Of Sandlots and Cathedrals

Frank

This post continues the conversation Glynn Young, Nancy Rosback and I are having over the book Mere Churchianity. They always have a head start on me, so be sure check out their thoughts on Chapter 13, “Leaving Behind the Church-Shaped Life” over at Faith, Fiction, Friends and Bend the Page. Melissa at In Silence, Humming Softly has also joined the discussion so be sure to check out her thoughts as well.

Michael Spencer, being a baseball fan, uses the analogy of Big League ball versus his childhood playing in empty lots. He notes that despite all the scandals (steroids, salaries, sex), it is the kid’s game that captures our imagination and fanhood. As soon as the game under the lights and in the cathedrals to the game forget this, then interest will wane and seats will empty. The same is true of the Church, that it is the Jesus-shaped Spirituality that exists inside each of us, outside of the “big-time” walls, that drives us to the Church. And like Major League baseball, churches who forget this may fill the pews for a time, but will find many leaving for the purity of the sandlot.

To keep myself out of trouble, and being a huge baseball fan myself, I’m going to continue with the analogy. I grew up watching Minor League baseball. Rookie level as a matter of fact, where “kids” fresh out of high school would try and show of their talents, earning measly pay, and hoping to someday earn their “cup of coffee”. I lived far from any major market team so I relied on TBS and WGN to watch the Braves and Cubs, respectively, and the network Game of the Week. I would follow my favorite players through the box score in the local paper. When traveling to visit family, we would catch a big-league game if we could and the enormity of “the Show” was magical compared with the rookie league I was used to watching. The players were faster, their moves more crisp and polished, their talents far surpassing the kids scraping by at the lower level.

I had my favorite players, enshrined with posters, jerseys, and baseball cards. I didn’t care about the value of cards, I would trade away a valuable rookie for a card of my hero (but I at least knew not to put them in my bicycle spokes). The first World Series I remember watching, I laid out all my cards from each team and I followed the game using the cards to keep score.

Times changed and I grew up. I realized that none of the players I watched in the minors made it to the majors. An expansion team came to my region. Still not close, but drivable. TV expanded, ESPN gained in viewership, and I could catch a game every night. The Internet came and instead of following my favorite players through the “simple” box score, I now could follow their “splits” and “advanced metrics”. The Internet and Cable TV enabled the 24-hour news cycle and sports followed suit. I could find out what my favorite player was doing at almost any moment. They would soon become unable to hide from the public eye, so every misstep, every harsh word, every bad decision would be highlighted for the world to see. And the magic of the game, the childhood awe, waned.

Today I live walking distance to a high-A club and I love taking my son to watch the game at this level. I go to Major League games on occasion, but the price and the publicity for the most part has discouraged it. There’s something about watching these kids trying to make their way that maintains the childhood purity I remember.

So what does this have to do with the church? The megachurch, the spiritual superstars the big crowds can drown out the child-like awe we should have before Jesus for the sake of the show. Just as the Internet as created instant experts out of every fan who voices an opinion, so it has for Christians and the blogosphere  who have no expertise other than their opinion (myself included). And I think myself, like many who relate to Michael Spencer in this book, are longing for Jesus-shaped Spirituality that can be found in the sandlots, being played by kids, free from all the trappings, glitz, and glam. When Michael was sharing this analogy, I was thinking about how the game is the same, whether played in the Major League cathedrals or at a beat up Little League field. Jesus is the same, whether worshiped within walls filled with thousands, or in a beat up old church filled with a dozen. And in both places, Jesus is found by the awestruck child who just loves the game.

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3)

Flashback Friday: Movements and Messiahs

Frank

***Originally posted February 20,2010, as the Tea Party started to gain momentum. Reposting this week after the elections on Tuesday that the Tea Party is either getting too much or not enough credit, depending on your point of view. Regardless, Christians need to be wary against putting too much faith in any political movement.***

The Tea Party movement has gotten a lot of press recently, from being credited for Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts to CNN doing a week-long look into the movement prior to its first “national conference” to the recent article in the New York Times. The biggest questions being asked are will this amount to a third party and/or how much influence will this group have on the Republican Party?

Sounds a lot like what was being asked about the fledgling Christian Coalition thirty years ago. Like the Tea Party, the Christian Coalition was initially focused on local involvement from people with little or no prior involvement in politics (at the time conservative Christians). Eventually their influence grew to such an extent that they are now blamed for everything wrong with the Republican Party. Egos, internal politics, and the idol-worship of fame eventually led to this movement’s downfall.

Another similarity is the lack of unity or homogeneity among the grass-roots supporters. There is no definition of a “Christian voter” that applies to all Christians as Jim Wallis so accurately pointed out in his book, God’s Politics, Why the Right Gets it Wrong and Why the Left Doesn’t Get It (the subtitle sums this up the best). At the same time, the media has been unable to nail down a universal platform that applies to each Tea Party other than the expected discontent with the current administration. Some want a new party, some want an overhaul of the Republican Party. All want a smaller government, but there is disagreement how. Again, sounds a lot like the “value voter” broad-brush the media tried to invent after the 2000 election.

Tea Party organizers would be wise to study the history of this group as it appears they are going down the same road. We, as Christians, would also be wise to remember our folly with the Christian Coalition and not be enticed by the promise of any political Messiah as there is only one true Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. (2 Timothy 2:4)

Our commanding officer is God, not country nor political party. And our battle is not political but moral and the prizes are not votes but souls. We will never be the salt that Jesus calls us to be as long as we are only striving to score political points.

Savior, Healer, Both?

Frank

“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’


On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.’“ (Matthew 9:10-12)

“‘Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ So he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Get up, take your mat and go home.’ Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.” (Matthew 9:5-8)

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1-2)

“…’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

When the Chilean miners were rescued last month, the whole world watched. Christians praised God as they heard the news and the credit the miners gave to their Lord. The miners become not only pop-culture celebrities, but also anecdotal heroes of the faith. But this religious fervor raises an important question. What if they weren’t rescued? Would God have been there then? Just how much did God have to do with saving those miners? Besides the Evangelical response, was the ecumenical response, and the skeptic response. Which is right? Is it possible they all are?

Michael Spencer, in the twelfth chapter of Mere Churchianity, questions the “perfection” demonstrated by many Christians under the guise of Jesus being both healer and savior. The premise goes that since they are saved, they are therefore healed. Healed of malady, financial hardships, depression, addiction, their own sinful nature. Paul, in the passages above would counter that claim, praising God for his weaknesses in one breath while reminding us that we are dead to our sin in the next. In the miracle above, Jesus’ acts of healing and forgiveness were not the same. They were two different events.

I’ve found there are two extremes to this theological and philosophical dilemma. On one side are those who praise God for being healed of everything under the sun. On the other are those who mope around acknowledging that they are sinners, always have been and always will be, who are just saved by God’s grace. On the one hand are those who believe so strongly that God heals completely through salvation that any sin or weakness must be the consequence of hidden sin or a lack of faith. Then there’s the temptation to over-rely on God’s grace for forgiveness without accepting our part to die to our sins (Romans 6, above). At the same time many Christians feel defeated by their sin, looking at Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” example from 2 Corinthians and just accept their sinful nature while not doing anything about it.  Each is dangerous because they lead to using their present condition to judge others. Michael seems to fall towards the latter extreme. I admire admitting weakness, but he seems to dismiss any healing or providence from God.
But it begs the question of just how involved is God in our day-to-day struggles? Is he only around in the big things (Chilean miners) or in every little thing? And if He is involved in everything, then why doesn’t everything “work for the good”? Why do we still struggle with sin? Why does he have cancer, why did she lose her job, and why are they so “blessed”?

I don’t have the answers. I wish I did. But I know from experience being and working with addicts, that God can overcome our sinful natures. I also know that when he does so, “blessings” pour out in abundance. And I also recognize that this is completely different than salvation and grace. We joke in my recovery group that if you show up single, you’ll leave married. That’s been the case for four now-married couples. One brother just celebrated one year of sobriety. In that year, he’s returned to church, gotten married, and is now expecting a child. I would not be married to my wife if not for both of our recoveries. I’ve also seen the same number of marriages saved from the brink of divorce through recovery. Yet there are defeats as well. One couple separated as they both went through recovery and have had limited and mixed success in their sobriety. His heart is broken because a judge just ruled that she can move two states away and take their kids. He has since left church while she has stuck around. After the judge’s ruling, she posted on Facebook, “praise God…” He posted, “please pray for me…”

God is still there, still involved, and still active. How things will ultimately work out, I do not know. But I also do not know if God will grant me another day of sobriety, another day with my kids and my wife, another day employed. What happens next I just have to trust in Him.

(And iteresting dichotomy considering God’s providence: Michael Spencer died from a brain tumor before this book was released. Why him and why then? Yesterday was posted an interview with Matt Chandler, who one year ago was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Why him, why has he been spared? The interview is worth checking out.)

Tricks (and Treats) are for Kids!

Frank

With one major Fall holiday down, there’s one to go before Christmas, which means stores should already be stocked with Christmas decorations, parents are beginning to stock up and hide away presents for their little ones, and the “Keep Christ in Christmas” crowd is ramping up to full speed.

‘Tis officially the holiday season. Holiday, derived from Holy Day. Can’t really tell anymore looking at our consumer cultural landscape. Prior to having children, I was much more cynical towards the holidays, seeing them as nothing more than an attempt by the greeting card, toy, costume, and decoration industries to end their year in the black. Case in point, it is estimated up to $5 Billion (yes, with a B) was spent on Halloween this year (down from last, believe it or not). But going out with my young Iron Man and Minnie Mouse Princess last night and watching the joy in their faces as they went door-to-door, I’ve softened up my stance. Christmas and Easter I approach the same way- the kids don’t care about the etymology of holiday or how the Church blended pagan influences with their own doctrine to be relatable and supersede existing holidays- they just want to have fun (and eat candy, lots and lots of candy).

Yet of the three major holidays (leaving out Thanksgiving which exists for me on a whole other level), Halloween has always been a personal favorite. I love the effort put into costumes, carving pumpkins, and decorating. Maybe it’s the engineer in me. But as a Christian, there seem to be two approaches towards this holiday. Either participate but forbid costumes and themes that hint of the occult, or not participate at all. I’m honestly not sure which is better. As my son grows older, if he’s anything like me, he will look for the scariest costume he can find and run with it. I’m not sure how to cross that bridge when I get there. For now though, I’ll settle with Iron Man and Minne Mouse. And just from observation last night, superheroes and princesses outnumbered ghouls and goblins 2-to-1.

My question(s) of the week:

Did you celebrate Halloween last night? If so, how (basic door-to-door, haunted houses, fall festival, etc)?

Did you (or your kids) dress up? As what?

Flashback Friday: Mud Slinging

Frank

***Originally posted October 31, 2008 prior to the last major election. Reposted as we have the mid-terms right around the corner as a reminder that no matter how much things change, things stay the same. You might as well replace Kay Hagan in this post with Christine O’Donnell and “godless” with “witchcraft“. Two years ago it was a “godless” Hagan, this year is the “witch” O’Donnell, I shudder to think who the target will be next year as some corners of the religious establishment continue to try to seize power politically. Personally, this isn’t about any particular political stripe, but we need to seriously examine the level our politics, and our religion, have stooped down to.***

The North Carolina Senate race is a tight one, and like most races this season no one wants to talk issues but everyone wants to sling mud. In this case it’s Liz Dole, who I just lost all respect for, putting out an ad against her opponent, Kay Hagan, accusing her of being “godless.” This article includes a link to the videos and hers is definitely over the line. If I didn’t know better (and most voters don’t) I’d think the voice that says repeatedly “there is no God” was hers. But then I read the article and find out that she’s an elder in her church and teaches Sunday school. Hagan responds with an add of her own calling out Dole for “bearing false witness” and follows that up with a lawsuit against Dole.

Have we sunk so low that this is the substance of our political debates? Do you base your vote on who is most religious, has the most faith, is the most righteous? If so, you might as well stay home because we are all sinners and Jesus reminds us that “no one is good but God alone.” (Mk 10:18) That’s not all we need to be reminded of.

If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church! I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother goes to law against another—and this in front of unbelievers!


The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers. (1 Cor 6:1-8)

“Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs…” (2 Tim 2:3-4)

They say power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In the same way political power corrupts politically and drives out whatever spirituality was there to begin with.

Label Me, I’ll Label You

Frank

This post continues the conversation Glynn Young, Nancy Rosback and I are having over the book Mere Churchianity. They always have a head start on me, so be sure check out their thoughts on Chapter 11, “It’s a Bad Idea to be a Good Christian” over at Faith, Fiction, Friends and Bend the Page.

Soren Kierkegaard said “once you label me, you negate me.” The idea was that labels strip us of our humanity, reduces us to nothing more than that label, and denies what makes each of us unique. If you label everything, then nothing has meaning. Michael Spencer observed this in our churches and came to the same conclusion: these labels have no meaning. “Dynamic” worship. “Seeker Sensitive” church. “Good Christian”. My favorites are “missional” and “purpose driven” as if the church leaders just read a book and suddenly they’re a new church.

This should come as no surprise. Our consumer-driven culture requires everything to be marketed, even churches. And because of this, churches are constantly on the lookout for a niche, a buzzword, a marketing strategy that makes them stand out above the rest. I was on a business trip in Utah where I saw a billboard advertising a church. Their motto was, “church. caffeinated.” (To get the in-joke, you have to understand that Utah is 90-ish percent Mormon and they do not drink coffee.) Sadly, we seldom see churches advertised as God-centered, Jesus-focused, or Christ-like. If you didn’t know the label, you wouldn’t know these churches are even Christian.

When Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone began the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, they wanted to strip all the labels that described people more than their beliefs. One of my favorite movies is A River Runs Through It. The patriarch of the family is a preacher and the movie has this line, “My family is Presbyterian, which my dad likes to say is like Methodists who can read.” Ask a stranger on the street if they are Christian and they are just as likely to answer their specific tradition as to just simply answer “yes”. Stone and Campbell desired a church free from from labels so these churches adopted the simple name “churches of Christ.” Of course, a hundred-plus years later many might as well be called churches of Tradition, churches of Legalism, or a capella churches. (Oh wait, some already call themselves by the last one. Sigh.)

If there is to be a movement back towards Jesus-shaped Churches, preaching and living Jesus-shaped spirituality (which even Michael admits is just another label), we need to strip ourselves of the labels that divide and instead embrace Christ alone as the “author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). This is his premise of what so many who have left the Church are looking for. It is sad they have been unable to find it. I believe these churches are out there (see some of my previous posts from this book). I pray that we find these churches more and more out in the religious marketplace.

Inner Voice

Frank

I have to admire marathon runners. I honestly don’t know how they do it. Despite the physical strength required to run 26.2 miles, mental strength is also required. I can’t seem to concentrate on a single thing for more than a few minutes. Imagine having to focus your thoughts for anywhere from 3-6 hours? Sure, you can plug in your iPod, but that’s a lot of time alone with your thoughts. They say 80-90 percent of “self-talk” is negative. In other words, thoughts like “you can’t do that” or “if only I was like him/her” or “I’ll never…” A weak mind over the course of a race can be bombarded with such thoughts.

When I was younger and actually ran a little (and by little, I mean I sprinted. 400m was “long distance” for me) I read an article in Runner’s World called the “Nine Golden Cheetahs” that has always stuck with me. The story was of an African runner who would run for miles and miles. At some point, he would reach his “wall” where he strength could no longer sustain him, but only by sheer will-power could he reach his destination. He also hit a mental wall where his thoughts failed him. Delirium would set in. It was at this point that he saw nine golden cheetahs staring at him. As he approached, the cheetahs began to run away towards his destination. He was compelled to follow them. The will to follow those cheetahs overcame his pain, his exhaustion until he reached his goal and the cheetahs were gone.

Paul, when describing our adopted relationship with our Lord in heaven, said we received a Spirit that allows us to call Him ‘Abba’. (Galatians 4:6 and Romans 8:15). Abba is an informal term and would have sounded shocking to his Jewish audience. The message being that we have such a close relationship that we can be informal with God. I’ve heard others pray to “Papa” in that same vein.

Yesterday my wife ran a half-marathon. Her second, to add to 6 full. I admire her deeply for the commitment she makes and the strength it takes. She’s found that her “wall” hits right around the maximum distance run during training. But the mental wall can happen at any time. Her mental wall hit with a little over a mile to go. She knew she was close and was making good time. But she saw something out of the ordinary out of the corner of her eye that tripped her concentration. When she tried to regain focus, she heard the words, “you can do it, mija!” coming from somewhere deep inside of her.

Mija is a term much like Abba. It is informal and endearing. But it’s not a word used casually, it is loaded with too much affection. My wife is Latina but she hasn’t been called mija since her grandmother would call her that as a child. That voice was out of the blue and unexpected. But she could feel herself somewhat carried the last mile.

We had a long conversation last night about where this voice could have come from. A distant memory? Did she overhear someone else? Was it God reaching out and giving her a hug? We settled on the latter. We recognize that sometimes God reaches out to us and whispers in our ear. I’ve heard such voices when facing hard decisions. But I have to admit I’ve never had an example so personal, so endearing.

My question this week: Has God ever audibly spoken to you? What did He say?

Weekend Reading, 23 October

Frank

As par for the course, there was a lot of good goin’ on across the Christian blogosphere. I don’t catch everything so I encourage you to visit Jason Stasyszen’s Light Friday Hit List, Kevin Martineau’s Favorite Links Friday, and Glynn Young’s Saturday Good Reads. Now on with the show…

I include the brothers above because not just because they’re cool guys, but because there’s simply too much out over the interwebs to cover. Web 2.0 and social media has changed how we communicate with one another and I believe has created a virtual church without walls in which we can find encouragement, challenge, and inspiration through a limitless number of writers, bloggers, and free-thinkers. Of course, we need to balance the bottomless rabbit-hole of virtual relationships with the need to fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ who are right beside us. We also need to balance the time-suck that the Internet provides. With that in mind, there were several posts on ministry and social media.

  • Tony Alicea writes over at Geek For Him about the dangers of “soulless social media” when we’d rather update or status than have a conversation with the person right in front of us.
  • Shawn Smucker is consider taking a break to focus on what’s most important.
  • On the opposite side, Cassandra Frear lists the advantages of blogging and how it can make us better people.

Regrettably, our churches aren’t perfect. People leave. Racism is still present. But yet Jesus is still Lord and we are still His body.

  • There was an article on CNN this week about segregation in our churches. I tweeted that the most segregated part of America is Sunday mornings. I still believe that to be the case.
  • Ron Edmondson asks us to consider why.
  • An article in the LA Times wonders if the uncomfortable marriage between religion and politics has caused many to leave the church.
  • While Stephen Lamb continues his series over at Jesus Needs New PR on why he left the church. This time he challenges us to consider that we may be too narcissistic when we think we have our own “personal Jesus”.
  • Ryan Tate asks what signs do your church give that it is thriving?
  • And Jonathan Pearson reminds us why the Church is still alive.

With our own personal walk our will is always challenged by God’s, be it through our jobs, our families, our ministries, or our sins.

  • Jonathan Keck challenges us in the lost art of being open and honest while being painfully open himself.
  • Bill Grandi gives us a personal story of things not going his way.
  • Scott Couchenour gives several helpful tips for facing burnout in ministry.
  • Jason Stayszsen gives us parents tips on praying for our children over at Make a Difference To One.
  • And Chuck Salser is challenged to plant a church.

Hope you enjoy all of these posts. They should keep you plenty busy this weekend!

Flashback Friday: Beyond Belief

Frank

***Originally posted March 12, 2009. Reposted as Josh Hamilton is tearing up the Yankees so far this ALCS and I know many are rooting for him to reach the Fall Classic. His story of overcoming his addiction is compelling and could have been cliche when he fell off the wagon last year. But instead he has persevered through his personal demons, being injured most of this season, and has made this year’s playoffs worth watching (of course Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, and Tim Lincecum are more than worth the cost of admission). His teammates recognized his battle and instead of showering him with the usual champagne, instead cracked open bottles of Canada Dry.

I’m curious if any of you have read Josh’s book and what you think. Being an alcoholic and working regularly with addicts there were several warning flags I picked up on in his book. I think his experience last year woke him up a little and I hope matured him. I know I’m rooting for him this fall.***

Every season I find a baseball-related book to read during the season (ok, I’ve really only done that a couple of times, but I want it to become a tradition). Last season was Crazy ’08 by Cait Murphy about the 1908 season, arguably the best season in the history of baseball. I also posted last season a list of books I want to get to. But I just got my monthly Family Christian catalogue and saw this book about Josh Hamilton.

If you haven’t heard of him, he’s a phenom for the Texas Rangers who had an incredible season last year and lit up the Home Run Derby. What’s so special about that, you ask? Well I said he’s a phenom, but he’s not young. In fact he’s soon to be 28 (middle aged in baseball years). What took him so long to get to The Show was a complete derailment of his life by his addiction to drugs and his subsequent redemption through his faith in Jesus Christ. Given that background, as soon as I saw this it moved right to the top of my must read list. I love this kid and cheer hard for him. Sorry Free Byrd, but you’re going to have to wait until next season.

An Army Without Swords

Frank

“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17)

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

Describing Jesus, “In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword… These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword” (Revelation 1:16, 2:12)

Michael Spencer was a radical. If he was a member of your church, your leadership might consider him a trouble-maker. He had unconventional thoughts and did unexpected things. Like giving a young disciple of Christ a Bible to read on her own.

This is the context Michael uses in Chapter 10 of Mere Churchianity, “Jesus, the Bible, and the Free-Range Believer” to describe the Biblical illiteracy that is present in the American Church (TM). This is a subject I am passionate about and have written on before. I’m going to try and restrain myself from going off on another rant. Instead I want to try and dig at the heart of the problem.

Why don’t we read our Bibles? I forget the survey numbers, but something like 90% of households own a Bible but only 10% (I’m guessing on that one) actually read it. You see the traditional, large, “family” Bibles on coffee tables with baptisms, confirmations, and weddings scribbled in the front. But those occasions are the only times those Bibles are ever opened.

Michael notes that Bible reading is actually discouraged in many congregations. I wouldn’t go that far, just that it’s not explicitly encouraged. But why?

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
In the Middle Ages, reading the Bible yourself, or even owning one after the printing press was invented, was considered in many places a crime that could cost you your life. Then, the church operated much like any dictatorship- control the information and keep the populace ignorant. A lay-person reading the Bible could lead to them having their own convictions. Let that spread and you lose your grip on power.

I don’t think that’s the case today. At least in terms of consolidating power. However, I do think churches do not encourage personal Bible study to protect their long-standing traditions. You’d be surprised all the things your church does that isn’t in the Bible. Transubstantiation? Not in the Bible. The Sinner’s Prayer? Not in the Bible. Infant Baptism? Not in the Bible. Of course you could take this too far. The Churches of Christ split in the early 20th Century over whether worship music should be a capella or with instruments. Why the debate? Worship with instruments isn’t explicit in the New Testament. (But then again, neither are church buildings, Sunday School, parachurch organizations, and on and on) And you’ll find things in the Bible that are missing in our churches today such as Love Feasts and evangelism that is more than just handing out tracts or knocking on doors. But there’s a danger in making the Bible your standard instead of Jesus.

We’re not going to find the perfect church that does everything right according to the Bible. But I do believe that personal Bible Study will lead you to what’s close. It did me. It did Glynn Young. This is how I approach my evangelism, in fact. I sincerely believe that if a person is truly obeying the Greatest Commandment, even if they are in another church, they will come around to seeing errors shortcomings in their church’s traditions and structure. They will then be on a quest for what Michael describes as Jesus Shaped Spirituality. I know I cannot make anyone come to my church and I know I cannot make anyone think my church isn’t just as wacky with our ways of doing things than another church down the street. But I do know that my church encourages each of us to study the Bible and come to our own convictions. We are encouraged to follow Christ, not traditions. (Though I will admit that historically we have had “leadership shaped spirituality”, cults of personality if you will. I want to believe that has changed. I know it hasn’t everywhere, but it has where I worship.) I believe we encourage Jesus Shaped Spirituality.

I’ll never forget reading in a book this take on the following scripture: we need to come to our own convictions on who Christ is; we cannot rely on anyone else’s conclusion to reach our own. That was radical to me in just the same way as Michael handing the newly converted a Bible to read. It changed my walk with Christ and still challenges me today.

“Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’


‘Is that your own idea,‘ Jesus asked, ‘or did others talk to you about me?’“ (John 18:33-34, emphasis added)

Nancy Rosback, Glynn Young and I are discussing Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer. Check out Nancy’s blog, Bend the Page, for links to other discussions.