Tag: Giving

Why I stayed in church

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I’ve constantly dealt with the question of why 20’s and early 30’s were leaving the church. I never asked why I didn’t leave. Here is a first attempt at answering the question. It revolves around one key thing: God.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 1:6

Religion is a crutch
True. We do not need a crutch, we need a savior. We don’t need help or an aid, we need something that will radically change us. The biggest thing to me about the church is the Gospel. The central message of the Gospel is death to life; sin to righteousness. This isn’t found by a right of passage or a self-help crutch. It is founded on Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.

Christians are just hypocrites
True. We’re also liars, thieves, fornicators, cheats, gossips, gluttons, drunkards, murderers, slanders, etc. Funny thing is, as I look across the human experience, I see the same thing. The church isn’t made of perfect people, and if it were, we’d at least be liars according to 1 John. Church is family. We’re not perfect, but being perfect is not the point. Again, it comes down to the central message of the Gospel. Church is filled with redeemed people not perfect people.

Church doesn’t meet my needs
True. Here is the paradox of church: If everyone comes to church focused on meeting everyone’s needs, everyone’s needs gets met. Church is not about what you can get, it is about what you can give to others. Why would someone join something that is not about them is a bit crazy. This goes back to the central message of the Gospel: Jesus gave Himself on our behalf. His focus was on our needs and the Father’s will, not Himself.

The Gospel
I did not quit because I believe Jesus died and rose again. Believing this means being a part of a community of people who also hold that belief and seek to proclaim the message of death to life. The Gospel is central. Church is not about what I get, but as Jesus modeled, church is about what I give. The hardest principle to get is realizing the church is not about me, it’s about Him.

The Church
I embrace the church because it is Jesus’ most prized possession. In pursuing Christ and helping others, ultimately our own needs get met. In getting the focus off ourselves we gain depth and a spirituality that can only come from the grace of the Cross. In church we realize the greatest need of all mankind and the only solution. We’re messed up, and knowing that fully, Jesus still reached out to us.

The bottom line:
I did not quit church because Jesus did not quit on me, those in the church, or those who still have not heard the Gospel. The church isn’t perfect and neither am I, and that’s ok. Christ is the one who makes us complete and perfect. The problems of church become less and when I pursue God and help others more.

Manic Monday: Be real & listen

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I watched a video with Fancis Chan, Mark Driscoll and Joshua Harris. I’m not quite sure what the discussion was about, but Mark switched the topic to what Francis is doing. The conversation exemplified speaking the truth in love, asking hard questions, and theology. I encourage you to take the time to watch and listen here. It’s about 15 min.

Note these things:

1) A concern and valuing of a brother takes precedent over the agenda.

2) The issue was discussed in community at Francis Chan’s church.

3) The Bible and the Gospel drove the conversation and issue.

4) The spirit of love, concern and truth.

We need to be real with each other in a way that is gracious and loving while also being truthful and discerning. We also need to have theology be a driving force in our discussion processes. Too often we assume the theology and disguise our conversations as “general revelation” or “it’s not an “un-biblical” issue, just a “non-biblical” one. We act based on what we believe. This conversation is an example of that. We need more of this kind of talk in churches.

(especially on Monday)

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2010/08/30/what%E2%80%99s-next-for-francis-chan/

Why Not Wednesday? Giving Churches

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Francis Chan raised a question that I am still trying to wrap my mind around: What if Churches were known more for giving then taking? I tried a few attempts to write this blog entry, but I cannot seem to get my thoughts in line. Perhaps that is why Chan’s question is so potent. Here is what I have observed and sensed:

Meeting the needs of the disadvantage:
In many conservative circles the worry is about following the “social gospel.” They point fingers accusing of other churches or ministries as being part of the social gospel. These anti-social gospel churches are not against disadvantaged people, but they not known for being actively there for the disadvantaged.

Market driven content:
Market forces play a huge role in church curriculum, books and conferences. This often leads to a loss of historical knowledge or ideas that are incredible and often needed today. Its hard to support such financially if one uses a market approach. A worker is worthy of his hire, and we must follow the laws of the land. The bigger trend seems being more capitalistic then one church body. We love to protect or control what we feel is ours, whether physical or intellectual.

Church planting:
The data supports that relational evangelism and church plants are the top ways to lead people to Christ. Yet, why are so many churches not actively pushing church planting? Mega churches have grown who throughout their growth also planted churches. These churches planted and they grew at the same time. I have no clue how to process this one. It is perplexing to me. I see ‘wisdom’ on both sides of the discussion.

Giving:
What does it look like for a church to be giving? Not only to the community, but to the church community as well. Looking back at history, it seems we as churches like to give seconds. I saw this all the time in the area of missions. (I cringe stories of missionaries who were sent used tea bags.) We discuss with the church’s walls the need to give our best to God. What does giving our best to God as local church bodies look like?

Bottom Line:
I think the bottom line is the question: What if churches were more known for giving? I think this raises more questions and calls for more thinking. Perhaps this is the next big question Christ wants the church to deal with in the next few years to come. I wonder if the real issue is that as churches we desire control more than anything? To give ultimately means losing our grip on what we can control.

I wish I had more answers, but for now only questions. It would be fun to see this become a broad discussion amongst our churches.