Category: Leadership

March 8, 2019

Is the Church Relevant?

Our faith is under fire like never before. In our postmodern world, in a spirit of neo-orthodoxy, we must intentionally display a clear message. With every institution under scrutiny, a popular question today is, “Is the church relevant?”

The answer lies in how you define “relevant.” In our secular age, we have seen many words “reinvented” to display a totally different meaning to fit culture and convenience. Looking at the church it may not be an obvious choice for trailblazing, but it is the life of Christ in the church that will shape our lives.

The church was not meant to compete with the world, but to rescue people from it. This idea of a “tailored-made church” drives a lot of churchgoers today. People often know what they want but don’t know what they truly need. The church should be creative but not at the expense of replacing the message. Marketing and gimmicks draw in people, but what will cause them to stay in the church? Entertainment may draw curiosity and interest, but in honoring the Holy Spirit and preaching the Word of Life, lives are transformed.

What is the Church?

Traditionalism is on the rise with a lot of young churchgoers today. History and formality give a sense of stability and trust, but is the message pointing to a living Christ? The original purpose the church is defined as “called out ones to Christ.” The name clearly shows us that the greatest purpose in the church is to help cultivate a relationship with God and share it with a lost world. The church is defined in 1 Timothy 3:15: “…which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” If we use it for any other purpose it can become obsolete and irrelevant. The church is the revelation of Jesus on the earth. It is a place where imperfect people gather around a perfect Christ.

Understood in this way, the relevancy of the church is timeless.

The book of Acts shows us the New Testament church in Acts 2:41-47. We see the example, attitude, and mission of the church. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had a need. Every day they continued to meet in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

The new testament church is more than an organization it is a living organism. It is alive and delicate. If only thought of as a business, then the work will crystallize and the glory of God departs. People are the most precious part of Gods church; this is why our message and approach must care for their souls. As we cherish God’s house as a house of prayer and honor His presence, miracles happen.

The church is a work of God, not a work of men.

Three Types of Church-Goers

In this impressionist age, we have a unique opportunity as the church to speak into lives with meaning and purpose. Jesus was the master example of this. He lived the same way He died—with His arms wide open. As the church, we must seek to understand rather than to be understood. Reliability and relevance are seen in genuine care and in a non-judgmental approach. We see this in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. The apostle Paul writes “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” We are the hands and feet of Christ ministering patiently through the many layers of the human soul. The church is a place of compassion, empathy and transformation.

The multiple impressions and decisions made as a guest walk through our doors are staggering. The genuine and transparent interest and love portrayed speaks volumes. Learning their story and helping them connect to Christ’s life is the privilege of our mission. Their perception and concepts are dissolved as authentic love and truth are shown; they sense they are welcome and accepted. They are loved in their place like family. Our relevant and personal message speaks to their heart and answers questions maybe they didn’t even know they had. This divine initiation causes new thoughts and interests to emerge. As growth begins, they progressively discover their eternal purpose and value. We must resist the tendency to be like “the world”; to woo the lost through our doors. People are looking for more than entertainment or to be amazed by some show—they are looking for real life, love and answers. The impact of a meaningful encounter with God is revolutionary. Let’s invite, love and mentor those that are willing.

The Consumer

There is no perfect church. Often people hunt to find the best fit. Choosing a church like we would be choosing a car, based on preferences and how we feel when we are there is subjective and often misleading. Eventually, people get offended and migrate from place to place. If we take and consume things based on our wants and needs only, then we are stunting our potential growth. Growing in the church happens as we are submitted to the teachings and grow in obedience. This takes time and consistency to learn to bloom where we are planted.

Today, a popular concept prevails that Robert Bellah calls “expressive individualism — the belief that identity comes through self-expression, through discovering one’s most authentic desires and being free to be one’s authentic self. This powerful belief has weakened all institutions in society.” This sounds good at first, but—in the absolute sense—it is flawed thinking. If it is all about what I need, think and want, we are just consumers; we take what we need without regard to the needs of others.

The Hitchhiker

We can also be “hitchhikers”, selective and noncommittal, always moving around without real roots anywhere. The church is meant to be a generous lifeline that connects us to the life of Jesus.

Spiritual hitchhikers are like nomads, migrating from place to place without roots. It is easy to have this happen when we are not accountable. The average Christian has three different churches that they “dip into” for their spiritual walk. Thank God for technology and resources but who is personally speaking into our lives? Who is correcting us? What do we do when we hear a hard saying? How we answer these questions determines whether we are hitchhikers or not.

Will we “hit the road” or settle in and seek the Lord?

The Contributor

Everything in my life is affected by my walk of faith, family, career, and relationships can be rooted in me or in someone that is eternal. As we build our relationship with Jesus Christ we sense Him actively increasing in our everyday lives. His scarlet thread of redemption is through the center of life. We can be a monument of culture or trophies of God’s grace, both pointing to a very different entity. Culture is fickle, but God’s grace is never changing, it is the same yesterday today and forever.

The Problem

When we bend to culture and move away from reliance on the Holy Spirit, we lose something—our impact and witness. In today’s post-modernistic world, we see humanism which deifies man and underestimates God. Coupled with relativism which declares a personal interpretation to justify a lifestyle. This in turn births secularism, redefining terms to usurp absolutes and promote tolerance. How has this impacted the Church? The Emerging Church is born and an ecumenical gospel—without the cross and sound Bible doctrine—is preached. Through this progression, the unbeliever is desensitized to the things of God or in most cases doesn’t learn a clear picture of who God is and ultimately doesn’t see their need for Him.

Guarding the church against worldly ideologies is important in preserving the future of the church. One popular foundation is liberalism; me at the center. This system of thinking impacts churches were my rights and liberties dominate the understanding of privilege and responsibility. We are not to hide from the world, secure in our four walls, but our message and heart of love must be clear and powerful as we go forth into the world.

Here are some recognizable systems of thinking:

The end and means focus on securing happiness.
Egoism exalts the body over the soul.
Liberalism exalts the temporal value system over the spiritual unseen reality.
Hedonism promotes subjective belief that the goal is fitting the Bible into your life rather than surrendering to the Bible.
Pop-culture rallies herd mentality, this mocks the outspoken convictions and quiets the person, so they “don’t rock the boat.”
Personal expression rules over proven principals at the expense of logic.
Secularism redefines terms for tolerance and dismisses absolutes.

In contrast, the message of Jesus is life-giving. This message is one of a personal cross, where Christ at the center of my life, as in Colossians 2:13-15.

Sacrificing self-preference produces contentment.
We are not our own, we live for another who is infinitely greater.
Ultimately standing before a Jesus defines our decisions in time.
Christ is at the center of our priorities not sacrificing the eternal on the altar of the immediate.
Speaking the Truth in love without legalism.
No overestimation of self-importance, we are not the ultimate issue.
Hold-fast the Word of Life, our eternal purpose—we are God’s billboard.

Our Mission

You are important in the Kingdom of God. Your portion is part of every joint that supplies a healthy spiritual body in Ephesians 4:16. The church is a hospital, not a country club. It is designed to be a mission center for mobilizing the believer to be trained and sent out to serve, love and heal. Kindness is a powerful weapon that helps open the heart of the recipient and is a “tangible” demonstration of the love of Christ.

Our world is lost. Jesus is the Light that shines to those who sit in darkness in Luke 1:79. In the gospels, we see in Matthew 5:13-14, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a lampstand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”

People are drawn to the light and life of Jesus. Religion kills and complicates the pure simple message of Jesus. Jesus is the beginning, middle, and end of our faith—this is the glorious gospel. A dear pastor shared with me words I will always remember: “Our message of Jesus is our ultimate method.”

Preaching the heart of Jesus as an open hand and not a clenched fist, will draw all men. (John 12:32)

Our mission affords us to be gatherers and educators of Jesus. Complications and pain arise as we make our mission about ourselves. We must not gather around personalities or a “celebrity Christianity” but around an old rugged cross where we die and Christ reigns. The psalmist in 115:1, “Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.”

The mission of Christ is powerful. The first letter in mission could stand for “momentum”—the inertia of an object that is catching speed as it moves. As the object moves, the velocity increases determining its ultimate distance. In missions, it is all about being moved in the Spirit. As we discover the “go” in the gospel, momentum begins to happen. Step by step, word by word, God gives the increase. Here is where the mission of the church is found in scripture: Joshua 1:3-6, Deuteronomy 28:13, Matthew 28:19-20, Luke 19:10, John 7:38 Acts 4:12. Here are the nuts and bolts of our mission:

PREACH a clear message of salvation.
TEACH to equip ministers of life in marriage, family, and neighborhoods.
REACH hands to the needy.
SERVE our communities by being the hands and feet of Christ.
CULTIVATE discipleship, mentorship and accountability in our walk of faith.
SHARE our faith, going into all the world.

We are on this earth not to be like the world but represent the kingdom of God. One day soon we will stand before Him. Are you prepared? We are either impacting the world or we are being impacted by the world. To be in the world not of the world is our mission.

How do you see the church? Is it your lifeline? or is it something we could be critical of and have a “take it or leave it” attitude. The church is a gift and a secret in today’s cynical world. “Where two or more are gathered I am in your midst” in Matthew 18:20. We must all realize that the church is full of imperfect people gathering around a perfect Christ. Celebrate the life of Christ, celebrate other believers and be part of a church community where you grow and make an impact for eternity.

www.jasonfmoore.com

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March 15, 2018

Youth Ministry: Teaching Prayer to Teens

When we first tried bringing prayer to our church’s junior-high youth ministry, we constructed a prayer wall. Built by placing plastic letter clings on a wall in our classroom, the prayer wall was simple enough. Our wall was divided into two sections, with one section labeled “Prayer Requests” and one section labeled “Answered Prayers”.

The students were encouraged to write their prayer requests on sticky notes and place them under the “Prayer Requests” heading. Our intention was to eventually move requests to the “Answered Prayers” and build a visible testimony to God’s faithfulness. We adults modeled what it might look like to pray over the notes publicly and then turned for child volunteers, hoping they would jump at the chance.

Well, it seemed 7^th-9^th graders were a little shyer than we thought.

After several weeks of modeling or selecting our more confident kids to reluctantly try their hand at public prayer, we realized something had to change. Even with the repeated encouragement to take time to quietly pray over the list before or after class, the prayer wall was languishing.

What Worked in the Past?

We recalled the younger grades, where the Sunday school curriculum was set by a weekly subscription. There was always a rhythm established to keep the children’s attention:

Open play >
Quick introduction to the lesson >
Leave the classroom join other classes in “large group” to
1. worship,
2. receive a spoken message,
3. view a video lesson,
4. review the lesson,
5. rehearse the day’s complimentary memory verse >
Return to your classroom and break into small groups for an activity with group leaders >
Read the memory verse and close in prayer >
Open play.

See? Never a dull moment allowed for shorter attention spans. Since this early-teen class was a new level of youth ministry for our church and there was no template, we were drawing our own map. Here is the early rhythm we established for our kids:

Open play >
Attend worship in adult service for the first 20 minutes, until message began >
Return to classroom and grab snacks (a cheap bribe to encourage attendance?) >
Squeak out some prayers around the prayer wall >
Review prior week’s lesson >
Discuss the day’s lesson and supporting scriptures until adult service lets out.

A little dry, right?

Bring Back Video

We began experimenting with video and the kids said they appreciated it so we added short 5-7 minute video lessons to compound the learning. (Finally, a good use for YouTube. Thank you, Bible Project!)

Next, I sought advice from a colleague who regularly volunteers to work with early teens.

Youth Ministry Strategies for Teaching Prayer

Set the Tone

Before you do anything else, make sure you’re welcoming the children to the class. You’re aiming for laughter and light-heartedness. Be playful. Growing closer to God is a joyful experience. You’re there to grow in fun, faith and friendship.

Modeling and Volunteering

Now, about that prayer wall. Some of the tactics my friend mentioned we were already using. Those were:

Modeling prayer
Volunteering them for a turn

Of course, public speaking ranks slightly above the fear of death in adults, so we recognized volunteering them too soon or too often could be scary enough to drive our children away for good. And modeling wasn’t really having the encouraging effect we were hoping for. What else could we do?

Break into Smaller Groups

My friend also suggested breaking them into groups of two or three to pray. Here, my wife added her own touch to suggest having them share one thing they’re thankful for and one area where they need help. (Variation: Share best and worst experiences from the week and pray over that.)

When we piloted this in class, it worked wonderfully. We had the children self-select into pairs and then we modeled for them and set them to it. They took turns sharing and then prayed over each other. After a few minutes we gave them a one-minute warning to wrap up. Once the exercise was over, we asked them if they liked that approach and found nodding heads. Success!

If this were a workshop, we might ask our participants to share their experiences with the larger group; what they liked about it, what they might change, etc. Still, the smiles around the table were evidence they appreciated the more intimate format.

Conclusion: Smaller prayer teams needs to stay a fixture for a while. Maybe permanently.

Prayer Stations

We almost had this one. After all, we already had a prayer wall (prayer station #1.) Still, we can push the concept further by developing prayer stations. These prayer stations might focus on:

A religious season, say Christmas or Easter (giving to others, prophesy fulfilled, God’s love for us, etc.)
A local situation or people group that needs divine assistance (election results, refugee families, emergency workers, teachers, etc.)
Their school (pray for safety, Holy Spirit to guide faculty, clear teaching, integrity in friendships, etc.)
Their families (unity, health and safety, love, relationship with God, etc.)
Prayer itself (declaration, adoration, confession, thankfulness, supplication, intercession, etc.) (see Praying ACTS)

Using prayer stations gets the kids praying on their own (or within a small team) and it gives them guided experience with prayer; something they may not be getting at home.

Form Your Own Prayer Team Online

This is kind of like moving your prayer wall to the Internet without having to stand up a website. You can accomplish this through a Facebook group or you can use the popular group messaging application, GroupMe. You may want to get parental permission before moving forward on this one. Still, if all your kids have phones, these channels may be a good way to solidify your youth group and continue the conversation outside the walls of your church.

Reminders for Your Students

As you establish prayer in your youth ministry, be sure to remind your students the most important thing they can do is to make time for daily fellowship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We must acknowledge God’s love for us. As God’s children, we have a right to approach Him, no matter what we’ve seen, done or experienced.

When praying, ensure your motivation is founded in faith (believing for what you want to see and the truth of the Gospel) as opposed to fear, loneliness, pain, discomfort (fruits of the Fall.) This is a focus on a covenant solution rather than a worldly problem.

We speak destiny and purpose over others; never doom or gloom. Prayer must flow out of love and compassion.

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July 12, 2017

Creation Identity vs Creator Identity

This message was originally written for an intra-church outreach campaign focused around an outdoor music festival called “Common Ground”. This talk was first delivered to a small team of local evangelists who met at Maranatha Church for messages, prayer and announcements prior to beginning their work at the festival. The talk speaks to personal concerns held by the evangelists, who—over the course of the outreach—had expressed challenges they were experiencing in their own lives.

Early in my career as a web designer and Internet marketer, I took a lot of pride and identity from my work. In fact, I took so much identity from my work that when I would experience trouble with a client, it would wreck me emotionally. It took me years on an emotional roller-coaster before I learned that not all clients are a fit. For every 10 to 12 jobs I took over the course of a year, one always seemed to implode. Of course, I always tried my best to salvage any project, but sometimes things just took a turn. This was a bitter pill until I learned to not glean so much of my personal identity from my work. I also learned to communicate more and to be more selective about both my clients and the contractors I hired.

Where Do We Get Our Sense of Self?

Our identity comes from one of two places: either from the world or from God. Another way to put it: our identity comes from either the creation or our Creator. Seeing as the things of this world are temporary (family, friends, culture, media, etc.,) it’s obviously best to claim our identity from our infinite God, in whose image we were created. Still, where does this broken sense of world-driven identity come from?

Genesis 3:6-10

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Good for food to whom? Pleasant to whose eyes? To make who wise? Adam and Eve decide against God’s will for them, and in choosing their own path, humanity falls into sin. Don’t think for a second your or I would have done any better. Adam and Eve walked with God, among His glorious, untarnished creation, and still, humanity fell within the first generation of a single family. The probability for this error would only be higher had there been more than two people in the beginning. This should show us something about ourselves and the nature of free will. Even a third of the host of heaven fell through free will. The problem isn’t with free will, but with what we do with it.

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

Self-consciousness leads to self-protection; self-preservation.

9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

Of course, God knows where they are, just as He knew what they would do. God calls us to conviction, confession and repentance, as modeled first here.

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Self-centered desire leads to self-consciousness, self-focus.

Matthew 24:37-39

37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Self-indulgence and self-preoccupation.

More Examples of Self-Seeking

In Genesis 20, Abraham lies about being married to Sarah so he is not killed.

Self-preservation. Self-protection.

In 2 Samuel 11, David takes Bathsheba for his own and sends her husband into battle and certain death.

Self-gratification.

The kings of Israel and Judah were primarily self-seeking and self-motivated.

Even the great prophets often sought to save their own skins. Moses, Gideon, Saul, Jonah and Jeremiah are just some examples of great men of God who were reluctant to step out for God. Consider Moses’ reluctance in accepting God’s mission for him to return to Egypt and demand the release of the Israelites:

Exodus 3:11

And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?

Exodus 4:1

And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.

Exodus 4:10

And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

Exodus 4:13

And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

NKJV

But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”

Here we see Moses—considered to be one of the greatest men of God of all time—arguing with the Infinite Creator of the Universe, desperately hoping to place his will before the Father’s. The same Moses who later leads the children of Israel out of Egypt and parts the Red Sea is nervously trying to talk his way out of his God-given mission.

In contrast, we have Jesus’ example. In self-less, self-sacrifice, He died to self and took on the will of the Father.

John 5:30

30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Called to Be Light

For me, this Common Ground mission pulls me out of self. It’s not always comfortable to hand out tracts and receive rejection after rejection. Self-confidence—if that’s what we’re running upon—takes a hit after so much rejection, but love and obedience perseveres.

Fortunately, we don’t rely upon our own self-confidence. We seek to die to self, move in the Spirit and be of Kingdom service. The mission is larger than the self.

Matthew 5:15 / Luke 8:16 / Luke 11:33

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Our challenge is not only for a few nights here at Common Ground. Our mission field is in the living rooms, in the offices, on our social media channels.

When circumstances and people become uncomfortable, do we shrink away in self-preservation and self-consciousness?

Or do we die to self and stand upon the rock in the storm, in love and patience and confidence—confidence not in ourselves and our own abilities, but in our Lord?

Even at the end of the night, when we may be wondering if our time invested will bear any fruit in the people we’ve touched, we must put aside any notions of self-worth and leave the expansion of our efforts to the Holy Spirit.

Don’t Expect to Be Enough

1 Corinthians 4:10-14

10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.

11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;

12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.

Paul’s words to the prideful church of Corinth act as a reminder. Even to say we are not good enough, strong enough, smart enough, not old enough, not young enough, not eloquent enough; these things are still pride. Self-consciousness. Self-focus. Self-loathing. Self-preservation. Through it all, our attention is to remain on Him.

Our Prayer

Father, we humble ourselves as servants and we step forward in love and faith and belief to minister to God’s children, believers and non-believers alike, under the guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit. Father, we recognize if we’re fearful and focused upon ourselves or our circumstances, we’ve taken our eyes off you and placed them upon the storm, and—like Peter—we’ll begin to sink into dark waters. So, Holy Spirit, walk with us as we commit to keeping our eyes upon you. We want only you.

I pray this, in the holy name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

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July 3, 2017

Curriculum for Christian Youth Ministry

The Challenge

Challenge: Students aging out of 6^th grade Sunday school are pressed into adult service before they may be ready.

Solution: Offer an additional class for young students to continue the faith development.

Audience: 7^th to 8^th grade, 9^th-12^th grades optional.

Format: A typical segment may include verbal instruction, video, guest speakers, breakout groups, extracurricular field trips and supplemental reading.

†

Focus

A proposed curriculum would target the following three approaches:

Identity

The world attempts to shape us in accordance with its shifting trends, fads and events. It drives to distract, lure and establish strongholds that last for generations. Our identity must be rooted in what the Father says about us through the life of Jesus Christ. Without this understanding, our so-called “Christian” walk will be sin-conscious, confused and void of the power and authority necessary to weather life’s storms and certainly won’t represent the glory of God’s kingdom. We know we’re told we are made in His image, but what does that really mean? Are all events, good or bad, really ordained by God? Topics may include the character of God and mankind, how the life of Jesus should affect our walk, spiritual gifts and the power of prayer.

Apologetics

Establish a strong foundation for understanding, communicating and defending the proof-claims behind the Christian worldview (1 Peter 3:15). According to a 2006 study by Barna Research, 61% of young adults who were once churched are now spiritually disengaged. As our children mature, are they ready to take on the world without being shaped by the world? Does Noah’s ark still look like a bathtub brimming with cartoon animal heads? Discussion topics may include young Earth creationism in the face of “billions” of years, global flood accounts, evolution, fine tuning of the universe, the authority of the Bible (including archeological evidence for Sodom and Gomorrah and the Red Sea crossing,) atheism, world religions, the problem of evil and the argument for God.

Culture

Whether at school or at home, our children will be confronted by varying forms of relativism. The life decisions they make in the blink of an eye will be shaped by how well-grounded they are in their faith and their moral code. If absolute truth doesn’t exist and we are simply living for ourselves, matters of morality become a personal choice. Issues such as drugs, abortion, bullying, sexuality, body image, social media, academic and peer pressures, on-screen violence, depression, morality and ethics may be covered.

SUPPLEMENTAL

The testimony of college students (from the Center for Parent & Youth Understanding – www.cpyu.org):

1) Alysia at the University of Illinois said:

My youth group was fairly useless in preparing me for college. A short course in different religions helped me, but what helped me more was attending Worldview Academy for two summers. The challenging of my faith and teaching me the apologetics, leadership, and evangelism helped the most–especially by helping me determine why I personally believed in Christianity and by giving me the tools to help share that with others…My youth group was a place where the leaders were trying everything from games to parties to entice people to come, but they wouldn’t dive deep into any theological or social topic. We were treated as intellectual babies and thus never grew to understand the importance or the relevance of the Christian faith.

2) Daniel at Erskine College said:

I wish my youth group had done more to prepare me for the academic challenges to Christianity instead of focusing on high school drama. I was fortunate to make great and knowledgeable friends, but I have known others who have turned away because of professors and students raising tough objections. I wish my youth group had taken things more seriously and done more apologetics and less of worrying about the drama of high school.

3) And Gabrielle at Chatham University said:

I was in several youth groups in high school and unfortunately found that youth group was too ?soft—we played a lot of games and had a lot of fun retreats, but rarely learned about the fundamentals of faith, why we believe what we believe, and what it is that we do believe. Now that I am in college, my faith is under constant scrutiny and always being tested by scientific concepts and the secular slant of most universities. I wish I had been equipped with a more solid justification for my faith: knowing how to answer the tough questions, how to respond to arguments, and how to stand firm in what feels like a storm against my spirituality.

†

We can’t let up “in here,” in the church, because they’re not letting up “out there.”

Listen to philosopher Richard Rorty, quoted in Rorty and His Critics, chapter 1 entitled “Universality and Truth” (Blackwell Publishing 2000), page 22:

…we try to arrange things so that students who enter as bigoted, homophobic, religious fundamentalists will leave college with views more like our own . . . The fundamentalist parents of our fundamentalist students think that the entire ‘American liberal establishment’ is engaged in a conspiracy. The parents have a point. Their point is that we liberal teachers no more feel in a symmetrical communication situation when we talk with bigots than do kindergarten teachers talking with their students . . .

When we American college teachers encounter religious fundamentalists, we do not consider the possibility of reformulating our own practices of justification so as to give more weight to the authority of the Christian scriptures. Instead, we do our best to convince these students of the benefits of secularization….So we are going to go right on trying to discredit you in the eyes of your children, trying to strip your fundamentalist religious community of dignity, trying to make your views seem silly rather than discussable..

References

Kunkle, Brett. 2009. Who‘s Waiting for Your Kid. Stand to Reason.

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August 17, 2016

A Letter to My Church

This article was originally released on July 20, 2016 as a guest post for ChurchTechToday at http://churchtechtoday.com/2016/07/18/grow-or-shrink-an-open-letter-to-my-church/.

My church.

For too long you have wandered the desert looking for Me. Good that you reflect upon My Word, but ill that you do not believe. You reduce My Word to simple platitudes; slogans for billboards and Internet memes. You prop yourselves up by them in your times of distress instead of remaining in grace through faith.

The world slaps at you and instead of loving all the more and turning the other cheek, you retreat and pray your circumstances and oppressors will change. Your words burn My ears. Do you not see My artistry all around you? So busy are you, so caught in the flesh, you don’t dare look up for fear of losing your weak grasp on your paper lives. Your bodies are not meant to continue forever, yet you insist on consuming as if they will.

Love.

“Love,” was what He said. Love is not idolatry. Loving Me is you returning to your Source. I call you. All of you. Regardless of your world views and your sins, I am calling you. Yet you play judge and jury amongst yourselves, passing judgment upon one another from within your own flesh. So few of you even try to see as I see you. You all bear Our image. Yet you insist on drawing lines upon the maps in your minds. This one is blinded by color. That one is blinded by sex. This one is blinded by prejudice. That one is blinded by fear.

And so you fail the second Commandment to love your neighbor because you fail to see them as I see them. You fail to see them as I see them because you fail to see yourselves as I see you. My Blood has paid a high price for you. Your value to Me is endless. My love for you is endless. This alone is enough if you understand, yet you cling to one another, blindly grasping for comfort at things made of dust. If you would pray ceaselessly, My Presence would fill you more than any pastor’s sermon, child’s love or personal mission. Your business is My enemy if it’s taking your eyes off Me.

I denounce My church. I have never told you to build large buildings. My grandeur cannot be captured in rock and metal and wood so why is your focus there? I have never told you to stay in one place. He said, “Go.” Your buildings are anchors around your necks. You worry about keeping the lights on. You worry about the lawns and parking lots. You worry about paint and carpet. I have said, “Be still and know that I am.” You worry about audio and video. You model the concerns of the flesh and yet preach a story of spirit.

You believe the lies and then you spread them. You meet the world on the world’s terms. I have not changed. I have shown you the path; the narrow gate. I have preserved My Word in you, yet you choose to look away and follow the Aggressor’s lead. His songs tickle your ears as they did in the Garden. I call you back from the pit. Here is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Your world is paper. Do not be deceived by it. You are all My children. See yourselves for you who are and return to Me.

Awaken, church. You are redeemed in blood and Spirit. Recognize yourselves and each other as one people of the One True and Living God. You must be transformed in faith, from image to image, sanctified daily in My Spirit. Seek Me and you shall find Me. That joy in your heart is My gift. Now go and share it with others. Do this and discover what it means to be My church.

A Note from the Author

When Lauren of ChurchTechToday asked me to consider writing another guest post, she mentioned I might write an introduction for a short paper I produced years ago called The Top 10 Reasons Why Your Church is Shrinking. I liked the idea and agreed, but as I went back to review that work, I realized I may have missed the mark.

When I produced the piece, I was very much operating from the corporate mindset that churches should be in the business of growing. The underlying thought there is plain to see: To be growing in numbers and popularity as a church is to be advancing God’s Kingdom on Earth.

What should hopefully be equally obvious is the blatant fallacy that growth in headcount means spiritual victory. It means nothing of the sort.

It was painfully clear to me I had written the Why Your Church is Shrinking paper from a flesh-driven point of view.

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:5-8 KJV)

When we as a church begin to ask the question, “How do we grow?” we begin to take our eyes off the Spirit and place them squarely upon worldly metrics for what we perceive to be success. This is nonsense. When we plant a seed, the most we can do is to nurture and protect it. There is nothing we can do to force it to grow. Ever notice forests don’t seem to need humans to plant them. God does just fine with that all on His own.

Want to grow your church? Jesus gave us that example. Prayerfully receive those the Lord presents, regardless of what you see with your eyes. Disciple them in the ways of the Spirit, nurturing them from faith to faith. (This step assumes you’re walking in Spirit enough to lead others, of course.) Then send them into the world to multiply. Rinse. Repeat.

That’s it. Simple, right?

The whole process seems to take about three years if you’re already walking on water and raising the dead. If you’re not there yet, allow for extra time (just to be sure.)

Kidding aside, when I dove in and began researching for this article, I found plenty of examples on why it might be okay for church to be shrinking and even more examples trying to explain why a church might be shrinking. I didn’t find too many articles that suggested maybe institutionalizing God’s Word might be off in the bushes.

So, I prayed on it. I prayed to be emptied of me and that the words would be those of the Holy Spirit. I believed they would be and then I listened. When I received the “My church” opening, I felt my stomach drop a little. I wrote what came up anyways. Sometimes the words flowed easily. Sometimes I had to stop, close my eyes and be still for a while before more words came. It’s a lot harsher than what I would produce on my own. I don’t think it’s meant to enflame, but it sure feels to me it’s meant to purify by flame. I never felt any anger, righteousness or anything rough. I felt peace, fatherly correction and—from my side—occasionally guilt or sadness and a small dash of, “Yikes.”

If your church is shrinking, your mission is to grow in the Spirit; not to grow in the numbers. Our mission is to share the Gospel in faith; it is the Holy Spirit who converts hearts. In Luke 14, we see Jesus give a tough message that surely frustrated many who heard it:

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:25-27 KJV)

Does this sound like the soft gospel of tolerance being preached by many churches today? Jesus’ focus was in Spirit; not on flesh and blood. This is where our focus should be as well.

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May 16, 2016

2016 Presidential Election: When Voting Abstention Seems the Only Option

While surfing Facebook today, I ran across a revealing post on Hillary Clinton’s inconsistent position on the hot social topics of our time:

While I had no intention of voting for her, this video brought forward my dissatisfaction with the ALL the remaining presidential candidates into full Techni-color glory. Normally, I would vote Republican, but this year I was really considering abstaining. Neither business acumen nor political chameleon superpowers are enough to make up for the gross lack of character and integrity we’re presented with this year.

However, as I mentioned in my Facebook post on this topic, “the retort to that is, ‘Many have died to so we can have the freedom to vote as we want.’ Certainly abstaining is part of that freedom, but.. is it right? A quote against abstaining from the vote would be one commonly attributed to Einstein: ‘The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.'”

Well, one of the folks who responded to that thread had probably one of the best suggestions I’ve heard. Her words: “At this point I feel my best option is to vote a write-in (namely : Ted Cruz)…still exercising my right to vote – and yet standing by my convictions. Maybe it won’t matter at this election – but who knows the influence it could have at the next if enough of us take a stand?”

I had forgotten about the write-in option. I think that will be it for me. In the meantime, may God have mercy on our country. Like Israel before us, we are being judged and are being left to our iniquity. Hang onto your seats, recommit to sharing the Gospel, and pray for forgiveness.

Matt

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