spent some time looking. But it seemed fruitless. So we took a break from looking, kind of deciding to detox. Been detoxing longer than I thought, but moving back toward some sense of community we've been really looking to God to help us with a strategy, a way to prevent being sucked into the Matrix. It has really been good to be away, as individually and together we've come to realize we may have stepped out of the Matrix, but the Matrix is so much a part of our thinking that getting it out of us has been work. The process has been freeing for sure.

What gave a glimmer of hope? May not lead to anything, but a church planter reached out to me last week about some possibilities in Colorado Springs for some organic church. Been praying and thinking about it, and we'll see what happens.

Reimagining Church

About six months ago, I reviewed Pagan Christianity in this blog (see Red Pill Redux). Pagan Christianity reviewed the origins of church practices, revealing many very common ones as arising from society and adapted from the culture.

Frank Viola has written a constructive sequel and excellent companion to that book, Reimagining Church. This time, Viola (sans George Barna) has written a volume that examines a bit more what church should be rather than what it has become by outside influences. There is a bit of counterargument in the book, anticipating the objections, but for the most part Viola has written a positive, constructive approach to complement Pagan Christianity's more deconstructive subtext.

Viola paints a picture of church as community, where it is truly every member ministry and there is nothing resembling the modern church hierarchy's that put layers in God's people between God and man. He reexamines what the functions are in the church, taking us back beyond our preconceived Western mindset that reads our culture into the words. He makes his case well, without anger.

I would encourage the readers of this blog to get a copy and post your comments and thoughts as you read it. Like Pagan Christianity, you are unlikely to find this in stores, but it is available online through Amazon, CBD (cbd.com), and Frank Viola's ministry (best price when I ordered it)