Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
"It's Not the Church's Job"
This was interesting:
It’s Not the Church’s Job
I love the church. I have given my life to the church. I believe, as is often said, that the church truly is the hope of the world.
But that’s not the church’s job.
Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here you go:
Make me close to Jesus!
It’s not the church’s job.
Save my marriage!
It’s not the church’s job.
Raise my kids!
It’s not the church’s job.
Give me friends!
It’s not the church’s job.
Feed me!
It’s not the church’s job.
It is not the church’s job to give you the life you want, or hope for, much less the one that you are expected to forge through a relationship with God through Christ under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The church cannot ensure that all goes well with you. Most of life is your responsibility.
Why do I say this?
To defend the church.
Why do people often come to a church? To get fixed, find friends, renew faith, or strengthen family. All well and good, and the church can obviously be of enormous assistance in all four areas. But the church can’t be held responsible for these four areas of life, nor should you expect it to.
Let’s try and drive this one home:
The parents of a middle-school student drop their child off at a middle-school ministry. The child does not change into a model Christian student. The parents immediately search for a new church with a more effective middle-school ministry.
What is wrong with this picture? What is wrong is the complete absence of any sense that spiritual life is the responsibility of that middle-school student, not to mention that spiritual leadership within the family is the responsibility of her parents.
Instead, we have a mentality of “drop-off parenting,” which is just part of the mentality of a “drop-off church.” We drop our wives off at a women’s ministry to get them to be the wives or mother’s we want; we drop our husband’s off at a men’s Bible study to get them to be spiritual leaders; we drop ourselves off at a service or recovery group to fix our problems, or a Bible study to renew our lukewarm faith.
It reminds me of the sixties and Timothy Leary’s famous line regarding not only the benefits of LSD, but the spirit of the age:
“Turn on. Tune in. Drop out.”
That is not the way to approach the church.
There comes a time when personal responsibility kicks in.
The church exists to coalesce and enrich; to coordinate and inspire; to provide order and leadership. It exists to pull together the collective force and will of those who follow Christ in order to fulfill the Great Commission given it by Jesus Himself. Yes, it serves the family trying to raise a child; it seeks to heal those who are broken; it provides the richest of communities for relationships; it offers the necessary resources for a vibrant relationship with Christ.
But it cannot circumvent the choices and responsibilities of the human will.
It cannot do life for you.
That’s your job.
James Emery White
It’s Not the Church’s Job
I love the church. I have given my life to the church. I believe, as is often said, that the church truly is the hope of the world.
But that’s not the church’s job.
Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here you go:
Make me close to Jesus!
It’s not the church’s job.
Save my marriage!
It’s not the church’s job.
Raise my kids!
It’s not the church’s job.
Give me friends!
It’s not the church’s job.
Feed me!
It’s not the church’s job.
It is not the church’s job to give you the life you want, or hope for, much less the one that you are expected to forge through a relationship with God through Christ under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The church cannot ensure that all goes well with you. Most of life is your responsibility.
Why do I say this?
To defend the church.
Why do people often come to a church? To get fixed, find friends, renew faith, or strengthen family. All well and good, and the church can obviously be of enormous assistance in all four areas. But the church can’t be held responsible for these four areas of life, nor should you expect it to.
Let’s try and drive this one home:
The parents of a middle-school student drop their child off at a middle-school ministry. The child does not change into a model Christian student. The parents immediately search for a new church with a more effective middle-school ministry.
What is wrong with this picture? What is wrong is the complete absence of any sense that spiritual life is the responsibility of that middle-school student, not to mention that spiritual leadership within the family is the responsibility of her parents.
Instead, we have a mentality of “drop-off parenting,” which is just part of the mentality of a “drop-off church.” We drop our wives off at a women’s ministry to get them to be the wives or mother’s we want; we drop our husband’s off at a men’s Bible study to get them to be spiritual leaders; we drop ourselves off at a service or recovery group to fix our problems, or a Bible study to renew our lukewarm faith.
It reminds me of the sixties and Timothy Leary’s famous line regarding not only the benefits of LSD, but the spirit of the age:
“Turn on. Tune in. Drop out.”
That is not the way to approach the church.
There comes a time when personal responsibility kicks in.
The church exists to coalesce and enrich; to coordinate and inspire; to provide order and leadership. It exists to pull together the collective force and will of those who follow Christ in order to fulfill the Great Commission given it by Jesus Himself. Yes, it serves the family trying to raise a child; it seeks to heal those who are broken; it provides the richest of communities for relationships; it offers the necessary resources for a vibrant relationship with Christ.
But it cannot circumvent the choices and responsibilities of the human will.
It cannot do life for you.
That’s your job.
James Emery White
Heart Check
Just read this little "joke"...
“Hey, Dad,” the young boy asked. “When you were a kid, did you have to go to Sunday School every week?”
“Sure,” the father said. “We never missed.”
The boy sighed, “Well, it probably won’t do me any good either.”
Ouch!!!!!
“Hey, Dad,” the young boy asked. “When you were a kid, did you have to go to Sunday School every week?”
“Sure,” the father said. “We never missed.”
The boy sighed, “Well, it probably won’t do me any good either.”
Ouch!!!!!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Coming Back to Hold Fast
Because of transitions taking place in my family's life and in attempt to simplify some things in my schedule, I will be blogging from this address from now on.
Thanks to all those that read it.
Be writing soon.
Thanks to all those that read it.
Be writing soon.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Church in Trouble
I thought these were thought-provoking from Perry Noble...
15 signs your church is in trouble...
#1 ? When excuses are made about the way things are instead of embracing a willingness to roll up the sleeves and fix the problem.
#2 ? When the church becomes content with merely receiving people that come rather than actually going out and finding them?in other words, they lose their passion for evangelism!
#3 ? The focus of the church is to build a great church (complete with the pastors picture?and his wife?s?on everything) and not the Kingdom of God.
#4 ? The leadership begins to settle for the natural rather than rely on the supernatural.
#5 ? The church begins to view success/failure in regards to how they are viewed in the church world rather than whether or not they are actually fulfilling the Great Commission!
#6 ? The leaders within the church cease to be coachable.
#7 ? There is a loss of a sense of urgency! (Hell is no longer hot, sin is no longer wrong and the cross is no longer important!)
#8 ? Scripture isn?t central in every decision that is made!
#9 ? The church is reactive rather than proactive.
#10 ? The people in the church lose sight of the next generation and refuse to fund ministry simply because they don?t understand ?those young people.?
#11 ? The goal of the church is to simply maintain the way things are?to NOT rock the boat and/or upset anyone?especially the big givers!
#12 ? The church is no longer willing to take steps of faith because ?there is just to much to lose.?
#13 ? The church simply does not care about the obvious and immediate needs that exist in the community.
#14 ? The people learn how to depend on one man to minister to everyone rather than everyone embracing their role in the body, thus allowing the body to care for itself.
#15 ? When the leaders/staff refuse to go the extra mile in leading and serving because of how ?inconvenient? doing so would be.
15 signs your church is in trouble...
#1 ? When excuses are made about the way things are instead of embracing a willingness to roll up the sleeves and fix the problem.
#2 ? When the church becomes content with merely receiving people that come rather than actually going out and finding them?in other words, they lose their passion for evangelism!
#3 ? The focus of the church is to build a great church (complete with the pastors picture?and his wife?s?on everything) and not the Kingdom of God.
#4 ? The leadership begins to settle for the natural rather than rely on the supernatural.
#5 ? The church begins to view success/failure in regards to how they are viewed in the church world rather than whether or not they are actually fulfilling the Great Commission!
#6 ? The leaders within the church cease to be coachable.
#7 ? There is a loss of a sense of urgency! (Hell is no longer hot, sin is no longer wrong and the cross is no longer important!)
#8 ? Scripture isn?t central in every decision that is made!
#9 ? The church is reactive rather than proactive.
#10 ? The people in the church lose sight of the next generation and refuse to fund ministry simply because they don?t understand ?those young people.?
#11 ? The goal of the church is to simply maintain the way things are?to NOT rock the boat and/or upset anyone?especially the big givers!
#12 ? The church is no longer willing to take steps of faith because ?there is just to much to lose.?
#13 ? The church simply does not care about the obvious and immediate needs that exist in the community.
#14 ? The people learn how to depend on one man to minister to everyone rather than everyone embracing their role in the body, thus allowing the body to care for itself.
#15 ? When the leaders/staff refuse to go the extra mile in leading and serving because of how ?inconvenient? doing so would be.
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