In response to an article I read in The NY Times, which can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/opinion/the-evangelical-rejection-of-reason.html
This was my response which I emailed to them and just might possibly be in the papers soon:
The Baby’s Bathwater
Last week I sat down with a friend who happens to be a Unitarian Universalist pastor. I shared with him my views of theology, eschatology, and how I am encouraged by the postmodern worldview that is taking place as well as my discouragement concerning the prevalent anti-intellectual attitude alive in the Church. Here it was a 27 year old radically engaged Christian pastor and an above 50 years of age reverend of a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, sharing salad and stories, hopeful of what the information age will bring to pass.
Since I shared my views of how my “thinking” and studying the Scriptures led me to be dismissed and ostracized by the “big church” in our location, I was delighted and inspired when he text messaged me concerning the NY Times article titled “The Evangelical Rejection of Reason”, that was in the opinions section on October 17, 2011.
After reading and re-reading the article a couple times, as well as getting feedback from many Facebook friends, I am responding to this article that brought me a breath of fresh air. Time and time again, especially in political and religious atmospheres, we hear the statement: “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater”, yet it is about time that we recognize what exactly is the baby and what is the bathwater. Why? Because the bathwater is full of bacteria and its dirt is getting all over the baby and even to the extent of getting the filth all over those seeking to take the baby out of the bacteria-infested water. At this point one might realize I am speaking of the man-made doctrines in the Church that are accepted as Biblical, yet fail to stand against scrutiny and ultimately “spit in the face of Jesus”.
I seek not to be prideful, arrogant, or to throw stones at anyone- yet as the NY Times article rightly said: “But when the faith of so many Americans becomes an occasion to embrace discredited, ridiculous and even dangerous ideas, we must not be afraid to speak out, even if it means criticizing fellow Christians”. This is exactly the point! As I read this NY Times article I didn’t spend time dwelling on the “side issues” that were brought up to make clear the point of- the evangelical rejection of reason- rather I saw complete agreement, considering it is my reason and being “too intellectual” which has gotten me rejected by many.
As a missionally engaged Christian on the frontlines of radically spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, I can say I am grateful for the postmodern atmosphere of critiquing and questioning. As Mark A. Noll wrote in his book, “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind”, “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind”, and that is clearly demonstrated as the authors of the NY Times article explained through the fundamentalist slogan- “The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it”. Oh, how us students of the Bible wish it was that easy, considering the vast disagreements in all areas of theology so alive in the Church. It is discernment, disagreement, and intellectual honesty that have led to the expanding reach of the Christian gospel, in Spirit and Truth.
The popular evangelical Christian doctrines set up various views that force its proponents to look at reason, study, and any form of knowledge outside there confines as arrogant, misled, and heretical. Many man-made doctrines that have been passed off as “Biblical” lead to excessive conspiracy theories in all fields concerning science, history, and the like. Authors Timothy P. Martin & Jeffrey L. Vaughn, explain, detail, and document this in their book, “Beyond Creation Science: New Covenant Creation From Genesis to Revelation” making bold statements such as “The real reason the influence of secular unbelief is so great in our day lies in the widespread failure of Christians to understand the Bible in its own context and to present a real Christianity to the world…Christians have lost influence in Western society precisely because Christians have not thought deeply or acted wisely in response to the cultural challenges modernity presents to the Christian faith”. Also, speaking of a growing group of conservative evangelicals the authors wrote, “They also wonder what it will take to bring about the demise of dispensational premillenialism in America which has retreated from reasoned biblical defense of the view”.
Yet, true to form I will always present the case of the good news. I was encouraged by the above mentioned NY Times article because I see something on the horizon (I myself am an example). The Age of Enlightenment came with a lot of criticism toward the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Emergent generation- X rebelled against the fundamentalist Christianity offered by their parents, and today the postmodern generation provides challenges yet inquiring Christian minds are seeking to provide answers, dare I say a resurrection of the gospel. This is something I like to call emerging profitable Christianity, which is pushing away the “simplistic theology, cultural isolationism, and stubborn anti-intellectualism” of pop-culture Christianity. Many, myself included, are seeking to be an example of a true Christian worldview that can take on whatever it is that the world seeks to offer, rationally and reasonably. We refuse to get caught up in the right and wrongs of gay marriage, the contrast of political parties, and seek to engage science and history with an open mind standing on our foundation in Christ- all in an effort to bring healing to the nations as ambassadors of the kingdom of God.
Admittedly, this is a long, hard, and sometimes lonely task. Yet we are continually encouraged through conversation with one another, an authentic way of living Christ-like, and the ever-reforming challenge to wash the dirty water off the Messiah-baby Jesus Christ through critical, loving, challenging and welcoming conversations.
It’s emerging…
Michael Miano is pastor of The Fellowship C.H.U.R.C.H. in Fort Myers, Florida. He is currently working on a seeking- to- be published autobiographical tale called Freaked-Out by the New Covenant: What Your Life Would, Could, or Should Be. Also, an avid You Tuber and blogger. Visit the church website at http://www.freakedoutfellowship.weebly.com
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Missional: Attacking the Static- Part 5 (A Theology that WORKS)
Good day my friends. Please don't mind if I vent a bit. This blog is being written at no better a time because of how clear I am seeing the pharasaic attributes of the church which serve to stagnate the church and it's mission. If we look at the modern church and consider the time of Christ we see very similar diversion tactics being used by those who want to defend their view or institution. For example, consider time when Jesus began to explain that the Sabbath was made for the man not man for the Sabbath, the Pharisees looked for ways to accuse Him according to the Law rather than see the truth in the matter at hand (Mark 2:23-3:6). Another example is that as Jesus is teaching the Truth of the law and do miracles the religious people continually find reasons to question what He is doing for example in Matthew 15:1-20, they focus on the fact that Jesus' disciples do not wash their hands before they eat and therefore break the tradition of the elders. Legalism, what you should not be doing, was the greatest method of diversion to get people to ignore what Jesus was truly doing, and it even extends to the Apostles. Consider all the times that the Apostle Paul had to explain and reiterate the difference between law and grace and was constantly accused of making it ok for people to sin( Romans chapters 2-7; Galatians chapters 2-3; Ephesians chapter 2; might I add that you should just read the New Testament as a whole). Today, many in the Church are clearly allowing a man to determine where they will stand in regards to the truth and are not studying things for themselves, and that's depressing because one must consider how many Jews in the first centruy where led astray by this tactic- following their Rabbi. In Matthew chapter 23, Jesus Christ is issue the judgement text as to what is going to happen to the religious teachers of the Law in his time, might we read in context yet glean some wisdom from blindly following teachings that may just seem right:
" Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are (Matthew 23:13-15)".
This week I sat down with a Jehovah Witness and during our 3 hour discussion/ debate he continually emphasized that I remind him of Obama because of how well spoken I am. Obviously, this diversion tactic was used to say that it's my speaking that is convincing, not my theology. At this point I am all to familiar with diversion tactics and strawmen that are used to confuse and diffuse truth (Check out my video series on Pulling Apart the Strawman). Fact is, truth will prevail!! And since it has been said that I am similar to Obama, I will stay true to form and say- "There is hope"! :)
There is hope that the truth will prevail over the deceit, deception, falsehood and lies that are a plague to the church and its mission. There is hope that the true gospel spoken by Jesus Christ and the apostles will be ressurected as the Christians begin to use discernment and search the Scriptures. There is hope that the gospel message that emphasizes the mission of making disciples for Christ will be renewed and revitalized in contrast to the prevailing apathetic misinformed "churchianity" message that many are comfortable with.
I titled this blog- A Theology That Works- for a dual purpose. If one is to consider the works versus grace contraversy that has continued in Christianity and is clear in the book of James, we come to the Biblical conclusion that
"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (James 2:17)".
Therefore, we conclude that our lives must be marked by action. But what produces the action? Our Faith! Theology is our understanding of God, so we recognize that the natural outpouring and fruit of our faith should be action. Do you feel that tug of action? What exactly is your understanding of God (theology) urging you to do?
The purpose of this blog series- Missional: Attacking the Static- was to get us to take an honest inventory of the Church, our participation as members of the Body, and now I am clearly up some of the issues so prevalent (all of which have been expounded upon in books, through quotes, and personal discernment):
apathy, passivity, Pharasaic separatism, comfortability, and inconsistent discipleship.
What I pose through this blog is an emerging profitable Christianity that starts with our theology which will produce action, as I like to term is "zeal empowered by knowledge".
As I said before, there is hope, and that hope is through a through us, the body of Christ, the Christians doing what we are commanded by studying the Scriptures, using discernment and searching the Scriptures, and allowing a natural outpouring through our lives of the things we begin to know and how we look at the world (a true Christian worldview). Their are some amazing things that are emerging thanks to the current times and the good ole information age. The challenge is on the table though, it is not an easy task for an apathetic passive comfortable Church to begin to be consistent in our dealings with the world, to offer a true good news that is rational and reasonable, and to truly engage.
Come, let's reason together....Can you consistently discuss and if need be defend/debate your faith? Are you presenting a message of good news to the world that is actually accepted as good news?
Read Ephesians chapter 2-3 (notice "you will be able to understand", "make plain to everyone the administation of this mystery). Does your gospel presentation sound like that?
These are contentions I have had for a while living as a fully engaged Christian who looks at the world as a mission field. Through my studies of the gospel we present to the world I have continually realized that we fail to speak about the kingdom of God. My continual contentions were that we are not seeing the miracles, signs, and wonders that Jesus and the Apostles did (or the 3000 people coming to the faith) because we were not being true to form. Jesus came on the scene of ministry and declared:
"Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has drawn near; repent, and believe the good news. (Mark 1:14-15)"
"From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has drawn near (Matthew 4:17)".
AND THE APOSTLES:
"They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even large numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets (Acts 28:23)".
"For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 28:30-31)".
My continual focus of seeking to understand and declare this message to the world has led me even further in realizing the failure of being consistent to the message. If you look to the end of Revelation, it is then that the kingdom of God is given to men- what kingdom is this? Is it a physical kingdom that will one day be on earth? Is it a restored world? If you read Revelations chapters 21-22, along with the Old Testament prophecies of the hope of this kingdom you realize the popular view is hardly consistent with the text. What did Jesus say to Nicodemus about the kingdom?
"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again (John 3:3)"
Unfortunately, as you study church history you will see the confusion and debate concerning the realized kingdom of God, the mix of Gnostic teachings, and much to our detriment today- new teachings upon new teachings to explain misunderstands by what Christ meant. If you study doctrines you will see that due to much of the confusion the popular gospel message today has many gnostic tendencies:
"Gnosticsism is a radically dualistic view of reality where physical reality is completely separate from spiritual reality...They claimed "salvation" involves escaping from the physical world, which is the source of corruption, into the spiritual realm, which is pure and eternal...deny the goodness of God's physical creation and teach that God must replace it with a new universe in the future...one of the many things that the Christian docrtine of the incarnation shows us is the perfection of Jesus Christ is possible in God's physical world. Many other holy and righteous men in Biblical history also demonstrate to us that man's problem has nothing to do with the created order; the problem is sin which resides in the human heart. The curse related to sin is not inherent in the elements of the physical world; the curse has to do with human beings and their covenant relationship to God. That is why believers can be saved, right here and now, in this world. The problem mankind has is sin, and God can take care of that for those who believe. He doesn't have to throw away the physical universe in order to do that (Paraphrased from the book: Beyond Creation Science)".
Biblical truth sounds a bit different than the spiritual hogwash being spouted at many sunday services today, doesnt it? You know... the whole recieve Jesus in your heart today that way you have the hope to be wisked away with him into heaven when you die, but you will have to follow some rules and live a good life separate from the bad people and come here to sing alot of songs, etc, etc.. And that's the good news we present to the world? Sounds a bit like Gnosticism.
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking"- Steve Jobs
I love that quote above. Sadly, many in the Christian Church today are living by dogma, doctrines, and a spinkle of Scriptural truth. The aspect of thinking out-side-the box or really thinking through things with discernment (intellectualism) is considered a fault in the eyes of many- because many equate faith with a lack of rational thought. As I have posed through this blog, looking at the socio-religious climate- THIS IS A MAIN TENENT OF THE PROBLEM WE HAVE IN BEING A STATIC INSTITUTION!!
"Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritains worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship in Spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24)"
Jesus was speaking to a woman outside the covenant of Israel. He was telling her of a time when truth would be revealed to all those who seek to know God through Christ, the Messiah. Notice that it would be spirit and truth that the Father wants those to worship Him through, we must not ever compromise these aspects! That my friends is the solution.
Becoming missional in our efforts to attack the static of the institutional church through faith and works is the solution and the greater things that we would do through Christ (John 14:12)- living in love, fulfilling the Law (Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14; etc..).
Unfortunately, the separatist/ retreat from the world aspect that makes Christians feel good about them being the "righteous" is the hypocritical doctrine that blocks us from living in love and living missionally. Besides..it's easier to just separate and know our differences. That's exactly NOT how it is done, the incarnation of Jesus Christ is a prime example.
There is a difference between true Christianity that is reforming and emerging in small unions in radical Christ-ways from organized churchianity. We have seen the need to reform and critique many times and for many reasons in Christian history, and I would imagine the list I can compile is a very minimal list compared to the needs that must change as we emerge and engage the world as the true Christ-followers that we are.
"Where the church is faithful to its Lord, there the powers of the Kingdom are present and people begin to ask questions to which the Gospel is the answer"
Some of us from The Fellowship C.H.U.R.C.H. have taken up the opportunity to gather and learn with the local Unitarian Univeralists on Sunday mornings. Originally. we started out just going and listening and seeking to demonstrate the gospel in word and deed. The more time we spend there and befriend more and more people, we are realizing the commonalities we all share, the value of friendship ("love beyond belief"), and the process of enjoying the journey of learning, loving, and living. Recently, the minister has been sharing with us about the convictions of the UU congregation and summation of his "What Do We Believe" sermon was:
"The most important point of faith which I have not yet mentioned is, faith is for a purpose. It's to motivate you to care for yourself, so that you may help others, and to exhibit concern for the world of we're apart of"
As Christians, we are not just simply universalists with a concept of “love beyond belief” nor do we hold an atheistic do-good view rather we have a proclamation of truth changes all things. Read Hebrews chapter 11 to learn of what part faith has had in the lives of the heroes of our faith. Yet we fail.
It is time, especially in a religious, social, politcal, and economical culture we face today to be offering a consistent, clear, and not so absurd good news to the world. This will enable our efforts to smash false paradigms and views that are set up contrary to the true gospel and the reality of it. We have the unction to demolish strongholds and therefore make all thought captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). We have the call to be rational, reasonable, and offer the answers to the world around us through the gospel of Christ (1 Peter 3:15)- this is truly the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:3).
The depressing news is that many are misinformed because of the serious lack of studying the Scriptures, knowing church and secular history, and instead of defending the faith and searching the Scriptures many have trusted in doctrines of men and sough the the easy way out. Popular teachings stand in stark contrast to the concept of iron sharpens iron, and especially the challenge of Proverbs 18:17: "The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him". Instead of searching out the matter, and diligently searching the Scrictures the popular teaching, even said by pastors is the inconsistent aspect of sitting under a man or school to learn truth (oddly enough, in time this is and can be disputed as reguritating the doctrines of a man, or as you learn more as desire to search things out you may recieve the rebuke of taking information from too many sources -sorry bit of a side not there :))
Sadly, as you may have noticed at the beginning of this blog the issue of defending and teaching the truth gets personal for me. As a committed missional Christian, committed to study of the Word and searching the Scriptures- I am at odds with popular doctrine. Emerging missional theology is not a stated way of doing things it simply means to emerge (defined as moving out of the way or away from something and come into view) and become missional as you learn more and more about God. I pray that this blog series has been edifying to you and that through the Spirit of God you will continue to diligently study the Scriptures and share the gospel through your learnings!
"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!". And let him who hears say, "Come!". Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life (Revelation 22:17).
and I guess this is where I extend my invite of "Come!", lets hang and let me buy you a coffee.
A brother, friend, servant of the Lord,
Pastor Michael Miano
*And yes I really am inviting you to fellowship with me over a cup of coffee, tea, or maybe a frappachino, ha ha ha...give me a call or text 239-603-5695
" Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are (Matthew 23:13-15)".
This week I sat down with a Jehovah Witness and during our 3 hour discussion/ debate he continually emphasized that I remind him of Obama because of how well spoken I am. Obviously, this diversion tactic was used to say that it's my speaking that is convincing, not my theology. At this point I am all to familiar with diversion tactics and strawmen that are used to confuse and diffuse truth (Check out my video series on Pulling Apart the Strawman). Fact is, truth will prevail!! And since it has been said that I am similar to Obama, I will stay true to form and say- "There is hope"! :)
There is hope that the truth will prevail over the deceit, deception, falsehood and lies that are a plague to the church and its mission. There is hope that the true gospel spoken by Jesus Christ and the apostles will be ressurected as the Christians begin to use discernment and search the Scriptures. There is hope that the gospel message that emphasizes the mission of making disciples for Christ will be renewed and revitalized in contrast to the prevailing apathetic misinformed "churchianity" message that many are comfortable with.
I titled this blog- A Theology That Works- for a dual purpose. If one is to consider the works versus grace contraversy that has continued in Christianity and is clear in the book of James, we come to the Biblical conclusion that
"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (James 2:17)".
Therefore, we conclude that our lives must be marked by action. But what produces the action? Our Faith! Theology is our understanding of God, so we recognize that the natural outpouring and fruit of our faith should be action. Do you feel that tug of action? What exactly is your understanding of God (theology) urging you to do?
The purpose of this blog series- Missional: Attacking the Static- was to get us to take an honest inventory of the Church, our participation as members of the Body, and now I am clearly up some of the issues so prevalent (all of which have been expounded upon in books, through quotes, and personal discernment):
apathy, passivity, Pharasaic separatism, comfortability, and inconsistent discipleship.
What I pose through this blog is an emerging profitable Christianity that starts with our theology which will produce action, as I like to term is "zeal empowered by knowledge".
As I said before, there is hope, and that hope is through a through us, the body of Christ, the Christians doing what we are commanded by studying the Scriptures, using discernment and searching the Scriptures, and allowing a natural outpouring through our lives of the things we begin to know and how we look at the world (a true Christian worldview). Their are some amazing things that are emerging thanks to the current times and the good ole information age. The challenge is on the table though, it is not an easy task for an apathetic passive comfortable Church to begin to be consistent in our dealings with the world, to offer a true good news that is rational and reasonable, and to truly engage.
Come, let's reason together....Can you consistently discuss and if need be defend/debate your faith? Are you presenting a message of good news to the world that is actually accepted as good news?
Read Ephesians chapter 2-3 (notice "you will be able to understand", "make plain to everyone the administation of this mystery). Does your gospel presentation sound like that?
These are contentions I have had for a while living as a fully engaged Christian who looks at the world as a mission field. Through my studies of the gospel we present to the world I have continually realized that we fail to speak about the kingdom of God. My continual contentions were that we are not seeing the miracles, signs, and wonders that Jesus and the Apostles did (or the 3000 people coming to the faith) because we were not being true to form. Jesus came on the scene of ministry and declared:
"Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has drawn near; repent, and believe the good news. (Mark 1:14-15)"
"From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has drawn near (Matthew 4:17)".
AND THE APOSTLES:
"They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even large numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets (Acts 28:23)".
"For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 28:30-31)".
My continual focus of seeking to understand and declare this message to the world has led me even further in realizing the failure of being consistent to the message. If you look to the end of Revelation, it is then that the kingdom of God is given to men- what kingdom is this? Is it a physical kingdom that will one day be on earth? Is it a restored world? If you read Revelations chapters 21-22, along with the Old Testament prophecies of the hope of this kingdom you realize the popular view is hardly consistent with the text. What did Jesus say to Nicodemus about the kingdom?
"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again (John 3:3)"
Unfortunately, as you study church history you will see the confusion and debate concerning the realized kingdom of God, the mix of Gnostic teachings, and much to our detriment today- new teachings upon new teachings to explain misunderstands by what Christ meant. If you study doctrines you will see that due to much of the confusion the popular gospel message today has many gnostic tendencies:
"Gnosticsism is a radically dualistic view of reality where physical reality is completely separate from spiritual reality...They claimed "salvation" involves escaping from the physical world, which is the source of corruption, into the spiritual realm, which is pure and eternal...deny the goodness of God's physical creation and teach that God must replace it with a new universe in the future...one of the many things that the Christian docrtine of the incarnation shows us is the perfection of Jesus Christ is possible in God's physical world. Many other holy and righteous men in Biblical history also demonstrate to us that man's problem has nothing to do with the created order; the problem is sin which resides in the human heart. The curse related to sin is not inherent in the elements of the physical world; the curse has to do with human beings and their covenant relationship to God. That is why believers can be saved, right here and now, in this world. The problem mankind has is sin, and God can take care of that for those who believe. He doesn't have to throw away the physical universe in order to do that (Paraphrased from the book: Beyond Creation Science)".
Biblical truth sounds a bit different than the spiritual hogwash being spouted at many sunday services today, doesnt it? You know... the whole recieve Jesus in your heart today that way you have the hope to be wisked away with him into heaven when you die, but you will have to follow some rules and live a good life separate from the bad people and come here to sing alot of songs, etc, etc.. And that's the good news we present to the world? Sounds a bit like Gnosticism.
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking"- Steve Jobs
I love that quote above. Sadly, many in the Christian Church today are living by dogma, doctrines, and a spinkle of Scriptural truth. The aspect of thinking out-side-the box or really thinking through things with discernment (intellectualism) is considered a fault in the eyes of many- because many equate faith with a lack of rational thought. As I have posed through this blog, looking at the socio-religious climate- THIS IS A MAIN TENENT OF THE PROBLEM WE HAVE IN BEING A STATIC INSTITUTION!!
"Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritains worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship in Spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24)"
Jesus was speaking to a woman outside the covenant of Israel. He was telling her of a time when truth would be revealed to all those who seek to know God through Christ, the Messiah. Notice that it would be spirit and truth that the Father wants those to worship Him through, we must not ever compromise these aspects! That my friends is the solution.
Becoming missional in our efforts to attack the static of the institutional church through faith and works is the solution and the greater things that we would do through Christ (John 14:12)- living in love, fulfilling the Law (Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14; etc..).
Unfortunately, the separatist/ retreat from the world aspect that makes Christians feel good about them being the "righteous" is the hypocritical doctrine that blocks us from living in love and living missionally. Besides..it's easier to just separate and know our differences. That's exactly NOT how it is done, the incarnation of Jesus Christ is a prime example.
There is a difference between true Christianity that is reforming and emerging in small unions in radical Christ-ways from organized churchianity. We have seen the need to reform and critique many times and for many reasons in Christian history, and I would imagine the list I can compile is a very minimal list compared to the needs that must change as we emerge and engage the world as the true Christ-followers that we are.
"Where the church is faithful to its Lord, there the powers of the Kingdom are present and people begin to ask questions to which the Gospel is the answer"
Some of us from The Fellowship C.H.U.R.C.H. have taken up the opportunity to gather and learn with the local Unitarian Univeralists on Sunday mornings. Originally. we started out just going and listening and seeking to demonstrate the gospel in word and deed. The more time we spend there and befriend more and more people, we are realizing the commonalities we all share, the value of friendship ("love beyond belief"), and the process of enjoying the journey of learning, loving, and living. Recently, the minister has been sharing with us about the convictions of the UU congregation and summation of his "What Do We Believe" sermon was:
"The most important point of faith which I have not yet mentioned is, faith is for a purpose. It's to motivate you to care for yourself, so that you may help others, and to exhibit concern for the world of we're apart of"
As Christians, we are not just simply universalists with a concept of “love beyond belief” nor do we hold an atheistic do-good view rather we have a proclamation of truth changes all things. Read Hebrews chapter 11 to learn of what part faith has had in the lives of the heroes of our faith. Yet we fail.
It is time, especially in a religious, social, politcal, and economical culture we face today to be offering a consistent, clear, and not so absurd good news to the world. This will enable our efforts to smash false paradigms and views that are set up contrary to the true gospel and the reality of it. We have the unction to demolish strongholds and therefore make all thought captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). We have the call to be rational, reasonable, and offer the answers to the world around us through the gospel of Christ (1 Peter 3:15)- this is truly the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:3).
The depressing news is that many are misinformed because of the serious lack of studying the Scriptures, knowing church and secular history, and instead of defending the faith and searching the Scriptures many have trusted in doctrines of men and sough the the easy way out. Popular teachings stand in stark contrast to the concept of iron sharpens iron, and especially the challenge of Proverbs 18:17: "The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him". Instead of searching out the matter, and diligently searching the Scrictures the popular teaching, even said by pastors is the inconsistent aspect of sitting under a man or school to learn truth (oddly enough, in time this is and can be disputed as reguritating the doctrines of a man, or as you learn more as desire to search things out you may recieve the rebuke of taking information from too many sources -sorry bit of a side not there :))
Sadly, as you may have noticed at the beginning of this blog the issue of defending and teaching the truth gets personal for me. As a committed missional Christian, committed to study of the Word and searching the Scriptures- I am at odds with popular doctrine. Emerging missional theology is not a stated way of doing things it simply means to emerge (defined as moving out of the way or away from something and come into view) and become missional as you learn more and more about God. I pray that this blog series has been edifying to you and that through the Spirit of God you will continue to diligently study the Scriptures and share the gospel through your learnings!
"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!". And let him who hears say, "Come!". Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life (Revelation 22:17).
and I guess this is where I extend my invite of "Come!", lets hang and let me buy you a coffee.
A brother, friend, servant of the Lord,
Pastor Michael Miano
*And yes I really am inviting you to fellowship with me over a cup of coffee, tea, or maybe a frappachino, ha ha ha...give me a call or text 239-603-5695
Friday, October 7, 2011
Missional: Attacking the Static Part 4 - Why the Church & What is My Role?
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles- Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Jesus Christ. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given to me through the working of His power. Although I am less than least of all God's people, this grace was given to me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord". (Ephesians 2:19-3:11)
The above text from Ephesians clearly shows the missional aspect of spreading the good news, which Paul was called to spread to the Gentiles, and therefore the church would be established to make known to "manifold wisdom of God". Through that passage many things are made clear:
-The church is not a building, but rather the people being built and raised together
-The mystery of the gospel was the Gentiles becoming heirs with Israel concerning
the promises of God
- The calling of the church is to make known the wisdom of God, which is explainable and full of richness
- All of the wisdom and calling of the church comes through the eternal purpose of God through Jesus Christ
As missional people, set on fire with the gospel and love for others in our heart we become the church. As I read recently, it is not that the church has a mission, rather the mission has a church that makes all things possible (as illustrated through Ephesians 3).
We read about the church having it’s beginnings in the book of Acts, after the crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. The Apostles are the sent ones to make the Church come to fruition by spreading the gospel to both Israel and the Gentiles. The Apostles go out and truly make it clear that the gospel is what many are searching for as they see thousands of people come to the saving knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ.
"Where the church is faithful to its Lord, there the powers of the Kingdom are present and people begin to ask questions to which the Gospel is the answer" -Lesslie Newbigin
St. Francis of Assisi once made the following statement:
"Preach the gospel, when necessary, use words"
I will admit up front, I see the importance of the proclaimed gospel (Romans 10), yet Francis' words ring a bell. Are we living the gospel? As the quote above by Lesslie Newbigin makes clear if we are living faithfully to our calling people will begin to ask the questions that allow for us to clearly explain the gospel in their context. How serious to do show your life to be about making disciples of Jesus Christ?
There is no doubt when we read about the early church and get a glimpse of what the church looked like in the first century we get a clear understanding of the body of Christ at work. Similarly we notice the same thing happening in the underground church in China. It is said that before the wide spread persecutions of Diocletian and other Roman leaders happened in the early Church there were about 25,000 Christians, but as the persecutions became widespread there was in increase in discipleship and by 310 A.D. there was about 20,000,000 Christians. Similarly in the persecuted underground Church in China before the persecutions of Mao Tse Tung and the Communist Party there were about 2 million Christians, yet after Mao's reign it was recorded that the discipleship during the persecutions between 1949 to 1979 rose to 60 million.
Imagine what that might look like in your location? What are we missing? Might I say..persecution. We are living as the missional people of the underground church who are extremely missional to the point that they won't even buy housing because they know they will soon be persecuted and probably lose their home because they see the importance of spreading the gospel and making disciples for Jesus Christ.
Today, in America we must turn and ask- is this what Jesus meant for his movement? It seems we are a far ways away from the discipleship/ missional attitude of the early church and even our persecuted brethren in other countries today. We face a crisis of regurgitated Christians going up for alter calls every Sunday, a lack of knowledge and substance concerning the glorious good news of Jesus Christ (half the time I don't even understand what is good about the "American- Christian" gospel), and we have lost sight of the freedom loving truth that made the New Covenant. It is so much easier for us to cuddle in our church buildings sing songs, learn some verses in the Bible, and feel religious because we don't do "the bad things the world does". A great study done by Gabe Lyons and some of his associates has proven that American Christianity has become the antithesis of what Christianity was in the first century, and ultimate what Jesus Christ wanted for His body.
So...what do we do?
Well as the body of Christ who is making known the wisdom of God we must first examine ourselves and see if we are truly of the faith. Look into the mirror of Scripture and the law of liberty given to us by the grace of God. As Alan Hirsch makes clear in many of his missional books (The Forgotten Ways, Untamed: Missional Discipleship, and ReJesus) we must vandalize our portraits of Jesus. As my lovely lady, Quanti, would say- "Where do you get your Jesus from"? We must re-introduce ourselves to the Jesus Christ of the Gospels and get rid of our faulty views.
We must see to truly become what the biblical church was. This will require breaking down our current constructs, looking at our social atmosphere, and truly being missional.
"A church which pitches its tent without constantly looking our for new horizons, which does not continually strike camp, is being untrue to its calling...We must play down our longing for certainty, accept what is risky, and live improvisation and experiment"-Hans Kung, The Church as the People of God
As the individuals who make up the body, called the Church we can begin with ourselves (oh..you thought this was going to be easy?).
"A great deal more failure is the result of an excess of caution than of bold experiment with new ideas. The frontiers of the kingdom of God were never advanced by men and women of caution"- J. Oswald Sanders
Let us begin to be courageous, bold, and zealous members of the body of Christ. A friend of mine has the church motto of:
"We exist to glorify God by pursuing and sharing our joy through the knowledge of Him".
I have always loved that statement because that is exactly it. If we understand why we exist everything we do will fall in line with that exact purpose. Are you pursuing and sharing? If we took that attitude about everything we did, just imagine what could happen? We need that primal energy!!
"The church is called to be a dynamic movement rather than a static institution...its leadership is drawn from those one the front line of the expansion of the church" –Alan Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways
If we take the above to quotes serious that would mean alot of Christians would be not counted among the membership and many of those calling themselves leaders would have a serious demotion. Our apathetic attitude coupled with passivity in matters of church leadership, evangelism, discipleship, and studying the Word of God has put us at odds with true Biblical Christianity. Consider Paul when he wrote to the Romans:
"I am obligated to both the Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and to the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (Romans 1:14-16)".
We must see the apostle Paul as the standard of what it means to be a Christian, one who is obligated, eager, and unashamed of spreading the gospel. In this..there can be no if, and, or buts.
"If passion is eliminated, faith no longer exists"- Soren Kierkegaard
The standard of faith is passion, it brings us to the James controversy- faith versus works. Simply put, your works (your passion) will be the outpouring of your works. At The Fellowship C.H.U.R.C.H. (the church I pastor) we pride ourselves on doing everything with passion, to the point that our membership papers say:
If you don't have passion, don't bother.
With the premise that our works, our passion, our outpouring will be the natural result of our faith, what can be said of the person with no passion? Makes clear the quote above by Sorek Kierkegaard, doesn't it? Well then...let that be the challenge- a challenge of having passion for God and the Gospel because it is impossible to please God without God ( Hebrews 11:6).
The church needs or rather boldly we can say is composed of believers who are living missionally in spreading the gospel. It is a two way street, without the passionate missional disciples there is no Church, and without the Church there is no missional discipleship. That my friends is the purpose of the church- we are the unit by which God makes manifest His will on Earth. We must stay plugged in, accountable to, and working toward Spiritual disciplines in the Church.
Our purpose? "Go , and....(Matthew 28:19-20)
The above text from Ephesians clearly shows the missional aspect of spreading the good news, which Paul was called to spread to the Gentiles, and therefore the church would be established to make known to "manifold wisdom of God". Through that passage many things are made clear:
-The church is not a building, but rather the people being built and raised together
-The mystery of the gospel was the Gentiles becoming heirs with Israel concerning
the promises of God
- The calling of the church is to make known the wisdom of God, which is explainable and full of richness
- All of the wisdom and calling of the church comes through the eternal purpose of God through Jesus Christ
As missional people, set on fire with the gospel and love for others in our heart we become the church. As I read recently, it is not that the church has a mission, rather the mission has a church that makes all things possible (as illustrated through Ephesians 3).
We read about the church having it’s beginnings in the book of Acts, after the crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. The Apostles are the sent ones to make the Church come to fruition by spreading the gospel to both Israel and the Gentiles. The Apostles go out and truly make it clear that the gospel is what many are searching for as they see thousands of people come to the saving knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ.
"Where the church is faithful to its Lord, there the powers of the Kingdom are present and people begin to ask questions to which the Gospel is the answer" -Lesslie Newbigin
St. Francis of Assisi once made the following statement:
"Preach the gospel, when necessary, use words"
I will admit up front, I see the importance of the proclaimed gospel (Romans 10), yet Francis' words ring a bell. Are we living the gospel? As the quote above by Lesslie Newbigin makes clear if we are living faithfully to our calling people will begin to ask the questions that allow for us to clearly explain the gospel in their context. How serious to do show your life to be about making disciples of Jesus Christ?
There is no doubt when we read about the early church and get a glimpse of what the church looked like in the first century we get a clear understanding of the body of Christ at work. Similarly we notice the same thing happening in the underground church in China. It is said that before the wide spread persecutions of Diocletian and other Roman leaders happened in the early Church there were about 25,000 Christians, but as the persecutions became widespread there was in increase in discipleship and by 310 A.D. there was about 20,000,000 Christians. Similarly in the persecuted underground Church in China before the persecutions of Mao Tse Tung and the Communist Party there were about 2 million Christians, yet after Mao's reign it was recorded that the discipleship during the persecutions between 1949 to 1979 rose to 60 million.
Imagine what that might look like in your location? What are we missing? Might I say..persecution. We are living as the missional people of the underground church who are extremely missional to the point that they won't even buy housing because they know they will soon be persecuted and probably lose their home because they see the importance of spreading the gospel and making disciples for Jesus Christ.
Today, in America we must turn and ask- is this what Jesus meant for his movement? It seems we are a far ways away from the discipleship/ missional attitude of the early church and even our persecuted brethren in other countries today. We face a crisis of regurgitated Christians going up for alter calls every Sunday, a lack of knowledge and substance concerning the glorious good news of Jesus Christ (half the time I don't even understand what is good about the "American- Christian" gospel), and we have lost sight of the freedom loving truth that made the New Covenant. It is so much easier for us to cuddle in our church buildings sing songs, learn some verses in the Bible, and feel religious because we don't do "the bad things the world does". A great study done by Gabe Lyons and some of his associates has proven that American Christianity has become the antithesis of what Christianity was in the first century, and ultimate what Jesus Christ wanted for His body.
So...what do we do?
Well as the body of Christ who is making known the wisdom of God we must first examine ourselves and see if we are truly of the faith. Look into the mirror of Scripture and the law of liberty given to us by the grace of God. As Alan Hirsch makes clear in many of his missional books (The Forgotten Ways, Untamed: Missional Discipleship, and ReJesus) we must vandalize our portraits of Jesus. As my lovely lady, Quanti, would say- "Where do you get your Jesus from"? We must re-introduce ourselves to the Jesus Christ of the Gospels and get rid of our faulty views.
We must see to truly become what the biblical church was. This will require breaking down our current constructs, looking at our social atmosphere, and truly being missional.
"A church which pitches its tent without constantly looking our for new horizons, which does not continually strike camp, is being untrue to its calling...We must play down our longing for certainty, accept what is risky, and live improvisation and experiment"-Hans Kung, The Church as the People of God
As the individuals who make up the body, called the Church we can begin with ourselves (oh..you thought this was going to be easy?).
"A great deal more failure is the result of an excess of caution than of bold experiment with new ideas. The frontiers of the kingdom of God were never advanced by men and women of caution"- J. Oswald Sanders
Let us begin to be courageous, bold, and zealous members of the body of Christ. A friend of mine has the church motto of:
"We exist to glorify God by pursuing and sharing our joy through the knowledge of Him".
I have always loved that statement because that is exactly it. If we understand why we exist everything we do will fall in line with that exact purpose. Are you pursuing and sharing? If we took that attitude about everything we did, just imagine what could happen? We need that primal energy!!
"The church is called to be a dynamic movement rather than a static institution...its leadership is drawn from those one the front line of the expansion of the church" –Alan Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways
If we take the above to quotes serious that would mean alot of Christians would be not counted among the membership and many of those calling themselves leaders would have a serious demotion. Our apathetic attitude coupled with passivity in matters of church leadership, evangelism, discipleship, and studying the Word of God has put us at odds with true Biblical Christianity. Consider Paul when he wrote to the Romans:
"I am obligated to both the Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and to the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (Romans 1:14-16)".
We must see the apostle Paul as the standard of what it means to be a Christian, one who is obligated, eager, and unashamed of spreading the gospel. In this..there can be no if, and, or buts.
"If passion is eliminated, faith no longer exists"- Soren Kierkegaard
The standard of faith is passion, it brings us to the James controversy- faith versus works. Simply put, your works (your passion) will be the outpouring of your works. At The Fellowship C.H.U.R.C.H. (the church I pastor) we pride ourselves on doing everything with passion, to the point that our membership papers say:
If you don't have passion, don't bother.
With the premise that our works, our passion, our outpouring will be the natural result of our faith, what can be said of the person with no passion? Makes clear the quote above by Sorek Kierkegaard, doesn't it? Well then...let that be the challenge- a challenge of having passion for God and the Gospel because it is impossible to please God without God ( Hebrews 11:6).
The church needs or rather boldly we can say is composed of believers who are living missionally in spreading the gospel. It is a two way street, without the passionate missional disciples there is no Church, and without the Church there is no missional discipleship. That my friends is the purpose of the church- we are the unit by which God makes manifest His will on Earth. We must stay plugged in, accountable to, and working toward Spiritual disciplines in the Church.
Our purpose? "Go , and....(Matthew 28:19-20)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)