Mourning the Passing of EASTER

As Easter approaches, I mourn the passing of the EASTER I knew as a youth. Our world celebrates Easter but does not celebrate EASTER! When I was a boy, we had EASTER! We got up early for sunrise services, came home for a special breakfast, and then went to church—which always went longer on EASTER, not because of any special program but because everyone was more reflective and thoughtful. There were always lots of people at church—in our little town, everyone went to church on EASTER! (even the less savory characters).

The way in which the contemporary church does Easter (and does not do EASTER) is troubling. I have to admit that we have come a long way (in the wrong direction)—today church is mostly about us and much less about Christ. We are consumer-driven, in entertainment mode (especially on Easter!), wanting people to notice us more than Jesus. Members are overheard to say, “I hope they like us!” My mental comeback is almost always the same: “I hope they like our Jesus!” The Easter ads from the churches focus on the really important aspects of Easter: hear our pipe organ; hear a pop singing group, listen to our (new) preacher!

The direction the Christian religion is heading is troublesome. Christians will celebrate Easter, but in many churches, it won’t be EASTER. The desire to share the “good news” of the resurrection will take second place in many churches, second place behind what pleases us and tickles our fancy. Paul said it would be so, but it should make us uncomfortable to realize that he was describing us! The Barna Group (barna.org), known for their research of religious themes and attitudes, has identified two problems: (1) many Christians are hazy on the connection between Easter and Jesus’ resurrection, (2) those who know the core message of Easter don’t share that faith with others. Barna’s survey of Christians found that only 42% tie the meaning of Easter to Jesus’ resurrection and only 2% call this day “the most important holiday of their faith.” Of those who are active churchgoers, less than a third said they would invite guests to Easter worship services this year.

The church must stop trivializing EASTER (and Easter). Tom Wright wrote an excellent article on this topic last year, available by clicking the link: Click HERE.

Wright wrote, in part,
Easter was the pilot project. What God did for Jesus that explosive morning is what He intends to do for the whole creation. We who live in the interval between Jesus’ Resurrection and the final rescue and transformation of the whole world are called to be new-creation people here and now. That is the hidden meaning of the greatest festival Christians have….
This true meaning has remained hidden because the Church has trivialized it and the world has rubbished it. The Church has turned Jesus’ Resurrection into a “happy ending” after the dark and messy story of Good Friday, often scaling it down so that “resurrection” becomes a fancy way of saying “He went to Heaven”. Easter then means: “There really is life after death”. The world shrugs its shoulders. We may or may not believe in life after death, but we reach that conclusion independently of Jesus, of odd stories about risen bodies and empty tombs.

This would be a good time for the church to recover the story and the significance of the Resurrection of Jesus. Jesus really died, really arose, and really lives. He is really coming back. No other explanation for the birth of the church and the experiences of the early believers is feasible. The tomb was empty, early believers died maintaining that truth, and the church spread like wildfire. This happened, not because Christians were so powerful that they were able to remake their world, because of the power of God and his Holy Spirit within them, the Comforter who came because the resurrected Jesus ascended to the Father.

This brings the real meaning of Easter into view. Wright concluded,
Christianity’s critics have always sneered that nothing has changed. But everything has. The world is a different place. Easter has been sidelined because this message doesn’t fit our prevailing world view. For at least 200 years the West has lived on the dream that we can bring justice and beauty to the world all by ourselves.
The world wants to hush up the real meaning of Easter. Death is the final weapon of the tyrant or, for that matter, the anarchist, and resurrection indicates that this weapon doesn’t have the last word. When the Church begins to work with Easter energy on the twin tasks of justice and beauty, we may find that it can face down the sneers of skeptics, and speak once more of Jesus in a way that will be heard.

Healthy Friends and Healthy Places

One of the more difficult aspects of our Christian walk is learning how we maintain passion, momentum, and participation within our own contexts. We do this with like-minded individuals. Who are your like-minded faith companions?

I have always liked attending preachers’ luncheons and lectureships. It is a great experience to be a part of a gathering of Christian leaders and hear stories of how others have committed their lives to serving God and others. There is always a lot of hope and encouragement. It is easy to become directionless in life, and we need positive environments to ask questions about our direction.

A contemporary song asks, “Why do I stay where it feels safe when you keep calling me to come out?” This is too often the story of the faith journey of the churches I know. We do this all the time. It is unusual and refreshing to find someone or a group of “someones” who are genuinely missional, risking and caring. Especially in the US church, we like to stay where it feels safe—or at least where it feels known and we assume it is safe—but these places do not always help us grow. They look like pretty places, but in truth they are not environments that nurture life. The death might be slow, but the environment is nonetheless hostile.

Of course, we usually stay. We feel like we are running if we leave. Or that we are selfish to consider what is spiritually healthy for us. Or that we need to strengthen ourselves to learn how to get through adversity. Or that relationships are more important than the fight for what we need in order to survive. Eventually we struggle with the question, “Am I really called to be a light and voice into these places if they are slowly sapping the spiritual life out of me?”

Are you in a healthy place to cultivate your spiritual life and walk with God? Are you blessed with healthy relationships? Can you grow good things where you are, or are you barely struggling to survive? What direction should you go to be faithful to the gifts and calling God has given? It is not really safe to stay somewhere just because it is known and comfortable and expected. We must seek life-sustaining environments. When we seek direction, we need those who will challenge us to work through the hard questions and find the healthy places.

Fringe Folks Fall More Easily

We had what appeared to be a very good day yesterday at church. Attendance was good, we had visitors, the contribution was encouraging. I noted that folks were talking about a new day and new possibilities. Indeed, we have come a long way in the last three years. After a difficult time, we have found a new balance and stability. I am encouraged, and believe even better days are ahead, but….

There is that adversative particle, actually a conjunction that says what is to follow is a contrast–different than what went before. I am glad to see increased attendance, but I am disappointed in the fact that Bible class attendance was barely over 50% of worship attendance. Let me tell you what I have noticed through 4+ decades of ministry–Bible class attenders don’t drop out! I know there are exceptions to the generalization, but the statement is mostly true. Bible class attenders give a majority of the contribution. Bible class attenders invite visitors, teach the Bible classes, and are the folks you can count on when something needs to be done.

Don’t get me wrong, I am glad for every person who walks through the door of the church building. I want people to attend and find a place to grow spiritually. But I have a deep concern for the folks who stay on the fringe of non-involvement–the “Sunday morning worship only” crowd, no Bible class, no evening worship, not much “church” during the week. I am concerned with the fringe folks because I have observed that it is the core folks who have staying power and can survive the challenges of life. I am concerned because the fringe folks are more likely to fall away.

I am reminded of the story of the little boy who fell out of bed, and when his mother rushed in to his bedroom and asked what had happened, he suggested the real problem: I think I stayed too close to where I got in!

A New Day

Today is a new day. Well, of course! Sunday, March 28, 2010. A day we have never seen before, new challenges, new opportunities, unseen possibilities.

I am thinking of something different. Today is a new day–the first day of a new chapter of my life. I will not preach today, nor next Sunday, nor the next Sunday. I will teach my Bible class. I will share special time with “my kids” in Kid’s Time as we begin the worship assembly, I will encourage God’s people as we surround the Table, but I will not preach.

There is another possibility–today is a new day, the Lord’s Day, the first day of another week, evidence of God’s goodness and love and mercy. Today is recognized in the Christian world as Palm Sunday. The fellowship in which I worship and serve has not traditionally made much of it. That has likely been to our loss. I doubt it gets mentioned today unless I mention it–which I will! It is Bible; it is fact; it is history. To mention something is not to celebrate it. It is the first event in the most documented week of Jesus’ life. The contrast is striking. Those who shouted Hosanna on this Sunday were long gone the following Sunday. Some of those shouting Hosanna were perhaps among those who shouted “Crucify Him”. Mobs are fickle. Mankind is fickle.

John Stott (The Cross of Christ) wrote, “There is good biblical evidence that God not only suffered in Christ, but that God in Christ suffers with his people still. … It is wonderful that we may share in Christ’s sufferings; it is more wonderful still that he shares in ours.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Letters and Papers from Prison wrote, “It is a good thing to learn early that God and suffering are not opposites but rather one and the same thing and necessarily so; for me, the idea that God himself suffers is far and away the most convincing piece of Christian doctrine.”

From the perspective of this new day, our Lord could see the events of the coming week, culminating in suffering and death. As Good Friday and Easter approach, there is another meaning of the phrase: New Day. As we focus on the world-changing event which will grab the attention of the Christian world next Sunday, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, we see the possibility of a newness that will never fade or grow old. Take time to meditate today on what God has done for you in Christ.

Welcome to the church that celebrates Easter–the New Day which is possible in the resurrection of Jesus–52 times a year!

Dark Flow: The Invisible Visible God?

God wants to be recognized and known. In Lystra, Paul and Barnabas declared that God has not left himself without evidence or testimony (Acts 14:17). Paul to the Romans said that God’s invisible qualities are seen in creation (1:19-20). This week, the scientific world is all aflutter again because of “dark flow”, first reported by scientists in 2008. Dark flow describes a phenomenon in which hundreds of galaxies appear to be streaming in the same direction at an incredible speed more than 10 times the speed of light, apparently pulled or influenced by some “unseen structures” on the fringe of creation (according to the perspective that affirms nothing supernatural exists outside of the created universe). Those of us who believe in the God who is bigger than the universe and exists outside of and independently of the universe can think of another possibility.

Scientists are puzzled by the observed coordinated streaming motion because it cannot be explained by current models that explain how mass is distributed in the universe. Thus, some researchers have made the controversial suggestion that the clusters are being tugged on by the gravity of matter outside the known universe. The researchers say that the flow clearly points in the same direction, very coherent.

Scientists have a natural explanation: chunks of matter got pushed outside the known universe as a result of or shortly after the big bang, so our universe is part of a larger “multiverse”. A similar explanation is that the universe we have observed to this point is not all there is, and that there are much larger portions of the universe which are unseen.

I find all of the discussion interesting–it buoys my faith that God is still at work! God is still fashioning, molding, sustaining, perhaps even still creating? (Why not?) The “unseen structure” which so powerfully moves parts of our universe where he wishes them to be I call God. Evidence continues to mount–some see God, some cannot! Interesting!

On the Front Line

Over the last 50 years, the ways in which wars are waged has changed considerably. War is now high-tech, impersonal, sterilized, even glorified. Nonetheless, combat is life-threatening. If being on the front lines involves less personal, face-to-face, hand-to-hand combat, the threat of IEDs and a variety of explosive devices has increased the danger. Being on the front lines means the loss of human life. On the front lines, one comes face to face with how the battle is going, the loss of life, the ebb and flow of the conflict.

Today the church is in a battle for its very existence. The war exists in almost every place and is waged in many different ways. In some places, the church has a relative strength numerically and assembles in secure enclaves that allow life to proceed with little interruption. Christians who live in such locations may not correctly assess how difficult the global battle is. In other places, where the church is not as strong and Christians are fewer, the church’s army is rapidly decreasing in number, despite periodic successes. It is not fun to be on the front line. On the front line, one becomes painfully aware of the losses, the challenges, the lack of troops.

Across 40+ years of ministry I have generally participated in the battle for Christianity in secure and fruitful places. A majority of the churches Jan and I have worked with and attended experienced growth–sometimes in unbelievable ways. We have been blessed to witness hundreds of people turning to the Christ as they found forgiveness, newness, purpose, and genuine life. We have seen the joy of mission work that carries the gospel to the far corners of the earth to receptive people. More recently, we have personally participated in effective mission works. We ministered in two churches that have a special place in our hearts–in one church, a dozen years of ministry during which the church doubled; in the other, 8+ years of ministry as the church grew by more than 50%. I am grateful to those two churches for the blessing and insights of those 20+ years of ministry. They helped make ministry easy and fun and productive.
During our years in Christian higher education, we were relatively isolated from the battle. While we were active and involved as members of a local congregation, we were also away a great deal as we accepted responsibilities in interim ministry and guest preaching appointments. We visited and preached in a lot of congregations. That schedule meant that we did not participate in the daily battles and ebb and flow of Christianity in those local congregations, primarily small mission congregations throughout the Northeast, New England, and the Atlantic seaboard.

For the past eight years, I have observed the battle in a different light. Working in a smaller community which has two congregations of the churches of Christ, over two tenures separated by four years in Christian higher education, we have seen the reality of the struggle firsthand. Let me describe what I have seen “on the front lines.” From 2002-2004, we worked with one of the two congregations mentioned. During those years, the two congregations had an average combined attendance of about 500. After four years in higher education, we returned to the same congregation we had worked with before, now significantly smaller. The factors that contributed to the decline in number do not matter for this article, except to say that much of the loss occurred as people transferred to the other congregation. One would expect that such would keep the average combined attendance about the same or growing.

Let me share with you the reality. Last week the two congregations had barely over 300 in combined attendance. On a good Sunday, the two congregations may have a combined attendance of 400. That represents a loss of at least 20-25% of the “troops” over only a few years. Some of that has occurred because of the graying of the church and the death of older members, especially visible and felt in smaller, rural communities. Some of it has occurred because of the continuing stream of young people who move away from the community and do not return. Unfortunately, some of it has occurred because members have dropped out of active involvement in Christianity. Some of it has occurred because former members now attend community and denominational churches. These factors, which promise only to accelerate, do not bode well for the future of the church, especially in small communities.

The purpose of this article is not only to suggest how acute the potential decline may become in coming years, but to suggest what the church must do to reverse the experience and once again participate in the battle in the ways and places that matter.

The church must restore its focus. We must remember the God-given purpose of the church, that is, why the church exists. We must preach Christ more than church. We must establish genuine community more than social networks. We must define Christianity through meaningful relationships more than rules to be kept. We must quit trying to meet the needs of consumers and tell people clearly about the involvement demands of discipleship.

Meaningful worship. As we focus on God, seeking him and making him visible, the church must genuinely worship him, both corporately and individually.

Share the Good News. As we see our community and world, we must care about our community and world with the heart of God, and focus afresh on the purpose of the church to share good news. Restoring the biblical focus on sharing the gospel with the goal of making and maturing disciples, the church must seek cultural relevance for the unchanging message of God.

Redefine church. The redefinition of the church involves multiple factors. The church must become less self-centered and less concerned about church “for us”. Looking outward more than inward will result in less focus on issues, traditions and protecting the past. The church must redefine Christianity as something Christians are involved in 24/7, with high levels of involvement throughout the week. This will require that local churches rethink the number, kind, and timing of activities. It will also require a people-releasing view of church rather than a people-controlling model, so that the every-member ministry concept of the New Testament can be realized.

Fellowship. The church must get out of its comfort zones and touch people that are not like us, sharing a fellowship that includes all kinds of people who are distinct ethically, socially, and economically.

Leadership. The church must seek biblical leadership patterns within the church that develop leadership by influence and not by control. Such healthy, biblical leadership patterns will provide models for how we will seek to lead others to Christ and in Christian living.

I Am Resolved….

God has an incredibly big plan for our world. We can only know that plan by the revelation of God. We will not learn that plan through natural revelation–by looking at the world. We may conclude that God exists by natural revelation, but to understand the details of God’s plan for his creation requires supernatural revelation. God has revealed himself to us in Scripture–in fact, Scripture is first and foremost a revelation of God. In Scripture God reveals his plan for the restoration of human creation after the fall. God’s preposterous plan is that Christ can be the Savior of the world, that the church as the body of Christ can become the declaration of the wisdom of God, and that God’s presence can be carried into every part of the world through the disciples of Christ.

Thus God makes possible in Christ three things that are beyond the reach of human effort: re-creation, rebirth, and reconciliation. Genuine newness is possible, new creation in Christ. This newness is not the same old stuff dressed up in new clothes. This is a “brand new” newness, as God re-creates the creation. A new self comes forth–the Bible calls it rebirth or regeneration. In baptism a person participates in the death of Christ and thus has promise of participation in the resurrection of Christ. This is again described as newness of life. Such a change makes possible reconciliation. Reconciliation is real change–newness, grace, and transformation. The oft-quoted definition of reconciliation as “friends again” is weak and impotent. God is not only restoring relationships, he is making the restoration of relationships reality by undoing the breaking points. This is only possible in genuine newness by God’s grace resulting in transformed lives. As creation was passive (God gets the active verb), so also is re-creation passive. The renewal of rebirth in baptism is passive (see the passive verb); reconciliation is passive (ditto). God desires to work in our lives, and more than anything else, that demands that we get out of the way.

Note that so far we have done nothing, unless you describe responding to God’s graceful initiative and promise of re-creation, rebirth, and reconciliation as “something.” We have been called upon to see God (recognize and respect him), to respond to God in repentance so that he can do his work.

Here is the most difficult part. We have not seen how difficult it is. We have thought it easy; we have made it too easy. We must decide to follow Jesus–regardless. Jesus describes this process as hating all else (being willing to sacrifice anything we love), counting the cost, and leaving all else behind. This is resolution. To resolve something means to settle it once for all. Our Christian lives are difficult because we have not experienced resolution.

We have decided, but we go back on our word and commitment when the going gets tough. We will put him first, until something else comes along. Following Jesus is all or nothing. There are no lukewarm disciples. We have encouraged people to become Christians and to experience the newness of total cleansing and forgiveness of sins, but we have failed to tell them that they must fill the void with something–the Holy Spirit is given, we develop the fruits of the Spirit, Christ lives in us. The dichotomy does not serve us well. The idea that Christians are cleansed and disciples are committed has led people to want to be Christians without being disciples, but such distinction is unknown in Scripture. One cannot have the cleansing without the commitment. A Christian is a disciple–a learner, imitator, follower.

Show me an uncommitted Christian and I will show you someone not worthy of wearing the name Christian. Let us get back to God’s incredibly big plan which he has revealed to us in his word. He takes the initiative by grace to re-create us, regenerating, renewing, reconciling. This is of God, not of us. We are his workmanship. Our part is easy to say and hard to do: I am resolved!

We Don’t Do Uprisings down at the Churchhouse!

I have been thinking about the fact that most of the time people express their displeasure when something goes wrong. In the academic world, college students complain because graduation tickets are limited and their family and friends won’t be able to attend and see them graduate; students let the administration know how they feel about tuition hikes; faculty make sure the administration knows when they see academic freedom at risk. In the business world, workers go on strike; firms are boycotted. You can think of many other situations in which people express their dislike for what is going on.

The one thing we are not willing to do in the face of problems is just walk away. We don’t walk away because we are involved, we are invested, we have something at stake. We’ve paid our tuition and have the right to graduate with pomp. We’ve completed three years of college and transferring now is out of the question, despite the steep tuition hike. We’re tenured and walking away from our jobs in the university is not an option. We have retirement pensions with this company and so we go on strike.

Contrast that with the experience in most churches. Although there are exceptions from time to time, down at the churchhouse, we don’t do uprisings. Why not? Why do people just drop out, leave, quit? Why do people choose to walk away rather than working to fix the problems? Perhaps part of it has to do with the fact that the church is a volunteer organization vs. one where folks are paying for something or earning a wage. Some of it has to do with our (mis)understandings.

Why don’t we do uprisings down at the churchhouse? I have come up with a partial list of answers–

  • We don’t do uprisings because of how we understand (misunderstand?) the role and nature of church leadership.
  • We don’t do uprisings because it may be inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus on meekness and Christian attitude.
  • We don’t do uprisings because we know that most of the items of disagreement are in the realm of preference or option.
  • We don’t do uprisings because we don’t think it would do any good.
  • We don’t do uprisings because we are not heavily enough invested and committed to the local work.
  • We don’t do uprisings because it is easier to withdraw.

Let me outline the process that leads people to walk away…..
Something happens that we disagree with, we stay.
Something else happens, we stay.
Eventually we reach “the straw that breaks the camel’s back” and we walk away.
We don’t find church meaningful in meeting our needs, and we walk away.
We don’t find friends and fellowship, and we walk away.
We don’t find meaningful involvement, and we walk away.

Some of the most faithful Christians among us have just walked away. Some have “walked” to other congregations of our faith; some have gone to denominational or community churches where they can find involvement and meaning and friendships.

What are your observations and experiences? In your experience, how often have you seen church members stand up and try to change things and stay. How do Christians in your church express displeasure? Why do people walk away? Why do people stay?

Reconciliation: How Can I Change?

Today’s study and sermon is challenging, life-changing. We do not read the Bible expecting to change. We read and re-read and see the same things. We reinforce what we know, and fail to grow. Paul’s great text about reconciliation is 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. What do you see?
Newness is possible, but is not humanly generated or forced. Newness comes from God. We humans cannot forcibly eliminate the old, nor can we bring the newness of “all things”. Reconciliation demands newness. We want things to change without significant changes.
Reconciliation is related to grace. God is the reconciler, and that a free gift. Reconciliation is usually passive–we do not reconcile ourselves. We have limited our concept of reconciliation by the etymology of the English word–to make friends again. Reconciliation is much more. Reconciliation does bring the restoration of favor (consider the relationship between favor and grace), but cannot reestablish relationship by ignoring the breaking points.
Reconciliation involves transformation. Read the text again. God is changing things continually, moving toward his ultimate plan and purpose. Human beings can refuse to be changed. Humans, as creation of God with free-will, can limit God’s work. The question is not what makes us feel good, but what pleases God.
God is working to bring newness, grace, and transformation in my life. I can be changed if I will let him do his work in me–something most humans, and many Christians, refuse.

Is Honduras Safe?

Several have asked me over recent weeks about the current status of Honduras mission trips. Should groups go? Should groups cancel? Am I going? There seems to be a lot of apprehension and misunderstanding concerning safety, how to resume mission work in this very needy country, and how to use unused airline tickets. People ask me if Jan and I are going this year. People ask me about the trips we made last year, even after the political unrest began. Let me try to answer some of the questions.

First, let me say that no place is ever totally safe and secure. There will always be people who are out to scam and take advantage of the “tourists”; thus anyone who travels to a foreign country, even good will ambassadors who are there in the name of Jesus, must be continually cautious. Many individuals and groups become comfortable after a few trips and let their guard down, forgetting the potential dangers. We who lead groups give the same advice every time–do not go out alone, always have 2-3 persons in a group, the larger the group the better, do not go to any places where the group is isolated, be accompanied by a Honduran if possible…. I am sure the list of rules and suggestions seems endless at times, and it is easy to ignore the rules and decide that going to Honduras a few times makes one a pro.
It is true that there are lawbreakers and homicides in Honduras. There are homicides in Tulsa. The fact that people get killed and robbed in Tulsa does not keep me from going there–the fact that people get killed and robbed in Honduras should not keep those from going who are really passionate about souls and spreading God’s kingdom.
We have 18 groups scheduled to be at Baxter this summer. We do our very best to provide a safe, secure environment with appropriate guidance and support. One of the groups scheduled to arrive this week for spring break is primarily college students. I mention this because the opinion I am sharing is not mine alone–the sponsors of these groups have also analyzed the situation and determined that it is possible to maintain safety.

Second, now is not the time to stop the work, now is the time to be involved more than ever. The need is great. The political uprising and subsequent isolation from the international community resulted in huge needs. People are receptive. I can tell you that an overwhelming majority of Hondurans are grateful for our presence, our love, our encouragement, and our support. Last summer, on the day of our arrival in Honduras, we sat down with a group of Hondurans to eat lunch, and they called us the brave ones, the courageous, the bold. They need to know they are not alone in meeting the challenges.

Third, let me tell you about our experience with unused tickets on Continental. (Each airline may be different, so readers should check with their own carrier.) Jan has an unused ticket from last year for a trip originally planned to Guatemala. She was not able to make the trip due to a death in the family. On Continental, we are told that it is not necessary to use the ticket within a year of the date it was written–it is necessary to reschedule the use of the ticket within a year. The date the ticket will be used could be over a year later than the original date of writing, and even from the original date of travel. Tickets written for summer 2009 can be used for travel this year, and perhaps even into the coming year. (Again, check with your carrier.)

Let me encourage you to continue mission trips to Honduras and your faithful support of the good works being done there. Jan and I will head for Honduras in a few weeks and stay about three weeks. We will be cautious, but we are not concerned with unmanageable safety and security concerns. In fact, while we were there last year during the political unrest, we made trips to various locations around Honduras with no problems.
Perhaps what we have here is a “heart check”. Why were you involved in Honduras in the first place? Short-term missions is not about vacationing, taking a break, having fun, or a host of other things that may or may not accompany a short-term trip. I am not opposed to people having a good time in conjunction with mission trips (although many people are amazed that Jan and I have never been to Roatan after 15 years and dozens of trips to Honduras). (You may want to read some articles about short-term missions.)

May God bless you as you strive to fulfill his will in your life! Perhaps we’ll run across one another in Honduras.