Why I'm Excited about the Church

In my last post "My Thoughts on the Future Church" I shared what worried me about the future church, namely the conclusions that are coming from the Emergent Church segment. 

  I also shared that this post would be about why I'm excited and the following post would be my thoughts on the future of the Church.  So, here goes!

Why I'm Excited



I grew up in a Western PA, evangelical church. I am a PK (Pastor's Kid) and have lived a gigantic portion of my life in church. I am also a Pastor myself, so my occupation is surrounded in the church (oddly enough I'm a pastor in the church I grew up in).



There has been a surge of frustration with the Western church for some time now and because of that frustration, people have been asking great questions in order to restructure some church methodology. The modern methodology doesn't work any longer within the emerging generation, nor will it work with the generation’s afterword. This has been studied and proven. I am excited about several questions that are being asked by today’s emerging leaders.



Here’s the first that excites me.



How do we evangelize?



Evangelism is key to the forward advance of the Gospel. If the Gospel is not being communicated, nor embraced by some, the growth of the church will cease and the reason Christ established the church will no longer exist. Christ gave a command, his last in fact, to:



"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)



We as His Body need to be going out and making disciples for Christ. In the modern era of the church street evangelism, tract evangelism and Televangelism were the hot items. Going to someone's home, knocking on the door and talking about Christ was common place. Walking in the mall, greeting someone face-to-face and handing them a tract as if it were a mall survey was normative. Today, those are seen as impersonal, (sometimes) judgmental and all around unattractive.



Many people today (mostly younger people) desire a relationship before a discussion about deep issues. Religion and belief systems are deep issues in the hearts of people. It is not a topic a stranger can speak into with any sort of effect. It would be akin to me coming up to someone and asking how their sex life is going...it's just creepy to talk to a stranger about such things.



Also, with tract evangelism I've seen how "tractees" (tract junkies) have ruined the meaning and power of this tool. I worked as a server at Chili's for several years and encountered several tracts both given to myself and given to my co-workers.


Here's out it went usually: these mid-upper class people would walk into the restaurant, and would complain about the wait being too long. They would sit down order drinks and ignore their server. When the drinks came, they would (not so) politely share how their drink is wrong for one reason or another, then after the corrections to their drinks were made, they'd order their food (with everything on the side) and again ignore the server (because after all they're only there to serve you). After several returns to the kitchen, the check would come and they would pay the bill and leave. Inside the bill holder was a tract and a less than 10% tip.


This is NOT healthy evangelism...and the server (sometimes myself) would be left to ponder why they never tried to strike up a conversation with me or get to know me. They just assumed I was an unsaved heathen and gave me a tract walking away satisfied that they had just done their "God duty" for the day.
The emerging church is begging the question: How can we EFFECTIVELY evangelize in this emerging generation and beyond? They MUST ask this (so must we) because what has been done (and worked I will admit) in the past no longer has grounds to be used. In fact in a Barna Group study done in 2005 the finding was that LESS THAN 1% of emerging gen. Christians came to faith by: Door-to-door evangelism, street evangelism, tract evangelism and televangelism COMBINED!


Many people have been thinking through evangelism for years and have been developing GREAT ways in which to witness in this emerging culture. I know what I am saying is NOT new by any means, but I am excited because having witnessed both types of training in evangelism, this new focus (namely relational evangelism) is exciting and is a working resource I can put into the hands of my Middle School students!



Another question that excites me in the emerging mind is:



How can the church think globally?


I know I am generalizing a bit, but generally speaking churches have a tough time thinking outside of their four walls. This of course is not a story of the whole, but of a fair few to be sure. We are not known as a people who serve the world out of love (which is pretty sad since 1 John 4:8 says that if we don’t know love, we don’t know God). The question of thinking globally has only in the recent century been attainable, but for the past decades, how active has the church been on the global scale? To be honest, I’m not sure but I don’t feel the church has been as active as it could be.

Let me first say that I am only now trying to think globally, asking myself: “What cause does God want me to back? How can I make a difference in this world outside of myself? What can I take on that is bigger than myself that God wants me to take a leap of faith in? So the criticism is for myself as well, because although I’ve done “some” I’ve not done enough either.



I’m excited because this new focus allows the world to see that Jesus is not a judgmental, selfish jerk (like so many of his followers are perceived as being/are?) but that Jesus and His people are people who actually care about things bigger than themselves and desire the world to be healed as Christ did.


Thinking globally fulfills the creed that Christ gave us in Matthew 28. He didn’t say to make disciples only where you live but throughout the world!


This also brings to mind the idea of social justice, which is my next excitement about the future of the church.

The question of Social Justice


This is an issue that has been a hot button topic for a long, long time. However, it is becoming a bit more of an idea that is in the forefront of people’s minds…that is making sure we are caring for people as a whole. Whether you look at it or not, we still live in a racist world, and no one can say otherwise. I am delighted to see that this is an issue that many emerging gen pastors, and congregants are willing to fight for, social justice is on their hearts and minds. I am NOT advocating a “social gospel” by any means, but God has created us all and no one is “more” or “less” for any reason!


Growing up in an inner-city church and now working there, I have been privileged to be forced to see the reality that social justice is highly important in our world! I have been privileged to have tons of good multi-ethnic relationships due to my church and as a result have had my eyes opened to the importance of social justice.


Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10); he didn’t come to seek and save just the rich, the whites, the famous or any other distinction. He is the atoning sacrifice not only for “certain people” but for the WHOLE world (1 John 2:2)!


Sadly, some groups of people have made it a point to remain homogenous and have not reached out to those different from them (even some have called for homogenous churches within the Emergent segment). This is not what heaven will look like, and if we are constantly surrounded by those who look, act, smell, dress and talk like us how can we ever grow as much as God intended?



There are several other things I am excited about but if I were to write those all out, this may become a mini-book. God is doing a new thing within the hearts of my generation as well as the generations to follow. Our job is to go to the Scripture and make sure the new things are truly from Him.


The next post will be on where I think the church is headed and what it will look like as whole in the future. It looks pretty exciting!

My Thoughts on the Future Church

I am both worried and excited about the future of the Church as a whole. In this post, I will share my reasons for why I'm worried.  In the 2nd post, I will give my reasons for why I'm excited and in the 3rd and final post I will give my own thoughts and opinions as to what the future of the church may look like.


Why I'm Worried

I'm worried for several reasons on several different levels. First, let me say that I've been trying to go deep into the Emergent ideals to see what they are really holding fast and true to and what they are deciding to drop as it pertains to the church.



They are asking the right questions, but in my young opinion, they are hitting a lot of the wrong conclusions. The Gospel should be contextualized, yes but not to the degree that we start choosing which Biblical ideals (otherwise known as Doctrines) should go due to them not easliy being contextualized. What I mean is that we should not shrink away from tough theological issues because they are difficult to contextualize. This mode of thinking makes one choose what in the Bible they want to follow and that which they don't.



In essence this mode of thinking does to the Bible the very same thing Benjamin Franklin did to his Bible and that is cut out all the parts that were offensive to him...literally. He ended up with a totally new Bible...one of his own making.


We are not God and in stripping the Bible of it's "harder to contextualize" portions by skirting them or shrinking away from them we are taking the position of God and deciding what God did or did not say (even though it's been written down for centuries).

That idea worries me.



Again, this section of the church is asking the RIGHT questions, but in my young opinion are coming up with some wrong conclusions.



I am also worried about the fear of exclusion that creeps into the ideals in the Emergent Village. Jesus says these words: "I am the way, the truth and the life and NO ONE comes to the Father but by ME" (John 14:6). Many in the Emergent Village are fearful to say "this person is in, this person is out" when it comes to Christianity. The reality we've been left by Jesus is that there are sinners and there are those redeemed graciously by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus (those who are Saved). It is an either or issue. Jesus didn't say if they have God in their hearts and worship Allah, all things are easy cheezy peezy and they are "in". He said He is the only way.


I'm not trying to get "fundamental" because although I have some fundamental doctrinal grounding, I am not what would be labeled "A Fundamentalist".



I am simply saying that there are closed fisted Doctrines (those that can't be open for debate because Scripture says this is the way it is for example: The Trinity) and Open handed doctrines (those that aren't so solid in the Bible like predestination or free will).



Many Pastors who are in the public eye have diverted from the Emergent Village and have become either "Emerging or Missional". Emerging was all encompassing at one point, then Emergent and Emerging split. Now, most Emerging pastors desire to be called "Missional" so they can even further separate from the "Emergent" name.



If I had to label myself, I would label myself an Emerging/Missional. But enough about that.




Let me re-say this, because it needs to be said: The Emergent section is asking great questions, just coming to some wrong conclusions. They also have some good conclusions on a bit of ideas, which I will get to later.



I am well aware that what I am saying has already been said. The worries I worry about have already seen much air-time and much debate. I am under no delusion that I am saying radically new thoughts that have never been said before because I have read and heard a great many of the same worries I have. I am simply setting the stage for my third post: Where I feel the future of the church is going. Even there, I will not be under the delusion of new thoughts.



My desire is to see the church be something that is both beloved and reviled. I desire the church to be loved by God and reviled by Satan...with many of the conclusions made by the one segment of the church (namely the Emergent section) I'm not sure the future of the church would fit this desire.



Another thing that worries me is the importance and definition of preaching that is now coming out of some circles.



When it comes to the new idea of preaching, it is a community preaching to one another, rather than one speaker preaching to the church. I think that for sure we all need to learn from each other, but this approach every week leaves so much room for wolves to enter to flock and rip them apart. One preacher who has been approved by the church, the elders, the board (and if he's in a denomination, by them as well) has gone through rigorous testing, much training and has proven to be a good lead pastor.



Without this process, any Joe smoe off the street can come in and add to the "sermon conversation". That worries me, because as a Pastor, I am largely responsible for the flock I lead...if I have a "sermon conversation" each week, I am not protecting my flock. God in His word calls me to such a high standard.



Also, preaching is not a job many desire because those who teach will be judged more harshly (James 3:1). Preaching is a high honor, and must be done by an elder of the church (1 Timothy 5:17). If we allow anyone in the congregation to preach in the conversation, we are not following the Biblical model of church, because we have no idea if they are fit to be an elder (1 Timothy 3) much less fit to add some meat to the sermon.



We shouldn't let just anyone run a Church, agreed? So why would we let just anyone teach the church? (Which is the most influential place of leading).



My last main worry is that of the place of Scripture. If we hold to a model that has been proposed by some, the Bible will essential be an "additional book" to the church Library rather than the source of our Faith.



I am all about the Spirit's leading and following the Spirit in ministry and seeking His guidance but we must make checks on what we feel is "His Leading". If it doesn't line up with Scripture, it wouldn't be from God. Yet some are saying that they will look at the Bible, but will mainly "Let the Spirit lead them".



How will they be able to check if what they are being "led" to do is right or wrong without checking the Bible or not? If God is saying to do such and such in our gut and in the Bible it says "such and such is a sin" why would God contradict himself?



The Bible was written By God for us! I'm not talking about the "regulative principle" per se, but our perceived leading of the Holy Spirit should indeed be regulated by what Scripture says about certain things.



For example, one hot button topic which is getting much air-time and has been sadly for several years is that of homosexuality. The Bible clearly says that this is a form of sexual sin, on par with looking at porn, lusting after another’s wife, adultery and bestiality...all of which are forms of sexual sin.



YET, some sections of the Christian faith are claiming it is simply an "alternative lifestyle" and you are not sinning if you are homosexual.



This is an idea that they felt "led to" yet the Bible says opposite to what they are saying. I'm not advocating that "God Hates Gays", in fact that also is a sin, because it is clear, in your face hate and hate is the antithesis of Christ's agenda (unless it's hating sin...not the person).



The Bible is not God, but it is the Word of God: "Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17).



We've been created by God to do good works (Ephesians 2:10) and the Word of God brings us along that path (2 Timothy 3:17).



I do have several other minor worries, but these are my main worries. As a young Pastor, I will see the future church one day and I hope we can get rid of these worries so that we can fulfill the mission we've been called to on this earth: namely to make disciples of all nations!



The next post will be what I'm EXCITED about for the future church, because there are a GREAT number of things to rejoice in!