Tag Archives: gospel

Documentary: Lord, Save Us From Your Followers

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Lord, Save Us From Your Followers [affiliate link] is the title of a new documentary that just came out on April 20th. My wife and I were able to watch the whole thing online the day it came out and I want to recommend this resource to you.

In this documentary, Dan Merchant asks the question, “Why is the gospel of love dividing America?” With interviews, quotes and clips from people like George Bush, Barack Obama, Bono, Al Franken, Tony Campolo and Rick Santorum, Merchant does a great job of presenting a balanced and reasonable look at the way Christians are engaging culture.

Merchant uses a variety of approaches to getting everyone’s perspective on the “culture wars” in America between various faith communities. He interviews Dr. Tony Campolo who is a noted evangelical scholar but he also interviews Sister Mary Timothy who is a cross-dressing “nun” in San Francisco. In addition to dozens of great interviews, Merchant also does some pretty interesting “man on the street” style interviews. He walks around in a big white jumpsuit with various bumper stickers espousing Christian or non-Christian values. His point is to show that when we reduce the conversation down to a bumper sticker we aren’t really engaging anyone with our beliefs and values.

This documentary has animations, clips from popular culture, and a quick moving pace that keeps you interested in the content. Overall, this is a well-researched and compelling documentary on how followers of Christ should be acting. Merchant even shows up at a gay pride event and opens up a confession booth with a hat tip to Don Miller of “Blue Like Jazz”. When he begins confessing the sins of Christianity (like how many hate rather than love our homosexual neighbors) to many of the gays and lesbians who enter the confession booth many of them are visibly moved and appreciate his willingness to take the first step in reconciliation between the two sides.

There aren’t too many people creating Christian films on par with what Hollywood can produce but this documentary is a refreshing change. The message is sound and compelling and the video and production are done with excellence. This documentary needs to be seen by churches and families as we consider how to show love to our neighbors.

Here’s the product description from Amazon:

Whether someone is Atheist, Agnostic, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, – or yes, even Christian – all can identify at times with the cry, “Lord, Save Us from Your Followers!” Fed up with the divisive bumper sticker mentality overtaking America, director (and follower) Dan Merchant donned his Bumper Sticker Man suit and set out on the daring search for meaningful dialogue and the true face of faith. Appearing in the film:Senator Al Franken, Dr. Tony Compolo, Former Senator Rick Santorum, Sister Mary Timothy, Paul Young, Bono, George W. Bush, and many, many more.

How are you engaging culture? Are you sharing the radical “Gospel of Love” to your neighbor or are you reducing the Gospel to a bumper sticker length message of condemnation?

The Great Commissions: Luke

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The Lukan Commission is quite different from the Matthean Commission (which is usually the one we think of when we think of the Great Commission). This series of posts is intended to help broaden our understanding of what Jesus wants us to do with our time, our talents, our resources, and our passions. Jesus gives His disciples a purpose. The Matthean Commission is extremely important and should not be diminished by this series of posts, but the other commissionings of Jesus are equally informative and important and help us to have a more robust understanding of our role in God’s plan.

Luke 24:44-49

Then He told them, “These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He also said to them, “This is what is written: the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”

Context: This commissioning took place on the same day as the resurrection and it happened in Jerusalem with the 11 “and those with them” including Cleopas and his friend who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus. When Jesus appeared in the room they were startled and thought He was a ghost. So He confirms His humanity by asking for some food. He also confirms that the cross wasn’t an illusion by showing them His scars.

Here are a few insights from this passage:

  • Jesus first says that everything that has happened is a fulfillment of prophecy.
  • He opens their minds to understand the Scriptures. By doing this, Jesus is confirming the role of Scripture in the life of the disciple. (Note: The Matthean Commission also points us to Scripture when it says we are to teach disciples “to observe everything I have commanded you”.)
  • Jesus’ teachings are then summarized by Luke: “This is what was written…” 1) The Messiah would suffer, die, and rise in three days (meaning that a child of God cannot deny the resurrection of Jesus). 2) Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplishes forgiveness to those who repent (meaning that a child of God is one who has repented from sin and has received forgiveness from God). 3) This repentance and forgiveness are to be extended to all nations beginning in Jerusalem.
  • There is no command here, just a simple statement that “You are witnesses of these things.” You can’t be a witness of these things and not experience transformation. Unlike the Matthean Commission, the Lukan Commission focuses on who we are as a result of walking with Jesus. There’s no need to remind them, at this point, of what they should be doing, instead, there is simply a reminder of who they are: witnesses.
  • To those who are witnesses of these things, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit because He promised to do so. Meanwhile, the disciples are to “stay” in the city until they are empowered from on high. In our hurry to “go”, Luke emphasizes Jesus’ command to “stay” and wait on the Spirit. In fact, “stay” is the only imperative in this passage. This staying resulted in the Day of Pentecost when they were truly empowered to be witnesses. In other words, it’s not enough to just be a spectator, we also need God’s Spirit to give us words to say, to draw people to Himself, and even to give us opportunities to “bear witness” to that of which we are witnesses.

Conclusions: One of the intriguing things about Jesus’ mission and the subsequent commissioning of His disciples is that his birth, life, death, and resurrection were all the fulfillment of prophecy. But until it actually happened with witnesses, it was only a future hope. The resurrection inaugurated an “already but not yet” era that would be corroborated by His witnesses. That present reality still exists today by those of us who are also witnesses and disciples of Jesus.

What insights have you gleaned about the mission Jesus has called us to from Luke 24:44-49?

The Great Commissions: Matthew

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Matthew is not the only one who records Jesus teaching and commissioning His disciples after the resurrection. In addition to the Matthean Commission there are two Lukan Commissions and one Johannine Commission (there’s also a Markan Commission but it is in a disputed text). Jesus spent forty days after His resurrection teaching His disciples about the mission He was sending them to do.

In this series of posts I want to look at each of these Great Commission texts to mine them for insights into the mission that Jesus gives to us to complete.

Matthew 28:16-20

Matthew is a good place to start since Matthew is the first Gospel in our New Testament. However, that doesn’t mean that the Matthean Commission happened first. In reading through these various commissionings of Jesus, it’s clear that Jesus spent the forty days between His resurrection and ascension “commissioning” and teaching, and training His disciples on a number of matters. He spent time teaching them and explaining to them their task. Since Jesus spent a lot of time with His disciples, the chronology of these Great Commission passages aren’t as important, though I do hope to share a bit of context for each one as this series unfolds.

So let’s take a look at what Matthew records starting at verse 16:

The 11 disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw Him, they worshiped, but some doubted. Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Context: On the mountain in Galilee. It says that when the disciples first saw Him in Galilee, they worshiped, “but some doubted”. These first words of Jesus upon seeing the disciples in Galilee were meant to establish His identity and allay their doubts. Jesus had spent His entire ministry making disciples and now He is telling those disciples to carry on the task. Note that this is not the first time they’ve seen Jesus alive, but they still have doubts.

Here are a few insights from this passage:

  • This commission is not a suggestion or  wishful thinking. Jesus says, “All authority has been given to Me on heaven and on earth.” In other words: take note of what I’m about to tell you to do and then do it!
  • Jesus tells them: “[As you are going], make disciples of all nations…” This is to be a way of life and it’s a global mission.
  • Two essential elements of the ‘making disciples of all nations’ process is to baptize and to teach.
  • Baptism is done in the name of the Trinitarian God. Belief in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is not optional for a child of God.
  • “Teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” This is a perpetual commissioning because this includes the Great Commandments (love God and love your neighbor as yourself) and the Great Commission. If they don’t make disciples then they are disobeying Jesus’ commands and the church is never established.
  • Jesus will always be with us. This is a relationship-oriented, not a task-oriented, mission. We have a relationship with Jesus and Jesus is asking us to do something similar to the relationship building that He did with His disciples (the 12 AND all the other disciples).

Conclusions: When we engage in disciple making, we must realize that we have not made a disciple if they are not trained or are unwilling to make disciples themselves. The Great Commission passages are about reaching the nations through baptism, teaching, and multiplication. If we aren’t engaged in these sorts of activities then we are not obedient to Jesus’ primary will for His followers to fulfill the Great Commission. If we are engaged in activities that don’t result in baptism, teaching, and multiplication of disciples then we need to rethink our activities and maybe loosen up our schedule. Thankfully, Jesus provides a model for making disciples and we have God’s Word, and God’s Spirit to guide us. So get started!

What insights have you gleaned about the mission Jesus has called us to from Matthew 28:18-20?

Church Planting is People Planting

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There’s a lot of imagery in Jesus’ parables of sowing seeds. We use the same imagery when we talk about “church planting”. The essence of church planting is simply sowing seeds of the gospel into our neighbors lives. This becomes harder and harder for established churches as the outward focus shifts inward.

But that’s okay! The good news is that anyone can be a people planter!

Regardless of whether or not we are starting a brand new church or are a part of an established church we can be involved in people planting. Every church leader can invest in people. Every church member can invest in people too! Another way to say that is, we are all called to obey the Great Commandment and fulfill the Great Commission.

Plant a seed. Pray! Water it. Pray! Watch it mature. Pray! Repeat!!

Our neighbors need to know about the good news and all of us are called to share it with them. People planting is about investing in the lives of our neighbors. We need church planters to be people planters. We need established church leaders to be people planters. We need church members to be people planters.

He is like a tree planted beside streams of water
that bears its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers. (Psalm 1:3)

Are you a people planter? Are you equipping others to be people planters?

Are People Generally Good or Basically Bad?

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DSB Question 3 of 10

Michael Wittmer has asked some great questions in his book Don’t Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus is Not Enough. I’ve been reviewing this book chapter by chapter because the book closely identifies with the content of ChurchETHOS. I’ve been able to give away 5 copies of the book already and you can still get one for free here. So far, Wittmer has asked, Must You Believe Something to be Saved? and Do Right Beliefs Get in the Way of Good Works? In my posts I’ve tried to be fair to Wittmer’s thoughts and I’ve sprinkled the posts with some of my own responses to those questions as well. There have been some great comments so I hope you will go back and check out the conversation.

The Next Question

Today, I want to talk about chapter four of DSB. Wittmer asks, “Are people generally good or basically bad?”

The problem with this question is that we want to believe in the innate goodness of people. Since we want to believe it, we often do and we tend to ignore the more important  question of what God thinks about our goodness. This becomes a Big Assumption that holds us and keeps us from recognizing the truth that we are in desperate need of being rescued from ourselves (I don’t care how good you think you are).

There is certainly some goodness in our lives, but there is also some badness. In comparison to Bin Laden I’m a saint. In comparison to Mother Theresa I’m a sinner. But in comparison to God?

Universally Created By God to Enjoy Him Forever

The first question and answer of the Westminster Catechism is:

Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

There is something that all of us have in common: we were all created by God to glorify and enjoy Him forever. We were created in His image. Our first parents were placed in a beautiful garden. God looked at all that He had made and it was very good. Our common – and very human – love for life, for beauty, for creation, and for our fellow human are part of what it means to be human. Nothing we’ve ever done can remove those sorts of qualities (and others) from our human nature. I’m confident that I can find something good in ANYONE if I spent enough time looking.

Humans do good things. We write checks to charity. We help old ladies cross streets. We generally try and care for the defenseless, the helpless, the hopeless. People are generally capable of doing good.

Universal Rejection of God

We humans have all been created, therefore we are generally good, but we all have something else in common too. Wittmer writes, “Everyone possesses a relative goodness that enables us to help others. But when we lift our eyes above our natural level and compare our goodness with God, we confront a double problem: God’s higher standard and our sinful brokenness.” We were all created, but we also have ALL rejected God, something the Bible calls sin. Some do it willfully, some do it ignorantly, but the fact remains, we’ve all done it.

For those of us who have turned back to God and asked His forgiveness, we must realize that we are no better than anyone else. Wittmer encourages Christian humility and I strongly agree. Just because I’m forgiven and someone else isn’t doesn’t mean that that same grace and love and forgiveness isn’t extended to them by God too. God loves those He has created. He created all of us and He wants us to enjoy Him forever. He extends His grace to ALL who will receive it. He longs for us to be reconciled to Him.

The Fall is what happened when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Ever since then, humanity is living under a curse. Sure, we can do some good things every once-in-a-while, but we can also do some bad things. Some have more discipline than others and though they don’t know God they are able to listen more attentively to their God-given conscience and they restrain themselves from doing too much evil. But we all do it. We all have hurt someone. We’ve all let someone down. This world may be a better place thanks to you, but just barely. A lot of people feel like they’ve got to do more good to offset the bad that they’ve done. That’s noble and is advisable, but God is more concerned with your relationship with Him. You can make a bigger difference in the world if you obey Him.

Even though “obedience” doesn’t sound good what is God asking us to obey? Jesus summed it up into “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength…and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) If you could do that perfectly, then you would truly be good with no shred of evil in you. Jesus is the only one capable of that kind of obedience. When we confess our disobedience to God and ask His forgiveness, He begins the process of healing us from the evil that permeates our nature. He begins to show us how to be good again.

So What Is Good?

A lot of people don’t want us to bring up sin and the Fall. They want us to simply celebrate the good that we find in others and accept the bad that sometimes happens. This weakens the need for forgiveness and lets us just live our lives however we deem best (and that’s often not as good as we think). That kind of goodness will never measure up.

Wittmer gives a good example of this:

Yesterday my six-year-old pounded out his first recognizable tune on the piano, and I made quite a fuss about it. “Landon, that is ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’! You are playing the piano! Good Job!” And it was – especially good for a beginner and far better than anything I can play. But compared to my wife or a concert pianist, it was not very good at all. Goodness is a relative term. It depends on what we are talking about.

Again, when we talk about good things people do, I think we can all agree that we are generally good, but in comparison with the God who created us, we all fall short. There is a chasm that we ourselves have dug with our sin that separates us from God, not because of God, but because of us! That’s not good.

Picture 1Wittmer quotes Tony Jones, another “postmodern innovator” who said, “a common metaphor showed God on one side of a diagram and a stick figure (you) on the other; the chasm between was labeled ‘Sin,’ and the only bridge across was in the shape of Jesus’ cross. But emergents ask, ‘What kind of God can’t reach across a chasm? Chasms can’t stop God!’” Wittmer replies brilliantly to this naive comment: “I am not sure what Jones is objecting to here, for the metaphor’s point is that while the chasm prevents us from coming to God, it does not stop God from reaching across. Perhaps he means that God should be able to reach us in some other way besides the cross? Or perhaps that our sin does not separate us from God?”

For those of us who believe the truth of the Bible, we can already see how God has reached across the chasm. Hey, I don’t like simplistic, cartoon versions of the gospel either but the basic truth is that we ARE sinful and we ARE separated from God. Thanks be to God that He HAS reached across the chasm to reconcile us to Himself!

Is Our Good, Good Enough?

We have to realize that we may do some good things but when it comes to loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves, we just aren’t cutting it. We are in need of an overhaul of our sinful system and God lovingly provides the answer through His Son Jesus. Our good may help a person in need, or bring a smile to someone’s face, but our eternal relationship with God depends on our willingness to give up and confess that we can’t do it without His help.

Wittmer writes, “People are created, and so we may unreservedly love them. People are fallen, and so there is a difference between those who are running their own lives and those who are striving to follow Jesus. Our common creation enables Christians and non-Christians to cooperate, and our response to the Fall explains why we often compete.” Let’s learn how to love each other God’s way. He is the only One who is ultimately Good. We need to be restored to Him and that relationship with Him will help us love others and enjoy Him forever.

The Christian Response to Prostitution

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Rembrandt "Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery

"Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery" by Rembrandt

On Tuesday I wrote a post about the legalization of prostitution. The response to that post in the comments, on Facebook, and other social sites like Twitter and Reddit has been very interesting. Everyone from fundamentalists to sex workers have been voicing their opinion on the matter. Some have voiced their opinions on legal grounds and others have been on moral grounds (though I tried to do a fair job of keeping it on the legal side for the sake of discussion).

So, what do we do about it? ChurchETHOS is meant to help the church think about it’s habits and it’s reputation in the world. Churches have a lot of bad habits and as a result many people have rejected the teachings of Jesus because of our poor reputation with outsiders. When confronted with an issue like prostitution what can your church do to make a positive difference?

» Show Some Love

Whatever you do, don’t get out your Sharpie and poster board and start thinking up catchy slogans about how much God hates certain groups of people. For one thing, He doesn’t! For another thing, it’s exactly the opposite; God loves prostitutes, homosexuals, murderers, and fundamentalists even if He doesn’t condone their actions. So, if we are in fact, children of God who bear the DNA of the Creator, then we will love people. I’m not going to say, we should love them, because that sets up an us vs. them mentality. I’m not going to point to Bible verses so that we feel obligated to love people who aren’t like us. There is no obligation; there is no need for exhortation; a child of God loves people! It’s part of who we are.

» Preach the Word

Pastors and other church leaders need to preach and teach the Word to the church. Emphasis should be on God’s love in giving us sex and intimacy and marriage and family. We need to talk candidly and frequently (but tactfully) about the blessings of sex but we shouldn’t shy away from talking about the dangers physically and morally of engaging in sex outside of marriage. More than that, we need to cast vision for husbands and wives that they can be faithful to one another. We need to cast vision for parents that they can raise their children to avoid moral pitfalls. We need to cast vision for teens that even though they are inundated with sexual images daily they can find ways to live a victorious life through Christ.

» Make it Personal

The church has thrown away it’s street cred by trading in it’s relational mission to the poor and the marginalized for a seat of power in Washington. It is debatable whether that seat has done more harm than good for the kingdom of God. Our collective denouncement of the world has taken its effect: we got our seat for a time but people got tired of hearing what we stand against. Not to mention that the fundamentalists failed to consider what happens when the White House no longer cares what the church thinks. The social capital that once belonged to the church is spent.

I’ve written elsewhere that our faith shouldn’t be a public faith (or private). Instead, our faith should be personal. If your church leans more towards boycotts than towards building relationships with people who don’t watch Pat Robertson on TV then change needs to happen in your church. I’m willing to let our voice in Washington fade if we renew our Gospel mission to our neighbor on a more personal, relational level.

» Show Compassion

A lot of people who are involved in prostitution don’t want to be involved in it. The church can help them find something better for their lives. The church can help counsel those who have sexual addictions. The church can take troubled teens into their homes who may have been trafficked for sex. The church can provide a non-judgmental atmosphere for people to ask questions about God. The church can raise money and awareness for social issues.

Laws only take us so far. They are given primarily to protect society. The church can do more through compassion than the government can through taxes and policies and legislation. That will only work, though, if the church actually addresses issues like prostitution. If we just try and get more control in Washington then the real mission work will never get done.

» A Parable

Once, a group of religious leaders brought to Jesus a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery (John 8:3-11). I always wondered about that story. Didn’t they catch the man in the act of adultery, too? Why didn’t they bring him to Jesus? What would Jesus have said to him? It seems unfair that the woman is the only one who is blamed.

To anyone wanting to legalize prostitution I promise I won’t try and fight you on it. I’m not going to stock up on poster board and Sharpies. Of course, my personal vote in the ballot box is one thing but I’m not going to try and mobilize an army of voters against you. Legally, I would rather see us place more emphasis on those who kidnap, abuse, and exploit women and children for their own monetary gain than on the women who often feel ostracized from society.

There are some things that should not be on the market: drugs, machine guns, sex, etc. They can all be dangerous because of their power even though they aren’t bad in all contexts (like in medicine, military, and marriage respectively). The buyer should be just as accountable as the seller when it comes to such dangerous commodities. However, I want to address issues like prostitution the way Jesus would address them. He spoke personally to the woman caught in adultery. He challenged her not to live in sin. He went beyond the law that demanded her death because he knew her accusers couldn’t live up to the law either. He spoke to her heart. He loved her. He connected with her. He forgave her.

May we the church begin acting in a way that is pleasing to our Lord and that brings about transformation in the hearts and lives of our neighbors!

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Paths to God

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image courtesy of DavidK-Oregon

image courtesy of DavidK-Oregon

It seems like everybody is searching for a path in life: a career path, a path to success, or if you are like me then maybe you’re looking for the path of least resistance. Maybe we should call this quest ‘pathology’ because a lot of people go crazy trying to figure out the right path to take.

Most of the time we can’t even decide on what to eat for dinner, much less who we are going to be, what we are going to do, or who we want to be with. But there’s a path that’s more important than any of those other paths, and that is the path to God. But, for some reason, when it comes to choosing a path to God, it’s usually easier to simply say, “All religions lead to the same God! So whatever path I choose will be just fine.” It certainly sounds enlightened, doesn’t it?

Usually people talk about all religions leading to the same God with the image of different paths up the same mountain. But how do we know that is true? Who was the first person to come up with this idea? Was it God? If it was anyone else other than God Himself wouldn’t it have to be inadmissible? Isn’t God the only One with the perspective necessary to approve or reject that idea?

Mohandas Gandhi, the poster-child of tolerance and inclusivism, towards the end of his life said, “I have not yet found God.”

Gandhi thought he was on a path to God, yet he never found Him. So even if it’s true that all paths lead to the same God, how can you know you will ever reach the top?

So, let’s get rid of this idea that God is twiddling His thumbs waiting for us to figure it out for ourselves. The good news is that God does have something to say about the matter. He sent His Son Jesus to tell us, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to God but through me.” What is He saying? He’s saying that He is the Path, and that He is the only Path to a relationship with God. Does that sound exclusive? Intolerant? Discriminatory?

But what Jesus is saying is that God isn’t a passive God waiting at the top of some existential mountain in the recesses of our psyche. Instead, He is a God who actively paved the way for you and me to know Him. This is unique from all the world religions because it doesn’t talk about the things you have to do to maybe find favor with God, rather that He’s already done everything that needed to be done. The Path is paved.

So, to have a relationship with God you simply have to join Him on His Path. It’s that simple, but it’s also challenging because you have to realize that no other path in life that you may find yourself on is more important than the path to God. Where you work, who you marry, and whether you will have Chinese or Italian tonight pale in significance to the question of which path you will choose to know God. On the other hand, knowing and walking with God on His Path gives clarity and meaning to all those other questions of life. Trusting Jesus to be who He said He is is the most important decision you will ever make because He is the Path.

Related Post: One God, Two Gods, Three Gods, No God :: Subscribe :: Why Subscribe?