August 12, 2010

Some friends of ours are beginning to meet together with the specific intention of serving their neighbors, co-workers, and friends. He recently sent me a description of their meeting. It may not sound like a typical church meeting… but, that’s a good thing, I think. This is what he said:

Sunday we met with the S.’s and one other family in their home and studied scripture, sang with a guitar, and prayed together.  It was good to sit around and talk about all the people we know who we can serve and then move forward right then to contact some of them.  This is something we are going to try to do a few times a month as we look to see what the future has for us, while hopefully bringing in a few other families as well.

I ask my friend to explain what he meant by “talk about all the people we know who we can serve and then move forward right then to contact some of them.” This is what he described:

We talked about who we know that needs help and we came up with a person J. works with that is going through some financial hardships (her husband is a Muslim who is opposed to the gospel but she is a professing believer).  We called her and she had received help that same day already from her mom with groceries.  We found out her windshield has a huge crack that needs to be fixed so we are going to see how to get funds together for that.  J. also knows a 97 year old lady in town who she has taken food to and who doesn’t have family around.  We tried to call her but wasn’t able to get a hold of her at the time.  (This lady is amazing, even though she is old she lives alone and does yard work for her house and a few rental houses she owns).  I called a lady from Africa that works in the cleaning department (she lives alone and doesn’t have a car or family close by).  We have had her up to our house before, so I called her and setup a time to have her up to our house and to take her grocery shopping (she loves to fix food from Africa).  Lastly, a friend of ours who A. and I meet with weekly for breakfast and encouragement has some stumps in his back yard that he wanted to grind but he lost his job recently and is starting nursing school in September so his funds are limited.  Instead of renting a stump grinder, A. and I are going to attempt to go over there while they are out of town and chop up some stumps with a couple of axes (they aren’t huge trees and we figure it may be good exercise).  As you can see, J. is our person of peace, which makes it easy to come up with people with needs because she naturally meets them or people gravitate towards her.

I love the way they met together! What? Do I love the Scripture they studied or the songs that they sung? Well, probably, but I don’t know what that was.

What I like is that when they gathered together, they thought about and discussed how they can serve others. And, instead of just talking about it, they started doing it right then! Yes!

Sounds to me like considering one another to stir up love and good works… (Hebrews 10:24-25)

February 10, 2010

Art from “Church Task Force” left the following as a comment on my post “The weaker are indispensable“:

At what great cost have we gained so little. We have ruled out 95% of the life of a family in our formality and in our quest to keep up appearances that meet the world’s approval.

I think we need to look past sizing up the importance of contributions–and the methods of these contributions–based on how they make us appear in the eyes of the world (and the eyes of those who are careless in their journey). Is speaking the only way to function (must all be mouths)?

And we cannot do this without also considering the environment we craft and choose for our gathering. I mean both physically and the atmosphere we create by our level of formality. Just the idea that a meeting “starts” and now everyone must shut up, only 1 person may speak from here on, and everyone must give undivided attention, and no one must move or do anything without permission–oh how very weird for a family to act like this together! These have a great impact in shutting out the natural functions of these important members of His body.

Sure, at a family reunion, someone may ask for everyone’s attention for a few moments. But it would be rare. Most often, people cuddle up in groups and jabber away, sometimes dragging someone over to join in on some particular point. No one is excluded from functioning in the most natural ways.

Look around, and you will see love and tenderness being meted out generously. You will see the young caring for the old, the children laughing and playing with freedom and security, the men sometimes pulling aside, the women, too, but the gathering continues to flex and flow as everyone interacts, gives, receives, appreciates, enjoys, loves.

There was one family, but it was not a singular meeting in an artificial, formal manner, and so all contributed in constantly shifting collections of people. Think back and recall the family times together with uncles and aunts and nieces, cousins, and nephews and gramma and grampa. Remember the chaotic, ordered, joy of being together? Who has such thoughts of Sundays at 11 AM to noon?

In the end, everyone was fed a meal, everyone found acceptance, everyone contributed in many ways at various opportunities that presented themselves quite naturally throughout the time together. Service–caring for the needs of others–is highly valued and esteemed in these families. All felt themselves an important part of being together; all had a place. Even those unskilled in public oratory.

If the church is a family (and I think it is, not just metaphorically, but really), then shouldn’t we look and act like a family, even when we meet together? One of the great things about what Art said above is that it is often difficult to tell where he’s talking about a family reunion and where he’s talking about a church meeting.

January 9, 2010

Just before Christmas, my friend Joe from “Hear God Speak” answered a question that I asked on Facebook. Instead of giving Joe a leg lamp (a leg lamp), we decided that he would publish a guest blog post on my blog. This is Joe’s post… enjoy!

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2 Peter 1:10b Blessed Assurance

I have never enjoyed revivals. I felt this way even before I realized I was a Calvinist. When I was the pastor of Matthew’s Memorial Baptist Church, we didn’t have a revival the entire time I was there. I read a statement on another blog that totally crystallized why I feel about revivals the way I do. The author said some churches have a “pray this prayer and you’re saved” mentality and that they encourage people to always remember that day and never doubt. This has nothing to do with anything that we find in 2 Peter 1:10. I know there are people who went down in VBS and prayed a prayer when they were 8 years old or so who now live in open defiance of God’s word with hate, bitterness, lust, and greed in their heart. They have a false assurance of their salvation. Peter, in this verse, writes to these Christians about true assurance of salvation.

First of all, we should remember that our salvation is not something that we brought about by our choice or because we were smart enough to realize that we needed a Savior to redeem us from out sins. Our salvation, as we can observe in the first part of verse 10, begins with God’s calling and choosing of us. Salvation started with God. His Holy Spirit empowers us to live out the Christian life but it is in our living of that life that we find our assurance of salvation. Peter writes in the second half of verse 10 that our assurance comes as long as you practice these things. The word practice is in the present tense in the Greek. In other words, the development and exercise of these things (the virtues in verses 5-7) is a lifelong endeavor. This activity is quite frankly the toughest job you’ll ever love and you will never retire from it.

The Lord was pleased to save me when I was 12 years old and I have grown in Christ since then, albeit not so steadily in my college years. I’m celebrating the 13th anniversary of my 25th birthday (or 38 according to my wife.) the 22nd of February this year and I feel like I have more to learn today than I did when I started my journey. I feel like the more I learn and know the more I realize how much I need to learn and know. As Christians, we are called to live in a manner consistent with the truths of the gospel. Of course we’re going to sin. We’re still living in a fallen world with fallen flesh that loves to sin better than anything. It is only through the strength given to us by God through the Holy Spirit that we are able to do this. In fact, it is a bigger surprise to me sometimes that I am able to live for the Lord than it is that I fail and sin. The questions we should ask as we read these inspired words given to us through the pen of Peter are “Am I living what I believe? Is the pattern of my life generally consistent with the truths taught in scripture? When I recognize sin in my life, do I confess and repent of that sin?” If you can answer yes to those questions I would say you’re probably practicing the truths Peter has taught. As you see these qualities and character traits grow, you can feel assurance that your profession of faith is genuine. You will have tangible evidence that you can rely on rather than some prayer mumbled when you were a child.

Peter further assures believers that their life of godliness provides a reason to feel secure in their salvation. He says that if you practice these things you will never stumble. Now, Peter uses some strong language in the Greek language that doesn’t really translate to English. In saying never Peter uses three Greek words: ou (3756) which is used for absolute negation of something, me (3361) which is a less intense negation and pote (4218) which means never, not once, ever. In fact, following the word order of the Greek a person could translate the phrase “no not stumble never, not once, ever”. I think that’s a quadruple negative. Regardless of how you want to count the number of negatives in that phrase, it seems pretty clear that Peter is emphatically saying that a true believer, one who is living out his or her faith, will never fail away so as to lose their salvation. Stumble (ptaio-4417, to trip up) is in the aorist tense which points to a stumbling that is final and from which one cannot recover, as noted by Edmund Hiebert in his commentary on II Peter. This does not mean that a believer will never sin. What it does mean is that a person who has genuine saving faith will remain faithful in spite of all their minor slip ups and falls to the very end.

If you will notice, in the next verse (2 Peter 1:11) we are told the end of the Christian journey is arrival at home in heaven. We can have assurance of our future home in heaven by the godly lives we live here and now. As Peter has noted, we do not live godly lives to earn our salvation but rather they are the proof of God’s work in our lives.

June 30, 2009

People in the Raleigh area occasionally email me and ask if they can meet with our church. Of course, anyone is welcomed to meet with us. Sometimes, they ask me, “What are your church meetings like? What should I expect?”

Well, I recently met Jon. We had lunch together, and last Sunday he met with us. I asked him if he would tell me about his time with us. I told him that I would like to post it on my blog (before I received his description). So, this is what Jon said about meeting with us last Sunday (he wrote it as a letter to the church):

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Dear Brothers and Sisters of Messiah Baptist Church,

For the last few years now, my spiritual instincts have told me that something was missing from my overall church experience. My whole life as a believer, I assumed any dissatisfaction with the “worship service” was the result of my inadequacies or my lack of “spirituality.” I’m still inadequate, and I’m still not very spiritual, but something was telling me that I wasn’t the only thing broken.

The Lord has taught me quite a bit over the last year, and I have finally taken the step of faith to leave my existing church and search for a deeper church experience … something closer to what we see in the New Testament, and what I believe Christ intended. That is why I greatly anticipated my visit to your church this past Sunday. Of course, anticipation wasn’t the only feeling I had. I was also a little skeptical, perhaps somewhat afraid. I’ve been reading a lot lately about simple / organic church, and in the back of my mind, I can picture the type of people this might attract: rebels, non-conformers, heretics, etc. (somewhat kidding). What if I was disappointed? What if what I have been envisioning for over a year was a big let-down?

Any reservations aside, I found myself being mostly excited to visit with you. I was eager to experience some of the things that we actually read about in the New Testament. I am happy to say that I was very filled and fulfilled by our meeting together. I was surprised (while also not surprised) by how natural it felt, as if I was in my element. I guess the best way to describe it is to say that it felt very “balanced.” I guess one of my fears was that it would seem like, “let’s do everything we can to not look like an institutional church!” … “let’s be extremely different!” Rather, it felt like a genuine pursuit of our Lord’s idea of church. I was comfortable in the corporate sense (as a fellow believer) but challenged in a personal sense (in light of what we studied). It was refreshing and it was very balanced.

Here are the elements of the meeting that meant most to me:

Fellowship — I felt very welcomed among the group. It wasn’t just the “hello, welcome to our service, glad you’re here today.” It was genuine, meaningful conversation. You were interested in who I was and what was going on in my life. The meal was also very special. It gave everyone a chance to further connect and spend time together. I loved the fact that there was no sense of hurry or “look what time it is!” … We were just content to share our time.

Family — I love that the entire family is included in the meeting. We love having our son in church with us now and I like the idea that he can learn with us as he matures.

Interaction — I personally liked the circle seating arrangement. I don’t know how you normally do it, but it seemed very appropriate for sharing amongst the group. I love that everyone had an opportunity to share, read scripture, and have input (and it was decently and in order). I also loved the fact that there was freedom to be vulnerable, whether it be a hard situation someone is going through or even a sin that needs to be confessed.

Music — I’m assuming you usually have a guitar or something (which I like), but I enjoyed being able to sing without a lot of extra noise. It allowed me to focus on the meaning and the message of the songs. I was glad to see a good balance in the song selections (hymns, choruses, etc) … all familiar. A couple of songs did seem to “drag’ on a little bit, mainly the ones with a lot of verses (but I’m sure that’s just the old worship leader in me). I’ve yet to develop a comfort level with “contemporary” church music or the idea that “worship” is all focused on the musical part of the service, so I was definitely pleased to see that the corporate singing (and the whole meeting for that matter) appealed to the spirit rather than the emotions.

Bible Study — What a great lesson and very good insight from the whole body. I left having discovered new truths shared by all those who had something to add. It was refreshing to see a meeting where the Holy Spirit has more control than we do. Yet, it was not a “free-for-all.” Everyone shared (with humility) according to their spiritual insight. I did not sense that anyone was trying to draw attention to themselves by what they had to say.

Now, I can finally say that I know what I’ve been missing! Thank you all again for allowing a fellow brother join your family for one day. I certainly look forward to doing it again soon.

Until we meet again,
Jon

January 19, 2009

Recently, I received an email from an old friend. I once worked with him. He and his wife had some relationship problems, and they ended up getting a divorce. We’ve emailed back a forth a few times, but it was both encouraging and discouraging to get this email from him:

I’m married now and we are expecting. We are very excited about everything that has been going on lately. I even had an interview for a promotion today so we are probably moving up north even farther. Like I said we are very excited about everything that has been going on.

We have been really trying to reach out for Christian fellowship and it has not been easy. That is actually the “advice” that I was hoping to get from you. My wife and I have both been really wanting to be around other Christians who challenge and help us grow and think about our beliefs and, well, the kind of environment I used to have with you guys at work. We don’t really know how to approach this though and we have gone with the most obvious and typical approach of finding a “local church” and doing all that but it is very unsatisfying to both of us for all the obvious reasons: sermons are weak at best heretical at worst, people are fake at best and judgmental at worst (many of them know about my divorce), and the environment is awful for fellowship and extremely conducive to over-emotionalistic unimportant ego-soothing nonsense. You know, the common problems with this kind of environment. So I don’t know what to do. I have been reading books and getting back into my Greek. I have been doing everything possible to be at least intellectually stimulated but its not really doing it for me or my family for that matter. Have you got any advice on what we could do to find other believers who can challenge us and help us and who we can share and grow with. We want Christian community and have realized very clearly that it is a difficult thing to find.

What advice did I give my friend? The same advice that I usually give to people who email me:

Seriously, there is no easy answer. First, be patient and pray. Second, look for God to work through the relationships that you already have. Start by inviting people to your place or out to dinner, and see what happens.

Finally, I’ve started adding another piece of advice. I encouraged him to check out SimpleChurch.com. This is a social networking site for people who are interested in more simple expressions of the church.

What advice would you give to my friend?

July 7, 2008

In case I haven’t said this recently, the most awesome people read and interact on this blog. (Yes, even those brothers and sisters who disagree with me.) I often get emails from people who further conversations on this blog. I usually ask if I can use their emails as “guest blogger” posts.

Recently I received an email from Hal. He sent me the email below in response to our chain blog on “City Church“. I thought you might enjoy reading what he has to say about unity among the body of Christ.

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I am a believer in Memphis, Tn. I am part of a fellowship of believers here that has been meeting in homes for a while. I stumbled on your blog while reading David Roger’s ["Love Each Stone"].

For what it’s worth I’d like to testify to the fact that being part of a “city church” is truly a labor of love. Most folks just have enough stress already, and don’t want to go through the grind of worshipping with, and living with people who they either don’t like, or disagree with doctrinally. It’s just so easy to find a place that has good music, right doctrine, and something for all the kids. But for the few of us who are a little weird and know Christ has asked much more of us than that, well, we persevere at all costs.

After you’ve gotten to know a brother well enough to hate him, and can still wash his feet with joy, there you have the church. We are not called to be over one another, but under.(Luke22:24-27) If you can get strong willed men whose minds are made up about the church together, with completely different stances or views on the scripture, and watch them submit to each other, you will have men you can trust and love.

Most of what I’ve read on “city church” is good, but always ends up hung up on how to share power: “who will be in charge?” Funny how it’s not reversed “who will be the least.” In America we don’t need more gifted preachers, we need to trust Christ to be head over His church, and ask Him to be our leader. “Give us a king!” we scream, when what we really need to do is walk in the love and truth God is so ready to freely bestow on those who would be priests unto Him.

If we ever get to the point where we know we’ve replicated the first century church, or that we’re doing it the right way, it’s over. I think the Lord in His wisdom will deal with the world through broken vessels, striving for unity. However close we get to the ideal church experience, we must hold it loosely, knowing it is all of grace. I am blessed to be where I’m at, and long for many of my brothers to know real church life, but at the same time I know God works through the meek and opposes the proud, so I repent of the pride that so easily ensnares me, and ask God to bless the First Baptist churches of the world. Thanks for reading this, and may the Lord bless his holy people.

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I agree with Hal that God desires unity and that we should work toward unity. I also agree with Hal that God even works through broken people – even those who refuse to live in the unity of the body of Christ. When we think we’ve got it all together – when we think things are perfect – then we’re relying on ourselves and our ability to do things right, instead of relying on God and his grace.

I thank God for brothers like Hal who are living the gospel with those who are different from themselves. I also thank God for all of those who email me. I’m always encouraged to hear what God is doing through his children around the world.

April 8, 2008

Last year, I had the opportunity to post several “guest blogger” posts. These posts were written by other people, usually sent to me in emails. I would get their permission and post them here in hopes that the guest posts would be an encouragement to my readers, and that my readers would be able to encourage the guest bloggers.

In November 2007, I posted a guest blog called “Searching for fellowship“. The author (Teresa) has stayed in email contact with me. I asked if I could publish this latest email that demonstrates how God is bringing true fellowship and community into her life. Please feel free to interact with this post in the comments as you would with other posts. You can address your comments to Teresa or to me.

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Here is an update from my letter that I had written to you in November.

At the time I had written to you, I was questioning what the following scripture meant to me: “And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.” (Heb. 10:24-25 NASB)

The reason that I was questioning this is because I am a soul that has been “in church” every single Sunday since the 2nd grade. Then about 4 years ago I suddenly found myself not attending church at all after our church had a traumatic split. We were devastated by what had happened, meaning- how people had behaved toward us and toward each other.

The process has been difficult and painful. But God has been faithful to who He is. He is good and he never changes! No matter our circumstance. So, through this painful season we have learned alot about ourselves, alot about our God, alot about people, and about church as an institution. Our pain kept us from attending any churches in the beginning, but our understanding is what has been showing us the real reason we do not desire to walk through the sanctuary doors as we once had. We desire more than programs and religion. We desire connecting with people on a real life level wrapped in the understanding of our identity in Christ and the Grace of God.

Since the time I had first written to you, I have made some wonderful connections with a few dear people online. I hope to meet each of them in person someday soon! My husband had the opportunity to travel to Europe to be a part of a conference in Bulgaria. The conference spoke to Pastors there about the message of Grace. I surprisingly have made a connection with a woman there who had been an attender of a conference. I have been enjoying connections God has provided with people in many different places. I feel that through these connections I have been able to live the scripture of Heb. 10:24-25. Of course it does not look like what we are accustomed to in traditional church. But the result is that there is an assembling and encouragement taking place.

We are also looking into an opportunity of hosting and facilitating grace walk groups through the ministry of Steve McVey. We hope in this opportunity we will make more tangible connections with people in our community.

Last week we had attended a funeral in which many people from our past church were at. We were welcomed by some, and to our expectation, shunned by others. God did a lot in our hearts through that day. And I realized that I am walking on the path of healing with a hope and a future. There are some who will never choose that path because holding on to the past is where they seem to find their life. But for those who do choose a path of healing and restoration we welcome them by our side.

I believe we have crawled out of the “rut” and are walking ahead on the other side. Resting in Jesus is what brings us comfort and HOPE. We know He is in control and that He is GOOD! We are excited for all the things to come as our God lays out our future for us.

Thank you for your encouragement and prayers through this journey.

Peace,
Teresa
(formerly, anonymous child of God)

November 27, 2007

I recently received the following email from a reader. I appreciate how this person has shared their struggles and triumphs as they attempt to walk with God. Perhaps you have some words of wisdom or encouragement to share with this “anonymous child of God”, or perhaps you would just like to share your own struggles to find fellowship:

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Hello:

I clicked on your blog link from another website. the verse you have headlining has been one I have been thinking about for a while : And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near. (Heb. 10:24-25 NASB)

Nearly 4 years ago our church – for lack of better words – Blew Up.

In a lot of drama, gossip, rumors, judgement and criticism people became scattered and went their separate ways injured and wounded. There were little “them and us” groups that formed..the mud slinging continued, and people that once claimed to be “family” and love one another became enemies.

Some were just caught in the middle not knowing which end was up. (I think those are the ones my heart aches most for)

The history in a nutshell is that this church was a new church plant about 4 years old. It came into a new area, started in a school gym, the growth exploded, we found a building, and worked very hard trying to get new people in by having lots of events. The church grew quickly and many of the leaders were very new believers. The pastor was working in many ways out of his flesh, though he had a sincere love for the people and for God, in his leadership role, there were times he wounded some. Those he wounded realized that he was not deserving of the pedestal they had placed him on and vowed to destroy him and his family.

As this drama unfolded for the next several years my family had been shunned by many of the people. (you see, the pastor was a family member) So, I can only think that we must in their eyes be guilty by association of the wrong doings they have accused him of.

My best friends walked away from me. People that we used to fellowship with turn from us when we run into them. As a matter of fact, I just ran into a woman last night in the grocery store, when I spoke up and said Hello, she looked up, her face became twisted, she struggled to murmur a quick hello and then looked away…and this is 4 years later…

My whole life I have gone to church on Sunday morning. Though now I realize that it was because that is what I thought I was “supposed to do”.

We have visited a few churches. But nothing feels right. And the thing is, that through this past 4 years, God has been bringing me into a new understanding of his Grace and Mercy. So when I walk into these places and hear legalism be preached, or hear that in my son’s Sunday school class the teacher told him to make sure and bring a dollar next week for the offering…it just turns me off. Not to mention, there is a bit of a fear of people in general after what we have experienced.

My kids ask why we don’t go to church. We have done some “home church” stuff, just here with the kids. But haven’t been consistent. My husband and I have read some books: “The Rest of the Gospel” by Dan Stone, and “Lifetime Guarantee” by Bill Gillam. We both attended a healing retreat that God really met us in. And we have several internet sites that support our growing in grace. And as it applies to our life, we share these understandings with our kids.

But the question for me now is what does not forsaking our own assembling together, mean to me? I do not want to go back to my old ways of thinking and go to a church just because I think we should. But I also feel that we are in this bubble of limited fellowship.

Recently I have been thinking a lot about this passage and what it might mean to me:

Jer 3:13 Only acknowledge your guilt. Admit that you rebelled against the LORD your God and committed adultery against him by worshiping idols under every green tree. Confess that you refused to follow me. I, the LORD, have spoken!
Jer 3:14 “Return home, you wayward children,” says the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will bring you again to the land of Israel–one from here and two from there, from wherever you are scattered.
Jer 3:15 And I will give you leaders after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge and understanding.”
Jer 3:16 “And when your land is once more filled with people,” says the LORD, “you will no longer wish for ‘the good old days’ when you possessed the Ark of the LORD’s covenant. Those days will not be missed or even thought about, and there will be no need to rebuild the Ark.

I apologize for this lengthy email. And I am not even sure of my exact purpose for writing to you. But after looking at some of your writings, I thought you might be able to understand our situation and if the Lord leads you, to offer encouragement in Him. Let me also quickly mention that though this past 4 years have been painful and ugly on days, I wouldn’t trade it for the understanding I have gained of who I am in Christ and what His Grace and Mercy means to my life.

Thanks for your time,

(anonymous child of God)

October 16, 2007

I received an email from a brother in Christ recently asking for advice. I’ll call him S.P. (for “Senior Pastor”). I’ve enjoyed getting to know S.P. more through email. I asked him if I could share this email with my readers, because some of you have more experience and more wisdom in this area than I do.

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For a long time (at least 15-18 years) I have been convinced that the church is to be led by a plurality of men referred to as elders. This means that no one man is to assume the role of Senior Pastor and to do all the work of “the ministry” himself or even with a “staff.” It seems clear that pastor, elder, overseer, and bishop are all interchangeable terms. Unfortunately, I have not known of any churches that practice this type of leadership structure.

Currently I serve as the Senior Pastor for a church. We are a Baptist church with an elder structure. This is what drew me to this particular congregation. However, while I was told that the Senior Pastor is one of the elders (the first among equals), after more than three years here it is very clear that this is no different than the deacon led Baptist churches I have served at with the deacons or elders functioning as a board of directors. To make matters worse our staff (associate pastors) are not even elders at all. So in our church we have a Senior Pastor (me) who also serves as an elder, the elders, associate pastors who are not elders, and ministry team leaders who function much like deacons should function. What a mess!

Well, I’m tired of it all. For reasons too numerous to list in this email and very similar to the views expressed on your blog, I think this is a serious failure to follow the simple plan of the Scriptures. The result: 1) I am very tired and less than effective, 2) I have all the responsibility for the church’s success or failure (because I’m the Senior Pastor) without all the authority (neither of which I should have – both the responsibility and authority should be shared), 3) I have a frustrated staff who are confused because they are pastors without being elders and so they have very little real authority and much responsibility, 4) the Senior Pastor is viewed like a CEO, 5) other teachers/preachers are not accepted in the pulpit, the ministry of the church is focused upon growth in numbers and budget, not upon “kingdom” things, 6) the overall health of the church suffers.

I know that some would say that other churches with the “traditional” model are doing just fine. I suppose that is true if fine means the efficient running of a corporate organization. But this is not what I believe God has called me to. I want to be a real shepherd. But most of my energy is wasted on management issues that I’m not even good at.

So, I am finally getting the courage of my convictions (again, long held convictions). Something needs to change. But I am not sure what to do. Do you have any advice?

A couple of things I am starting to do (some inspired by Dave Black): 1) I am asking people to call me by my first name, 2) I am going to remove my “ordination” certificate from my wall, and 3) I am teaching through 1 Timothy and addressing these issues as they come up in the text (I’ve expanded my study of 1 Timothy 3:1-7 this week to include other texts about elders). I’m also considering taking our elders through a study on the subject. I might even suggest we drop the use of ecclesiastical titles (I agree with you – only Jesus is the real Senior Pastor).

Do you have any advice? It is particularly hard when all of your training has been to be the Senior Pastor of a church (I’m a seminary graduate). I’m also not as young as I used to be (I’m not old either!). So, I am seeking wise and godly counsel.

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If you have any wise and godly counsel for S.P., please leave it in a comment here.

September 23, 2007

Previously, I have described how we partake of the Lord’s Supper (see “The Lord’s Supper (one example)“). Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of exchanging emails with Dustin, a brother from nearby Greensboro, NC. He is one of the elders of Shepherd’s Fellowship of Greensboro, and blogs at “Grace in the Triad“. I asked Dustin to describe how they partake of the Lord’s Supper. I thought this might be encouraging to some of my readers. The following is his description:

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Here is a basic rundown of the “mechanics” of how we do the Supper:

1. After we finish our church meeting, the ladies are busy prepping the “pot-providence” dishes and table while the guys are helping break down sound equipment and moving tables where they need to be for the meal. One family rotates each week on a schedule to determine who is responsible to bring the elements for the supper (the bread and grape juice). We sit out the whole loaf and a huge pitcher of grape juice at the end of the table with the rest of the food. Folks are also able to use the bathroom, etc., at this time. This is about 15 minutes.

2. We all stand in a circle, hold hands, and pray before eating the meal. This can be quite fun with 65-70 people! I (or whoever is leading) then prays a prayer of Thanksgiving for the food with a sense of joy and gladness because we are prefiguring the marriage supper of the Lamb – a time of intense, face-to-face fellowship with Jesus in heaven that will happen in the future (Acts 2:46; Rev. 19:6-9).

3. Folks get their food in a buffet fashion, and since we use a whole loaf, the believers can go through and simply take a piece of the loaf and put it on their plate when they pass through. They also pour out some juice at the end of the buffet line into their own cups. We also allow children and unbelievers to have some of the juice and bread if they want (the bread tastes good cause’ it’s homemade), but we warn the parents not to teach their children to partake of it as an ordinance [which would basically be akin to infant baptism], but that its o.k. to eat it as part of the fellowship meal if they want.

4. Once people are eating, fellowshipping, etc. we get their attention for a moment and I or another elder (or any capable believer) “fences the table” by reading and briefly but accurately explaining or reminding folks of the warning found in 1 Cor. 11:27-34. We basically explain to the hearers how the rich Christians despised the poor in the church at Corinth by eating most of the food before the poor got there (thus treating them like 2nd class Christians), and they were also getting drunk off of the communion wine. We exhort sinning Christians in our midst (esp. those who have sinned against a fellow believer and treated them contemptuously) to avoid partaking so that they can further focus on their need to reconcile with their brother and sister and with God whom they’ve sinned against. This has served to cause people to reconcile beforehand so that they can partake of the elements with a good conscience (which is exactly what we want!) We also focus on reminding the unbelievers in our midst to watch the Christians partake of this part of the meal because it is not only a remembrance of Christ’s death but also a pre-figuring of that sweet time in heaven at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19) and it is a reminder of their need to be washed clean of their sins by the shed blood of Jesus.

NAU 1 Corinthians 11:27-34 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. 33 So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come.

5. Next, whoever is leading (a) Reads 1 Cor. 11:23-24, (b) believers then joyfully partake of the bread, and then (c) the leader leads in a brief prayer of thanksgiving for God’s love demonstrated through breaking Christ’s body for the Church.

NAU 1 Corinthians 11:23-24 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

6. When it looks like most folks are finished eating their meal, the leader reads 1 Cor. 11:25-26 and we all partake of the cup together:

NAU 1 Corinthians 11:25-26 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

7. We then have a brief closing prayer of thanksgiving to God for the atonement of Christ and we remember with joyful anticipation His second coming.

All of this may sound a little cumbersome, but it’s not bad at all. We have thoroughly enjoyed doing it this way and I can say that it has had a truly “sacramental” effect on our church body in accordance with 1 Cor. 10 ( i.e., the Holy Spirit building unity and koinonia through the shared Supper). After doing it this way, I’d *never* go back to crackers and a thimble-full of grape juice. I’m just too spoiled now!

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I appreciate Dustin for sharing this with me and allowing me to share it with my readers. I pray that this is beneficial to our brothers and sisters who read it. If you have any questions for Dustin, or if you would like to comment on this description of the Lord’s Supper, please feel free to use the comments here.