Under Orders from the King

We were buying a house—a brand new house. It was about to be built just up the hill from the model home. Tina’s (my wife) mom came to visit; of course, we took her to see the lot and the model home. We were young; in fact, I was young enough to think that we would do a quick walk through of the model and then go to lunch. Can you tell I had not been married very long? Somehow Tina produced a tape measurer and she and her mother began measuring all the windows and sliding glass doors so they could get started picking out, and/or making curtains, drapes, etc. They were talking about colors and accents, and all the stuff I didn’t care about. So I sat down on one of the couches in the living room and watched the other people who came in to look the model over.

As I sat there enjoying the couch and listening to my stomach begin to growl for lunch, a man, probably old enough to be my father, sat heavily in the easy chair next to me. He was a talkative guy. At times I have been accused of enjoying the sound of my voice too, so we got into a conversation. Apparently, his daughter was looking for a house. I excitedly told him we had already bought one and it would soon be under construction. When we exhausted that line of conversation and our women-folk hadn’t reappeared, he asked me what I did for a living. I was in my very first lead, actually solo, pastoral assignment, so I excitedly told him that I was the pastor of Church of the Foothills, gave him directions, and invited him to join us any Sunday morning for worship.

He asked me what kind of church it was. I told him what I always say when people ask me that:  “We are a non-denominational church affiliated with the Church of God of Anderson, Indiana. It’s sort of a non-denominational denomination.” He said, “Just so long as it’s not one of the those evangelical churches.” I asked him what church he belonged to. He said, “I’m Jewish.” So I asked him what was wrong with “evangelical” churches, and told him that our church could be considered evangelical. He went into a rant for several minutes about how his daughter had been going to an evangelical church and they wanted her to become a Christian, and why couldn’t we just let people be what they were born to be. At the end of his monologue, he was pretty red in the face and he asked me if I tried to get people to become Christians. I told him I did, and he asked why I thought I should try to get people to believe as I do. After a minute or two he again stopped talking and I told him that the last thing Jesus did on this earth was tell His followers to go into all the world and make disciples. I told the man, we have to try to persuade people to join us. We believe God’s Son ordered us to do so. He huffed a time or two and then got up to go find his family. Tina and her mom came back and said they were ready to go about then and we left. I never saw that man again, but that conversation has stayed with me.

We are under orders to bring the world to Jesus. Doing the Great Commission is not something we can do when we get around to it. It is what the Lord calls all of us to do. Some people will laugh at you. Some will get angry. Some will avoid you. But some will believe. Praise God, some will believe! The proper way to share the Good News about Jesus is by building relationships with people who don’t know Him and sharing our lives with them. It is more than can be done in a few minutes on a doorstep … or in a model home. It’s about loving folks who need the Good News and earning the right to be heard. I didn’t have the opportunity to do that with the man on the couch that day, but I think someone was building that kind of relationship with his daughter. I hope at some time someone came into that man’s life and got to share with him on a deeper level than I had the opportunity to do. He was very resistant to me and, I think, to anyone at that time, but maybe later someone got the opportunity to help him know our Savior.

It’s a big job that Jesus gave us. If we do it right it changes lives, cultures, and history. It has done so in the past, and it can again. In recent months several things have happened that demonstrate that the influence of Judeo-Christian values has lessened on our society. That needs to change, but it won’t be changed by winning elections and passing legislation. If the change comes, it will be because hearts have turned to God. That only happens as we build relationships with neighbors, colleagues, teammates, whoever we do life with who don’t know Christ. It only happens when we risk being ostracized and even hated. It will only happen when people see Christ’s love in us. Remember, we are under orders. Jesus did His part on the cross. The Holy Spirit will help us. We must do our assignment.

Salt or Sand?

Jesus told the disciples, “You are the salt of the earth.” This was an amazing declaration of His faith in His followers to make a difference in the world by making a difference in the lives of individuals that we meet. When preacher-types like me talk about this verse we remind folks what salt does: it adds flavor, it keeps foods from spoiling, and it melts ice. All are great metaphors for what Christ followers are to be in the world.

One of these metaphors has become more meaningful for me recently. I have spent most of the last two winters in the Chicago, Illinois area. Wow, do those folks know how to have a winter! Snow lands on the ground around Thanksgiving and may finally be gone by Easter, providing Easter does not come too early on the calendar. It gets cold and stays cold. And yet people live and function through it all. They get to work, to the store, usually to church, and always to the sporting events even as the snow piles high and temperatures drop.

I grew up in Wichita, Kansas. It’s not exactly one of the great vacation spots in the winter either, but there are respites between terrible cold spells and any snow they get tends to melt in just a few days. It only seems longer. When it snows in Wichita, it’s a big deal. They know it will come, but they seem to deny it, at least on the roads.

In Northern Illinois they put salt and other similar chemicals on the roads as soon as snow threatens. Ice usually melts on the road as soon as it forms. The roads usually remain passible. I was reminded when I was in Kansas early last winter how different things are out there when it snows. Instead of using salt to melt the snow and ice on the roads, the Wichitans put down sand. I guess their philosophy is that the sand will give vehicles traction on the ice. While the road department in Northern Illinois believes it’s better to just get the snow and ice to melt and go away, in Wichita, after a big snowstorm people slip and slide for several days, and hope the snow melts on its own.

The point of all this is actually a question I want to ask:  Are you being sand or salt to the world? Is your life—your actions and attitudes—melting the icy cold of sin in your community, in your family, at work, or even at church? Or, are you contributing to the grit? Do your actions and attitudes act like an abrasive to people who are already troubled by their sins?

You can be salt by coating all you do with Christ’s love, especially when you confront sin. Remember when the woman was caught in adultery (John 8)? He didn’t accept her sin, but neither did He rebuke her as a person. Instead He gave her hope by telling her to go and sin no more. He showed her that he believed she could do better. He melted her heart and dissolved the sin.

In this same story the Pharisees were sand. They caught her in the act. They had her dead to rights, and they wanted her dead. They did nothing to melt the sin in her life, nothing to redeem her. They were only abrasive grit. While Jesus offered her hope, they offered her only condemnation.

So again:  Are you salt? Or are you sand? Are you a change agent of hope, or are you an agent of condemnation?

Who are You Trying to Impress?

That was the question the conference leader asked a group of about 500 or so pastors and church leaders. “Who are you trying to impress?” I was a very young associate pastor and being a typical Baby Boomer know-it-all, I answered to myself, “I’m not trying to impress anyone. I just want to be me.” Then, the leader went further and said “Who would you most like to hear compliment your ministry? A friend? A parent? Another pastor? A seminary professor? Who would you most like to hear say good things about your preaching and your leadership?” Well that brought the question home to me. I thought I would love to have some of my old profs (I was about a year and a half out of seminary) tell me I was doing things the right way. This conference leader had started his church with nothing and led it to be, at that time, one of the fastest growing and most effective churches in America. He said, “I decided when I started that if I could get a compliment from anyone on my ministry, I wanted it to come from the unchurched in my town. That is who I decided to try to impress.”

To me, that was a brand new way of looking at ministry, and it has become the way I have tried to conduct myself as a pastor. Because Jesus’ command to us is to make disciples, I knew I needed to make an impression on those who don’t know Him. How else could I help influence them to join me in following Christ? This idea began to color the way I sought to preach, the programs and events I led my church to do, and even the kind of building we eventually built. Sometimes, it’s meant choosing to do things in a way that was not impressive to my profs or even the older leaders in my church. From time to time, those people made their disappointment with me very obvious. But the Lord did not assign me to impress them. Jesus had the same problem. Most of the religious people of His time were not impressed with Him at all, while the regular folks followed Him.

Impressing the unchurched does not mean becoming like the unchurched, but it does mean sharing the Gospel in ways that get their attention and speak to them. It means treating them with respect and loving them. It means doing your best to make them feel accepted, comfortable and loved in your presence. You won’t have to point out their sin (the Holy Spirit will take care of that), and it’s not your job to judge them (I believe that is reserved for Christ). Your job is to care about them and want them to join you on the journey to heaven.

Too often the practice of congregations does not match its rhetoric. They say they want to win people to Christ, but they leave the unchurched feeling like they are a bother. When people do decide to join the body, the congregation often keeps them on the fringe of the fellowship for a long time. (Right after becoming the pastor at a church, I heard some of the core people talking about the “new family.” Turned out the “new family” had been attending and giving to the church regularly for 5 years.)

Lesson for Pastor: It’s easy for your office to become an ivory tower. You can find yourself surrounded only by Christians and people who try to act like Christians when they are around you. Find ways to get to know unchurched people in your community and be Jesus to them. Join a service or hobby club, play on a ball team not sponsored by the church, volunteer as a police or fire chaplain, coach your kid’s sports team. Do anything that will put you in close contact with people you might be able to influence for Christ. Then, get to know them. Become friends. Share life with them and thereby earn the right to share Christ.

Lesson for Church Leaders: Help your pastor develop a culture in your church that expects and welcomes unchurched people. Realize that they will bring baggage with them from the world and be willing to help them deal with it when they’re ready. Don’t expect people who don’t know Christ to act like Him. Be real with them. You probably aren’t as Christ-like as you should be either. Share the road to Him with them.

My mentor, Dan Harman, used to say when I was his associate at First Church in Fresno, CA that he wanted there to be three kinds of people in Fresno: 1.) People who are members of First Church. 2.) People who are members of another church, but say, “If I didn’t have a church home I would go to First Church.” 3.) People who don’t go to church anywhere, but say, “If I decide to go to church, I think I’ll try First Church.” We didn’t get that far, but we worked at it. I challenge you to work at it too.

Think about it. From whom would you like to hear a compliment? Who are you trying to impress?

Names of Churches

What’s in a name?  What’s in a name for a church?

A new church is meeting at a high school near my house.  It is called Kingdom Come.  Interesting name.  I haven’t yet found out why this name was chosen, and I am sure there must have been a good reason, but I am having fun thinking about what that name means.  It probably has to do with a verse from the Lord’s Prayer, or about wishing Jesus would come back.  But what do people driving by the sign in front of the school think it means.  Most people use the words “kingdom come” in a sentence like, “The tornado (or hurricane, or explosion) blew that house to kingdom come.”  So, is this church explosive, or the aftermath of an explosion? Or, perhaps the church members know that the Hebrew word for spirit is the same as the word for wind, so they are very poetically thinking that the Spirit is blowing in the church until the Kingdom comes.  The problem is that the Bible says:

Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20-21, NIV).

To me that says the Kingdom is already here.  

Anyway, I don’t want to argue Kingdom of God theology at this time; instead, this post is about church names. 

I find them very interesting.  Historically, we have named churches for a saint or other leader, for a biblical place, for a doctrinal position, or a combination of these.  Some churches are named for the area or the street on which they are located.  Sometimes, that creates problems when the church relocates.  When I was a young student minister in Louisville, KY, the biggest church in town was Walnut St. Baptist Church: it was located on Broadway and had been for many years.  The First Church of God in Wichita, KS was pretty much in the middle of town when it changed its name to Central Community Church.  A couple of years later they moved to what was then the west edge of town and kept the name.  (Central Community has a sister church named West Side.  West Side is now 5 miles closer to the middle of the city than is Central—confusing.)  It has also long been the practice for churches to use numbers to identify themselves.  Usually, the only number they use is First, but I have seen a few Seconds.

Some churches that started in the 70s and 80s, perhaps inspired by 7Up’s uncola commercials chose to use an unchurch name.  They took names like Christian Fellowship, or Koinonia, or Ekklesia and left out the word “Church” … I guess to show they were different from your Grandma’s church.  Also, in that period lots of churches put “Community” in their names:  Faith Community, Fellowship Community, Ourtown or Our Neigborhood Community.  Many of these were inspired by Robert Schuller who chose not to name the church he founded Reformed Church of Garden Grove, but instead, Garden Grove Community Church.  His purpose was to identify with the people of the town.  Of course, when they built an amazing building, the name was changed to Crystal Cathedral.  Hmm … that church, which for decades was one of the most influential ones in the country, recently declared bankruptcy.  I wonder if the emphasis, like the name, turned from the community to the church.  I don’t know about that particular case, but I know that a lot of other churches have turned inward, which has led to their downfall.

In the last 10 or 15 years the fad has been for churches to choose a one word name that somehow describes the mission, so we now have churches named Journey, Catalyst, Discover, Hope, or _______pointe (fill in the blank with Life, Bridge, Faith, Touch). 

There are also some very unusual names for newer churches.  Last week I heard a speaker from Australia whose church is named Small Boat, Big Sea.  It’s located in a depressed area and wants to bring God’s rescue to the people there, at least that’s what I think it means.  Also, there is a church in Denver, CO that is called Scum of the Earth.  No kidding.  They are targeting people who feel rejected by everyone.  A good thought, but I think it might limit their clientele. Perhaps that’s the idea, and they are only interested in reaching that niche which they feel is being rejected by other churches.  I can’t help being reminded of a youth pastor friend of mine who, when we were young, was fond of saying he was going to move to Beverly Hills because he felt called to minister to the filthy rich.  I wonder how the name Church of the Filthy Rich, or Rich and Famous Community Church would have worked out.  Maybe it’s just as well he never went there.

Some church leaders are saying churches should think about changing the name every five years.  I don’t know about that.  It seems to me if a church has a reputation for being a loving community that welcomes and accepts new people, a name change is probably unnecessary and may be counterproductive.  However, if a church which has been declining or on a long plateau because it has become inward focused is choosing to turn over a new leaf, repent, and seek to have an outward focused future, then a name chance should be considered.  The new name can reflect the new life the church is now living.  Changing the name won’t change the focus, but if the focus is changing, then changing the name can make sense. 

Naming the church is a big decision.  I had the privilege of naming a church that I planted.  It was the middle 80s and I wanted to name it Hope Community Church.  (Basically, because we had little money, little training as a church planter, no people, and hope was the only resource we had.)  When I shared the name with the congregation, which at that point was my wife, my 6-year-old son and myself, the vote was 2 to 1.  My wife was fine with Hope, but my little son, being wise beyond his years, said, “Name it Jesus’s Church, because it’s His church anyway.”  I learned right then that naming a church causes controversy in any size church.  Of course, Jarad’s statement was correct, but Dad and Mom won and we named it Hope Community anyway.  As I think about it, perhaps Jesus’ Church would be a pretty good name.  Maybe it would help a body of believers to remember who is in charge and keep the focus on Him and his design for His church. 

What’s in a name?  For a church there can be a lot, especially in this day when people are less and less impressed by denominational and doctrinal names.  I think the name should reflect what the church aspires to be and the mission it hopes to accomplish.  Is your church living up to its name?  Beyond that, is it living up to the mission that Jesus gave it?

What Kind of Church is Yours?

Some of you who know me well may have heard me talk about this subject at some time or other, but I have never written these thoughts down, so here goes!

What kind of church do you attend? What kind of church do you wish your church was? What kind of church does God want His church to be? I am not talking about denomination or size. I'm talking about the emphasis and atmosphere of the church.

Some churches are museums. As near as I can tell, the main reason they exist must be to preserve the past. The building probably hasn't changed in years and even if it has been updated, the programs are straight from fifty years ago. Many times they can't change the building because every room, and, perhaps, even all its furniture is dedicated to the memory or the honor of someone who is now long gone. That is, they are gone until someone tries to move or change something, then it seems like they have come back with a vengeance in the uproar caused by their descendants. These churches can't change the programs because, well, we have always had that program. It doesn't matter that the program is no longer relevant and the few who participate do so only out of loyalty. Museums may be nice places to visit now and then to see what used to be, but they are not places that people go to get things done, or to make a difference in the world.

Some churches are stadiums. The crowd watches while a few professionals perform. If the professionals are particularly talented and their performance pleases the crowd, then the crowd raves about it and the number of attenders swells. The crowd's purpose is to pay their money and soak up the excitement. At this kind of church the Gospel is presented and some people find a relationship with Jesus, but there is not much of a place for them to grow and serve. If the professionals hit a losing streak, and the performance is not up to expectations the seats are soon empty. Stadiums are cold, drafty and lonely once the crowd thins out.

It seems to me that many churches these days are exclusive clubs. They would not admit it, but just let the wrong person try to become part of the fellowship. Then their club characteristics come out. Some churches are exclusive to people of a particular race or ethnic group, some to an educational level or social strata, and some to a style of dress or some other standard. I have observed that many congregations these days seem to be determined to be a club for senior citizens. While they lament the lack of younger people, and say they long for the energy that youth would bring, the manner the church worships, dresses, the music it uses, and the programs it employs, are all designed for people of "a certain age." They are suspicious of technology, mostly because it is different. Younger folks are welcome if they like old music, and old ways. What is wrong with at church wanting to appeal to its old members, or have a certain standard for its membership. Nothing, I suppose, if only it would advertise itself as a Christian club instead of a church. Then they could hang out a sign that honestly describes who may apply for membership. A true church is a place where whosoever will may come. "Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." Revelation 22:17 (NIV)

Thankfully, some churches choose to be what I like to call Spiritual Medical Centers. These are places where people find healing for their souls and then learn to share that healing with others. Medical center churches know why they exist: to make disciples. They use the most up to date methods, and equipment they can find to help them do this. The emphasis is on the person who is hurting and needs attention. Everything that happens at a physical medical center has to do with healing the sick and injured. Everyone from the surgeon, to the administrator, to the nurse, to the custodian, has a job to do that helps the physical medical center fulfill its purpose. At a medical center church everything is about not only getting people to accept the cure for their sin, but also about learning to live healthy lives in Christ. Then they learn to share the cure, and the health they are finding with whoever they can. There are a lot of things to be done, but all of them point to sharing love, hope and salvation with others. All the people who regularly attend the medical center church see themselves as part of this great work. The medical center church doesn't exist for those who are already part of it, but for those who need it. It is not picky about who comes in the door, or where they have been. It just wants to bring them into an encounter with the Lord. Members of a medical center church realize that fulfilling the mission is much more important than their preferences. These are the churches that build God's Kingdom and have a great affect on the community.

I am always looking for other kinds of churches. What kinds can you think of? I have long used the metaphor of the medical center for a healthy church. Can you think of other good metaphors that help explain what a healthy church should look like? Please share your thoughts with me.