Putting down roots: Membership or Partnership

One of the megatrends in churches has been to rethink the concept of Membership.   

Some of the largest churches in the country no longer offer memberships and instead encourage their regular attenders to consider a partnership with the church.    These partnerships are similar to membership in many respects however it does allow the church to identify some unique differences:

1. Partnerships are commitments made by regular attenders to voluntarily align with the mission of the local church.  They are an agreement to become active participants rather than passive attenders. However, unlike membership, they don’t usually come with ‘voting’ or any other rights.
2.  In this age of non-denominationalism, becoming a partner in a local church is akin to partnering in a nonprofit organization or ministry.   It’s an opportunity for involvement, it’s a financial decision to provide support.
3. Partnerships are also easier 'hurdles'   As membership comes with voting rights including the right to hire or even fire a pastor, the membership steps involved a 'vetting process' making sure that members were true Christians or even 'sanctified' for lack of a better term.   Partnerships in contrast, simply means they want to belong and become involved in the work of the church. 

Church membership still has many advantages.  In Tom Rainer’s book “I Am a Church Member” he gives seven reasons why church membership is not only relevant, it is also biblical.  For example, in 1 Corinthians 12: 27, it says: “Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.”   People also understand being invited to a "Church Membership Class."   Partnership still doesn't have the same familiarity. 

While I prefer the term “Partnership” or even better “Covenant Partners”, I’m a fan of any membership program or name that encourages active participation in the life of the church. The Church after all is not a building nor organization but the Body of Christ. 

Five Evangelical Preachers Highlight ‘Solas’ of Reformation

From Proclaim 17 ORLANDO, Fla. (NRB) 

Five evangelical preachers highlighted the five “solas” of the Protestant Reformation to mark the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses at Proclaim 17, the NRB International Christian Media Convention in Orlando.

Dr. Tony Evans, Senior Pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, preached on “Sola Gratia” (by grace alone); Dr. Erwin Lutzer, Pastor Emeritus of Moody Church in Chicago, addressed “Sola Fide” (by faith alone); Dr. Mac Brunson, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, preached on “Solus Christus” (through Christ alone); Dr. R.C. Sproul, Founder and Chairman of Ligonier Ministries, spoke on “Sola Scriptura” (by Scripture alone); and Dr. Barry Creamer, President of Criswell College, addressed “Soli Deo Gloria” (glory to God alone).

By Grace Alone

Evans preached from Ephesians 2:1-10, noting that the Roman Catholic Church had been trying for centuries to get people to atone for their sins through indulgences and other means, but Luther proclaimed that biblical acceptance with God was by grace alone.

“At the heart of grace is unmerited favor,” Evans said. “Grace can be defined as the goodness of God to people who do not deserve it, could never earn it, and could never pay it back. For it is the God of grace that offers His goodness to undeserving mankind.”

Knowing that man would sin, God “had to come up with a plan for His attributes to get along,” Evans said, meaning justice and wrath would have to be at peace with the expression of love and mercy.

“Since He could not look to His creation in order to resolve the problem because the creation was the problem, He had to come up with an answer to address the conflict within the attributes given the sinfulness of man combined with the desire of God expressing His love, and so He came up with a plan to resolve the problem in Himself, by Himself, for Himself to benefit mankind who could not help themselves because they were stuck in a graveyard,” Evans said.

By grace, Jesus says to believers, “‘You’re with me, and the rights and privileges of grace get transferred to you, not because of who you are but because of who I am,’” Evans said.

By Faith Alone

Luther, Lutzer said, struggled with a sense of alienation from God. “Imagine the freedom that Luther was finally able to have when he said, ‘My sin doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to Jesus,’” Lutzer said.

“What Luther discovered was the Gospel itself buried under centuries of traditions and prayers and candles and all of those things,” Lutzer said.

“The truth was there,” he later added. “The Catholic Church believed in Jesus Christ as God, they believed in the Scripture, though tradition usually trumped the Scripture. But the fact was it was all there and the reformers came along and weeded the garden.”

Lutzer noted five characteristics of saving faith: It involves the acknowledgement of personal sin; it involves the understanding that Jesus died to take our penalty; it involves a transfer of trust to Jesus Christ alone; it involves a growth in faith; and it results in good works.

“The Jesus who saved you is just as strong and just as trustworthy as the Jesus who saved me or anyone else,” Lutzer said.

Through Christ Alone 

Brunson noted that Hebrews 1:3 says Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact representation of his nature,” and, as Brunson said, “That doesn’t happen with anyone else.”

He pointed to the exclusivity of Christ’s redemptive activity recorded in Hebrews 10:4, which states, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

“All of that sacrifice for all of those years never dealt with a single sin of the Jews,” Brunson  said.

“Christ came in not only as High Priest to offer up the sacrifice,” he added. “He offered Himself up as the sacrifice because Christ and Christ alone can die for sins. Nobody else has ever tried.

“You don’t read that in the Koran,” Brunson said. “Allah doesn’t give that a shot. Neither does Mohammad, Krishna, Buddha, Shiva, any of the Hindu gods. Not even Shirley MacLaine. Nobody can die for sins but Jesus Christ, and He makes purification of them, and to show how complete that is, He sits down.”

By Scripture Alone

It’s customary, Sproul said, for historians to indicate two chief causes of the Protestant Reformation: the material cause and the formal cause.

“We know that the material cause of the Reformation, or the question of what was the matter at the time, focused on the issue of the Gospel and the answer to the question, ‘How are we as unjust people justified in the presence of a holy God,’” Sproul said. “So the central material aspect was the debate over the issue of justification by faith alone.

“But throughout that discussion of the material principle of the Reformation, there was always just beneath the surface – and quite frequently bubbled to the surface – of the controversy the issue of the formal cause of the Reformation and that issue was the question of authority,” Sproul said. “By what authority did Luther declare his doctrine of justification by faith alone?”

Luther said he had been captured by the Word of God. “My conscience is bound by sacred Scripture, and to act against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me,” Sproul said, noting the great reformer’s famous assertion.

“What Luther said in the 16th Century and what we say today is – as important as the instruction that we received from the great theologians of the past, from the commentaries, from the creeds, from the confessions – there’s only one source that has the authority absolutely to bind our consciences. It’s sacred Scripture,” Sproul said.

If believers want to realize an awakening or a sort of new reformation in this day, Sproul said, “what we’re going to have to see are Christians whose consciences have been captured by sacred Scripture and can say, ‘Here we stand. We can do no other.’”

Glory to God Alone

The five solas, Creamer said, declare that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, revealed through Scripture alone to God’s glory alone.

The fifth sola “is actually unique for a couple of reasons,” Creamer said. “The other four are all means to salvation itself. This one is different. The glory of God is not the means of salvation. It is the purpose of salvation, and to that extent, it applies to all the others together.”

Creamer cited “an objective sense of God’s glory that is in Him. That is, the attributes of God that lend to His gravity are His glory. They just belong to Him. But then there is a sense in which we use the word ‘glory’ to talk about the appropriate response we have to that truth about God. … Our praise is of His glory.”

The glory of God is independent of man and is eternal, universal, objective, and absolute, Creamer said, “but it’s not fully realized until we participate in it.”

Referring to Psalm 8:5, which says God crowned man with glory and honor, Creamer said God “bestows it on us, but He expects it to come back to Him. The fruit of our lives is only when we are consumed by Him.”

By Erin Roach (here's a link to the NRB and Proclaim 17

About NRB

The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) is a nonpartisan, international association of Christian communicators whose member organizations represent millions of listeners, viewers, and readers. Our mission is to advance biblical truth, promote media excellence, and defend free speech. In addition to promoting standards of excellence, integrity, and accountability, NRB provides networking, educational, ministry, and fellowship opportunities for its members. Learn more at www.nrb.org. 

Do Boycotts Work?

So who watched the Academy Awards?   I have to admit that I missed it but not because we were intentionally avoiding it or boycotting the Hollywood spectacular but because it just wasn't on our radar.    We are not big movie fans and really don't know the movies or the stars let alone the screen writers and directors or others that receive the awards. 

The next day I found that I was in good company as many of my Christian friends had not watched the Academy Awards either.    At any time there are a myriad of different entertainment, programs, venues, restaurants, retail outlets and places to visit. 

While we have choices, many see an opportunity to collectively boycott a product, program, service or company.   As Christians we have been both on the receiving end as well as on the offense when it comes to calling for boycotts. 

The causes may be noble but I wonder if boycotts work?   If the 'victory' is in diminished viewers or revenue than the case can be made that boycotts are effective.  At the same time, if we are more interested in winning the war than the battle, perhaps using the national media, our social media sources and our church pulpits to boycott those that disagree with the teachings of Christ and the Bible may be counterproductive. 

Jesus has an interesting thing to say about judging others perhaps it also applies to programs like the Academy Awards or boycotts for those on the 'other side'

In Matthew 7, beginning in the first verse, Jesus tells us we are not to judge "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Then after the familiar verse about the 'plank in your own eye" he has this very interesting and often thought difficult verse: 

Matthew 7:6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."

Pearls before swine....an interesting word picture at the least. 

Boycotts tend to send a signal to the troops and often its the wrong signal that we send to the opposition.  Perhaps when we love our enemies as ourselves, we provide more of an opportunity to communicate our true mission.  Using economic power may bring economic consequences but our longer term objective is not about economics. 

National Day of Prayer

The Bible calls us the Body of Christ and calls us to prayer every day.   Here in the United States, the government calls us to prayer just one day a year, The National Day of Prayer. 

There are three ways everyone in the Body of Christ can get involved this year.  This has been an opportunity for us in the United States since 1952. However the Bible has always encouraged both national as well as individual repentance.

“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) 

Prayer not only brings us closer to God it brings us closer to each other.  The Body of Christ has the unique responsibility to call on God to forgive us of our sins and restore us to the Nation that was founded on His name.

#1 GO TO YOUR LOCAL CHURCH AND PRAY!

Jesus said, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”   (Mark 11:17) Think what it would be like if our churches across our cities, counties, states and the nation each became known as a house of prayer!    Talk with your pastor, make sure that there is some opportunity for your congregation to gather and pray on Thursday, May 4th.  Go with your family and friends!  Post the name of your church and any activity here!

#2 PRAY IN JESUS NAME       #PRAYINJESUSNAME

Jesus said,  “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:20)   All too often, Christians are intimidated to pray in public in Jesus name. This is unfortunate as we have assurance of God’s presence and his provision when we pray in the name of Jesus.  On May 4th, use the hashtag #PrayInJesusName along with any @NationalPrayer social media tags you may be using on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.  Let people know you are praying for the country, for our leaders, our nation and for persecuted Christians worldwide.

#3 WEAR THE CROSS

Our First Amendment gives us religious liberty including the ability to exercise our faith in public, at work and in our schools. Wear a cross on a chain, your shirt, your label or on your hat!   Wearing a Cross or Crucifix has been determined a “reasonable accommodation” for employers and other institutions.   If we don’t exercise our religious liberties, we will eventually lose them.

The National Day of Prayer was established to communicate clearly with every American the need for personal repentance and prayer.

IT’S TIME WE DEMONSTRATE THE UNITY OF THE BODY OF CHRIST BY COMING TOGETHER AND PRAYING ON AMERICA’S NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER.

Join us in helping spread the word!   Tell your church, tell your friends.  Sign up here! 

Denominations, not Divisions

This October 31st will mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

   

Likely, Martin Luther had no idea that the actual date of his nailing the 95 Theses on the door of Wittenberg Castle Church on October 31, 1517 would be remembered as the beginning date of a movement.  

Certainly, there were other reformers prior to Martin Luther. John Wyclif (or Wycliffe if you prefer), more than a century earlier, had defied Church law and translated the Latin Vulgate into English so that the common people could read God’s word.  He argued that it was the scriptures that were the only truly reliable guide to our Christian religion and he rejected the Papacy as being non-biblical.  

John Hus, a contemporary to John Wyclif was tried for heresy and burned at the stake for speaking out against the worldliness of the church.  More than 150 years later, Pope Paul III would call together the Council of Trent that ultimately would largely agree with Hus regarding the worldliness of the church.

Nevertheless, this 500th anniversary of the ‘official’ start of the Reformation has mixed reviews.  For every theologian and historian that is enthusiastic over the establishment of Scripture as being the final authority in all matters of faith, there are just as many that look to what the same Scriptures have to say about divisions and schisms within the church.   The Bible says we are to be united and that there should be no divisions.   How can we celebrate something that created many lasting divisions in the Body?

I prefer to think of the Protestant Reformation more as a revival of the Church.  

Revivals are movements that occupy a place and time and are more like waves than tsunamis.  This revival had an impact as well on what we now know as the Roman Catholic Church, institutionalizing and formalizing the doctrines of Transubstantiation and fixing the number of sacraments at seven.  The same Council of Trent that rejected the Reformers teaching on Sola Fide¸ agreed that it was a disgrace to sell indulgences. 

While many think these disagreements over doctrine and practice have created divisions, I prefer to use the word denominations.   

Denominations are not bad necessarily as by definition a denomination is just a replica, a subset of the whole.   You may think that mine may be an odd definition but look inside your wallet.  Do you have money inside that has divisions or denominations?   The five-dollar bill is backed by the same faith and confidence of the US Government as the ten-dollar bill.  In fact, if you have two five-dollar bills they are identical in literally every way to the ten-dollar bill except in the fact that they are two subsets of the one.

True unity in the Church happens every time we recognize that if we are clinging to the Vine, and a believer in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we are a full member of the Body of Christ and not just a member of a group of religious adherents to a denomination.   If you want to lament the event that marks the beginning of the Reformation on October 31, 1517 you’ll have trouble reconciling the true history of the church with its many schisms, changes, abuses and self-centered leaders as well as its triumphs, successes, reforms and saints.

Let’s embrace what truly makes us one and celebrate the Reformation that revived the Body of Christ.   Today, 2,000 years after Pentecost, we have taken the gospel around the world and there are more than 2 billion people that identify themselves with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

True Christian Unity

This past Tuesday, January 18th at the beginning of this traditional “International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity”  I read an interesting article by Catholic Deacon Steven Greydanus in the National Catholic Register.  

Now before I tell you about that article, you may find it odd, or perhaps refreshing that an Evangelical Pastor with degrees in divinity from a Baptist Seminary would be reading the National Catholic Register.   However, I find it most appropriate as our mission at Faith Dialogue is to grow the unity of the Body of Christ through the proclamation of the one Gospel.

In this well written article, Deacon Steven ask the question “What do we pray for when we pray for Christian unity?”   

It’s a great question and Deacon Steven talks about two very important elements which are faith, and love.    That we have unity of our faith but are also bound by true Christian charity, which is love.

Deacon Steven is correct and I would like to add that it’s good to ask this WHAT question but did you know that the Bible in talking specifically about Christian unity, answers the important questions of HOW we achieve unity and also the motivational question of WHY unity is important in the Body of Christ?

Let’s look again at the scripture verses in the Gospel of John, Chapter 17 beginning in verse 20

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity

In these verses Jesus tells us the HOW,   Jesus says that JUST AS He was in the Father and the Father was IN HIM so should we be in the Godhead.     Now of course this is a mystery but Jesus gives us an illustration of the same when He talks about the vine and the Branches in John 15

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, it is he that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 14:3&4

When we abide with Christ, when we identify with his Life, his Death and Resurrection, when we spend time with him daily and seek him with all of our heart we can be said to be “IN CHRIST”   The Apostle Paul gives us insight into the phrase “in Christ” and what it means.

"In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."Galatians 3:26-28

Isn’t it interesting that the very verses that Paul writes to the Galatians about being in Christ also give us another picture of unity in the Church, “Neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

But there are still Jews and Gentiles, we are still male or female…..those distinctions remain but what the Apostle Paul is saying is that it’s in-this-diversity-we-can-still-have-unity.

Unity through diversity….now that’s a good thought.

You see one of the reasons we have this week of unity is because for most of the church, for fifty-one out of fifty-two weeks at least, we don’t see unity.  Now the problem has been ours as all too often, the way we have tried to create unity is through conformity.   Conformity is actually something we think of when we think of the religious cults.   However for us as well….dressing alike, conforming our doctrines, worship styles, liturgies, celebrations and even yes our sacraments doesn’t bring unity….it actually identifies our differences.

On a personal level, when I have the opportunity to visit a church and I stand up on the platform and look out and see black, white, Asian, Hispanic, young, old….in that diversity I see unity.   Jew, Gentile, slave, free, male, free….all are one in Christ.

So the HOW is through being one in Christ.   The closer we get to Christ, the closer we will get to one another.   As pastors and leaders, we teach this often in marriage classes.  If a couple, a man and a woman each seek to get close to God, they get close together.  They pray together, they worship together, they are one in Christ.

I said earlier that these verses in John not only tell us HOW we can achieve unity but also WHY.

Let’s turn to the why and we’ll look at the verses again: Jesus prays that we would be one TWICE and he ends these verses with the words, “ So that the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:23)

Did you catch that?   Did you get it?   Jesus says that the reason, the WHY, the hope of Jesus in this prayer is that we would be one SO THAT the world will know that the Father has sent his one and only son because he loved us even as he loves His son

Sounds like, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Before Jesus ascended into heaven he gave us two commands.  One is called that Great Commandment: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as your yourself.

Just as importantly, he gave us the Great Commission

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19)

True Christian unity….not some forced conformity to rites, rituals, styles or even doctrines but unity in Christ and embracing the diversity of our traditions is very attractional.  When we are one, when we appear united, we attract those that want to know what it is that makes us one.

The Apostle Peter said, “and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, (1 Peter 3:15). Some of the fastest growing churches in the country have two things in common.  The first is that they are very orthodox and I use that term in the true sense of its meaning:

They adhere closely to the major tenants of the Christian faith that we find in the Nicene Creed going back 1700 years…..Faith in a triune God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the belief that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary in fulfillment of the scriptures, that he suffered and died for our sins, that he rose on the third day and that he is coming back again.

The second is that these Churches tend to major on the majors and minor on the minors.  All too often churches are quick to tell you how they are different than all others.  These growing churches however tell you about Jesus.  They don’t see other churches down the street and around the corner as competition but as acceptable outposts of the same church, the Body of Christ.

When we are one in Christ, we are the Body of Christ.   Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Charismatic, Pentecostal and nondenominational…we are one.   When we go out and make disciples, we don’t make them disciples of our local churches or local pastors but we make them disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let the church say Amen

Yes, It's A Wonderful Life

Yes, It’s a wonderful Life

I enjoy the seasons.  While the official seasons of Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring don’t change much in Florida, the holidays are still special.   For Christmas, my wife and I enjoy getting into the mood by listening to Christmas carols on the radio or our old CD’s and of course watching the Hallmark Channels endless movie offerings, all with the same theme, often the same actors and just the right amount of snow.

There are standards however and every Christmas movie’s standard is Frank Capra’s, “Its a Wonderful Life.”  Released 70 years ago, with Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey and Donna Reed as Mary Hatch Bailey, the reason for its success is the heart-felt lessons that it teaches all of us through the intervention of Clarence the Angel.  

If we look past the dramatic over-acting that was common for its day and the non-biblical view of angels (angels are created beings, not dead people earning wings), there are two spiritual truths to be understood

1. God’s greatest gift to you is your very life in its entirety

George Bailey was constantly searching for something different, something better.   As a young man, we see him planning on traveling the world.  Trains and steamships take you places where it must be better than Beford Falls.    He’s ready to leave again when his brother, Harry gets married and ruins his plans of escape.

George and Mary get married and have children but George is still a busy guy.  Too busy to be thankful for the life he has as he constantly laments the life he hasn’t been given.    George obviously envies his good friend Sam Wainwright who had introduced George to his future wife, Mary.

Old man Potter tells George that he’s worth more dead than alive and George decides to believe Potter who lies, cheats, defrauds and oppresses the townspeople.  It’s interesting how people are more likely to believe a lie even when it’s from a source that is despicable.

God’s greatest gift is George’s life itself with all of its ups and downs, the heartache, difficulties as well as its moments of ecstasy.    To make sure we don’t miss this lesson in the movie, Clarence’s angel boss, “Franklin” states clearly, “At exactly 10:45 p.m. tonight, Earth time, that man will be thinking seriously of throwing away God's greatest gift.”

God’s greatest gift is life itself!

2) Our measure of success is not to be money or houses or wealth

A few years ago I was interviewing a candidate and on the top of his resume his objective was ‘to become a success’.

We often measure success all wrong and it can really mess up our lives.  Ambition is good but when it drives us to value things and devalue people we have our priorities all wrong.   George is ambitious and industrious but it creates unhappiness and dissatisfaction.   Beyond some prayers by Mary and the children towards the end of the movie, we don’t see any obvious reference to Christian values.  

Honoring God, serving mankind, personal integrity, fidelity in marriage, hospitality to family and neighbors, parental responsibilities and citizenship are all present at various times in the movie but never noticeably appreciated by George.

Clarence is supposedly an angel and makes an attempt to clear up any misunderstanding of what success is about.  In the dedication of the book that was given to George he writes,  "Dear George, remember no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings. Love, Clarence."

"Having Friends," yes, that is definitely a priority.  More to the point, the Westminster catechism clarifies our priorities succinctly: Question 1. “What is the chief end of man?” Answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.