The Church – Cowardly or Courageous?
“A church that doesn’t provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed, what gospel is that? Very nice, pious considerations that don’t bother anyone, that’s the way many would like preaching to be. Those preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed, so as not to have conflicts and difficulties do not light up the world they live in. They don’t have Peter’s courage, who told that crowd where the bloodstained hands still were that had killed Christ: ‘You killed him!’ Even though the charge could cost him his life as well, he made it. The gospel is courageous; its the good news of him who came to take away the world’s sins.”
Archbishop Oscar Romero – 1978
A Few Reasons a Short Term Mission Trip Might Change Your Life
Are 18 hours of travel, a temperature jump from 0 degrees to 81, a missed connection courtesy of Delta, a mad dash from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami, a divine intervention with LAN & TSA worth it for 8 days in a foreign city in a foreign nation where I can’t drink the water? Bucaramanga, Colombia, a city of 1.2 million people is not a vacation spot or a tourist destination but that’s not why I went. I went to see God at work and I was not disappointed!
During our 8 days, we visited a women’s prison (including some babies and kids), a neighborhood school (where the visiting “gringos” were treated as celebrities and asked for pictures and autographs), a church sponsored day care, 3 local churches and went house to house in a nearby town praying for people. We were also able to pray for pastors and leaders. I was amazed by the openness to God and the willingness to receive prayer even in the street. The worship music was loud & enthusiastic but passionate. The leaders are young and I was impressed by our interpreters who helped us – they are college students and emerging leaders in their nation. Most special to me was to see them stretch themselves and watch God work through them.
I could make a long list of how God showed up with his power and love. A few examples will suffice: 2 women we prayed for felt sadness leave them. A young lady with pressure in her right ear reported it disappeared. 2 older men with little vision said they were seeing much better after prayer. Serious back and abdominal pain left. In contrast to usual results in the U.S. these happened quickly, easily and were repeated in the testimonies of other team members and many had far more dramatic healing to report. In contrast, praying for people in the U.S. is tough & visible answers are rare. Why that is of course the million dollar question. The U.S. Church is still so dominated not only by skepticism and unbelief that stems from the legacy of Western enlightenment rationalism, but the entertainment oriented pro-technic “big show” way of church expected by consumers leaves little room for God to act, besides show up.
There is nothing quite like being in an environment where God is visibly active & people are being transformed by his power. While I went to see what God would do for others, God was working on me. My heart is all too easily weighted down by people’s seemingly intractable problems, the lifelessness and sterility of the church, my ragged track record of leadership, my own struggle with self-worth and my myriad other short-comings. So even as I watched others encounter the living God, I did as well.
There is also real need in Colombia. I know a few days does not make me a missiologist and forgive me if I’m presumptuous but I saw quickly that new believers need to be grounded in the faith. There is a need for an understanding of how God heals the wounded heart since there is a sad legacy of all kinds of abuse and abandonment from the distorted masculinity of “machismo.” However, God’s Spirit is burning brightly and the fire will grow and intensify.
Sadly, there are some self-appointed critics who feel they need to pontificate about the short comings of short-term mission trips & feel their calling is to discourage anyone from trying one. I believe the benefits far out way the supposed detriments. The blessings of short-term mission trips include:
-establishing unity in the body of Christ in different nations;
-breaking down stereotypes and walls between believers of different cultures;
-exposure to the realities of life outside the comforts of the First World;
-enabling more effective prayer for the church in the nations after first hand experience;
-challenging one’s faith beyond consumer churchianity;
-awakening an understanding of the reality of spiritual conflict and the victory of Jesus Christ and his power and authority;
-encouraging and assisting emerging leaders in stepping out of their comfort zone;
and last but not least…
– doing the stuff Jesus did.
Don’t let the nay-sayers stop you from what most likely will change your life!
Let the Games Begin!
One of our family’s current TV show favorites is “Chopped” in which top chefs compete to make the best meal for a panel of judges. Those whose dishes are not up to par are “chopped” or eliminated from the competition. I thought maybe some kind of similar competition for preachers would be fun – something along the lines of the old Gong Show format. I’m not sure what to call it though – preachers out of favor in the old days would be stoned, beheaded, jailed, exiled, or dismissed but none of those sound good for a show name.
A bigger problem is what criteria for judging would be used? On “Chopped” the criteria are creativity, presentation and technique. No such criteria are agreed upon for preaching – though more & more its seems hair, dress, laughter and “hipness” seem what grabs popular attention. In contrast, John the Baptist was the first wild man with a perpetual bad hair day, Jonah preached covered in whale vomit, and the apostle Paul was dismissed as unsightly & boring. Probably no telegenic smiles in that bunch!
Charles Spurgeon in his “Lectures to My Students” reviews some of the pitfalls of preaching styles and mannerisms oh his own day. While my meager observations don’t come near his classic work, here are a few styles & pitfall I’ve noticed:
“The Hobby Horse Rider” is the preacher that has one or two favorite subjects and no matter the text or the season returns to them again & again. Sadly, these are usually pet peeves such as politics, the End Times, moral issues or what ever is the obsession of the month. Is it “Communion Sunday”? Gog & Magog dominate the message. Christmas? The evils of Federal Bureaucracy dominates. Easter Morning? A refresher course in dispensational theology is offered up. The gospel of the cross and the victory of the resurrection is buried beneath what ever irks the preacher.
“The Machine Gun Preacher” – This is the preacher that unloads at full volume, full speed and full load. He takes no hostages and hardly a breath as well. Its hard to follow what’s been said because the delivery is overwhelming. This specimen is rare but still around – if you encounter him – duck!
“The Marshmellow Preacher” – A marshmallow is sugar plus air & this preacher’s message is about the same. Stories, jokes and a nice feel good moral make up the bulk with the emphasis on “make ’em laugh” or “make ’em cry.” Just like a marshmallow provides no nutritional value, so the message of the marshmallow preacher is hard to remember 5 minutes after consumed.
Preaching has always been considered foolishness (1 Cor. 1:21). Its futility, obsolescence & eventual demise has been repeatedly pronounced from generation to generation in favor of the techno-gadget innovation of the moment. Yet, God chooses the foolishness of preaching and preachers to deliver the good news of his saving power.
How is it possible to judge success the success of preaching or a preacher? What criteria would be used? Popularity? Applause? Crowds? The prophets of old were told that their message would be ignored & rejected by listeners with deaf ears, blind eyes and hard hearts. It is a work of grace and the Holy Spirit to change the blind, deaf and hardened to hear and believe God’s truth. God could have chosen so many other ways to get his point across – but he didn’t. God chose the foolishness of preaching to deliver the saving message of the cross. While a gong show for preachers might be entertaining, it would miss the point. Its not about the messenger – its about the message, Jesus, the glory and revelation of God’s saving power.
“The preacher of the gospel is like the sower. He does not make his seed; it is given him by his divine Master…He has to leave the seed in the care of the Lord who gave it to him, for he is not responsible for the harvest, he is only accountable for the care and industry with which he does his work…Our duty is not measured by the character of our hearers, but by the command of our God.”
Charles Spurgeon
A few things I have learned being a “bi-vocational” pastor
For the last 2 years I have been a “bi-vocational” pastor – I work at least 40 hours a week as a substance abuse counselor and pastor a church “part-time.” I have found it rewarding and challenging but it has required me to think about the assumptions, myths and distortions about what constitutes pastoring and ministry.
I began working part time initially because our family needed more income that our small church could not provide. Our family home schools and my wife and I have felt that since that is our priority we have tried to have only one of us employed outside the home. I also needed a different challenge. I have always chaffed at traditional limitations, thinking & expectations in regard to pastoring, the church and ministry when they are limited to Sunday morning building oriented activities or inward focused, pleasing member demands. I’ve seen too much of what God is able to do to limit his power or reduce the Gospel to that.
I was able to dust off some counseling skills and found that I enjoyed my new job and was getting good feedback from my employer, eventually leading to full time employment & certification. I understand a lot better how it feels after working all day and then to try to find the energy for a board meeting. I also have learned a lot about people from all walks of life who have wreaked havoc with their lives from addiction but who would never think about walking into a church building and talk with “the Pastor.” I have listened to the stories of women & women who have been assaulted as well as men and women who have done the assaulting and served time for it; who have stolen medications and money from their family for a fix, who have neglected or abandoned children for another high. I work with parole & probation officers, child protective services and court officials. You could say I ran into life in the raw and not the Sunday morning “put on a happy face to go to church” variety.
I have also seen God work in people’s lives – Holy Spirit directed words of comfort, wisdom and encouragement, the forming of real community as burdens and tears and “breakthroughs” are shared, and the birth of hope – the realization that there is another way to live and a future that is more than a repeat of the past.
However, I as a result of my new official ecclesiastical status, I have run across a number of myths, assumptions and distortions. The first is that a bi- vocational pastor is not a “real” pastor or successful – real and successful defined as compensated fully or employed full time by a congregation. I wanted to go to a retreat years ago and applied for financial assistance but was told by the ministry in charge that I was not eligible for the aid since I worked another job. I guess the Apostle Paul wouldn’t have qualified either since he made tents to support himself!
I have also run into “church shoppers”who look down their nose at a congregation with a bi-vocational pastor. The underlying assumption may be that a real or successful congregation is one that can afford the salary and benefits required for a full time employee who will then take care of member’s needs. However, most pastors, if full time, survive if married, by their spouse working. Despite the claim of “family friendly,” (and unless your Steven Furtick) many congregations provide a low level income that requires extra income to survive and qualifies for food stamps.
Another distortion that usually tags along with the assumption that successful = full time is that the pastor is the only real minister since they are “the professional.” Besides the mistaken belief that a degree alone makes one a capable and godly leader, this undercuts developing the spiritual gifts and ministry of other members of the local body. It prevents the development of quality spiritual leaders whether deacons or elders. It also usually leads to leadership boards that do not lead and do not serve but manage and control. It often joins with the distortion that “real” ministry occurs only on the church property or during Sunday morning or office hours or other stated times of gathering on church real estate. The truth is that real ministry occurs where ever Spirit filled, Christ loving believers go. A truly functioning body requires that all its members exercise their God ordained function – a wonderful opportunity to develop a multi-gifted eldership that can expand and diversify the work and service of a congregation.
There are real benefits for the bi-vocational pastor and the congregation they work with. These include understanding the pressures and demands of people and families instead of becoming myopic about what defines ministry and mission; freedom from control and manipulation when the big givers try to use their financial clout to stop change or control true leadership; freeing up money spent on high cost benefits such as health insurance & the opportunity to influence the community to a higher level by being “salt” in everyday life.
There are also challenges – the most obvious is time. I have less time to study and write. I have to manage my minutes. I have less time to waste. As has been pointed out by numerous spiritual giants of yesteryear, pastoral ministry can provide a temptation for sloth. It is all too easy to confuse and justify “busyness” and a full calendar with genuine spiritual progress. I have to delegate and share the load of caring for people instead of trying to indulge my own need to be needed. I have to challenge my own assumption that “its all up to me” or that ministry doesn’t happen unless I show up. In other words the challenges of being bi-vocational are tough on my own sinful self but good for my sanctification & I pray ultimately good for the mission of the church.
Will I continue serving this way? Only God knows. Some believe”bi-vocational” ministry will become the norm for the future in our post-Christendom age. Its not for everyone. I see fruit in what I am doing. I don’t see think its realistic that society or the church will return to how it used to be 40 or 50 years ago. The missional status of the church is clearer than ever. What is needed is an apostolic spirit to match – and that requires thinking beyond how how pastoral or congregational ministry and success has been defined – by employee status.
Only words?
I am thankful for many things. This Thanksgiving I am particularly thankful that over the years I have encountered many men & women who were able to “speak to my condition.” There have been many. Some names I recall, others I don’t but here are a few…(first names only so as to protect the identity of the innocent)
Ruth
Paul
Anton
Joe
Sammy
Al
Charles
Gary
Hobart
Leon
Steve
Don
Ken
Gary
John
Jim
Steve
Josimar
Your words were important but more so your presence. God worked through you to give me encouragement, life and hope especially when I felt I had little to offer or little faith. I try to pass the blessing on.
“Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the taste and healing for the body.” Proverbs 16:24
Out of Step
My first official dance lesson was a rite of passage as well as part of 1970’s grade school tradition. It was exciting as well as scary – the female of the species seemed to have lost their “cooties” and taken on a strange alluring, magnetic attraction. Our teachers acting as chaperons kept a close eye on the proximity of our hormone laden bodies that seemed to have the instability of nitroglycerin. The awkwardness of physical contact eased after repeated attempts to get in step with the instructions of the teacher & the rhythm of the music, eventually, 2 pairs of adolescent feet found an uneasy synchronized pattern. Missteps and falling out of step were often but given the simplicity of the Foxtrot getting back in step was easy along with an awkward smile. After time, the fox trot became routine, the watchfulness of the chaperons relaxed, and as music changed keeping in step gave way to circulating in proximate orbits of movement.
Keeping in step was easy for the fox trot but it has rarely been so for me in regards to anything else. Bandwagons have had little appeal. I tended to be the one who in the midst of a wave of group think raised his hand and asked “but what about…?” which is usually as popular as a skunk at a picnic. Having tried to be an institutional, denominational pastor for over 20 years still hasn’t changed me that much. Movements, revolutions and reformations run out of steam, money or hype. As it seems to have turned out most of us were not history makers or nations changers. Having tried to pastor for over 20 years still hasn’t changed me that much. I still let ecclesiastical bandwagons pass me by – these days they look all too familiar – recycled with a fresh coat of paint that doesn’t look like it will hold out under the bright sunlight or a heavy rain. I’ve seen this part of the parade before and it usually leads to the same end – distracting detours, deceptive dead ends and doctrinal disasters.
As far as I can tell, Jesus was never concerned about dancing to the tune of his generation. When it comes to faith, it’s easy to get side tracked. Peyton Jones, in his book “Church Zero” calls the mistaken priorities of the church as a dance with 5 easy steps:
1) Get more people
2) More people = more money
3) More money = more toys
4) More toys = More ways to get more people
5) Get more people (rinse & repeat)
That’s like replacing an entirely different dance with different steps – you end up a tangle of feet or dancing alone. However, there are a few things I recall from my early dancing days that correspond with which tune church dances to today and the missteps that are possible:
1) It’s not about the building – Dance lessons were not in a mirror lined studio with polished wood floors but in the school lunch room, with the tables pushed to the side and the aroma of that day’s lunch of tater tots and mystery meat lingering in the air. So much for ambience and atmosphere! But it didn’t matter. We didn’t need a lot of techno-wizardry or designer dazzle. That wasn’t what we were there for.
2) It’s not about the music – I remember some of the bands such as “Bread, “The Guess Who” and “America” and even some of the song titles that were spun on the 45 rpm record player. We listened to the same tunes on the radio at home. That’s not what we were there for.
3) It’s not about getting more feet in the door or on the floor – We weren’t keeping count. We were on the look out for that special someone to dance with and more bodies just got in the way.
What were we there for? For the encounter – to be with the other -even if for a few moments – even a choreographed one – with the person of our desire. Most young men in their early teens wouldn’t be caught dead expressing an interest in dance for dance sake. But this was different. We were willing to be stretched out of our usual comfort zone, to even look like clumsy fools simply for an encounter with that special other.
A dance has basic steps that form the pattern for movement. Faith does as well. Faith is more than knowing certain facts or performing certain actions. First and foremost faith is an encounter with the Triune God. Being a disciple of Jesus means first and foremost not following principles but a person. Preachers of another age used the term “experiential” or “experimental” because faith involves an interaction with each member of the Trinity. Patristic theology uses the Greek term “periochoresis” (to dance around) to describe the interrelations and interactions of the persons of the Trinity. Peter Leithart points out that the word’s verbal form, besides providing the root for the English word “choreographed” was also used as a metaphor of how the members of the Godhead dance around and with one another, what St. Maximus called the “eternal movement of love.”
Through the sacrifice of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Father has made it possible for us to join in their relationship in a way that is beyond metaphor – to join in the divine fellowship. In John 17:21-13, Jesus prayed for his disciples 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.” This is a unity in which the uniqueness of persons is not absorbed or erased but allows them to interact with one another in genuine communion or “koinonia” and with one another. A holy, circling dance is a fitting image.
I know for some that dance is not going to be a popular or appealing picture especially if you hold to the old-time adage “the praying knee can’t belong to a dancing leg” (of course thankfully, Miriam & King David did not know that!). Other metaphors of the spiritual life that focus on warfare or conflict or battle are far more appealing especially to the male of the species especially when fueled by images of “Brave Heart,” Gladiator” or those who think the church’s confession of faith should sound like “THIS IS SPARTA!”
God’s not asking us to stretch our awkward frames into pink tutus but we are commanded to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5: 16) which speaks of following the lead of the 3rd member of the Trinity. If I as a pastor or leader or believer am trying to dance to the tune of my or another generation or the demands of institutional priorities or the expectations of the current cultural despisers of the faith then I am not following the right steps. I will be moving to a foreign tune that will be out of step with the Holy Spirit.
The Triune God has made it possible for us to join in his eternal movement of love. It also means we join with other believers as part of the divine choreography as we encounter the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That’s worth staying in step with.
Atheism of the Practical Kind
An inadequate view of sin indicates an inadequate view of God. In light of the Supreme Court decisions this last week redefining marriage, consider Stephen Charnock’s (from “Practical Atheism – The Existence and Attributes of God”) view of human sin as a denial of God’s sovereignty.
In sins of omission we own not God, in neglecting to perform what he enjoins; in sins of commission we set up some lust in the place of God, and pay to that the homage which is due to our Maker. In both we disown him ; in the one by not doing what he commands, in the other by doing what he forbids. We deny his sovereignty when we violate his laws ; we disgrace his holiness when we cast our filth before his face ; we disparage his wisdom when we set up another rule as the guide of our actions than that law he bath fixed; we slight his sufficiency when we prefer a satisfaction in sin before a happiness in him alone ; and his goodness, when we judge it not strong enough to attract us to him. Every sin invades the rights of God, and strips him of one or other of his perfections. It is such a vilifying of God as if he were not God; as if he were not the supreme Creator and Benefactor of the world ; as if we had not our being from him ; as if the air we breathed in, the food we lived by, were our own by right of supremacy, not of donation. For a subject to slight his sovereign, is to slight his royalty ; or a servant his master, is to deny his superiority.
Preaching…in Real Time
Heading back home via Lansing in early June, I was able to stop and worship at University Reformed Church. The pastor, Kevin DeYoung is a prolific writer (Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion; The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness; The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism) and having heard him preach at “Together for the Gospel” in 2012 I was looking forward to hearing him again but this time in a church setting. I was not disappointed. He preached through Acts 12 and handled the text with precision, care and detail as well as humor in his delivery. The church also ordained their new elders and deacons that morning. Its one thing to preach a message or listen to one at a large gathering. It’s far more challenging to preach week by week in the worship & life of the local church. Despite all the panic in the blogosphere about resurgent Calvinism, Pastor DeYoung is part of a historical Reformed denomination and does not seem to be aiming for celebrity but faithful service. He is a fine example of how to meet the challenge of regular preaching and as far as I can tell real pastoring. May his tribe increase.
Avoiding a Whale of a Problem
“Departure from God is far more expensive than obedience to God”
James Wolfendale
A Veteran of a Different Stripe
I recently finished an older book entitled “Blood and Fire: The Story of William and Catherine Booth and the Salvation Army” by Roy Hattersley (Doubleday, 2000). I have wanted to learn more about the Booths, the founders of the Salvation Army since (as family history tells it) my maternal, Scottish great grandfather, Moncrieff Galloway, signed the “Articles of War” or “Soldier’s Covenant” of belief and practice after surviving the Boer War in S. Africa in 1902. He later moved to the U.S. in 1909 and worked in a factory as he continued to preach and serve in “the Army” as a Sgt. Major. I have a small pocket New Testament of his with one of his sermon outlines written in pencil on the inside of the cover.
While best known today for their social work and the storefront Christmas bell-ringer and change bucket, in their times, the Booths were unconventional, radical and shocked the stolid church establishment. They were routinely attacked by the press and church leaders as rude, crude, and socially un-respectable even as their adherents from the working classes, once decimated by crime, poverty, prostitution and alcohol were physically attacked by mobs and gangs organized by liquor manufacturers and bar owners. Like many trailblazers and leaders they were autocratic, insensitive and demanding but worked with a clear sense of drive and mission that was almost apostolic in spirit.
Reviewer Wendy Smith writes, “They preached in the streets of London accompanied by brass bands, appropriating the methods of ungodly popular entertainment to draw working-class sinners to righteousness. They founded soup kitchens and people’s halls to feed the hungry and give them a place to congregate other than the tavern. William Booth (1829-1912) and his wife, Catherine (1829-90), outraged polite society with the establishment of their Christian Mission in 1865. Rechristened the Salvation Army in 1878, the organization challenged the smug Victorian status quo by insisting that sin sprang from unjust social conditions. British writer and Labour Party stalwart Roy Hattersley vividly conveys the political and religious context within which the Salvation Army operated without scanting the forceful (not to say peculiar) characters of its founders. William was authoritarian and self-righteous, yet he often deferred to intellectual, strong-minded Catherine, whose instinctive sympathy for the poor and belief in women’s equality before God shaped their ministry. They were hardly warm people, yet their marital love was unshakable and absolute. The Salvation Army survived their autocratic leadership to flourish into the 21st century: ‘It is not necessary to believe in instant sanctification,’ writes Hattersley in a characteristically balanced summing-up, ‘to admire and applaud their work of social redemption.”
Of course social change is always controversial these days to some – such as former-Fox News TV show hosts who reduce all issues to chalkboard comic characters and produce nothing but hot air. However, the work of mission and evangelism are false to the good news of the kingdom if they ignore the sad reality of the conditions of the real 99% and majority of the 7 billion of the world. The Booths grasped that the Gospel is truly transforming – a person who is new creation because of the Spirit of God will bring change to their family and community. The Booths weren’t the first to grasp that truth of gospel transformation and thankfully they weren’t the last. Ministries that address practical solutions to child labor, prostitution, grinding poverty & unhealthy living conditions due to substance abuse as well as economic inequality are thriving from Guatemala to Tajikistan, from all corners of the earth because sin still is the source of human misery and the atoning work of Jesus Christ, his blood brings freedom from its consequences.
As the author Roy Hattersley points out, one does not have to agree with all the Booths believed (I certainly don’t) to applaud what they attempted and achieved. Hattersley is honest about their faults and the challenge for all strong, founding leaders – what happens when your gone. The Salvation Army survived family member defections as well as the inevitable process of a spiritual movement organizing into an institution. There had to have been something of the fire of God’s grace at work to reach a battle weary soldier’s heart in South Africa over a hundred years ago that led to a true confession of saving faith and brought blessings to his family for years to come . My great grandfather was promoted to glory in 1953. I am told that he prayed for many years for his family both born and yet un-born. I am thankful he did and I am thankful there was someone there that day in S. Africa, even if dressed in what was considered an odd & unconventional uniform, to point him to his Savior.
Some of the Galloway Family – John, Crief, Mary, Lilas and my Great-Grandfather, Moncrief
Things Jesus Did Not Do…
“He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days…” Acts 1:3
Jesus had defeated death. He had conquered the tomb. He had defeated the power of sin and Satan. Yet of all the things Jesus could have done its clear what Jesus did NOT do after his resurrection:
- He didn’t write a book, go on tour, or hold a conference – Given his experience of death & resurrection surely a major branding push was in order!
- He didn’t start a building program – Given his experience he could have been the new show in town and started up something cool & exciting to reach those who weren’t being reached by the old fuddy-duddy Temple crowd.
- He didn’t “cast a vision*,” start a 5 year plan, get organized, strategize, research his demographics or market, form a board, elect officers, write by-laws or make Robert’s Rules of Order his decision making guide.
- He didn’t send the disciples to seminary. He didn’t say “ok boys, you need to go away to study for 3 years, get some credentials, go into debt and then we’ll see if you can do this apostolic thing.”
What did he do? He was with them. He taught them. He opened the scriptures to them. He promised power to them. He gave authority to them. He promised his eternal presence. He promised the Spirit who would give visions. He commanded them to continue to do what he had been doing with them already in his power, in his name, in his authority.
Sounds simple enough to me. Why make it so hard?
(For a more in-depth consideration you might enjoy this by Carl Trueman on celebrity & the Evangelical Industrial Complex)
Beyond the Wall
The film work of M. Night Shyamalan (Signs-2002; Unbreakable-2000) has always caught my attention. His 2004 film “The Village” (Warning -plot spoiler just ahead!) tells the story of a group of villagers who seem to be living an idyllic life centuries ago but are threatened by hostile and frightening creatures who live in the forest at the edge of the village. The fear of the creatures and what is beyond the village keeps the children in line, afraid and prevents them from exploring – for awhile. When one young girl must go beyond the village into the forest for a medical emergency she finds what she thought were the limits of her world are not real but only imposed by the village elders out of their fear. She comes to a wall and finds the rest of the world beyond it – strange, frightening but far more than she ever imagined.
Shyamalan’s story connects to the experience of people who are raised in highly controlled families, social groups or communities that use fear to dominate & control members such as Jim Jones’ “Peoples Temple” or the Hare Krishna commune of New Vrindaban, “The Message” adherents of William Branham or numerous others of all types and persuasions whose numbers are legion. They paint the world beyond the group as dangerous, threatening or evil and departure from the group means loss, exclusion, excommunication or worse (in some cases murder has actually been the result). The group member who strays or wanders beyond the control boundaries usually finds that beyond the walls of the group the world is a much different place than described. Such an experience is liberating as well as disorienting. Old definitions of one’s self, roles and rules are modified or abandoned. The uncertainty of the future can make one yearn for the certainty of the past – yet the past cannot be returned to any more than the knowledge of what’s beyond the wall can be erased from memory.
Another parallel I have noticed is with the person emerging from drug or alcohol dependence. The nature of addiction is like a self-perpetuating, self-reinforcing and self- limiting feedback loop that drowns out or covers over other options or possibilities. While the examples above are more about controlling groups, with addiction, the control comes through the combination of the addictive nature of the substance, and the feelings, thoughts, behaviors that feed it or feed off it, the consequences of dependence and the forming of manipulative and exploitive relationships exclusively based on supplying and getting more of the substance. The end result is very much the same – the person is convinced that the limits of the “village of substance dependence” is the only possible world and beyond is danger – even in the face of the ever-increasing destructive consequences that addiction brings with it. This is even truer for the person who was raised in a family where substance dependence, criminal thinking, anti-social activity or survivalist living was considered normal.
What moves a person beyond the limits of the village? That’s the million dollar question! For the person in a controlling group sometimes it’s a crisis or when time after time the behavior of leaders doesn’t match their sermonizing. It may be when emotional and cognitive dissonance between “the ideal community” builds and the advantages of belonging to the group wears thin. For the substance dependent, sometimes it’s when the promises of the substance are seen for what they are –empty or the negative consequences outweigh the supposed benefits. It may be when one encounters the first nibble of freedom and wonders what’s beyond the wall. Sometimes it’s the experience of true grace and real love that are neither conditional, performance based or require checking one’s freedom or brains at the door as the price of admission. There is life beyond the wall. And if you see someone who has just climbed over and looks somewhat dazed and disoriented it can be an act of love to stop and lend a supportive hand.
Worth Quoting…
“Without the gospel
everything is useless and vain;
without the gospel
we are not Christians;
without the gospel
all riches is poverty,
all wisdom, folly before God;
strength is weakness, and
all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God.
But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made
children of God,
brothers of Jesus Christ,
fellow townsmen with the saints,
citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven,
heirs of God with Jesus Christ,
by whom
the poor are made rich,
the weak strong,
the fools wise,
the sinners justified,
the desolate comforted,
the doubting sure, and
slaves free.
The gospel is the Word of life.”
(From John Calvin’s preface to Pierre-Robert Olivétan’s 1535 translation of the Bible.)
When its All Said and Done, More is Said than Done
“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”
Luke 6:40
The disciples of Jesus followed him, observed him, questioned him and learned from him. Then they were sent out to do what they had seen him do with the same message and method (see Luke 9:1-2; Luke 10:9). American churchianity asks you to park your posterior in a pew, sing in the choir, sit on a board, bring a covered dish, support the budget and show up a few times a month on a Sunday morning.
What’s wrong with this picture?
“Of all hypocrites, grant that I may not be an evangelical hypocrite,
who sins more safely because grace abounds,
who tells his lusts that Christ’s blood cleanseth them,
who reasons that God cannot cast him into hell, for he is saved,
who loves evangelical preaching, churches, Christians (conferences?),
but lives unholily.”
A “Bah Humbug” Moment…
The hue & cry about the “war on Christmas” is in the news. However, Christmas was not always as popular as some believe. Under the influence of Puritan preaching and clout it was banned by the English Parliament in 1647. It was “banned in Boston” due to the same influence in its Colonial Congregational version until 1856. So while currently the villains are supposedly a nefarious cabal of multiculturalists even Christians have had “bah humbug” moments! The grievances that are listed because the U.S. is no longer a country with a monolithic unofficial civic religion don’t really add up to a significant attack upon the Christian faith. Consider the following:
On a scale of 0 to 100 how important is the public display of a tree (whether called Holiday or Christmas) to the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ? Zero
On a scale of 0 to 100 how important is being greeted with “Merry Christmas” vs. “Happy Holidays” at the local store to the discipling of every nation? Zippo
On a scale of 0 to 100 how important is the production of special programs (whether called Christmas or Holiday) to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in the people of God? Nada
The so-called “war on Christmas” may be good for talk show ratings and for fund raising for reactionary political agendas but is “much ado about nothing” as far as God’s work in the nations. The Son of God never said his disciples would be known by their public nativity scenes or decorating a pine tree. He said they would be known by their love, demonstrated in concrete actions that will benefit others. Love is different from compiling a list of grievances because one’s own cherished traditions no longer exclusively dominate popular culture. The Gospel – the glad tidings of great joy – is more than equal share of religious advertising space. If as much energy & fervor was expended in defending the gospel by the simple preaching, teaching, worship and service of the gathered church as is wasted in enlisting evangelical market share for a war about nothing, the purpose of Christ’s incarnation might be clearer to a world in spiritual darkness.
There – my Scrooge moment is over.
Our new praise band tuning up for their big debut as we do our best to remain trendy & competitive in the crowded religious franchise market!
Election Matters
(The County Election by George C. Bingham)
Election Day is near at hand. We have endured the debates, the mud-slinging, the distortion and demonization of positions and opponents and the warnings of apocalyptic terror to come after. Soon it will be time to make one’s choice. To choose leaders by voting is a cherished constitutional right. To choose in matters even less significant than an election is an un-questioned assumption of consumer culture (including Christian) & woe to the one who would dare interfere! Consider a few of the multitude of choices presented to us every day: regular, unleaded or ethanol, smoking or non-smoking, rare-medium or well-done, latte “venti” or “grande”, Mac or Windows, traditional worship or contemporary music, KJV, NIV, ESV or Message Bible? Yet for all our choices and all the drama of a national election there is a greater & more significant election that lasts far longer than 2 or 4 years. The Bible is full of examples of God making choices – of people, places, nations, of priests, kings, disciples and apostles. Yet to discuss God’s choices (or election) is considered by many strange, antiquated, divisive or dangerous. However, consider the following:
“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” Deut. 7:6-8
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” John 15:16
“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 1:26-31
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” Eph 1:3-6
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10
Whatever theological stripe or brand you consider yourself, God’s loving, gracious election or choosing of a people for himself may not be ignored without disregarding his word. So also our own choices in response to what God has done present each of us with a choice:
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” Deut. 30:19-20
“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15
“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” 2 Peter 1:10
The Presidential election theatrics are almost over. God’s work of election is eternal. Consumer choice is based on the whims and egotism of the self that change with the passing of fads and time. God’s election is rooted in his eternal love and grace and results in our thanks, praise and glorifying of his faithfulness. Whether Tuesday’s election results make you mad, sad or glad, God’s election is the eternal foundation of the confidence, hope and joy of those who trust in Jesus Christ.
Off the Book Shelf
One of the pleasures of getting older is reading what I enjoy rather than what is supposed to the fad of the month in Christendom. I have only turned a few pages of “A Puritan Theology-Doctrine for Life” by Joel Beeke & Mark Jones and have found it an impressive treasury of Reformed thought that demonstrates the depth of spirituality & practice of the Puritan era which is perhaps the high point of Reformed theology. Here you will find no branded bullet points or tweet sized pragmatism but depth, wisdom and serious consideration of the greatness of God and his saving power. I have used it already to help in preparation & quoted it in a sermon. It will also introduce you to the less well known of the Puritans as well as their consideration of hot topic that are still items for controversy today such as hell – who would have known that Christopher Love (1618-1651) took on Rob Bell centuries before “Love Wins” ? I highly recommend it for anyone who is tired of the recycled pablum that passes for Christian thought today.
A Whale of a Pulpit!
Pulpits come in all shapes, styles and sizes.
There is the traditional:
The “cool-contemporary” that supposedly shows the preacher’s transparency
(but at times is mere exhibitionism and more information than necessary):
And the symbolic, such as found in the Seaman’s Chapel in New Bedford, MA which recalls Henry Melville’s famous words in Moby Dick “for the pulpit is ever this earth’s foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world. From thence it is the storm of God’s quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt. From thence it is the God of breezes fair or foul is first invoked for favorable winds. Yes, the world’s a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow.”
Then there’s the “whale” pulpit of Sts. Peter & Paul in Duszniki Zdrój, Poland that remind preacher & listener (as Jonah knew all too well) that delivering and hearing God’s word is a risky and dangerous activity.
I don’t know about you but preaching in that one would be unnerving!
But far more important, is the message than the material or design of the pulpit. After all Jesus taught from a boat, Philip used a chariot and Wesley preached from a gravestone. The greatest pulpit of all is the cross. Echoing Romans 5:8 “but God demonstrates (proves) his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us,” Augustine said “the cross is the pulpit in which Christ preached his love to the world.”
A Real Bible Thumper!
A 64-year-old woman is facing an assault charge after allegedly striking a pastor in the head with a Bible during a dispute inside a Baptist church in Tennessee. Cops busted Ina Garrett for the alleged Bible thumping of Rev. Leon Taylor, who heads the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Selmer. County Sheriff deputies were summoned to the church in late-May to deal with a “lady that was unwanted.” Taylor told investigators that Garrett had been voted out of the church. During the church confrontation, “Ms. Garrett took her Bible and threw it at Mr. Taylor hitting him in the face.” Taylor then took a swing at Garrett, but did not make contact. After a brief detour to a local hospital, Garrett was transported by a sheriff’s deputy to the county jail, where she was charged with “assault on the preacher Mr. Taylor.” In a TV interview, Garrett copped to striking Taylor in the head. “He’s got the demon in him,” she explained.
The Preacher biz can be dangerous!
Concerning Reasonableness, Togetherness and Shibboleths
During World War II, some U. S. soldiers during the invasion of Normandy and in the Pacific theater used the word “welcome” or “lollapalooza” as a password to verbally test people who were hiding or unidentified, on the premise that the enemy would mis-pronounce the word. Germans would pronounce “welcome” as “velcome” and the Japanese would pronounce “lollapalooza” with “rorra.” George Stimpson’s in his “A Book about a Thousand Things” notes that if the password was mispronounced sentries would “open fire without waiting to hear the remainder.” Other measures included questions about Baseball teams or athletes to screen the real from the pretender.
Such passwords are as old as the Bible. Judges 12 records that the men of Gilead at war with the Ephraimites tested the fleeing fighters asking them to pronounce the Hebrew word “shibboleth.” The Ephraimites were not able to pronounce the “sh” sound but said “s” revealing their true identity – and as a result they were slaughtered: “And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, ‘Let me go over,’ the men of Gilead said to him, ‘Are you an Ephraimite?’ When he said, ‘No.’ They said to him, ‘Then say Shibboleth,’ and he said, ‘Sibboleth,’ for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.”
Professor Kemmer, Professor of Linguistics at Rice University writes, “A shibboleth is a kind of linguistic password: A way of speaking (a pronunciation, or the use of a particular expression), a slogan or catchphrase that identifies one as a member of an ‘in’ group. The purpose of a shibboleth is exclusionary as much as inclusionary: A person whose way of speaking violates a shibboleth is identified as an outsider and thereby excluded by the group.”
The book of Judges is not the only example of the power of a shibboleth – “The word shibboleth has become a proverb for the minute differences which religious parties thrust into exaggerated prominence, and defend with internecine ferocity. In theological warfare the differences of watchword or utterance have sometimes been the actual cause of hatred and persecution; sometimes the two opposing parties have been in agreement in every single essential fact, but have simply preferred other formulas to express it” (Ellicott’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, vol. 2, p. 237). In the Trinitarian controversies of the 4th century, particularly over the deity of Jesus, the difference between adding an “i” or extra “o” to the Greek word defining his nature meant the difference between heresy and orthodoxy, banishment and even death. Some like Arius held that “homoosious” was adequate to define Jesus as similar in nature to the Father. Others like Athanasius held that “homoiousios” was more accurate defining Jesus as identical in nature to the Father. The controversy and debate was so fierce that Gregory of Nyssa complained
“Everywhere, in the public squares, at crossroads, on the streets and lanes, people would stop you and discourse at random about the Trinity. If you asked something of a moneychanger, he would begin discussing the question of the Begotten and the Unbegotten. If you questioned a baker about the price of bread, he would answer that the Father is greater and the Son is subordinate to Him. If you went to take a bath, the bath attendant would tell you that in his opinion the Son simply comes from nothing.”
The controversies of past generations may seem irrelevant or petty today but they were invested in with as much passion and polemic as today’s hot button topics on which we are told the fate of the church, the nation and universe seem to hinge. Part of the problem besides hyperbole is that the discourse of political demonizing (ala Fox News) has become the predominant method of discourse and dealing with differences. Or perhaps as that great theologian George Gershwin more profoundly put it (and Louis Armstrong sang it): “You say eether and I say eyether, You say neether and I say nyther, Eether, eyether, neether, nyther, Let’s call the whole thing off! You say potato and I say potahto, You say tomato and I say tomahto; Potato, potahto, Tomato, tomahto, Let’s call the whole thing off”
Shibboleths were not only used to weed out the “enemy” in the past – they still draw the battle lines today. Here are a few shibboleths over which I have been declared friend or foe depending on whether I agree or disagree in no particular order (I’m sure you could make your own list):
- Have you been baptized in the name of Jesus only?
- Do you use the King James Version?
- Home school
- Public school
- Young earth
- Old Earth
- Republican platform
- Election
- Complementarian view of gender
- Egalitarian view of gender
- Pre-mid-post tribulation
- Pre-post-a-millennial,
- Baptized in the Holy Ghost with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues
- Not speaking in tongues
- Praying for healing
- Spiritual gifts cease
- Spiritual gifts continue
- Tithing
- Altar calls
- President Barack Obama
- Singing with musical instruments
- Singing with no instruments
- Drums in worship
- Women speaking in church
- Predestination
- Women teaching
- Meeting in a building
- Meeting in a living room
- Receiving a salary as a pastor
- “the Toronto Blessing”
- Government mandated health insurance
And the list goes on. I am not indifferent to doctrinal distinctions. I am not advocating an abandonment of exegetical exactitude, theological precision or moral discrimination for a warm & fuzzy togetherness. However, if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of the “shibboleth” sentry challenge you know the discomfort of waiting to be declared ecclesiological friend or foe on what may not amount to more than a spiritual mole hill. More importantly, not all distinctions or controversies are created equal – or essential to faith, saving or historical. The danger is trivializing what is truly important and distorting those truths which are saving and define the gospel.
Despite risking an immediate anathema by some readers by quoting him, in a marvelous paragraph on the essential and non-essentials of unity, Calvin says – “For all the heads of true doctrine are not in the same position. Some are so necessary to be known, that all must hold them to be fixed and undoubted as the proper essentials of religion: for instance, that God is one, that Christ is God, and the Son of God, that our salvation depends on the mercy of God, and the like. Others, again, which are the subject of controversy among the churches, do not destroy the unity of the faith” (Inst. Bk. Ch.1). There is a difference between essentials and non-essentials, and a difference even between matters of importance and saving fundamentals – and the way of wisdom is to know the difference.
The Apostle Paul’s correction to the Corinthian church because some are denying a resurrection from the dead and by implication denying the resurrection of Christ shows a non-negotiable element of the gospel truth by which they are “being saved” (1 Cor. 15:2). In contrast, his discussion in 1 Cor. 8 of what one eats or does not eat is a test of freedom and love in action – how one lives this out is negotiable as long as it is guided by love. The first letter of John insists the truth that the Son of God, Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and its denial is not simply a difference between opinions or semantics but a difference between spirits – the Spirit of God and the spirit of antichrist (1 John 4:1-3). Equally the test of obeying God’s commands or truly loving one another is a defining difference between those who know God and those who do not (1 John 3:4-10; 1 John 5:1-2). How much of the fussin & fightin’ in history or today have to do with these matters? At times it seems little more than the “unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people” warned of in 1 Timothy 6:4-5.
Richard John Neuhaus, in “Freedom For Ministry” makes an important point: The choice is not between schism for the sake of truth or superficiality for the sake of unity. One serves the community poorly if one does not contribute to it the most vigorous advocacy of what one believes to be right. Disagreement is not to be tolerated but to be nurtured. As John Courtney Murray was found of remarking, disagreement is an achievement. What we call disagreement, said Murray is usually just confusion. It takes clarity, integrity and hard work to arrive at real disagreement. But in all our disagreements and confused agreements the unshakeable confidence is that our unity – like the peace the angels announced to the shepherds –is a given. The confidence rests on our ‘sacramentum’, our mutual pledge of allegiance, to reverence one another within the mystery of our being a people led by God toward that time in which we shall ‘know even as we are known.
An old motto, credited to Augustine as well as Meldenius, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials freedom, in all things love” points us one way to have real disagreement and maintain unity. The 18th century evangelist George Whitefield who preached to Arminians & Calvinists said it this way – “I truly love all that love the glorious Emmanuel, and though I cannot depart from the principles which I believe are clearly revealed in the book of God, yet I can cheerfully associate with those who differ from me, if I have reason to think they are united to our common head.” (Works, Vol. 2, p.242)
A sectarian rejects this and says everything matters and is of equal importance and therefore creates a narrow ground of fellowship (or to put it bluntly “all those who agree with me/us”). A latitudinarian view surrenders most of what matters and any basis for togetherness will do. The fundamentalist split-off movements of the 1920’s & 1950’s that divided and subdivided over the timing of the rapture, the exact time schedule of the 70 weeks of Daniel 9, women’s hairstyles or use of makeup are an example of the former. The once confessional “mainline” churches that have revised historical faith statements to silliness an example of the latter.
I know guarding “the fords of the Jordan” has been going on a long time. Given human nature, I doubt it will change soon. It’s easier to build churches, movements & sell books by defining the other guys as the devil’s spawn. The date of Easter, the use of vestments or Luther’s vehemence with Zwingli over “is” concerning the Lord’s Table may be old news but today’s debate over “kephale” (head) in regards to gender or whether a living room sofa or a padded pew is more conducive to being missional has replaced them. I readily grant that the health and future of the church is tied to holding on to faith in the resurrection of Jesus but I will not surrender that glorious truth to be as important as what kind of furniture we place our posteriors on. Even if the hair-splitting seems unlikely to reach the point of spilling blood (at least in the U.S.) there is something wearying about the suspicion, defensiveness, demonization and depersonalization that accompany the process of being “shibbolethized.” More importantly, it trivializes and distorts the gospel.
I believe this is more than the travail of a sensitive soul – I do think God has a different view. Consider the prayer of his Son in John 17:21 – “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” There is a unity of disciples that convinces the unbelieving kosmos that Jesus was sent by the Father. The opposite is true – there is a disunity of his disciples that will lead the world not to believe. Ok, I can imagine the “yeah, but” protests. Frankly, I have them too because I’m still thinking this out. I have argued with the same passion and certainty of my own position and missed the person for the polemic. There are times when I grow weary of the weary struggle for mutual understanding and think “why bother?” I have no 5 point prescription. However, I know there’s something different and greater that God intended.
The “shibboleth” of Judges is more than the use of a linguistic litmus test. It was not over the nature of God or the Shema, the right way to circumcise or proper priestly protocol. It was the rivalry, competition, pride, jealousy and the lust for self-preservation of the tribes over the good and the survival of the nation to the extent they would be willing to kill each other than worship, serve and take on their common enemies together. The low point of Judges leads slowly but eventually by God’s guiding, sovereign hand to the establishment of the rule of a united kingdom by David of the house of Judah. But that was only for awhile. Something more has been promised that the prophets saw yet to come – one flock and one Shepherd (Ez. 34). Ever since his resurrection and ascension, the son of David and Son of God rules in glory on heaven’s throne. We know by divine revelation that he is head of his body and Lord of his church but we still await his rule to be fully established on earth as in heaven and especially in his own household. Ephesians 4 speaks of a unity is that is yet to come – “until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph 4: 13). Most would agree that we haven’t seen or experienced that yet! But it will come – Christ created one body by his death and he has been working, is working and will be working to bring about the maturity and fullness of his body – to have us grow up into him. It won’t come through manifestos, task forces, edicts, constitutional amendments, authoritarian structures, Robert Rules of Order, consumer surveys or popular vote. It requires all the gifts of Christ’s ascension. It also requires that we differentiate between friend and foe and welcome one another “as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Rom. 15:7). I long to see that unity. Like many others, I may have had a brief glimpse of it.
One night on a mission trip in Guatemala, (ironically made up of a team of differently labeled tribes of believers in Jesus) above the noise of traffic and bar music down the street, I heard the sound of beautiful harmonious singing. Up on the hill was a church building with lights on the inside that from the volume of the voices had to be filled with people. Earlier in the daylight it had been hard not to miss the one other import from North America besides vulgar culture – denominations – Baptist, Assembly of God, Nazarene, Wesleyan with signs all declaring their brand of “church-i-anity” or “isms” in huge letters around town & on every hillside. However, on this night no signs, labels or names could be seen – only the light and the singing inside coming out the open windows. I didn’t recognize the song, nor understand it since it was in Spanish but they sang with such life and passion if it had been “Join hands, then, members of the faith, whatever your race may be! Who serves my Father as His child, Is surely kin to me,” (“In Christ There is No East or West”) I wouldn’t have been surprised. Christ’s light and praises filled the night. And there was no name brand attached to it but his own. That’s worth “growing up” into!
extraecclesiam... 
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