Religion is not the Enemy

The historic sanctuary of Ebenezer Baptist Church,
where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., preached. It is now
part of the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic
Site, owned and operated by the National Park Service.

The 20th century saw the rise and fall of many evangelical leaders, men of renown who preached the Gospel to worldwide prominence, then were destroyed by personal sin and moral failures. Those instances damaged the brand of Christianity, and the church. That damage was also furthered by the personal hypocrisy of many church going Americans. The rubble of 20th century Christianity's failures has given rise to a new breed of Christian, the post-modern Christian.

The post-modern Christian's favorite slogan is "It's about relationship, not religion." The post-modern Christian sees his disdain for traditional Christianity, and in particular, the traditional church, as the same disdain Christ had for the Pharisees and the Sadducees. In post-modern Christianity, the church is de-emphasized, and the individual's feeling of connection toward God is over-emphasized. That dynamic makes discipleship almost impossible, because loving correction is all but forbidden. One is no longer allowed to warn a brother who is drifting into a lifestyle of sin. One is no longer allowed to take firm stances for, or against, anything, for doing so is seen as being judgmental, which is the post-modern's only unforgivable sin. 

It is good for Christians to inspect themselves to see if they are living as Christ wants them to live. It is good for churches to examine themselves to see if they are operating within the will and mission of the Lord. If all Christians and churches did this, Christianity in America would go through a very healthy introspection. Such would be a good thing, given the failures we've seen over the past century. Still, to discard traditional Christianity, and the church, in favor of a more isolated, socially open and acceptable creed is a grievous error. The church is still God's institution, organized on the shores of Galilee, and commissioned on the Mount of Olives to represent the Lord and spread the Gospel throughout the entire world. Jesus made it clear in Matthew 28:20 that this would be the case until He returned. So, let's not fall for the error of turning our backs on the church.

None-the-less, post-modern objections to the church need to be addressed. The church is still a key part of the Christian faith. The failures of its leaders and members do not change that. The church has been a light in the world, despite those failures, and God wants us to be a part of a church.

The failures of the leaders and the members of the church do not discredit it's role in God's mission. Indeed, it is easy to take anecdotal evidence of the failures of an evangelical leader, a pastor, a church member, or even the stance of some churches, and say that the church has lost its purpose and is therefore no longer relevant. This approach to discrediting one's opponents is not new. If you want to discredit liberalism, find the craziest self-described liberal and parade them in public. Breitbart does this on a daily basis. If you want to discredit conservatism, find the most redneck'ed racist individual out there, and parade him around in public. The Huffington Post does that quite often. And, if you want to discredit traditional Christianity, make sure to draw as much attention as possible to the most hypocritical leaders and followers of the Christian faith. 

However, just as political liberalism and conservatism cannot be defined by the most extreme individuals in their camps, Christianity is not defined by the failures of a few. In fact, it's not defined by the failures of the majority. It's not even defined by the failures of the greatest missionary in history. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3:7, "For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?"

The Apostle Paul knew he was a sinner. He failed God often, and he chronicled that in Romans 7:15-25. Following Romans 3:7, he made the case that we are all sinners, and we all fall short of God's glory. Those failures did not discredit God, they proved His point. We, as Christians, are human, and therefore we sin. We fall short. We make bad decisions, and we do bad things. So does everyone else.

Yet the message of Christianity is that in spite of that sin, in spite of those failures, God loves us, and redeemed us anyway. So, if one thinks that he is going to be able to discard the church and traditional Christianity in favor of a more perfect, holy and righteous system, he is going to be disappointed. The purity of the religion goes out the window as soon as people become involved. So, if we're going to deal with sinful people, we might as well do so in the context of the local church, which is the way God designed it.

Another charge often leveled against traditional Christianity is that the church has failed in its role to be a light in the world. After all, Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." A post-modern looks at these verses, and complains that the church has failed to be a light. It has failed to make the world a better place. It has failed to help the poor.

Those who say the church has failed to be a light in the world evidently missed the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The civil disobedience that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act was not born of the efforts of community organizers, socialists, or liberal politicians. It was executed by African American pastors in the south, who, knowing God's demand for justice, sought to put an end to the racial injustices of the day.

The Freedom Riders, and the Congress on Racial Equality, were born out of Wiley College in Marshall, TX, a Methodist college which served African American students in East Texas. Wiley College was home to a national champion debate team in 1935, a member of which was a young James Farmer, Jr,, who co-founded the Congress on Racial Equality. Farmer's father was a Methodist minister who served as president of Wiley College. During his study at Wiley, the younger farmer learned about civil disobedience from his debate coach.

The face of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a Baptist pastor, serving at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, and Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. King worked with other ministers in carrying out his demonstrations to bring not only racial justice, but also racial reconciliation and healing.

As a result, racial segregation was outlawed, and the Civil Rights Movement was successful. That's not to say that racism no longer exists, but the institutional hurdles that African Americans faced have been removed. There are still hurdles, but they tend to be social and economic.

Those who claim the church has failed to be a light in the world have also overlooked the many charitable organizations that have been founded for the sole purpose of helping the poor, needy, and those affected by tragedy. These organizations were founded by churches and Christians. Samaritan's Purse, the American Red Cross, and the Salvation Army are all well known charitable organizations whose roots are embedded in the American church. Additionally, there are the numerous missionary efforts to preach the Gospel and offer relief to the poor worldwide.

So, despite the failures of many of its leaders and followers, the Christian church has been a light in the world.

Finally, we should not abandon the church because God wants us to be a part of a church. In Hebrews 10:25, the Bible says, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."

The purpose of church involvement is three-old.

(1) It is to encourage you as you walk with the Lord. As Christians, we should be encouraging each other as we face life's challenges, and we should remind each other to have faith in the Lord, even when we are going through the dark valleys of life.

(2) It is to build your faith and knowledge. Discipleship is a key part of the Christian life. God wants us to study His word, learn more about Him, and apply that knowledge to our lives. In order to do that, we need mentors. We need to be taught by those who are more mature in the faith, who have been where we are, and have seen God work. Church membership is key to our Spiritual growth, and to our being grounded in the truth. Without it, we tend to drift, without learning, and we tend to develop our own beliefs apart from the Bible. We need church involvement to keep us grounded.

And finally, (3) church involvement gives us an avenue to serve the Lord. Churches are supposed to be in the business of spreading the Gospel. It's a team effort. God never intended on us serving alone. He wants us serving in teams, with groups, our Christian brothers and sisters who encourage us on our way. Sure, there were men in the Bible who served alone, but remember, Elijah suffered from severe depression.

I understand that people in the church have fallen short. I also understand that you may have been betrayed or hurt by people in the church. My plea to you is that you do not let the sins of others deter you from living in God's will. Find a church that preaches the truth, and that loves you, and get involved. You will find the Christian walk is a whole lot more meaningful if you do. May God bless you and keep you will be my prayer. 

False Profits: Tearing Down the Righteous, and Lifting up the Wicked Since 600 BC

The blogosphere (at least in my circle) has slowed down considerably over the past few years, but four or five years ago, several of my fellow preachers, friends and acquaintances routinely took to our blogs to debate theological concepts and worship practices. During this time, the words "seeker friendly" were popularly used, and many criticized traditional churches.

Modern churches and preachers seem to face a new set of challenges... from our culture openly embracing homosexuality, to increasing poverty and drug use, to our culture turning its back on the churches in general.Churches face the challenge of reaching people in this culture, sharing the truth in love, without coming across like the Westboro group.

In facing this challenge, some have chosen to lash out at traditional churches, and to criticize pastors, preachers and teachers who dare to stand on truth, and call sin for what it is... sin. What the "seeker friendly" movement has done for us is that is has basically criminalized speech against sin in our churches. Teach against a sin, and you will be scolded, and admonished to "love the sinner, not the sin." You will also be told that you, too are a sinner, and there is no difference between you and the sinner out there on the street.

I once read the words of one preacher, who claimed to have told his congregation that he'd "rather offend 100 church members than one first-time visitor." That statement has bothered me for years. I understand wanting a visitor to feel welcome, and wanting to gently guide a new believer, or one who is on the verge of making a decision for Christ, to come to a knowledge of the truth, but why the animosity toward existing believers? You know, the people God refers to as "His children," who have received the "Spirit of Adoption whereby they cry 'Abba,' 'Father?'" You know, the people who have tirelessly worked for years to support the Lord's church and its ministries, whose faithful service God has blessed in a way that has resulted in there being a church there for you to teach and preach at in the first place? Why the animosity?

In many of today's churches, people expect their pastors to preach good, encouraging messages. And if he preaches a message against sin (especially if he addresses a specific sin like adultery, fornication, drug abuse, etc), he is criticized and told that we "should love the sinner and not the sin." He is also reminded that "he is a sinner, too," and the only difference between us and them is that we are "sinners under grace." In today's society, people get more offended by a man who goes to the scriptures and says "X is a sin," than they do about the fact that "X" is going on in the first place, or that "X" destroys lives, or that "X" has become a problem in the church. I can think of one church where the pastor had to leave because the congregation made him so uncomfortable because he dared confront adultery going on among its members.

This mentality boils down to the following mission statement: Encourage the Sinners, and remind the Saints of their Place. During my study of the book of Ezekiel (I am currently preparing a sermon series from that book), I found that the same mentality existed in Jerusalem, and all of Judea and Israel before the captivity. Wickedness had permeated throughout all of Judea and Israel, to the point that even the neighboring heathen nations were taken aback. Ezekiel was taken into captivity, where God called him to be a prophet... and Ezekiel's prophecies (words he received from the LORD) called out the sin of Jerusalem, and Judea and Israel in general.

In Ezekiel 13, God turned his ire on to the false prophets that had propagated the sinful activity that led to Jerusalem's downfall. In Ezekiel 13:22, God says, "Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:"

Those false prophets had lied to the people. They blasted the righteous, those who were right with God, and made their hearts sad. They criticized them, and then promised the wicked (those actively engaged in sinful, unGodly conduct) that God would deliver them. They claimed God's authority in saying these things, but God never said them.

As I read those words in my study, I couldn't help but think of all the things I have heard written and said, that were disparaging toward God's people. I couldn't help but think of the preacher who ripped his congregation on facebook because they wouldn't embrace contemporary worship, or the man who would rather run off the faithful so his church can be more appealing to non-church members. It made me think of the man who would tolerate openly sinful behavior from a non-believer, while blasting an older church member "for just not getting it." If the attitude described in Ezekiel 13:22 is prevalent in our churches today, its no wonder why more are closing than opening, and why the percentage of the unchurched continues to grow. God will not bless that environment.

If we condemn and preach against the members of the church, when God has not led us to confront their sin, or when we promise the wicked eternal life when he has not repented and believed, we are lying! And at that point, we have become false prophets.

Brethren, I propose we lay aside the church growth/planting books, and we get back to what made the Christian movement so powerful in the first place. I propose we get back into the Word, the Bible, and learn what God wants, how He sees things, and apply the things we learn to our lives. I propose that, instead of trying to manipulate decisions for Christ based on chords in an invitation song, that we actually go about making disciples, working with people one-on-one, teaching them the truth and exhorting them to turn from sin and trust the Lord... and that involves calling sin, sin.Finally, I propose we get back to what church is all about. It's not about modernizing, crowds, change, or presentation. It's about honoring God, worshiping Him in our gatherings, teaching His Word, and carrying out His mission of making disciples in our communities. Besides, if we can not love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, with whom we share the common background of the Gospel, how can we claim to love sinners? It's time to turn our hearts back to the Lord.

It's a Church!

While I am doing my morning show on KSTA, I do a lot of reading, stay logged into facebook, keep an eye on the news and read the latest trends in Christianity on various blogs and Web sites.

One trend that is emerging, not so much in the ABA, but in Christianity in general, is the inception of the third-location church. Now, for those who are not familiar with this concept, here's how it works. A church planter or group of Christians move to town, and open up a business establishment (usually a coffee shop or restaurant), and operate that venture as a business. That church planter/team then holds informal services at that location at a certain time... many times under a different name. (For example, the coffee shop name might be Jacked Up Java, but the group that holds services there might be named, "The Upper Room." Get the picture?)

The result is not so much a church that opens a coffee shop, but a coffee shop that is owned and operated by a church. Plus, the church meets in the coffee shop. One added benefit is that many of these third-location churches hang posters and decor that promote the message of the Gospel, plus keep Christian literature on the tables for the customers to read while they wait on their order. At closing time, there is church service.

I'm not so much spooked by the methodology of this, though, I do wonder how much of this will actually bear fruit. My main concern is that this appears to me to be another step in the trend to de-emphasize the church as part of the Christian life.

In efforts to reach the post-modern culture, many are deformalizing the church body. Membership rolls are no longer being kept in some instances. New members are not required to covenant with the church, and many times are not asked to make any real committment to the church.

We don't want to run them off, and we don't think they'll come to church, so we decide to just not call our organization a church. We'll just give it a name.

There's research data that shows that the post-modern generation doesn't trust organized religion, so the trend is to stay as far away from the organized religion image as possible, even if it means removing the formal church structure and attempting discipleship based on a loose-nit network of relationships and call that a church... only don't put church in the name. I could go on.

All this is done under the banner of contextualization (which can be a good thing so long as it is done in accordance with scripture). However, the de-emphasis of the church is not a Biblical way to make disciples.

The church, as depicted in scripture, is a local visible body of scripturally baptized believers who have coventanted together (that means they have a formal agreement) to make disciples, baptize them, and teach the disciples. The church is the primary vehicle for the carrying out of the Great Commission and the education of God's people. In Ephesians 4, Paul named leaders in the churches who were there for the perfecting of the saints for the ministry of the Gospel. That means the church leadership existed to prepare the church members to spread the Gospel. It was, and should still be, a team effort.

The church, in its scriptural form, does to new converts what the Southlake Carroll football program does to junior high boys, turns them into superstars. Just as Southlake Carrol High School cranks out Division I Football Talent every year, so should churches be turning out Division I caliber evangelists every year.

Not only is the church the primary vehicle for discipleship and Great Commission work, it is also the primary vehicle for worshipping God. Is there a verse that says, "Thou shalt worship God at church?" No. Is the book of Acts full of examples of Christians gathering at church to worship God? Yes. Does the Bible teach AGAINST forsaking the assembling of ourselves together? Yes.

The church is also the primary vehicle for ministry. When a person comes forward with a need, many times it is the church that responds by meeting the need. It was churches that responded quickly to Hurricane Katrina, Rita and Ike. Churches all over the U.S. have disaster response ministries.

God's will is for people to be saved, baptized, then perfected in a local church. His desire is for churches to teach their members how to evangelize, how to disciple, and how to minister. The church is a vital part of God's Kingdom.

Yet, many want to de-emphasize this sacred institution because "the post-modern generation does not believe in organized religion." I'm sure glad the churches back in the book of Acts didn't feel that way.

You see, in America, the worst we have to fear is rejection... maybe someone will spit in our face, on a bad day we might even get punched. On extremely rare occasions, maybe shot. But mostly, we just fear rejection. So, we'll just de-emphasize church and invite folks to a "get-together."

The churches of the book of Acts faced imprisonment, discrimination, death, beatings, stonings, mob violence, and in later years, torture, humiliation and death. They didn't de-emphasize the institution of the church, and I'm glad they didn't. Chances are, had those churches tried to contextualize themselves with their Roman oppressors, we might not have the Gospel in America today, and I'd be some heathen doing God only knows what.

Scripture teaches the church is important. It spreads the Gospel, it perfects and edifies its members, and it is through those gathering that we gain encouragement from each other. Being a part of the church is a special part of the Christian walk. Don't let some liberal hack in an ivy-walled post-secondary institution, an over-zealous evangelism expert, or a defiant culture take that away from you.

Let's get back to the basics. Evangelism, discipleship, baptism, church membership, teaching and learning, and sending out. The Great Commission is simple. The Gospel is simple. Let's keep it that way.