CULTURE WARS ARE NOT OUR PURPOSE

Has anyone read the Great Commission lately?  Allow me to refresh our collective memories:

We generally connect this commission with the proclamation of the Good News.  Mark1:15 describes the Good News proclamation of Jesus Christ, “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”  Others summarize the Good News in the words of Jesus recorded by John, "For God so loved the world, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." (3:16)


If this is the Commission and if this is the Gospel, then why do we spend so much time and energy fighting a culture war?  So many Christians who even bother at all to engage the people in the prevailing culture spend their time and energy and words on telling the world what is wrong with it, or what they disagree with - instead on announcing the arrival of God's grace.

Our insistence in majoring in culture war instead of Good News proclamation so often has people putting up their defenses instead of opening their minds.  Evolution versus creation is not the issue.  Humanity's desperate need for a Savior is the issue.


Our culture wars are not evangelism, they are politics.  They are philosophical battles aimed at making this world respect us and agree with our worldview instead of becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.  Agreeing with our understanding of moral truths is not the same as entering into a relationship with the One Who is Truth.  It is not doctrinal correctness that saves us from our sin, it is the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross.


So maybe the time has come to dial back the culture wars, the political campaigns, the philosophical shouting matches and focus on proclaiming the Good News.  "The Kingdom of God is near because the One who loves us has come into the world to set us free from our sin."  Forget the monkeys.  Believe in Jesus and trust Him with your life.

(C) 2012 by Stephen L Dunn

CALLING OPEN M INDS: THE KINGDOM OF GOD NEEDS YOU

CAME ACROSS THIS POST FROM THE BLOG The OOze

Calling Open Minds: The Kingdom of God Needs You (by Dr. Bradley Duncan)

The kingdom of God needs open minds. The kingdom of God, also called the kingdom of heaven or the church in the broadest sense of the word, is God’s work on this planet. Jesus calls believers to a great mission to spread his message and deliver freedom to all people. To do this he’s enlisting those with open minds to help with the cause.

Calling Truth-Lovers: The kingdom of God needs people who love the truth. The message that God has for today. The point. What the speakers recorded in the Bible would say to us today if they were standing here on the stage. People who can hear the challenge in the words. People who grapple with less-than-obvious meanings. People who care about the harmful effects and missed opportunities, when we believe “easy” interpretations passed down by tradition instead of grappling with the hard concepts ourselves. God is calling open minds!

Calling Good Listeners: The kingdom of God needs people who can listen. To teach others we have to engage them in discussion. Hear their opinions, thoughts, beliefs and questions. Have an open mind about what we will hear. Guide them to the water but don’t make them drink! We need to care and relate. We need to share ourselves with people — using our ears more than our mouths! The kingdom of God needs people that can deliver God’s good news through listening! What’s more, to hear God calling we need to be good listeners. We need to be open to what he will say. If we want to know truth we need to open our ears!

Calling Thinkers: The kingdom of God needs people with diverse ideas and from diverse backgrounds. We need to understand how different people view the world. We need to hear ideas we don’t agree with! We need to hear solutions, plans, visions and dreams of people willing to think out loud. The kingdom of God will not prosper through inward focus of like-minded people, but through expansions across all boundaries. Calling Scientists! Tell us how you see the world, in its vastly intimate detail. Calling Philosophers! Can you help us understand the complexity of being human? Calling Literary Geniuses! Can you teach us the swelling power of human language to both bind us and liberate us? God is calling thinkers to join his cause!

Calling People with Differences: The kingdom of God needs to meet you. It needs to understand you. It needs to learn from you. Will you please come and tell us what we have been too blind to see? Will you please tell us your story, your concerns, and the ways you have been misunderstood? We’ve never invited you in, so we really don’t know you at all! God is calling you, and we need you as partners. Armed with diversity we can avoid isolating ourselves, avoid the blinders, avoid the narrow, controlling, suffocating pressure to conform. All we need is some people with diverse backgrounds and ideas! Please join us, and please help us to open our minds.

Calling Justice-Lovers: The kingdom of God needs you! Jesus came to liberate the captives, and sent his Holy Spirit to continue the work through people. He needs people who will open their arms to humanity in all its diversity of backgrounds and mindsets, to be ready to accept them into the kingdom as God pours out his love and extends his call to all. The kingdom of God needs people who are ready to accept the unexpected! Because here they come! God needs people who will open their hearts to the oppressed and abandon their own comfort in order to speak up for them! Still slaves? Still exploited? Still without advocates and without options? People are in desperate need of liberation. The kingdom of God is coming to find those people! God is calling justice-lovers to partner with his mission.

Calling Compassionate Hearts: The kingdom of God needs people who can be open to people with needs. Who else will God send if we don’t go? Calling Humanitarian Innovators! We need massive global organization of people who care, to fight hunger, sickness and poor living conditions. Can you help us!? The kingdom of God needs to reach the world and bring God’s love. We need open hearts. We need talent and innovative thinking! Calling Financial Wizards! We need to invest our resources in things that matter, things with lasting return! We need organic, compounding growth of every dollar we invest, by wisely investing in change and in people who can bring change! We need no-nonsense guidance on how to do this! God is calling the workers into the fields, to carry compassion to the world and gather the harvest of the rescued masses of hungry, naked, homeless, sick and poor. Who will respond to this call?

Calling Women: The kingdom of God needs you! You are now free and unlimited. Please don’t hold back in providing your wisdom and leadership. We all the know that the men have typically held the roles of leadership and responsibility, while women worked along-side. But we need the diversity of opinions, talents, and emotions to find a way to reach others. We want the women to step up (and some of the men to step down to make room), because we need the balance and the differences that you bring. We need your talents that we have swept under the rug for too long! We need the “other half” of the church! How can we accomplish anything if we’re only 50% utilized, and lop-sided at that! We don’t need only “hunter-gatherers” to build the kingdom. That will leave us out in the woods! God is calling women. God is calling men to make way.

Defenders of the Future: The kingdom of God needs people who care about the Earth, sustainability, global sciences, and global clean-up. We live in our garbage and exhaust! We burn the Earth’s limited resources to fill the sky with soot. We have focused so long on spiritual things that we’ve made a mess of our house. We need a wake-up call! God’s kingdom on Earth is not just in the present, or for our children or grand-children. Though the future is unknowable and God’s timing is likely to be surprising, we need to prepare for the long haul! What if the kingdom of God on Earth is to continue for hundreds or thousands of generations!?!? How many zeros can we put on God’s plans for this planet? Future generations will be affected by the decisions we make today. Defenders of the future, please speak up. Please guide us to find better solutions for a sustainable planet.

Calling Global Business Experts: The kingdom of God needs you, because the global economy is supported on the backs of slaves, exploited children, and unappreciated laborers. Please help us leverage economic influence to end modern-day slavery! We don’t need the chocolate, coffee, or cell-phone chips so badly that its worth using humans as battery-powered machines to feed our consumption. Help us bring massive change to the businesses that provide our goods, help us apply pressure and generate public awareness. Help us use our dollars (or Euros or whatever) as votes to end exploitation! We don’t want it any more. The kingdom of God needs visionary leaders who can help us free the slaves through a massive grass-roots movement and the will of consumers to reject slave-made goods.

Calling the Spiritually Sensitive: The kingdom of God needs people who can sense God, hear him calling, and lead us in responding. Where is God going? What is he up to? What will change when we listen and follow his new direction? Can we keep up with God? We have lots of questions and we need those connected people, those relational types, those spiritually aware and open-minded people, to offer their guidance, to help answer our questions. We need a Vision! A Vision of a better world and a Vision of what God is calling us to create in his kingdom. We pray “May your kingdom come, may your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven”. So what is God’s will on Earth? Please help us see it. God is calling visionary leaders to show us his thoughts and movements for today. God is calling us all to step up, with open minds and hearts, with open spirits, to hear him calling and to bring change. We just need to respond.
_______________________
Dr. Bradley Duncan is an aerospace engineer living in Boston. He blogs athttp://GraceEmerges.blogspot.com and started the “Open Church Initiative” Facebook page.

GROW ... GROW ... GROW

From Kay Gray Wray comes this fabulous post about our growth in Christ.

GROW…GROW….GROW

Growth…Our hearts swell with generosity as our waists grow with all the wonderful goodies the holiday season brings.  Cookies, candies, cakes, Christmas party buffets—my mouth is watering as I write this! 

Growth… Parking lots at area malls and shopping districts overflow from macadam to grass.  What usually takes five minutes to “run in and out” of a store now takes twenty minutes.  Restaurants have a longer than usual wait time to seat and serve their customers.  Lines at the post office get longer and traffic, well let’s just say it can be a bit testy! The thoughts of someone being without the basics of a home, food or clothing is heightened during this holiday season and we respond generously.

Growth…While all the above growths are temporal there is a kind of growth that should never stop or be based purely upon a certain season or emotion.   This growth produces both long term and short term affects in our lives that has the potential to change the course of our lives and those around us.

Webster defines what I am writing about as “anything believed; complete trust or confidence.”  Faith.

Peter gives us a beautiful picture of growing in faith in 2 Peter 1:3-8.
“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life…And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires... Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.  The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (NLT)

 Since I am a very visual person, when I read this passage I liken it to the growth of a tree.

God has given us everything we need in giving us the rich soil of our lives.  God allows all circumstances (whether good or bad) to come into our lives which creates fertilization for the soil to produce good fruit (vs. 3-4).  When we realize God has carried us through a difficult situation our faith begins to grow.  This faith becomes the foundation to build upon for future circumstances.  We learn God can be trusted even though we may not be able to see the outcome or even want what the outcome becomes.

When our faith is placed in God the way we approach life changes.  Our moral values begin to change and we set higher standards to our life choices and what we put into our minds.  We begin to realize the depths of God’s love and compassion for us.   To understand that He doesn’t view us with a big club waiting to smash us for making a mistake brings freedom and openness for intimacy with Him. God longs and desires to have an intimate and daily friendship with us. We become hungry to know who He is how He wants us to live and treat others.  This creates a drawing to read His Word which increases our knowledge. 

Through this knowledge we become aware of issues or life styles within us that need to be dealt with in order for that freedom and intimacy to grow.  Self control is the result of this realization, which becomes a lifelong respect of the change starting within us.  Patient endurance becomes the byproduct of this knowledge and self control.  We begin to view others around us not with a judgmental attitude but one of the same grace and mercy God has extended toward us.  This produces a godliness within us because we are beginning to take on the character of Christ (vs4) living within us (Gal 5:22-26).  It is only because of these characteristics we can have true affection and love for those around us.

Just as we can’t plant a seedling and expect fruit the next day or without giving it water or fertilization, we can’t expect fruit in our lives without living this process.  One area cannot be bypassed to move to another and get the same results.  This isn’t a “once-and-done” event or a feeling of “I’ve finally arrived.”  It is a lifelong growth process, but the end result is well worth staying the course.  We produce not just fruit but everlasting fruit (John 15). 

                                     

BUDS/FLOWERS: Patient endurance, godliness,

brotherly affection, love for everyone……fruit that can change the world

ROOTS:Moral excellence, knowledge, self control,

Fertilized soil 
 

So in this season of growth don’t stop when January 1^st comes around. GROW…GROW….GROW.

                                                                                                                
                  
            

IS PRAYER NECESSARY?

IN THE FACE OF TROUBLE, WHO ARE YOU?

Jen Smidt is one of the writers for the excellent blog The Resurgence.  I found this post particularly poignant and insightful for real-world disciples.

For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. - Psalm 22:24

I went to the doctor yesterday and was told I needed surgery. This is not a particularly unique event in many people’s lives. It happens every day. It has happened to me 15 other times in my 4 decades of life. Despite the frequency of this news, the blow is always felt.
I hate getting bad news. So much of our lives are spent trying to avoid or protect against it, but dealing with pain and disappointment is a daily occurrence on the face of this imperfect and fallen world.
Who do you become in the face of adversity?

Worst-Case Scenario Woman

This is the woman who immediately upon hearing difficult news goes off the deep end, filling in the blanks with a myriad of outcomes, all equally horrific. There is a strange illusion of control and comfort that goes along with catastrophizing life so as to brace yourself from the inevitable. A dear friend of mine described it as “walking way too far down the road of fear and shaking hands with all of the possible scenarios that live there.”
Worst-Case Scenario Woman isn’t simply preparing herself for what may come–she is sinning. Her heart is revealed in these difficult moments and her distrust in God is speaking loudly. If this describes you (and it certainly does me over the last 24 hours), we would do well to completely derail the thought train of speculation and disaster and simply state to ourselves truth. Truly, our current trouble may feel like too much, but it never is for God. I can’t maintain my life through this trial but God promises to sustain me in it.  Finish reading ...

'ISSUE CHRISTIANS" AND THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

Ed Stetzer has an excellent post called "Why I Have No Difficulty Helping "Issue Christians" Move On" is a very reflection on a problem that most pastors face.  If you are an "issue Christian" and are reading this, I would suggest you heed its words in your own conduct.

Yesterday, I had an "encounter" in the line where I shake hands after the Grace Church worship service. A well-dressed man came up to me after church, shook my hand, and immediately started a conversation about prophecy.


I listened initially, but within a couple of minutes he had quoted one passage he feels is related to the founding of Israel in 1948 and another about Israel occupying Jerusalem in 1967. "Why don't churches talk more about prophecy?" he asked.

At that point, I could have redirected our conversation and tried to persuade him that we believe in biblical prophecy and will teach on it another time (both of which are true). Or, since he approvingly referenced both Jack Van Impe and John Hagee, I could have found some ways of positively connecting with each of these men.

In most cases, I've decided that "this is not the church for you" is actually the right response for "issue Christians" who are visiting the church.

Honestly, if this person were unchurched and told me they thought highly of Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer, I would have sought a point of contact and encouraged further discussion. I probably would have tried to get together-- if they were open-- to see what the Bible says about the kinds of things that Wayne Dyer talks about. I would have used the bridge to talk about Jesus.

However, in this case, I simply said something like, "We are not one of those churches that you would think talks about prophecy enough-- this would not be the right church for you, but I do hope your search for a church home goes well."

You see, I don't spend a lot of time with "issue Christians."

It's not just the issue of prophecy either. I've had similar conversations with "issue Calvinists," "issue political Christians," "issue charismatics," "issue homeschoolers," and many others. These are often good people and those are important issues, but when these are the primary defining issues in the first (and every other) conversation, the correct response is help them move on and do so quickly.
Here are four reasons why I have no difficulty helping "issue Christians" to move on:

1. Some "issue Christians" get stuck on specific ideas--you don't have time to persuade them. It is simply not a good use of your time and energy to debate with "issue Christians." Instead, reach your community, pastor your people, and get on mission. Focus on reaching the unreached, not debating church members about eschatology or pneumatology. If they know Christ, but are stuck on an issue, they will be just fine without you. Generally, you can't "fix" them anyway and they will (eventually) come out of it on their own.
2. Some "issue Christians" have divisive views--you don't need them to fit in at your church's expense.
You can disagree in our church (to a reasonable degree) and still be a part--I've pastored cessationists, charismatics, Calvinists, and Arminians all in the same church. The issues are not the issue, it is that this person wants to make them an issue. Simply, "issue Christians" generally do not fit in well in a mission-focused congregation. They don't want to.
3. Some "issue Christians" drift from church to church looking for willing ears--you do not need to let that in your church.
"Issue Christians" love to debate and display their knowledge. It is not good stewardship of your time to have these debates and you are not being a good steward of your church to let them loose inside.
4. Some "issue Christians" will talk forever if you do not cut them off--you will probably offended them less than you think.
For many, listening for hours is the Christian thing to do. Many pastors listen, set up appointments, then seek to reason and redirect the confused. That's not a good plan if it is obvious that this person has dwelt in and studied on an issue.
My experience is that people like this get "cut off" all the time. So, I say, "Thanks Joe, but that's not what we are passionate about here--I do encourage you to find a church that is passionate about what your issues." Surprisingly, that does not generally offend--people like that have been cut off many times before this time.
So, let me encourage you to thank "issue Christians" for their passion and time, and encourage them to find a church home that fits their values. Of course, I should say, this is different if someone comes to me confused on an issue. In that case, we can counsel and provide more information.

In conclusion, we should always provide guidance, but we should not always provide a platform. "Issue Christians" want a platform with you and your church because they are passionate about an issue--don't let that distract you or your church from being and doing all that God has in store. Move on... and move them on.

I AM SYZYGUS

From The Church Whisperer comes this intriguing post about conflict resolution in the church.

I Am Syzygus

9 02 2010

Tuesday Re-mix – This is a popular post from last year, updated and resubmitted for your consideration and comments.

(This is the second in a series of posts from Philippians 4 about church conflict)

Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Philippians 4:3

Have you ever thought about your name and wondered how it has shaped you or influenced you as a person?  I have…

 

My name is Syzygus.  It is Greek.  There really isn’t a good English translation of it, but “yokefellow” comes pretty close.  It’s a bit of an embarrassing name, actually, because it is a reference to oxen in a yoke.  I have no idea what my parents were thinking.  But today, looking back on my life, I’m glad they named me Syzygus.  When I think of how God worked in my life, it fits.  I suppose it refers to a co-laborer wearing the same yoke as you, pulling along with you.  If there is any truth to the old adage that names do reflect something about us, then I am a true friend who has walked along with you during good times and bad times, never leaving your side.  I am a person who has been coupled with you through difficult service together.  I have grown to trust you and you have grown to trust me.  I am your “yokefellow”.

I suppose I was not surprised, then, when Paul called me out in his letter to my church in Philippi.  I had been yoked with him in ministry and had been yoked with Euodia and Syntyche as well.  I knew them well and they knew me and trusted me.  As much as I did not want this assignment, I was exactly the right person to confront them about their disagreement.  In his wisdom, Paul knew that.

I suspect Paul also knew that all of us in the church were a bit perplexed about what to do with these two sisters.  We knew their broken relationship had gotten out of hand, and we knew someone needed to love them enough to confront them about it, but none of us wanted to do it.  I suppose we were all hoping someone else would step up, or maybe by some miracle Paul himself would be released from prison and he would come and do it.  Hey, don’t laugh, it’s happened before.

But there would be no miraculous prison break this time.  One of us (or perhaps a few of us) in the church would have to step up and deal with this conflict.  Personally, I usually run from it.  I really hate conflict.  I don’t like getting up in other people’s business, I don’t like being perceived as judgmental, and I don’t like sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong.  Frankly, I can probably think of at least a dozen other excuses if you give me a little time.  Bottom line: none of us in the church wanted to do this, but we all knew it needed to be done.  Some argued it was the pastor’s job.  Others argued it was the elders’ job.  I was neither.  I was just someone who cared deeply for these two women, which is why Paul knew I was the right person to do this.  After all, if it were me who needed confronting, I would want it to be someone whom I trusted and who I knew loved me.  Why shouldn’t Euodia and Syntyche have the same benefit?

I pray that, when you need someone to tell you the truth about yourself, you will have a “Syzygus” in your life.  And I pray that, when someone you love needs a “Syzygus” in his/her life who will help him/her see the truth, you will step up and be that yokefellow for him/her.  I pray that, when God touches you on the shoulder with that assignment like Paul touched me, you will kneel down and pray and then go.  And I pray that God will use that experience to change your life the way He changed mine.

I am Syzygus.  And I am so very glad for that.

© Blake Coffee

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