How Can We Be The Church God Wants?

The first obstacle to becoming the church God wants is to decide what God wants from His church and I’m not sure it would look the same organizationally from one location to another. I do believe the basic answer can be found in the first part of the “Lord’s Prayer,” “Thy will done on earth as it is in heaven.” Men and women with good intentions all across our planet simply confuse the issue by making/organizing church according to their personal belief patterns. When I was a child, I can’t remember how many times I was reminded of the church not being the building, but rather the people who met together in the building. These same people teaching me this concept failed in one aspect of training because they forgot to extend the analogy one step further and recognize for themselves how the church is also, not the organization of the people, but rather EACH individual.

We take on many denominational names to describe the organization of the people coming together and effectively create an artificial church. I believe the church God wants is reflected in Romans 14 and speaks to each individual answering to his Lord. While groups continue to wrestle with appropriate worship formats, I can’t help but believe we are frustrating the will of God. My niece just recently made the analogy of picturing Jesus sitting out on the steps of the church building desiring to be let inside. While I think it is wonderful to include others in our personal worship, I can’t believe, at least right now, that God ever intended for us to gather as a group and worship Him. While I’m sure He finds our outpouring of praise enjoyable, I’m also convinced He finds our acts of love toward others as a more fragrant form of worship.

When I think of our organized worship, I think we miss the point and should even characterize it with different terms void of worship concepts. I’m not sure we can ever move past the idea of a worship service even if we wanted to do so and without this being an attainable goal, we must choose to alter our worship if our desire is truly to be more like God would want to see from us.

I once dreamed of an opportunity to have complete control of a building so it could be used by the family of God to honor and glorify His name in the community. This building would be used by His people in any work of righteousness. It might be as simple as a free weddings since the people of God encourage men and women to marry. We might see an evening of Christian rock bands coming together to share the gospel of Jesus through their music. It could be a safe place for teens to meet, watch movies and enjoy the company of those in righteousness for free. Oh, the dream of organizing something to reach all people with anything good and wholesome. Instead of a church where we hear the words we can’t do that, will this cause a problem, will I get in trouble for this, etc.  It would be an organization of a never ending YES!

As I finish this short offering, my mind goes to the parables of Jesus. I can’t believe He would not approve of anything   being done to draw someone closer to a relationship with Him and the Father. An elder in one of the churches I once attended mentioned fearing to do something because it might put us on a slippery slope/slide and looking back, I can only recommend we jump on the slide with joy. Once we are on the slide in the Joy of the Lord, I can’t help but think others will want some of our joy for themselves. Since we are getting close to the end of another football season, I am reminded of something I hate to see from my team in a game. Whenever we go into a “prevent” defense, it always seems to have a negative effect. The church has been playing a careful, safe, and preventing approach to glorifying God all in the name of not offending anyone and it is time we play hard to honor God and move past any fouls or penalties we face as we enjoy the gift of joy from our Lord!

Church Hypocrisy Alive and Thriving!

 I have often given my opinion concerning the use of musical instruments and while I see nothing wrong with instruments being used, the hypocrisy of those keeping them from being used burns brightly within our heritage today. I use the term “burns brightly” because I believe the youth of our families have an incredible access to the reality of instruments not being an issue affecting the salvation of an individual. In my youth, access to biblical information was only through my local congregation and the specific book stores containing only material written by those of our faith heritage. With the vast resource of information available on the internet today, a simple search easily opens the eyes of those asking religious questions to the ridiculous traditions we hold fervently to in our services.

From as early as I can remember, I was reminded and told the addition of instruments was simply a “feel good’ addition speaking to the human nature and drawing people into an artificial worship ignoring the purity of our singing offered to God. While I won’t discuss it in these comments, we even went so far as to take the Bible out of context as we used the comments of the apostle Paul of “singing and making melody in our hearts.” While I definitely believe the purity of the human voice can be extremely beautiful, I do not believe it should be encouraged over any other form of musical offering. I also find it amusing to hear comments concerning the concept of “attending a concert,” and this is exactly where my use of the word hypocrisy comes from in the title. While it might be a serious mistake to rely on the English words we have in the Bible, I am not even basically familiar with the original language of the Bible. When I see Abel offer God the first/best of his labors and Cain offer “some” of his, God is pleased with the best offering.

Possibly, in my ignorance, I can’t accept God’s disapproval of Cain’s failure being the fact he did not offer a blood sacrifice, as many will say, but rather his failure to offer his best. In our hypocrisy, we preach and teach for everyone to not be satisfied with offering less than our best. We use the word sacrifice to emphasize the Christian concept of going beyond what is expected or normal. Yes, we are encouraged to go the extra mile. What can be wrong with this and how can it possibly be considered hypocrisy burning brightly? The answer is rather simple since those in our fellowship are only allowed to offer their best when the best can make it through the filter of “what is appropriate for our congregation!” There is a big difference between what is appropriate and what can be declared sinful.

Reading articles, blogs and discussions on this topic, I’ve often come across the word, “expedient,” which simply means “this addition to our worship is necessary or non-offensive to Christian principles.” The common additions listed often detail the use of song books, microphones, church buildings, located preachers, office staff, etc., and yet in reality, a person simply has to make it past the filter and they are “home free.”

In more recent times, we have seen the addition of praise teams and elaborate audio/visual presentations. Remembering those people who objected to the projection of simple sermon outlines on a screen is almost humorous when I consider the elaborate pictures, PowerPoints, and videos used in our services today. We even have objection to using song slides with music because beautiful motion videos can’t be used to “enhance” the worship experience. I almost fell out of my chair the first time I heard this expression because this is the “root of all evil” when it comes to instrumental worship! How many times have we been told throughout our history that enhancement is wrong? Is this not hypocrisy and is it not burning brightly? I almost sound like I am against this use of audio visual enhancement and yet it simply points to something having made its way through the filter and while I bet it is good for some people, I can remember singing a song recently with Christmas lights flashing off and on in the picture/video behind the words. I was distracted on two levels because I need the music notes in order to make sense of the song and at the end of the song, I could not even tell you the name of the song we had just finished. Was my worship experience enhanced? No, but it was not my Christian place to complain. We recently had a video played during our communion where the words and the instruments used took me to a feeling of really being in the presence of God and yet others were shocked or offended. It was not their Christian place to complain and yet some did, anyway. It was “filtered” out as a mistake of showing the wrong video of two and I believe it was the actual working of God to edify those like me during this service.

Hypocrisy does not rest entirely with the subject of music and the worship experience, but also in other areas of our church experiences with little notice. Even as the thoughts on this area of hypocrisy begin coming forward in my mind, I am excited that I can look forward to bible class each Sunday morning. For what seems like the first time in my adult life, I can go to class knowing that I will leave each week with more knowledge of God than I had before coming to class. My class on Sunday morning is not a “rehash” of the same thing I was taught back in the elementary years. This class, is, week to week, the only “non-milk” I’ve ever had.

While this is an incredible exception to the case, our bible classes are a prime example of what is hypocrisy in our fellowship. We encourage the study of God by our brothers and sisters and with tremendous access to information available we have people devoting time to understanding God in a variety of areas out of the main stream of class study. While they want to know more about God and encouraged to learn more about God, they continue to participate in classes where the same information, though often packaged differently is discussed with Amen! I would suggest we don’t grow in our love because we are in a perpetual state of re-runs when it comes to God. We are bored with Christian education because we never move past the milk.

While I don’t fancy myself as a teacher, I have volunteered to lead class discussions over material I have read and studied concerning the nature of man and final punishment. If it was not filtered out, this would have already taken place and yet, we still have people believing what I now consider to be the “lie of hell” because they have never considered what they have been taught or given an opportunity to openly discuss in a class something I believe has much to say about the character of our heavenly Father and how our portrayal of the character of God to other people DOES HAVE ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES! I have heard it said that the Crusades became the main deterrent to those who might otherwise accept Christianity and I believe our characterization of God does as much to keep people out today. I wish someone could explain to me why we allow our “work for God” to actually work against the will of God.

In closing these thoughts, I offer a simple solution to our problems in the church. We take the filters off and we use everything at our disposal to help us draw others toward God. This might mean I am distracted by some of the visuals I see, others might be distracted by the instruments in a video or actually used in service, people might be uncomfortable discussing topics outside the normal course of study because of the implications it might have on their held beliefs, and we might have others who feel they are being given a performance when someone does a solo for the larger group. The solution just might look a lot like Paul’s comment of being all things to all people and yes, we might actually reach all people rather than just the few who think like me. The question coming to mind as I consider these comments finished, is will I ever be part of a church family willing to leave the 99 to help the ONE? How far are we willing to go for that one person to have a meaningful relationship with God? Only our hypocrisy stands in our way.

Have We Allowed The Bible Too Much Authority In Our Lives?

This question almost seems like heresy when I write it down and I am pretty sure I’ve never heard the question asked by a man of God. I think this thought has been trying to break out in my mind for many years and I know I have come close to making this claim when I have written to encourage men of our faith heritage in the work they do for God. Not common in my writing, you don’t have to read any further for my answer, though I hope you will read on for my explanation. I fully believe the Bible has had way too much influence or authority over the lives of Christians.

Since I have answered the question, I hope you have realized, after the possible shock, how I did not use the phrase commonly associated with the Bible, “the Word of God.” In fact, I would hope most Christians would agree with me when I say we have not allowed the Word of God to have enough influence or authority in our lives. My early understanding of how things worked with God could be summed up with God creating everything, intervening in our past with prophets to direct us toward His offering of Jesus as a sacrifice. Following the resurrection of Jesus, God left us with a few empowered apostles to set His plan for our salvation into action and then after the last of the apostles died, all miracles and interaction between man and God ceased to exist as He would sit back and wait for us to “accept or deny” the gospel of Christ. It was all left up to us! The few capable of hearing, believing, confessing, repenting and being baptized would be saved and all of the masses, possibly not fortunate enough to be born in a Christian nation, would be condemned.

While I held this “indoctrination” for a long time, I can’t help but classify it now as simply ridiculous. In my reasoning, it comes down to whether we actually believe what we are told by the inspired writers of our past. No, I didn’t say Bible! Was Jesus going to send the Holy Spirit to guide and instruct us or not? Possibly, some might believe this promise was being made only to the apostles but, if so, I have to consider the promise of the Holy Spirit coming into my life when I am fully His baptized/announced believer in the plan of God, having joined with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. Do I believe the Holy Spirit is nothing more than a lapel pin worn in the name “Christian” without any Godly interaction?

The Holy Spirit is possibly a greater mystery to us than the people of the first century because we are not willing to accept being controlled by God. We make fun of the phrase, “the devil made me do it, and yet, I fully believe this is what Paul is referring to when he claims the trouble he has with resisting those things he does not want to do. When considering the sinful nature and the new man, are we not being told how we need to respond to the Holy Spirit, living and guiding within us? When doing this, are we not speaking and writing words of encouragement given to others to live according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit as men inspired of God? What causes the thoughts I am writing to run around my head giving me a headache and no rest until I sit down and express them in writing? Am I claiming to be inspired by God as I write these thoughts down? No, these are my words though it is funny to me that the apostle said much the same thing in his letter. No, you the reader are challenged to use the Spirit of God and test all things so you are not led in the wrong direction.

Thinking back to my initial comment and question concerning the Bible, I would suggest the writers felt a need to write those things written and many years later, men got together when they felt a need to share all that had been written and compiled a list of writings we have come to know as the Bible. I would even suggest these men did us a great service in preserving the history of our relationship with God. I would suggest they, also, did us a great disservice because this Bible soon became the authority to rule our relationship with God and effectively pushed the power of our gift, the Holy Spirit, from our lives. With the Holy Spirit eliminated from our reasoning, our thoughts are simply our thoughts. They are not the guidance of the sinful nature or the guidance of God through the Spirit, but simply OUR thoughts.

There is a great sadness in this if it is actually true in our lives and the reality is how it consumes any joy we might have knowing we are guided by the Holy Spirit. I fully believe we have all known people whose very presence is the embodiment of Christ and yet in their old age when they can no longer be as active and powerful a force for Christ, they feel unworthy and even sinful in their life instead of being able to say, “I’ve finished the race, and I’ve fought the good fight.” Rather than live in the joy of our promise, we only see our thoughts and path as ours instead of God’s.

While I could ramble on, my purpose in writing these thoughts is two-fold. First, I don’t think the Bible was finished and published for us with God sitting back with no interaction anymore than I believe the first scenario put forth. I believe the inspired Word of God is still coming to us today through many writers and we should read and consider their thoughts on par with those we have from the “ancient ones.” We need to give the Spirit of God rule in our lives and test what we read and hear through this spirit. Second, I want to encourage men and women I consider to be my mentors even if they would not want their name associated, in anyway with my thoughts. I think we have had thousands of inspired teachers and writers since the creation of the world and for the ones I have known in my life, I pray they will know the joy of having run the race and being inspired by God. If we were compiling the Bible today, I think we would have several books named after them. I can’t help but believe God has already acknowledged them as being after His own heart, much like David.

The Desire of My Heart Is To Be WRONG!

Christianity and the beliefs we hold have the capacity to become static and once learned, our beliefs have a tendency to remain constant rather than change. I have known those who claim to know all that may be known about God and in my reasoning, this belief is frightening. The question I think we should all be asking ourselves is whether we are growing or simply stagnant? I recently moved on from a study I have been considering for over five years and when contemplating the next area of concentration, I was in a state many of us discover when we are either in trouble or close to those facing trials and the concepts we hold about prayer began to consume my every thought. The title of these comments is not just something of a creative nature but the true reflection of my heart as I consider a dramatic change in the way I view prayer.

Much of what I have been considering comes from how I view God. Is there anything God needs revealed, is God a respecter of persons, does God still heal in a miraculous manner in present times, does God ever answer a prayer for physical healing, why do some seem to get “special” dispensations from God and why does God seem to answer the prayers of some and not others are just a few of the ideas bothering me as I consider the nature of prayer and how I believe it works. I do hope the conclusions I’ve been able to make so far are wrong and I hope to find something showing me the conclusions are simply ridiculous.

My current position on prayer of physical healing in the life of myself or someone I might love has taken on the characteristic of being a total waste of breath with no hope of having God intervene or even consider intervening on my request. The expression of a powerful statement of belief as this one, should leave no doubt as to the problem I have in getting someone to discuss the nature of prayer and yet why should this be the case? I think the answer has something to do with the choice of when most of us end up approaching God in prayer. Is it not common for people to fall to their knees in prayer most often when they are in need of God’s intervention due to some tragedy or illness? If I am to believe a larger percentage of our prayers are lifted up in reference to our wellness or the well-being of others, then my statement would seem to destroy the very essence of what many have come to believe in as their only “real” contact with the almighty.

The beginning of my thoughts on prayer go all the way back to the Garden of Eden and the action of God following the sin of Adam and Eve. They were told death was the penalty of eating the forbidden fruit and following their transgression, they were removed from the garden and the entire creation was affected with consequences of their sin. When considering mankind, he was going to suffer greatly and eventually face a physical death. Sickness was now in the world and can I believe the prayers of Adam and Eve were even considered by God for the return of the garden’s perfection in their lives? No, they were destined, with all of those to follow, to endure the aches, pains, sores and sickness leading to eventual physical death. There would be heart aches and suffering when a young child or baby would die. The same would be true of watching a parent or loved one suffer through the torment of bad hips, knees and other physical challenges. It is not hard to consider the prayers going up to God for healing and yet, year after year, He seemed to be distant from His people when asked to eliminate the effects of sin on creation.

As hard as all this is to realize, the real “kink” in all of this is knowing of healing and even the raising of the dead having taken place many times throughout the history of mankind. Prayers have been answered and people have been healed is the greatest challenge to my statement and yet, I have come drawn a conclusion many will find disturbing. This healing is not taking place because of a prayer offered requesting the healing, but rather because God in His divine wisdom and will provides the healing purely for His purpose and not because of the prayerful petitions offered up to Him! I have reached this conclusion because the intervention of God simply as a response to prayer for even one person and not another would cause me to view God as showing favoritism to one person over another. At this time in my life, I can’t accept this view of God.

Having apparently, at least in my own mind, dismissed a foundational concept of the prayer life I once held and currently held by many, I began considering the value of prayer and the purpose of prayer for the people of God. The examples of prayer in the Bible are numerous and even Jesus when asked, gave us direction in our prayers as He prayed what we all have come to know as “The Lord’s Prayer.” After reading through the examples of prayer, I fully believe the main focus or direction of our prayer should fall under the heading demonstrated by the words, “thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” As I see it, our goal and prayers should be to realize God’s will here and now in our lives and our prayers should ask for those things necessary to help us in our chosen task to see God’s will done.

One thing most recently becoming a part of my thinking on prayer concerns the sinful nature of mankind and just what falls under this terminology. We all love and want to be loved by others and this seems to fit well within the context of learning to be like God and see His will done in our daily lives. I’ve also considered this desire might also fall under the scope of sinful nature! If I consider the desires I form each day in my life and the desires God has, it quickly becomes clear my desires are either the will of God or the will of Mike unless I grow closer in my walk where my will is controlled by His will. If I pray for and desire my life to model the goodness of God and the love of God towards others, I find myself fully within the will of God and believe there is not even the slightest chance the expectations of my prayer will not be granted! Are we not told how everything we ask for that is the will of God will be granted? Am I to believe, as some, prayers are weighed by God and the “will” in question is His decision on each prayer or is there real truth in the instruction guiding us to simply pray for those things we know are His will? As an example, do we really believe it is or is not God’s will for us to win a football game. We definitely know it is His will for us to play in way which brings glory to His name. Within the same structured scenario, is God looking to heal our bodies or looking to see our bodies do His will regardless of our health challenges?

Considering all things, if asked for what I would like others to pray for me, I would ask they lift me up to God asking not for my continued health, not for the renewal of strength that seems to be leaving as I get older and not that I lose the weight I’ve put on. Instead, I would ask for the prayers to make me more lovable to others, more caring towards those needing help, more focused on becoming more like Christ each day, more devoted to seeing God’s will done in all things and last of all that the way I live my life under all challenges will bring glory to God.

As I come to the close of this offering, I would have you know of other consideration of prayer on which I have formed or drawn conclusions, possibly for another time of writing. The few statements following are a few found right at the top of my thinking.

1.    I fully believe prayers for others in support of their struggles are GOOD and offer healing on some level. Regardless of whether I believe certain things are addressed by God under the concept of “sometimes He says yes and sometimes He says no, has nothing to do with the support felt by loved ones offering a prayer in their behalf.

2.    Prayer can and should be used as a shield against the desires of Satan to control our lives.

3.    Prayers of every nature concerning the condition of our heart should be offered up to God. (In other words if it is on your heart take it to God in prayer.)

4.    Prayers are either the will of the individual or the will of God and God does not answer yes or no but YES to all of those under “His” heading!

5.    God’s grace is good enough for you and you do not need the desires of your human nature. I believe God addressed this with the Apostle Paul and He did not need to bring about physical healing in Paul for what He needed from Paul.