Ephesians 4:1-16–Understanding the church and what it does

Ephesians 4 begins the practical section of Paul’s Ephesian letter.  Paul undergirds action with principle.  Chapters 1-3 focus on church identity, “Who are we?” The church must understand its identity and purpose.  Chapters 4-6 answer the question, “What do we do?”  The Christian life that reflects our shared identity in Christ Jesus includes requirements, reasons, response, and results.

  • Requirements.  Paul reminds that our calling in Christ is a calling to humility, gentleness, patience (forbearance), love, and relationships.
  • Reasons.  Our shared life is based in our mutual commitment to peace and unity, our common faith, the gifts of God, the nature of God’s community, and Jesus Christ.  This shared life is reality and merely a dream.
  • Responsibility.  We are responsible to and for one another.  We mature together, following the example of Jesus.  The body functions and is self-sustaining.  We must use our gifts.
  • Results.  The result is a shared life of stability and support.  The body focuses on Jesus and together lives out the truth in love.  God’s picture of maturity is not only for individuals.  Individuals mature as part of a mature body of believers.

Paul’s conclusion is that the church then grows and is edified through the mutual work of the members with all members functioning according to their own specific activities in the body.

Church Renewal–How?

The church is in constant need of renewal. The past is never good enough; the present is fleeting; we want the future to be better–as bright and good as it can be. In my experience, many churches desire renewal but do not know how to find it. Church renewal occurs when multiple dynamics are brought into play simultaneously. This blog identifies and describes three essential components of church renewal. These are not a cure-all or a guarantee, but they are essential to the renewal process.

Church renewal seldom occurs unless the church is reasonably healthy. Many authors have written about church illness and church health. Here is a list of eight symptoms of church illness from Kent Allen: maintenance complex, failure syndrome, credibility gap, fellowshipitis, people blindness, overcrowding, leadership tensions, and old age. A church may function reasonably well despite the presence of some of these symptoms, but experience confirms that churches that look inward, cannot see outward, lack bridges of communication and credibility to their community, and have a history of failure seldom have the spiritual strength to move forward. Allen also lists eight signs of health: effective leadership, an agreed agenda, believing prayer, life-related Bible teaching, mobilized membership, community minded, ongoing evangelism, and new member assimilation and incorporation. Such lists suggest two needs: eliminate the negative and accentuate the positive.

While negatives must be addressed, many churches can take a major step toward renewal by focusing on the development of a healthy congregation. Committed leaders can actively work on processes for identifying a vision and mission that can unite the church, mobilize the members, and encourage the active involvement of new members. Coupled with prayer and fresh Bible teaching, these positives can help initiate renewal. Churches with a clear sense of identity and purpose are more likely to have the energy to reach others.

Churches struggle with renewal when they do not know who they are. Church identity is not an easy task. What we were in the past is not what we are today. Some think the church is the same as it was, but such cannot be. Churches that seek and find renewal usually find a renewed identity. There are lots of ways to give a church a fresh identity. Some of the more obvious ones are name, descriptions, vision, mission, personnel, and leadership. The church must know itself; the church must also escape any false identities that have arisen in the minds or perceptions of the community. The latter is usually more difficult that the former.

Churches that find genuine renewal have a clearly defined mission. That mission should be grounded in Scripture and God’s mission for the church. A church that knows who it is and what it is about is well on its way to renewal. Add a commitment to healthy church dynamics, and renewal is even more likely.

Churches that find genuine renewal have a sense of purpose that transcends self. God has exceedingly great goals for the church. He lends his exceedingly great power to the task. God’s glory dwells in the church that is genuinely his–indwelt by Christ, energized by a power beyond mere human efforts, fervently seeking to understand God’s purpose which has been demonstrated by God’s love and mercy.

Colossians 1 Revisited: Kingdom People

What does God want from us?  What does God want from his creation?  What is God’s message that we are called to take into all the world?

These questions continue to burn in my heart.  We have made our little lists.  We have focused on an institutional concept of the kingdom and missed the bigger picture.  We have been more interested in being affiliated with the kingdom than in becoming genuine kingdom people, fulfilling God’s purpose as “image of God” people in a fallen world.  Mere affiliation with the kingdom (membership, church roles, even church attendance) will never substitute for being a kingdom person with total allegiance and loyalty to the King.

God has rescued us and moved us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son.  The text continues by (1) reminding us of how powerful Jesus is because of who he is and what he has done that makes him worthy of praise and adoration, (2) calling us to participate in the redemption and reconciliation he provides, (3)  challenging us to find genuine hope through his presence within us, and (4) communicating God’s ultimate purpose in Christ that we become mature and genuine.  No wonder Paul wrote:  We Proclaim Him!

You can read the entire story in Colossians 1:13-29.  Praise Him, Proclaim Him!

Preaching: What’s Wrong with This Picture?

When I was a kid, I  liked the section of the comics that challenged the reader to identify the things that were wrong in a picture.  I admit that sometimes I still glance at the children’s section of the comics to see how quickly I can find the problems in the picture.  Keeps my mind sharp–questioning and thinking about the disconnects of life. Forgive me while I “rant.”

The “news” article was about a preacher that took his sermon theme from a pizza company mission statement.   The pizza company representative was quoted as saying, “It’s humbling that our values can be used for such a higher cause.” Sorry to be a naysayer!  “Is there something wrong with this picture?”

I have long suspected, after working with lots of students in sermon preparation classes and after reading lots of sermons online and in various publications, that a subtle shift (and sometimes not so subtle!) is occurring in how preachers go about the task of preaching. Lots of preachers just don’t know the Bible. They borrow (steal?) sermons. They find ideas and inspiration almost everywhere but in the Word of God.  I always enjoyed listening to Jim Bill McInteer.  I was amazed that he knew just the right Bible story to illustrate his point, many of them from obscure Old Testament stories.  Today preachers seem to get their illustrations from everywhere but the Bible.  Do we live in an age where our preachers get their sermon ideas from every place EXCEPT the Bible?  Is the church’s mission informed by God’s purpose or a pizza chain’s pledge?  Who should be influencing whom?

The article was titled, “Pizza a key ingredient in sermon.”  I guess that’s news.  Let me suggest something else that would be news in a lot of congregations:  “Word of God a key ingredient in sermon.”  Preachers! May God help us find our mission and purpose in life by tuning our lives to Him so that we desire his Word as did the Psalmist!

An Interesting Compliment: “He brought Jesus back to this church”

In my experience, preachers get a lot of compliments. Maybe some don’t; God bless them! What is the highest compliment a preacher can get?

One compliment I think I will never forget.  It may qualify for the best ever. A church member said of her preacher, “He brought Jesus back to our church….” Thrilling, encouraging. Sad!—that Jesus would get lost down at the church, that the church would willingly or accidentally forget that Jesus is the center, that Jesus would be allowed to drop out of the vision of a church.

Would a church without Jesus miss him? Would they notice that he was gone? Is Jesus an essential part of what happens down at the church where you attend? If we are brutally honest with ourselves, too often the answer is “no”.

Woe be to preachers who let Jesus escape from the vision of the church! A great compliment: he brought Jesus back to our church! And that in a church whose sign says it belongs to Christ!

It’s Sunday Again: Will Anything Surprising Happen Today?

We don’t know what to do with God!

We want to control him, box him, understand him. We want our Christianity in neat, little, predictable packages. We want a Holy Spirit under control. We are so committed to “decently and in order” that we limit God.

Christianity is a personal treasure hunt! Treasure hunts are exciting, challenging, rewarding. No price is too great to pay when seeking a treasure of inestimable value! No sacrifice is beyond comprehension–the desire to achieve the treasure controls every thought and action. It is all we think about! It is what we dream about!

Today I am thinking about a treasure in a field and a pearl. We have read these parables too casually! Some things are found by accident; most things are found on purpose! Everything we seek is found in the last place we look! Are you still looking, or do you think you’ve already found it? Are you on an adventure, or are you gliding down the last hill, content and satisified?

Dear Heavenly Father and God of all, surprise us this day with your presence, your power, and your part in our lives. Help us restore the wonder, the awe, and the spirit of fresh worship. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

It’s Sunday Again: Seeking to understanding God

One can think nothing greater than to think about God. Unfathomable, rich. Our life cannot surpass our knowledge and understanding of God. All begins with God. We must begin in the right place. Without understanding the nature, character, and actions of God, we cannot grasp worship. We cannot appreciate and experience genuine community. We miss the essential nature of the penitent heart that God accepts.
Our typical approach to Bible study urges us to make lists of God’s qualities. Words like omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence roll off the tongues of seminary students. Love, grace, mercy, justice, holiness. Creator, Sustainer, Savior. Great lists–but largely incapable of generating changed lives in today’s world. The Old Testament has lists of characteristics, but when God got ready to reveal himself in the New Covenant, he sent a living example. We can learn more about God by reading the gospels than the Old Testament prophets. How do we understand God in the trenches of life, in the down and dirty tasks of daily living?

The Psalmist portrays God in word pictures. Who is God? What is God like?
When I have to make hard choices in life, I choose God. He alone is my inheritance. I look around me and marvel that I am blessed with the most pleasant portions of life (16:5-6). I rest in peace, eat and am satisfied, drink deeply, and find constant renewal because he guides me and protects me (23:1-3). I do not live in fear for myself or my loved ones, confident that he hides me and shelters me from trouble, covers me with his presence, and lifts me up. Where else can I find such constant refuge? What other fortress shelters me when life buffets me and the enemies surround? My security is to dwell in the shadow of my God and to know his steadfast love (27:5; 36:7; 71:3; 91:1). Life promises satisfaction, but the longings continue. Only God fills my life with satisfying goodness, quenching my hunger and thirst for things with the satisfaction of genuine fulness (107:9).

God blesses me with every need, he gives me the desires of my heart; he fulfills his purpose for me. Why do I not delight in him more than I do (37:4; 57:2)? I sing joyfully when I contemplate his provision and protection (63:7). He does not act because I deserve his goodness, but because he is good, forgiving, abundantly loving. I know the lists–abounding in steadfast love, merciful, gracious, slow to anger (86:5; 103:8), but what catches my attention is that he acts for my well being, accomplishing everything that matters to me and orchestrating the world to move toward his eternal purpose for me. What catches my attention is that he does not forsake me, leave me, or give up on me (138:8).

“God, help us to see you in our midst, mighty to save. Help us to heard your glad songs of rejoicing over us. Help us to feel the quietness of your love strokes upon us. Help us to see what you see as you celebrate our presence in your presence with exultation. Surely we can see more than the Old Testament prophets who spoke confidently of future blessings, because you have shown us the way, the truth, and the life, through Jesus, Amen.” (Zephaniah 3:17).

It’s Sunday Again: Christ and his church

One cannot have Christ without the church; one cannot have church without Christ.
Christ comes with a church. If one wishes to follow Christ, the church is not an optional add-on.
We must restore Christ to all we say and do and are at church.

Three concepts from Ephesians 1-3: the church is the place of salvation, a place of peace, a place of unity.
Ephesians 1-3 is the upper story ideal, “with Christ in the heavenlies.” Ephesians 4-6 is the lower story reality. God’s magnificent goals for the church must be lived out in the torn, broken world of human existence. It is easy to preach the ideal; it is harder to live the reality–every member of the body doing its part, live worthy, live holy (not as the pagans), live in love, light, and wisdom. Relationships hang us up. Be careful about the connection points (ligaments)–that’s where the church often gets in trouble. Be submissive as you deal with others. Be prepared for the difficulties–arm yourselves, and don’t stop reading at 6:17, arm yourselves also in prayer!

How Should We “Do” Church? (3)

In two previous articles, I have suggested some changes that we must make in how we “do church”. These include a renewed focus on Christ, Scripture, and others; a commitment to the world around us and a commitment to discipleship and involvement rather than consumerism.

Because I am a minister, and have spent my life preparing for ministry, studying ministry, practicing ministry, and teaching ministry, I conclude with four observations for my friends in ministry. I hope by sharing these in a more public forum that I can also help the church understand ministry. Such is essential, because we have developed a model of church where ministry is focused at the top of a pyramid in church leaders and paid staff. We have paid lip service to the thought that “every member is a minister,” but we have not practiced it well in most places.

What kind of minister will help us answer the challenges before us? What kind of minister will help the church be church? What kind of minister will help us “do church” effectively. While many answers can be given, I focus on four commitments from my own life.

  • I want to be a minister that helps the church encounter and wrestle with Scripture as the very Word of God. The preacher must preach the word as it is, not as we have always thought it was. Bible study must be fresh and vibrant. We must study to learn, not just to reinforce what we have always thought.
  • I want to be a minister that lets people see and experience Jesus in their everyday lives. This begins in my personal life when I see and experience Jesus daily. The church will not advance beyond its leaders. I must seek the spiritual life; I must model genuine surrender to the priorities and call of God in my life.
  • I want to be a minister that understands and feels with the hurts of the world that God wants to save. I want to speak the language of our world and culture.  I want to be a viable voice in a world of conflicting siren songs. I want Jesus to have a voice.
  • I want to be a minister that releases Jesus to a waiting world. While we live in a secular world where many have rejected the church, there are many in this world who have not turned their back on Jesus. These are waiting for someone who can show them the reality of Jesus. I want to minister in that way, in a church that has caught the vision.

How Should We “Do” Church (2)

[This blog is a continuation from yesterday. Here are some additional items to consider as we ask whether our focus is biblical and healthy.]

3.  We must focus on people more than task. We must know who we are, and not only what we must do. One can do the right things without being the right person. One cannot be the right person without doing the right things. Thus, we must move our focus from rules to relationships. We must focus on intimacy more than issues. People matter to God. The Sabbath was made for us, not us for the Sabbath. This priority will change your life. God is calling us to togetherness in Christ.

4.  We must focus externally more than internally. What we do as Christians, both down at the church house and in our daily lives, is not about us. It is all about God. It is about God’s desire and plan in this world. Thus, we must move our focus from the church (club) to the community. We must see God’s purpose in our world. We must learn to think glocally (both global and local). We must focus on God more than self.

5.  We must focus on genuine discipleship. You can be a member of most churches of Christ by doing nothing more than attending a time or two each month. You may be able to be a member of the church with such antics, but you cannot be a disciple of Jesus Christ! Discipleship is demanding. Discipleship is hard. Discipleship calls us to discomfort, and giving up self, and cross-bearing, and priorities that are not natural is our world. Discipleship calls our focus away from personal needs, possessions, prestige and prominence, power, and even parents. How should we do church? We should say to one another, because it is what the Bible says, that being a Christian is demanding. You cannot just “get by.” You cannot be half-hearted. Faithfulness is not something that is turned on and off. A Christian everywhere, or a Christian nowhere. Ever a Christian or never a Christian. Christianity changes more than our Sunday schedule.

6.  We must focus on involvement. We must move our focus from consumerism to involvement. The question is not, “what will the church do for me?”, but “what will I do for the church?” (to paraphrase the famous phrase of John F. Kennedy). We are not here to be consumers, and we must not guide our outreach and evangelism by encouraging others to become religious consumers. Church is not about getting comfortable. Jesus came to afflict the comfortable and to comfort the afflicted. We should call people to become Christians, and to live that out daily. Discipleship is daily.

7.  We must focus outside the building. This is not easy. We have built religious centers that attract few. We have put up steeples to say, “Here is religion; here is the church.” God is calling us to be light and salt and leaven in our world. He is not calling us to see how many people we can get inside a building; he is calling us to see how many Christians we can get into our communities and world to provide an example of transformation and spiritual reality.

I hope we have the heart to learn how to do church right. If we fail in answering the call of Jesus in our contemporary world, I fear that we are destined to nothingness, and that more quickly than we can imagine.