WHY BOTHER?

It has rained most all day where I am. This winter has seen its share of wet weather and clouds. Today, Monday, reminds me of the song “rainy days and Mondays always get me down.” Kudos to those in the Northwest. I am not sure I could take all the cloudy days. I work while my wife attends the funeral of a friend’s father. Such is life.

However, I do think I have had some insight. Observing Baptist congregations leads me to believe that the old “pot luck” meal is a metaphor for how we do church and why there is so much division. It is ‘pot luck’.

But lest we curse the darkness, there is light.

Thom Rainer re-tweeted from @EssentialChurch  that “The formerly unchurched are insistent that the church be uncompromising in its beliefs. They are tired of a theologically tolerant culture.” (That was one hour after he tweeted he was in conversation with Paige Patterson.)  

My recent experiences with churches has confirmed that and more. It is the younger people who are demanding we dig deep and have theological content. Here are some examples from my experience.

A pastor of a local congregation made up primarily of those under 40 recently led his leadership team through Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology.  I’m reporting here, not advertising, so if Grudem isn’t your favorite, you choose another. As a result of that, at least one group of lay persons in the church did the same things and each couple bought the “unabridged” edition and they are working their way through it.

A 24 year old came to me where I serve as interim and inquired about starting a small group that would study theology. He laid our the need and the desire.

I casually mentioned Calvinism in a recent sermon. In small group discussion (we were in an emphasis where the pastor’s series were discussed in small group format on Sunday evening with the focus being application) one person in the after-40 age group asked, “what’s Calvinism”.

One in an older generation said “no one listens past 20 minutes” while a 30-something said “man, forget the clock. If it is 10 minutes or 40 minutes, give what God has given you.”

All of these are examples from various locations of current reality in some churches. God is still “able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think – according to the power that works in you – to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” -Ephesians 3:20-21

Could one apply “generations” to all age groups alive today as well as the immediate context of future generations? Since each is in a sense “future”, I think so.

So why bother on a rainy Monday? Sunday’s coming!!

LOVE LIFTED ME

Have you ever sung the hymn, “Love Lifted Me”? When I was an older boy and young teen, my peers and I were not the most “holy” group in the church. So, we would sit in the back, singing “I was sinking deep in sin” and turn to a buddy and say “Wheee!”

We understood sin only as a behavior and had little if any knowledge that sin was a condition of the human heart. We were already deep in sin but thought since we hadn’t had opportunity to commit the big ones we were OK. Cultural changes came so fast “change” almost became a sedative.

I given serious thought to the concept that one reason we love change is that it provides an escape from accountability. When things are changing so fast, or we are causing them to change so fast, there is little time to evaluate whether or not the changes are worthwhile and productive. And one cannot be held accountable without proper measurement.

Do not hear this as a rant against change.

But when we are so focused on the things related to the administration and growth of the church we can easily lose sight of core biblical truth.  Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32)

Jesus actually said that. No amount of exegetical maneuvering will change that simple statement. It even works in context.

“Know” – intimate knowledge. Not just intellectual awareness, but deep, intimate knowledge. On another occasion Jesus said, “I am the way, THE TRUTH, and the life.” (John 14:6)

We youngsters, steeped in sin and blinded by the error that the essence of sin was badness, were laughing our way to perdition because we had not committed the “biggies”. No amount of self-reform would change us. There had to be deep conviction that what was wrong with us was internal, not external. And only the truth could set us free.

In a similar way, I believe we in the church have spent years cleaning the outside of the cup using our different methods, programs, and emphasis, while the inside has been stained beyond recognition.

I am encouraged by what I hear from the Great Commission Resurgence commission report. It points us to Jesus. Perhaps we as a people called Southern Baptists will be blessed by God with a deep conviction that what is wrong with us is internal, not external. May we return with words in repentance and submission to Him.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!