This thing called "church"

I spoke with an old friend who told me that she no longer attended church services. After disappointment with failed leadership and less than perfect fellow Believers, she decided that her Christianity would be privatized - in her words: 'It's just Jesus and me these days.' I don't doubt her sincerity, but to use an old cliché, she is sincerely wrong. Our conversation revealed that since she stopped being a part of a local congregation her faith has grown increasingly anemic, her service in the Name of Jesus sporadic at best and truthfully (in her words- nearly none existent), and that her kids have abandoned faith entirely. You and I need the Church to thrive spiritually! God says so, "...let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:25, NLT)

So what is a church?

One thing I can tell you with certainty - it isn't the building! Yes, we commonly refer to the structures, big and small, where Christians gather for worship as 'church' but the Scripture never once suggests that a building is the 'church.' The church is not just your church, or my church, either. I was raised among Believers who had an awfully exclusive view about who were actually the 'real' Christians in the world. Not surprisingly, it was 'us!' But, with a more mature understanding of the Bible, I realize that there are many expressions of faith, many ways to worship, and that the qualifier for being 'in the Church' is not the way one is baptized, or the liturgy of worship; it is whether a person is 'in Christ' through faith in the Cross and the Resurrection. Paul reminds us of the breadth of the family of God when he says: "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26-28, NKJV)

Christians become 'a church' in many different ways - meeting in mega-groups of thousands in mall-sized buildings or in a small group of a dozen in a living room or coffee shop. They may create a highly structured liturgical service led by robed priests, or they may worship in Pentecostal fervor akin to the chaos of a sporting event! But Jesus promised that "whenever two or three of you come together in my name, I am there with you." (Matthew 18:20, CEV)

What many think is the 'true' church, is more likely an expression of their spiritual training, their personal preferences, their culture, or their socio-economic status. Church is where God calls us into relationships that complement and enrich us. The best churches are not those where all the people look, think, and act the same way! The best churches are diverse in race, in age, in culture, and in spiritual gifts. That kind of church is full of conflict, just like a big dysfunctional family, but glued together by love for Jesus that becomes love for each other. In that setting, the Spirit does something marvelous in those who participate. They learn to get over their self-consciousness, to love instead of just 'like' other people. They find that God can use people who are very different, people that in another setting with whom they would choose not to be associated! This kind of church is much more relational than programmed. The music may not always be first rate. The preaching may leave something to be desired. But there is love and there is a strong desire to just 'be the people of God.'

Church is a place where we un-learn our love for Self, and discover the amazing power of loving and being loved. (Or, at least that what I believe Church ought to be!) We show that love with commitment to the church of God in good times and bad times, in times when things are going our way and when we feel that the 'family' has failed us. We make casseroles for the sad, hold each other up when the winds of life try to knock us over, celebrate our successes and survive our defeats. It isn't usually very pretty but when it is authentic, it is one of the most beautiful things on earth.

Believer if you have decided to privatize your faith, let me urge you to re-think that choice. Start to pray that God will show you where you can plug into His Church. Don't just look for the one with the great music, or the stellar youth program, or the preacher who is able to tell a good story.

Look for the one with Life, one to which God is calling you. Marry it! Love it! Serve Him as you serve His Church. Be selfless and inspire others to love Him selflessly, too. Your Christian life will be deepened. Your kids will stick with the faith. Best of all, the work of God will be done, perhaps inefficiently, but effectively in the world.
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So now, go!

Share your dream, especially one involving significant change, and you will run into nay-sayers. The first will probably be you! More than once I have talked myself out of even trying to do something that, at first thought, sounded like a great idea. Why does doubt, fear, and negativity come so easily to us? Why are faith, courage, and positive attitudes so scarce? To answer that, consider the story of the call of Moses.

God, in His sovereign purposes, decided that the time had come to return the descendants of Abraham to the Promised Land from slavery in Egypt. The tiny clan that went to Egypt to avoid starvation during a famine had grown, over several centuries' time, into a nation-sized population that was suffering terribly under the heavy hand of oppression. Now, the Lord needed a man to lead them, a deliverer! "Oh, Moses. Where are you?" The erstwhile price of Egypt had been off 'on the far side of the desert' tending Jethro's sheep for 40 years. He had put his dreams away and settled down so God had to get his attention with a burning bush; more accurately a bush that appeared to be on fire but which was not actually burning up. When Moses went over to check it out, God spoke his name. He tells Moses that He is ready to move, that He has a plan, and then He says - "So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:10, NIV)

Does Moses stand, salute, and pack up? Not at all. Instead, he argues with God, making excuses about why he should not, could not, and would not do this great thing. "I'm unworthy." Good one, Moses. A little false humility might work, except this is God you're dealing with. God brushes that off by reminding him that He knows he's nothing, so He will go with him! So Moses says, I do not really know Who You are and so I cannot speak with authority." To that the LORD says, "Just tell them that "I AM" sent you, for "I AM THAT I AM." In other words, "Moses, you want to know my Name? Here it is, "I AM the SELF-EXISTENT ONE, ONE WHO HAS NO FIRST CAUSE." And yes, it is in all capitals in the Bible, too.

Moses is still not sufficiently awe-stricken, so he tries this lame excuse: "What if they do not listen to me?" So, God patiently gives him three impressive signs; turning his shepherd's staff into a snake and back again, turning his hand white with leprosy and healing it again, and telling him that if he pours Nile River water on the ground it will turn to blood! Now, Moses is ready to go, right? No! Moses tries once more to get out of the assignment. "I am slow of speech." Does he really think that speeches are going to get this job done? God by this time is angry with the faithless man and replies by telling him to get his brother Aaron to be his spokesman. And, finally Moses answers the call.

Laugh, if you will, at that man's bad excuses, but the truth is, God is calling you, too! He says, "So now, go!" to your family, to your neighbors, to the people with whom you work, to your city, to the world. You have work to do for Him that only you can do. Stop stammering your excuses! All of God's children are called to serve in ministry; perhaps not as members of the clergy, but as representatives of Jesus Christ. The Bible says, "Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people!" (1 Corinthians 12:7, The Message)

As we purpose to obey, Self and others will rise us to tell why we cannot or should not do this. The enemy of God and good wants us to live safe, insignificant lives that are focused on minimal risk. So, is your dream really to work only as much as as required to keep your job, watch as much TV as you can stand, and die safe in your warm bed?

I want to be all that He wants me to be, to do all He wants me to do, to risk it all for the glory of God. I know I will not always get it right. My history proves that too true. I know I am not perfect (I heard that loud "Amen!") I know that I will fail for reasons that are sometimes my fault and sometimes beyond my comprehension. But I also know this - God is greater than my flaws, has promised to never leave me to fight alone, and has a rich reward in reserve for me when I finish the race obediently. The results are in His hands. Obedience is my responsibility!

Meditate on this passage today. Ask the Spirit to cause it to inspire you to respond with a ready, "Yes, Lord," when He says, "So now, go!"

"This is the Message I’ve been set apart to proclaim as preacher, emissary, and teacher. It’s also the cause of all this trouble I’m in. But I have no regrets.
I couldn’t be more sure of my ground—
the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what he’s trusted me to do right to the end.
So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It’s as sound as the day you first heard it from me. Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us." (2 Timothy 1:11-14, The Message)
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Truehearted, wholehearted, faithful and loyal,
King of our lives, by Thy grace we will be;
Under the standard exalted and royal,
Strong in Thy strength we will battle for Thee.

Peal out the watchword!
Silence it never!
Song of our spirits, rejoicing and free;
Peal out the watchword!
Loyal forever!
King of our lives,
by Thy grace we will be.

Wholehearted! Savior beloved and glorious,
Take Thy great power and reign Thou alone,
Over our wills and affections victorious—
Freely surrendered and wholly Thine own.

-Frances Havergal, Public Domain

Want to hear this hymn?
See http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/t/r/truehear.htm

In praise of routine

People who know me joke about my routines. The clock is my friend. I eat dinner just about the same time each evening. I go to my office at about the same time every morning. I am up scanning the daily newspaper and reading my Bible each morning at the same time. Vacations, while enjoyable, make me miss my regular routines and I am always very happy to resume them. Yes, I am boringly predictable not so much by nature, however, as by choice. My attention span is about 30 seconds long, and that is why I enforce regimen on my life. It prevents me from spinning into the chaos that would result if I allowed my impulses to take over. My commitment to the routine of steady service helps me to avoid becoming so enthralled with the new, the exciting, the 'big' things; that I miss the opportunities to do His work that exist right in front me in the tried, true, and familiar pathways of my life. I will not accomplish what God wants me to do where I am, if my eyes are always searching the horizon for a new home!

In that wing of Christianity in which I live, which emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit, there is a wonderful expectation that God will come near, that He will touch our lives with His Presence and lead us. That is good. But, there is a weakness that makes many of us less effective than we should be. It is the love of the novel spiritual experience. In my adult Christian life, I have watched dozens of fads sweep through charismatic churches. Some evangelist or prophet writes a book that proclaims - "God is doing a new thing." A couple of years later the whole thing blows over with not much other than a lot of hype to show for all the effort. Some Believers tend to get 'bored' with a steady diet of solid Biblical teaching. They drift from church to church, about every 2 or 3 years, looking for a 'new' message, seeking a 'new' touch, wanting a 'deeper' experience of Pentecost. As a consequence, they are largely useless to the Kingdom. Without roots, they are not committed to any service that is greater than themselves. They fail to appreciate the solid results that come from faithfulness and steady effort in the service of Jesus Christ, that their talents and lives are to be eclipsed by the glory of Christ!

I want to suggest that routine can be a blessing, that most people could benefit from developing some holy habits! Oswald Chambers, whose writings in My Utmost for His Highest, have helped millions of Believers, said "Routine is God's way of saving us between moments of inspiration. We are not to expect Him to give us His thrilling minutes always." He observes, "The greatest hindrance of our spiritual life lies in looking for big things to do; Jesus Christ 'took a towel.....' We are not meant to be illuminated versions; we are meant to be the common stuff of ordinary human life exhibiting the marvel of the grace of God. The snare in the Christian life is looking for the gilt-edge moments, the thrilling times; there are times when there is no illumination and no thrill, when God's angel is the routine of drudgery on the level of towels and washing feet." Ah, friend, there is a lot of wisdom in that! Read it again.

There is a parable of Jesus that makes the same point. The passage is lengthy, but take the time to read it with thoughtfulness. "Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready. ...
You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected." ...
"A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward." (Luke 12:35-43, NLT) The sum of His story is the lesson that we must be doing what God appoints us to do, for we do not know when He will show up to check on the work we are doing!

I am not making a case for locking into tradition to the point of being rigid, incapable of responding to the Spirit's leading. I am not suggesting that God will never lead us into fields of new service, or give us times of refreshing! However, dear friend, I am urging you, as the Bible does, to 'make the most of every opportunity' (Ephesians 5.16) that exists today, right where you are. Do you think He is unaware of where you are, what circumstances are in which you find yourself? Do you think you wandered there without His knowledge? Of course not. So let Him use you there. Give Him yourself. Pick up the towel of an ordinary servant and accept that service with joy. And, you will be amazed at the results that will emerge as God gives you gifts, resources, and tools to do what He needs done - by you - in that place. For those who serve well, there is this promise. "The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’" (Matthew 25:23, NLT)
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Make me a servant,
Humble and meek.
Lord, let me lift up
Those who are weak;
And may the pray'r
Of my heart always be.
Make me a servant.
Make me a servant.
Make me a servant today.

Kelly Willard© 1982 Maranatha! Music (Admin. by The Copyright Company) / Willing Heart Music (Maranatha! Music [Admin. by The Copyright Company]) CCLI License No. 810055

Safe am I!

There is an old song that says, "Under His wings, I am safely abiding, though the night deepens, and tempests are wild." It's a good thought, but is it true? Last month, I read Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking. In it she tells the horrific story of the grief she experienced when both her beloved husband and her daughter died quite unexpectedly. The title comes from her attempts to keep them "alive," by refusing to face the truth. In that she is not so uncommon. But it is the last line in the book that breaks my heart - "No eye is on the sparrow." She concludes that our attempts to make sense of life with faith, that believing in God's care, are just choices we make to avoid sliding into despair; nice, but untrue, mere magical thinking.

In one sense, Ms. Didion is right. Even some Christians indulge in magical thinking and call it- faith. If we think that God will give us a pass from the sorrows of life, that we will somehow miss the inevitable appointment with death, or that we will not experience the ravages of aging with the passing of time, we are deluded! The fact is that your body is not immortal nor invincible. It is being destroyed, day by day. Time is passing quickly, at least in the way we measure it here on this earth. (Aren't you happy you are reading this?) But what Ms. Didion does not grasp is that God is greater than our life experience and even time itself. Apparently she does not understand how genuine faith allows us to trust Him with the not-so-great developments as well as to thank Him for those days when all things are bright and beautiful.

Many Believers sing songs like the one quoted in the opening line of this thought and wrongly conclude that God will not let them be sad, grow old, experience disappointment, or go through temptation! He does not say we will waltz our way to Heaven! He says that we must go through the fiery trials for the maturing of our faith and He says that we will never walk alone! I am safely abiding, at rest, if I let God be God in my life, by surrendering my delusions of control. The book of Ecclesiastes reflects the disillusionment of the person who can only view life from this side of eternity! "For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die! So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 2:16-20, NIV)

True saints who are full of genuine faith reach out to take hold of the eternal rule of God and their lives become links that allow eternity to flow into time. Heaven in their hearts give life the meaning and purpose that the Bible promises. Such saints are at rest even in the middle of the storm. They are not angry at the Lord for permitting their pain. Instead they pray He will break their stubborn will and make them useful for His Kingdom, right here, right now. Such surrender does not lead to resignation or apathy! It empowers them to go bravely into each new day, defying death and Hell. They are, at once, angry enough to resist the Devil and his attempts to wreck the works of God, and joyful enough to avoid cynicism.

Take a look at Paul's affirmation of God's purpose, even as he was growing through a time of terrible difficulty as a result of his ministry. "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.... We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead." (2 Corinthians 1:2-4, 8-9, NLT)

Those are words to live by! They are not 'magical thinking.' They are Truth that allows us to face days, good and bad, head on; take strength from the Lord Jesus Christ, and make a Kingdom difference. Let's stop asking God for easy, stop whining about how hard life is, and thank Him for giving us the privilege of making His glorious goodness known by putting "this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Corinthians 4:7, NIV)

Beyond Optimism

"The sun will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun." sings Annie. In spite of her sorrows she hopes for a better day, a day of sunshine. She is the prime optimist. Who doesn't love an optimist? Those who choose to see the silver lining on every cloud are a gift to the rest of us! My appeal to you today, Believer, is that you do not confuse optimism with faith. They may appear the same from a distance but they are not. Optimism, as encouraging as it may be, cannot change the reality of life. Yes, the person with the sunny outlook may weather the storms a little better than others, they may find more friends to travel life's roads with them, but they still must deal with falling Dow averages, broken hearts, disease, and death.

Optimism is built on the hope that greater effort can produce a positive outcome and around the potential of human will. Faith that is genuine rests squarely on the Person and Promise of God. Faith always trust in a purposeful God and looks much like optimism in that it believes the Biblical truth that He is working in all things to accomplish something for the good of those who love Him! (Romans 8:28) We can easily get confused and think we are expressing faith when we make bold assertions about what we think God will do about situations we want changed. "God will heal me, I am sure of it," a person claims. Is that an optimistic statement or a declaration of faith? One cannot tell just from the words. If it just an expression of general hope, it is mere optimism. If it an expression of what that person believes the Spirit has whispered into her soul, it is a statement of faith!

Some Believers mistakenly think that if they say positive things and force themselves to 'believe' in them with conviction, God will be obligated to do what they demand. This, they claim, is faith. They are sadly mistaken, headed for a collision with reality.

"So, Jerry," you're thinking, "don't you believe that prayer changes people's lives?" Sure do, friend. Both my understanding of the Bible and my personal experience give me reason to pray with hope and faith. God has given me many wonderful gifts over the years in response to prayer. I have experienced miraculous healing, provision for financial needs, forgiveness, and amazing opportunities - when I and others have prayed! However, faith-filled prayers are not those that demand that God act in a specific way. We are urged in the Scripture to pray boldly, to pray about anything and everything, to ask our Father for His favor - but always with humility, always remembering who is God and who is not!

Did Job suffer as he did because he did not pray with faith? No! He suffered according to the will of God for purposes that he did not know and could not grasp, and yet that faithful man did not turn on the Lord. Yes, he questioned. Yes, he even challenged God to explain Himself, but he quickly became humble and confessed that God was Lord of all saying, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." (Job 13:15, NKJV) Did Paul go through hard times because he lacked faith? To suggest that is absurd. He reminds us that the sufferings he endured actually served to bring him to greater dependence on God! Peter tells us "those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." (1 Peter 4:19, NIV)

Do not settle for mere optimism. Build great faith! How?

Get to know God - in prayer, through meditation, from the pages of the Scripture, in worship. Go beyond having a god (small 'g' intended!) that you keep around like a good luck charm, a deity you bring out to ward off 'bad luck.' That's the stuff of religion, the empty tradition of human based 'worship.' Give your life over to Him. Tell Him that you are delighted simply to belong to Him, to be used by Him, to serve His sovereign purpose. Does that sound frightening? It should, for He is an awesome (in the sense of 'fear and trembling') God! But He is also good. Faith allows us to go from good to great in His service. Faith lets us abandon our plans and demands to discover the adventure of being part of what God is doing.

Let me pray a Scriptural prayer for you today. As you read it, let it form faith in you.
"I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:14-21, NLT)