My Own Op-ED--He Works Through It

One of the last times I saw Ed Lewis face-to-face, he said something interesting to me. He told me there was someone I needed to meet, because that guy "had the same evangelistic passion" that I had. This caught me a bit by surprise, for many guys think my love of doctrine means I must not be evangelistic enough. (I've been chided many times that I must get more seeker-sensitive.) Yet, Ed seemed to get it. He knows I am doctrinally oriented, but he also knows I love the gospel dearly and am thrilled to see God create new life!

I've always liked Ed (and even more so that day)! Therefore, I felt it safe to point out that his editorial could have used more gospel centrality. It would have influenced his diagnosis and his solutions. But this really isn't meant as a piece to try to call him out. This is meant as a wake-up call for all of us pastors. Are people bored or leaving our churches because we've neglected the gospel?

You see, the gospel is truly the only thing that saves the person. Attending your church for life won't save them. Joining the praise band won't get them justified before God. Liking the church and even getting other friends and family members to join them will not get them into heaven. No, it is only by faith placed deeply into this gospel message by which one becomes saved. And to believe, they have to hear it (Romans 10:14-17). All who hear the gospel will not be saved. But all who are saved will have heard the gospel and believed in it! Therefore, they are won forever by the gospel. They are kept, not by you, but by the Father who holds them in His hand.

But they are also transformed by this gospel. God sanctifies those whom He justifies. Therefore, His children will one day stand before Jesus as He is, but until that day, God will be working the process of making them more and more like His Son. This process will have ups and downs, progress and regression. However, the whole of the process will be marked by transformation. In many ways, this can be the most difficult part.

Bottom line: The pastor does not move his congregation beyond the gospel, but is called to perpetually send his people into the depths of the gospel.

Many people hear me state that the gospel must be preached weekly and assume the weekly theme is simply, "Ask Jesus into your heart. Walk the aisle. Raise your hand." However, I can't remember the last time I employed these strategies. Other pastors will label me a "doctrine guy," yet will assume I turn every Sunday into a revival meetings? Either they think I'm schizophrenic, or they aren't really considering the depths of the gospel. We've already addressed that understanding Christ's sanctifying work helps us assess the statistics differently, but let's look at how it effects proposed solutions as well.

1. Pray together. What many people consider their prayer life is simply their supplication life. They don't first focus on the grace of God in their lives and the worship He is due. Sure, it's great to get young and old together to pray, but make sure their prayers are gospel oriented. An older person will be much more passionate about the young person they've met if their prayer is about the mutual grace of God they have received, than simply praying they find a prom date or get into a good school. Get two people sitting across each other to pray, not focused on the other person, but focused on their mutual Savior.

2. Make the church a "family." This will only work with a gospel centrality. Quite frankly, the niche church plant strategy model has done a great disservice to the truth of the gospel. We have been made a "holy nation." Once we were not a people, but now we are a people of God. Like the church in Antioch, the church should seek to bond people of different ages, races, economic status and educations together. If you simply place generations around each other for the case of exposure, it may be fascinating for a time (What, you mean phones used to have cords on them that went into the walls? Crazy!), but this will eventually wear off. However, when you remind a person that they were alienated completely from God and fellowship is impossible until one comes to God through Christ, this causes the person to appreciate more deeply their fellowship with God, and thus seek out fellowship with others.

3. While "Scum of the Earth" is a cute concept for the name of a church (an idea from MacDonald's book), it is an incomplete message. Yes, we were objects of wrath, but now we have been purchased with the priceless blood of Jesus Christ! Really, are we going to claim that someone purchased with the blood of Christ is scum? Furthermore, we realize we have been reconciled to God in Christ so that we can do the ministry of reconciliation. But this call for reconciliation is not to us, but to God primarily, and then we will see it effect us.

4. Follow up with students. If our students are trained to listen for a truly cross-centered message, then we can more freely set them out knowing what to look for in a church. As far as I know, there are no Grace Brethren Churches in the regions I specifically mentioned. And frankly, that issue just doesn't matter that much to me. Too many of our churches don't understand this gospel centrality and therefore wouldn't share this thread. Our twelve points of the Statement of Faith simply do not narrow things down enough to really get a feel for the passions of the congregation. Therefore, you are left to assess the church based on superficial descriptions (seeker, Willow, Saddleback, Emerging, etc.). But these descriptions don't get to the heart of things, they simply deal with methodology. When Jesus said, "upon this rock," He was not referencing a method of Peter's, but the message that fell from his lips.

5. Real fellowship. Read 1 John 1. There is no fellowship imaginable like the Fellowship between the members of the Trinity! Then, through the work of Jesus Christ, God invites us into this kind of fellowship. Then, once we enter into fellowship with God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we naturally find ourselves having fellowship with others who also abide in Christ. As the passage continues, it explains to us that this fellowship is built upon the confession of sin and the work of Christ. As we abide deeply in the gospel, we abide deeply in Christ. And if we love the Groom, we will love the Bride.

Ultimately, the problem of the young leaving and the "Boomers" distancing becomes one of humility. The "Boomers" are bored with what they have and frustrated with what they do not. The youth, who once attended but have been leaving, are frustrated that changes aren't happening quick enough and they are not receiving enough influence. But both parties are wrong. The church is not about them, she is about Him! A gospel centered message will instill the necessary humility to cause both groups to seek Christ's glory and the other's interest.

The gospel has been assumed and treated lightly in too many contexts. This creates the problem. But their is hope. It is not complicated. It is not a struggle. It is not a message which contradicts. Preach the gospel to all men! The lost need to hear it for their justification and the believer (regardless of generation) needs to hear it for their sanctification!

Signs of the Apocalypse 2

Again, these were real signs, though not from New Hope Baptist Church

Is this a trick question?



From the "Zoom Minus O Equals Zom" category:

My Own Op-ED--Time Lapse

As I have stated before, I highly respect Ed Lewis. I am not writing any of these pieces to critique the man, and certainly do not assume a bit of ill intent from him. I simply thought it would be good to share a different take on his diagnosis and his solutions which were offered in his editorial. And the views of the editorial are not unique to Ed, so this really is an issue regarding some discussion for the whole Fellowship.

(In a way, Ed is stuck being singled out because he is a great guy. I clearly like the man. In the past, other critiques, questions or comments I have had for other ministry partners are ignored, bypassed or deleted. I've been accused of being mean spirited or having personal vendettas. This does not apply at all to my relationship with Ed, so I saw this as a chance to place this out in public. If the problem is my writing styles, perhaps I can correct it. And perhaps I can have some constructive conversations with others who seem unwilling to talk? This is your chance to tell me if you think I'm being out of line.)

Really, this has nothing ultimately to do with Ed. It's one article he wrote. I'd sever the connection and move on (for I think these issues matter), except all the posts kind of flow from one another and may not make sense without it. But please, this is far bigger than addressing an editorial from a man who lives in Winona. If you are a pastor (especially if you are in the FGBC), please consider these thoughts carefully.

Often, when we read the statistic that 70% of young people are leaving the church when they leave high school (or that 59% of people 18-29 are leaving the church) we immediately begin to look at the current state of the church. We ask the question, "What are we doing wrong?" However, there seems to be a far more pressing question:

What have we done wrong?

You see, their attendance can trick us. They used to come to church, so we were doing it right then. Now they don't come anymore, so we must be doing something wrong. But what if what we were doing is the reason they aren't coming now? What if past practices are the reason for the current exodus? In fact, could our past practices be the reason the young people are leaving and the "Boomers" are getting bored? I think so.

Mark Dever so succinctly states it: "What you win them with, you win them to." How were so many of the "Boomers" won? We remodeled the facility to look more conducive to their comforts. We shortened the sermons to appeal to their attentions spans. We spoke directly to their felt needs to address the issues they wanted to hear. We began to cater to their desires and wants. We won many with many different things.

Now, the next generation comes along. They tolerated church the way an older generation wanted it for a time, but now they are ready to branch out on their own. They are able to vote and die for their country, but they aren't old enough to begin seeing the church adapt to their desires too. Now it becomes a power struggle. Do we give the "Boomers" what they want (and this isn't status quo, for they are now bored with what they have) or do we seek to engage the next generation?

The editorial suggests PowerPoint® as a possible solution. I'd disagree for the following three reasons (from least important to greatest). a) 99.9% of all PowerPoint® I have seen in sermons is cheesy and lame. Let's be honest, no one is being impressed by it, and at times, it's just making the church look more out of touch. b) It just doesn't go deeply enough into the heart of the problem. This issue goes deeper than just a few surface level corrections we can make. c) Preaching is so different than anything else ever created by God that the Scriptures are full of passages which state people will see by hearing. We still reach the eyes of our people's hearts through their ears. That's a timeless, God-ordained fact.

Furthermore, you won't be able to keep up with the technological demands. PowerPoint® today, holograms tomorrow. You see, what you win them with, you win them to. If they are coming because you have catchy visuals, look out! You'll have to make sure you keep up with the demands. And guess what, the vast majority of our churches are small and are incapable of keeping up with the budgetary demands to wow the masses. Though we can't compete with the funds, staff, equipment and manpower of titan churches, we are often told they are the standard we should be looking to. Even our larger Grace Brethren churches pale in comparison to the "big dogs" out there in other denominations. If that's the way we want to fight the battle, we will lose.

However, if our ministries are set around the gospel, now that we can do. And when we win people with the gospel, then as long as we keep preaching that gospel, we've won them to it. Trends will come and trends will go, but the gospel will keep them there. Ah, but our churches are preaching the gospel, you protest. People often misunderstand what I mean by this, so allow me to ask a few questions for clarification:

1. Do you preach repentance?

Many have abandoned the word repentance because it "just doesn't sell today." It seems to be too strong a word and we've seen too many people turn away when we use it. Therefore, we try to get them to come to Jesus and then we'll teach them repentance later. However, this simply is not the way the Apostles preached. Repentance is not small print in the contract. It is the lifestyle the believer is called to. To turn to Jesus we must turn away from our sin. If you win them with a Jesus who doesn't demand repentance, how do you win them to a Jesus who expects repentance from His Bride?

2. Do you preach the gospel every time?

"Sounds to me like you just want to be an evangelist," is often the response I get. (We'll address that point in the next question.) Many pastors tell me they make their schedule out where there is a specifically evangelistic message on a quarterly basis or so. It doesn't seem necessary to preach it every single week. However, let me ask you this. If a visitor comes--and keeps returning--yet they don't hear the gospel until week five, what was it that won them over in weeks one through four?

3. Does your gospel only seem for the visitor/non-believer?

This is a big pet peeve of mine. To many pastors in my Fellowship view the gospel as simply the message that leads to justification. Once the person has received the gospel, many assume it can just be set to the side as you move on to other issues. Perhaps you bring it back out when equipping the body for evangelism, or when a person doubts whether they are saved. Otherwise, it stays on the shelf while we talk about how to live the Christian faith. However, the gospel must be that which people hear in regard to their sanctification too. It is the message which roots out and destroys my legalism and my lawlessness all at once. It is a message your people must hear to grow in godliness! (Pastor, there is an easy test to see how you are doing with this. How do your people respond when you are preaching the gospel? Do they look around, appear bored or seem disconnected. How could that be? You are speaking about how the Infinite Creator made salvation possible by offering His Son to die for our sins!!! How could your people be bored? Because they don't see that the message is still beneficial to them.) If you won them with a "one time decision" gospel message, how will you win them to a gospel that changes the whole man?

4. Do you over emphasize conversion stats?

If you give altar calls, or ask for a show of hands, or have people fill out decision cards, it is also easy to declare those responses. Now you are in an awkward place. Five people come forward at the end of a service. The church is thrilled and excited. After three weeks, one person is never seen again and there never was any visible fruit. What does the pastor do? Is he to get in the pulpit one week and announce everyone should adjust their scorecards (and let's be honest, people are keeping score) to four? Do we have people adjust a outreach event total when a person later "falls away?"

These seem to be the places we should be looking. If a young person leaves as soon as they hit college and denies the faith, or an older person suddenly becomes bored with the message, we've got two options.

1. The church won the young person over with something other than the gospel, therefore they kept coming to church, but it wasn't really for Jesus.

2. The church faithfully preached the gospel, but there will always be tares among the wheat. They'll eventually leave, and there really isn't anything the church can do about it.

Therefore, the power of the gospel calls us to keep preaching the gospel. If we were before, yet young people are leaving, why would we ever want to change the message? (And doesn't our eschatology tell us that the number of individuals "falling away" should increase as the Day approaches?) But if we look and see our gospel was secondary to the life of the church, there's still time. Repent and place it back out at front and center.

For a neglect or assumption of the gospel is not only the problem, turning back to it is also our solution!

Why Sequential Exposition?--My 1 & 2

My final post of my top ten advantages for sequential exposition. Click the links to see advantages 10 & 9, 8 & 7, 6 & 5 and 4 & 3.

Advantages 2 and 1 to Sequential Exposition.

2. A Biblical understanding of redemption is fostered.

Preacher—The preacher receives the joy of seeing the gospel throughout Scripture. The pastor is infused with passion, excitement and joy as he sees the redemptive message in places he did not initially expect. The gospel is seen as central throughout all of history and the pastor develops a people who see the gospel as necessary for the justification, sanctification and glorification. Issues of creation, the fall, redemption and the consummation of all things are not just preached from certain regular text, but are unpacked from the entirety of the Word!

Congregation—Members see the unity of Scripture as they see God’s redemptive plan throughout the book. Biblical concepts become more rounded as they encounter gospel topics from a variety of passages in several different places. The congregation is protected from moralism, as they see men of the Old Testament saved by grace through faith. Greater confidence is given for the power of the gospel when we see its unity throughout all of history!

1. Jesus Christ is loved more deeply.

Preacher—The preacher does not go to the Word of God simply to find something to teach the congregation, or simply to know something new from the text. The preacher is reminded to go to the text to see His Savior and to grow closer with Him. The preacher is transformed more into the Savior’s image as he beholds His glory on the pages of Scripture. His affections for Him and anticipation of His return are increased as he spends time abiding with Him!

Congregation—The members of the congregation are called to a deeper love of Jesus. They are reminded that God’s purpose in providing the Word was not simply to tell us more about ourselves, but ultimately to reveal His Son fully to us. The congregation quits seeing the Bible as a history book or a road map for morality and begins to see the life and intimacy with Christ that is offered. Members eyes are fixed upon their Savior, the Author and Perfecter of their faith!

My Own Op-ED--Cause and Cure

I respect Ed Lewis very much. Therefore, when I read his editorial, I found myself surprised at the level of disagreement with his diagnosis and cure for the condition of the local church today. I'm hoping these posts actually offer an opportunity to do something pretty rare these days in our circles (air differences in opinion in public) and could possibly serve as some refining for all of us.

I have already made it known that I did not really agree with the assessment of the church's current situation. There was something that was assumed through out it, but its absence created a tension for me. Then, as I scrolled down to some of the solutions, the same feeling returned. There's just something that is being assumed here, and its absence leaves these solutions in tension. I wasn't surprised that the nagging feeling was identical, for the object missing was identical too...

Where was the gospel?

[caveat] Now, before anyone throws a spear through the internet at me, let me affirm some things. Yes, Ed knows the gospel. Yes, Ed preaches the gospel. Yes, Ed believes in the power of the gospel. As I have mentioned before, these posts are not meant to be ad hominem. I'm conducting an experiment to see if it is still possible to disagree with a person's opinion without it having to create a rift in a relationship. I have no beef with Ed personally, I do not believe their was any ill intent in Ed's editorial. I did not say the gospel was distorted, denied or contradicted. I simply said it was assumed. [/caveat]

How does the gospel further instruct us in regard to the diagnosis?

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.--Philippians 1:6

God is the One who justifies, sanctifies and glorifies! This is not news for our Fellowship, for it has always affirmed eternal security. This is not a battle being fought within our ranks, so I understand why it is tempting to simply not address this fact. However, reminding ourselves of the gospel reminds us that it is God who began the work, it is God who will continue the work, and it is God who will complete the work. Now, if we have a massive number of people who appear to have the work begun, but we do not see God continuing the work in them, should we conclude the church is to blame? Is it the church who causes believers to be sanctified, or is it God who causes sanctification and uses the church in that process? You see, keeping the gospel front and center should cause us to ask a much more disturbing question: If they went out from us, were they really ever of us? (We'll explore this further in the next post.)

How does the gospel further instruct us in regard to solution?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.--Romans 1:16

Keeping the gospel before our eyes gives us renewed hope. It is He who builds the church. It is He who raises the dead to life. It is He who causes the blind to see. It is He who justifies. It is He who sanctifies. It is He who glorifies. It is He who speaks! The gospel is His power for salvation. Suddenly, the person is set free to serve God, for it is not really up to me and my strategies to create the results. It is God who is working and it is His gospel which is powerful. A gospel centrality is vital to the life of the church. (A point we will further unpack in a couple of posts.)

I have no doubt Ed believes those things to be true. I also have no doubt that expressing them in his editorial would have completely changed his tone to one of hope. For God is powerful!

Why Sequential Exposition?--My 3 & 4

I prepared my own list of ten advantages for sequential exposition for our sermoneutics class. Follow the links to see reasons 10 & 9, 8 & 7 and 6 & 5

Advantages 4 and 3 to Sequential Exposition.

4. Current events are seen through the lens of God’s sovereignty.

Preacher—The preacher is not forced to read the newspaper as often as the Scriptures to make sure he is relevant, but instead delights in seeing how God causes current events to bring to light the points in the Text. Scriptures can be determined months (even years?) in advance, yet God can cause circumstances to match up well with the point predetermined by the text.

Congregation—The members of the congregation see the sovereignty of God and that He still ordains that which happens. The congregation grows in their awe and peace of the Lord as He affirms His hand over all things. The congregation is reminded that the world responds to God, not that God is constantly responding to the events of the world.

3. The Word is lifted up.

Preacher—The preacher is relieved of needing to provide wisdom or a good thought for his congregation, but is simply to explain the Text. This releases him of the pressure of building a congregation solely around his gifts, skills and personality. A pastor can find himself a fit for any congregation or overwhelmed with his need to “perform,” for it is the Word that will do the work.

Congregation—The congregation is reminded to listen to God and not simply their pastor. They are better prepared for “water cooler” talk as they can now say, “The Bible says,” instead of, “my pastor says.” The congregation is reminded that they are not their to be educated or entertained by their pastor, but they are present to be transformed by the Holy Spirit as they hear the Word of God.

My Own Op-ED--Cure?

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Ed Lewis. Therefore, I am trusting that when I didn't agree with his editorial, he would not be offended if I attempted to interact about it.

My previous article explained that while Ed is usually a very optimistic man, his editorial did not seem very hopeful for the church. He stated that the church is losing 70% of the young people we once had (a statistic I believe can be misleading). He also stated that most "Boomers" are becoming "detached." In essence, they want to be served, rather than serve. (I did not address this issue in my last article, for Ed offers no statistics to make this claim, but merely throws it out. There wasn't much to refute, since it just seems to be a personal observation. Perhaps it's true on a global scale? I have no idea.)

Near the end of his article, Ed offers these 5 suggestions:

1. Make it easy for young and old to pray together. Don’t pray for the young: pray with them on occasion.

2. Make the church a “family.” Ask older people to help in children’s ministries. Offer regular, brief interviews in Sunday School. Let youth hear stories of older people in the church. (Then have the youth pray for the older person.) Ask adult classes (ABFs) to interview young people regularly. Learn names. Get to know the young.

3. Read books like Gordon MacDonald’s, Who Stole My Church? Or...

4. Listen to people like Chuck Bomar who say we must open homes to the younger generation. Students who go away to college must be followed up. (Did he find a mentor? A good church? If not, send someone there to help him!)

5. Let the church strengthen relationships. Work on it! Fellowship isn’t just an add-on; it’s crucial. It’s family! Program for it. Learn names. Connect. Play together. Pray together. Do projects together. Praise together.

None of the above things are wrong. They are somewhat insufficient, however. As I've mentioned before, Ed does not consider himself to be a papal authority (although I think he'd look cool in the hat!). I'm sure this list wasn't meant to be conclusive, and if a church attempted to adopt some of these things, I imagine it could possibly help a bit. However, just consider the following:

If your "Boomers" aren't wanting to serve, getting items #1, #2 & #5 to work are going to be quite difficult. How are we assessing that "Boomers" don't want to be involved? Probably because we've already asked them, and they've said no. Therefore, simply prodding them to stay involved will probably only work for a temporary period and has the potential to simply embitter them more.

I absolutely love Chuck Bomar's advise to stay connected to your students. Too many ministries operate on a "out of sight, out of mind" basis. Follow up is important. However, here is my problem. I have a student at MIT. I have another at West Point (and another joining him there this summer). I have a young woman in our church moving to Alamo, California. We're a small, rural community where most of our young people move away. How do I plug them into a "good church" when I know nothing of their new area? Most of the time, a recommendation of a "good church" comes from someone who doesn't even really know your own church, thus they don't know the passions that would make the transition easy. I can tell you this, our church budget can't allow for staff and elders to make scouting trips so we can help them find good churches.

And as for MacDonald's, Who Stole My Church? Well the "Boomer" generation ought to prove its basic premise is lacking. The last couple decades have been spent making the church everything the "Boomer" could ever want only to result in them being bored, detached and uninterested in ministry. Like BurgerKing, catering the church to their desires simply fed their appetite "to have it your way." Eventually, the church can't give someone everything they want and they become dissatisfied. If we seek to again revamp the church simply to meet the desires of the next generation, we will find them eventually bored and dissatisfied too. Are many of the changes MacDonald suggests bad? Not really. Are they enough? Not at all.

As I review these "solutions," I become a little overwhelmed. They can seem contradictory, and at times like they are simply calling us to keep trying the same things, even though they haven't been working. It makes sense then that ministry would seem to be a struggle and something that is very complicated. We strive to reach the young, but they are leaving because we have catered to the "Boomer." But the "Boomer" is getting frustrated and thinking of leaving because of changes we may be making in order to reach the young generation which has already left. I've never liked merry-go-rounds, and staying in this mindset can pretty quickly lead to me "losing my Whopper®."

However, Ed ends his editorial with: I feel for the church leaders...but let's do something to change it. It's possible.

I wouldn't bother writing these posts if I did not agree. However, I plan to unpack a slightly overlooked solution starting Monday...