Luke 11 :: If You Can't Say Something Good...

Luke 11

I was no different than most kids I know.  When I was a kid my mom used to tell me, "If you can't say something good, don't say it at all."  I may have even thought, at one point, that this was one of those "bible verses" that aren't found in the bible.  But Jesus didn't seem to follow this teaching.  At the end of Luke 11, Jesus appears to be fed up with the religious leaders.  His harshest words up to this point are not given to a thief, a prostitute or a murderer.  Nope.  They have been reserved for good, religious people - the Pharisees.  These were the ministers of the day.  As a pastor today, I must look closely at these words that Jesus had for these people.

Check out the list of warnings Jesus gives to these strict, religious people:

• Hypocricy - v39-41
• Inequality - v42
• Pretentiousness - v43
• Impossible Demands - v46
• Intolerance - v47-51
• Exclusiveness - v52

Did you know that Pharisees were originally a group of normal, laymen, who desired to separate themselves from impure things and people?  I believe that their original intent was not much different than the small group of guys who go and meet for breakfast every week to help ensure that each one is living the standard to which Christ calls us.  Eventually these men became leaders in their faith.  Once there they began to impose on people things that Jesus never meant to be imposed.  I am blown away by the intensity in the words of Jesus.

All of us struggle with each of these things, don't we?  We can't really cast stones at the Pharisees because our own behavior often looks very similar.  Underneath the strong language of Jesus, is a man with a very deep connection to the people the Pharisees are offending.  The value that those people have to Jesus is what causes him to be so stern.  I see a bit of a momma-bear image at the protection Jesus has for the poor and the vulnerable.  This has been consistent in the life of Jesus from the very beginning.

How are we to respond?  Are we advocates for the poor and the suffering?  Are we standing up for the rights of people who cannot stand?  Are we creating opportunities for everyone to come to Jesus, in spite of their bondage to sin today?

Remember that Luke is the same man, who in Acts 15, recorded James' speech to the Jerusalem church, where he said “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. (19)" 

Acts 8 :: It Grew Like a Weed

Acts 8 in the Messsage and TNIV translations

Every time they tried to kill the early church, they only made it grow.  Saul and his henchmen stoned one of its leaders to death and scattered the Christ-followers, and it only made the "problem" worse.  Wherever they went, they told people about Jesus, and new churches began to pop up in cities and countries all over the map.  Verse 4 tells us how the gospel really took over the world.  We can get caught up in our story's heroes - great men of faith like Peter, Philip, and eventually Paul (although he's a villain in our story right now) - and mistakenly think these men took the gospel all over the world by themselves.  While they did a lot, it was thousands of people whose names don't make it into Acts who took the good news of Jesus to their homelands or places of refuge as they were persecuted.  The stories with names are only anecdotal; they represent thousands of other stories we'll never hear this side of heaven.

This is great wording from the Message: "Forced to leave home base, the followers of Jesus all became missionaries. Wherever they were scattered, they preached the Message about Jesus."  Isn't that the way it is.  We end up being forced out of our security and comfort.  We think it's the end of the world.  From a human perspective, everything sucks.  But God's perspective on the whole thing is completely different than ours.  "My church is becoming unstoppable.  My message of life and hope is advancing.  My people are becoming the heroic men and women of the faith that I created them to be."  And in my experience, God makes himself known in those times of struggle and pain, those situations none of us would have chosen.

I was part of a conversation this morning with people who are decision makers in our local economy.  Phrases like "10,000 lost jobs by October" were spoken several times.  While those statements may or may not turn out to be accurate, we all know stuff happens.  Whether it is financial, relational, physical, or emotional, many of us may be forced into situations we would never choose.  Nobody wants it to happen.  But in such times, God shines.  And He calls his people to become missionaries.  Will you be one of them?

Acts 2 :: We Have Liftoff

Acts 2, The Message and TNIV translations

Acts 2 is one of the pivotal chapters in all of Scripture.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed for the first time (and in dramatic fashion!).  Due to God's strategic timing, representatives of 15 countries (by my count) hear about Jesus and respond. Important side note: at this point, Christianity is still an exclusively Jewish faith.

Then we get the first, and perhaps to this day the most important description of the life and activity of the very first Christian church, the Church at Jerusalem.  The portion of the three thousand new believers who lived in Jerusalem began to live in community with each other in a way no one had ever seen before.  While much is made of the miracles and spiritual authority of the apostles, I strongly believe the first Christians' radical commitment to the life together was the more powerful proof of Christianity.  Jesus said that his disciples would be known by the love they had for each other, and the first believers fulfilled that by embracing each other, growing together, serving one another sacrificially, and enjoying each other's company on a daily basis.  And while they were devoted to each other, the community was not internally focused or closed off.  They lived this life together in a rather public way, in full view.  More and more people wanted to be a part of it and embrace the Savior who had transformed them.

I've read this passage dozens of times, maybe even hundreds (like I said, it's a really important passage), and the same question always seems to pop up for me: how did we start with Acts 2:42-47 and end up with what we experience as "church" today?  When you read this passage, what aspects of early church life do you long for?  What parts are you experiencing today, and what parts do you think are sorely lacking?

Core Belief :: CHURCH

I believe the church is God’s primary way to accomplish His purposes on earth today.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
-Ephesians 4:15-16 TNIV

You may be surprised to hear me say this, but this is a tough one for me. I've been a part of the church my whole life, and church leadership has been my vocation for over 20 years. In that time, my life has been enriched beyond measure through the church, as it has for millions of other people. In that same time, I have been deeply hurt by the church, disappointed in the church, frustrated with the church, and sometimes bored with the church. I've wanted to quit church work several times, and have had others recommend that I do so. You could say I have a love/hate relationship with the church. I often think God could have come up with a better plan. So why am I still here? -because CHURCH is a core belief of Christianity, and you don' get to pick and choose only the ones you like; and because when the church isn't being dysfunctional, there is nothing like it on earth.

If I had to believe that the institutional church--the denominations, the buildings, the national or global organizations, the hierarchy and the bureaucracy--was God's primary way to accomplish His purposes, I might have to bail. But thankfully, that's not actually the church. I can't find any of that stuff in the New Testament. Just like he lived his life, Jesus established his church with amazing simplicity. The 1st-century church thrived--in fact changed the world--without budgets, buildings, headquarters, or media campaigns. All they had was people and the Holy Spirit, which turned out to be a pretty good combination. People, equipped and empowered by the Holy Spirit to love God and their neighbors in ways that changed the world. People were drawn to them like moths to a flame, and embraced Christ and the Christ-life in staggering numbers.

If I didn't think that was still possible right now, right here in our community, I would cash in my chips and quit. I still believe that's what God is up to, if any Christ-followers have the courage to shed the trappings of religion and exchange them for the Christ-life. I love the first word of today's verse: "Instead." Pursue New Testament community instead of religious meetings, and true belonging instead of organizational membership; loving each other radically instead of gathering weekly with pseudo-strangers and acquaintances to listen to a preacher; pursue thinking, acting, and becoming like Christ instead of engaging in religious activity; and giving away our lives together instead of merely writing checks or doing our duty. People who live like that, empowered by the Holy Spirit, change the world. That's the real church. And yes, she is God's primary way to accomplish His purposes in the world. I've seen her, and she's beautiful. One look and you'll fall in love.

E.M. Bounds captured this better than I can in this visionary statement about the church. Ladies, please take the "men" references generically and embrace this vision:

"We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization. God's plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than anything else. Men are God's method. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Spirit can use. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men."

- Emerson McKendree Bounds