Pride
Pride is a terrible thing. It causes you to focus only on what is in your personal interest and blinds you to the reality of what you are doing to hurt other people.
The public spectacle that has been playing out in the news concerning Reverend Wright and Barack Obama has been painful to watch. In this tragedy you have two people who once genuinely cared for each other now forced to publicly attack the other person because of what has been said.
Pride also causes you to lose touch with the truth about yourself and what you really believe. You literally become like the thing you hate but you cannot see it.
The great irony about some of the positions being advocated by the Reverend Wright on the extreme right of black liberation theology is they are really no different than those of other hate speech being advocated by the leaders of the extreme right of white liberation theology.
The only difference between the two groups is literally the color of their skin and if they heard that they would deny it to the death. What should we all take away from this?
This is not a story just about politics. It is about every relationship we have in our lives.
When you think the other person is always wrong and you are always right be careful. The reason you may be able to see their faults is because you are looking at them through the mirror of your own life.
We as Christians are told to always clean up our own issues before we even begin to criticize someone else. God does resist the proud but he will give His grace to the humble.
Principle vs. Precept
Any good dictionary will help you know the difference between these two important words. A precept is a commandment or direction given as a rule of action or conduct. On the other hand, a principle is a primary truth from which other truths are derived.
In Christian speak, a precept is black ink on white paper where someone quotes you chapter and verse with the understanding that there is one and only one meaning of this truth. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ period, end of conversation.
To be sure we as churches have beaten unbelievers over the head with our precepts to the point they are totally turned off to the gospel. I am not talking about watering down the truth but when people do still walk into our buildings they just want to know is there any good news for my life today?
On the other side of this issue, many Christians can spiritually rationalize their behavior because they cannot find a clear precept that prohibits certain behavior on their part. Obviously the New Testament was written in the first century so the writers did not cover the part about staying away from internet pornography.
Eating meat offered to idols was a big deal in the first century so the principle of deference was taught to make sure a Christian did not offend a weaker brother or an unbeliever with their behavior. Today there are many contemporary issues that will never be addressed by precepts but the principles that are taught in scripture still apply.
If you have any doubts just use I Corinthians 10:31 as your guide, “therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Just always remember, everything that is for His glory is also for your good.
Worship Wars
This is a subject that really breaks my heart because the pain that has been suffered by so many good people is so unnecessary. If this issue is not dealt with in a thoroughly biblical manner most of our current churches will stop reaching the next generation and will eventually die.
To be sure our people should be spiritually mature enough to not insist on their own personal musical preference so that others may come to Christ. However, poor leadership has caused far more problems than “older adults” that only want their hymns.
For at least 50 years or longer one basic musical style was enjoyed by both the World War II and the Baby Boomer generations. Large choirs and orchestras were the preferred choice that could lead a primarily performance style of service that was a blessing to many.
Today the emphasis has shifted to participation styles of music that involve the people in worship and praise. In our current services it is no longer come sit, watch and listen as it is get involved and enjoy.
I think every generation has its own heart language when it comes to music in worship. The problem comes when we try to force everyone into one box and demand they like it or leave.
I think the days of building one massive worship center are over. As soon as your church grows large enough for multiple services you are already multi-congregational. At that point if you are reaching different age groups you can choose to be multi-generational.
Then when you plan a service ask yourself one simple question, who is in the room and what do they need from the music and the message to help them move into the presence of God?
Web Sites
Almost every church in America now has a web site. Many I have seen would be better served if they did not because having a poor to average web site is worse than having none at all.
They are very important in reaching new people because they will probably visit your site before they visit your campus. If they are disappointed with the site because it was done poorly or if there is obvious outdated information they will probably not come at all.
The two most important things about web sites are that today they must go beyond words and pictures. People want to experience your ministries before they buy the live product.
You must provide quality video and audio capabilities so that people can see and hear your worship before they come. They want to know what type of environment their children will be in and something about the quality of programming they will be offered.
The second most important thing about a web site is that it will never take the place of a relational connection that your people are making with unbelievers during the week. The web site is an important step but it will always be the second step and in and of itself it will not automatically draw people to your church.
Forgiveness
One spiritual principle that cannot be violated is that you cannot pass on to others what you have not first received yourself. This is very hard to do when someone else has hurt us deeply and we find it so difficult to really forgive them.
When we feel the other person is wrong and they are the ones who have caused us pain then why should we give them a release from the debt they so clearly owe?
If we do not forgive them then we will be permanently emotionally bound to them because the issue will never be resolved. We wake up every day with the memory of this person and our pain as we literally relive the event in our minds over and over again.
The only way out of this bondage is to have the courage to ask ourselves what percentage of the problem is our responsibility. After all by now we are also wrong because of what we said or the anger and bitterness we feel inside.
If our responsibility is only twenty percent of the problem we must realize that we now have to resolve our relationship with our Heavenly Father. We can never justify our wrong behavior as a Christian regardless of what someone else has done or said.
Once we have been forgiven and receive the grace we need then for the first time we are in a position to pass that same grace on to the other person. Now we have peace instead of the pain of the past and regardless of how the other person responds to God’s grace we are free.
Crashing Churches
It seems that a week cannot go by without hearing about another church that is in crisis. The issues have gotten to the point where the entire community knows about the problems as well as people outside the area.
The amazing thing is that once you evaluate what went wrong in almost every situation it had nothing to do with a moral failure with the leader or some controversy concerning doctrine. At the end of the day, there was a leadership failure within the church that directly related to how people should relate to each other.
People on all sides of the issues, from the pastor to the pew do not apply the principles of Matthew 18 where you should go and talk directly to someone instead of talking about them behind their backs with other people. Often times these conversations are veiled under the acceptable premise of sharing prayer requests when in reality they are nothing more than gossip.
When someone comes to you with negative comments about another person you have an opportunity to be a part of the solution or a part of the problem. My first question is always the same, Have you talked with this person directly about this problem?
If the answer is no, I will not listen to what they have to say and I will challenge them to go and speak with the other person. If the answer is yes, and there are still issues then I will be glad to get involved and see if I can help resolve the conflict.
In the strictest sense this really is a theological problem. It is not one though where there is disagreement on what the scriptures say, it is simply a failure on all sides to be obedient to clear teaching that cannot be denied.
Crashing Churches
It seems that a week cannot go by without hearing about another church that is in crisis. The issues have gotten to the point where the entire community knows about the problems as well as people outside the area.
The amazing thing is that once you evaluate what went wrong in almost every situation it had nothing to do with a moral failure with the leader or some controversy concerning doctrine. At the end of the day, there was a leadership failure within the church that directly related to how people should relate to each other.
People on all sides of the issues, from the pastor to the pew do not apply the principles of Matthew 18 where you should go and talk directly to someone instead of talking about them behind their backs with other people. Often times these conversations are veiled under the acceptable premise of sharing prayer requests when in reality they are nothing more than gossip.
When someone comes to you with negative comments about another person you have an opportunity to be a part of the solution or a part of the problem. My first question is always the same, Have you talked with this person directly about this problem?
If the answer is no, I will not listen to what they have to say and I will challenge them to go and speak with the other person. If the answer is yes, and there are still issues then I will be glad to get involved and see if I can help resolve the conflict.
In the strictest sense this really is a theological problem. It is not one though where there is disagreement on what the scriptures say, it is simply a failure on all sides to be obedient to clear teaching that cannot be denied.
Change Points
In all of our lives we encounter major events that cause us to stop the routine and reevaluate where we are and more importantly where we want to be. These sometimes crisis and many times normal episodes in our lives are significant enough to change us.
It can be something as positive as getting married or having our first child. It can be something as negative as divorce or losing a child to illness or accident.
Life is full of change points and many times we do not get to choose the ones we experience but we always get to choose our reaction to them. Many people are left bitter because of their personal tragedy while others seem to have a different perspective on life.
There is a tremendous difference between faith and trust in God. Faith answers the question, Is God Able? Trust answers the question, Is God Good? Faith deals with the power of God , trust deals with His character.
Our heavenly Father never promised us a life free of pain and suffering but He did promise us with it would be His abiding presence and His sustaining grace. The greatest lie you will ever believe is that you cannot trust the One who loves you the most.
God is Good.
Beyond The Walls
The days of build it and they will come are over for churches. We may not want to admit it but for most Christians when they talk about church in their minds it’s about what happens at the buildings and not out in the community.
I recently met with a very successful committed Christian who is a pediatrician who wanted to grow more spiritually and get more involved in ministry. It was obvious to me from the very start of the conversation this meant to him taking on more responsibility at the church.
I began to share with him the vision that he could do more through his practice to reach young couples for Christ than we could ever do at the building. They would not even come to the building to hear Billy Graham but they were several new couples sitting in his waiting room every week expecting their first child.
In this postmodern age, we must never minimize the importance of the church gathered for worship and ministry but we must prioritize the church scattered for evangelism and missions. We must find new ways to take the gospel to where people live, work and play.
By the end of the conversation the light had come on for my friend because he no longer had a career but he now had a calling. That’s what happens when you change the definition of success from increasing profits to impacting people.