There was a line in last week's Charlotte Observer that hit a nerve for me. It was an article about the new pastor at Hickory Grove Baptist Church. You can read that article here. The line that got me was this:
In the competitive playing field of Charlotte megachurches, such a traditional approach, he believes, sets Hickory Grove apart.
Now let me clarify, I don't have any issues with Hickory Grove Baptist Church or any of its pastors. What I do have a major problem with is the idea that there is a competitive playing field among the larger churches in Charlotte.
The question I am asking is, aren't we all working for the same boss with the same goal? Shouldn't churches be working together for a common mission instead of figuring ways to attract more members than another church or members away from other churches? When did we lose our direction on this one?
Now it is important not to deceive ourselves, there have been divisions from the beginning, but are we as churches, leaders and members working against this trend or promoting it? There are times when I think that church leaders almost function as car salesman, asking the prospective member "what will it take to get you into a church today?" The question we need to ask ourselves is, are we promoting our agenda or God's? I believe churches today need to humble themselves and be less concerned with how many members they have and more concerned with establishing God's Kingdom here, in this place and at this time. We may disagree on a variety of issues but when all is said and done aren't we all hoping to reveal God to as many people as possible? Aren't we all trying to share the gift of God's love and grace revealed through Jesus to as many people as possible? I hope that is the case but when churches are competing with other churches I fear we are not revealing Christ to them but turning them away, because all they see is a dysfunctional family that can't get along and honestly who wants to be a part of a dysfunction family anyway?
We may chose to break bread differently on Sunday but when the day is done I hope we realize we are on the same team. We aren't competitors but allies, united through our faith in Jesus Christ. And if we are able to put aside our egos and our agendas and adopt the humility and mission of Christ I can only image how much good we can do for the sake of the Gospel.
Proud to call you brothers and sisters in Christ,
Chris
Monday, March 26, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Jesus and Shock Value
We go to great lengths to attract attention. Whether we own a business and we stand outside of it with a funny costume to gain customers or when I tell my kids the bus is leaving without them to get them out of bed quicker. And with millions of things fighting for our attention sometimes we push the envelop to make sure our message is heard. Do you think Jesus did the same thing?
I have had some questions following my sermon on Sunday that I will try to answer here. Nearly all of these questions are in response to the verse we talked about on Sunday where Jesus says unless one hates their family they cannot be one of his disciples. I had hoped that once I explained the next statement that Jesus said about picking up ones cross and following him we would be blown away by that challenge and forget about hating family. Apparently that was not the case and I guess I can't question that. Hate is a strong word and it seems to go against the 4th commandment, honor your father and your mother. So why did Jesus say it?
We can talk about how challenging it was to be a disciple and back that up with verse after verse of Jesus clearly spelling out what discipleship looks like and how difficult it is. Jesus was never concerned about being popular and he rocked the boat with seismic magnitude on a regular basis and from time to time I think he used shock value to get his point across. Let me say clearly, and I hope a thunderstorm doesn't move in over my head, that I don't think Jesus was encouraging his followers to go home and give their parents the finger. I don't think he was saying that. I don't think he was telling them to tell their kids off and walk the other way. I don't think he was saying that either. I do think he was trying to get their attention and like we do today, I think he wanted to make sure his point was made and his call was heard.
If we look at the account of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple according to John's gospel it says that Jesus made a whip of cords and drove them out of the temple. John paints an almost violent picture here. Now certainly Jesus could have asked them politely to leave but I think he wanted to make his point. I think he is doing the same thing by telling his followers that they must hate their family if they want to be his disciples.
What does this mean for us? God is still fighting for our attention and there may be times when he has to shock us to get it. I am not suggesting he accomplishes this with natural disasters or diseases but he is trying to get our attention. When we are confronted with raw statistics about the number of children who die every day due to malnutrition this should shock us. When we hear about children being sold into prostitution this should shock us. It is too easy to live in a bubble and pretend that these things are not happening but once in a while we need to be shocked. We need to see a picture of a child who is dying of starvation or covered in flies because this should not happen,not on our watch. There is enough food in this world that no one should starve but instead we return to our bubbles. Once in a while we need to hear about genocide in Darfur. We need to hear about women and children being murdered because this should not happen and as disciples of Jesus we are called to expose evil and shine light into darkness. Every year we need to sit with a pit in our stomach from Friday night until Easter morning because through the cross God was trying to get our attention. We can't return to our bubbles, not on this one. Good Friday is bloody, it is painful but it gets our attention. It slows us down and reminds us what is important and how much God loves us.
There are millions of things fighting for your attention, who is winning?
Chris
I have had some questions following my sermon on Sunday that I will try to answer here. Nearly all of these questions are in response to the verse we talked about on Sunday where Jesus says unless one hates their family they cannot be one of his disciples. I had hoped that once I explained the next statement that Jesus said about picking up ones cross and following him we would be blown away by that challenge and forget about hating family. Apparently that was not the case and I guess I can't question that. Hate is a strong word and it seems to go against the 4th commandment, honor your father and your mother. So why did Jesus say it?
We can talk about how challenging it was to be a disciple and back that up with verse after verse of Jesus clearly spelling out what discipleship looks like and how difficult it is. Jesus was never concerned about being popular and he rocked the boat with seismic magnitude on a regular basis and from time to time I think he used shock value to get his point across. Let me say clearly, and I hope a thunderstorm doesn't move in over my head, that I don't think Jesus was encouraging his followers to go home and give their parents the finger. I don't think he was saying that. I don't think he was telling them to tell their kids off and walk the other way. I don't think he was saying that either. I do think he was trying to get their attention and like we do today, I think he wanted to make sure his point was made and his call was heard.
If we look at the account of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple according to John's gospel it says that Jesus made a whip of cords and drove them out of the temple. John paints an almost violent picture here. Now certainly Jesus could have asked them politely to leave but I think he wanted to make his point. I think he is doing the same thing by telling his followers that they must hate their family if they want to be his disciples.
What does this mean for us? God is still fighting for our attention and there may be times when he has to shock us to get it. I am not suggesting he accomplishes this with natural disasters or diseases but he is trying to get our attention. When we are confronted with raw statistics about the number of children who die every day due to malnutrition this should shock us. When we hear about children being sold into prostitution this should shock us. It is too easy to live in a bubble and pretend that these things are not happening but once in a while we need to be shocked. We need to see a picture of a child who is dying of starvation or covered in flies because this should not happen,not on our watch. There is enough food in this world that no one should starve but instead we return to our bubbles. Once in a while we need to hear about genocide in Darfur. We need to hear about women and children being murdered because this should not happen and as disciples of Jesus we are called to expose evil and shine light into darkness. Every year we need to sit with a pit in our stomach from Friday night until Easter morning because through the cross God was trying to get our attention. We can't return to our bubbles, not on this one. Good Friday is bloody, it is painful but it gets our attention. It slows us down and reminds us what is important and how much God loves us.
There are millions of things fighting for your attention, who is winning?
Chris
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
"If you build it they will come..."
A while back I read an article about a pastor who served a different type of congregation. He didn't have a building and he didn't have a staff, he felt his calling was to minister to OTR drivers (individuals who drove cross country and were on the road more than they were at home). He went from truck stop to truck stop and gas station to gas station bringing church to them. Decades ago, maybe even centuries, we simply built a church building and the neighborhood flocked to it. This is seldom the case anymore and as I think about this I can't help but think about the truck-stop preacher and I can't help but ask the question, are we bringing church to those who need it or are we expecting them to come to us?
Now this is a tricky one because it has been done poorly so many times. I am not talking about standing on the street corner with a sign that says the end is near and screaming at folks to repent. I am not talking about going door to door handing out pamphlets that ask the question "if you die tonight, do you know where you will go?" I am simply wondering do we bring church, and hopefully just the good parts of church, to those who need it or are we sitting on our hands waiting for them to come to us?
What does it look like when this is done well? I think bringing the church to those who need the church looks like a group of individuals who get in a van and drive to a community that was ravaged by a tornado and helps total strangers put their lives back together. I think bringing the church to those who need the church looks like an individual who spends time with an elderly person who may sit by themselves all day long and reminds them that they aren't alone and there is a community out there that cares for them. I think bringing the church to those who need the church looks like an individual who takes the time to talk to the person who is checking their groceries and sincerely ask them how their day is going and then thanks them for the work they do.
Are we bring the church out in to the world or are we waiting for the world to come to us? There is a lot of hurt out there and I believe the church can bring the power of this community into their lives, where they are at right now, and in doing so reveals God's love to them.
Its time to step out of the church "building" and build the church where it is most needed.
See you in church,
Chris
Now this is a tricky one because it has been done poorly so many times. I am not talking about standing on the street corner with a sign that says the end is near and screaming at folks to repent. I am not talking about going door to door handing out pamphlets that ask the question "if you die tonight, do you know where you will go?" I am simply wondering do we bring church, and hopefully just the good parts of church, to those who need it or are we sitting on our hands waiting for them to come to us?
What does it look like when this is done well? I think bringing the church to those who need the church looks like a group of individuals who get in a van and drive to a community that was ravaged by a tornado and helps total strangers put their lives back together. I think bringing the church to those who need the church looks like an individual who spends time with an elderly person who may sit by themselves all day long and reminds them that they aren't alone and there is a community out there that cares for them. I think bringing the church to those who need the church looks like an individual who takes the time to talk to the person who is checking their groceries and sincerely ask them how their day is going and then thanks them for the work they do.
Are we bring the church out in to the world or are we waiting for the world to come to us? There is a lot of hurt out there and I believe the church can bring the power of this community into their lives, where they are at right now, and in doing so reveals God's love to them.
Its time to step out of the church "building" and build the church where it is most needed.
See you in church,
Chris
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Breaking News: God and Lady Gaga working together!
I am not sure what is more shocking, the title of this blog or using Lady Gaga and Harvard in the same sentence. Regardless, the latter was reported in the news today. Lady Gaga was on Harvard's campus to launch a foundation for youth that is intended to challenge meanness and cruelty.
Now to the title; can God and "The Lady" work together? Gaga is a far cry from a church spokesperson but is she some how doing God's work? Gaga says the goal of the foundation is to call an awareness to bullying and simply encourage people to be nice to each other. She didn't promise answers but encouraged others to do simple things, simple acts that make the world a better place. That sounds like God's work to me.
I believe that Lady Gaga is doing God's work even if she is not aware of it. I believe God can use her (or anyone for that matter) whether they are aware of it or not. I believe God can work in the lives of those who go to church and those who do not. I believe God is working all around us and it is our job to name it and claim it.
At some point someone had the idea of creating a Christian line; Christian music, Christian books, Christian movies, etc. and at some point I wonder if we somehow got the idea that God was here but he wasn't there? That unless it had the title "Christian" in front of it God wasn't a part of it? I know it sounds silly but I hope you get the point. Isn't God everywhere?
Instead of limiting where God is we need to confirm and reaffirm that God is everywhere and as believers it is our job to reveal that to people. God is in the sunrise, God is in the children playing on the playground, God is in your cubicle and God is in the hospital room when someone takes their last breath.
God is everywhere even if we don't see it. God is working in Lady Gaga even if she isn't aware of it and God is in you and God is in me. Name it, claim it and reveal it to others.
See you in church,
Chris
Now to the title; can God and "The Lady" work together? Gaga is a far cry from a church spokesperson but is she some how doing God's work? Gaga says the goal of the foundation is to call an awareness to bullying and simply encourage people to be nice to each other. She didn't promise answers but encouraged others to do simple things, simple acts that make the world a better place. That sounds like God's work to me.
I believe that Lady Gaga is doing God's work even if she is not aware of it. I believe God can use her (or anyone for that matter) whether they are aware of it or not. I believe God can work in the lives of those who go to church and those who do not. I believe God is working all around us and it is our job to name it and claim it.
At some point someone had the idea of creating a Christian line; Christian music, Christian books, Christian movies, etc. and at some point I wonder if we somehow got the idea that God was here but he wasn't there? That unless it had the title "Christian" in front of it God wasn't a part of it? I know it sounds silly but I hope you get the point. Isn't God everywhere?
Instead of limiting where God is we need to confirm and reaffirm that God is everywhere and as believers it is our job to reveal that to people. God is in the sunrise, God is in the children playing on the playground, God is in your cubicle and God is in the hospital room when someone takes their last breath.
God is everywhere even if we don't see it. God is working in Lady Gaga even if she isn't aware of it and God is in you and God is in me. Name it, claim it and reveal it to others.
See you in church,
Chris
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