A Very Hard Thing to do...

I have been reading a book entitled "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara. If you are familiar at all with the American Civil War you have probably ran across this book. I love to study history, and I have finally gotten around to reading this book. After all the author was awarded a Pulitzer prize for this book back in the mid 1970's so I figured it would be a good read. Anyway, why am I sharing this.

One of the quotes in the book attributed to General Robert E. Lee says, "To be a good soldier you must love the army. But to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love. That is...a very hard thing to do. No other profession requires it. That is one reason why there are so very few good officers. Although there are many good men."

Normally I would just think this a good thought and ponder its historical significance, but for some reason God keeps bringing this thought to mind when it comes to ministry, the church, and being a pastor. Most pastors would say that they love the church, but it the same breath the use that as a reason why the must protect the church. They feel that it is there duty. I know this feeling having been a pastor in an evangelical church. This thought process flies in the face of what God has said in His Word, the Bible. Why do I say this. Listen to the words of Jesus.

In Mathew 16 Christ is having a conversation with Peter and Peter realizes that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah the Jews had been waiting. Listen to the conversation:

"Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:13-18)

You see it is neither our job to build the church or to protect the church. God does both. Until pastors are willing to trust God with this they will be just good men and not shepherds in the church. They must be willing to let God do what He does. So often though we just do what we want and pray that God will bless what we have done. What we have done is built our own kingdom. We must let our kingdom pass away, we must send our kingdoms to die and this is a "very hard thing to do."

Listen now to the high priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17. It says,

"When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

"I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17)

What an awesome thing to know that Christ has lifted us before the Father. Christ is our protector. Christ is the head of the body of Christ, the church. We need to stop acting like the head and follow what Christ has commanded. Let the church die to Christ. Yes it may mean that the institution that we think we must protect will go away but isn't it better to follow Christ then to protect what we have built. But it is a "very hard thing to do." This is why there are so very few good pastors.

Seeking His supremacy in my life.

The Question?

A question was posed by some friends. The question was "Is Evangelicalism dying? I have thought about this for a while and have come to the conclusion that it must die.

I have been reading a book that was written over 30 years ago written by Francis Schaeffer entitled "The Great Evangelical Disaster." This is prophetic book in that he points out back then that evangelicalism needs to change or die because it operates just like the world operates and not on the infallible, inerrant word of God through it firmly teaches and holds that doctrine.

Having been a pastor in an evangelical church and having gone to bible college and seminary I can tell you that our focus in the U.S. has been on what can man do. We are quick to share what we have built and how great it is. We say things that we have taken from business manuals like "move with the movers." Our churches are more like GM than the organism known as the body of Christ. I have had to ask God forgiveness for giving into this system of man. Of trying to build the church and forgetting the promise that Christ will build the church (Matthew 16:18). If we are truly honest with ourselves we do not depend on God or His Word for living the Christian life and we certainly do not act as we believe that Christ will build His church.

I believe that modern evangelicalism must die in this country. I say this because modern evangelicalism has become pragmatic and our society knows it. They have realized long before the church has that the church has become marginalized. We see this in the way the church is done. Church is about us and not about the glory of God and the world needs something more than itself and that is all the evangelical church has offered. We say it is about the glory of God but it is not. If we are honest with ourselves we may believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God but do we really live this out and we need to go back and really ask the question what is the gospel. Can it really be wrapped up in the nice packaging of an incantation that we call the sinner's prayer. We have boiled it down to admit, believe, and commit or confess. What has happened to take up your cross and follow me and living a radical life of total abandonment with our Savior the Creator of the universe. Are we willing to hate our families to follow Christ. Are we willing to get rid of all this world has to offer to follow Christ. Evangelicalism in America has taught that we do not need to live like that we only have to pray a prayer and then sit through a membership class and we will be committed followers of God. We have forgotten what pure and undefiled religion is. We have forgotten to let the Holy Spirit work and to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying. No wonder we do not have the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. We talk lot about where the church has gone wrong in its form an function and I believe it has but I believe we are seeing the symptoms of a church culture that follows more of human reason than truly trying to live out the reality of 2 Tim. 3:16 which says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness," That means that every word, every word is there to teach and train, for reproof and correction, but we have conveniently forgotten this. We have replaced the Word with our traditions, our programs, our marketing strategies and we have conveniently built our kingdom under the guise of God's kingdom. So it is not a question of is evangelicalism dying, it must die.

Seeking His supremacy in my life.

We Read to Know that We are not alone!

"We read to know that we are not alone" is a line from the movie "Shadowlands." It is a movie about C.S. Lewis' later life. I highly recommend watching this film. Anyway the quote is attributed to Lewis. Whether or not He actually said it I do not know, but I like the quote.

You see God has been challenging me to rethink what I thought church, ministry, and being a pastor is. I have been training my whole life through college, seminary and serving as a pastor in what most would consider to be a fairly normal "church." But God through His Word has been renewing my mind to His truth, the only infallible truth. What I was doing wasn't ministry, it wasn't being a pastor, and it wasn't the body of Christ, the church.

It is easy to feel alone in that thinking, but what I am finding out is that God is speaking to a great many people and moving people to be His body and not just attend a "church" building with its programs. It is about being and making disciples not just workers in programs. It is about becoming like Jesus and not just a good worker in a process that leads down the wide path.

Like many I know that the current system is wrong and sinful since it goes against what God has said in His Word. Also like many people I am struggling to flesh the Scriptures out in my life. All I know is that I want to follow Jesus. I probably won't do it perfectly but there is no better way than the way of Jesus.

Seeking His supremacy in my life.

A Day of Gathering.

Well it has been a few days since I blogged. It is really hard for some reason. My wife's birthday is coming up and I am excited for that. Her mom is planning a cookout tomorrow and then the next night we are going to St. Augustine for the evening. Anyway just sharing that.

We had a good day. We visited a gathering of believers. They did some pretty cool things. They did open communion all the time, every Sunday and people were coming down for prayer all through the music and teaching time. One would of thought this to be chaotic but it was anything but.

My wife and I are continuing to pray and seek God's face as to what mission He has for us in His Kingdom. Please pray with us.

I have been thinking about Proverbs 3:5 for a couple of days now. God just won't let it go away. Proverbs 3:5 is a popular verse. It says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. (ESV)"

Though we like to quote it a lot we do not really apply this verse to our lives. What do I mean by that? We easily go to our own thinking. We do it both individually and corporately. We become pragmatic with our lives and with our churches. Often times this is after we have prayed but we don't really trust God to work. We go with what we call common sense, or business sense, or "church" sense or whatever sense.

Why does it seem easier to trust our own thinking, man's thinking instead of trusting God and His power. I am continuing to dwell on this thought and this verse. There will probably be more to come as I wrestle with this verse and seek the Holy Spirit to teach me.

Seeking His supremacy in my life.