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Misunderstimations of Leadership - Preaching

Preaching these days "misunderestimated." These days I read fairly regularly that preaching is too long, or is nice but unnecessary. Others, like Albert Mohler makes so much of preaching, they almost go too far:

"...preaching is the central component of Christian worship. But how could it be otherwise? For it is primarily through the preaching of Scripture that we come to a true vision of the living God, recognize our own sinfulness, hear the declaration of redemption, and are called to a response of faith, repentance, and service."

Mohler makes quite clear that preaching's authority and importance lies in the power of God's Word, not simply the act of preaching--which is why it's so important. I, like Mohler, would agree that much preaching today is in need of renewal. Much of what is called "preaching" today isn't actually preaching, either because it has little biblical foundation or Gospel content. Mohler writes:

"...we should define exactly what we mean when we say “preach.” What we mean is, very simply, reading the text and explaining it—reproving, rebuking, exhorting, and patiently teaching directly from the text of Scripture. If you are not doing that, then you are not preaching."

If that's what we're doing (and I agree that we are), then we need to pay attention to it. Some preaching has these components but makes little effort to insure people can understand what's being said in a way that captivates and convicts the heart.

At a practical level, preaching is vital to the long-term spiritual welfare of the church. Preaching provides nourishment, exhortation and biblical instruction that shapes people spiritually over time. It's also quite important in reaching those who are searching for God and find their way into the church for that Sunday.

Preachers should work hard to improve as exegetes, theologians and communicators. They should stay anchored to the God of the Scriptures, and avoid some of today's pitfalls:

• Techno-preaching: preaching that overdoses on the use of technology, and starves for lack of clarity.
• MySpace-preaching: preaching that tries to be relevant so hard that it's irrelevant. It's so "timely," it's irrelevant by the time it's finished.
• Politi-preaching: preaching that is a political speech with some Scriptures thrown in, rather than a biblical sermon with occasional political applications. This one is huge today.
• Seminary-preaching: Preaching communicated in a way that makes the preacher sound smart but is at an "intellectual level" that leaves everyone wondering what in the world the preacher is talking about. By all means, stretch people intellectually, but know the limits and check your motives as you do.
• Narcissi-preaching: preaching that focuses exclusively on what God wants for "your" life, rather than "our lives," the Church, or the Kingdom.

All of these and more have the effect of shaping people in a particular way over time. It also, for better or worse, shapes the view of what God and the Church are about in the minds and hearts of searchers. It's really, really important.

No one is perfect in the pulpit. I'm certainly not. However, it's vital that we strive to be all God wants us to be in this area. Much of today's critique of preaching has less to do with the insufficiency of biblical preaching and much to do with the insufficiency of preachers. Preachers will always be insufficient, which is why we need to stay anchored to the Scriptures first. Then, let's work on communicating it's altogether beautiful content in a way that captivates and convicts the minds and hearts of the hearers.

If preaching in your church is anemic or thin...it matters. If preaching is both meaty and delicious--your church will be blessed.

Unbroken - The Zamperini Chronicles

The story of Louis Zamperini told in the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (author of Sea Biscuit) is so amazing it's hardly believable. But, it's true. Time Magazine awarded Unbroken it's book of the year award for 2010. It's not only a great story, it's extremely well written. For those with eyes to read, it's got Christian themes running all through it.

Here are a few:

• The originality of every human life. Louis Zamperini had a quite ordinary birth and growing up experience. Just a part of what makes his story so remarkable is how ordinary his roots are. I just love reading how God works in the lives of everyday people. God works in everyone's lives, and does so differently.
• Endurance. Everything about Zamperini's life is about endurance. He is an Olympic distance runner. He survives 47 days stranded on a raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He endures 2 1/2 years of brutally harsh treatment as a POW in Japanese prison camps. He then struggles to make his life work through alcoholism and the residue left by his experience. Still alive today and nearly 100 years old, Louis Zamperini inspires anyone who reads his story to hang in there...not to give up.
• Forgiveness. After his conversion, Zamperini learns to forgive his tormenter as a POW: Matsuhiro Watanabe, aka, "The Bird." In a letter to his former captor, he wrote, "The post-war nightmares caused my life to crumble, but thanks to a confrontation with God through the evangelist Billy Graham, I committed my life to Christ. Love replaced the hate I had for you. Christ said, "Forgive your enemies and pray for them.'" You have to read Unbroken to know what a huge deal such forgiveness is. All I can say is, Wow.
• The Power of Redemption. Zamperini's life was spiralling downward rapidly. In his nightmares, he would choke "The Bird" to death. One night, he's dreaming of choking "The Bird" when he hears a noise that wakes him. It is the gasp of his pregnant wife, who Zamperini was choking unknowingly in his sleep. Through his torment and alcoholism, Zamperini comes to Christ at a Billy Graham crusade and the nightmares stop. He pours out all his alcohol on the spot, and his life does a dramatic 180.

If you don't have time to read Unbroken (shame on you!), below is a 5-minute biography of Zamperini. But trust me, read the book. It's awesome in every way. Heavy, but awesome.

 

Summer Reading List

Reading is absolutley wonderful. Some people don't think reading is much fun and I will confess openly I've never understood why. Everyone loves stories, and books are really just well-crafted stories. Not all books are created equal. Some are awful. Some are dry. Some are technical. But, the great ones are absolutely riveting...like the greatest movie you've ever seen--only a week long.

I spend much of the year reading primarily theology, leadership, business, and biblical studies books. I hardly read any fiction during the year, so in the summer, I read nearly only fiction and my Bible. It offers me a creative reload. Memoirs also make the cut...because they read like fiction.

There are so many books out there, I have to find some way to narrow the field. So, I tend to pick award winners, classics, books that have been on the New York Times Best-Seller List for some time, or a book that has enormous buzz around it. This summer, I'm picking three contemporary books, then I'm going all classics. Here's the list. I'd love to hear yours.

I'm leaving a couple of slots for books you all recommend. So, help me out! Feel free to read along. I'll be offering some thoughts based on these books over the summer. What are you reading?

 

 

Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand (I've started reading this--stunning book!)

 

In the Garden of Beasts - Erik Larson

 

A Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan

 

The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway

 

Gilead - Marilynne Robinson

 

Let the Great World Spin - Colum McCann

 

Do You Wish God Had "Gifted" You Differently?

Over the last couple of days I have started church planter assessment and preparation for further training with Kairos Church Planting Support. Part of the preparation is taking assessments of everything from personality to marital health to readiness to plant a church--and of course, spiritual gifts. According to the spiritual gifts inventory, my primary spiritual gifts are: Leadership, Wisdom, Discernment, Teaching

I don't know about you, but whenever I take these tests, I'm amazed at how precise they can be...and mildly miffed that I continue to score low on things I wish I had more of. Here are the lowest in my gifts inventory: Craftsmanship (the lowest--Ok, I can live with that), Intercession, Mercy, Helps.

Granted, spiritual "gifts" inventories are really more "passion" inventories. They tell us how we are wired, not necessarily what we are good at or how we behave. One can act mercifully without wanting to. I have to do it all the time :) One can serve even when one does not feel compelled to do so because they know they should.

Spiritual gift inventories are really passion inventories and are helpful for discovering our "sweet spot"--the place we can serve God with the most joy. However... I still can't help wishing at times I was a bit more this or less that. I bet you can relate.

Generally, however, we're better off working from our areas of strength rather than spending our lives trying to cover our weaknesses. This is for two reasons. First, it acknowledges the way we are made. The Bible says the Holy Spirit gifted us as He chose (1 Cor. 12:11) and we should have reverence for that. Second, we'll serve with greater energy and joy when we're in our sweet spot. God doesn't just love cheerful givers. He loves cheerful servants, as well.

When it comes to spiritual formation, it makes perfect sense to cultivate parts of our character that need formation or repentance. However, we will always serve best with that part of us that came pre-formed by God and enlivened by His Spirit at our baptism. 

So, as I help lead New Vintage Church from whatever meager gifts God has given me, I'll get to work on that craftsmanship weakness of mine :) Or maybe I'll just be thankful for how God made me, and ask Him to complete the work He began in me as I open myself up to being completed by Him.

Question: Do you ever wish you had been "gifted" differently? How important is it for us to work on developing areas of "giftedness" we don't currently have?

Deism in Churches of Christ?

In his conversations with leaders in Churches of Christ, Pat Keifert noted that God was used as the subject of an active verb less roughly 5% of the time. Here's what that means in part: leaders in Churches of Christ generally view God as passive.

That finding doesn't surprise me at all. As I hear churches discuss their futures, deal with crises, debate theological or textual issues--there is a sense that God indeed spoke, but doesn't speak. He did, but doesn't do. He lives, but isn't living. I don't know if it's an anti-Calvinist or anti-Charismatic bent that points some of us that way. Whatever it is, it's noteworthy. What we believe about God shapes absolutely everything.

I've witnessed a practical deism at play these days in many Churches of Christ (not all)--a worldview in which God is never the subject of an active verb. I personally think it has to do with individualism and our fairly radical free-will doctrine. After all, if God won't infringe on our choices than God essentially acts only when we allow him to. God gave us free will, we say. So, he doesn't intervene unless we sovereignly invite Him to do so (to caricature a bit). Well, that's certainly not Calvinist. However, it's not Christian either.

I think many of us could benefit from a rediscovery of the doctrine of God's sovereignty. This isn't just because it keeps us from this feaux-deist way of seeing the world, but because it's thoroughly biblical and great news. If we fear God in the unbiblical way, we will fear His activity in the world. If we fear the Lord of Scripture who we trust in all things, we welcome His activity in the world with great joy. Either way, God is who He is. How I view Him doesn't alter who He is.

At the practical level, we have come to explain tragedy, sin, and really most of life in terms of the simple result of free will. We say, "well, that's what happens in a world where God gives people free will." This may be an appropriate thing to say at times. However, if God is in fact God, isn't it better to explain what happens in the world in terms of His activity? God still speaks, still moves, still does great things. This is something we all know and say we believe when we sing hymns or read Scripture. We'll do well to begin speaking that way on our own, even as we continue to sing and read.

Question: What does Keifert's 5% finding mean to you? How would you interpret it? 

Before You Go

I’ve known Wade Hodges for several years now and admire him greatly as a preacher. However, I admire equally his ability to see what’s really going on in church situations—and have the guts to say it. Wade has experienced a lot during his years of ministry. His years have been ministerial "dog years"--years that are not typical and thus provide the opportunity for increased insight than "ordinary" years in ministry (if there is such a thing). So, I was thrilled to read his thoughts as he begins processing it all in print for the benefit of the Church.

His first published e-book is Before You Go: A Few-Sneaky Good Questions Every Minister Must Answer Before Moving to a New Church. While he talks about other matters, the emphasis of the book is spent on the subject of the interview process and the importance of honesty with oneself and others throughout. In the interview process, a Minister feels obligated to inflate his or her achievements and the church feels they must exaggerate the true condition of the church. This sets the table for crucial mistakes throughout the selection process. These mistakes will inevitably lead to heartbreak and disillusionment later. Hodges writes:

• “Most churches deceive themselves about how healthy they are. Most ministers deceive themselves about how capable they are. Too many interviews boil down to two self-deceived parties trying to convince each other of how much they can accomplish if they work together.” (88)
• “This decision will impact your finances, your family, and your faith. Avoid cynicism. Use suspicion sparingly. But for the sake of everyone involved, square up with reality and ask the tough questions about the church and yourself.” (93) 

Before You Go is a book that lists, asks, and offers some answers to those questions.

Wade is a fan of Edwin Friedman and a systems-based approach to ministry. This comes through clearly in the book and undergirds it’s primary strength: an emphasis on honesty with oneself about oneself and others…but oneself first. This emphasis can be seen in statements like: “I've worked with three very different churches: a small church in the Pacific Northwest, a medium sized church in Oklahoma, and a church plant in Texas. No matter the setting or the size of the church, there were three constants: my strengths, my weaknesses, and my “issues” (139).

Dealing with one's own stuff is an important beginning place when examining potential ministry opportunities. He continues, “I realize now that the biggest mistake I made in the transition is that I didn't do the necessary inner work to have a shot at being a new and improved version of myself when I started my new ministry.”

Before You Go is full of wisdom bits of that only someone who has done their share of interviewing for ministry positions would know. Among my favorite is what Wade calls, "the airport rule" -- paying attention to who picks you up from the airport and their possible motives. This piece of advice is humorous on the surface but serious in it's substance--typical of the advice given throughout the book. This way of instructing makes the book an enjoyable read.

The one issue I wish Wade had picked up that he didn’t was when you know for sure it’s time to move on. I get asked that by preachers all the time, and I’m sure Wade has some great thoughts to offer on that subject as well.

Everyone should buy Before You Go. For the price of a cup of coffee ($2.99), you get a long conversation with Wade Hodges on a subject of great importance. Even if you aren’t exploring making a transition in your ministry, you may know someone who is. Throughout that journey, they will be in good hands with the advice of Wade Hodges.

Better Sex, Part 3 - Overcoming Temptation

Temptation and sin are different. Jesus himself was tempted, but was without sin. That's what we should aim for--to be without sin in the face of temptation. Temptation often morphs into sin of impure thoughts or sinful action when given the opportunity and elements to grow. Because we want to please God and avoid sexual sin's destructive effects, we should do everything we can to overcome temptation.

Below are some steps we can take to overcome sexual temptation. 

No Nests. Speaking of dealing with sexual temptation, Martin Luther once said, “You cannot keep a bird from flying over your head, but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair.” He wasn't saying, "look but don't touch." Luther was saying something like, "see, but don't look." He was helping us understand that noticing beauty is natural--or at least somewhat unavoidable. Dwelling on it, however, is dangerous.

If we nurture sexual thoughts about someone other than the one we are in marital covenant with, we are feeding desires in us we don’t want to feed. We are spending sexual energy and intimacy on someone else that is meant for our spouse. If you are married, this will hurt sex within marriage and it will fan into flame desires that you don’t want to fan. If you are single, this makes an already challenging struggle all the more difficult. It also cultivates habits that will follow you into marriage.

Remember Joseph. Sometimes just getting out of there is one of the wisest things you can do. We often think of Joseph's fleeing of Potiphar's wife when we talk about fleeing sexual sin. Truth is, Potiphar's wife came at him "day after day." Nothing in the text says or implies he was tempted. Nevertheless, he bolts...wisely. The reason he gives is vital: "He (Potiphar) is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9)

Don't hire people you find attractive. If you're at the beach or pool and someone you find alluring lays their towel down near you. Move. Take off your sunglasses, so you won't be tempted to glare in secret. Or, bail. Proverbs asks a great question: "Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?" (Proverbs 6:27) That's a rhetorical question :)

Focus on your own struggles, not those of others.

I know there some who would say Christians should never go anywhere they might even have the opportunity to be tempted. Such will never happen, which is why developing an immune system of sorts to sexual temptation is a wiser way to approach life than isolation. You'll have to go to school. You'll have to work. You'll have to leave the house at some point. There are other people in the world walking around dressed in ways intended to tempt others because it makes them feel good to be wanted. This is just reality.

If we are always isolated, we will never acquire the ability to be Christ in the world. We'll, at best, be Christ in isolation--when the world needs Christians willing and able to eat with tax collectors and sinners. For some, isolation may be the right move. However, it isn't necessary for everyone. We Christians don't need to bind rules on people God hasn't bound or preach that all Christians should stay away from this or that--when God hasn't forbidden this or that. We need to be wise, and care enough about our sexuality to do what needs to be done to keep ourselves pure. This means more than avoiding temptation, which is impossible anyways. It means learning to overcome temptation as we go about living as Christians in the world.

Francois Fénelon takes a very practical view of this: “The invalid who cannot walk without a cane cannot let anyone take it away from him. He feels his weakness. He fears to fall, and he is right. But he ought not to be upset to see a healthy and strong man who does not need the same support. The healthy man walks more freely without a cane. But he should never be contemptuous of him who cannot do without it.”

Deal with underlying issues. Many chronic struggles with pornography or promiscuity involve issues that go far beyond lust. It's important to deal with those--the dysfunctional marriage, the family-of-origin issues, or the emotional desires met by indulging the physical. A good Christian counselor can really be of benefit here. However you do it, get to the underlying issues.

Pay proper attention to your walk with God. The reason Joseph gives is that his adultery would be a sin against God. His desire to honor God trumped what Potiphar's wife (or perhaps his body) wanted him to do. You've heard it said, "The best offense is a good defense." The opposite is also true. The best defense is sometimes a good offense. A good offense is cultivating a rich spiritual life that leads us to live with an awareness that our bodies are not our own and a thirst for God's abiding presence. Just as weeds are less likely to grow in healthy lawns, a vibrant spiritual life will help crowd out temptation and potential sin.

The next post in this series: Recovering from Sexual Sin

Better Sex, Part 2 - Can We Control Our Desires?

When I was a college freshman at Pepperdine, I was asked to read Aristophones' Lysistrata. Here's the gist of it: In a fairly graphic farce, Lysistrata persuades the other women to withhold sexual privileges from their men as a means of forcing them to end the Peloponnesian War. After withholding sex from their men for just a matter of days, the men do agree to put the war is put on hold.

Lysistrata is considered a classic. The myth is--men cannot control themselves. If you want to get men to end a war--withhold sex. That'll do it. Today, media is saying women can't control themselves either at a much greater rate than in years past. It's some sort of affirmative action for lust. Actually, statistics are beginning to bear that out, as well. They say Lysistrata still lives.

However...

Lysistrata is a myth. Not a law.

Not for men.

Not for women.

Christians can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. I know it isn't easy. Augustine, Jerome, and other great people of God (David, for instance) through the ages have struggled in this area. We also live in a culture that does all it can to whet our sexual appetites at every opportunity. But that doesn't mean we are animals. Sex is God's gift, not humankind's slavemaster. 

Can we really be expected to control ourselves sexually? 

Christians believe He who is in us is greater than He who is in the world. Apart from the power of Christ, I doubt we can overcome the Enemy's perversion of what God created good--our sexuality. With Christ, however, we can glorify God by abstaining from sexual immorality and glorifying Him by enjoying what He created for our enjoyment.

Thoughts? Is it possible?

 

"Better" Sex, Part 1 - Sex is Good

Sex is a source of shame for many people...including Christians. Perhaps, especially Christians. This shouldn't be the case. God is the Creator and Architect of sex, and has given us much guidance on how to experience sexual abundance while avoiding sexual immorality. Historically, however, the Church has focused on the importance of abstinence from certain behaviors to the neglect of Scripture's guidance on how to have "better sex"--sex that is rooted firmly in the Gospel's implications for our bodies. Accordingly, we generally know what not to do. However, we know not what to do.

Yesterday, in a sermon on biblical sexuality, I offered a brief survey of the church's teaching on sex throughout the centuries—from Augustine and Jerome (who said, "Anyone who is too passionate a lover with his own wife is himself an adulterer."), to the church's sometimes silly forbiddances of sex on all sorts of days. The extent of these forbiddances went to the point that John Boswell estimates that at one point in church history only 44 days of the year were approved days for having sex. Luther (thank God) helped bring things back around.

Post-Luther, however, the church began to say less about the subject of sex from the pulpit and in writing, other than to say, "Don't do it until you're married, and homosexuality is wrong." This approach however, surrendered the pulpit to culture on sex except on those two topics…and even then…the church lacked theological foundation and creativity in their presentation of it. The reasons the Church gave for their positions were too often rooted in apologetics rather than theology (i.e, "if you have sex before marriage you could get pregnant or get AIDS") and thus the condom rebutted our objections.

Eventually, the subject became somewhat taboo. Maybe we were "grossed out" or battle-weary on the subject. Thus, there was a brief Dark Age on the subject until recently. During that brief Dark Age the Church still did its best to keep young people from getting overly involved with one another sexually before marriage and generally stood firmly on the subject of homosexuality.

However...

We never really revisited the subject like we should have. Simultaneously a new series of challenges ranging from a spike in adultery and pornography to homosexuality's increasing acceptance by culture rose to meet us.

Lauren Winner and others have picked the subject up in more detail recently, and we should all be thankful. Here's just a few reasons why:

1. In the process of spiritual formation, "Thou shalt not," only goes so far. At some point, the "Thou shalt," must be known.
2. Not only young people need biblical instruction on the theology, meaning, and yes, even practice of sex. All people need it. Many people struggle in marriage because both sex and desire itself are portrayed to them in their youth as taboo. Thus, when they get married, some Christians really struggle to have vibrant sex lives in marriage.
3. God created sex and it's good and pleasing in His sight when it flowers within the context of marriage.
4. The church faces a huge challenge from culture on nearly all aspects of sexuality. We need to study, pray, and speak clearly on the subject as perhaps never before.

For Christians, much of sexuality is shrouded in shame or rooted in fear of pleasure. This is so sad. When man and woman were created, they were naked and unashamed. At the fall, one of the first impulses is to cover up. I don't think it's overstating it to say that when spouses experience shame in sexuality, it may be more a reflection of the Fall than it is of "righteousness."

We still have a problem. Sexuality is still viewed by the Church as somewhat "over the line," to discuss from the pulpit. Perhaps because we feel it fails the propriety test. Perhaps it's because so many Christians struggle mightily with sexual sin and private disbelief in the Church's traditional teachings on sexuality. Thus, it's easier to shift sexuality to accountability groups (if we have any) and leave plenty of room for Christians to disagree on even quite important matters of doctrine than to do the difficult work of plowing such difficult ground.

Call me old-fashioned or foolish, but I just believe sexuality is much more important than other things we can leave space for disagreement on. I also believe sexual immorality and genophobia (the fear of sex) are among the most signficant problems in people's lives. They also have enormously signficant implications on people's lives and society as a whole.

One man. One woman. In marriage. Abundantly. That is the biblical witness and preachers need to preach it with the vigor and theological underpinnings provided by Scripture. Sex is one of God's great gifts. As Christians, we should seek to cultivate a vibrant, biblical sexuality as a part of following Jesus.

The issues of our time are in no way simple. The church will have to grapple with how to respond to things from the "casualness" of sex to homosexual/bisexual/transgender issues. But, make no mistake…we need to respond. And we need to do it yesterday.

In love. In truth. With clarity. For God's glory.

 

The May 21st People - Live Ready

 

Well, Saturday is May 21st--supposedly the beginning of the end of the world. Am I ready? I hope so. I hope so, because that's how I'm supposed to live. I'm supposed to live ready. So are you. I suppose Christ could come on May 21st. He could come before you finish reading this post.

If that last sentence sounded like a bit of a stretch (I'll admit it did to me), then you know how much we take for granted that we're going to be here a while. I'll say this for the May 21sters...who I believe are doing great harm to Christianity right now...at least they have the Second-Coming on their mind...and, at least for a time, are living it out. While they are doing harm to Christianity with their current campaigns and will make all Christians out to be boobs to some through their antics, I actually applaud them for caring about the Second Coming.

We Christians have been here so long we often forget about the Second Coming, or we have shifted our focus on earthly things without the sense of urgency the early Christians lived with. Other than the obvious mistake of naming the date of Christ's return (Jesus said He Himself knew not the hour), the mistake some of the May 21sters are making is preparation for the Great Day by building bunkers and other things. This is a result of what I believe to be flawed eschatology that predicts a post-Rapture tribulation (a subject perhaps for another post). 

If in fact the return of Christ is a glorious event we should look forward to with eager anticipation rather than the initiation of a war and tribulation we need to bunkerize our lives for, it seems to me we would do better preparing for that day by:

• Cultivating a life that really believes, "To live is Christ, to die is gain."
• Share Christ with those we know wisely but urgently.
• Remember we know not the hour, so we keep our lamps lit...seeking Christ's will for our lives and world in the mean time. We keep ourselves pure and ready.

Question: Do you think Christians still care about the Second Coming as we should? Why, or why not?

Maranatha!

Below is a video demonstrating the surge in doomsday bunker sales...and how lavish some of these bunkers are. Unreal.