Is It A Hard Saying?

Over the next few posts, I will be showing the text of a chapter from a book that I have just read. I will not reveal the author or the book title until after I have posted the complete chapter. For all of those who have been arguing and stressing the fact of needing to be relevant in today's society, to those who have hinted that we need to lower our standards to reach the world to those who feel that the church is almost a hopeless"club", please read these pages. Share your thoughts. Let me know how you feel about this in regards to the above statements.

I want to stress that this writing is not mine, but being that I have posted it, I must be endorsing it.

The title of the chapter is: "Is It A Hard Saying?"

In a former article I said that the want of an infusion of power from on high should be deemed a disqualification for a pastor, a deacon or elder, a Sunday school superintendent, a professor in a Christian college, and especially for a professor in a theological seminary. Is this a hard saying? Is this an uncharitable saying? Is it unjust? Is it unreasonable? Is it unscriptural?
Suppose any one of the Apostles, or those present on the day of Pentecost, had failed, through apathy, selfishness, unbelief, indolence, or ignorance, to obtain this outpouring of power. Would it have been uncharitable, unjust, unreasonable, or unscriptural, to have accounted him disqualified for the work which Christ had appointed them?

Christ had expressly informed them that without this infusion of power, they could do nothing. He had expressly commanded them not to attempt the work in their own strength, but to tarry at Jerusalem until they received the necessary power from on high. He had also expressly promised that if they tarried, in the sense which He intended, they should receive it “not many days hence” (Acts1:5). They evidently understood Him to command them to tarry in the sense of a constant waiting upon Him in prayer and supplication for the blessing. Now, suppose that any one of them had stayed away and attended to his own business, and waited for the sovereignty of God to confer this power. He of course would have been disqualified for the work; and if his fellow-Christians, who had obtained this power, had deemed him so, would it have been uncharitable, unreasonable, unscriptural?

Is it not true of all to who the command to disciple the world is given, and to who the promise of this power is made, if through any shortcoming or fault of theirs they fail to obtain this gift, that they are in fact disqualified for the work, and especially for any official position? Are they not, in fact, disqualified for leadership in the sacramental host? Are they qualified for teachers of those who are to do the work? If it is a fact that they do lack this power, however this defect is to be accounted for, it is also a fact that they are not qualified for teachers of God’s people; and if they are seen to be disqualified because they lack this power, it must be reasonable and right and Scriptural so to deem them, and so to speak of them, and so to treat them.

Who has a right to complain? Surely, they have not. Should the Church of God be burdened with teachers and leaders who lack this fundamental qualification, when their failing to possess it must be their own fault? It is truly amazing to see the obvious apathy, indolence, ignorance, and unbelief that exist on this subject. They are inexcusable. They must be highly criminal. With such a command to convert the world ringing in our ears; with such an admonition to wait in constant, wrestling prayer till we receive the power; with such a promise, made by such a Savior, held out to us, a promise of all the help we need from Christ Himself, what excuse can we offer for being powerless in this great work? What an awe-inspiring responsibility rests upon us, upon the whole Church, upon every Christian!

Hear the Voice? Is it the giant or the giant slayer?

All around us are a multitude of voices calling out our name. So many are trying to give us the advice and direction that will grant to us the tried and true answer. Society seems to have the right solutions at all times, but yet there is such a variety of answers for the same questions.

We are called to be tolerant and inclusive of all people. If we hold to only one solution, we are considered close-minded. If we hold to the fact that Jesus is the only way to heaven, we are considered as be exclusive of other people and are not relevant. If we take offence to the fact that certain religions declare war against Christianity, if we take a stand against this then we are being hatefully and not Christ like (see some of the post-links on the left for some of these thought lines. You'll have to read some the comments under the posts).

Are we too busy in deciding if we are relevant or not and then actually become un-relevant due to lack of action? Do we spend too much time in debate as to what the world needs to hear from us and fail to even tell them the simple gospel message? Do we spend too much time in "Aim, Target, Aim, Target, Aim, Target" and never finish the routine by firing? Are we too concern about what or how it will effect people's emotions and feelings that we have become a watered down functioning church? Do we spend too much time in debate among ourselves and fail to hear the voice of God? Are we too wrapped up in "what it can be" and fail to make it what it should be? Are we listening to the voices of giants and fail to hear the voice of the giant slayer?

Remember, the giant slayer who is calling out our name, only sees our giants as grasshoppers.

Let’s paint a picture in your mind. Picture a football game. The teams are stacked against each other on the field of play. Each is battling against the other for the score which will make them the winner.

You are the quarterback, the team leader on the field with the great responsibility of leading the team to the goal. All around the playing field, supporters of each team are sitting in the crowd. Those you know along with scores and scores of others you don’t are aggressively voicing their insights and proclamations. Through the many voices, you have trouble in finding that one voice, that one sound that one familiar proclamation that will give direction.

Your opposing team is taunting you with jeers. They try to paralyze you, to cause you to freeze so to be unable to complete the duty assigned. You look into their eyes and see an in-depth determination that causes you to shutter. An eeriness of insecurity begins to penetrate your soul. The front line seemingly begins to grow even larger. Your personal defenders in-like manner, get smaller, as like now you’re grasshoppers against giants.
Then you pause. You glance around. Then there it is. That one thing you were wondering if it was still available. That time and object which in the past has brought you clarity and surety. You now have it. It, being that familiar voice of your coach gently speaking in your ear through the direct connection that you share with him. This connection allows you to filter through all other voices. Allowing you to shut out and shut down the voices of taunting. It lifts and restores. It secures your resolve to win.

Oh how precious it is to hear that voice.


We too are in the game. It is the game of fulfilling the mission, securely and confidently given to us. The mission, you ask? It is: “To fulfill the Great Commission and to live out the Great Commandment.” The mission produces within us a vision of what can be and will be. It develops within us a resolve that governs and empowers all that we do. It brings us an urgency in which we can not rest until the game is over. We are set to do it. We are ready to take on the Giants.

Culturally Relevant Gospel

There is a story about two boys, and each was given a block of wood and a knife. They were instructed to begin whittling. Both set off with great determination to complete the task given them. They were aggressively making the wood chips fly. When they finished the given task, they were asked to present their final product. The first handed over a nicely carved boat and the second handed over a pile of wood shavings.

What was the difference for the outcome? One had a vision within the task and the second only saw the task. This is a reflective illustration of how we, the church, often approach the journey of the task. We hear the presentation, and receive tools to do it then set off aggressively in getting it done. Then when we are asked to present the result of the process there is a wide variety in the end product.

To have a “Culturally Relevant Gospel” it requires visualizing what the end of the journey can and should look like. Time must be spent in “seeing the boat” before starting. All of the tools and materials have been previously given to us. We the church have been given the knife, “When the Holy Spirit comes upon you” and the block of wood, “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the far ends of the earth” and the task “Be my witnesses”. We do not need to change the tool or find a new block of wood. The task has not changed.

So what do we need to do to have a culturally relevant Gospel? In my experience in wood working, there are different types of wood and an equal amount of requirements to work with wood. Just as the scripture above depicts different groups of people, we must realize, no, we must deeply comprehend that people (and situations) are vastly different and requires different handling. Think with me. Instead of only looking at the listing of the people groups of Acts 1:8 as different regions, let’s look at the listing as different personalities, make-up and styles of people. Just as different regions must be ministered to at a culturally relevant way, so local people must be ministered to relevantly based upon their socially, mentally, educationally and economically make-up.

So, why it is that two churches placed in the same region experience different results? They are handed the same block of wood, receive the same tool and given the same task, but the results are so vastly different. I have trouble believing that God desires one over the other in completing the journey. I have trouble that God desires to bless one church and not the other. I have trouble accepting that God wants one church to have more and higher quality results. I refuse to accept that God provides a better tool to one over the other. But why are there different results? Can I suggest that maybe we, the wood workers are just whittlers and not cravers. Maybe we do not stop and visualize what the block of wood can be. I think of when Jesus approached Jerusalem and the scripture says that He beheld the city, He began to weep. He beheld … He visualized the status of the city and realized just what they could become. He stopped and looked at the block of wood and saw the boat. Let’s stop and see the boats in our blocks of wood and take the necessary steps to release the boats thus we become carvers instead of whittlers.

One additional thought. Consider the knife. Just in carving, the proper use of the tool makes all of the difference regardless of the vision you have. Use the knife the wrong way you’ll destroy the final outcome. Use the tool the wrong way, and you run the very high risk of causing grave bodily damage. A dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one when it comes to carving. (Our knife when it comes to craving for the Church will never go dull).

Having a culturally relevant gospel does not mean changing the gospel to fit the region, but the changing the ways in which we get the boats out of the blocks of wood we have been given. Are you; am I, a whittler or a carver?

Marketing The Church

“Share The Dream … Build The Team” Ten keys for revitalizing your church, Donald W. Morgan.

In the chapter “Let your light shine” Morgan makes this statement. “We in the church are called to do a first-rate public relations job. We’re to do a first-rate communications job, a first-rate sales job and a first-rate advertising job. These are not to be an afterthought, of marginal consideration, or elective. They’re points central to our evangelistic task – if we would make good on the mission committed to us by our Lord Christ”

His scriptural support, or at least his proof text, is Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket … Let you light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

While I believe that his expounding of the text is stretched beyond traditional interpretation, I do not want to debate the scripture. What I like to converse about is: Are we the church, becoming to much like a business? Looking for the next marketing program so to grow our business? I know we have to get our “name” out into the public so that people will know we are in existence and so we can be found. But are we so desperate to establish our identity that we must rely upon marketing to find it?

Do new and fancy words describe who we are? Have we abandon our Biblical identity and gone to gadgets and trends to re-establish it? Are the structures (the avenues through which we do ministry) taken the lead in who we are as a church? In example: We are a seeker-sensitive church. We are a contemporary worship style church. We are a blended worship church. We are a church made up of small communities. We are a relevant church in an ever changing world. And so forth.

I fear that we are so consumed with trying to “market” the church that we a failing in getting the message out. Society/population is growing faster than the church. A higher percentage of ‘church growth” is basically transfer growth. Oh I know that this does not apply to all churches, but is it not true for most?

Can we discuss these lines of thought? I would love to hear from individuals who are in the trenches.

Shall We Become Relevant?

New day. Emergent Church. Vibrant Church. Relevant Ministry. And a whole lot more. There are a vast amount of terms used today through out the church world to describe the status of ministry that the church should obtain and/or function at. Why do we, church leaders find ourselves so often wrapped up in making sure we have the “correct” terminology as the basis of what we do as a church? Don’t get me wrong, I deeply believe that the church must be relevant to the ministry community to where God has placed them. We must relate to the people to whom we have been entrusted with the Holy task of sharing the all powerful Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must make sure we are using all available “tools” to get the message out beyond the walls of the church. After all Jesus was the first one to us PowerPoint in his message. Recall the story of the woman caught in adultery and in the midst of the message to those standing around he drew something on the ground and showed to the onlookers? (I know that point is lame but I thought I would just throw it in to see if anyone catches it.) We must think beyond the boundaries of tradition.

Do not all these terms really mean ministry? Do they not describe exactly what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:19-27?
“Although I'm free from all people, I have made myself a slave for all people to win more of them. I became Jewish for Jewish people. I became subject to Moses' Teachings for those who are subject to those laws. I did this to win them even though I'm not subject to Moses' Teachings. I became like a person who does not have Moses' Teachings for those who don't have those teachings. I did this to win them even though I have God's teachings. I'm really subject to Christ's teachings. I became like a person weak in faith to win those who are weak in faith. I have become everything to everyone in order to save at least some of them. I do all this for the sake of the Good News in order to share what it offers. Don't you realize that everyone who runs in a race runs to win, but only one runner gets the prize? Run like them, so that you can win. Everyone who enters an athletic contest goes into strict training. They do it to win a temporary crown, but we do it to win one that will be permanent. So I run-but not without a clear goal ahead of me. So I box-but not as if I were just shadow boxing. Rather, I toughen my body with punches and make it my slave so that I will not be disqualified after I have spread the Good News to others.” (God’s Word Version)

Paul, as well as the members of the early church, had a solid grasp upon what it took to win lost people. They deeply understood the term “emergent”, “relevant”, “seeker-sensitive”, “vibrant” and any of the “church-correct” (like politically correct) terms that grace across the pages of today’s modern day church growth movement. Oh, they understood deeply their culture, for they were a part of it. They understood the necessity of relating with the people groups they we involved with as they shared the gospel. However, I feel that one of the main distinctions that is prevalently seen among them, was they did not candy-up the gospel message. The gospel message is suppose to give a stinging effect to the hearers. The presentation of the gospel message does not become more powerful because we have altered the methods of presentation to reach the post-moderns.

A couple of years back, I got involved in a discussion with a minister in North Carolina about rather the Bible is any longer relevant to society. He told me, that there is a group of churches with strong ties in Alabama that is in the process of re-writing the Bible. His claim was that they felt that the historical Bible no longer contains the adequate messages for today’s society. Because of this conclusion, they feel that a new Bible must be written so that the modern society can hear from God. This is more than just another paraphrased version or another translation; it is a totally new bible.

Though I have not been able to find credible sources of confirmation of this information, may I assume for a minute that it is true? With this being true it raises a fear within my heart about becoming relevant as the main focus of what we do as a church. I know that this is a very far extreme result but could this become the final destination of the road of becoming relevant?

Let me suggest the following: If we have …
Empowering Leadership, Gift-based Ministry, Needs-based Evangelism, Inspiring Worship Services, Passionate Spirituality, Loving Relationships, Holistic Small Groups and Functional Structures then we will win the lost, disciple believers, equip the disciples and release labors into ministry. This will take place through the 5 avenues of growing the Church. We will then be: Broader through Ministry, Stronger through Worship, Larger through Evangelism, Warmer through Fellowship and Deeper through Discipleship.

Let’s not get so wrapped up in relevant terms of modern dialect, but let’s get wrapped up in being impacted by the passion of Christ … with a desire to impact all people with that passion. I guess what I am trying to say is this. Are people coming into a life changing, heart cleansing, and life equipping relationship with Jesus Christ through the things we are doing as a church? If not then why do it? Being relevant is not the issue … or is it?
Hum ….