In the Image of God

Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man.
-- Genesis 9:6

We are in the image of God.

Some, surprisingly, would dispute that. They would say that with the fall, the image of God upon us, or in us, (or whatever the appropriate vocabulary), was removed.

Interestingly, Genesis 3 says, that with the fall, we were even more like God

And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil." -- v22

With the fall, we became more like God. One of the earliest forerunners of the law, the instructions on murder (Genesis 9:6), was put in place due to humanity's stance as being in the image of God.

That is a powerful piece of knowledge. That implies the capacity within us for great good, or in our corrupted state, with our free will, the power for great evil. That is a great responsibility we have. But many of us don't realize our power. Our authority. So evil runs almost out of control in our world, the defeated Satan has his way because we don't realize our authority in the name of Jesus. We sit on our butts often not knowing our power to do something about it, both physically and in the spiritual realm.

You have a place. You have a role. And you have the authority to create change. Paul writes in Ephesians that God had something for you to do prepared in advance of you. Will you seek it out and discover it?

The Noble and Good Heart

I was in a discussion a couple of days ago about the nature of man before Christ, and the philosophies even spilled into what one believes about our nature after we are within the body. Since the story we believe effects the story we live, I thought I'd shoot down some of these mythologies this week.

While these mythologies come from a proof-texting and out of contexting of scripture, all these false teachings can be shot down with just a single passage of scripture.

Jesus teaches the parable of the sower, and this is one of the few we have recorded his explanation of it in detail to his disciples. Look at the explanation in Luke 8:11-15.

This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Whether your theology holds here the "word of God" is Jesus, or the written or spoken word of the good news, it still holds. Those with a noble and good heart receive it.

Psalm 139 tells us that we are in the womb we are wonderfully made. By God. In other words, if there wasn't a basic goodness to us then that would have been the way God made us in the womb. So if there is nothing good about us, before we hear the word of God, then that would be the way God made us? That would mean that God made evil.

But no, God doesn't make evil, he makes free will. God wanted community, wanted love from others, so he created others. But love and community from others without the freewill to choose otherwise is hollow, so he created freewill. It was a freewill creation that betrayed him and led 1/3 of the angel armies in rebellion, and freewilled creations that betrayed him in the Garden. Evil was the consequence of the freewill.

So as freewilled creatures, even before we hear the word, we have the choice of picking between good and evil. Typically, we pick some of both, and most of us from the evil table pick things that "aren't that bad". This I don't deny. But there are a number of honorable men among atheists even. There are a lot of legalists, who try to follow a law rather than rely on the grace of God, who do a lot of good in this world.

I think if this were not true, this world would have become a living hell a long time ago.

And yes, there's a difference between us being righteous before God and us doing some good. I do not deny that, and I'm not saying we can win God's favor through our attempts at being good. But as God's creation, as God's beloved, as people knit in the womb by God, we have a freewill to choose. This is true even of those who've never heard the word. We are not evil, yet neither are we righteous without God.

But with God, we can be considered fully good and righteous:

But the Scriptures speak often of good works and do not hesitate to apply such terms as "good," "blameless," and even "worthy" to mortals:

He [Barnabas] was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith (Acts 11:24).

Both of them [Zechariah and Elizabeth] were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly (Luke 1:6).

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man (Luke 23:50).

You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed (1Thess. 2:10).

But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage (Luke 20:35).

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy (Rev. 3:4).

Leadership

My thoughts lately have turned to leadership.

I've been what some would say is the leader -- sometimes, that's just really the manager. I was in Boy Scouts and served as a patrol leader, senior patrol leader, and as a chapter chief in the Order of the Arrow. In the latter, I put together the first camporee for our district in a few years. Except for that latter one, in many ways I was in the role but not so much in the function perhaps. I was probably more of a leader at the National Boy Scout Jamboree in 1981, doing the function without a role.

Since high school, I've had a number of leadership roles, and many times functioned in those roles, and functioned as a leader outside of the role. When I try to function as a leader, I usually end up trying to manage more than lead.

I've tried to repress the leadership the last couple of years, however. Some of it is due to control issues, sometimes on my part, often with someone else feeling usurped. And maybe for a season that was right.

Clarifying my thoughts on leadership more this past week has been Seth Godin's book Tribes. The challenge is to be a leader in the way you are, not as a role. Modern leadership is in bringing together communities, and typically standing back and letting it happen. The community may have a mission, or simply a common interest. This kind of thought toward leadership is kind of fitting with some "apostolic" gifting some in the last few months have said they see in me. I try to see what that means ...

Now is the time

Men of God, this is our finest hour! I remember the day Bill Clinton was elected. I was totally depressed as were all of my friends. But I also remember this nagging thought that maybe this was God's way of awakening His Church. And yes it was. Over the next 8 years a massive movement of prayer and fasting began. Well over one hundred thousand people did 40 day fasts. Over 1 million men met in Wash DC to publicly repent and to our hearts and eyes back to God.

I believe we are experiencing the fruit of those years today. Look at what is happening in the Church today. George Barna says millions are leaving churches because their passion for Jesus has reached a level that the churches can't support. Worldwide, people are coming to Christ at a faster rate than ever before in the history of man. Movements like Ransomed Heart are seeing men awakened, coming alive and learning to fight for freedom.

I believe this is another step in the progression God is taking with His Bride. He is getting our eyes off politics and inviting us to "Real Change", that which only comes from a heart that has been redeemed, restored and is now fully alive. When a man's heart comes alive, and He walks in the love of His Father, that changes him beyond recognition. We have all seen this personally in our own lives and in each other.

So I say it again, this is our finest hour. We who have experienced this heart level change are to be the leaders/warriors in this movement of God. We will see more and more people become dissatisfied with politics, churchianity, etc and they will be looking for the real thing. So let's go get 'em, Sons of Scotland!
-- John Hard, Birmingham, AL

I hear the bemoaning of the election results from my friends and allies, but a couple, including John (quoted above) have the right mindset. So many have spouted off by electing who we have, we will reap what we sow (allowing the election of Obama), but the truth is the results are reaping what we have sown.

By focusing on the battles the church has chosen, she is losing the war. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about society transformation by effort, but it is about life transformation. Lives transformed becomes the salt and light that in great enough numbers transform society.

But don't misunderstand "numbers". It is about one man, or one woman, whose life is transformed, standing in the gap. Churches have focused for so long on numerical growth, but how many of their converts stand in the gaps? They've focused on turning out numbers to support a cause, but one man, or one woman, standing by another is what it takes to transform another.

Let me put this perspective on what I mean -- I know a group of six or eight men in Arizona who support a village in Nigeria. They find out about this village when it was "dropped" by a large church as it "realigned" its budget. These six give more money and visit this village more often than that large church.

In other words, we don't need a hundred million warehoused in churches. We don't need hundreds of thousands receiving a newsletter. We will create more change with hundreds with passion.

God created within you something special. What has he called you to do, not what your pastor or some Christian activist rallies you to? Be who God calls you to be.

Growing churches

The Gospel is like a seed, and you have to sow it. When you sow the seed of the Gospel in Israel, a plant that can be called Jewish Christianity grows. When you sow it in Rome, a plant of Roman Christianity grows. You sow the Gospel in Great Britain and you get British Christianity. The seed of the Gospel is later brought to America, and a plant grows of American Christianity. Now, when missionaries come to our lands they brought not only the seed of the Gospel, but their own plant of Christianity, flower pot included! So, what we have to do is to break the flowerpot, take out the seed of the Gospel, sow it in our own cultural soil, and let our own version of Christianity grow.
–Dr. D.T. Niles of Sri Lanka

Imitation is the bane of modern Christianity.
- Reggie Britt

Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost make the point in The Shaping of Things to Come that in their native Australia, the form of Christianity that is prevalent relates to at most 35% of the population, and about 45% in the United States. And both numbers are shrinking. The typical method of church planting is too much like trying to plant cuttings from previous plants. A plant may take in that situation, or it may not. Studying church history, this method seems to have been pretty much used since the 4th century.

While Niles speaks in terms of national churches, his final comment on culture is right. And wrong in some ways too. Rather than culture, the individuals who join into a church need to shape that church. If the body consists of its parts as Paul writes, shouldn't the arrival or departure of an individual impact that church? Shouldn't the growth of an individual impact it? Too often, people come and go from a church and it just goes on as before -- short of the coming and going of the clergy class.

If the church is to be the body, the individual has to matter. Corporate and individual must intertwine tightly. If the church is to have impact in a culture, then the shape and form of church must grow from seed within that culture -- holding to truth -- but letting form and to an extent function be shaped by its environment.

Why Men Hate Going to Church

David Murrow wrote a book by the name Why Men Hate Going to Church a few years back. There was a short burst of interest in Christiandom, but like so many fads, the interest faded and the problem continues: men don't go to church. Statistically, only 40% of those in churches on a given weekend are men. Some denominations the numbers are worse, some better, but in no case do men outnumber women in any denomination.

As a former men's ministries director of a church, as a member of the leadership team of another, and as a member of a men's ministry leadership team at a third church, I'd like to offer some perspectives on the issue.

First of all: wrong issue. The concern shouldn't be if men are or aren't going to church. It should be about a relationship with Jesus Christ. Are men becoming disciples of Jesus? If the women's numbers are padded by "social" Christians, the problem is quite different -- like who do you move those "social" Christians to a truer faith? Let's consider the right issue. Sadly, there are no clear statistics, just anecdotes, about the devotion of the individuals.

Is it even an issue at all? Some statistics say 40 to 45% of Americans are in church on a Sunday. Those numbers of held since 1960. But there's a problem with those numbers -- the number of churches has grown by only 25% of what is needed to hold those numbers. Moreover, if you multiple the average reported attendance (reported by churches) by the number of churches, the percentage in church on a given Sunday would be about 17% of the population.

Bottom line: people lie about their faith. Are women more likely to lie? Is that why there is "more" faith statistically among women?

Is it an issue at all?

My conclusion: I think it is, but don't trust the statistics. I think the result of looking to the statistics will end up treating the symptoms, not the cause.

Second of all: what is the cause?

I think it is multiple reasons ... one is the feminization of Christianity. That is a solvable one -- get back to the roots.

Another is related: churches aren't men-friendly -- you have "Jesus is my boyfriend" music for one. But this is a trap. Many have seen this, and their solution -- shorter sermons, shorter services and the like. My thoughts on short services -- that's garbage. Men will sit through 3 hour football games, sit in deer stands in the cold for 6 hours, go to 2.5 hour movies. Length is not the issue.

But the bottom line: the system is designed for the results you are getting. Men aren't going to church because the system is designed to repel them. Some of the system elements:

1) The system is designed to create dependence on itself
-- you sit staring at the back of the heads in front of you pretty much the whole time. You are dependent on someone to tell you what to sing, tell you what to believe (thus the sermon), to control everything.
Men aren't designed to be dependent on anything but God and the church ain't God. Men are designed to be mutually dependent in community, I believe, but that's not a dependency on a pastor who is dependent pretty much on our accolades and "tithes". Much more mutual than that.
2) The system is designed to control
-- the head is to be Christ, but we've managed to put a layer there. We delegate listening to God's direction to professionals. It's a system that belittles men's abilities. It limits them.
3) The system is designed to limit
-- men want to make a difference. Yes, you can make a difference in the kid's program, but those roles are oft designed to be interchangeable. You don't make the difference uniquely with who you are. Men don't want to simply make a difference, they want to be the hero, the difference maker.

What's needed is a new system. Or maybe it is an old system, that dates back to the time of Jesus. A system that eliminates bureaucracy, where if there are professionals they are not controllers or leaders, but enablers (positively speaking) and coaches. Where men listen to the Spirit themselves, not to the pastor, for direction. Where the relationship with Jesus is not filtered through priests, pastors and/or elders. Where Jesus is the head, unfiltered by a clergy/laity hierarchical divide.

The army of God is ready to move. Not sit in the warehouses at major intersections in our cities.

See also The 800 lb Gorilla

Real Church

Well, life happens so so much for extra posts this week ...

Last Saturday was our first meeting of a new church, one trying to be "organic" as it is labeled. Being our first meeting, we shared a meal, talked about what brought us to Colorado, which one story had God so much in it it just prompted other stories of God acting. A couple of people had stories on how Satan tried to block their participation, either in the conference that we initially met at or that week's meeting.

I think to the passages that talk about the purpose of gathering -- to encourage one another, to edify one another. These stories and time with people ... this was great. Never went to a "service" like this. And for those who insist that meetings are for "worship" (find a scripture that says that that applies to the New Covenant): Real honest stories that I think glorified God more than a song, a prayer, three more songs,a sermon, another song, song, and closing prayer.

The weekend before I was at a Ransomed Heart Wild At Heart Boot Camp. I was on the work crew. We went out on Wednesday, and met as a group daily in our time there, twice on Saturday. Our Friday-Sunday morning meetings were practical matters, prayer, and talking about how we felt the Spirit moving, while Thursday's meeting did the same with some more stuff since we had more time. We had an extra meeting Saturday to talk about how we saw God move that weekend. Smaller groups met at other times spontaneously, and we had our work together too. Again, for a weekend we were a "church" that met daily. And again, I think was more glorified than a month of Sundays in a typical traditional church.

That's not to say a group gathered for traditional church couldn't experience the same -- there just has to be as much time if not more looking into the faces of your brothers and sisters than staring at the back of their heads while the professionals and semi-pros "perform", time spent talking about God and what he is doing in lives today and what he has done this year (not what he did in the first century and before), in a way that encourages and edifies.