The Church - Created For What?

In his book A Community Called Atonement Scot McKnight writes that any theory of atonement should keep the end in mind - what was atonement meant to produce? In answering that question McKnight notes that the atonement was not just meant to produce forgiven people, but that “the work of God is to form a community in which the will of God is done and through which one finds both union with God and communion with others for the good of others and the world.” Thus, the atonement was meant to produce a certain kind of community.

I like his approach. I think it is very helpful in formulating a well-rounded and holistic view of the atonement. It avoids getting “stuck” in one particular place, overemphasizing one aspect of atonement to the neglect of others. In fact, he mentions the various views of atonement and likens them to a bag of golf clubs. A golfer might make it through a round with just one club (I think there are even friendly golf games that might involve just such a feat), but don’t expect to shoot par, or probably even close.

Perhaps McKnight’s approach would benefit our understanding of the church as well. Read more

Being With

I love theology and philosphy. I love to think and stretch my mind. It is one of the reasons I love to read so much. I once took a sort-of “spiritual gifts inventory” that gagued how we primarily relate to important things in our lives - specifically how we primarily find meaning in our faith. Some are primarily guided and energized by doing. Others are primarily energized by how they feel about God and their faith. Others, like me, find joy and fulfillment in thinking. It’s no wonder that one of the largest sections in my library is theology. While many pastors stock their shelves with books on leadership, method and/or devotion, those sections are small for me compared to theology and commentary.

It would be very easy for me to promote the idea that a significant part of our faith entails “right” theology. I believe theology is important and that there are some aspects of it that are vital, essential to the Christian faith.

But as I read the gospels I’m struck by how little those first disciples had right, doctrinally. Read more

Community

Yesterday our church experienced a great example of Christian community.

One of our church members has been in the process of re-roofing his house. Sunday night there was only a 20% chance of rain in the forecast, but if you are from around the Tulsa area you know that 20% quickly turned into what a friend of mine used to call a “toad strangler.” At about 3AM water started to drip from the ceiling in several places inside the house. One of those places was directly above where my daughter and one of theirs were sleeping. Soon the ceiling gave in to the weight of the rain-soaked insulation in several places and it wasn’t long before the whole house was a mess. I found out when my wife went to pick our daughter up in the morning.

By 10:30 AM we had people from the church showing up to help out in whatever way they could. In all there were more than 25 people, from youth on up, who came to help clean up the inside and finish roofing the back section of the house. It was a tremendous outpouring of help. At one point I told someone that it felt like an Amish barn raising with power tools. On their day off they volunteered their time and energy to help their brothers and sisters in need.

I just wanted to write this in celebration of Christ at work through his people in a dedicated, self-sacrificing way. Thank you Faith Baptist Church!

Perplexed

There’s a question I’ve had for some time now.  I’ve asked this question on other blogs and have never received an answer of any kind.  Perhaps you, dear reader, would like to take a stab at it.  [By the way, this isn’t one of those “set up” questions.  You know, the kind where I already have an answer and I’m just asking you so that I can pounce on your wrong answer if you give one.  I hate those kind of questions.  This is an honest one.]

It’s specifically a “Baptist” question, but even if you’re not Baptist and you have a perspective I hope you’ll share it.  Let me begin with some background. Read more

Life After Life After Death

That’s a phrase coined, I believe, by N. T. Wright. As I understand it he is referring to what life will be like in eternity.

I’ve been teaching through Hebrews and the writer/preacher of Hebrews shapes his message about faith in chapter eleven around a hopeful future. Those examples of faith believed God even when they did not live to see God’s promises fulfilled in their day. Their faith was a hopeful faith based on a vision of a world/kingdom that God would bring into being.

But if we are to live out that same sort of hopeful faith I believe we need a hopeful vision of the world/kingdom that God will bring into being as well, and that brings us to thoughts of heaven. But what is heaven like? What will life be like at the end of the age when God defeats the last enemy and becomes all in all?

John Eldredge writes about our (mis)conceptions of heaven as an “everlasting sing-along.” Is that what we have to look forward to? Will angels be playing harps to Fanny Crosby hymns? What exactly is life after life after death going to be like?

That is a question that we will be discussing in our Bible study this coming Sunday. What are your ideas? How would you respond to the question: “What will eternity be like?”

It’s Not About Me

Ok. So yesterday I got a very stark reminder that corporate worship is not about us and not about me.

I’ve told the folks in our church that we shouldn’t get too uptight about worship styles as long as God is honored. Well, I had to put that theory to the test yesterday as we had the Continental Singers in concert.

What can go wrong in a concert, right? I mean, a group of young people get up and sing. The worst thing that can happen is that the songs are a little too peppy for the normal Baptist. Maybe they rock a little bit. Or maybe they’re just not very good. You say, “Amen” and move on.

Or, they dance. In a Baptist church. Yes. They could do that. Read more

The Church Is Not A Democracy

…and it does not operate “through democratic processes.”

I really wish our confession of faith had been thought through a little better at this point. It appears to be self-contradictory, though I’m sure that is just appearances. But when writing a confessional statement that is designed to speak to the person in the pew it pays to write with more clarity than this.

Of course, this confession doesn’t say that the church is a democracy, only that it functions as one in the decision-making process. But this is an error. It would have been far better to use the language of congregationalism or one of the various images given for the church in the New Testament - perhaps the body image or the building image. However, when any red-blooded American reads the language of democracy in a confessional statement it will be impossible for our form of civil government NOT to have an overriding impact on the average person’s understanding of what’s under discussion.

In addition, the New Testament church did not operate as a democracy in the American political sense. Read more

Things You Need To Know About You

Today I want to point you to the blog of Ernest Goodman. Ernest is a missionary in Western Europe. I consistently learn oodles of stuff about myself, about how I approach my faith, about how I lead others in living out lives as followers of Jesus, and especially about things I need to quit doing and things I need to start doing in reaching out to others around me, by reading what he writes.

When you visit his blog, go with your defenses down. Go as a learner. And be ready to hear the heart of someone who can teach the church in America a lot about how to reach our own culture, as explained from the perspective of one who is reaching out to people in a not-so-different culture.

The Antioch Network of Churches and Diversity

Several weeks ago I was invited to attend a meeting in Arlington, Texas that was an exploratory meeting to discuss the formation of a network of churches which would work together for gospel purposes. I had just returned home from a week in Spain and while the meeting held some interest for me I felt like I needed to stay home to help my wife with our six kids.

But then about two weeks ago Bro. Dwight McKissic called me to tell me that he really appreciated the three posts I had written here on the Church - A Diverse Body (here, here and here), and particularly the third post. And then he asked if I would come and share my thoughts at this exploratory meeting in Arlington. After talking to my wife about this I agreed to go. I gave my presentation this morning and was asked if I would post the manuscript of my notes here.

Much of what follows is my attempt to combine the main points of those three posts into one presentation. However, it is more than a simple restatement of those posts as I added some information and then attempted to tailor it to the audience to which I was asked to speak (a diverse group of white, black, Hispanic, Asian, men and women). To read those notes simply click the link below.

Read more

The Church - A Diverse Body 3

In this last issue in this little series on church diversity I want to ask: “What would a diverse church look like?” Read more

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