TILL HE COMES Blog

In the book Back To Jerusalem three Chinese church leaders tell about their vision that God is going to use the Chinese church to finish the Great Commission. They note that in general, the church started in Jerusalem and moved Westward into Northern Africa and Europe. While there, it experienced several cycles of awakening and decline for about 1500 years.

Then it jumped the Atlantic and for about 500 years, the church has experienced several cycles of awakening and decline in North and South America. During the time, the church in North Africa and Europe has been in steady and steep decline.

In the last few decades, we have seen the decline of the church in North and South America while the westward moving “church wave” seemed to move into Asia. These Chinese leaders have recognized this, and are making plans to send out thousands upon thousands of missionaries into the Middle East to “finish circling the globe” and so get back to Jerusalem.

I believe these Chinese are exactly right and have seen what God is doing. I have also read that the Chinese Christians are not only sending missionaries to the Middle East, but also to Africa, Europe, Australia, and North and South America.

I am not sure if there is more to their vision than just getting back to Jerusalem, but it seems to me as I watch and learn and pray about what is happening worldwide, I am beginning to see signs of renewal and reawakening in all the places that the church has been previously. I am seeing exciting things happen in Europe, Australia, North and South America.

I believe that at about the same time the church “gets back to Jerusalem” there will simultaneously be a worldwide reawakening of the church. The world will explode one last time with the message of Jesus. And then, the end will come (Matt 24:14). The return of the church to the place it started will spark a worldwide renewal of the church.

What can we do to prepare for this? Live as missionaries right now, wherever we are, and whatever we are doing. More on that tomorrow.

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I was just listening to a message given by Michael Frost, and in it he read the following poem by Adrian Plass. It is exactly what I am thinking and feeling. For me, following Jesus has become a life full of deep faith and great fear. The poem portrays both wonderfully.

When I Became a Christian
By Adrian Plass

When I became a Christian I said, Lord, now fill me in,
Tell me what I’ll suffer in this world of shame and sin.
He said, your body may be killed, and left to rot and stink,
Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen - I think.
I think Amen, Amen I think, I think I say Amen,
I’m not completely sure, can you just run through that again?
You say my body may be killed and left to rot and stink,
Well, yes, that sounds terrific, Lord, I say Amen - I think.

But, Lord, there must be other ways to follow you, I said,
I really would prefer to end up dying in my bed.
Well, yes, he said, you could put up with the sneers and scorn and spit,
Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen - a bit.
A bit Amen, Amen a bit, a bit I say Amen,
I’m not entirely sure, can we just run through that again?
You say I could put up with sneers and also scorn and spit,
Well, yes, I’ve made my mind up, and I say, Amen - a bit.

Well I sat back and thought a while, then tried a different ploy,
Now, Lord, I said, the Good book says that Christians live in joy.
That’s true he said, you need the joy to bear the pain and sorrow,
So do you want to follow me, I said, Amen - tomorrow.
Tomorrow, Lord, I’ll say it then, that’s when I’ll say Amen,
I need to get it clear, can I just run through that again?
You say that I will need the joy, to bear the pain and sorrow,
Well, yes, I think I’ve got it straight, I’ll say Amen - tomorrow.

He said, Look, I’m not asking you to spend an hour with me
A quick salvation sandwich and a cup of sanctity,
The cost is you, not half of you, but every single bit,
Now tell me, will you follow me? I said Amen - I quit.
I’m very sorry Lord I said, I’d like to follow you,
But I don’t think religion is a manly thing to do.
He said forget religion then, and think about my Son,
And tell me if you’re man enough to do what he has done.

Are you man enough to see the need, and man enough to go,
Man enough to care for those whom no one wants to know,
Man enough to say the thing that people hate to hear,
To battle through Gethsemane in loneliness and fear.
And listen! Are you man enough to stand it at the end,
The moment of betrayal by the kisses of a friend,
Are you man enough to hold your tongue, and man enough to cry?
When nails break your body-are you man enough to die?
Man enough to take the pain, and wear it like a crown,
Man enough to love the world and turn it upside down,
Are you man enough to follow me, I ask you once again?
I said, Oh Lord, I’m frightened, but I also said Amen.
Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen; Amen, Amen, Amen,
I said, Oh Lord, I’m frightened, but I also said, Amen.

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One of the books I read this week was Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger. Though I was excited to read it, and agree in principle with the “Simple Church” concept, that every church needs to drastically simplify what it is doing so that it can do a better job of making disciples, I was a tiny bit disappointed with some of the approach used by the authors.

The book is based on a survey of hundreds of growing churches across the country which experienced at least 5% growth each year for at least three years. They surveyed these churches on what they were doing and how they were doing it. Here are my complaints:

First, it does not appear that they asked the growing churches they surveyed where their “growth” was coming from. Much of it could have been transfer growth. I don’t mind “transfer growth” if Christians are leaving sick churches to attend healthy ones, but that is not the reason most Christians transfer. Most just want to go where the best show is.

Second, it seems they only surveyed larger churches (of 300 or more) and churches with buildings. This is odd since about 90% of the 485,000 US churches are under 80 people. Also, the most “simple” churches in the country are house churches (of 30 or less). It would be interesting to see if his stats fit with house churches.

Finally, it seems that there is a real break down in the ability of the churches that were surveyed to get their people into community service (mission). Though the people may be progressing through the simplified discipleship track, few make it to the goal of mission involvement. I wonder if this isn’t because Mission should be placed first, as suggested by other books on the market (e.g. The Forgotten Ways).

Of course, despite these “complaints” of mine, I do think it is a really good book since most churches desperately need simplification.

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On Vince Antonucci’s blog, he posted the following scenario (which comes from Bob’s Robert’s book, The Multiplying Church).

Let’s start a thousand churches over the next ten years, each one running a minimum of two thousand members, and in just ten years we will turn America upside down with the gospel! That would work, right? Wrong – that scenario just happened over the past ten years, and there are fewer people in church today than ever before. How can that be? How could we have spent billions to start two thousand megachurches and yet have fewer people in church and a society that largely feels the church is antagonistic?

The answer which I and other commenters suggested is that most of the people who start to go to those new churches are not new Christians, but people who were already Christians and who transferred to the new and exciting church. Most of the church plants grew by transfer growth, not church growth. One of those who commented pointed out the supporting statistic that every year about 4,000 churches close their doors… forever (Does anybody know if this worldwide, or just in the States?).

Then today, I was reading an article called “Change-Seekers” in World Magazine, which summarized the major study of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (available here). The study revealed that currently only 51% of Americans are “Protestant,” down from 60-65% in the 1970s. The only “religious group” actually increasing in numbers are those who identify themselves as “non-religious.” They comprise 16% of America, and have nearly doubled in number since the 1980s. Then the author of the article says this:

Despite the church growth movement and the proliferation of megachurches, evangelical Christianity is losing ground. Growing churches often have high turnover. [Are they going to other new churches with a better show?] The issue is not how to gain new members but how to keep the ones churches already have.

After reading this, I decided to check how Bob Roberts answered his own question. I have The Multiplying Church and so picked it up, and found the quote Vince Antonucci referred to. Then I skimmed several key sections of the book, and it seems Bob Roberts is saying that the problem our churches face is that we are not seeing true life transformation in those who attend our churches.

I found this insightful, especially since on Friday, I read a book by Neil Cole called Cultivating a Life for God in which he reveals a way of discipling people which has resulted in amazing life transformation in the people that have done it worldwide. But the beauty of what he proposes is that this life transformation does not depend on the systems and structures that have come to be known as “church.” Instead, his proposal is simple, free, and easily reproducible. I just started reading his newest book, Search & Rescue, which appears to be an updated remix of Cultivating a Life for God.

It is my opinion that the way we do “church” today is more often than not a hindrance to the spread of the gospel and the making of disciples. The death of churchianity is coming, and while it saddens me when churches close, I am also excited because I believe that a new movement of God is coming upon His people whereby we throw off the things that hinder what He is doing in our lives, communities, and countries, and embrace a new (actually old) way of being the church.

This new/old way will not need millions of dollars to sustain itself. It will live out the gospel among the people of this world by serving, living, and loving them, rather than just teaching facts. It will transform lives and communities. It will not require advanced degrees of education, high-powered leadership structures, costly buildings, expensive advertising, salesmanship routines, light shows and Hollywood gimmicks. We won’t need experts to interpret Scripture for us, or to organize our discipleship programs and outreach events. It won’t be limited to a single day, or a particular event.

We’re just going to be the church, the body of Christ. Churchianity is dying, and we shouldn’t fight it. It’s on life support and is begging us to pull the plug. But as it fades away, I am beginning to see glimmers of light as the grime from centuries of tradition is scrubbed away, and the glory of God begins to manifest itself among groups of Christians who just want to live life like Jesus in their communities.

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Churches often struggle with knowing what they are supposed to be doing, and how they are supposed to do whatever it is they are supposed to be doing. As I have argued elsewhere, some of this confusion is due to a poor definition of “church.”

However, most of the nebulous nature of what the church is supposed to be doing and how is a result of not having a clearly defined purpose, mission, values, vision, and strategy. Sounds like a lot of work? It is. But without such things in place, you still do a lot of work in church, and like a hamster on a running wheel, rarely go any place.

One of the best books which can help you understand the what, why, and how of your church’s purpose, mission, values, vision, and strategy is Advanced Strategic Planning by Aubrey Malphurs. He takes you through why these statements are important, and how to write them up for your church.

But here is a basic summary of what each statement should contain:

Purpose: The purpose is the same for every church. It answers the “Why do we exist?” question. The answer is basic, generic, and broad. The church exists to honor and glorify God (Rom 15:6; 1 Cor 6:20; 10:31). You could (and probably should) use different words to state it for your church.

Mission: Like Purpose, every church has the same mission. It answers the “What are we to be doing?” question. Jesus told us that we are to be making disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19-20). Once again, to personalize it for your church, you should redefine the terms to make it more clear. For example, what do you mean by “disciple”? And what do you mean by “all nations”? Can you really reach all nations, or should you, as a individual church, pick a smaller area of the world to focus on? Willow Creek has one of the most famous Mission statements: “The Mission of Willow Creek is to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Christ.” They might be a bit vague on which people they want to help with this, but they do a good job defining what they mean by “disciple.” Aubrey’s book gives great help on defining your mission (chapter 5).

Values: Unlike Purpose and Mission, every church will have a unique set of values. Values help you answer the question, “Why do we do what we do?” It helps clarify your mission statement. If you are going to focus your mission statement on families in your area, that will affect your values. If you want to focus on college kids, your values will look different. If you want to focus primarily on people who would normally not attend church (e.g., atheists, agnostics, people of other religions) that will effect your values. It is a difficult, long process discovering values, and should be done with the help of other people in the church. Malphurs has some excellent tips and value audit surveys which help churches discover their values. You should probably have no more than ten values.

Vision: Vision is your dream for your church. If you close your eyes, and imagine the ideal church, what it would look like, what it would be doing, who would be there, that is your vision. In developing a vision, I find it helpful to follow Martin Luther King Jr.’s pattern, and write my vision by beginning each paragraph with the statement “I have a dream…” Once you get the vision down on paper, it would be wise to go back and check your vision with your values. Sometimes, the visioning process helps inform and correct your values.

Strategy: Only once the previous four items are in place can you begin to ask the “How?” question. Developing a strategy tells you how to bring your vision to fruition. But if you don’t have adequately defined mission, values, and vision, you cannot develop a good strategy. Tragically, strategy is where most churches and pastors begin. This is why they flounder around, and run off in seventeen different directions, and fight over the best way to do things, and how the money should be spent, and who should be the group they focus on, and what kind of music and literature the church should produce, etc. Most of these arguments go away if everybody in the church is on board with the mission, values, and vision.

Many churches think that they don’t need all this planning. But if we are doing the work of building the kingdom, we need a plan. No person, setting out to construct a building, would get a group of people together, hand out a few toosl, and simply say “Go!” No, they sit down and plan what kind of building they need, what it will be used for, what the budget is, what the codes are, and how it will be safe for the people who use it. Then they draw up the plans. Then they begin building. Heavy thinking precedes heavy lifting.

If you want to be part of building Christ’s church, be ready to take part in some heavy thinking.

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If there is one thing I have learned in my life as a follower of Jesus is that it is impossible to live like Jesus. I mean, after all, He was God! He lived a perfect life! If He is my standard, I’m throwing in the towel right now.

But thankfully, we aren’t called to live like Jesus. We are called, however, to like Jesus. God does want us to love Jesus. Loving Him leads to obeying Him (John 14:15), which certainly allows us to reflect Him in our lives, but it will never make us exactly like Him (not even in heaven!). I think the best thing we can do is be ourselves for Jesus. So don’t try to be Jesus. Just be yourself for Jesus.

Biblically as well, we are not called to be like Jesus. We are just called to a part of Jesus (1 Cor 12-14). None of us can be like Jesus by ourselves. We can only be like Jesus in a community of others who are also trying to be themselves for Jesus. The Bible calls this living as the body of Christ. Those who are toes live like toes for Jesus, letting those who are elbows be elbows. No part should try to be the whole person.

So stop trying to be like Jesus. You can’t do it, and He doesn’t want you to try. There’s only one Jesus, and you are not Him. Instead, just like Jesus, and be yourself for Jesus.

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Here is some random wrap-up stuff which I thought fit this “Is Your Church Worse than Porn” series.

First, a movie.

Second a comic strip from  The ongoing Adventures of the ASBO Jesus. (Subscribe to this comic blog if you don’t already.)

Finally, a quote from Vince Antonucci’s new book I Became a Christian and all I got was this lousy t-shirt (p. 81). Go buy his book if you haven’t already! Prior to this quote, Vince writes about how Moses glowed after he met with God, and how we can “glow” too if we meet with God.

But many of us, most of the time, are not glowing. And when we aren’t glowing, like Moses, we cover our disappointment with a veil. We don’t put on a literal veil; we use a veil of smiles and denials. Christians are famous (or infamous) for this. We wear fake, plastered smiles as a twisted badge of honor, pretending that everything’s great all the time. We say things like, “It’s another great day to praise the Lord!” “This is the day the Lord has made!” What? No, nothing’s wrong! God’s blessings just keep getting better every day!” “God is good all the time!” We hide our true disappointment.

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Yesterday, I introduced the idea that in some ways, church can be worse than porn. The reason is that while porn causes people to feel inadequate with their sex life, many churches cause people to feel inadequate about their spiritual life. Both are presenting a fantasy that does not match reality. Today, (with a head nod to Jeff Foxworthy) I want to present some signs that you might be in a fantasy church.

You may be in a fantasy church…

If everybody in your church seems happy, fulfilled, and satisfied…all the time.

If during the greeting time, someone asks you how you are doing, and when you answer “Terrible” they smile, nod their head, and say, “That’s nice.” (This actually happened to my wife!)

If you are in a church where everybody seems to have devotions every day, their prayers answered in miraculous ways, and seem to be always talking about God.

If you are in a church where people never seem to sin, have fights with their spouse, get speeding tickets, have trouble with lust or alcohol, or have questions and doubts about what the pastor preaches.

(If you can think of others, please post them in the comments below!)

If you find yourself in a fantasy church, beware!

Trying to be real and authentic in such a place will only get you hurt more deeply. The best thing a person can do who finds themselves in a fantasy church is to leave quietly and find a group of people with whom they can be authentic, open, and honest (even if they are not all Christians!).

My favorite Christian music group, Casting Crowns, has experienced this also, and sings about it in their song “Stained Glass Masquerade”:

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I watched a debate last week between porn king Ron Jeremy, and porn pastor Craig Gross. Apparently, the two are traveling around to college campuses and debating the pros and cons of porn. I love what Craig is doing at XXX Church, and his book The Gutter is one of the best books I have ever read. So I really hate to say that in my opinion, Craig lost the debate. There are multiple reasons why, which I won’t go into here. (This is NOT to say I am in favor of porn!)

But something was said during the debate which really got me thinking. One of Craig’s arguments was that porn is fantasy, and people who watch porn are bound to be disappointed by sex, since reality never matches fantasy. This is certainly true, and even Ron Jeremy didn’t deny that porn presents a fantasy.

But Ron’s rebuttal is what really made me think. Ron argued that we all live in a fantasy world. Everything we see on television (not just porn) is fantasy and does not match up with reality. Most of what we see and read in books and magazines is hyped-up, glossed-over, air-brushed fiction. If porn is wrong because porn is fantasy, then almost everything we read and watch and get involved in is wrong as well, becuase most of it is fantasy. Even the way most of us live our lives is fiction. We rarely let people see the inner hurt, pain, depression, frustration, fear, loneliness, and anger.

As my wife and I were talking about this, she made the observation that this fantasy-life fiction is magnified in most churches. We seem to think that since the Bible talks about peace that passes understanding, joy in the midst of trials, contentment in times of need, faith in the face of fear, and happy lives full of holy ambition, that if we don’t have these things, something is wrong with us. And when we look around at others on Sunday morning, and sing the happy songs, and listen to the motivating sermon, we are tempted to think, “Everybody else seems to have what we are so loudly proclaiming. I better act like I do too, or they will think something is wrong with me.”

I think a pretty good case could be made that this sort of church fantasy is more damaging than porn fantasy. The reason is that most people in most churches don’t know that everyone else is in just as much pain as they are. The smiles are painted on. The suits and skirts hide scars. And the pastor isn’t really that excited about God; he’s just high on caffeine (I’m speaking to myself there!). We’re afraid to be real and authentic because then people will think we’re unspiritual.

Many churches are bigger fantasy playgrounds than the porn industry. So the question is this: Which is worse? Thinking that your spouse will never be satisfied with you in bed, OR thinking that God will never be satisfied with you in this life? The first is a result of looking at porn, the second is a result of attending some churches.

We’ll look tomorrow at some possible indications that you are attending a fantasy church, and what you can do about it.

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I finished reading Pagan Christianity today and I mourn for what this book could have been.

The basic argument of the book is that most of what the church does today was borrowed from paganism. Things like buildings, the order of worship, the sermon, the pastor, tithing and clergy salaries, baptism and the Lord’s Supper all have their roots in pagan religious practices. Therefore, the authors strongly suggest that such things should be done away with, and we should all become house churches.

Though they don’t say it, I imagine the authors are against Christmas and Easter as well, since both of these holidays are steeped in pagan cultic worship practices.

What people who argue this way don’t seem to understand is that everything about Christianity is rooted somewhere/somehow in paganism. For example, did you know that the Genesis creation account is nearly identical in form and language to Egyptian creation myths which predate Moses? Moses almost plagiarized Egyptian creation myths, and changed the names from Egyptians gods to the Israelite God. So if Viola and Barna have their way, we better toss out Genesis. Oh, and Deuteronomy as well, since it is based on a the pagan Suzerain-Vassal treaty system of that day.

Furthermore, most of the Psalms are similar in style and language to pagan songs sung to pagan deities. Solomon “borrowed” many of his proverbs from other pagan kings. So rip Psalms and Proverbs out of your Bible too.

How about the Gospels? Have you ever wondered why there are four? One reason is that in the First Century, “Gospel accounts” was a popular genre of religious literature designed to celebrate the birth of a new Roman emperor. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are borrowing a pagan practice of writing “gospels” about the emperor, and use it to write about Jesus. So, down with the Gospels!

While we’re at it, we might as well just chuck out the whole Bible. Writing, after all, is a pagan invention, and if you’ve ever opened a Bible, you may be shocked to find that it is filled with writing! Oh, the horror.

And someone better come knock me off too. After all, I was once a pagan, and in many ways (as you can tell from this post), I still live and operate like one.

The bottom line is that Viola and Barna, though their research is excellent, have come to the absolute wrong conclusions. Yes, it is true, most of what we call “Christianity” today has it’s roots in paganism. But that doesn’t mean we jettison it! Instead, we celebrate it. Why? Because that’s what Christianity is all about: Redemption.

Christianity is about taking what is in the world (the kingdom of darkness) and redeeming it through Jesus Christ, bringing it into the kingdom of light. I mean, look at most of the things Viola and Barna talk about in their book, and most of the things I mentioned above. Almost nobody knows or remembers that these things were originally pagan. Instead, almost everybody, even people who are not Christians, equate such things with Christianity. Why? Redemption!

The truth is that rather than looking at what “pagans” are doing around us and running the other direction screaming “Run for your lives!” we should be watching, learning, and asking ”How can Christ redeem that?” Personally, I believe that nothing and nobody is beyond redemption. We may need to get creative, and we will need to dump some of the sinful elements, but everything and everybody can be redeemed.

That’s what Pagan Christianity should have been about. They should have celebrated what changes have occurred over time; not criticized them. Sure, some (even most) of the things Viola and Barna criticize have become outdated, ineffective, wasteful, and maybe even sinful. But if so, then that is why we should stop using them, not because “they were once pagan.”

After reading this book, I have half a mind to go out and find the most pagan thing I can, just to see if I can redeem it and adopt it into my church. Any suggestions?

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