ie:missional teaching. glocalizing. living. serving. repenting. incarnating. loving. repeating.

June 10, 2009

The Great Commission Resurgence

Filed under: Church,Georgia,God,Gospel,History,Leadership,Missional,News — Tags: , — Marty Duren @ 1:00 am

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I regularly blogged about matters relating to the Southern Baptist Convention. After a couple of years of such writing, I retired from it and began to blog about other matters. I’m writing this particular post as a couple of friends, for whom I have great respect, have asked me to weigh in with a few thoughts on the proposed Great Commission Resurgence (GCR) in the Southern Baptist Convention. I’m not returning to the fray.

Though some, perhaps many, will take my writing as negative, it is only how things are viewed from my seat. I hope against hope for nothing but success for all those who are involved in this attempt and would be happy to be proven wrong.

Beginning at least as early as Dr. Jimmy Draper’s Younger Leader Initiative in the SBC, calls for major institutional, structural and Cooperative Program reform have been a part of conversation from the fringes to the center of SBC life and leadership. The Younger Leader discussion board that went online just before Thanksgiving of 2004 (now defunct) was flooded with concerns about the wastefulness of the current denominational structure and suggestions on how to address those issues. Those younger leaders ultimately divided into at least three branches: those who continued their path out of the convention, those who tried a concerted effort (ie, political) to effect change (I was here) and those who more or less eschewed the politics to focus on bringing change via their local churches. This is a simplification, I’m aware, but I think it holds up well enough for this post.

After two years of blogging multiple times a week and gaining insight into the mechanics, politics and personalities of the SBC, I came to the conclusion that attempt at denominational reform were hopeless and efforts to bring it about were futile, bordering on bad time management. (One can read those posts here, here, here and here. Independent of my own writing, Michael Spencer came to very similar conclusions regarding the collapse of evangelicalism Part 1 and Part 2.)

Recently Dr. Danny Akin of Southeastern Seminary issued a call for denominational reform under the name Great Commission Resurgence which term has been credited with coinage by Dr. Thom Rainer, president of Lifeway Christian Resources. This original 13 point message was distilled into ten points and promoted by current SBC president, Dr. Johnny Hunt, who, as I understand it, intends to make it a focus of the 2009 Convention in Louisville. As of this writing, the document boasts 3,346 signatures, which is less than the annual attendance of the SBC and .0002% of the claimed 16M SBC membership, but, to be fair, substantially more than movements of the recent past have garnered (ie, The Memphis Declaration and the Joshua Convergence).

Responses to the GCR document have been, shall we say, wildly varied. Shortly after Danny Akin’s message, Baptist Press published a subtle rebuttel from the normally far afield Dr. Malcolm Yarnell who did not disappoint. Dr. Hunt has taken flack for proposing such a thing as the GCR, accusations about base motives are swimming just under the surface. A document attempting to call the SBC back to a focus on the Great Commission has not been signed by 75% of the Executive Directors of state conventions/fellowships, who, ostensibly, are for the Great Commission, and there is suspicion within the ranks over who would be the president of a potentially combined IMB/NAMB mission agency. With the less than stellar performance of late at NAMB and the perennial candidacy of the SBTC’s Jim Richards, I do not know that much trust would be engendered by a search team, assurances of “God’s will being done” notwithstanding.

My thoughts are few and, sadly, are little changed from the thoughts that led to me abandon any hope of a true change in the SBC from a vestige of a nostalgic past to a rebirth as a missional powerhouse. Nevertheless, here are a few for what they are worth.

1. The SBC has ADHD. EKG, GPS, GCR. The SBC sounds like alphabet soup or the federal government. There is scarcely enough time to promote one program or idea before it makes way for the next one, none of which catch hold. There are programs that emanate from different offices and different entities (The Net and F.A.I.T.H. for example) giving the impression that some entities are actually in competition with each other. This is not even to get into different promotions within given states that alternately duplicate or ignore national movements (Promise Keepers becomes Legacy Builders in the GBC).

2. There is too much turfism. The local association, the state convention and the national convention are often at odds with each other over who is to do what, when and where. State evangelism offices and directors are at odds with NAMB. The entities are concerned about money and who’s getting it. For years at least one of the seminary presidents has been pushing hard for a “seminary offering” to be observed in the convention’s churches, but has been rebuffed. The states balk at the idea of sending a greater percentage of funds to X-Comm, though the IMB is now unable to send M’s who are currently trained and ready. Much of this is related to denominational protectionism or fiefdoms that must be protected at all costs, even kingdom costs.

3. The SBC’s greatest strength, autonomy, has become its greatest weakness. Since each level makes it’s own decisions independently of the other levels (though each claims to be the servant of the churches), there is not enough cooperation and often redundancy. When Dr. Akin mentioned “bloated bureaucracy” he was met with cries of “foul” from other areas. No one thinks that their own area is bloated only that others are. For that reason, as some have noted, passing a resolution on this document means little since the states and not obligated to do anything as a result (Others have noted that restructuring will not bring revival). Even if a study committee returns and makes recommendations for streamlining, each individual state would have to act independently and would be loath to do so for fear of another state keeping or receiving more CP money.

4. There is not enough trust. Everything that I learned in two years keeps me believing that there is ample reason for this, but this is a terrible situation. Adult men and women all of whom are assumed to be maturing Christians, but cannot trust that there are no agendas other than a kingdom agenda. There is not even trust on the upper levels of leadership; how is there going to be trust down the line? Anyone who has read Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team knows that trust is foundational to effectiveness.

5. There are too many viable options for education, fellowship and mission. Southern Baptists no longer need an SBC education. The proliferation of online education has made it possible to have more (and sometimes cheaper) alternatives. Not being forced to move in order to attend seminary may be a bane to the schools, but it is a blessing to the students. Not only that, but currently I’m in a degree program that is not offered by SBC seminaries and is a less expensive option even counting CP subsidies.

Networks such as Acts 29 and Glocal with discussions like ChurchAsMissionary have made it possible to have meaningful partnerships outside rigid SBC structures and, in many cases, individual churches provide more church plant money than all levels of the denomination combined. Fellowship is as readily attained in online communities and impromptu phone calls than at the Monday Morning Pastors Conference at Shoney’s.

6. God does not need the SBC. At least one SBCer, Jedediah Coppenger, has written a lament about the drop in Cooperative Program funds relating to international missions asking if the Great Commission is filing for bankruptcy. While I appreciate the concern, I cannot join the chorus of despair because I do not think that God is dependent on the SBC. Was there no fulfillment of the Great Commission before the founding of the Southern Baptist Convention? If not, how did the gospel get to our ancestors? Was the modern missions movement founded in Nashville? Did Adonirum Judson go through the International Learning Center?

A few years ago I sat in a room with 20 or so other men and ladies and we discussed the future of the SBC. My primary contribution to the conversation was this: “If we are not prepared to admit that God may be envisioning a future without the SBC, then we are not prepared to envision a future with it.” That is, the SBC must be willing to at least seriously and thoughtfully consider that God is done with the SBC before serious thought can be given to a potential future. Otherwise we think and act from a position of triumphalism–that God needs us to fulfill His plans, when, in fact, He does not.

7. There is more concern about job security than about soul salvation. Every time someone mentions b’cracy, downsizing, and streamlining, someone usually brings up the fact that people will lose their jobs. So? And? I see a commission in the Word to take the gospel to all the world, but see nothing about denominational job creation. This particular concern should never enter the discussion. It simply is not relevant to the mission. Glorifying God by getting the gospel to those who have not heard is the mission; everything about the SBC should flow from and into that.

8. There is no compelling vision. Still.

9. We do not need a Great Denominational Resurgence. In case you spend all of your time inside the SBC beltway, the GCR has already been pegged as such by some outside your circles and a few in them. I just don’t know anyone who is crying themselves to sleep at night because of the SBC. Over the condition of our world? Yes. Over the lost? Yes. Over the denomination? No. Pastors are leading churches to be involved in the Great Commission. I know scads of them who have adopted unreached people groups, have partnered with M’s and nationals, have sent countless teams and planted churches all without denominational assistance. Why spend so much time and energy trying to change the saddle on a dying horse? Pastors and churches should recognize the efficiency and effectiveness of channels that exist outside the bureaucratic structures of denominations and exploit them to the fullest.

10. Any study team will likely have the wrong people on it. The order of thinking that could get the SBC out of this mess will of necessity be a different order of thinking than got the SBC into this mess and that “different order” kind of thinking will have to come from different people none of whom will be asked to serve. Why? Because they are on the fringe. The fringe is where creativity happens. Revolutionary thinking scares the status-quo which is why it gets pushed out to the fringe.

One SWBTS professor wrote that the SBC is led from the center. This might be true when there is consensus, but is decidedly not true about leading a revolution. Revolutions always begin at the fringe because the center is inhabited by the status quo. Imagine a study group filled with fringe dwellers who bring back a bunch of wild ideas about streamlining, combining, restructuring…stuff that will actually work. Then it gets beat half to death by a bunch of turf protectors, before being subjected to everyone in the blogosphere, then it finally limps into the annual meeting only to be suffer 20 lashes and then pass the votes of not one but two consecutive June meetings.

And while all that energy has been expended trying to change a denomination, the fringe dwellers are out changing the world.

June 8, 2009

Thoughts regarding fallen pastors

Filed under: Bible,Church,Culture,Devotional,Family,God,Gospel,Idolatry,Leadership,Life,Movies,Sex — Tags: , , — Marty Duren @ 3:02 pm

Saw it again last night: a pastor admits to committing adultery, repentant and broken, but out of the ministry nonetheless. I’m not sure that there is anything that weighs on me like hearing that news. This particular pastor led a dynamic church that has seen 100 people saved in the last three weeks, yet he still succumbed to the same temptation that has torn down the mightiest of warriors.

Having been married for more than twenty-five years and having been in the ministry for twenty (next month), I thought it would be appropriate to review some of the things that I think about when I hear such news. These are in no particular order, but should be considered well when desiring to avoid marital infidelity.

1. Get enough rest. Mental and emotional fatigue are open doors to bad decisions, even sinful ones. Many a man “burns the midnight oil” for the kingdom, or so it is supposed, only to find himself in the hotel room or church broom closet with a woman not his wife having lost the will power to say “no,” or even to think it. Pastors, you are not superhuman and while each of us need differing amounts of rest, listen to your body and rest when you need to do so. You cannot push the envelope of energy continually lest you run the risk of mental or physical adultery.

2. Stay true to the Word. This one should be obvious, but there will never come a time that we do not need the Word. Early in ministry we are afraid to even attempt to live without it, but often in later years coasting becomes the norm. “If I can just make it to retirement,” becomes the mantra for too many pastors who’ve long ago lost passion, but are trying to ride out the wave. Don’t become a hireling! The only way to remain a faithful shepherd is to be guided by the Word every step of the way.

3. Be careful. Don’t allow the thirst for adventure to cause you to become careless in how you relate to women. There will never be a time when flirting becomes acceptable or when lingering looks become godly. Internet filters or tracking software (X3 Watch or Covenant Eyes) may be necessary to keep your mind where it needs to be and out of the gutter. Have the TV removed from your hotel room if necessary or at least disconnected from the cable. When your wife says, “Stay away from [a particular woman],” then stay away from her. Somebody else can take her phone calls and do her counseling or she can go to another church.

4. Love your wife always and make love to her as often as possible. Make sure the passion that brought you to marriage does not get swept away in the busyness of life and ministry. When Paul instructed Timothy that a man who ignored the needs of his family is worse than an unbeliever, are we to believe that he was only talking about groceries?

Continue to pursue your wife as if you are still trying to convince her to marry you. Don’t take the attitude of Ward Cleaver: “What’s the use in chasing the bus after I’ve already caught it?” When your kids are young, get them accustomed to early bed times so that you and your wife can spend time together and when they are old, lock them out of the master bedroom for the same reason. Have date nights and don’t apologize or feel guilty.

Keep sex on the leading edge of your marriage. I think we’d be shocked at how many pastor’s wives go to bed with a book because their husband wants to debate online whether or not sex is “gospel-centered.” I think marital sex is God-given, God-blessed and God-expected. Paul wrote to the Corinthians couples that they should only abstain in times of prayer and fasting “with consent” and then resume their normal activity so that Satan did not find a way to tempt them due to a lack of self-control-a lack of self-control that resulted from a lack of sex. I hardly think that once-a-month passion is what he had in mind. Regular sex with one’s spouse is self-control.

If you are a pastor, teacher or evangelist and you travel so much that you have to reintroduce yourself to your wife and children each time you return home and you have such infrequent sex that you have to get the manual out each time, then you are living in a state of foolishness that borders on outright sin before God. Did you miss the part about being tempted for self-control? It amazes me how many guys would pass up a woman in need (with a broken down car, for example) for afraid of “causing a brother to stumble,” but cause their wives to stumble regularly due to the lack of attention and affection shown by her husband.

5. Live your heart. If you are in the middle of a career of ministry and come to the recognition that your passion is no longer for pastoring a local church, then change. A friend and I were discussing this very thing at lunch today. Guys get wiped out, lose their heart, lose their passion and then, it seems, it is easier to commit adultery than to get out. GET OUT OR GET HELP. One or the other. I’m aware that the Bible says, “The gifts and callings of God are without repentance,” but honestly, does that mean a specific job? I could go today and work at Chili’s and still fulfill my life’s calling.

If you find yourself in the midst of a career-crisis as a pastor and you, deep down, know that you’ve no more to give as a pastor, then plan an exit strategy and start following it. Read Wild at Heart if you haven’t already.

6. Do not let your church (or religious culture) force you into a way of ministry that destroys your ability to minister to yourself and your family. Every pastor is different in structure, personality and function. As soon as you understand how you function best (early morning, late night, mid-morning) you should organize your schedule around it, then communicate it to your church. If you need to be in the office from 6:00 AM until 2:00 PM, then come in early, leave and go fishing or to the gym or whatever. Or go home and help your wife with dinner; or cook dinner so she can go to the gym. Or vacuum the curtains…I understand that is the sexiest thing a husband can do.

If all of your local associational meetings are at night (y’know, when the wife and kids are home and help is needed) then skip them. I see no biblical admonition to attend, but I see multiple biblical admonitions about being a husband and father. As a pastor you are on call 24/7 and often are doing work related to ministry while at home or up early. Don’t feel guilty about calling another pastor and going to the movie after lunch. He needs it and so do you.

7. How about let’s dispense with all the “rock star” talk? John Piper wrote a book called, “Brothers, We are Not Professionals.” Perhaps someone should write one entitled, “Brothers, We are Not Rock-Stars.” Our current star persona promotion of good speakers, exceptional church planters and mega-church pastors borders on idolatry and calling people “rock star” or something similar does not help. In fact, what we have created and continue to promulgate makes mental or moral failure probable if not inevitable. Jesus said, “He that would be the greatest among you must be the servant of all.” When James and John’s mother wanted to know if her sons were going to be rock-stars in the kingdom, Jesus asked about their ability to endure suffering and sacrifice. I’m sure that ticket sales would drop dramatically if torture were the promoted result.

God has called us to one primary calling and that is to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. This can be done from an office or Starbucks, from a house or a boat, from a seminary or an urban center. When we lose that simple focus, rather than following wherever and whenever it leads, then downfall becomes, all too often, the norm.

March 16, 2009

Community Partnering

Filed under: Church,Culture,God,Gospel,Missional — Tags: , , — Marty Duren @ 12:36 pm

An aspect of missional ministry that is of great importance is the willingness of the local church to find partners in the community that open bridges into that community over which the gospel of Christ will travel. While building networks with other churches is also important, the community is impacted in a different way when governments, schools and businesses find that churches are interested in helping these entities become successful in their own mission.

In 2007, our then Pastor of Worship, Dan Brothers, had a vision to take our annual Christmas production outside in partnership with a local resort area. It was a pretty big step for us as it required a pretty large number of volunteers, but went very well with a good attendance. In Christmas of 2008 we again partnered with this resort and, based on our first partnership, they gave us a better location and offered to help with assorted expenses. We also agreed to allow our stage and sound equipment to be used by other groups at times when we were not utilizing it.

Last week two of our pastors, Ronnie Cansler and Joey Jernigan, and another leader from our church met with the marketing and management groups from the resort in order to get a jump on Christmas for this year. Because of weather concerns in December our goal had been to utilize a tent to help in the event of rain and give us the option to provide heat to those who attend. When the resort learned of that possibility, they agreed to foot the cost for all of the weeks of use with the exception of the two weeks that we actually use the tent. In return, our stage (which we build on site, tear down and remove) can be used by various school groups who come to sing carols, etc. We provide audio and lighting volunteers.

We would have been content to have that agreement as it allows for tremendous influence in our community but there was more. This particular resort has campgrounds and a 1,500 seat amphitheater. The management has agreed to allow us to do VBS, Bible clubs, mission VBS, etc, pretty much anything that might be on interest to those who are camping. We can also utilize the amphitheater for a concert series or other special musical event. They’ve given us the option of giving any message as long as the participants have the option to leave at any time.

Why would they do this? First, because our partnership has been done with an eye toward excellence. Each year that our stage and decorating is taking place, it amazes the employees of the resort than so many people will do this as volunteers. Second, because it generates income for the resort. At Christmas we are included in their marketing plans. Campground ministry opps will be another promotion that they can utilize if they desire. Any concerts that we perform or host generate gate revenue that otherwise would not exist for them. Third, because they have become convinced that we really have their interest at heart and are not simply looking out for our own. In community partnerships this is a key.

In many communities churches are seen as self absorbed, self focused and disinterested in anyone not already interested in them. Any meaningful partnership will require that churches demonstrate extended, not passing, interest in the benefit of businesses and organizations already in the community. It is this extending of ministry outside the campus parameters that catches the attention of non-believers. Each and every time they ask the question, “Why?” is another opportunity to give a reason of the hope that is in us.

March 2, 2009

Recent Music and Sermon Series

Filed under: Church,Communication,Culture,Gospel,Missional,Music — Tags: , , — Marty Duren @ 9:47 am

I get the question occasionally about what, if any, secular music we do in our services. We have done a lot recently; here’s the list.

For our series on work entitled Take This Job and Shove It, we did the following:
Take This Job and Shove It, Johnny Paycheck
Bang on the Drum, Todd Rundgren
Sixteen Tons, Tennessee Ernie Ford
Taking Care of Business, BTO
Forty Hour Week, Alabama

For a sermon yesterday on baptism, we opened with:
Come Alive, Foo Fighters

Yes, we do an occasional lyric tweak as required. And, yes, our band is multi-talented.

We also introduced a song that’s a year or so old, but new to us. It’s called Our God Saves, by Paul Baloche. Simple but powerful; worth checking out.

January 7, 2009

Trophy

Filed under: Bible,Church,God,Gospel,Life,Missional — Tags: , , , , , — Marty Duren @ 10:06 am

Every Wednesday I meet at the local Waffle House with some guys for discipleship and encouragement. My first meeting is at 5:00 AM and we are always the first, if not only, customers for a while so I was surprised to see a girl parked in the spot right where I normally park. She looked kind of agitated, or even distraught, speaking on the phone, looking around the inside of her car, holding her face in her hands, back to the phone.

Just as I got parked and making up my mind as to whether to tap on her window or not, her car alarm started complete with headlights and horn. Then she’s out of the car, no shoes, looking around and not finding what it is she’s looking for. When I asked, “Hey, do you need some help?” she responded that she had lost her car keys. Perhaps they are in the restaurant, I asked, but she had not been in the restaurant.

Just then the cook came out for a smoke; he’s a guy we talk to weekly and have ministered to some as well. He affirmed that she had not been in the restaurant, so I’m like, “How do you lose your keys inside the car while you’re sitting in the car?”

Epiphany.

There was an unopened 12 pack in the passenger floorboard as she told of going out partying last night, passing out and winding up in her car in the Waffle House parking lot. She didn’t know where she left her keys, who brought her to the car or much else. Turns out she spent the wee hours at a bar near NB, so I went over there to see if her keys were in the parking lot; they weren’t. (We now figure her friend locked her in the car and took her keys for her own protection.)

Just before I left I told the cook to give her some coffee and I would pay for it when I came back for my “second shift.” He was cool with it.

At 7:00 I took one of my gathered group, Tean Phillips (who’s also our drummer), and sat with her just behind our other guys. We talked to her for about a half-hour about her life, choices, decisions and where, exactly, God was playing into her life. She committed to attend our Celebrate Recovery ministry tomorrow night (and called the leader while we were at the table). Another one of our ladies picked her up from Waffle House, took her home to get the spare keys and brought her back to her car. She told me that she really did want to stop drinking, so I asked if I could have the 12 pack in her car; she said “yes.” It’s the trophy of grace pictured above. Our pastoral team is debating communion right now ;^)

If you get a chance, pray for her. People in need are all around us. Sometimes it’s subtle and sometimes it hits us in the face. I’m glad to be in a church where multiple people are willing to get involved in one person’s life on the spur of the moment because they realize that a young girl, five sheets to the wind is not the enemy-she’s a victim of the enemy and she needs the Savior.

December 16, 2008

What do you believe about the end times?

Filed under: Bible,God,Gospel — Tags: , — Marty Duren @ 2:44 pm

For the sixteen people who still read this blog, I’d like to know your biblical understanding about last things. Do you hold a recognized position (pre, mid, post trib, pre, post, or aaaaaaah mil)? Do you hold a less well known position (idealism, preterism)? Are you a prophetic goulash?

As briefly as possible state why you hold the position that you do. If you have changed positions indicate what was the major factor in your positional change.

Readysetgo.

November 25, 2008

The Church as Missionary: A Global Networking Dialogue

Filed under: Church,God,Gospel,Leadership,Mission,Missional — Tags: , , , , , , — Marty Duren @ 1:00 am

The Church as Missionary: A Global Networking Dialogue
January 12, 13, 2009-St. Louis, MO

The world is changing. Actually, it has already changed several times over in the past decade or two. Technology and globalization are creating quantum change instead of the linear progression of generations past. But, when it comes to the local church and mission, things plod along as they have for decades. Many churches still primarily engage in mission through sending their dollars off to a denominational agency or parachurch ministry while their own people remain passive in the task that God has given them. With the world nearing 7 billion people, the rise of the indigenous Church of the global South, and America emerging as one of the greatest mission fields in the world, we believe that the local church has a more vital role to play now than ever before in proclaiming and living out the gospel, both globally and locally. It seems, though, that few churches really step into the purpose of God in this area. What if local churches networked together to pray and find out where God was working, share opportunities and best practices, and encourage one another along in their God-given task? What if the Church became the missionary, instead of farming out our calling to others? What if we partnered together to directly engage in global missions and domestic church planting?

Some of us believe that this is possible. We believe that God is igniting the local church to step to the forefront of His work in the world. Each local church has gifts, talents, vision, and people who are already engaged in the world around them. Each Christian and church has a God-given purpose to fulfill. What if a network formed that encouraged each participating church in the task of impacting the world globally and locally by maximizing what is already happening the lives of the people in our churches? If churches in the network partnered together to share vision, people, and resources to impact lostness, couldn’t we do far more together as the engaged people of God to transform the world, than we could separately? We’d love to join with some other folks who are thinking about the same things.

On January 12-13 in St. Louis, MO, a group of pastors, leaders, and thinkers, will come together to engage in guided discussion regarding the possibility of networking to specifically engage in global and local mission by putting the local church on the forefront of the task God has given us: discipling nations. Some of us are Southern Baptists. We have our own missions agencies and cooperative giving program. This is not meant to take away from that, but we recognize that just sending money to denominational agencies and passively waiting for them to initiate work will do little to fulfill the Great Commission. Local churches must be engaged in the task in a more direct way. We’re thinking that we would be more effective at that if we partnered with others.

We are specifically inviting you to join a few dozen leaders to engage with this concept and see if God is wanting to link some folks together to help one another become more effective. This is not about starting an organization or collecting money-the last thing we need is more bureaucracy. If this goes well, the local church will be at the forefront and the network will exist in the shadows. We don’t have a name for what we are wanting to do. We might just call it, “that missional thing.” But, we believe that God is up to something and if we can help one another engage the world more effectively, then we will have accomplished our task.

This is not a standard conference or seminar where a lineup of speakers download terabytes of information to process later. Discussion initiators will be brief and on point leading to dialogues directly related to network building. Real value will be added to your ministry objectives and church mission as a result of your participation.

If this resonates with your heart, plan to be in St. Louis so that together we can help one another move our churches to the front line of Kingdom work in this world!

For more information, please leave your email address in the comment section (use this format: name[at]provider[dot]com to avoid spambots). You will be contacted in short order.

Grace and Peace,

Marty Duren, Lead Pastor
New Bethany Baptist Church
Buford, GA

Alan Cross, Pastor
Gateway Baptist Church
Montgomery, AL

November 4, 2008

An election day prayer

Filed under: Culture,Economy,Family,Gospel,Leadership,Life,News,Politics,Prayer — Tags: , , , , , , — Marty Duren @ 6:34 am

Father,

On this important day for American society, I pray that we would not forget you. Your word says that you set up kings and you take down kings, so surely that includes our president, whether it be Barack Obama or John McCain.

Father, I pray that we would not forget your kingdom. In a day when fervent patriotism and divided politics carry most every conversation, help your children to remember that we have been called to a higher allegiance and that what happens in America does not equate to what happens in your kingdom. Forgive those of us in the United States that have convinced ourselves that your eternal plans ride on decisions that we make, forgetting that your kingdom was expanding centuries before 1776 and will continue eternally after the last copy of our constitution has disintegrated.

I ask that you would forgive us for making political preferences a basis for fellowship. If you can break down the walls between Jew and Gentile, can we not imagine that you have done so between Democrats and Republicans? Many of us know people who, if they don’t outright despise people who hold to different politics, find it extremely difficult to carry on conversations that don’t degenerate into political wrangling. May we never forget that Jesus set the pattern for us by choosing among his disciples one zealot, whose goal was to extricate Israel from Roman domination, and one tax collector, whose job was in league with the oppressors. Let us love, love all and love well.

Please forgive us for putting our hope in a political party or a president, when our hope should ever and only be in you.

Father I pray for Barack Obama, a man who seems to have no conscience toward the unborn. In his very stance on the abortion issue he betrays himself as a man not of your word, regardless of his claims of salvation. If elected, I pray that he would humble himself under your mighty hand and that you would use him, turning his heart wherever you will.

Father I pray for John McCain, a man who seems to be running on a platform he doesn’t completely believe. I do not believe that he understands the complexities facing our nation and have no hope that he would pick anyone other than “good old boys” to be around him if elected. He has no plan to stop the slaughter of the innocents. If elected, I pray that he would humble himself under your mighty hand and that you would use him, turning his heart wherever you will.

Father, I pray for the mostly unknown others who are on ballots for president across America. It is my earnest prayer that, beginning in this election and at all levels, we would begin to see the end of the two party dominant system that has polarized this country. Allow third, fourth, fifth party candidates and independents to be elected to force more reasonable and workable solutions to the problems we face.

I pray for the salvation of those who are in congress or who will be going there after this election. Place someone around them with the message of the gospel that they might come to know you and govern with wisdom.

Above all, that we your people might demonstrate the righteousness that we have received from you in every conversation we engage. The kingdoms of this world are fallen and corrupt; help us to promote the one, eternal King and the plan that he has instituted.

I ask this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, your son.

Amen.

October 15, 2008

Following Jesus out of the American civil religion

Filed under: Books,Church,Culture,Devotional,God,Gospel,Missional,News,Politics — Tags: , , , , — Marty Duren @ 9:15 pm

During this election season, missional pastors will spend much time debating in their own minds how to address the issue of faithfulness to Christ in a time that every third evangelical is doing all but endorsing a straight Republican ticket.  Missional pastors, striving to look beyond John McCain or Barack Obama to larger kingdom issues, face potential hostility from members of the congregation who need to be affirmed in their conviction that the voting is always a clear cut issue, that there is always a candidate that more reflects righteousness–righteousness which is determined by a voter guide.

In addition, missional pastors face the challenge of what some have termed “the American civil religion.”  Historian Henry Steele centers the bulls-eye with his definition:

A secular faith in American herself, in democracy, equality and freedom which were equated with America in the American mission and the American destiny.

The obfuscation of this civil religion with a thoroughly biblical faith has created a dangerous syncretism in which the “blessing of God on America” is often sought more than the blessing of God on His churches.

Erwin Lutzer, a transplanted Canadian who pastors the Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, has released a new book called, Is God on America’s Side?  Under a sub-section entitled “The Church’s Diminished Influence,” he makes these observations [underline is original emphasis, bold mine]

I think there is reason to believe that we as members of the evangelical church are experiencing judgment.  One sign of this is that the church has increased visibility but diminishing influence.  The so-called Religious Right had great plans to reverse the moral trends of our nation.  We are told that we have helped elect presidents and have impacted public policy and even the selection of judges.  But by identifying these gains as those won by the “Religious Right,” namely, Christians who are in cahoots with a particular party, we have made this nation believe that the church is a political base rather than the dispenser of the gospel…We have cheapened Christ before a watching world.

[…]

The scenario of various religious leaders endorsing one political candidate or another is truly deserving of tears.  Some Christian leaders have formed coalitions to “take America back.”  The want to “put God back” into our political, legal, and educational institutions.  If they have enough numbers and voting power, they think that the hands of the clock can be reversed…In identifying ourselves with a political party and battling for civil religion, we have lost our identification with Jesus Christ.

[…]

An example of civil religion is the recent so-called Christmas wars.  If we insist that store clerks must say “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Holiday,” what have we really gained?  Are the people who are asked to acknowledge the Christmas holiday any closer to faith in Christ or are they simply irritated that they have to conform to our beliefs?  And and if we win legislation mandating that the Ten Commandments be displayed in courthouses and classrooms, are we thereby bringing our culture closer to faith in Christ, or antagonizing everyone around us?

Certainly I believe we should keep the phrase “Under God” in the pledge of allegiance, but if it were removed, would the church be weaker?  Christ and Caesar have always been in conflict, but I think it is time to affirm that Christ can do well with or without Caesar’s cooperation.

[…]

We want a civil religion because we fear that we might lose our creature comforts if our nation is in decline.  I fear that one reason why we are so anxious that the economy remain strong is not so much because we want to use our funds to support the spread of the gospel, but because we all enjoy the American way of life.  And we believe that a strong America always translates into a strong church.  Perhaps yes, but then again, perhaps no.

[…]

To put this clearly:  For some Christians, lower taxes, a strong national defense, and lobbying to “keep Christ in Christmas” are more pressing issues than whether their neighbors and friends will spent eternity with God or be lost forever…I’m convinced that many Christians who are angry today would be pacified if only we could return this country to the 1950’s when there were no drugs, pornography was sold on the black market, and movies, for the most part, portrayed family values.  They would be satisfied with this change even if no one were converted to Christ in the process!  They would be content if Christ were accepted as lawgiver to restore order to society, even if he were not accepted as Savior to rescue society.

September 30, 2008

Thoughts on “Pulpit Freedom Sunday”

Filed under: Church,Culture,Georgia,God,Gospel,Life,Missional,News,Politics — Tags: , , , , — Marty Duren @ 6:04 am

In his thought provoking book, Exiles, Michael Frost writes concerning the demise of Christendom in the West,

Although the Christendom story no longer defines Western culture in general, it remains the primary definer of the church’s self-understanding in almost every Western nation, including, and perhaps especially, the United States. (emphasis added)

From the misguided efforts of the two Southern Baptist “Justice Sundays” to influence the nominations of supreme court justices, to the feeling that churches ought to get a discount at the local hardware store, to “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” the cries for the return of Christendom resound throughout evangelical life.  For anyone alive today in the United State who was born before the 1970’s, the most thorough indoctrination that we have imbibed is not fundamentalism, but Christendom.  We have imbibed it because it was all we had to drink. Indeed, until the last couple of decades it would have been as impossible for American Christians to imagine life without our worldview as predominant as it would have been for a 14th century farmer imagining that the pope was not involved in politics.

From the turbulence of the 1960’s in America with free love, free drugs, radical music, the Vietnam war’s impact on society and other culture shaking changes (most neatly bound together at Woodstock) through the fall of modernity near the end of the 20th century, to the rise of postmodern thought, Christendom in the U. S. teetered, tottered and then collapsed. That collapse has reverberated through evangelicalism though many evangelicals didn’t feel it as a collapse; it was only felt as varying salvos in the various skirmishes in the culture wars.

Organizations like the Moral Majority came into existence ostensibly to “return America to God,” never successfully defining what that meant and whether it was even possible. Prayer for “revival in America” was, for many, little more than a cry for Christendom’s return…the Christendom where we were revered, taken seriously, respected, influential in communities and had prayer in schools. The Christendom where “One nation under God” was believed, even if not biblically supported.

In an article on Fox News, Erik Stanley, Senior Legal Counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona anti-ACLU legal consortium, regarding “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” had this to say:

Pastors have a right to speak about Biblical truths from the pulpit without fear of punishment. No one should be able to use the government to intimidate pastors into giving up their constitutional rights.

Fair enough. Now if Mr. Stanley could be so kind as to show us where the Bible says “Vote for John McCain” or “Vote for Barack Obama” then we can get on down the road. Of course, as we all know, there is no “biblical truth” having to do with the public endorsement of a candidate in a church. Which “constitutional right,” exactly, has been given up? Were they preaching on the blood atonement? Against hatred of our brothers in Christ? Were they preaching against injustice? Doing an exegesis of 1 Corinthians 13 when IRS agents burst through the door waving tax-exempt revocation paperwork? Of course not.

The simple fact is that these thirty-three pastors, representing maybe a 100th of a percent of America’s pastors were doing absolutely nothing that the Bible requires pastors to do. I’m not saying that they did not feel very compelled to do it. One pastor, however, left little doubt as to why he participated: “Well I’m doing what I’m doing because I’m angry, I’m mad.” And there it is. Why in the world would a pastor get mad because he cannot say, “I endorse John McCain for President” in the course of a Sunday morning message? Churches can hold voter drives, pass out voter information, take people to the polls to vote and serve as voting precincts (ours does). After the service, any pastor can tell any member of his congregation, or all of them, “I intend to vote for Barack Obama or John McCain (or Bob Barr or Chuck Baldwin or *snicker* Cynthia McKinney) and encourage you do to the same” without violating any IRS regulation. One Georgia pastor had also been very involved in the big save the 10 Commandments drive related to Judge Roy Moore’s Alabama efforts a few years back. All this, to me, smacks of a desire to return to Christendom, which, for most of us is a return to that with which we are comfortable.

The truth is that for many American Christians our issue is lack of comfort at not being the top dog religion anymore. We don’t know how to respond to tolerance and pluralism and we fear that which we do not understand. I recently read a person who said that America should hold Christian values since the majority are Christians. (Besides the issue that this is probably not accurate, if that is prevailing opinion then we really have not argument against sharia law.) A dufus Georgia lawmaker recently said that the majority should rule in a certain legal quandry. So much for the republic and the rule of law. This is all a clamoring for Christendom.

Churches have spent so much time trying to reinstate Christendom that they have missed the opportunity to reach those who have gown up apart from Christendom or, indeed, grew up in post-Christendom. The strategies needed to reach those born into Christendom are radically different than those born into a time the the Christian worldview no longer dominates. I shudder to think how much energy has been spent in “evangelizing” people who are at a completely different starting place with no frame of reference for our Admit, Believe, Confess, 3-steps-to-salvation presentation leaving us shaking our heads at their “lack of faith.”

Here is my take on our current situation: There is going to be no third Great Awakening in the United States. Christendom has fallen and it can’t get up and, frankly, Christians should be standing on it to keep it down. The church has always done better on the fringe and the fringe is where we are headed. Local churches have a great opportunity to minister in the vacuum left behind by the collapse of Christendom–an opportunity to big to miss.

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