Have you ever wondered why when Jesus invited the twelve apostles to leave everything behind and follow him, they did it? They left their families and professions to learn a way of life from a man who emerged out of nowhere (he came out of the wilderness after his baptism to begin his ministry).
Photo by Timothy Eberly
Jesus’ disciples may have hoped that following Jesus would lead to material security or fame, but that wasn’t because Jesus promised that it would. In fact, he told them that even foxes and birds have more consistency in terms of a place to sleep than his followers (Matthew 8:20).
Except for Nathanael (John 1:47), the apostles acted as though the invitation to follow Jesus was a privilege (Mark 10:28). That dimension is lost in a salvation culture. Salvation cultures focus on conversion. A discipleship culture focuses on being a follower of Jesus. It cultivates how much of a privilege it is to be invited to follow Jesus.
That sense of privilege is amplified for those Jesus has called to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. The privilege of being called to equip the body of Christ ought to instill a sense of sobriety and responsibility. The call to represent Christ before the people of God and prepare them to go out into the world and witness to God’s goodness and grace should compel the minister to prepare him or herself for the task (2 Timothy 2:2).
Balancing the responsibility is the sense of Christ’s pleasure in the minister’s obedience to carry out their calling. There is great satisfaction in knowing that Christ has chosen “me” to take on this responsibility (Acts 13:2). That is the nature of the privilege of God’s calling. It carries with it a sobering sense of responsibility. At the same time, it imparts a feeling of being beloved.
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Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law (Proverbs 29:18, ESV).
Photo by engin akyurt
Proverbs 29:18 is often used to justify the need for a vision statement in the Church. Specific vision statements are useful but that is not what the writer of this proverb had an mind.
The purpose of the book of Proverbs is to call God’s people, particularly the young, to a life ordered by God (Proverbs 1:-2-4). Tying the vision to God’s law illustrates that the purpose and form of life is revealed. As new covenant people, the Church possesses that way and purpose written on their hearts. We have Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount to interpret the Old Testament Law for the New Covenant people, and we have the Great Commission.
I have previously written on the dangers of the Church becoming distracted by cultural controversies foreign to the Gospel (here, here, and here). This passage highlights how a failure to keep our proper focus leads to the loss of the parameters that keep us on track. The lack of restraint defined by God’s vision leads to the Church being defined by something else.
But here’s the rest of that verse:
But blessed is he who keeps the law (Proverbs 29:18b ESV).
When we keep to the defining parameters of God’s way and mission for His people, we will be blessed. Our sense of fulfillment and contentment comes from operating within the parameters defined by God. The admonition to keep our focus on our mission is more than a matter of obedience to a command. The Church’s ability to flourish is tied to fulfilling that mission.
NOTE: If you wish to make a comment, please address the specifics of my post. Comments that go beyond the scope of the post will not be approved.
This is the third in a series of posts. In the first, I argued that the Church has followed the culture in adopted masks as an identity marker roughly equivalent to the role of circumcision in the first century Church. In my second post, I argued that this is a dangerous precedent because it sets aside God’s grace in favor of a culturally defined criteria for determining one’s status in the Church. In this post, I will argue that the Church’s accommodation to culturally defined identity markers leads to a loss of our proper mission.
Before I get to the content of this post, here are a few clarifications.
All of these posts are speaking to the Church. I am not addressing the world. The admonition to stop using identity markers like masks as a means of judging whether someone is worthy of your fellowship is not directed to the world. It is a call to God’s people.
I firmly believe God’s people should engage with the world. Christian’s should apply their faith in matters of politics, media, or industry. Our faith does not operate in isolation from the world. If our witness is going to matter, the Church must apply its faith in every sphere of life.
The problem begins with the Church’s accommodation to elements foreign to the Gospel. The Church’s first century argument about the role of circumcision was at least based in the struggle to balance the commandments of the Old Testament with the way God had sovereignly added the Gentiles to the Church. The same cannot be said for the mask controversy. The Church has imported a controversy birthed by the culture and “Christianized” it. When a brother or sister does not treat the cultural identity markers in the “proper” way, dis-fellowship occurs.
Accommodation leads to distraction, distraction leads to a loss of mission.
The accommodation to the culture has created a distraction that has caused the Church to get off mission. In the book of 1 Kings, chapter 13 there is a very unusual story of a prophet sent to confront King Jeroboam and prophesy against the alter at Bethel. God had instructed that prophet to deliver His word and then travel back to Judah using a different route than the one he traveled to arrive in Bethel. The prophet was also told he was not to eat or drink while in the Northern Kingdom. The prophet disobeyed God’s command to abstain from eating and drinking when an older prophet from the north convinced him to stay by lying to him. The result of the disobedience was the death of the prophet from Judah. Commentaries on this passage vary as to why God wanted the prophet from Judah to abstain from food and drink and why he needed to travel home by a different route. What is relevant for this discussion is that the prophet from Judah accommodated the lie of the older prophet. That accommodation distracted him from what God was trying to accomplish with His instruction to abstain from food and drink. The end result was the prophet from Judah’s original mission was lost.
The accommodation to the current cultural identity markers has created a tremendous distraction in the Church. What is most concerning is how the distraction leads to the loss of focus on the Church’s true mission. For example, the politically charged nature of certain identity markers like masks has been connected to the Church’s role in saving America. However, the Church is not called to save particular nation states. The Church in the United States is not called to save America any more than the Church in China is called to save China, or the Church in Iran is called to save Iran. The picture found in scripture is a people before the throne called out from every tribe and tongue (Revelation 5:9). That is the meaning of the Church as ekklesia, the called out assembly. The Church’s mission is to make disciples or followers of Jesus Christ who make up that called out assembly.
Notice how the pattern manifests itself. The Church accommodates to a set of culturally controversial identity markers. Focus on those markers and what they signify to the secular culture becomes a focus within the Church. That distraction causes the Church to lose its primary mission and adopt an alternative mission.
Masks as a hot button issue did not create this shift by themselves. I recognize the issue is far more complicated than that. My main point is that the accommodation to masks as an ideological identity marker illustrates how accommodation to elements foreign to the Gospel eventually leadsto a loss of mission. Accommodation to an area of controversy defined by the culture cannot be divorced from the goals of that controversy. The mask debate has taken on a political character that entails people’s perceptions about the future of the country as its goal. By taking up that debate we automatically take up and adopt the goals surrounding that debate. It is like breathing the air in a smoke filled room. Once taken in the smoke becomes part of you. That is how accommodation comes to re-define our mission.
Jesus acknowledged that our calling will require us to leave behind some very practical concerns in order to make the work of God’s Kingdom our priority (Luke 18:29).There are many important priorities that human beings can focus their energies toward in this life. However, the Church needs to keep its priorities clear. Our calling is directed toward the Kingdom of God and God’s mission to redeem all of creation. Jesus’ Great Commission calls us to make followers of Jesus Christ for the purposes of fulfilling God’s mission. We must avoid accommodations that lead to that mission being lost.
NOTE: If you wish to make a comment, please address the specifics of my post. Comments that go beyond the scope of the post will not be approved.
In Galatians 2:21, the Apostle Paul says this: I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain (or for nothing).
He makes this statement after a long argument countering the idea that Gentile believers must be circumcised to be full members of the Christian community. Paul’s position was that the Gentiles did not need to convert to Judaism in order to be full members. The addition of circumcision, dietary restrictions, and other such traditions that were requirements for full and equal membership in the community of God’s people was anathema to Paul. Requiring these identity markers of Judaism for full membership was an insult to God’s gracious gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
One of the more troubling developments in the Christian community today is the reintroduction of a form of this mode of thinking. In my previous post, I took the position that mask wearing has become an identity marker in the culture. The wearing or not wearing of a mask signals where you fall on the ideological spectrum. I believe that the Church must reject that mode of thinking when it comes to our relationship to other believers. If we are not careful, we too might be guilty of setting aside God’s grace as we dis-fellowship those who name the name of Jesus because they do or don’t wear a mask.
There are other markers besides the mask. Being vaccinated or not is another identity marker. Believers are declaring anathemas against their fellow Christians because they have or have not gotten the vaccine. What does this have to do with our status before God?
The overall problem is our tendency to accommodate to the world. It is easy to condemn obvious worldly accommodations; for example, giving in to the current cultural sexual ethic. No less damaging are the more subtle forms of accommodation. The graceless legalism that characterizes the cancel culture ethic is much easier to fall into and harder to recognize. Setting aside the grace of God because of a failure to adhere to one of the current cultural identity markers is an expression of the same graceless legalism found in cancel culture. Reasoned disagreement over these issues among believers is to be expected. When the Church moves from disagreement to condemnation and disfellowship, we have accommodated to a spirit that is of this world and have set aside the grace of God.
NOTE: If you wish to make a comment, please address the specifics of my post. Comments that go beyond the scope of the post will not be approved.
Objects and actions sometimes carry higher meaning. Take the American flag and marriage ceremonies as examples. When an object or action takes on a higher meaning it becomes an indicator of belief or conviction and can serve as an identify marker of a particular group or party.
Photograph by Vera Davidova
Circumcision, along with certain dietary restrictions and restrictions on who you could associate with, were viewed as identity markers in first century Judaism. Adhering to these markers was not only a matter of keeping God’s law, they identified you as a faithful Jew. Keeping the identity markers had religious and nationalistic implications. Those who judiciously adhered to these markers were viewed as religiously zealous and as zealous for the nation.
In the book of Acts chapter 10, we see all three of these identity markers in play. The Apostle Peter had a vision that called into question Jewish dietary restrictions. Following that vision, Peter was invited to go and associate with a restricted person, a gentile named Cornelius. He was accompanied by some who were identified as “those of the circumcision.” Peter’s visit to Cornelius’ household and the events surrounding it are significant because it inaugurated the inclusion of the Gentiles into the Christian movement. It also highlights the primary points of conflict that would characterize the Gentile inclusion.
If you read the entire chapter, the results of the visit to Cornelius’ household caused Peter to conclude that being a member of the Christian movement has nothing to do with keeping identity markers. At the end of the chapter, the reception of the Spirit by Cornelius and his family convinces Peter that there is nothing that prohibits them from being baptized into the Christian community. The reception of the Spirit by the Gentiles confirmed the vision that Peter received in Joppa where God’s sovereign declaration of “cleanness” overrided the traditions that created the identity markers.
In spite of the events of Acts chapter 10, the criteria for Gentile inclusion continued to be controversial. Many Jews in the Christian movement continued to insist that the Gentiles needed to be circumcised and keep the Law (especially the identity markers). In Acts 15, the Christian Church formally announced that Gentile’s need not adhere to the identity markers to be included in the Christian movement. God had given the Gentiles the same Spirit that he gave to the Jews; as a result, Gentiles who received Christ by faith were full members with equal standing to their Jewish counterparts.
The main point is that the Gentile’s full inclusion apart from any set of identity markers was at God’s initiative. He gave the Spirit to the Gentiles apart from circumcision. The church simply recognized what God spoke to Peter in the vision: what He has declared clean, no one must call unclean (Acts 10:15).
The COVID pandemic has produced its own identity marker: the mask. Wearing a mask has taken on a meaning beyond the physical transmission of the virus. For some it is a sign of love for others. Wearing a mask demonstrates that you are doing your part to keep the virus from spreading. For others it is a capitulation to the State. Wearing a mask in compliance with governmental edicts is a betrayal of the freedoms that some fought and died for. For others it has religious significance. Mask wearing is a sign that one has given in to fear and lacks faith in God to protect you from the virus.
What all these have in common is that the mask has become an identity marker. Its physical function has been transcended. The mask identifies something about what side you belong to when you wear or refuse to wear it. Just like the identity markers that the Church struggled with in the first century, the mask has become a point of conflict that divides the community along particular ideological lines.
How should the Christian community treat the mask? Should we treat it as an identify marker? If we consider the Church’s approach to Gentile circumcision as a modern corollary, and I believe it is, then we need to avoid allowing the mask to become a marker of identity. As we move into a time where wearing a mask is optional because of the vacine we need to resist being divided by the mask as an identity marker.
Why? Because the decision to wear or not wear a mask is a personal choice that has no applicability to one’s status in the Kingdom. Just as God revealed that circumcision was not required for the Gentiles inclusion in the Kingdom, wearing or not wearing a mask has no impact on salvation or one’s place in the Kingdom. Those who acknowledge Jesus as Lord and receive the Spirit of God ARE CLEAN. That’s not my declaration, that’s God’s declaration.
If the Church joins the world by making the mask an identity marker, we are contradicting the divine decree and joining in a divisive spirit. Just as the Apostle Paul declared that circumcision and uncircumcision are nothing (1 Cor 7:19) let us say that wearingor not wearing the mask is nothing. Its presence or absence does not determine status in the Kingdom. What matters is our obedience to Christ and avoiding useless and divisive controversies invented by secular culture (Titus 3:9).
Relational Capital is one of those trendy business terms that you hear these days. Quoting Wikipedia, relational capital is:
“…all relationships – market relationships, power relationships and cooperation – established between firms, institutions and people, which stem from a strong sense of belonging and a highly developed capacity of cooperation typical of culturally similar people and institutions. Relational dependency may be vertical or horizontal, either up or downstream, shaping different types of cooperative, collaborative or competitive mechanisms in different ecosystems.”
If you are a pastor, elder, or some other type of church leader who takes seriously your role as a mentor, then you ought to have relational capital with those your a leading. You should have a storehouse of credibility and trust built up over time that gives you some level of influence with those that you pastor.
The real question is, what are you doing with that influence? Are you using it to encourage those you mentor to pursue the call of God? Are you calling them to the level of commitment and self-sacrifice necessary to function in one of the five-fold offices? Are you encouraging them to equip themselves intellectually, spiritually, and physically to withstand the rigors of the ministry?
Let’s expend our relational capital to help prepare those called into the ministry!
We are obsessed with classification. If we can classify something we can understand it. We know its place in relation to other things that are different or distinct. Every science class I’ve ever taken involved learning some sort of classification scheme, whether its dividing elements into their states of matter (liquid, solid or gas), or classifying them based on whether their skeleton is inside or outside their skin.
In Christianity we classify things as well: saved or unsaved, Baptist or Pentecostal, pre-tribulation or post-tribulation. Some Christians are irritated by theological classifications because they believe that they are divisive. They have a point. There are times when we allow differences in doctrine to look down on or anathematize our brethren.
One of the most popular forms of classification is the dividing up of the generations. We have the baby-boomers, the millennials, generation-y and so forth. Each generation is characterized by the technological, sociological, and political developments of the generation in which they grow up. “Boomers” are very familiar with things like cassette tapes and the VCR, while generation-z may not. Generation-z, the latest generation, has never known a world without personal computers or smart phones.
Generational classifications are fine for helping to create understanding, but I fear that they also have become a barrier to discipleship, particularly older generations discipling the younger. Just as doctrinal differences can divide us, so can generational divides. When the older generation looks down on the younger because they don’t appear to have a robust work ethic, or the younger despises the older for a lack of technological savvy, a division is created that makes it very difficult for discipleship to take place.
What I see as being even more damaging is the idea that the differences in the generations make cross-generational discipleship impossible because each generation is unique. That uniqueness creates the perception that what one generation has “gone through” or is “dealing with” makes it impossible for one generation to speak to another. The result is that the classifications of each generation isolates them. One generation cannot make disciples from another because they can’t speak to the particulars.
Jesus Christ is our great High Priest. Scripture tells us that he was tempted in every way as we are (Hebrews 4:15). This makes him able to empathize with us. As Christians, we accept that Jesus understands what we are going through, even though he didn’t experience “exactly” what we are going through or dealing with. The same applies to the differences in the generations. The human experience is fairly universal, yet radically diverse in the particulars. Victory, defeat, loss, disappointment, death, and taxes are universal experiences. The particular ways they manifest over the generations varies. Each generation can speak into how they overcame these universal experiences in Christ.
The prevailing cultural trend is to let labels and categories divide us. As the church of Jesus Christ, let’s not let generational labels undermine the ability and benefit of one generation making disciples of another.
I’ve never been much for intense introspection. The idea that we need to go deeper and deeper, peeling away the inner layers of pain and hurt in order to get to the root of our true motivations and desires has never held much appeal. That is not to say that I have never had my innermost motives and desires exposed. I simply don’t make it a practice to engage in it on my own.
When I have been engaged in that sort of introspection and examination, it is typically in response to the move of God’s Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us that the Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgement. When I’ve sinned or when my motives are skewed the Spirit will point that out. It is under the Spirit’s conviction that we have a choice. We can choose to take responsibility for what is revealed, or we can do what humanity has done from the beginning of the Fall, we can self-justify and make excuses.
Why do we self-justify. While root of the problem is that we are fallen, I want to focus on one of the reasons that I think is particularly relevant with today’s generation: the fear or rejection. When we own up to some bit of nastiness that has been exposed there is the possibility that we will be rejected by those around us. The exposure will cause others to be repulsed by what they see, an especially painful prospect if we are rejected by those we love. Self-justification is an attempt to mitigate the damage done by the exposure, to shift the focus off of us and our responsibility on to someone or something else. “Don’t judge me” is a refrain that is intended to shift blame and avoid rejection.
The problem is that if we don’t take responsibility then there is little to no possibility of growth and victory over the problem. I’m referring to the notion of repentance. Repentance requires one to take responsibility for their actions and attitudes and turn toward the path of righteousness. The goal of repentance is forgiveness and growth. Self-justifying undermines repentance.
The way to overcome our aversion to taking responsibility due to fear of rejection is to remember that God already knows what nastiness is hidden within the human heart. Scripture testifies in several places that the hidden things of our hearts are already known by God. So if God hasn’t already rejected you before he has convicted you of your transgression, why would he reject you after? We are convicted so that the sin can be repented of and we can grow in our relationship with God and with others. The justified are convicted to draw them nearer, not reject them so that they are pushed away. When a believer refrains from repenting out of fear or rejection, they are believing the lie that repentance will lead to rejection. The truth is the exact opposite.
I have learned not to fear the conviction of the Lord. It has become an occasion for drawing nearer to my beloved Savior. I resist the aversion to self-examination when prompted by the Spirit because I know that when the Spirit touches on something that requires repentance, I will benefit from a clear conscience and greater acceptance from my Lord.
As an older believer, one of the things that I find “bothersome” is what I would call the image of a God who is mostly like me. In particular, the picture of a lovesick savior who seems to experience the same sense of angst that I felt whenever my teenage girlfriend didn’t return my affections in a manner that suited me.
One of the immediate responses, particularly by those younger believers that are drawn to this picture of the divine Son of God is that it because I’m an older believer that I don’t get it. My response to that is, you are right. It is because I’ve been around for a while that this picture alone would be bothersome.
Time tends to beat certain idealisms out of you. One of the things that you realize is that more often than not other people are only interested in you for what they get out of the relationship. It is truly a rare and very precious thing when you meet someone who loves you for yourself, not for what it does for them. Looking back on that lovesick young man that I was, I realize I wasn’t feeling the way I was because I loved that other person with a “pure and untainted” love. I liked the way that she made me feel and missed that feeling when she didn’t respond.
Fortunately, human beings have the capacity to grow and mature. We can start out with the a very self-centered form of love for someone and grow to a more mature love that appreciates the object of our love for itself. I have experienced this for myself.
Scripture tells us that God is self-sufficient. He does not need anyone. All that he has need of is found within his own triune being. God’ self-sufficiency creates a picture of a savior whose love is perfectly pure with no ulterior motives. God loves me, not for what he gets out of it, but for who I am. Human love, however mature will always have some remnant of self-centeredness remaining. Because God is fully self-sufficient, I can be sure that his love is perfect, without any taint of self-centeredness. That makes God’s love the most rare and precious of all.
OK, so maybe it shouldn’t bother me that younger believers are drawn to a picture of the lovesick savior. It would bother me if over time they don’t learn to grow in their understanding of God’s love such that they come to see a picture of the all sufficient savior whose love is given not out of need or lack, but out of a pure love for its object, without angst or heartsickness. If, as a younger believer, you find that condescending and paternalistic, it’s not my intention. It’s simply my experience.
The IFCA Bible College is all about training leaders. College can equip your mind for service, but what about your heart, your attitude? What does service look like from a biblical context?
In John chapter 13 we have a beautiful picture of service as performed by our Lord. The disciples had gathered with Jesus to celebrate the Passover for the final time. At one point during the meal Jesus got up from the table and set aside his outer robe, tied a towel around himself, and poured water in a basin. He then proceeded to wash his disciples feet and wipe their feet with the towel. When Jesus came to wash Simon Peter’s feet, Peter tried to dissuade him. Jesus responded that if he did not wash his feet then Peter would have no share with him, and that only his feet needed to be washed (John 13:10).
Jesus’ explanation for why he performed this act is simple: he did it as an example to his disciples of how they are to lead (John 13:15). As a servant is not above his master, and as we are Christ’s servants, then we too ought to follow his example. But what exactly did Jesus exemplify?
First, he was willing to perform an act that was entirely beneath him. By tradition, one of the disciples in the room should have washed Jesus’ feet. Their failure indicates that it was beneath them. So the incarnate Word of God, fully divine in nature, took on the role of the lowliest servant. How many leaders won’t take on certain roles in the church because it’s beneath them? Being a leader means that there is no role beneath you. If leadership means that you’re now too good to do certain jobs, check your heart.
Second, he did the dirty work. Cleaning feet is a dirty, stinky job. The disciples probably had dust and dirt, as well as the feces from animal droppings deposited on the road all over their feet. It is a reminder that leadership is dirty business. Leaders deal with people at their worst, and their most vulnerable. The young, old, and weak are those we serve. I know leaders who refuse to serve in particular ministries in the church because they don’t want to deal with that population on Sunday. If there are any classes of people that you won’t deal with, check your heart.
Third, he did what was needed. Since none of the disciples performed this necessary task, Jesus took it upon himself to fulfill the need. Being a leader doesn’t mean waiting around until you have an opportunity to engage in your preferred act of service. It means getting in there and fulfilling the need. Jesus became the dutiful servant when no one else was willing to perform this needed task. If you refuse to serve when there’s a known need, check your heart.
Finally, he did it as an example. Jesus was willing to perform an act of service well beneath him, in spite of the dirtiness, fulfilling a need, because it served as an example to others. Leaders need to think about others and the example they set. Leadership is more than just telling others about Christian service. It requires us to show people how to serve. If you talk about service but refuse to serve where there is a need, check you heart.
Far from being an elite class who are above others and their menial tasks, the leadership exemplified by Christ is a picture of humility, meekness and Christian piety or duty. If we cannot bring ourselves to serve in the manner exemplified by Jesus in John chapter 13, then we are not real biblical leaders, and it is definitely time to check our hearts.
Called 