Culture is not a discipline problem

Culture is not a discipline problem. The function of the church is not to form others into our image, but to journey with them as we discover together what it means to worship God in spirit and in truth. On that journey, all will be conformed into the image of Christ, as the Refiner’s fire brings to question the things we’ve added to the gospel. Church structure must make space for the redemption of culture.  The evaluation of what is good, what is redeemable, and what needs to be severed and thrown to the fire.  As we seek to minister in that way to those whose culture differs from our own we will find that our culture is continually forced through that same refining process as we prepare for that day when we will worship and rejoice with every nation, tribe and tongue.

Strictly enforced “church rules” can have the unfortunate effect of building religious walls to keep us safe from cultural challenges that would force us to consider what parts of what we believe are at best irrelevant and at worst un-biblical. Obviously there must be structure and discipline, but it’s sinfully inadequate to justify rules to promote sin management or morality with rigidly interpreted verses and ignore the heart of God as revealed by Scripture. That would be breathing life back into the law. The heart behind discipline must be to establish a culture of grace that creates a safe environment for newcomers to enter into an encounter with Christ. There must be a deep theology behind our disciplinary structures, one that we can explain and invite people into. One that points to the God who spared the first murderer. One that points to the Messiah who cast off his right to throw the first stone. A theology that takes into account that Jesus said “Go now and leave your life of sin” and celebrated Zacchaeus’ generous repentance, while at the same time realizes that not only did he associate with the “tax collectors and sinners” but they liked associating with him too.

Becoming a Sent People: Humility and Identity

In John 17:21 and 23 Jesus’ prayer includes what I would consider an audacious promise.  His prayer states that if those who believe in the apostles words (vs. 20) will be one, the world will know and believe that Jesus was sent by the Father. I believe that the key to why this is the case is found in John 17:18 and 20:21. As Jesus was sent by the Father so also he sent out the disciples. As Jesus was sent, so we are sent. The world knowing and believing in Jesus comes about from more than lone evangelists crying out for sinners to repent. The revelation of God’s sending Jesus comes from the body being bound together in oneness. It comes from us living as one, sent people and that comes from dwelling in the reality that we are a loved people (John 17:23).  Loved with the same perfect love that Jesus was loved with and sent by.  When we accept and rest under that weight of undeserved love we are shaped in two ways that lead into us being formed into a sent people: Humility and Identity.

Humility

When you begin to realize you don’t deserve God’s affections and that you can not earn grace, it forces you to a position of humility.  To be loved first, before any movement towards holiness was ever displayed in your life, is an assault against any grounds for pride.  The very nature of being sent also points to humility – a humility that Jesus displayed.  His words to commission the disciples referenced his own sending to show what it would look like.  Paul the apostle sums up this example of humility in Philippians 2:5-7.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (ESV)

Submission to the sender is required of one who goes at the request of another.  There is a position of subordination that is required.  Now in that submission you are not making yourself less, but saying that God is more trustworthy with your life than you are.  You become more by placing yourself in right relationship with God, which leads to the second result of resting under the undeserved love of God.

Identity

The phrase that is fast becoming cliche is, “To know who you are is to know whose you are” or some variation there of.  But cliche or not – it is true.  To know our relationship with the One who sends us secures in us identity.  Jesus was sent as the only beloved Son of God, and because of Christ’s sacrifice we are all invited to become sent out as beloved daughters and sons of God, in whom He is well pleased.  To become a sent people is to live in the reality that we are chosen into a family of brothers and sisters, and that we are given commission to expand that family to every corner of the earth.  To make disciples is to witness the re-birth of people into the kingdom as daughters and sons of God.

Humility and Identity as a People

I believe that the relationships between brothers and sisters in Christ become attractive to the world when we live in the tension between knowing that we are unworthy of grace and believing that in Christ we are called worthy.  Humility kills pride and identity creates confidence.  The two working in tandem create a freedom to not only be sent into the world, but sent into the joy and hardships of our brothers and sisters.

Not doing so good on the mobile blogging thing

I spent most of the last three weeks in Washington DC and Alexandria.  It was a time of vacation, site seeing, encouraging friends, and a little bit of lobbying for northern Uganda.  I’m back in Dinuba for a week and then I’ll be off to Uganda on July 6th.  I’ll try to post a couple of stories from the East Coast adventure here in a bit but for now you can read some of it from my friend who I stayed with.

http://wanderingwhispers.blogspot.com/2009/06/treasure-hunt-not-what-you-might-think.html

http://wanderingwhispers.blogspot.com/2009/06/intuition-gut-feeling-or-god-talking-to.html

Reflections on Christian Culture and Language

I noticed a disturbing trend recently.  Somehow being able to pick apart our brothers and sisters, our communities, and our practices of faith has become a badge of maturity in the church. Jokes about “Christianese” have become the new language of “mature” believers. Tearing down of the old structures (which were built by the tearing down of older structures) seems to feed some deep need to feel superior in faith. I feel like through sarcasm and satire people are communicating a message of, “Look at me, my relationship with God is deep enough I can see what’s wrong with the system and make fun of it.” The irony of it all is that by highlighting this I’m bordering on being guilty of the exact same thing. <sigh> Lord help us.

I value language and culture, and think that part of Christianity is to develop a Christ centered culture.  In that way it will be neccissary to develop a language of faith (yes Justin, you started me down this path of thinking).  It won’t be the same words we use in the rest of life just like mathmaticians, musicians, gang members, and politicians all have their own unique words and phrases that they use to communicate what is important to them.  What should set us apart is not that we dumb down our language or exclude ‘religious talk’ from our worship and community life – but that we do not speak with an expectation that everyone speaks our language.  Making space for dumb questions is key, and I believe that comes from leaders who are willing to ask themselves the dumb questions.  Like, what exactly is sanctification or propitiation?  Why do those words matter as they are found in scripture?  Is there a better word that still holds the weight but may be more appropriate for today?  When I was working with youth I often introduced and defined these words as part of the lessons.  Our faith should engage our whole person, and part of engaging our minds is learning and challenging the language of faith.  First learning the words, then asking the questions, and finally deciding if we should keep the old words or if there is need to move from “all who pissith against the wall” to “all the men”.

A deep conviction that also comes from my belief in the power of words and language is that of the necessity of words encouragement to be prominent in our churches (Church in the Basement sent me down this path).  Our culture is full of voices that tear us down by saying, “You’re not smart” or “You look funny.” Voices of sarcasm that leave us wondering how much of what was said is truth. Voices that are “only joking” but pierce our deepest insecurities and leave us unable to speak out our hurt because the voice that brought our fears to the light was not a healing voice but one that said our pain was a joke. Of all the people in the world, we must be those who have voices that pierce the darkness with care and calculated risk.  Words that come in with confident purpose to be a salve to the wounded or a sword to the proud.  Words that are love and truth, and are birthed out of a relationship with the Father.  Words that set out to edify, encourage, and lift up.

A chance to belong to some Congolese women and children in need.

My friends at Zion Project just put out this request.  Please pray over it and respond as you feel led.  Every little bit helps.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!

46 Congolese refugee girls along with their babies and children have been evicted from their homes in Uganda and are on the street.

ZP has been working with them for a month, loving them and sharing with them about how much Jesus loves them. They have decided to leave their lives of prostitution which they were only involved in for survival. Read more at http://www.saritahartz.com

We found a home to put them in so they can start a new life, but we need $1,600 by tomorrow just to pay the rent for 6 months. Maybe you watch the news and wonder what you can do: You can directly affect someone else’s life in Africa right now. Please give to Zion Project: either at http://www.zionproject.org and indicate “Congolese” or send a check to P.O. Box 321 Quinque, VA 22965.

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UPDATE:I got this e-mail from the stateside coordinator for Zion Project.  Praise God for His provision.

Dear Supporters,

THANK YOU so much for your quick response to the needs of the Congolese girls who are in Gulu, Uganda!!! Praise GOD!!!! We were able to secure a home for them for six months and on Thursday were able to move in 10 girls and their 11 children. We are working on making room for another 10 girls, and helping the other girls to find housing. So far they are doing great! Miriam, an Acholi woman who is very well educated and has been teaching our girls at the Zion House to make beads has moved in with the Congolese girls as their house mother and has already begun doing devotionals with them, and teaching them. The Lord has truly worked it all out for us!

The home is in need of work and we still need to get some beds and other essentials for the house. We are so grateful to all of you for your abundant generosity towards the girls, we do have a bit extra to help with these expenses, but as we have expanded so rapidly, we are in need of more monthly supporters so we can be sure the girls on going needs will be met while they are staying with us. Please be in prayer about becoming a monthly donor.

I just spoke with Sarita, who is at the Awer IDP camp today expanding our photography exhibit. She is working with the girls who attend our support group and two photographers who are teaching the girls to use the cameras. The exhibit will also feature photos done by the Congolese girls in their new home. Stay tuned to the website for more information on the additions to the exhibit. And feel free to contact me if you are interested in bringing the exhibit to your town.

Thank you again for all of your support and love. We are overjoyed that God has yet again provided away for us to care for these girls! Sarita sends her love and thanks as well (the internet has been down in Gulu for three days now). Please continue to pray for Sarita and all of the girls in Gulu as well as for our volunteers and staff state-side.

May the Lord increase your blessings as you have blessed these girls, not only with a home but with hope for a future!

Shaped by and Shaping Others – Counting the Costs of Unity

Living out Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20 – 23 is costly.  It requires two actions that scream against the natural tendencies to preserve our stability and mental/emotional safety.

First, to be one with our brothers and sisters in Christ means that we make ourselves available to be shaped by their circumstances, culture, personalities, struggles, and celebrations.  It means that when a sister struggles with depression we risk losing a little bit of our happiness and well-being to sit with her.  To truly be one means forfeiting the option of quick answers and quick fix giving that serves only to end our discomfort and instead to make choices that lead to solidarity.  Biblical unity is an invitation to lose part of yourself, in order to gain a deeper understanding of Christ and the gospel by partnering with people and cultures whose display of Christ in them is at tension with our understanding of the gospel.  In  Ministering Cross-Culturally: An Incarnational Model for Personal Relationships , the idea of becoming a 150% person is put forth.  As Jesus was the 200% man (fully Jewish man and fully God), we have the opportunity to forfeit part of our identity when we truly bind ourselves to other people – in order that we may gain a portion of their culture and identity (Lose 25%, gain 75% = 150% for those of you who needed the math).  Losing a chunk of identity is not an easy or pleasant task.  Two years ago, if you asked me about world missions I would have told you that it seemed like escapism, and that those who chose to minister in other countries were often running away from the poverty and depravity in America.  I would have been quick to point out that there are plenty of needs here and invited you to consider Skid Row, Tent City, New London, or Delft Colony.  But over the last year I have been partnering with and walking alongside a sister whose heart is for international ministry and it forced me to adjust my way of looking at missional Christianity.  I had to risk loosing my heart and passion for local missions in order to take on the wider passion of God for His glory to be proclaimed in the nations.  At times it felt like dying.  My ministry mindset came into question, the value of my work came into question, and I questioned my location of ministry and my methods.  Things that had gone unchecked for 5 or 7 years came under my personal scrutiny as I examined scripture for God’s heart in missions.  As I wrestled, and continue to wrestle, it has turned from dying to living once again.  I have a growing passion for every nation, tribe and tongue.  My heart now expands far beyond Dinuba – but the work God has in this small town is more satisfying in the context of His global work.  I have an increased urgency to see people and people groups reached for Christ, not wanting any voice absent from the heavenly choir.  In short, I have become more because I risked losing part of myself by partnering with the work of Christ in a dear sister.

There is a second risk in being one, however.  The risk of allowing yourself to be known.  In allowing others into your life to the point where it shapes both you and them.  To realize that just as others have a valuable reflection of Christ that is uniquely theirs so also are you individually gifted and created.  Allowing others to invest in you and your dreams means that you risk influencing the understanding of Christ in people around you.  This has happened to me twice in very noticeable ways, and quite frankly it freaks me out.  To see my personal culture, values and theology replicated in people around me is scary.  In sharing my passion for John 17 with a friend, she put me to shame by memorizing it…all of it.  Another time, a conflict arose in a meeting about risk vs. safety in ministry.  A student and close friend whom I have spent much time with was at the meeting but didn’t speak up.  After everyone else had left I sat down to debrief with him and the conversation was incredible.  Both his reason for maintaining silence, and his internal reaction to the conflict were shaped by the the work of Christ in me.  They were choices that I would have made based on my relationship with Christ – and his relationship with Christ was mirroring that.  Unity costs having your personal relationship with Christ made public and put on display through those who you invite into your life.

On the same note of allowing others into your life, true solidarity also means that you risk allowing others into your sufferings, frustrations, and failures.  This is dangerous for maintaining anger, self pity, depression, isolation, and any number of other real yet potentially unhealthy emotions.  To show oneself as weak in community is admiting that not only can you not work it out alone, but that at times you can’t work things out between just you and God.  It feels like you’re somehow less (less of a Christian, less of a man, etc.).  But the truth is we weren’t created to deal with life (pain, struggle, celebration and all) apart from others.  We were created to be in community with God AND with others.  Our interpersonal relationships are one of the ways God has chosen to help us understand His relationship to us.  Just look at scriptures in Hosea and Revelation and the use of marriage imagery to describe God’s relation to His people.  By recieving forgiveness, grace, and care from our brothers and sisters we get a sliver of a glimpse of the abundance of those things that dwell in Christ.  We can more easily put legs on the things that we know in our head when we experience them through the incarnational presence of fellow believers in our lives.  Humbling ourselves and allowing others in allows us to gain depth, wisdom, and compassion in our ability to walk alongside others.

The righteous and the poor

I tried to teach through Amos with the youth at my church this past summer.  It failed miserably.  I got stuck in the middle of the second chapter and my mental and spiritual gears are still grinding on one short phrase.   In Amos 2:6 the righteous and the needy are placed side by side in a way that captured my attention:  “…they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals…” Amos 2:6 ESV.  Other translations use the word innocent instead of righteous – but best I can tell with my limited resources is that the Hebrew word being translated means just, lawful, and/or righteous (H6662 in Strongs).

This is a powerful statement in my mind.  God is casting judgment against Israel for their perversion of justice – but in it He doesn’t shake his finger at the “righteous” telling them to attend to the cause of the poor.  We actually find that the righteous are right in the middle of the injustice, side by side with the needy.  The righteous are oppressed in a way similar to the poor.  That linkage got me thinking about other places where language of poverty and righteousness find themselves next to each other.  What came to my mind first was the Beatitudes.  (If that’s where your brain went too, great! You can stop reading now and go do your own meditations.  If you’re thinking something along the lines of “The Beati-whats?” keep reading.)

The Beatitudes are a series of blessings that Jesus made during his sermon on the mount found in Matthew 5:2-12 and Luke 6:20-23.  When reading through it with Amos 2:6 in mind I was struck by the poverty and righteousness wording.  For poverty there are the words: poor, mourn, meek, hunger, thirst.  As for righteous language there is: righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers.  The two themes crash together in the middle when poverty language buts up against righteousness in Matthew 5:6 , “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (ESV, Emphasis is Mine).  Later oppression becomes blessing for the righteous when in verses 10 – 11 when Jesus speaks blessing to those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.

Those connections in mind, I’ve been challenging my self – and my youth – to seek out poverty and find ways of joining with it.  To find a place where there is lack, be it relational or financial, and find a way to walk along side it in truth and love.  With my passion burning to see Jesus’ prayer John 17:20 – 23 realized as soon as possible – this approach to joining with poverty makes any lack within the body inexcusable (detestable might be a better word).  If there is lack within the body of believers anywhere in the world – we as brothers and sisters must give every effort to fulfil what is lacking.  Be it medicine and food to our family in Africa and Asia or friendship to the lonely that fill our churches here in America – we need to join with poverty until there is no more or untill we are all suffering joyfully together in a way only possible by being one just as Jesus and the Father are one.  Because by that unity the world will know that Christ was sent by God, and that the Father loves us (his children) with the same, perfect love he had for Jesus (John 17:20-23).

Thanks for praying!

I’m growing in satisfaction with how things went today.  God moved noticeably in several people, and I’m trying to rest in the work that I was able to see and trust in the things that God is doing beyond what I will ever know.  I’ve uploaded the raw audio to http://www.sermoncloud.com/dpc/unity-is-evangelism/ for those of you who are interested.  To explain the two distractions that are mentioned – at one point someone dragged a window onto the projector screen, and a little later someone shut off the main stage lighting…it was awesome!  Thanks again, and the Lord give you peace.

John 17 – Unity is Evangelism

I’m preaching on Sunday so please pray for me…right now…. Thanks.

Currently here are my sermon notes:

• Pray
• Read John 17
• Preach

1. Believe/Know – Shift in world view
2. Unity/One – Unpack being one as Jesus and the Father are one
3. Sent – Unpack being sent by Jesus as Jesus was sent by the Father

I’m still working on how I’ll expand that into a 30 minute sermon – but in rehearsing by myself I’ve managed to preach consistently 30 – 40 minutes. As practice I’m going to do a little unpacking here on my blog. If you have feedback please be specific and quick in case your comments might help to shape the sermon.

John 17 has been rocking my world for the last year and a half. The entire chapter is Jesus praying, and towards the end his words speak directly to the church throughout time. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,” (John 17:20). For a brief moment before Gethsemane, Christ focuses his prayer on the generations of followers to come, on “the sheep that are not from this fold”(John 10:16), on all of us who have believed and ever will believe. I find it compelling that to describe future generations of disciples Jesus labels the Church as “those who will believe in their word”. Believe is a major theme of John (e.g. John 3:16) and is very closely related to the theme of knowing (John 17:21, 23). So what does it mean to know and believe? It means knowing something in a way that it sinks into every part of your being, it means knowing in a way that changes the way that you think about things. At it’s core, truly knowing something changes your behavior as a result of having changed your world view. When you know and believe that Christ was sent by God all of life comes under the lens of scripture, Christianity, and ultimately Christ.

So Christ lays before the Father a petition for those who would believe in the apostles word, which was Christ’s word (John 17:14 – 17). There is three fold purpose for this petition.

1. That the believers would be one (17:21)
2. That the world would believe/know that Christ was sent by God(17:21, 23)
3. That the world would know that the Father loves the Church with the same love that He has for the Son (17:23)

Now here’s where things get really tricky for me. You see, these three purposes are so interwoven and the themes of Oneness, Christ’s Sent Nature, and The Father’s Love are inseparable. So pseudo linearly here’s my best attempt.

That we would be one/perfectly one so that the world might know/believe:

In his prayer, Jesus uses an equivalence statement to describe unity. “that they may all be one, just as you, Father are in me. and I in you, that they may also be in us,” (17:21). Somehow, as the Church binds together in the Godhead (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) we are called to attain a unity that in someway resembles the interwoven nature of God. Look again at the tapestry that is woven just in these few verses: The Father in the Son (21,23); The Son in the Father (21); Believers in the Father and Son (21); and then the final stitch The Son in Believers (23). The relationship between the Father and Son is seen as key throughout John’s gospel. It is central to the attempts on Jesus’ life (yes, multiple attempts), because He made himself out to be one with God. Which was true – but it was “unbelievable” for many in Jesus’ day. It was Jesus’ connection to the Father that motivated his every action (John 5:36, 7:16, others). With Christ in us, we can strive for the intimacy that Christ and the Father had – and we can expect some strong resemblance of it. Why? Because Christ has already interceded that it would happen and Christ is fully inside of the Father’s will because he and the Father are one!

There is one more element of unity that is key, but we can’t get there until we look at one final theme. See, our unity isn’t the end of the petition Christ prayed for us. He continued praying “…so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”(17:20) and later repeated “…so that the world may know that you sent me…”(17:23). Why is it so important that the world know/believe that Christ was sent by God? What shift in perspective and world view does that enable? The answer comes from asking the question: Why was Jesus sent? And the answer that most would give is very close to right: Jesus was sent to suffer, and die as the atoning sacrifice for my sins. Absolutely true. However, equally true, and more important to unity and evangelism: Jesus was sent to satisfy the Father’s need for justice. Jesus’ love for the Father put him on the road to Calvary, the Father’s love for the Son and for us sent Jesus there.

The standard for unity that Jesus set out points to a love entirely outside of ourselves (thank God!). That standard is that of the Father and Son’s love for each other. That love was passionate, it suffered gladly for the beloved. When we become incorporated into that love and incarnate carriers of the divine presence through the Holy Spirit we are invited to love bigger than ourselves. Christ enables us to suffer for God and for one another with zeal, joy, and patience. The reason that unity leads into evangelism – that the Son in us and us in the Father and Son provokes a knowledge and belief in the deity of Christ – is that when we begin to incarnationaly invest in each other it is so supernatural that the world will take notice. When we begin to walk out a true knowledge and belief that there is a transcendent love, a love that exists perfectly outside of ourselves, and that that love suffers passionately, that that love is unfailing.

This love will only fully be displayed in the church if we invest in one another dangerously. In my mind Christ’s prayer leaves no room for poverty in the church, it leaves no room for loneliness, hidden pains, closet depression, or any number of things we could “never talk about in church”. We cannot hide from each other in any way and expect the world to see Christ as truly sent by God. If there is lack or need, then brothers and sisters in Christ must give of themselves and their resources. The word compassion literally means “to suffer with”, and with Christ as our example for passion (suffering) so we cannot limit our giving to what is comfortable.

When we invest in the lives of our brothers and sisters sacrificially we are in a very small way sharing in Christ’s sufferings that we might share in his glory (Rom 8:17). It is not our prosperity that will attract the world to Christ – it is our lack of poverty. It is the way that we love each other, out of the eternal well of love that exists in the Trinity. In that perfected unity the world will know that Christ was sent by God and loves the church with the same love that sent Christ to the cross (John 17:23).

Trying to Define Healthy Community

Community should be

…where you trust enough to admit that you don’t trust fully.

…where you can admit your current failings – not just your past failures.

…safe for voicing pain, anger, grief, annoyance, depression, and brokenness.

…dangerous for maintaining pain, anger, grief, annoyance, depression, and brokenness.

…open, honest, and real.

…a space where listening is more valuable than speaking and silence is more valuable than noise.

…playful and serious.

…passionate in how members suffer for one another.

…where truth is spoken and grace is extended.

…a group that accepts members based on humility, submission, and brokenness.

…a group that rejects members based on hardheadedness, unrepentant pride, and divisiveness.

…forgiving of those it rejects.