I’ve so often heard people appealing to Acts and the New Testament as our model for how our church should be today, but I’ve never heard anyone appeal to any Old Testament passages for why and how we should do church today. And I know, in the Old Testament they had a temple, they were under the old covenant, Jesus hadn’t come yet, they were in a much different culture, etc. BUT I can’t help but see some references to the church in the Old Testament. I had the opportunity to teach through Nehemiah 10 yesterday and the last verse is very interesting, it says,
We will not neglect the house of our God.
How easy is it for us to neglect the house of our God? We have the command in Hebrews 10 to not neglect meeting together, but we don’t take it seriously. It’s so much easier to use Sunday as a day off to recover and prepare for another week.
It’s become much more trendy recently for evangelicals to question to authority of Scripture and the necessity of a local church body. But I have yet to find a text in Scripture that supports either of these thoughts. No, it’s not the easy way, and sure there are more things even I would rather be doing on a Sunday, but we have this command throughout Scripture to not neglect meeting together, to not neglect the house of our God.
So how can you go about taking care of the house of our God this week? What things do you need to do in your life to reorient your life around God and meeting with his people? What things do you need to let go of to better serve God?
I’ve been reading ‘The Dude’s Guide to Manhood‘ this past week by Darrin Patrick (review coming when I actually finish it). The fact that Willie Robertson is what sold me on buying the book! Plus, that’s quite a manly beard on the cover. As I’ve been reading this book, it’s been a good reminder to me that when we grow up, we need to leave behind our childish ways. No one would think it’s right if I were to not be able to get the candy bar I wanted at Wal Mart and I started throwing a temper tantrum. Yet there are so many ways in which I don’t even want to grow up.
It’s easier to do the potato chip curl while watching TV then do a real curl and force myself to work out.
It’s often more enjoyable to read the newest novel or watch the movie than to read the Bible.
It’s way more fun to sit at home than work.
It’s much easier to post on Facebook than to actually sit down face to face with someone.
All these things remind me that life isn’t easy. Sure, some seasons of life may seem to be easier than others, but overall we are told work and life isn’t going to be easy. Why do we so often try to cut corners? Why do we expect to be the experts in our fields before we’ve even started working? God told Adam in Genesis 3, “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.” I know that work is going to be hard, despite me wanting it to be easy. Within this lies the desire to be continually youthful. I’m not sure about you, but I’m so grateful I don’t have some of the same issues I had when I was a youth!
I’m glad I’m not an acne ridden teenager.
I’m glad I’m down growing.
I’m glad my brain has finished developing.
I’m glad I can hold down a good job and enjoy going to work.
Part of the reason people don’t seem to want to work is because they want to continue to be younger than they are. As I’ve aged (I know, I’m not THAT old), I’ve started to see that I shouldn’t try to act like I’m in high school or college anymore. There was a time in my life when that was good and appropriate, but that time is not now. There’s a Bastille song that’s called Oblivion that says,
Are you going to age with grace?
Are you going to age without mistakes?
Are you going to age with grace,
Or only to wake and hide your face?
Even now, whether you’re in high school, college, a 20 something, a 30 something or even beyond, are you beginning to age with grace? Are you able to start accepting the responsibility that comes with age and look for others around you that you can help grow and age with grace?
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.” – 1 Corinthians 13:11
One of the most difficult transitions to adult life is friendships. When you’re in college friends come easily, either by starting a new semester with new classes, or by just walking around campus and sitting at a different table. But then college ends, and real life begins, and how do you continue to make friends that are more meaningful then, “hey, want to go to a movie?” Relevant Magazine posted an article today titled ‘Why Is It So Hard to Make Friends After College?‘ And part of it is true, there’s just something about college that makes finding friends easy: you’re all the same age, going through similar things and really wanting friends. It’s almost like the beginning of Toy Story, you’ve got a friend in me.
I was really blessed after college with an incredibly close group of friends (shoutout to Ryan, Joseph and David!) who were able to pour into me, and I pray I was able to pour into. One of them even went to college with me, but we decided we hated each other back then…
So how do you make friends after college? I’m going to address 3 things I’ve done that have been incredibly helpful in making friendships that are meaningful and go deeper than a surface friendship.
1. Find an interest.
All of us have things we’re passionate about and enjoy doing. Whether that’s playing video games, reading books, hiking, climbing, playing basketball, running, watching movies, taking pictures, drinking coffee or playing music (if you enjoy all those things, please call me! Let’s hang out!) everyone has something they enjoy doing and are decently good at, or could get good at. So pick a hobby and start doing it. Find places nearby that you can do your passion with others, and before you know it, you’ve got a friend! And even if it’s something you haven’t really enjoyed before, there’s always room to try something new. When I moved to Wyoming I started playing no-stakes poker with some guys from church. Turns out I somewhat enjoy playing poker!
“Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”” – C.S. Lewis
2. Get involved in a church.
This is the other area that guys especially can have a tendency to neglect. The way I met those friends right after college was through a church small group. Church also allows you to become friends with people you wouldn’t necessarily gravitate toward. I have a group of men from church that I get together with 2 times a month. 2 of them are retired, 1 is in his 60s, and the other is a decade older than me. It’s awesome! While we don’t have everything in common, we are all trying to become more like Christ in our everyday lives. You’d be surprised how much believers can have in common despite having no shared areas of passion or interest. Church allows you to become friends with those who are older, younger and the same age as you. And that’s what the church is supposed to be: a family. Proverbs tells us “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Ultimately that friend is Jesus, but we can have that in the church as well.
“Most often, growth happens through deep relationships and in communities where the implications of the gospel are worked out cognitively and worked in practically — in ways no other setting or venue can afford.” – Tim Keller
3. Be a friend.
This is one of the most difficult but necessary things you can do. This takes time, work and a TON of energy. Is there someone in your life that you can stick closer than a brother to? Is there someone you can serve, as Christ has commanded us to? This is the one area I didn’t see addressed in the article on Relevant. People are sinful which makes relationships with each other very difficult. There are going to be ways people rub you wrong and ways you are sinned, but that doesn’t mean you should withdraw. In fact, we should be like Jesus who was betrayed to death. I’m guessing most of us have never had our friends betray us to death, but we so often get offended like they have. So pray about this and find someone that you can be a friend to.
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” – C.S. Lewis
Obviously this isn’t an all inclusive list of ways to make friends after college, but I think it’s a good start. We are created to be a friend and have friends, we are not created to be lone ranger Christians. We need people around us to help us, encourage us and point out our blind spots of continual sin. May we truly be a community that represents Christ to the world so they see what it means to sacrificially lay down our lives for each other.
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
A couple years ago Jeff Bethke broke on the scene with his viral YouTube video ‘Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus‘ which has since racked up over 26 million views. This led to him being a pretty hot commodity in the Christian community and has given him quite the opportunity to share the Gospel. One of the ways he has worked the spread the Gospel is through the book “Jesus > Religion” which came out last month.
In an open, real and gritty look at his life, Jeff shares his struggles with God, but also how God has continued to reveal himself to Jeff throughout his difficult life, and with chapter titles like ‘Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?” I found myself chuckling but also very much relating to the themes Jeff addresses. When the video first came out there was a bit of discussion from within The Gospel Coalition circle on if Jesus really does hate religion. So aside from that, I really enjoyed the book. (But when Lecrae writes the intro to the book, it’s hard to not look forward to it)
One of the toughest chapters for me to read was the 4 chapter, “Religion Makes Enemies/Jesus Makes Friends.” This chapter deals with divisions in the church which is one of the issues that I face on a regular basis. The main issue he addresses is homosexuality. Only he doesn’t address it from a hypothetical perspective, but from a personal perspective. His mom was openly gay, and he struggled with how he should interact with her as a Christian.
In this chapter was one of the most profound statements in the book. Jeff says,
Last time I checked, I was my own worst enemy. No one has caused me more grief, pain, or heartache than I have. The Bible rarely tells me to fight against someone who doesn’t believe what I believe, but it frequently tells me to fight against my sin and the disease that’s drawing my away from Jesus.
The whole book is definitely worth reading, and one I would recommend for church small groups/missional communities. At the end of each chapter is some questions to work through the material in a practical way. This makes applying the book a very simple process. I’d keep it on your shelf and loan out on a regular basis.
I’d also check out Tim Challies’ review of this book.
Last month was a big month for me, as I hit the quarter century mark. Yes, that’s right, I’m 25. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 25. Turning 25 was incredibly difficult for me because it meant letting go of a number of childhood dreams I’d had of doing before I was 25. I’m not married. I don’t have kids. I haven’t even started seminary. I haven’t written a book. I’m not on the “speaking network” for pastors. I haven’t become a world traveler. I’m simply me. God’s taken me turning 25 to show me some things about me and I’ve had to face some things that haven’t necessarily been easy.
This hit home for me when I read the story of Jim Elliot’s brother, Bert. Yes, the Jim Elliot who was a missionary and was killed by the people he was trying to bring the Gospel to. Did you know he had a brother? I didn’t! But Bert has been a missionary with his wife in Peru for most of his life. He’s now in his 80s, has planted over 170 churches and is still serving. In his words, “My brother Jim and I took different paths. He was a great meteor, streaking through the sky.” But,
Bert was not. He did not go streaking through the sky. Nobody lined up with their telescopes to watch his life. Instead, as Alcorn puts it, he was the faint star in the distance that faithfully rises night after night, always there. Always faithful. Always doing the same, boring thing.
Will I be content to be a faint stay in the distance, faithfully rising night after night? Whose glory am I truly seeking, man or God. Do the songs I help us sing every week, the children I hug, the grandparents I talk to have an everlasting impact for God’s kingdom. I sure hope so, because the kingdom I try to build doesn’t last very long. I hope in another 25 years to look back to today and know I was a faithful star rising night after night and pointing to the Son in everything I do.
As many people have said before me, divorce has become so commonplace that pretty much everyone expects to get divorced at some point in their life. Those who were willing to enter into a covenantal with each other seem all to ready to break that covenant as soon as things get more slightly more difficult. I fear in our attempt to chase after the ever elusive “easy life” we have done away with hard work and commitment to anything. We don’t want to be unnecessarily tied down to one place (which is why so many people my age either don’t work or work at Starbucks). We don’t want to be accountable to anyone (which is why so many people jump around from job to job). And we feel like we don’t need anyone else around us to help us through life (which is why we don’t get involved in a church). And for those that do get involved in a church, they typically remain only as long as that church agrees with them without expecting too much from them (which is why people refuse to become members of a church). I worry that the divorce culture has entered in to the culture of the church, and at the drop of a hat, we are willing to divorce ourselves from the church that we have committed ourselves to.
One of the first questions to ask is why do we even have church membership? Is there a difference between being a member and just going to a church? In a word, yes. Kevin DeYoung has an excellent post about it at his church’s website, but he boils it down to 5 basic points:
You make a visible declaration of your commitment to Christ and his people.
It’s counter-cultural to make a decision and actually stick with something.
It helps us to keep accountable.
It helps those in church leadership to better know how to help you.
It gives you an opportunity to make a promise.
The last point is the one that people seem to take far too carelessly.
When someone commits to a church, that are committing to grow, serve, give and contribute to the life of the church for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward until death do us part. If you’ve ever been to wedding before, that last part should sound familiar to you. Similarly to enter into a wedding covenant, entering into a church membership covenant isn’t something that should be taken lightly. With all the divorce happening in the culture around us, we should be even more adamant about sticking to our commitments. Yet I’ve found already in my 2 years of ministry that people take church membership far too lightly. We often have trouble getting a quorum at our annual meetings, some members have left the church instead of sticking around and working things out, and some people who are members don’t even come to church! I think it’s time for those who are in the church to make a commitment to their church and be willing to stick with them no matter what happens!
Does this mean there’s never an appropriate time to leave a church? Absolutely not. Just as in a marriage, there are times where you should not stay married (unfaithfulness, abuse). If a church begins to teach things contrary to Scripture, don’t stay there! But if it’s simply because you don’t like someone or something in the church, then stick around and make it better. The church isn’t meant to be full of consumers, but givers. What’s the last thing you’ve done that has given back to your church? In his book ‘What is a Healthy Church Member?‘, Thabiti Anyabwile says, “The health of the local church depends on the willingness of its members to inspect their hearts, correct their thinking, and apply their hands to the work of the ministry.” If we had more people who were willing to do that, I think we would have much healthier churches who are on mission for Christ and living “in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus” (Romans 15:5). So find a good church, get plugged in, become a member and be willing to work through whatever comes with them. If you can’t find such a church, maybe it’s time for you to start making a difference in the church you’re already in. If something isn’t working like it should, maybe, just maybe God has brought you to that church to help promote a healthy, Christ-centered church.
“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it”
-1 Corinthians 12:27
If you’d like to learn more about this I’d suggest checking out the following books:
I often read about ‘Christians’ who continually bash those who aren’t in the same camp as them. Complementarian, or egalitarian, cessationist or continuationist, calvinist or arminian, and the list goes on and on. Or even worse, when ‘Christians’ begin picketing different functions and telling the world that “God hates fags.” I often feel the need to apologize to those who aren’t in the church for the way Christians often behave. As Ghandi supposedly said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” While this statement rings true for everyone else, have you ever looked in the mirror and thought about it for you? According to dictionary.com, a hypocrite is: “a”a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.” So in that case, yes. I am a hypocrite, and will continue to be a hypocrite until I die. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” It’s not just a blanket statement to follow him no matter what, but to imitate him as he imitates Christ! I pray this regularly for those I lead in youth group and on the music team. There are so many areas in my life that I need God to constantly refine.
In this same vein, I just read an article on Relevant titled ‘Should We Apologize for the Church‘ that asks this very same question. We need to admit to our own faults and confess that we are just as much a sinner as “those Christians” who only listen to “Christian” music or only wear skirts, or picket different events. We are all sinners in desperate need of a Savior. We need to regularly confess of our sin, pray for the strength to not sin again and continue to become more like Christ.
Last week in my regular blog readings, I stumbled across an article titled ‘Notifications are of the Devil.‘ Citing a few different studies, the writer of the blog said that we are wired to constantly be interrupted. Anytime our phone goes off we almost instantaneously check it. And why is there a compulsive urge to check it? “Recent studies show that the same neurotransmitter that fuels many other chemical addictions also is released when you get a notification from a text, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email, etc.”
So what did I do in response to this? I turned off all notifications on my phone. I have found myself much more able to focus on the tasks at hand and much less prone to worry about what’s going on in the social networks. I have started to enjoy the things I’m doing much more because I’m not trying to double time on either of them. Overall, it’s been an incredibly rewarding experience in which I am incredibly grateful to be rid of that chain. How do you keep your phone in check?
The book is broken up into 3 main parts: the problem plaguing many in the Western world today (being too busy), followed by 7 plagues of busyness, and finally, a “what now?” conclusion chapter. The introduction set the stage for this current dilemma with some very helpful questions (like “Do you check work e-mails and phone messages at home?”) as well as some statistics that I had often pondered but never had concrete answers to (like the fact that our annual hours have increased from 1,716 in 1967 to 1,878 in 2000, which is an extra hour every day compared to the British, and 2 more hours a day than the Germans and Italians).
The meat of the book are 7 diagnoses Kevin suggests we need to use to self-evaluate. The most impactful for me were chapters 5 – ‘You Can’t Serve Others without Setting Priorities’ and 7 – ‘You Are Letting the Screen Strangle Your Soul.’ I far too often just say yes to everything that comes my way, and while this can be for very good things, is it always the best use of my time? Absolutely not! Kevin says, “Efficiency is not the goal. But if Jesus is any example, God does expect us to say no to a whole lot of good things so that we can be freed up to say yes to the most important thing he has for us.” I know for many people in my generation (early 30s even in to high school) the threat of technology invading our lives is a constant struggle. Even during youth group I see a majority of the students on their cell phones (always in their Bibles, right?). I just this week turned all the notifications off on my cell phone which has honestly been such a burden lifted off me (I’m planning to blog on that later).
The final chapter, while very good, seemed to be adding just one more mandate onto an already busy life – the need for prayer and devotions. While I agree this is something that needs to be the utmost priority in our lives, I don’t think it should be because we need to, but because we want to spend the precious time in communion with our God.
While this is a very good book about the busyness of our current lives, it felt a bit unfinished to me. As Kevin admits in the beginning of the book, “I’m writing this not because I know more than others but because I want to know more than I do.” David Murray has written a very good addendum to this book with some practical steps people can implement in their own lives in order to get rid of some of the busyness in their own lives.
“A man may preach from false motives. A man may write books, and make fine speeches, and seem diligent in good works, and yet be a Judas Iscariot. But a man seldom goes into his closet, and pours out his soul before God in secret, unless he is serious.”
I’ve been reading ‘
Pastor Mike's Musings 