Simple Faith: A pure and undefiled Religion ~ Hate the game, not Jesus

Don’t hate the player; hate the game is a common phrase most of us have heard. It’s a pretty simple concept really. Don’t hate what someone does; hate the structure that allows them to do it.

In pondering this thought I came to the sad conclusion that in my perspective the question we need to ask is no longer is the Church effective, but rather, why isn’t it effective? Obviously there are exceptions to every rule, and there are some “small c” churches having positive impacts within their community. However on a global scale, looking at the Macro of Christianity we are seeing an opposite trend. Churches are shrinking, rural churches are closing and we are seeing a mass exodus from our organizations within the 15-30 year old age bracket. So why? I could hate all of the people leaving and be angry that they aren’t playing the game with me but I suspect we as leaders need to take a look at ourselves. Why are people leaving? Why are our churches not impacting our communities? Would people around our church buildings care if the building burnt down?

Recently Jeff Bethke put out a video that the Christian world has been up in arms about. As per usual, and again there is always exceptions to the rules (Claiborne, Mother Teresa etc.), we have decided to miss the heart of the message and focus on semantics. Instead of being challenged to see the heart of Christ we’ve focused on defending something Christ didn’t defend.

Christ didn’t come to defend the structure, organization and politics necessary to be a member of a particular group that follows some of the teachings of God. He came to be a doctor to the sick (Matt.9:12). He came to love God and others. He came to serve.

Now we could talk about whether or not Religion is what we are called to be a part of but I would rather read the New Testament and do what it tells me to do.

“Once you see the kingdom (government) of Christ as a real kingdom (government), commitment to Christ becomes costly.”- NT Wright

The truth is I don’t think Jeff really cared about the exact definition of religion. Like most people of his generation he is simply redefining it by his experience. New words and definitions pop up all the time. His video was about the heart, not about a text book. Every church has processes that have little to do with Christ and faith. Religion is regulated by governments. The building and groups that are formed under each religious organization have to focus on governance or “unspiritual things” like memberships, voting, budgets, and keeping members happy so their bills are paid. I’ve heard pastors say, we need to have a service because we have bills to pay. I understand the heart of the comment, but the reality of it is we don’t believe that Christ has ordained the church enough to make sure it stays afloat and does what it’s supposed to. We as church goers often rely more on people than God, personally and corporately.

So do I hate Religion? Well, I hate that we have become comfortable in our organization of faith and are often more comfortable doing church activities and services than giving to the poor and laying our lives down to serve the least of us. I don’t like that church’s often ask their members to do hours of in house volunteering a week but rarely preach going out and making a difference.

Do I love Jesus? YES! But as I study his life more and more I realize that I have done a terrible job at following Him and being what He was for others. A friend, a helper, a servant! I’ve been good at following the PAOC’s rules and processes though.

When Jeff said, “The church is not a museum for good people, but a hospital for the broken”, I was challenged. When he said “Religion says slave, Jesus says son.” I broke. The truth is religion is an organization of things that try to bring us to Christ. Perhaps you just need to go to Him yourself. Don’t avoid community with saints; just make sure your community isn’t focusing on its own PR, internal volunteering and group POW WOWS.

As my good friend Paul said. “I still support the premise of what Jeff was getting at. Jesus came to shut down religion. That is if you define religion as: “Any reliance on systems or institutions, rules or rituals that people use to achieve their spiritual end-goal.” In that way, Jesus replaces religion with himself. Think about it: Jesus shuts down the sacrificial system, the temple system, the need for a priest, fulfills the law, and destroys nationalism.”

Believers, stop talking and debating semantics and theology and start doing what Christ called you too! If you read the life of Jesus, be afraid, you won’t look at your faith the same if you decide to actually pick up your cross and follow Him. I’ll warn you, your focus won’t be on nice ceremonies and services, how comfortable you are or how state of the art your church is. These are flesh things. For once in your walk trust that the Holy Spirit will speak louder than any fancy tool, sermon or ceremony you could ever have will. And before you invest in your structure, new building or what have you, think, would Jesus do this? Or maybe ask, would the poor and starving find Christ through this, or would the money be a better witness if it bought them food or shelter? Hope isn’t in the organization, it’s in JESUS. So I guess I answered my own questions.

Christianity and the Church in 2012

People today are different, less naïve, less gullible, less open to suggestion than in the past. Christopher Isherwood describes this difference perfectly:
 
“To live sanely in Los Angeles or, I suppose, in any other large American city, you have to cultivate the art of staying awake. You must learn to resist the unceasing hypnotic suggestions of the radio, the billboards, the movies and the newspapers; those demon voices which are forever whispering in your ear what you should desire, what you should fear, what you should wear and eat and drink and enjoy, what you should think and do and be. They have planned a life for you from the cradle to the grave and beyond which it would be easy, fatally easy, to accept. The least wandering of the attention, the least relaxation of your awareness, and already the eyelids begin to droop, the eyes grow vacant, the body starts to move in obedience to the hypnotist’s command. Wake up, wake up… you’ve got to think, to discriminate, to exercise your own free will and judgment.”
 
Yes, people today are definitely more skeptical than they used to be.
 
Have you noticed how few people these days spout the old “positive thinking” platitudes that were so popular during the revved-up years of Reagan, George Sr., and Bill Clinton? Quiet determination and clenched-teeth endurance are the virtues we admire today. A person spewing, Christianese, happy platitudes and cliché’s is likely to be told, “Talk is cheap. Shut up and do something. Don’t tell us what you believe. Show us.”
 
Conversations among friends are less likely to be shallow and superficial than in the past. Concerns run deeper, fears lie closer to the surface and frustration often simmers deep inside. Even the happiest people are a little bit angry. 
 
The public is no longer looking for a perfect icon to worship. Most of them are looking for an equally-flawed friend with whom they can connect. We don’t need our Pastor’s to be in great suits, sitting at the front of the stage. We want our Pastor’s to be stressed, and tired like us sometimes. We want to know that they get us and where we are at. We want to know that they haven’t figured life out. We want to know that they rely on Christ as much as we do!
 
The online world gives us instant access to information. This has sensitized the public to the absence of facts in most selling messages. Unsubstantiated claims in sermons and church politics are likely to fall on deaf ears. We don’t want stories that prove perceived experiences. We want to know facts and sound reasons…And if you can’t do that, DON’T!!!… Let the HOLY SPIRIT do it!
 
Much has been written about the importance of transparency as though transparency were still a choice. But it isn’t. You are transparent whether you choose to be or not. Search engines have removed any veil you might have hidden behind.
 
I hear a voice whispering in the night:

Relevance and credibility, Christ Follower, are the words you must engrave on your heart if you will live a life that move the God needle.  The Searching are asking, ‘Does this matter to me?’ They are looking for relevance. And their second question is, ‘Do I believe what they’re telling me?’ They are looking for credibility.
 
Today the world is full of believers and non-believers that have been lied to by the best. All but the stupidest of them can spot a half-truth a mile away.
 
Make no mistake; there are still plenty of stupid people left in Church. Fools must outnumber con men or the con men could not find enough to live upon. Pastors with their own agenda’s have been feasting on baby Christians (some are old and just continue to be Spiritually Stupid) for years, and will continue too. My seat-of-the-pants estimate is that roughly 15 percent of Christians are gullible fools whose prejudices outweigh their intellect. I’m not trying to be vicious. I just don’t want you to cling to those obvious exceptions that would appear to disprove the larger truth.
 
Fifteen percent of the population is still a pile of people and frankly, you can make a lot of money by yanking their chain with hyperbole, misdirection, overstatement, moving stories, Christianese hype and lies. But to me, forming a church that targets stupid people is like beating up little children. I can do it. I just don’t want to.
 
I’ll bet you don’t either.
 
Eighty-five percent of your prospective believers and nonbelievers are intelligent people with unprecedented access to information. And as such, they are a hard public to convince. These are men and women who have seen an actual war launched by imaginary weapons of mass destruction, an actual economy ruined by imaginary credit-default swaps, and billions of dollars bilked from hard-working investors through imaginary securities created by Bernie Madoff and his Wall Street cronies. Yes, today’s people have been lied to by the best.
 
The simple truth is that Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn are gone, drums are not from the devil and Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames can scare you enough to get you to the altar, but fear isn’t a good long term motivator. 
 
But I believe the best is yet to come for us missionaries (Pastors, Churches and anyone that wants to share the Hope of Jesus Christ – i.e. All Believers) who understand the new rules of communication.
 
Come, the future awaits us.

**Taken from Roy H. Williams and slightly tweaked (Italisized words are mine) to change it’s perspective from Advertising to Christianity and the Church. To read his article google Monday Morning Memo

Excellence, Perfection, Worship and what really matters! ~ Part 2

What is it about someone that makes you feel valued by them? I have two boys under the age of 6. They give me the most imperfect gifts that warm my heart. I have a drawing in my office that I’ve put up on the wall that my oldest boy drew for me. It makes me happy looking at it. After I put it up my staff would come in and ask about it at which point I

Noah's Bear in Hawaii (Age 5 6/8)

would describe it as a pig on the beach in Hawaii. I found out last night that the pig is actually a Bear. You see it’s not the quality of the work that makes me proud of my son. It’s not his ability either. It’s his desire to give me something, to offer himself and his talents to his Dad. It’s the fact that he thought of me, it’s his giving kind heart; his Character. Sure eventually his drawings will be more skilled but I suspect even then it’s the giving that I’ll be happy with.

It’s funny how though we put a lot of credence into how talented and skilled someone is, the skill usually isn’t the thing that transfers a feeling of love or appreciation to us.

In the idea that we as people, staff members, worshippers and volunteers need to be excellent we often miss the beauty of the natural exchange in the offering. We’ve, without words, said that in order for us, or God to feel loved, respected and appreciated you need to be, or give something that is perfect and excellent. If this was true I wouldn’t pin up the picture my son gave me. Even scarier, if God only accepted great and perfect things I suppose He would only move/be present in the polished churches. The ones that have large rehearsal’s with many professional people involved. You see, smaller churches don’t have the resources to be excellent in comparison, but they can be as excellent as they can be, relative to their situation. I’ve seen God move greatly in these small church venues (usually a rented room in a hotel, or stripmall). They have a character that is servant oriented, one that wants to please its focus of worship. They have a simple focus because they aren’t distracted by the ”how church should happen” as much as they are focused on the “how great God is” . They aren’t as concerned with how great their service/church is technically. Sure if you compare the music of a small church to a mega church there will be no comparison in terms of skill or scale, but I bet God likes it just as much (maybe more).  

I wonder what would have happened if Jesus would have been more impressed with Peter’s walking technique then his Faith when he walked on the water?

Don’t get me wrong. DON’T be lazy. As I say to my staff, if you think you could have done better, YOU SHOULD HAVE. However I’d rather a person have a heart to serve, than a desire to be perfect. The excellence and perfection of their work isn’t as important to me as the attitude and character in which they do it. Remember the scripture that talks about the lady that gave the little that she had and how it was worth much more than the offerings of those that gave much more?

Do your maximum and stop expecting others to match your efforts. Let them do their maximum. God is more blessed by Character then He is by excellence and talent. Strive for Character and I suspect your skills will increase too. Bring back what worship is about, offering yourself humbly to God. Work hard and honestly and your boss, your God and anyone you come in contact with will be blessed by you. The beauty of changing our perspective from a performance based economy, to a Character based one is when you screw up you will be given grace, because it wasn’t about you not screwing up, it was about you being willing.  

I could have my worship teams practice more. I could have my staff work longer and train more as well but how will that affect other areas of their life? I’ve never been one to push high expectations on my volunteers, staff, family or friends. Honestly, I’d rather have a great husband and dad who is a terrible guitar player then a great guitar player who is a terrible husband and dad on stage with me. Stop pushing excellence and perfection on your staff and volunteers and help them develop their Character for everyone in their life. You’ll benefit and so will others!

Excellence, Perfection, Worship and the thing that really matters!

Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

Several months ago I hired someone that had virtually no experience and wasn’t familiar with any of the programs key to the role I was putting her in. She has been one of the best hires of my career! So why did I hire her? I’m not sure. It felt right is the easiest way to explain it, but she earned that feeling. She was driven to get the job. She had something that I could work with. She had passion and I quickly came to recognize that she was a woman of good Character.

I was recently thrown into thought regarding this idea of what God wants from us. It quickly turned into the universal idea of what really makes God and the people we connect with daily happy. Is it that we are excellent at what we do for them? Or is it that we want to do it for them?

I’m involved in worship at my church. Worship has become a huge movement over the past 20 years. More and more artists/worshippers are offering their skills to glorify God and because of it a higher standard has evolved. The songs that are being written are more technical, with more musicians and in order to replicate it in our worship services we require people that are talented. This is much the same in my work place.

I’ve been approached a few times in my “career” to have more emphasis on excellence. It has never sat right with me. Don’t get me wrong I don’t want people to be lazy in their skills, I just don’t want their skills to be their focus. In my search for direction I emailed one of my best friends, a man I respect and view as very wise. I’ve pasted my email and his response below:

Question:

Where do we get the biblical argument for pursuing excellence in church? It’s morphed into this idea of perfection and it doesn’t sit well with me. I just can’t see the NT church focused on doing anything really well, but rather focused on God and the Holy Spirit in their imperfection.

Let me know. I might have a blog happening with this.

His response:

The argument for “excellence” in Christian ministry is relatively recent – part of the emphasis of the CHURCH GROWTH MOVEMENT of the last forty years.

It goes something like this;

a – God is excellent

b – We are to be like God.

c – Paul tells us to approve things that are excellent (Phil. 1:10)

d- we therefore must also disapprove of things that are not excellent.

On the surface it all makes sense and none of us would aim for sloppiness – guitars out of key, videos that don’t work, garbage that is not emptied, etc….

BUT the emphasis has been put on the wrong syllable.

a – God is excellent.  Scripture refers to that quite often, but almost without exception it is in the context of His character and reputation.

b – Paul’s excellence that we are exhorted to in Phil. 1:10 is one of character.  Being sincere, honest, loving people is the more excellent way God calls us to.

c – 1 Cor. 12:31 – he shows us a more excellent way – walk in love.

d – excellent in the Greek refers to a “better way, a more valuable way”.  Excellence in performance is not the Christian standard.  We ought to be pursuing excellence of character.

My simple musings.

DAD

To be continued…..

Focus ~ One word that could change the World

Have you ever attended a concert, event or rally? I recently finished traveling across Canada with my wife following my favorite band Pearl Jam. It’s rare in my day-to-day life to surrounded by such a motley crew of people. In case you were wondering apparently cut-off jeans, long john’s and Dr. Martins are still in some people’s closets. Every concert gave me the opportunity to see a very diverse group of people. I suspect in normal circumstances I would have very little in common with many of them, however our differences didn’t seem to matter. What mattered was what we had in common.

I was lucky enough to attend a Leadership Conference this past weekend. I was inspired by some great speakers (http://michaelhyatt.com/ was one of them) and was recharged by sometime with my wife and the opportunity to spend time in prayer. I’m sure you can look forward to some posts coming up specifically relating to this time but I wanted to focus on something I heard yesterday during a Board of Directors meeting I attended. In it our Executive Director mentioned the idea of the Micro and Macro of business. The basics of his discussion was the strange reality that businesses in common industry all want to see their industry succeed and grow (Macro) but often lose their focus by looking at others in their industry as competitors (Micro) versus how can they all work together to get common results (Macro).

How often do we do this in our personal lives? How often do you we do this in our spheres of influence?

As leaders it is key that we focus on the Macro!

Each Pearl Jam concert lasted for almost 3 hours. During those 3 hours strangers, democrats, republicans, socialists, conservatives all came together to focus on what they had in common. In that unity our differences were forgotten, but our goals we’re the same.

I wonder how much we could change the world if we as leaders focused our energies on coaching our people to focus on the common goal verses their many differences?

Everyone wants to be successful. I suspect everyone wants to change the world even if it’s just a little. The Church, our businesses, our families need leaders to stop getting out of focus. It’s not a Pentecostal versus Mennonite, or Protestant versus Roman Catholic thing. It’s not a Hyatt Hotel versus the Sheraton. Believe it or not both can be successful. And when both are successful more people are impacted!

As leaders we have the opportunity to bring back the focus. God is God, His commands are His commands (not many of them if you read the New Testament so our focus doesn’t need to be that broad). Your business goals are not your hours of operation, or your inability to ever get your employees what they “need”. If you want to reach the next level of success in Kingdom building, or business pursuits you need to focus on what matters. What you have in common. Your employees want the same things you do. They want to make a comfortable living, be respected and have the freedom to make a difference. The Kingdom of God is full of people who want to Love God and their Neighbour. So why are we focusing on worship styles and what our perceived competition is doing, and how to beat them?

Macro thinking isn’t new, it’s just rare. Let’s focus on the things we have in common, leaving behind our many differences. I think that’s when we’ll hit the sweet spot on the driver that allows us to hit the ball further than we’ve ever hit it.

Love God and one another. LEAD WELL!

Avoiding Halloween and Pubs – What Christ called us to do?

One of my favorite stories in the bible is found in Matthew 9. In short it’s when Jesus is eating and socializing with “sinners” in a pub and being ridiculed by the Pharisee’s for doing so. In verse 12 Jesus answers his ridiculers by saying, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’^[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” I love this story. I feel like I know Jesus (not in our ultra-Christianese talk about our relationship with Christ) when I read this, like He’s a regular dude like me.

I start with this picture because I think it gives us a good idea of the heart of Jesus. He didn’t spend his week nights at church, He of course made sure He went to the Temple according to Jewish Religion/Law but on His off days He wasn’t spending His time segregating Himself from the sinners.

I can’t prove that Jesus would have been a fan of Halloween, much like you can’t prove He wouldn’t (if you read a blog saying it’s a fact that we can or can’t be involved with the event I’d advise you stop reading it, or at least giving it any weight towards your decision making process). But I think we can read enough about Christ in the New Testament to get a feel for how He interacted with people, and the places He went to do so.

Last night as I was getting ready to take my two boys out for free candy (that’s basically what we celebrate) I found myself to be full of joy. So many cute kids came to our house, and my boys were so excited to see kids, and meet the neighbours that give them chocolate. My boys were dressed as Mario (Nintendo) and a Shark. As I walked the streets of my neighbourhood I met more people than  I have all year. Parents were in great moods greeting eachother and kids were being so kind to my two young ones. It potentially could be the happiest night of the year.

So why are Christians so against it? Honestly I have no idea. I get that it’s deep long past was a little dark. It was a very archiac group in Ireland. They probably also believed the world was flat along with the idea that Spirits could come back on the one night of the year that we now call Halloween. Sure that’s how it started but do you know how it was redeemed by one of my favorite Saints? If not I’m going to leave a link to a very good blog below that I want you to read.

My point is this; Enjoying an evening out with strangers, new friends and our families is no more a form of Satan worship then unbelievers opening presents on Christmas is a form of Christ worship. Perhaps it can be this simple. Love your neighbours. I don’t know of any other event that your neighbours will come to your house without an invitation. Use the opportunity to be the friendliest, best candy givers on the block. Trust me, we know the ones that are and we go every year. Maybe then you can build a relationship with them that will allow you to introduce them to Jesus Himself.

My wife told me that when she was young her parents didn’t let her do halloween. It was so evil to her that she spent the night terrified at home worrying about the evil happening outside. I caught myself thinking of an analogy that involved a company called “Friendly and kind” (a metaphor for the Church).. I won’t bore you with that but the idea is this. The one house on the block that everyone knows is supposed to be friendly and nice seems to be completely opposite the one night that the neighbourhood is actually willing to come over.

Anyway, I loved my experience last night. My boys did too. If anything I worshipped my God by spending time with my family, loving on my boys and my neighbors. I suspect God was pleased by that.

Anyway, come to your own conclusions but if you are going to segregate yourself at least invite your neighbours. Check out this blog on Keeping Christ in Halloween by Steve Bell. http://stevebell.com/2009/10/keeping-christ-in-halloween/

Love God and your Neighbours friends!

“The devil loves it when we say we believe then prioritize everything in our lives ahead of God.” ~ AW Tozer

I am very aware that this post will probably turn into exactly what I hate. It can very easily go from a question of warning to a statement of irony. This frustrates me.

I’ve been a “believer” for 32 years. Unfortunately for me religion has not turned out to be like wine and better with age. I find myself endlessly frustrated with the process and ceremony of church, people that consider themselves Christians (sometimes the title is used as an identification of supremecy) and myself. To be fair I recognize that not everyone, or everything is bad but I continue to find things that make me want to dissassociate with the faith I’ve grown up in and have taken as my own.

I was at Fuddruckers this weekend with my cousin. For those of you that have never had the opportunity to go to Fuddruckers I would suggest it’s worth a trip to Saskatoon. The atmosphere isn’t the greatest but the burgers…well the burgers force me to order them way bigger than I need just because they taste so freakin good. Anyway (what’s an Evan blog without a rabbit trail?) as I was eating, something a group of people started talking about behind me caught my attention. They were talking about Katy Perry. I didn’t know this but according to these Fuddruckerites she at one point had a Christian music album with a song that spoke about her unwaivering faith in God. Then the conversation quickly turned sarcastic to say and now she kissed a girl and liked it. I’ve heard of Katy Perry’s past (similar to mine) and couldn’t help but wonder if she perhaps meant every word she sang back in the day. Perhaps her faith statement at the time was honest and heartfelt. None-the-less she has now decided to be a pop artist (I’m not making any statements about her faith position now because I don’t know..she has never personally told me) and sing about girls etc. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard Christians ridicule her. The first time was a passionate, ultra spiritual worship leader at a city wide worship band practice. It rubbed me wrong then and rubbed me wrong now. Why is it so easy to sit on our soap box and judge? Why do we assume we know everything? Why do we assume she is a liar? And why do I feel it right to be rubbed the wrong way?

I was reading a blog post today about Mark Driscoll. In it the author attacked Mark for being a bully. I thought her attack on him for attacking others was ironic. Here it is: http://rachelheldevans.com/mark-driscoll-bully The crazy thing was she didn’t just want to attack him herself, she wanted all of us to attack him and write his church.

Honestly I don’t know a thing about Mark Driscoll. As a kid I went to church, as a teen I continued but found my local church service and youth group was the only relationship I had with main stream Christianity. Even with that my friends were way more interested in Pearl Jam and weed then they were Mark Driscoll or whatever other high profile Christian was out there.

Here’s the point. Why do we feel it neccessary to make people believe what we do? Why do we think we are so right and others are so wrong? Worse, why do we feel the need to police it? Is God not in control? Is God not who He says He is?? Is vengance not His?

Over the past few years I’ve really noticed this cancer type thing in our faith. It’s the idea that we focus on other’s sin and making them right before ourselves. Christians (myself included) have become more opinionated about non-essentials (Jesus is God, He died for our sins and was resurrected 3 days later…Love God and Love your Neighbour etc) then ever before. I’ve come to realize that it’s not Jesus that turns me off of faith. It’s them…it’s me that does. And I suspect that if me…a “lifer” is feeling the pain perhaps people searching for acceptance, grace and Love, the things we say we believe in are feeling it too.

I might blog in a bit about major issues within our society and Christian faith that are road blocks for me and I might not. The point is why are we (you, me, us as individuals) so important? Why do we think we are so good? And why do we feel the need to control others behaviours?

I’m not saying some behaviors are right..I’m saying perhaps our reactions are less God like then we think.