The Story

The church I attended last week was going through "The Story." It is a book written by Max Lucado. They are passing out the book, have the large posters up, and are preaching through it. Someone is making a lot of money somewhere, me thinks.

I was okay with the sermon. He was talking about Joseph and of the many trials that he went through, and how God was in complete control. Then he spoke of what was obviously a difficult trial he experienced. I am not sure if the child he spoke of was close to him, or if it were the child of someone in his congregation. In any event, in his illustration the child died. He then went on to say, "God did not do that, I could not worship a God who would do such a thing."

Read on in the story, because that is what God does to David's son. It is what he does to his own son. Dare we draw a line and say, "God, if you cross this line, I cannot worship you?" Did Joseph stop worshipping God because he was sold into slavery, accused of rape, put in prison, etc.? Was he not listening to his own sermon?

My brother used to say the same thing, I cannot worship a God who lets little children die. There is a fine line of difference between the two thoughts. In one, God is the cause. In the other, God watches helplessly. But I don't see the difference from a worship standpoint. If God is sovereign, then we should worship Him without reservation.

I think what we do is water down God, rather than lift Him up.

I think of my daughter, stricken with an awful disease. Currently she is under care and doing okay. We don't know what the long-term will bring. There are many complications in our life because of her health. Did God bring this on her? Even if not, He could remove it. So am I justified in ceasing to worship Him? David knew better. He prayed for his son, but to no avail. God took his son's life. And what did David do after his son was dead? He worshiped God.

When are we going to start preaching that truth?

Another Sunday Morning...

Today, many people will go to church to pay their penance worship God. As I struggle with what it means to worship, I also struggle with church.

Story 1: I attend a nearby church that has a good reputation and is doing some good things in the community. I am greeted by friendly people and introduced to others. I took a seat and enjoy the music. The speaker's pastor's message was next. He mentioned the name of Jesus several times during hte message, a plus. I really can't remember his title, but he spoke of our need to have Christian friends and surround ourselves with others who are Christians. It was all about me and what I needed to do to be a better person.

While I agree with the idea of communing with those of like faith, he seemed to take it to an extreme. Is this the picture of Jesus? Was he one who surrounded himself with "Yes men?" The speaker (I really can't call him a pastor) spoke of the need to give and accept criticism as brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to be challenged (apparently be having others watch over us and correct our errors).

I took him to heart. A few days later, I received a letter from them, thanking me for my visit. Inside the letter was a gift, a $5 gift card from them redeemable at a local grocery store because that is what Jesus would do. I also recieved an e-mail thanking me for my visit and asking me to respond by rating and commenting on various aspects of my visit.

I rated them high for their friendliness and their music. I rated them weak in the area of the preaching sermon  message. I was not mean or confrontational, I just stated that I thought it was the weakest part of my visit. I never heard from them again. Apparently our need to talk to others does not include visitors who don't love every aspect of our service. Apparently the need to have thick skin when someone talks to us doesn't apply to preachers. Or maybe, if a $5 gift card and an e-mail are not enough to get someone back into a pew, then that person is just not reachable. I can handle that burden.

I needed to do this

I am back. I have taken a purposeful break from blogging. I wanted some time to sort through some things, and I needed to do it without interference.

The last few years have been a difficult journey. God has moved me to a different way of thinking regarding my theological (or lack of) stance. I wanted to make sure that my thoughts were not just echoing the ideas of others, but truly God led.

Well, things have not changed as I have entered this journey. I have had 2 church experiences during this time, which I hope to share later (but soon).

God is good, and I believe in Him completely.

I would write more, but I have some reading to catch up on...

Disconnected

I haven't posted lately for a couple of reasons. The first being a lot has been going on that has kept me very busy. But that one really doesn't fly because even when I am busy, I usually can find the time to post something.

The second reason is the real one. It is a feeling I have had of being disconnected. We have been looking for a church to attend that is closer to home, and it is not going well. I have this feeling that I just don't belong.

I read an article today in Rachel Held Evan's blog, and while I don't agree with everything she believes in, I can relate to her. In fact, while we differ in some aspects of what we believe, it is not our beliefs that we are looking for in a church, but rather acceptance and the ability to hold or express a belief that may not be popular or mainstream and not feel like a leper.

When Jesus came, the "church" was very closed-minded. They wouldn't even accept him, and a large part of the reason for that was because of who he was willing to accept. Yet at the same time, he was able to accept others without compromising who he was or what he believed. I think a lot of what we have in the conservative church is a fear of having people believe we condone something just because we accept and love those who practice such things. Jesus did not fear that, he loved and accepted all. But he did it without compromising his beliefs, something that I feel the liberal church errs in.

So I am not liberal. I believe homosexuality and abortion are wrong. But that should not stop me from loving them or fellowshipping with them. And I am not conservative, because I am not afraid of fellowshipping with people who do not agree with me. I just don't fit in.

Jesus did not fit in either. Is this what it means to be like him?

Confused

I sit here this morning with a bit of time on my hands after traveling 10 hours in the car. I had an opportunity to listen to a couple of Chandler and Keller sermons.

So I ask, what does God want from me? These men both hammer on the evangelical church, saying that mere "religion" is not enough. Yet most Christians would either disagree or say, "Huh? How can you call yourself a Christian if you are not religious?"

I see their point (Chandler and Keller), and I believe that they back it up with sound exegesis. And I agree that many evangelical churches fall into a blindness where they think they get it, but in reality they seem to only confirm what is preached. Just how narrow is that road, Jesus?

Why do we have to have classes on evangelism? Answer: To help grow the church. But if instead we just taught about the beauty of God and why he is worthy of all our love, wouldn't evangelism be a natural by-product of a changed life? And is the reason we don't teach more about the latter is because we just don't get it? Yet Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart!

I don't think he was wrong.

Changes

My life has endured a lot of changes lately, in several areas. But I want to focus on the spiritual side today.

I used to go to church and just agree with everything said, and defend it against anyone who thought differently. Yes, I was one of them. But then I started asking some questions, and when I met one of them, I found that I didn't care for that kind of response. I wanted honestly and truth, not pat answers and conformity. That attitude got me into trouble with the powers that be.

I saw this statement in another blog (here) and it has stuck with me since.

The Pharisees’ entire religious system was built on what man esteems. Everything they did was done to receive glory, honor and praise from man. They got it, even the disciples thought the Pharisees were top rung guys.

Most churches that I see represent this in one way or another. When I walk into a service, I feel I can quickly discern what the main focus of a congregation is all about. Maybe it is all about the preacher, a building project, pride in their friendliness or some other aspect of their personality, maybe it is about their giving to missions or the community, the list goes on. But what I want to find is a church that is flat out in love with God. Not the god who rubber stamps their dreams and wishes, but the God of the universe who loves us and saves us, and sometimes in ways that we do not understand.

When I look at this quote, one thing that strikes me is "even the disciples thought the Pharisees were top rung guys." Is this an issue today? (Rhetorical question, of course it is.) I noticed on the website of one of the churches I attended a sermon titled, "Detour Around Legalism." While I do not know the content of the message (and don't care to), my previous experience with this congregation tells me that it was either a pat on the back of themselves or a blind foray into the depths of a topic that they really need to dig deeper into.

Even the disciples thought the Pharisees were the "it" guys. That is so scary. Like Tim Keller and many others, I believe that Jesus came to destroy this kind of thinking. Note that it is the thinking that Jesus wanted to destroy, and not the Pharisees. Somehow, I have to figure out how to do that if I want to be like Him. Not an easy job.

The First Visit

We are at a place where we are looking for a church home. Yesterday, we traveled 13.5 miles to visit a Baptist church that we had heard some good things about. I had listened to a couple of sermons and thought they were good.

We arrived and parked in the lot. There were no signs to lead us to where to enter, but we saw several people heading to the back. We followed suit, and discovered that was where the main entrance to the sanctuary is. We entered and found a seat. Someone did hold the door for us and we were handed a bulletin, but other than that, we received no greeting or acknowledgement. We sat within 3 feet of where a man was standing and talking to others. Turns out he was the pastor. No, I don't believe that the pastor has to greet every visitor, but I also believe that the church will often follow the pastor's lead. If he only talks to the same people every week (and I am not saying that is the case here, but it could be) then the church often follows suit. My wife did comment about how they seemed friendly amongst themselves.

If I could say anything about this visit, I would say that is was clinical. The message was good, but lacked passion or challenge. It was very intellectual. It was well researched and delivered. The church was the same. The people were nice and appeared to enjoy one another, but it seemed to lack depth. Lots of handshakes, brief conversations, and then off to their seats.

So on the way home, my wife asked what I thought. I told her it was okay, and that there were some positive things but also some things that bothered me. The bottom line for me was that we needed to look closer to home. Not to find a better church, but to find a place where we can get more involved without being hindered by a 25 minute drive one way. We need to and hope to find a place in our own community where we can be a part of a family, even if is slightly dysfunctional.