This past week I was in St. Louis for our tribe’s national conference, and this year had a special meaning. We were there to vote on a revision of our statement of faith, and by a vote of 630 to 105 it passed. (Here is the new statement of faith, if you’re interested…) What struck me was the vast difference between those who wanted to “stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before them and pass down the exact same things they received” and those who hoped that a revision would allow them to “do” ministry more effectively.
It was a great time, and I can say that I’m proud of the way it was discussed as well as the end result. It reminded me of something I read recently about how throughout history, the forms and expressions of worship have always been changing. Culture has influenced worship practices and styles - and so much of what we do in our church gatherings today comes from what was happening at that time.
There’s a couple of letters out there written from people in the church, who had some pointed words when it came to “how” church was to be done. The first letter said this:
“I am no music scholar, but I feel I know appropriate church music when I hear it. Last Sunday’s new hymn - if you can call it that - sounded like a sentimental love ballad one would expect to hear crooned in a saloon. If you insist on exposing us to rubbish like this - in God’s house! - don’t be surprised if many of the faithful look for a new place to worship. The hymns we grew up with are all we need.”
Another letter said this:
“What is wrong with the inspiring hymns with which we grew up? When I go to church, it is to worship God, not to be distracted with learning a new hymn. Last Sunday’s was particularly unnerving. The tune was un-singable and the new harmonies were quite distorting.”
The first letter was written in 1863 and the song they were concerned about was the hymn “Just As I Am”. The second letter was written in 1890 and about the hymn “What A Friend We Have In Jesus”.
It is fascinating how our own personal choices and preferences dictates what we feel is appropriate when it comes to worship songs, meeting places and sizes, and even when it comes to which creed we like or will follow. I for one am glad that there’s grace enough to cover the church…
It seems to me there is a real difference between churches that operate either out of fear or out of grace. Churches that operate out of fear tend to micromanage (i.e. to make sure nothing is out of place), and tend to be harsh and judgmental. They tend to operate from a “checkbox mentality” that often turns into this thinking of “We did this, this, and this…so we are alright with God.” Fearful churches think that if our worship is perfect we can force God into doing things the way we think they should be done.
Other churches operate from a perspective of grace. These churches tend to leave more room for people to make mistakes and for members of all ages to have room to grow. They tend to do more shepherding and are more concerned with Christian identity and transformation rather than checkboxes.
While I think we do need a proper fear and respect of the Lord I also think that of the churches I have been around, the healthiest ones were the ones that operated out of grace and not out of fear. This is my hope for Harvest…that we would live in this way, in the image of Jesus.
As we’ve been unpacking the book of Romans, we’ve begun to see what it looks like when fear is wiped clean by a deep, transformative understanding of grace. It has been a joy to see those who gather to worship desire to be known simply for our faith in God, for our love for others and our hope in what God can and will do. We are not going to be as busy as we used to be, and we are not going to play a bunch of spiritual games, but we are pursuing an inner, honest relationship with God through faith in Christ.
We will continue to follow God’s leading because we know that He is faithful, loving and provides hope beyond hope. Because of who He is, we will strive to be people who are faithful, loving and hopeful.
I’ve been reminded recently that when faced with difficulty, it’s easy to want to move to the “What do we need to do?”, or “How do we change this?” stage, but before we get there, we really need to wrestle with the question of “Why?” Especially when dealing with the church. This is so important, because when a church loses sight of the heart of God, she ceases to truly be the church.
This last Sunday, we began to wrestle with these questions during our worship gathering: What is the purpose of the Church? What is her essence? What is God calling her to be? What is God asking us, as a local church, to be (not do, not yet anyways…)?
I think that much of the answer to these questions is wrapped up in the mission of 4 “R’s”:
Restoration - to live out God’s desire to restore creation back to Himself
Renewal - to bring life and healing to places where death and despair reign
Reconciliation - to make known God’s desire for all people to be in a right relationship with Him and with others
Redemption - to be the hands and feet of God’s work in all the earth
My desire needs to be to move our thinking as a congregation from “church as institution” to church as a movement that is passionately pursuing God’s purpose, the “Missio Dei”, God’s mission. My hope is to take part in a journey of great transformation, which begins with a right understanding that the church draws our ethos from the word “grace”. I’ve read this definition of grace recently: “Grace is not the liberty to live beneath the Law, but the capacity to soar beyond the law”, and I want the local church to be known as a church of great grace.
I certainly don’t want to head into these next few months in fear of whether or not we’ll have enough money to pay our bills as a fellowship, but my desire is to lead a “crash” of people who live out what we know to be true about God. May we want to openly and unashamedly make the insane and unreasonable cultural decision to give of our hard-earned money for the cause of Christ through the local church. May there be others who would make the same declaration…
“So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him”. This small statement from Genesis 12 has always been a favorite of mine. It is a statement that oozes with faithfulness and serves as a point of reference to all of us who follow Christ today. The story of Abraham is a story that we at Harvest Fellowship can readily identify with. Like Abraham and his caravan, we are a group of people who have heard God’s call to “leave and go”, taking step after step in obedience. Like Abraham, we know that God promises us something greater if we will be content to bank all our hope, all our trust and all our needs on Him.
Over the past 4 years, we’ve found that this journey has times where the road is clearly marked and easily passable. We’ve also faced times when the next steps ahead are dangerous and unsure. We find ourselves at such a place today, and realize that all we have to cling to is the Lord who called us to this mission of being the church here in Manhattan.
Let me paint a clear picture of where God has us at this time. Over the years we have been able, thanks largely to outside financial support, to put aside some money as a reserve. Due to changes in the landscape of those who call Harvest home, we have found our giving to be significantly short in the past 3-6 months. As a result, we find ourselves in a place where our reserves are decreasing rapidly, to the point that they will be exhausted within the calendar year if the situation does not change.
This reality has brought us to a place of great eagerness and anticipation, as we really don’t know what God has in store these next few weeks and months. We know that the harvest in Manhattan is plentiful, and we know that God continues to bring many that are hurting and in need to our fellowship, yet we also know that we are not called to do this alone. What we’re looking for are friends and partners who would seek the Lord of the harvest to provide provision in ways we cannot take credit for. Would you join us?
(Ok, so the Royals are 5-2 and beat the Yankees. My dream for a 162-0 season is gone, but a 160-2 has a nice ring to it. )
So this week at Harvest, we’re starting a series on the faith of those who have walked before us, specifically the faith of Abraham. I’m becoming more and more convinced that faith, as we’ve come to define it in our modern, hyper-individualistic culture, is (as James puts it) dead and worthless without obedience. Faith isn’t simply this thing that can stand on it’s own, but it needs the act of obedience to prove that we have come to bank everything we have and are on Christ.
So that leads me to this question, “What does your obedience today reveal about your faith?”
The Royals are 2-0 and still shooting for 162-0, the sun is shining, and I had a series of great conversations this morning.
But what makes this a great day is that today is my daughter’s 3rd birthday. My little princess (she calls me “King Daddy”) is now past the terrible 2’s and speeding into the unknown of year 3. She is so precious to her mother and me and brings us so much joy. In her honor, tonight, we’re going to Chuck E. Cheese’s, where this kid can be a kid. I can only hope something like this happens…I’m bringing the video camera just in case.
Ok, so this is a magical season, and the Royals are in first place in the AL Central at 1-0. At this rate, the dream of a 162-0 season is bright and clear. As long as they keep winning, I’ll be a fan. If they ever lose, then I’ll have to re-evaluate where I stand.
I really appreciated this statement from Mike Huckabee, quoted this week on the Sojourners’ site:
As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say, “That’s a terrible statement,” I grew up in a very segregated South, and I think that you have to cut some slack. And I’m going to be probably the only conservative in America who’s going to say something like this, but I’m just telling you: We’ve got to cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told, “You have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can’t sit out there with everyone else. There’s a separate waiting room in the doctor’s office. Here’s where you sit on the bus.” And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had … more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me.
- Mike Huckabee, offering his perspective on the preaching of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. (Source: MSNBC)
It’s encouraging to hear someone from the white, conservative, middle say words that many of us also need to say. He’s certainly not jumping on the bandwagon of piling on insult and further racism by attacking J. Wright. I think it’s similar to what Christ would speak into this situation.
I found this on several blogs this week. It’s the creed of the Massai [an indiginous African tribe], and it’s absolutely beautiful.
We believe in one high God, who out of love created the beautiful world. We believe that God made good His promise by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left His home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and [humanity], and showing that the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by His people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He was buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch Him, and on the third day He rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord.
We believe that all our sins are forgiven through him. All who have faith in him must be sorry for their sins, be baptized in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love, and share the bread together in love, to announce the good news to others until Jesus comes again. We are waiting for him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe. Amen.
(This morning, we celebrated our 4th birthday, and these were some of the words I shared…)
This past week, I was reading about the Thessalonian church, who were a church who were described by the Apostle Paul as being fueled by faith, love and hope. They would best be described as having a good work produced by faith, a labor prompted by love, and a perseverance inspired by hope in Jesus Christ. To be honest, I got a little envious and a little excited.
I firmly believe that one of the most important things that we can move toward is to honestly and intentionally let go of some things that Harvest has been and seek to mold the mission of our fellowship around those same 3 spiritual essences:
To live by faith (unashamed pursuit of God)
To be known by love (sacrificial service to others)
To be a voice of hope (seek to bless the world)
God spoke to Jeremiah and reminded him that He alone knows the plans He has for us, plans for the future and a hope, plans for welfare and not destruction. The natural outcome of living out the mission God has set before us is that we should be optimistic about the future.
The church of Jesus Christ should always be looking forward. It should always believe the promise of tomorrow and should never be overwhelmed by the difficulty or the failure of the present. I’m becoming more and more convinced that effective ministry is not getting rid of all the failure in the church, but it is the ability to thrive in the midst of failure.
When the church begins to live by faith, to be known by love, and to be a voice of hope, we begin to experience what we all long for something worth believing in, somewhere to belong, and something to become.
This doesn’t happen in the church through great business models, or through new and flashy methods, or even streamlined structures. It’s messy and it’s costly. It takes time and it takes effort. It happens when the things that we know we’re supposed to be about, become the things that permeate every crack, every decision, every word and thought that comes from the people of Harvest Fellowship.
May the next phase of our lives together reflect our faith, love and hope…
I’m so thankful for the work that men like my friend Chad are doing with ministries like Break Free. It’s way to easy for us to slap on those labels, and forget about the individual. God, forgive me for my sins of favortism and partiality toward those who are/have been behind bars. I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to enter into a medium-security prison here in Kansas and worship with some of our brothers in Christ. It was an experience that will forever change me. May we all come to know the costly and unending grace that is offered to us like those men do.
It’s strange how quickly the days roll away into the distance of yesterday. I’ve been to catch up with this blog and have found myself thinking, “well, it’s still the new year”, but in reality, it’s not. The second month of the year is about 1/2 way done and it’s going to speed by, unless I stop and smell the roses a little more.
I’ve been finding myself going through t music renaissance of sorts. After getting some iTunes gift cards for Christmas, I’ve found myself drawn more and more to music. I’ve been finding myself drawn in my the lyrics and music of Shane and Shane, Robbie Seay Band, Phil Wickham, Paul Simon, Matthew West, Caedmon’s (with Derek Webb…finally), Shawn McDonald, Jack Johnson, Charlie Hall, Maroon 5, Matt Redman and Charlie Hall. I’ve also been finding myself playing my guitar a bunch more. My bride gave me a pretty cool pick-up for Christmas and I’ve been playing a little too much lately. It’s weird, when I think I can’t have another conversation, or write another page for teaching, it always helps to pick up ol’ red and strum. Nothing fancy, just something familiar, and I’m re-energized.
Edwin McManus says that that pastor has to be a bit artist, a bit engineer and a bit architect, and I’ve really been enjoying the artistic side of my personality lately. O wait, i love this song…
Yep, it’s true! In order to stop the scared voicemail messages and the frentic emails, I thought I’d post on this blog smply letting people know that I’m good.
The break was refreshing and the time with family and with football has recharged my batteries. There are some cool things upcoming, so I’ll be excited to share them with you.
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