Drew Boswell

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Be Nice and Buy A Book; Being Right is Not Enough

Church is All About Me? Really?

I usually do not write about differences in doctrine amongst Christians (i.e. the current drama with Mars Hill and Mark Driscoll) – there are just too many other more important issues to focus on. Being a Christian is hard enough without the world seeing us fight amongst ourselves (it doesn’t help to reach those who have not met Christ yet).

The world really has little concern about our worship wars and dress codes. If we address an issue that we disagree over then it should be done privately with grace, empathy (as we are also sinners), and love. When we love a fellow believer then we should not “slam” them publicly. The truth is that most of those who do such things would never do it to their face, and it is much easier to critique someone “from their mom’s basement.”[1]

Also, when the church stands together we are able to make significant changes in our culture, and when we are divided the world picks us apart. John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”[2]

(Yeah,  you knew it was coming) With that being said . . .

you know something’s up when Benny Hinn is attacking your doctrine.

so here’s the clip that is getting much attention right now amongst Christians. Victoria Osteen, the co-pastor of the largest church in America, said, “when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God, it’s for our self.” Now before you line up with your stones to throw, how many have said, “I don’t like the style of music,” or “can you believe what she is wearing at worship?” or “I don’t have time to serve right now, we’re too busy.” How many times have we echoed Osteen’s comment in our lives thinking but never saying, “church is about me and my feelings.”

This is not the first quote, or false idea to have surfaced from Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas that has caused doctrinal ripples. To say she was confused, said something she didn’t mean to say, or that the clip was taken out of context is simply not true. There are too many other quotes (and entire books) that say otherwise.

The reason I reference it is because I meet so many Christians that seem to be losing their way, especially in the area of doctrine.  1 Timothy 4:16 “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

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What’s the big deal? Isn’t this just a matter of opinion? 

Culture keeps driving us to the truth of the gospel. Issues like baptism, church membership, alcohol, even the hotly debated music wars seem to have drifted into obscurity — many simply say “who cares?” Church attenders seem to not understand basic Christian tenants. Many essential doctrines have become, “well, that’s just your opinion.”

The danger of a weak doctrine among the church is that groups like Mormons and other truly false gospels are thought of as having the same beliefs as Christians. The church is so weak in it’s understanding that it becomes very vulnerable to believing the lies of the deceiver. Know this, that if you believe a false gospel you are not saved. Should we not do as 2 Timothy 2:15 says to, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

Let’s take Victoria Osteen’s comment that has gone viral. Why has it gone viral?  Is it not because of how far it goes away from what the Bible clearly teaches? But she remains in her position of co-pastor. Then we have Mark Driscoll, the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington who has solid doctrine but he is being asked to step down from his position for how he has treated others.[3]

But there we have it really in a nutshell. If you preach good feelings and happy thoughts but teach a false doctrine it is overlooked in Christendom. If you teach accurate doctrine but are a mean person, you will be asked to disappear. According to the current Christian culture it is more important for us to be nice than to be solid on our Bible.

Let’s look at that 1 Timothy passage again; “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

The ultimate issue is salvation “both [for] yourself and your hearers.” (those are pretty big stakes if we get this wrong).  We must watch our own lives — we typically think of this in reference to sin. But could it also reference how our lives affect those around us (attitude, hospitality, generosity, compassion, etc.?) If you are a genuinely loving person then others will be open to what you have to tell them (i.e. Joel Osteen). But what you tell them must be doctrinally sound because there is only one gospel.

John 14:6 “Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” 

Therefore, be nice, study your Bible, and buy a book on doctrine. It doesn’t sound fun but it is essential to understanding the things of God. It is much easier and fun to “claim” wealth, healing, and fame — the Bible and solid doctrine keeps you from seeking after the deceptions of this world. Solid doctrine keeps you focused on what is really important because you have as your foundation — truth.

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[1] To reference Driscoll.

[2] Please no comments about how if we love one another then we should hold each other accountable with proper doctrine (I get that).

[3] articles relating to this topic tend to show that Driscoll is being asked to step down due to his rough treatment of staff and crude comments from the pulpit.

Why Is It Important to be a Member of a Local Church?

The Early Church 

In Acts 2:42 ff. immediately following the indwelling of the Holy Spirit upon all believers, the believers begin to meet (daily). Luke rarely mentions the Greek word εκκλησία (church) in the book of Luke, but mentions it over 24 times in Acts. So, the church came into existence after Pentecost.

While we don’t know exactly what membership in the apostolic church entailed, it was certainly for the purposes of edification, prayer, service, and, as can be seen particularly in Acts 5, discipline. Christianity is a corporate matter, and the Christian life can be fully realized only in relationship to others.[1]

The early church shows us that members invest their passions, service, resources, and relationships for the kingdom through the local church. They commit to a holy life characterized by integrity and confession of sin. The commitment to membership means active participation in ministry, in worship, in fellowship, and in service for the mission of the church, along with generous giving and evangelistic living.[2]

In the handling of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), as well as Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 5:1-5) and the Galatians (6:1) regarding the treatment of sinners, argues for a careful monitoring by the group of the spiritual condition and conduct of the members. While prefect purity of the membership is ideal which cannot be realized within this life (Matt. 13:24-30), open unbelief and sin are not tolerated.[3] Before we get too far into what the church should be doing, let’s look at what the church is not, and then give a clear definition.

Defining the word “Church”

What the church is not, as indicated by Mark Driscoll, “The church is not a holy building in which spiritual meetings take place. The church is not a Eucharistic society through which God dispenses grace by means of the sacraments and a duly authorized and empowered hierarchy of bishops and priests operating in unbroken succession from the apostles. The church is not the moral police force of a society seeking mere behavioral change through legislation. The church is not a weekly meeting where people gather to do spiritual things.”[4]

Driscoll goes on to give a definition of the church; “The local church is a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. In obedience to Scripture they organize under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, observe the biblical sacraments of baptism and Communion, are unified by the Spirit, are disciplined for holiness, and scatter to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission as missionaries to the world for God’s glory and their joy.”[5]

The Bible speaks of church membership in relational terms – as members of one body and as members of the household of God – so that God’s people live as a gospel community and help one another grow in Christ and reach others for Christ.[6] There are no “Lone Ranger” Christians in the Bible, and there should be none today.

Why Join a Church? 

Why should I become a member of a local church? I’m already saved and a part of the body of Christ (universal) so does it even matter if I am a member of a local church? Well, it does matter because we do become a part of the family of God when we receive Christ, and the actual expression of that is found in the New Testament local church. There is not one Christian mentioned in the New Testament who was not connected to a local church.

Rick Warren has written, “Many Americans Christians are what I call “floating believers.” Anywhere else in the world, being a believer is synonymous with being connected to a local body of believers‑‑you rarely find a lone‑ranger Christian in other countries. Many American Christians, however, hop from one church to another without any identity, accountability, or commitment. This is a direct expression of America’s rampant individualism. They have not been taught that the Christian life involves more than just believing‑‑it also includes belonging. We grow in Christ by being in relationship to other Christians. Romans 12:10 says, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.”

This same lack of commitment to any one church can be found in the youth of today as well. There is a phenomenon of youth jumping from one youth group to another in order to “get their needs met” or to the one that’s “cool” right this minute. They don’t tithe, serve, or have any formal ties to any one youth group. Without this commitment there is no accountability, few relationships where they serve and love one another, encourage each other toward holiness, or have a sense of responsibility toward the group. They have learned this from their parents who either model it for them, or enable them to express this behavior of selfishness.

C.S. Lewis once wrote an essay on church membership, reminding us that the word membership is of Christian origin, but it has been taken over by the world and emptied of all its original meaning. Today, most people associate the term membership with paying dues, meaningless rituals, silly rules and handshakes, and having your name on some dusty roll.

Paul, however had a very different image of membership. To the Apostle Paul, being a member of the church did not refer to some cold induction into an institution, but rather it meant becoming a vital organ of a living body (Rom. 12:4‑5; 1 Cor. 6:15; 1 Cor. 12:12‑27). Any organ that is detached from the body will not only miss what it was created to be, it will also shrivel and die quickly. The same is true for Christians that are uncommitted to any specific congregation.”

Nowhere in Scripture does it imply that salvation comes through membership in any church. Luke says of the early church, “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). When questioned about salvation, the apostle never suggested that it depends upon connection with a group of believers. When Peter and others were asked, “Brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37), the reply was, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (v. 38). Peter’s message was the same in Acts 3:12-26 and 4:7-12. Paul’s reply to the Philippian jailor’s question, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30) was straightforward: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (v. 31).[7]    So while there is no link between salvation and membership, there is a direct link between sanctification and membership in the local church.

Benefits of Membership  

It is important to realize that there are several benefits that can come to you through church membership. The benefits include:

1) It provides a spiritual family to support and encourage you in your walk with Christ (Gal. 6:1‑2; Heb. 10:24‑25).

2) It gives you a place to discover and use your gifts in ministry (I Cor. 12:4‑27).

3) It places you under the spiritual protection of godly leaders (Heb. 13:17; Acts 20:28‑29).

4) It gives you the accountability you need to grow (Eph. 5:21).

5) It gives you a place where there are people who will share the burdens of life through prayer, love, sharing, support, and encouragement (Gal. 6:2).[8]

As long as you are not committed to a local church body through membership, you are not able to live the Christian life God intends for you live. Even if you “attend” a church for a long time, it is the formal commitment on your part to the church and the church toward you, that creates a bond of accountability, encouragement, and ministry in Christ’s name. [9]

[1] Acts 20:28-31; Ephesians 4;11; 1 Timothy 3:2; 1 Corinthians 11:18 ff.; 1 Timothy 5:16; 1 Corinthians 16:1.

[2] Mark Driscoll. Doctrine (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway) 322.

[3] Millard Erickson. Christian Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker) 1048.

[4] Driscoll, 307.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 2:18-19; 3:6; 4:25; 5:29-30.

[7] Erickson,1047.

[8] Rick Warren, 101 New Members Class Manual.

[9] Other suggested books to read on this topic that were not mentioned in the footnotes;

Bible Doctrine, Wayne Grudem (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan) 1999, and Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches, John S. Hammett (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kregel) 2005.

The Leader as an Engineer

As a leader, there is nothing more satisfying than to have an idea, putting together a plan, and then seeing that plan executed with a good result. The whole process is challenging, fun, and fulfilling – but far more important than feelings about the process, is how God uses leaders to effectively change their organizations (preferably for the better).

Change is one of those things that happens in life that few people enjoy. However, organizations have a choice. Either they facilitate change intentionally or they simply respond to the change that occurs around them and allow it to dictate the course of their ministry. The leader is either engineering for change, or she is reacting to events as they happen, therefore losing the ability to control the outcome of ministry.

Before we discuss the leader as an engineer further, there is an organic leadership principle that must be understood – healthy growth requires change. [1] I have four children, and my family is constantly throwing clothes into what we call the “too small pile.” As we do laundry weekly, there are items of clothes that get tossed into this pile in our bedroom. But what if all of our four children stayed the same size forever? Would they be healthy? No. While growth is not the only indicator of health, it is definitely an important one.[2]

Mark Driscoll said in regard to change in the church “Growth causes change, change causes complexity, complexity causes chaos, chaos causes concern, concern causes conflict.” [3]  There are issues other than growth that push organizations toward feeling the pinch to change. But if the need for change goes unanswered by leaders then things will not stay the same – change is inevitable. If you can identify the need, and strategically plan ahead through prayer, Bible study, and consultation then you can also control the steps that follow.

For example, using Driscoll’s steps, if you are at the “change causes complexity” stage, then you can seek to organize the complexity and take steps to deal with this change – it does not have to lead to the next step of chaos.

But if you find yourself in chaos in ministry (which is not a fun place to be), you must recognize that people tend to deal with prolonged chaos in one of two ways: (1) apathy – they will eventually quit caring, trying, growing, and just focus on their world and what they can control (2) conflict – out of concern for control people try to initiate their own agendas.

It is the leadership’s role to provide a plan (i.e. strategy to deal with the change, complexity, chaos, and concern) before it leads to apathy (decline and loss of momentum), or conflict. The key theme or main issue that would result from this would be managing or engineering the systems of your organization for change.

Can you take the overall confusion of what your organization does, and break it down into manageable pieces? If we were to use the church as an example, Nelson Searcy identifies eight systems, and then organizes the church according to these eight systems (Sunday morning, finance, outreach/marketing, small groups, assimilation, leadership, ministry, and strategy).[4]

Breaking the organization, and what you do, into bite size pieces also allows you to continually evaluate how you are doing in those specific areas. If you were to ask, “How are we doing?” and someone were to respond “ok, I guess.” This response is not very helpful. But if you were to ask, “How are doing with welcoming new guests?” Then this would be much easier to evaluate and get specific feedback.

So, sit down, pray, and plan for change – how are you going to engineer for a better organization? What are the areas that can be grouped into “bite-sized” pieces for easier management? Remember it’s about making a difference in peoples lives, not keeping everything calm, and everyone happy.

 

[1] Michael J. Anthony and James Estep Jr. ed. Management Essentials for Christian Ministers (Nashville, Tenessee: Broadman and Holman), 201.

[2] When we say “growth” often times, leaders think numerical growth. This is only one of several types of growth that can take place in an organization. One of the most important types of growth is personal spiritual growth. Are the people in your church growing in their relationship with Christ? If not, then while you may be growing numerically, you are headed for a serious storm ahead.

[3] Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. Vintage Church (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2008), 148.

[4] www.churchleaderinsights.com

"Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts." Rick Warren

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