Note from CM: For the past couple of days I’ve been trying to write a post summarizing our discussions on the kind of discipleship being promoted by teachers like Francis Chan. I’ve made fits and starts and have not been satisfied with how the words were coming out. Then, in looking through the archives, I found this post from May, 2011 that said what I’ve been trying to get across. This is not the final word on this subject, we will be returning to it in the days to come, including some input from guests authors, but for this week, I hope this will sum up my perspective on the issues raised a few days ago.
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From the start of my ministry three decades ago, there were aspects of being an evangelical pastor that I simply did not “get.”
I would hear other ministers speak and tell about what God was doing at their churches, learn about their approaches and their programs, listen to testimonies from folks in their congregations, and I would leave scratching my head. It seemed to me that many of them, certainly the ones with forceful personalities, had a way of convincing others that their agenda as pastors was the same thing as God’s agenda for Christians.
In my circles, very rarely did I hear the full-blown “God told me to do this” account that was more prevalent in charismatic or pentecostal churches. Still, that was the impression, even in our more theologically conservative groups. Whether it was defining a preaching series, implementing an element of worship that the pastor thought the church should practice, organizing an outreach program, expanding staff, building new facilities, using a certain method of teaching or training in the educational program or youth group, or designing the way the church should be overseen by its leaders, these ministers had a way of making it sound like these were directives from God himself. And the corollary to that, of course, was — if you are a truly dedicated, committed Christian, you will participate.
Over and over again, I watched as the pastor’s agenda became the church’s agenda, because the pastor was able to persuade people that it was God’s agenda.
I never felt comfortable with this. It always felt like a shell game to me. I came to believe that it is one of the key dynamics that has contributed to the “churchianity” which Michael Spencer lamented. Identifying a particular church program of the moment with the path of the Christian life, leads to “church-shaped” people; not necessarily “Jesus-shaped” people.
I guess that’s one reason I’ve been in the wilderness, and am not a pastor in a local church today.
This agenda identification is mostly an evangelical/fundamentalist/charismatic/pentecostal phenomenon, as far as I can tell. In my experience, the churches without longstanding traditions and practices have been most subject to this problem. I’m sure it shows up in one form or another in all religious traditions, for at root, it is simply a manifestation of our fallen human tendency toward pride and idolatry. We all like to think that we are doing God’s will, and it is deceptively easy to mistake what I want for what God wants, and then to foist that on you.
For example, back in the dark ages when I became a pastor, there was wide acceptance of a viewpoint on the evangelical side that divided the Protestant part of Christendom into two main camps, based on the church’s service schedule and emphasis. God forbid that a pastor should go against these expectations!
- “Liberal” churches met on Sunday morning only, listened to “sermonettes,” and didn’t seriously study the Bible. The people who attended those churches were not “separated” from the world and didn’t care about other people’s “souls.” Instead, they practiced a mushy “social gospel” that taught you to love your neighbor. They cared more about “tradition” than Scripture, and their practices represented the “vain repetitions” of religion.
- “Bible-believing” churches met on Sunday morning for worship, Sunday evening for Bible teaching or evangelistic services, and Wednesday evening for prayer. The people in these churches separated themselves from the world and were expected to engage outsiders primarily through personal evangelism in which they attempted to “win souls.” As Bible-believing people, they eschewed tradition and sought to be led by the Holy Spirit through the Word in what they did.
It is that last point that made the practical difference pertinent to my point today. I was solidly in the “Bible-believing” camp, and it was in our DNA to be looking always for God to be doing new things. It was new wine all the time, and therefore we were in the business of continually manufacturing new wineskins. The Book of Acts was our template. God was always on the move. And so we’d better never be caught standing still. If you were a committed Christian, you would be ready to act when the Spirit said, “Go!”
This led us, over succeeding years, to accept or at least consider, often without a great deal of discernment, every movement and fad that came along. From new forms of church music to new forms of meeting together to new ways of preaching, to new models of evangelism and church growth, we tried to identify and catch every new wave that came to shore. In the process we eagerly cast off the “old” — hymns and hymnals, Sunday School, pews, pulpits, organs, “churchy” architecture, implicit dress codes, anything that smacked of “legalism” or “religion.” Sunday worship was replaced by seeker services at one point. Solid pastoral theology was swallowed up by church growth methods. Separation from the world system was transformed into political advocacy. Culture war issues such as the “traditional family,” abortion, and gay rights crept into sermons that once focused solely on Biblical exposition. In recent days, a more splintered evangelicalism has factions promoting reformed theology, emerging forms of church practice, “missional” church approaches, activism in areas such as social justice and environmental concern, and so on, as the “next big thing” the Holy Spirit is doing in the church.
Time does not allow me to list all the various permutations that have come to pass in recent decades. My point is not so much to examine or analyze them, but rather to point out that each and every change has been promoted by pastors and evangelical leaders in such ways that Christians under their tutelage have been expected to sign on, “follow the Spirit,” and support the program. A ongoing culture of religious expectation has been created and recreated. Faithfulness, passion, commitment, dedication — whatever you want to call it — is measured by one’s loyal participation in whatever new thing is happening in evangelicalism. We’ve noted the recent repeated calls to “radical” Christianity as an example of this.
It is in this context and out of these experiences that I have written posts like yesterday’s “It’s OK…to Just Be a Christian.” A mature Christian learns to distinguish between what the Lord expects, what the church expects, what others expect, and what one expects of oneself. I have come to believe that many of the expectations I and others try to live up to are not God’s expectations, but come from other sources.
“What does the Lord require of you?” God asked the people through the prophet Micah. The answer is refreshingly simple, an “easy yoke” borne up by grace and practiced in faith: “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8, NIV) Or, as Eugene Peterson paraphrases it in The Message: “Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously — take God seriously.”
The evangelical culture of religious expectation does not see this as sufficient, despite their protestations that they are “Bible-believing” people. I certainly did not, when I was an evangelical pastor. The list of requirements may vary from church to church and from stream to stream within the broad confines of evangelical faith, but I’ll wager that each one would be much longer and demanding than Micah’s.
I have come to see that the requirements and expectations church culture puts on Christians:
- Grow out of a misunderstanding of Scripture. Don’t use most of the Book of Acts as a template, for example, unless you are an apostle or sent on a mission. Acts generally describes the exciting first days of gospel reception and church starts. The epistles on the other hand, many of which speak to those same churches, don’t paint a picture of a church frantically trying to keep up with the Spirit, catching new waves of possibility, and constantly changing patterns of ministry and practice. Instead, you see the Apostles encouraging the first Christians to hold to the traditions and to live exemplary lives among their neighbors, loving them and one another, while faithfully believing and sharing the Good News of grace and salvation in Christ.
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The Neighborhood, Krohn Grow out of a lack of theology of “real life.” Many have noted how evangelical church culture has morphed into a ghetto in which its adherents can become trapped. As Skye Jethani has written, it has become an “Epcot” world that allows us to mimic life in the real world without ever having to experience the real world. For many church folks, life revolves around the “temple” — the full service Christian activity center (church) and its supporting Christian institutions. This is where the Christian life is to be lived. Unfortunately (in the minds of some), people also have to work and do other things, but it is always a relief to come back “home” where the same language is spoken and one can live according to common expectations. While I believe “community” is important, I also think the faith of Christ is a vibrant faith, designed to be lived in the streets, shops, schools, workplaces, ball fields, and neighborhoods of our world, among neighbors who don’t believe or live like we do. Our “suburbanized” media-focused world has practically destroyed the life of real-world community our parents and grandparents knew. Christians should not contribute to this but show that we know how to live as true humans in neighborly relations with those around us in daily life.
- Grow out of lack of a mature theology of vocation.I’m going to say this as bluntly as I know how. Pastors and churches create mountains of pure “busy work” for people. A large percentage of the activity that takes place in church culture produces nothing, helps nothing, makes nothing better, teaches nothing, accomplishes nothing. It simply keeps people busy doing “Christian” things. This is not how God blesses the world through his people. We ought to be ashamed and repent in dust and ashes about all the time, energy, and resources we waste in Jesus’ name. The world will become a better place when Christians learn to take their places in all realms of vocational life, devote their time and energy to doing good, productive work in the world, and helping their neighbors by actually achieving something. And churches will contribute much more the more we encourage this. This will mean that pastors and evangelical leaders will have to step down from their thrones, forfeit their kingdoms, and lay down their lives so that they may serve their brethren rather than vice versa. Instead of expecting people to participate in our programs, we must learn how to contribute pastorally in their lives as individuals, family people, working people, playing people, and people who live among their neighbors and are members of communities.
With this in mind, I’ll say it again…
It’s OK to just be a Christian.
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Mike,
Thank you for bringing this subject up, as well as a solution. Getting too busy in the church caused a lot of marital problems for my wife and I early in our marriage. There was always a salvation program going. We were asked to be a part of every one. We also taught Sunday school, did nursery, helped with building programs, and the list goes on and on….
I was told that this was God’s will, so I told my wife we had to keep going even when she raised concerns. This placed a division between us because instead of giving her emotional support, I was on my high horse trying to save the world.
My wife and I are no longer in that church. I came to my senses and luckily the marriage was saved. The church had some great people in it, and they are missed. But I am so glad I am not living that life anymore. It was too much for anyone, because instead of following God, I was following a pastor.
Thanks again for your wonderful article.
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Ken, You are right on track. You get it. You understand that being saved does not mean permission to “sin boldly”.
Where is the new birth? New creatures in Christ? Growing in Holiness?
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Respectfully, you did not answer my question. You still need to do that. But I’ll answer yours.
I don’t think the passage you cite changes anything I said. I don’t have an issue with repentance as part of the process of belief. But your initial post had a whole list of lifestyle and behavioral changes as a prerequisite to salvation. That’s not how it works, plain and simple. We could trade throw scripture passages at each other all day but it wouldn’t help. We are obliged to look at the whole context of scripture for the answers. And the whole context of scripture bespeaks an astonishing grace in which our God meets and saves sinners where they are when they call on Him.
I understand where you are coming from having dealt with addictions and the like. No doubt addicts need some tight structure and controls and admonishments, but you seem to have extended this into your soteriology, and I think that’s a mistake.
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Chaplain Mike, I think you are seeing 20/20 on this. As we used to say long ago ‘do not adjust your mind, there is a fault in reality’
Thanks for putting into words what many of us see but cannot express. I have shared this on with a large number of friends.
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Great comment – I especially appreciate your caution about works-based salvation and the great reminder from Philippians 1 that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”.
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Thanks, Miguel, for your interaction with my comment, and I apologize for the number of scriptures that I asked for comment on. It would indeed take more than just a blog comment to address those scriptures in detail. The common thread that I found in them was the idea that we are to test and examine our faith and that it seems to be possible for someone to be deceived about their salvation. Then the problem is how to apply these verses without causing true believers unnecessary guilt and despair, putting people back under the law to work/pray/study/repent harder or giving false assurance to those who profess faith but show no evidence of the fruit of the Spirit (James 2). I appreciate your thoughtful response and agree that our assurance needs to be rooted in something objective and outside of ourselves. As the old hymn says, “my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness”.
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I, too like the title, “Sanctified by Doing Your Job”. I think our daily life is the context or setting for our sanctification. But caution is needed. This, too, can become works-based salvation. The balance is in I Corinthians 1:30:
“It is because of God that you are in union with the Messiah Jesus, who for us has become wisdom from God, as well as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”
Jesus is our sanctification.
I think your comment about Brother Lawrence is spot-on. The Practice of the Presence of God begins with Brother Lawrence in constant terror that he is not doing enough for God to escape hell. Finally (without a lot of theological explanation), Brother Lawrence trusts God and puts the matter in His hands. This frees him to love and serve God in the kitchen and every menial task.
The other relevant scripture is Philippians 1:4-5:
“I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
We perform good works – live our lives – in the confidence that it is God who is at work in us, fashioning us by the Holy Spirit into that new being in Christ. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). As Luther states in his Heidelberg Disputation,
“The love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it. The love of man comes into being through that which is pleasing to it.”
I think we get that reversed, thinking of God as a consumer – loving us because we do good things, rather than that which is good in us is there because of God’s loving work in us.
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Janet, that’s a lot of scripture to interpret in one blog comment. What you are saying sounds very acceptable to me, especially the aversion to navel-gazing. We like to root our assurance in something objective and outside of ourselves. Generally, I would say that the fruit of faith is a life of discipleship. We just aren’t under any delusions of grandeur of how amazingly successful we hope to be at it. But we believe repentance isn’t a one time act, but a pattern of life, as Luther said in the first of his 95 Theses: “Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.” Ultimately, however, Lutheran’s point to the promise of God’s Word delivered to us in our baptism for assurance. “All who believe and are baptized will be saved.”
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“Instead, they practiced a mushy “social gospel” that taught you to love your neighbor. ”
I’m sure that’s what the “radical” folks think.
No, instead if you are a TRUELY RADICAL Christian, you’ll beat your neighbor’s brains mushy with your 40 lb Scofield Reference Bible.
Good grief. Since when is loving your neighbor mushy? Is loving your neighbor in Fire-ravaged Colorado Springs or Tornado-devastated Joplin “mushy”?
I think we really need to re-claim the book of James. I think James’ message on true religion has the “radical” Christians squarely in its sites. If you run around performing self-proclaimed acts of peity or spend all your life in church but pay no attention to the suffering of your neighbor, then what good is your radical religion?
If one truly is living a life of good works, then he or she knows how great is the need for God’s grace and daily forgiveness, because we see in our works our frailties and inadequacies. Anyone so arrogant, proud, and self-confident can’t possibly be involved in good works.
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So John what do you make of this one? Acts 2
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off —for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
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Jeff, I certainly am thankful for grace. And it is by grace that we are saved.
But for myself that grace led to a deep repentance. And many of the people I know had to walk that road to come to God. It was not ‘just believe’, but something that was life changing. A deep repentance of all known sin and a commitment of our lives to Christ. We literally threw ourselves at his feet.
I have never heard you encourage people to sin, but the tone here sure seems to be unappreciative of those who encourage people not to. Any such mention brings up cries of legalism.
I grew up on the other side of the tracks, people told their kids to stay away from me. By the time I was 16 I had left home and was fully involved in the counter culture. A few years ago before my mother died I asked her where she thought I would be if I had not met Christ. I was told it would be federal prison. I knew many other people who became Christians during that time, part of the Jesus movement. We required a hard message of repentance. We were not church kids, but hardcore messed up.
And those who did not come to Jesus and forsake their lifestyle (by grace) did not seem to make it, but went back to their drugs. I have a friend who died young of a drug overdose in an abandoned house. He never really repented of his sin it was obvious from the start. He wanted to hang on to the old life and Jesus at the same time, that does not seem to work.
I worked at Teen Challenge. We had to tell people to forsake the sin that so easily besets us, or they would not make it. If we did not take a hard line on alcohol, sex and drugs people fell away.
I do agree, God may be sloppy with His grace, but with a good many of us we had to get stopped in our tracks. A hard message of repentance was not legalism, but necessary for survival.
So I see a lot of talk of grace here, and God has been graceful to me probably more than most people here, for I have sinned much. But part of His grace was to call me to repent.
It would help me a lot if I knew what your belief was about repentance. Is it necessary? Can we be right with God without it?
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You can imagine how surprised I am after all these years to learn I could have just believed and I would be a Christian
Why the surprise? If you read Acts 16:29-31, that’s exactly what Paul says in answer to a direct question. He even indicates that salvation will be extended to the new believer’s whole household. Sloppy grace indeed.
Paul’s lifestyle admonitions are written to the church — to people who are already Christians. The works of sanctification and growth are not a prerequisite but a response to grace.
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No kidding, I’ve seen both.
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Makes sense to me also Miguel.
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Wow, Ken. Don’t know who writes your material for you, but you might want to look for someone new.
The next time you hear Chaplain Mike or I encourage anyone to continue in known sin will be the first. But grace truly is amazing, as well as scandalous. It offends greatly the religious-minded. And it reduces all of our efforts to please God to filthy rags.
God is very sloppy with his grace, tossing it willy-nilly, here and there. And boy does that make some people very unhappy.
Count me as one who is very thankful he got slopped on …
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The title also reminds me of the little book, “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence.
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Ps. If we suffer with Him we reign with Him.
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Like the two ways a Preacher’s Kid can crack up — Total Submission (becoming as Godly as possible) or Total Rebellion (becoming as sinful as possible).
Fred Phelps or Marilyn Manson, nothing in-between.
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I think he’s too busy going the St Rose of Lima route.
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Here’s another quote from Glenn: “Because the gospel is a message about the restoration of all creation, not just what happens week to week in a local church.”
And the title alone — “Sanctified by Doing Your Job” — echoes the “Little Way” of St Therese, finding Holiness in everyday routine.
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“…have embraced an Americanized Christianity in which we live how we please, but we’ve added Jesus into the mix of our lives, at least for one hour every Sunday.”
Alan, grace is so not that. Grace is being present in the spirit . Grace is the Work of becoming. Grace is embracing crucifixion of whatever the Lord desires in your life. Grace is Christ as King, not me.
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Indeed. “You will see me but the world will not see me.”. The nitty gritty and the gut wrenching stuff of becoming who we are in Christ is shared hopefully by a few close brothers and sisters. It’s foolishness, or as you say Miguel, a bore, to the carnal mind.
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I read an article this morning by R W Glenn entitled “Sanctified by Doing Your Job” that seems to dovetail nicely with this post and the one from yesterday. He begins:
“It is all too common for Christians to think that service to God is something that takes place either in the context of the local church — teaching Sunday school, shoveling the church sidewalks, leading a small group — or something that brings explicitly Christian teaching into the world by using your job as a platform for sharing your faith with your friends and colleagues who aren’t yet Christians.
But it’s here where the gospel rescues us. Check out this word from the Apostle Paul: ‘But we urge you, brothers… to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one’ (1 Thessalonians 4:10–12).
Apparently, this is what it means to live a life in line with the gospel.”
He then goes on to explain why and ends as follows:
“The gospel says, ‘It is on the basis of Jesus’s service to his father that you are accepted.’ So the question is, Did he do enough? Answer: absolutely! There’s no more left for you to do. Your service to God in the church or in the world doesn’t contribute a single accomplishment to your resume. The only list of accomplishments the Father sees for you is the one amassed by Jesus, who said, ‘It is finished!'”
The whole article is here:
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/sanctified-by-doing-your-job
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I do not know very much about Lutheranism, but am curious about how the following scriptures would be addressed from a Lutheran perspective:
Matthew 7:13-14
Matthew 7:21-23
2 Peter 1:5-11
Hebrews 6
2 Corinthians 13:5
James 2:14-26
Philippians 2:12-16
We are told that salvation and sanctification are all by grace through faith and that we are to abide in Christ, and yet we are also admonished to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5) and to be diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing us (2 Peter 1:5-11). When I have heard teaching on these passages in the past, it often comes across that the assurance of our salvation is based on our works instead of the finished work of Christ. Too much introspection or “navel-gazing” can lead to despair and put us on the never-ending treadmill of trying to do more and more for God to prove that we are truly His. This seems to be one of the main themes of Galatians – (“Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”). However, it is sobering to think that it is possible that someone may think that they are saved but they are not (Matthew 7:21-23). It seems that for pastors there must be a way to teach these passages without placing people under the yoke of the law or preaching cheap grace.
I just read an article on ChristianityToday by J.D. Greear on this very issue.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/julyweb-only/greear-ask-jesus-into-your-heart.html
I have appreciated many of your comments on this site and would like to hear what you and others in the iMonk community have to say about these verses.
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Do you have a problem reconciling Micah 6:8 and 1Thess 4:11 with those passages?
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I’m having a hard time reconciling the post to the following passages: “Love the Lord your God will ALL your heart, soul. mind.” “ALL who desire to live a Godly life WILL be persecuted.” “If any would come after me he must deny himself.” “narrow is the path and few find it.” “If anyone does not hate his mother and father.”
Mike, I’m not trying to be devisive here. Like you, I grew up in those types of churches you described and also like you, I now find myself in sort of a spiritual wilderness. I’d wager a bet that I’m more anti-church programs than you are, so that’s not what I’m calling for.
What I am saying is that a cursory reading of the NT reveals that we’re to love God more than anything else. Yes, even more than our 401K, more than our comfortable, safe home in the neighborhood with the best school system, more than our fulfilling careers, etc. I fear than too many of us have embraced an Americanized Christianity in which we live how we please, but we’ve added Jesus into the mix of our lives, at least for one hour every Sunday.
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You can imagine how surprised I am after all these years to learn I could have just believed and I would be a Christian.
That guy was wrong when he told me that if I wanted to follow Jesus I needed to repent of all known sin, quit my drugs, womanizing, counter culture lifestyle and turn with all my heart to God. In fact, it probably means that Teen Challenge is off base on that one as well.
I find it interesting that all these years later, I can’t think of too many of my friends who embraced “easy believeism” that are still Christian. They would say ‘been there, done that’. Some of them are dead from their lifestyles.
And for that matter, the Jew Saul of Tarsus was also misguided when he constantly chided members of the new church on their lifestyles. He should have just told them to relax a bit and not worry, God has it covered.
Kinda like the Beatles said ‘shes got a ticket to ride and she don’t care’. As long as I got my ticket to heaven, who really cares how I live?
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I’d go with that. But I’d also add that sanctification is God’s work, done in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, as he cleanses our desires and causes us to want to do things that are loving to our neighbor. The Spirit comes to us primarily through the Word and Sacrament ministry of the body of Christ.
There isn’t much I’ve been able to do to “increase my awareness” or reach a more enlightened plane. Yet sometimes, it almost seems, God might drag me along an inch or so, though I resist him kicking and screaming. However, I believe that an awareness of God’s love can be found at the foot of the cross, if our spirituality anchors the narrative of our lives around the work of Christ on our behalf.
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+1
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Sanctification does not come through works, either good works or works of obedience to the Law. Sanctification, in my opinion, comes through an increased awareness of God’s love toward us and of the increase of that love in our own hearts. Just how that takes place is a different story and it may be as different as we are as individuals. And if it gives us bragging rights, then something is wrong!
Just a thought.
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A lot of the perfect Christian teenagers I’ve seen are rather pathetic and it can almost be predicted that a delayed rebellion manifesting itself in some rather destructive ways will show up somewhere in adulthood. However I do know some wonderful Christian teens, but most do not approach perfection.
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The Lutheran approach to sanctification just seems like antinomianism to fundagelicals, because they’re so used to the law-gospel-law sandwich. And it’s so deceptive because morality actually is a good thing. But grace is better, especially for sinners. While “easy believeism” can seem like spiritual laziness, I’d maintain that belief itself is never easy. It’s easier to believe in a God who wants us to uphold our end of the bargain, especially if he sends a pastor to spell it out for us in 5 easy steps.
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Just saw a “Christian” book at the airport: “Perfect teenagers by Friday.” Are you friggin kidding me? Since when did our offspring become controllable robots and cease being actual people? This expectation of instant perfectionism is downright dehumanizing. Books like this are spiritual porn. Until fundamentalism 2.0 get’s off it’s moralistic high, it will never begin the hard work of empathizing with the broken, much less extending them compassion.
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Ahh, beautiful naïveté. Once acquired not readily relinquished. It takes time and hard work in the spirit to become a child again.
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I’d agree, but with the qualification that sometimes what is truly radical (bearing the image of Christ) can appear dreadfully boring to the world.
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Good, burden-lifting stuff, Mike.
And while I believe we should desire to grow in love and faith and obedience, that’s usually more a matter of subjecting our will and pride to Him, stepping out of His way, and letting Him increase in our lives while we decrease.
But all this obsessive, performance-centered striving to meet some ideal of what a real, dedicated, sold-out Christian should be — I think it veers dangerously close to idolatry.
And I think it undermines genuine faith in Christ by implying that His work and His sacrifice wasn’t enough to reconcile us with God and secure an eternal place with Him.
Rather than beloved sons and daughters adopted and saved by His grace, the underlying picture is more that of entry-level employees on probationary status, brown-nosing the boss and doing anything necessary to outshine their co-workers. In that kind of church environment, God’s grace becomes just one of many factors in the big mathematical equation by which we are all being graded.
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Thanks! I’ll check it out. Appalachian folklore interests me.
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“This agenda identification is mostly an evangelical/fundamentalist/charismatic/pentecostal phenomenon…”
I don’t think this is accurate. Any of these pastoral shortcomings that you’ve identified are just as prevelant and destructive within Emergent circles, with mainlines, liberals, etc. These ills just express themselves in different ways. And I also think the errant group-think you’ve pointed out breeds other problems such as a lack of leadership engagement, which I think is a systemic issue that plagues the American Church across all theological landscapes (and which you hinted at a bit towards the end of your article).
So I agree that it’s “Ok, to be a Christian” but the root issue here isn’t theological or ecclesiological, but one of praxis that, if indentified, addresses the lack of embrace as to what it means to be a Christian, not just cutting and pasting who you are into Scripture but allowing yourself to be conformed to it.
http://infinitelyhigher.com/why-churches-die-a-lack-of-leadership-engagement/
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“we hear Jesus calling those who are laboring under heavy burdens to come to him and find rest, “for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” This, I’m beginning to see, is the “normal” Christian life.”
I think a lot of people really need to hear this and come to know t for themselves. What a refreshing experience that would be for the Church.
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I think Matthew 11 applies here. Those who are constantly challenging us to be more on-fire, be more sold-out, accomplish more for God, etc. seem to view John the Baptist as our model. Jesus affirms John’s calling saying “among those born of women there is no one greater than John the Baptist.” But he doesn’t say “Go, and do likewise.” Rather, he makes the rather curious follow-up statement that “the one who is least in the Kingdom is greater than he (John).”
Then, at the end of the chapter we hear Jesus calling those who are laboring under heavy burdens to come to him and find rest, “for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” This, I’m beginning to see, is the “normal” Christian life.
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This piece was so refreshing and so spot-on, so mental health giving.
Thank you so much. Please keep enlightening us as to what is going on and encouraging us with a sensible perspective.
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A few years ago, Paizo Publications (publisher of the Pathfinder RPG) reissued Who Fears the Devil?, a collection of his Appalachian based shorts about John the Balladeer.
And a few years before that, Night Shade Press (?) did a five-volume archival-quality hardback collection of most all of his supernatural short stories & novelettes.
Or you could search Amazon or similar sites for “Manly Wade Wellman”, “Who Fears the Devil?” or other titles. There should be a bibliography accessible from Wikipedia; I know they have a page on him.
Wellman’s brother Paul was also a writer, though he primarily wrote historical nonfiction. Like Spawn of Evil, a collection of True Crime on the American Frontier — back when the Western Frontier was the Appalachians and Wyoming was a valley in Northern Pennsylvania. That’s also worth a look-see.
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As I’ve grown older, I feel better able to discern the various expressions of the church. I tend to take things a little less seriously now. Not that I take God less seriously now, but I do understand God to more gracious.
At one point in my life, everything that came out of church was total gospel. Yes, there was a lot of “busy work”, but I had to participate in everything. I had to go all out. I had to be fully committed and totally obedient to church leaders. To be less was unthinkable. Eventually this burned me out, which was probably predictable.
Now, I am more likely to take those things, which I feel are helpful in my walk with Jesus, and disregard the rest. Sometimes, good stuff is going on a church, but because life is busy with kids, I choose to pass. I don’t feel guilt, shame or any less a follower of Jesus. The time is just not right in that moment. Thankfully, I should add, I presently don’t attend a church that really guilts us (which helps).
Having gone through my experience, part of me wonders whether we have to experience the disillusionment first? Do we need to go through the doubt before we find a second naivete?
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I love this post CM. Kudos!! One other thing I noticed in evangelicalism was the tendency to fix something overnight. The alcoholic had to become instantly sober. He had to be perfect. That held true for so many ofter facets.
Sometimes I wonder if life is in the struggle. You know…2 steps forward, and 5 steps backward, I would suggest life is in the day to day struggles and not a that local fundagelical church.
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I think you’ve mentioned him before and also that he wrote stories that took place in the Appalachian Mountains. What starting book would you recommmend for a reader who is interested in reading one of his Appalachian based stories.
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‘A large percentage of the activity that takes place in church culture produces nothing, helps nothing, makes nothing better, teaches nothing, accomplishes nothing. It simply keeps people busy doing “Christian” things’
Tonight before I read this I was telling my wife how angry I was feeling about giving so much of my/our lives, effort, money, family, gifts, etc into doing ‘christian’ things. After reading it I know my sin all the more for choosing to participate in that system. God forgive me.
It’s ok just to be a Christian? Gee that has taken years to arrive at that place. Even now as we regularly participate in a church for the first times in a good many years I have to continually check myself against the feelings of ‘not doing enough and being involved enough’ because ‘ that’s what you do when you are part of a church’
Think I might practice ‘just being a christian’ – you know the type described by Chaplin Mike at the end of the post
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Excellent piece. Over time I’ve arrived at mostly similar conclusions, although not as clearly defined as to process. Now that I’m old I’m more convinced than ever that a lot of church programming and activity has little lasting merit. I do think there are things a church can and should do. But “on fire” urgency is as likely to result in burnout as it is to lighting a fire for Christ.
From time-to-time I look at what the higher ups are recommending in the denomination where I was a pastor. It’s almost the same as it was twenty years ago. There is an urgency about turning things around and gaining new members. The methods recommended are very similar. More programs, gimmicks to build attendance, and worship that really does not seem like worship. Lofty goals that are never reached, and the recommendation of a new book (maybe written by a retired bishop). And they have found this new “expert” from some seminary or church who will present his (normally a man) spot-on method of bringing new life to a tired congregation.
I’m weary just thinking about it. Now for a nap.
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Maybe I’ve been reading too much of Manly Wade Wellman’s dark fantasy recently, but in ritual magick, doesn’t “participation” (even by not complaining to yourself) mean you have opened yourself up to the magickal working and given it power over you?
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Fantastic post, Chaplain Mike! Thank you.
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Thanks so much CM! This is a great post. You truly have a pastor’s heart … and I guess you are a pastor to all of us who follow this blog. I am also fortunate to have such a pastor at my church.
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I believe in radical Christianity and Spirit directed Christianity. In fact there is no other kind. Thing is, it is about the being and becoming, not the running and doing. Becoming transformed into the image of Christ is as radical as it gets. The ‘program’ is inner growth.
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Not bad, Chaplain Mike…not bad at all.
😉
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+1
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This is a really good class that ties into this great post by Chaplain Mike:
[audio src="http://theoldadam.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/where-god-meets-man.mp3" /]
I was at this class, and it was a lot of fun in addition to being very informative.
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Yes, it’s ok to just be a Christian.
When they asked Jesus what it is to be doing the works of the Father, Jesus answered them, “Believe in the one whom the Father has sent.”
And all the people say…’Yeah…but…”
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