My wife and I have been in Durham, NC now for about a month and a half. We are very excited that we’ve found a church home – River Oaks Community Church. What a wonderful group of people – they have welcomed us warmly into their congregation.
Today, Pastor Bill Denning challenged the church. He spoke primarily about church planting, and about the church’s (the church as a whole in America) relevance in our culture. Pastor Bill argued (convincingly) that the church simply is not relevant today – especially to the non-church goer. This explains why, as he said, that in the last 30-40 years there has been a significant rise in interest in spirituality, yet a siginificant decline in both attendance and membership of mainline denomination churches.
The story was illustrated by a video. In the video, the narrator is talking about growing up in a community. In the 50′s, the narrator was a child and saw the establishment of both a church and a grocery store. Through the decades, the community changes tremendously, and the grocery store always remained relevant to the changing community. When multi-cultural families moved in the neighborhood, the store sold ethnic foods. When people became very health-conscience, the store sold healthy foods. All the while, the church remained the same. After 50 years, the narrator noticed that the grocery store was completely different than it was 50 years ago, yet it still sold food. It’s essence was the same, but the way the store delivered food changed to remain relevant to the community. After 50 years, the only difference to the church was a for sale sign.
Churches are closing their doors at an alarming rate, and one reason is that many churches either cannot or will not change and become relevant with culture. In the same way the essence of the grocery store remained, the essence of the church – the Gospel – should never, ever change, but the way the church communicates the Gospel must be applicable to the culture in which it exists.
If we are to follow the Great Commission – if we are to make new disciples – we must reach those that are “unchurched”. To do that, we have to communicate the Gospel in a way that is relevant. That’s what Jesus did, and that’s what we should do also.
I’ve been reading through a very challenging book called “Planting Missional Churches” by Ed Stetzer. I’m almost through it, and I recommend you read it – whether you feel like a church planter or not. Stetzer challenges his readers to be “missional”.
This idea certainly isn’t new. Before Jesus ascends into heaven after his resurrection, he tells his disciples to “Go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matt. 28:19). He is basically saying that we should be missionaries. Growing up, our local church always sponsored and sent out missionaries. I remember a couple of them distinctly – one missionary family was in South America, and another missionary was in Africa. I have a Great Uncle and Aunt that served as missionaries in Japan. When I hear the word “missionary”, I think about somebody going somewhere very, very far away.
I am re-thinking what it means to be a missionary. The mission field isn’t, and shouldn’t be, another continent. The mission field is whatever ground we are standing on. It is so important that we understand this concept if we are to be called disciples of Christ.
So, I am trying to understand what it means to be a missionary in my own neighborhood. I’d like to encourage you to do the same.
I really don’t get into politics. I never have. But let me tell you why I love Barack Obama…
Because I am a follower of Christ. Jesus talked a lot about how to live, but when it all boils down, one thing remains, and that is love (1 Corinthians 13:13). The scriptures are full of how to treat people, and they all resound around one thing – Love.
You might notice that the title of this post is a play on something that has come to light in the news recently – a pastor from Arizona preached a sermon titled “Why I Hate Barack Obama”. Now, like I said, I really don’t mess around too much with politics, and as a result I’d say that I am usually not as well educated on current issues as I should be, but I have heard a lot of people criticizing our President and his administration. Not only that, but I have heard a lot of people in church circles criticizing, and more often than not, the tone I have heard is dangerously close to hate. Now, you or I may not agree with everything our president stands for, but as followers of Christ, we should be known for one thing above all other things – love.
I suppose this post is just a reminder to all of us out there who call ourselves Christians – let us be known by love. I’m not saying you have to agree with everything, or that you should agree with everything, but please – love.
On a side note, here is an interesting observation. Obama’s campaign was built on the idea of change. As a nation, we rallied behind it, and as president, he is attempting to effect change. What is the result? America is going nuts. Parents don’t even want their children to listen to a Presidential address – which, by the way, was a very, very good message to the youth of our nation. People bring weapons to public town hall meetings. Our president is essentially doing what he said he would do – change – and he is getting raked over the coals for it. I say this: It is easy to stand and point at something that we feel is wrong. It is much harder to stand up and do something about it. In my opinion, our current administration is doing just that – they are trying to create the best America that they can, and for that, I respect them.
Finally, I like that our president can do pull-ups.
In Luke chapter 7, a prostitute washes Jesus’s feet with a vial of perfume and her hair. She does this in front of a room full of religious leaders and churchgoers. When Christ is challenged, he defends the prostitute.
We live in a world where we feel we cannot open up to people about our sin. We feel like we have to make our lives clean before we can come to God, church, or each other. The prostitute poured the symbol of her life of sin on Jesus’s feet, and we can do the same with our sin.
In the summer of 2002 (I think…), I was part of a college group called CrossWise. We were a band, and we traveled to various churches and church camps in the Midwest and did concerts, led worship, etc. Our first gig was leading worship at a camp in North Dakota.
As with most church camps, there is a night toward the end that involves a campfire and lots of sharing by students. Many times these events lead to the sound of crickets chirping, but not this one. Somewhere along the way, kids started sharing, and I mean really sharing. They stripped away all the fake exterior and started talking about the real demons they struggled with. We’re talking substance abuse, addictions, self-mutilation… It was shocking. What came from that campfire session was the realization that we are broken people – every one of us. We are broken, and only God can fix us. Another thing those kids realized is that they needed each other. They needed to encourage each other. They needed to keep each other accountable.
If we try and face our demons alone, they will destroy us. Period.
I was pretty moved by this whole thing. I hung out at the campfire after most people left and wrote out a prayer for those kids. The prayer became a song, and it goes like this:
Fill me when I’m lonely
Fill me this I pray
Fill me when I’m lonely
Fill me today
I need your love
And I need your presence
I need you here to carry me through
I need your love
And I need your presence
It’s all I want todo
Hear me when I’m crying
Hear me this I pray
Hear me when I’m crying
Hear me today
Draw me closer to you
Draw me closer to you
Draw me closer to you
It’s all I want to do
