I try not to be too self-serving in my posts, but this was too good to pass up. If you’ve never heard of Verge, it’s a conference and ministry whose mission is to encourage and equip “Gospel-centered missional communities”. I admit to finding them by accident through their YouTube channel. I’m an unashamed Francis Chan junkie, but I discovered more there than just Chan: tips on how to be missional, other speakers/authors like Alan Hirsch and Matt Carter, and through their links, articles on building missional communities, how to build a culture of disciples making disciples, and so on.
So here’s the deal. I want to go to their conference this year. I’m not interested in any specific speaker, or checking out the music scene of Austin, but I want to fellowship with others who are like-minded to seek and save the lost, make disciples who make disciples, and practice the pure and faultless religion of taking care of orphans, widows and our communities in need.
I’ve already been piling on to my reading list thanks to Verge: For the City by Darrin Patrick and Matt Carter and Building a Discipling Culture and Covenant and Kingdom by Mike Breen. Now I want to learn practicals- hands on and first hand from those doing it.
So here’s what I need from you. Follow Verge on Facebook. Then when all the entry blogs are posted, vote for your favorite. It’s that simple. Thanks for your support!
I’m not much of a poker player. I can’t keep a stone-cold face to hide whether my hand is good or bad. And I don’t have much of a betting strategy. But I like to play. Maybe more so, I like to watch. There’s just something about watching pros at the table playing a game of wits, wondering what they are going to do next. I know it’s not for everybody, but I get a kick out of the tension and the drama, especially when someone decides to go all-in.
All-in. At that moment you are totally committed to your course. There’s no turning back. You either survive to fight another hand or you are knocked out. So you just hope beyond hope that you’re holding the better hand.
The dramatic made-for-TV reaction when going all in, is the player who stands up, steps back from the table and takes off either their hat or sunglasses. They dramatically hop around anxious for the results. And really, there’s no reason to stay at the table. At that point, there’s nothing more they can do but await the outcome.
I think a missing piece to modern-day Christianity is the notion of surrender. Going all-in, fully committed to Christ, with no turning back. Instead we subscribe to a casual faith from which flows a casual commitment. Consider Jesus’ own words:
“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.” (Luke 14:31-32)
And then the kicker:
“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he hascannotbe my disciple.” (v 33, emphasis added)
My small group has completed Francis Chan’s Crazy Love and now we’re moving on to Chip Ingram’s Living on the Edge. Surrender/going all-in is a significant theme of this book, as it digs into the example of discipleship described in Romans 12. I’m not going to blog on it week-by-week as I did with Crazy Love because I already did so last year. Check out the R12 tag for those posts.
I believe there’s a hunger in mainstream Christianity for something more… Christ-like. Almost daily this site gets hit on Google searches related to R12. Most frequently questions like, “why is Christianity so hard?” or “what does it mean to surrender to Christ?” It is sad that many cannot answer these fundamental questions (it’s not supposed to be and I’d love to sit down, open up the Bible and show you). I pray reading this blog leads some to the answers they seek. I pray also it calls each of us higher, away from casual complacency towards all-in surrender.
As my small group concludes Crazy Love, I’m struck by the opposition this book gets. The most common theme I’ve seen is that it swings too far from the “Prosperity Gospel” towards a “Poverty Gospel” (watch the interview of Francis Chan by Mark Driscoll and Joshua Harris to see this debate in action) and for some this translates into a “salvation by works” doctrine.
Of course that ruffles the feathers of many. “Saved by grace through faith alone” I believe is a security blanket held on to so tightly than anything approaching a “hedge” such as raising standards or expectations is avoided out of fear of legalism. But what is legalism anyway? Is it works? Why does Hebrews say we should encourage one another? (Good deeds) What are we saved for? (The works God has prepared for us) What is faith if absent of works? (dead as a doornail) So the fruits of the Spirit, evidenced by works isn’t legalism, it isn’t a poverty gospel, it isn’t preaching sanctification through personal sacrifice. At the same time, we’re reminded that such acts if unaccompanied by love are worthless.
In this book, and in his life to be perfectly honest (and I think this is why his views upset the status quo), Francis Chan simply puts his money where his faith is. And he’s not alone. Nor is he alone receiving such criticism.
David Platt just released the anticipated sequel to his bestseller, Radical, called Radical Together. I like the approach- the first book challenges what you are doing on faith personally, and he follows up with mobilizing churches to do the same. But he has to devote an entire chapter (short as it is) to deflect the criticism he received in the first installment.
And the criticism is coming from surprising corners of evangelical celebrity. Jared Wilson, author of Your Jesus is Too Safe (doesn’t that sound legalistic?), raises the above issues and cites similar concerns from Skye Jethani, author of The Divine Commodity and Chaplain Mike at Internet Monk. Now I’m not familiar with all of their writings, and I don’t know them personally, but just based on their public persona and the titles of their books/blogs, you’d think they’d be lockstep behind Chan and Platt. Like I said before comparing Crazy Love to Mere Churchianity, we all see the same problem and are moved to do something about it.
This debate exposes the tension between Justification as taught by Paul, and the Kingdom as taught by Jesus. For more on this, check out this article in Christianity Today. The conclusion is not to start with either Justification or Kingdom, but rather the Gospel of Jesus himself. I couldn’t agree more. After all, Paul instructed us to “follow [his] example as [he] follows the example of Christ” and that our “attitudes should be the same as Christ Jesus”, that Christ is the “chief cornerstone” on which we build our own personal convictions, and to “live as Christ and to die is gain”. (1 Corinthians 1:11, Philippians 2:5, Ephesians 2:19-22, Philippians 1:21)
So now the question becomes, is expecting a Christian (recall the definition has nothing to do with belief, but rather imitation) to live a Christ-like life legalistic? Through the lens of “saved by grace” it would appear so:
In the parable of the four soils, three seeds sprout yet only one is saved. How can we tell the difference? By the one baring fruit.
In the parable of the talents (or bags of gold in the new NIV, blech) the only servant condemned is the one who does nothing. Even the one who does a little is rewarded. Also the reward is proportional to the service.
At the same time, in the parable of the workers in the vineyard, all are rewarded the same regardless of how much work is done. Yet there is still a connection between work and reward.
In the parable of the sheep and goats, Jesus couldn’t make it clearer when he delineates “that which you do for the least of these…” (In fact one of the Crazy Love study guides I found online tried to explain away this passage as only applying to service towards believers at the tribulation)
And I want to remind us of the rich young ruler. He was holding on to something that would keep him from entering into the Kingdom. We all have something we’re holding on to. It doesn’t necessarily have to be money or possessions. Yet just like the wealthy, it is impossible to give it up. “But with God, all things are possible”
Going back to the definition of love from 1 Corinthians 13, legalism versus justification or works versus grace can be resolved simply by establishing the motivation. Obeying Jesus out of fear, guilt, obligation, pressure or people-pleasing is legalism. But obeying Jesus out of love is not.
Love. I think that shows up in Chan’s book somewhere.
We’ve all been there. We’ve read a book that dramatically stirred our hearts, or heard a sermon that cut us right to the core. But then we close the book, or we walk out of church… and nothing changes. The first temptation of a moving lesson, book study, retreat, or in-depth Bible study is to nod your head, pat yourself on the back, give each other hugs and just walk away. It’s like taking a class- you learn the information, you take the test, and then you perform a data dump thinking you’ll never have to use that information again.
Information is taken in is knowledge. Knowledge applied is understanding. Understanding through repeated failure, learning anew each time, becomes wisdom. A simple study leaves us with knowledge, but the Bible calls us to wisdom:
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:1-6)
Yet the source of knowledge from a book is just that, a book. Paper bound and reprinted. Placed on a shelf and sold. Just like a commodity, it is only worth its price if someone is willing to purchase it. How many books sit on the shelves unsold? How much knowledge is being missed out on?
Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? [Where is the best selling author?] Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (1 Corinthians 1:20)
The second temptation is to make the study, the book, or the author more than they are. A friend recently told me, while discussing this book, “we can be tempted to worship the spirituality of someone whose spirituality we admire, rather than the object of their worship.” He’s right. I didn’t want to admit it at the time, but he is absolutely right. As our group wraps up Crazy Love, it might be tempting to worship Francis Chan, or at least worship what he is doing. Of course, the content of the book should leave no doubt who the true object of our worship should be, but it is a temptation nonetheless.
So we have these two conflicting temptations: treat the study like it was nothing, or make the study more than it really was. Like in Greek philosophy, wisdom is found in the middle.
I have no doubt the first temptation is true. The book’s website boasts “New York Times Bestseller!” and “Over 1 Million Copies Sold!” but are we seeing the transformation in our churches that Francis talks about? Radical, by David Platt, is another in wave of books by young pastors raising the bar of personal discipleship. Also a bestseller. I could go on and on, and you’d think that with all the books, all the conferences, the availability of YouTube sermons, the number of Twitter followers and Facebook fans we’d see something of a transformation. Maybe not to the level of a new Great Awakening or another Reformation, but but I’d hope we’d see more than a few (in the grand scheme) of us bloggers callousing our fingertips writing about it.
At the same time, I know the second temptation is true because I am personally attracted to it. I’m tempted to have stars in my eyes and make Francis Chan into something he is not. I also know this second temptation is true because Francis, himself, sees it. In fact, he sees so much of it that he stepped down from leading the church he founded in-part because people were coming to see him and not to hear the Word of God preached.
So how do we avoid either temptation? First, we need to make sure we’re building our personal doctrine on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:10-15) As long as that is true, we can read book after book and be assured of our foundation. We can discern the words on the page using the words of Jesus. Second, we need to continue to return to the Bible as the ultimate source of our wisdom. “There is nothing new under the sun,” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) So no author can add insight that we cannot already find in Scripture. Third, and this is probably the most important, we need to do something. Both of these temptations lead to inaction. The first temptation obviously so, but the second leads to celebrity worship rather than action as you would expect.
Simple formula really. Build on Christ alone. Continue to rely on the Word. And go do something.
I’ve read countless books, been leading small group Bible studies for several years, blogged enough posts and what do I have to show for it? No, this isn’t a mope. It’s a slap in my face; a cold splash of water. Chapter 9, the penultimate chapter of Crazy Love, “Who Really Lives That Way?” challenges me to put the book on the shelf, log off the computer, and take that small group God has blessed me to lead, and do something.
Of course, this isn’t anything new. I’ve written about this before (for example thesethreeposts off the top of my head). But this is the first time I’ve actually had a group mobilized ready for action and enough external encouragement to overcome my own insecurities in serving.
Yet this won’t be easy. There are cultural, religious, and basic life-events that have to be overcome. It will take time and planning. It will take money and investment. It will take more than a flash-in-the-pan idea from me. But here is what my wife and I, with help from the Holy Spirit, have come up with (I’ll let you know tomorrow how this discussion goes tonight; it should be fun!):
My wife and I desire to step up in leadership in our church in this area, i.e. be point-persons for outreach ministry.
Open up a “community house” for after-school programs, life-skills training, and to be a safe-zone in a rough neighborhood.
Travel abroad for a short-term missions trip. Our plan A was a cushy long-weekend to Central America. When we didn’t hear back, we considered that opportunity closed. Plan B looks like a week in Haiti. Wow, talk about a leap of faith!
We’re hoping that by us stepping out in faith, we can encourage others who have similar calls on their hearts to follow. We also know that we have caught lightning in a bottle with our Crazy Love group right now and have people to support these efforts.
But like I said, there are still obstacles. Things that need to be overcome:
Religiosity: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27) Does that mean that all other religion is full of fault? About a year ago, I was sharing some of these thoughts with a brother and his response was, “I know the Bible says that true religion is looking after orphans and widows and whatever, but…”
Numbers: This point was raised in yesterday’s sermon and I don’t disagree with it. To maintain consistency in service, we need the numbers to support it. But I’m also of the mindset of “build it, and they will come.” I think we have the numbers right now, but too many people don’t know what to do with the God-given passions on their hearts.
Calendar: It is easy to just add another event on the church calendar. In fact, this is what stood in our way when we first started Crazy Love. So it is important to us that this doesn’t become just another event, just another church activity. This is a ministry. It is optional.
Mission: The latest Christian buzzword is “mission minded” when talking about service and outreach. But when you think of missions, you usually think of people in some country far away preaching the Gospel. What we’re doing is not going to take away from “making disciples of all nations.” In fact, I think it will enhance it, giving us a new forum and a new audience.
Politics: I hesitate putting this one up here, but it is a reality. You mention community outreach and someone is bound to think “social justice”. Yeah, I guess you could call it that, but that term has become too politically charged. I’m not doing this for any political reason. I strongly believe this is what the Bible calls us to do.
To quote Toby Mac, “why not here… why not now.” We’re going to talk about this tonight. Hopefully we’ll come up with some other ideas and opportunities. Please pray for us. We’re stepping far out on a limb.
I miss the show “Monk”. There’s just something about a detective who has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder piecing together clues from a crime scene while being afraid of the germs on a doorknob. Of course, that’s just one characterization. You can flip through TV and see shows on “strange addictions” and hoarding. You can look around and see people bite their fingernails or pick at their skin. And there are many other examples of such behaviors. The fundamental basis behind these compulsive actions is a need to control one’s environment when feeling uncomfortable. That’s not to diminish the seriousness of OCD to some people. It can be a serious debilitating psychological disease.
But imagine if Christians felt the same need. Imagine feeling so uncomfortable in this sinful world that we would do anything, no matter how odd it may appear, to control our environment. What would you do if you had a spiritual version of OCD? Would you run from someone trying to seduce you, even if that meant leaving your clothes behind (like Joseph)? Would you leave a successful business to follow around a homeless guy who claimed to be the Son of God (like Peter and Andrew)? Would you allow yourself to be tortured and killed even though you are wrongly accused (like Jesus)? Would you be willing to abandon the religion of your youth, the rigorous training, and the cause you’ve felt called to (like Paul)? Chapter 8 of Francis Chan’s Crazy Love gives more examples.
Disclaimer: There is such a thing as a spiritual, religious version of OCD. It’s called scrupulosity. Usually this is manifested as a guilt that is felt so deeply it shows as a serious case of depression. Like clinical cases of OCD, this can be debilitating, preventing someone from functioning normally. But what is normal? Quitting a job because you choose to put Christ first may not be normal, and it can be financially stressful, but is that debilitating? Not giving in to the latest popular fad may not be normal, and it may cause us to be outcast from society, but should that cause concern? I know many who have chosen to follow Christ to such an extreme that their families would seek to “deprogram” them through the same psychological treatments used to treat OCD.
But I don’t hear of cases like that too often anymore. I think the “abnormal” behaviors that we should expect from Christians are even considered too weird for our own churches today. We like routine. And so we’ve created religion around a list of rules that we know and understand in advance. Don’t throw any new expectations my way and don’t raise the standards, I might feel too uncomfortable. Well maybe I have scrupulosity, because I am extrememly uncomfortable in the comfortable church.
One of Dave Ramsey’s oft-repeated slogans is to “live like no one else, so you can live like no one else!” Meaning to make sacrifices now, be good stewards, get out of debt so you can be free from the commercialism and materialism that so consumes the world today. I took his Financial Peace University course and towards the end, he changes the slogan slightly. Once we’re out of debt, secure financially, and making prudent decisions with our finances, we can “live like no one else, so we can give like no one else!”
This fits the theme of Chapter 7 of Crazy Love by Francis Chan, “Your Best Life… Later”. It’s a lesson that needs to be repeated and shout from the rooftops. What we have does not define who we are. Our home is not our things. Our identity, our home, is set in heaven. When we remember this, little else matters.
Easier said than done. But look at the examples that came before. Francis turns our attention to Hebrews 11. He doesn’t pick out this particular verse, but it is a favorite of mine on this subject: “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (v 13-16)
Or to quote from one of my favorite songs, “Make us feel like we’re still living, in a world, I know, is burning to the ground… It’s hard to stay here, but where do we go?”
Last week, I compared Michael Spencer’s Mere Churchianity to Francis Chan’s Crazy Love. Both address the same problem but come at it from different directions. Yet I think both come to the same conclusion: Jesus is the focus, loving God is the motivation.
Chapter 6 of Crazy Love hits on the motivation. If you’re reading the book, you might feel beat up and let down after chapters 4 and 5. Francis leaves no doubt that we “all fall short” (Romans 3:23) regardless of religious or denominational affiliation. The examples of the seven churches in Revelation reminds us that no church is perfect because they are made up of imperfect people.
So what do we do?
When I started reading Mere Churchianity, I had been reading book after book looking for that certain “what” to do to fix the broken church. I read a lot of observations I agreed with while I didn’t read much for solutions. The thing is, there isn’t a “what”. It’s about “why”. Why do we even bother attending a church? Why do we read our Bibles? Why do we turn to God in prayer? Why should I repent of this sin that I enjoy so much?
My Crazy Love group is made up of a diversity of seekers (and I’m categorizing all of us in that description). Some are dedicated disciples that lean towards the legalistic side, some have backslidden (if that’s a word?), some are just hungry to grow deeper, some are looking for fulfilling fellowship. But all of us have the same question: why? If I were to reduce the study to a list of to-dos, we’d eventually break them. If I gave a list of do-nots, we’d go ahead and do them at some point as well. I wish I could say I’ve been perfectly sinless since I began the group, but I too fall short.
So we need to change our expectations of this study, or any study really, from a list of “whats” and “hows” to focus in on “why”. We need to fall in love with God.
This Flashback Friday is a little different. I’m pulling an excerpt from a previous post but expanding on it.
Before I started reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan, I was reading Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer. Both are similar in theme: there’s something wrong with the Church. For Michael, it is a lack of being “Jesus Shaped”. For Francis, it is being lukewarm. I think both are right, but they have different solutions. Michael encourages to pursue Jesus whole-heartedly, even if that takes you away from you present church. Francis encourages us to fall madly in love with God and do something where we’re at.
I’m not going to say one is wrong and one is right. I’ve come to learn that each of us has our own circumstances that require a response unique to our own walk with Christ. But I do have an observation. I think Revelation 3:20 is one of the most misused verses in the entire Bible. It is the foundation for salvation doctrine for many, though it is written to believers. Michael Spencer somehow uses it to justify leaving your church to pursue Jesus. My excerpt:
It is worth noting that Jesus’ condemnations of the Seven Churches in Asia found in Revelation came only a generation after Jesus’ death. In other words, it didn’t take long for these early churches to become “church-shaped” instead of Jesus-shaped. Michael reminds us of Revelation 3:20, “I stand at the door and knock…” The implication is that for our churches to return to being Jesus-shaped, we need to invite Jesus back in as the focus of our church. Ironically, Michael follows up with the admonition to “pursue Jesus-shaped spirituality [that] won’t take you to a building with a sign out front.” (pg 210) In other words, “go and do” to seek Jesus-shaped spirituality. However, I think the lesson we can draw from Revelation is instead to “stay and invite” Jesus in to where we are. That may be too passive, and I see Michael’s point, but I think Jesus-shaped spirituality is not a matter of going to find Jesus, but of inviting Jesus in. You could argue that the former is divisive and rebellious in the context of organized religion while the latter is individualized and subjective.
Francis Chan, focusing as he does on the lukewarm passage in verse 16, makes the appropriate (by my reading) interpretation by connecting the problem (lukewarmness) with the solution (inviting Jesus in). The important thing to remember, according to Francis in Chapter 6, is that we cannot overcome our lukewarmness through effort. We can’t try harder, or we will burn out. Instead, we need to remember our first love (Rev 2:4-5).
I’ll have more on this Monday before my Crazy Love group discusses Chapter 6. Stay tuned…
One of the first things I learned when I got married was how to fight. I didn’t know there were rules! I just thought whoever raises their voice the loudest wins and whoever walks out first loses. But there are actual rules, believe it or not. And those rules are meant to prevent fights like I just described. The first rule is do not use absolutes. For example, “he never takes out the trash” or “she always leaves the cap off the toothpaste”. Don’t use absolutes because they often aren’t absolutely true.
But that’s marriage. Living our lives in faith through Jesus Christ requires us to accept absolutes. We live in a world that likes to be grey. We don’t like black and white, cut and dry distinctions. We explain away things and rationalize and make excuses because always and nevers are uncomfortable.
But Jesus isn’t wishy-washy. He is absolute. And if we really call ourselves his disciples, that means we cannot explain him away. And that makes us want to squirm.
A couple of his always and nevers (from the 2010 NIV):
Luke 14:26-27 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Imagine Jesus telling you that you cannot be his disciple. Or that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for you to get to heaven? Absolute. There is nothing wishy-washy here.
Paul gets his licks in too:
Romans 14:23b “…everything that does not come from faith is sin.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
And not to be left out is Jesus’ brother James:
James 4:17 “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
As challenging as these are, this list is not exhaustive. The Bible is full of always and nevers, anyone and everyones, will nots and cannots. Absolutes.