Conform to what?

Should every member of a fellowship strive to be like the minister?  Should every minister preach the same lesson world-wide every Sunday for the sake of unity?  This was once a boast for my fellowship… go anywhere around the world to one of our church meetings and you will hear the same message and sing the same songs.  This actually was meant to create an identical atmosphere to that of the popular churches within our fellowship; which was intended to resemble the love of the first Christian church found in the book of Acts.  Noble ideals to say the least but are they even biblical or perhaps more to the point an actual representation of Christ?

There is a good deal of emphasis on the body, or church of Christ, and rightly so; however, what is our emphasis?  I have found (opinion alert!) that our focus on the body is singularly to promote and enforce a sense of unity and even conformity.  This is done by reminding the congregation that they are a part of the body and if the thumb is missing the hand cannot function properly.  I actually enjoy this analogy and believe it to hold to some of the principals found in the Scriptures concerning the church.  I suppose this then is my beef: we can really talk a good game about how one part of the body means so much to the function of the rest but we do not allow that part of the body to be itself.  Let’s expand on this with an illustration.

I have always been inspired by the faith and ambition of Kip McKean (feel free to disagree… I’ll still sleep at night) and after spending a day with him and his wife I was struck with some really profound observations.  One, this guy really is a man of faith because there is simply no way he could have orchestrated a world-wide movement… he’s just not that savvy.  The McKean’s also live in an apartment that they rent, which was a conviction of theirs from the start… he wears cheap ties and they drive a Toyota sedan thing. I say all this to say I walked away understanding that what this man says he actually has the faith to believe it completely… could be the makings of a mad man or a revolutionist???  It was when I arrived back home I had my moment of deep understanding as I began to receive one phone call after the next inviting me into the ministry that Kip now leads.

I was confused at first because I did not give him this impression at all!  I then saw something that tipped the scales from confusion to enlightenment during the conversations though.  These men are saying the same things that Kip says and even with the same tone and fervor but they really do not know why they are saying them!  One man (Kip) says something inspiring from his own heart, mind and convictions that moves a crowd… the would-be leader hears what is said and is inspired to also move a crowd or ministry in the same way, but how to accomplish this?  Say the same thing he said and say it the way he said it and people will respond in the same way.  Great, and perhaps a good business model but what about the toe being different then the hand?  Was Paul identical in his speech patterns and style just like Peter or even Jesus?  This was a discovery made on a very localized and personal level but it did not stop there.

It is easy to see the faults of others and then criticize them for it until you realize that you are in the same boat, different ocean (I do not know if this has ever been said before but I feel like I just made this up and its mine).  As I study some of the great theologians in history I often fall in love with the theology they teach… thinking to myself surely this man has it on straight, this then must be the way in which to follow Christ.  Only to turn to the next chapter to read about another theologian’s philosophy and think wow, this is so right on, this then must be the way to follow Christ.  Would the church have enough room for these two very different minded leaders and their great thoughts on Christ and why are there different perspectives on a book that does not change?  Perhaps the answer is within the body already… maybe we need a one-two punch combination and not just one tool in the tool box…  I will carry this thought on later as I think about this topic all the time.

Action Packed?

I often wonder if there is any way I could go back to the way things once were for me.  There was a time when I did not question anything and viewed this as my spiritual act of worship in many ways.  At the very least I was being a hard fighting soldier of the Lord.  This is not to mock being a soldier of the Lord as I believe I am still in the army and understand fully where my marching orders come from.  At times I begin to understand that ignorance (this is not used to say stupid) can be bliss.  Anyone who knew me as a new convert would easily testify that I was zealous for the mission.  In fact, this was my moniker amongst my brothers and sisters… “This is Alex; he’s super zealous for Jesus…” 

This was an identity for me and I thrived under its banner.  I did have a brother pull me aside once and tell me to just enjoy life as I am on the fast track to burning out… this was excellent advice as it came from the one person who should have never said this to me.  He was my campus minister at the time and I was the most baptizinest dude in his ministry.  His only gain in telling me this must have been from a sincere concern and I truly believe this started me down a road that I am still on to this day.  For all my fame an nicknames there was a moment of clarity for me after this conversation and I wanted so much more than just a taste of this clarity (best word I can think of to describe this moment) because it was good.

If you have ever watched an old Schwarzenegger action film as a young man you quickly come to the conclusion that you need to work out and the movie was AWESOME!  He is the top grossing actor of all time so stop snickering and pretending you never liked his stuff.  Later on however, the movie you once got the goose bumps from is revealed for what it is.  Explosions and one-liners that stay in your mind for weeks… “I’ll be back or He’s dead tired.”  Plot and character development matter very little in the grand scheme of things because you know if you can get through the acting there is an explosion and hack one-liner moments away.  As a mature adult you begin to wonder how has this man become so popular and how did he get elected to run California?

The simple answer has to be that action sells and popularity reigns.  Blow things up and put butts in the seats and we will believe you can do anything!  I began to wonder about my own popularity at this point and why were grown men asking me for advice?  Oh brother, I can preach the Word and when it comes to studying the Bible and converting folks there are few like me… these are the findings of a man at a crossroads.  I believe fully that you must say what you think out loud in order to realize the depth of insanity you are beginning to buy into.  This is not to say that I cannot preach I believe I am more than capable in this area and as for studying with someone there is nothing I enjoy more… but this is not my identity!  After a time you begin to see the “strings” so to speak and the great explosion is really a distraction (or at least it can be) to an inability to develop a viable plot with substance.

Why raise up only our campus ministry leaders and why the continual heavy push on that ministry?  They put butts in the seats and the big BOOM never gets old because they graduate and a new batch comes in after them.  What message does this send?  Somehow I was tricked into believing that the entire New Testament was simply about baptism and conversion and that is certainly there and that primarily in one book.  Why was the initial “planting” of the Christ church such a huge success?  It was an explosion of baptism and the newness could not be stopped and praise God for that… I am no hater!  The New Testament does not end with the book of Acts however… the BOOM got old and the rest of these letters are written to strengthen and encourage a group that needed more than the next explosion…

The Word of God?

The Word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword… this is the analogy given to us in the book of Hebrews within the Canon of Holy Scripture.  Some may think this is an odd way to simply say Bible but in saying that I would need to redefine some terms that have taken a life of their own over the years.  Canon is a collection of holy writings, i.e., books of the Bible, whereas "Bible" is a Holy Book of any religion.  If I had a book of C.S. Lewis and his contemporaries, J.R.R. Tolkien and the like, would I be looking at the Word of Science Fiction?  What if these men could simply trace their inspiration back to one man named Steve, would we then take this collection of stories and call it the Word of Steve?  This is in no way intended to take away from the accomplishments of Steve, in fact, if Steve could inspire the minds of men like C.S. Lewis and Tolkien he should be held in high regard. 

Your point please: No matter how much Steve has influenced these men in the art of Science Fiction both of these men (in our example) have written very different books to different audiences.  The books do share many commonalities however, including subject or rather genre as well as an audience that shares their common interest in Science Fiction.  Lets take this example one step further since we are already this far outside of the box anyways.  Let us assume that we came to discover that both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien are in fact brothers and Steve is their father.  Now we have a case for definite influence, at the very least, in the genetic as well as environmental stages of influence.  Could we then conclude that Steve gave exact words to his children and instructed them to write them down as he dictated word for word?  Why then have two separate authors with varying styles in both writing and expression of thought?

This is a light bulb moment for me as I cannot say that I have not become more like my mother over the years and yet I remain an individual.  I have taken some of the characteristics and traits she has given to me by way of parental influence and I have added them to my personality.  This is to say that I do agree that a child represents their parents and yet a parent cannot fully replicate themselves in their child… try as they might.  The bottom line is this: The words found in the Bible give us a Father’s influence on His children.  From my perspective it is the underlying theme and thought behind the words that best give us the Word of God.  The Word is indeed God-breathed, but written by God?  With careful instruction through the Holy Spirit (which is a mystery in it of itself) men were carried along to write as they did and yet we find very different books written by authors within the same genre (religion or spirituality if you like), writing to an audience with common interests.  The book of John is a great example (in my own estimation) as it is not synoptic by any means and yet it is a Gospel of Jesus Christ the same as Matthew, Mark and Luke.

His ways are not our ways nor his thoughts our own… in the same line of reason I would venture to say that no one man aside from the Son and Spirit could ever embody the thoughts or ways of God Almighty.  If this makes a shred of sense to you then go one step further and ask could one man ever represent fully, within a book no less, the very Word of God.  This should lead us all too new thoughts and even frustrations… I do not apologize!  Is the Bible the Word of God?  No, the Bible is a Holy Book and should be treated this way.  Why treat the Bible in this way?  It contains the Word of God within it of course.  What?!  We're just getting started! 

If there is one thing I cannot tolerate it has got to be a whiner!  My education has led me into the field of Christian Apologetics and I am grateful to God for that.  However, the other side of my field or the dark side is known as Polemics, which is the argumentation against something (loudly more times than not).  This is usually expressed through complaint and the kind of critique you receive from a hipster about why there is no coffee in the world that can compare with coffee beans grown in Argentina and then naturally freeze dried at the North Pole.  This is to say the critique comes from a perspective that one must assume is valid or even reasonable… if enough words are spoken surely some of them must ring true. 

I cannot stand this form of debate, even when I agree with the Polemist… this is the definition of true animosity!  Within my Christian fellowship I have seen amazing things and been allowed to be a part of what I can only define as Spiritual adventures, loving every second of it.  That is not to say there have not been times when I have not been in disagreement with the direction or even the teachings (I am tempted to write the word doctrine here) of my fellowship.  I am no Polemist but I am a concerned follower of Christ and just within this sentence I have committed myself to being a part of a community which stands for something much bigger than me.  Knowing this often helps cool the flames of my zeal but this is not the only thing.

The study of Apologetics is literally a reasoned defense of my faith… it is a beautiful definition but how can reason be reasonable in the face of arrogance?  This is the pitfall of man and the end of reasoned discussion… allowing the mind to lead the heart rather that the heart (which is deceitful to say the least) lead the mind.  My intended statement here is that as followers of Christ we must talk to one another about a book that will not change and yet no one seems to be getting right.  In no way do I intend to become a one man Areopagus as I am in complete agreement that both mind and heart are needed in order to truly pursue Christ and seek His fullness.  With this being said we have reached the point of this blog… the Bible is a double-edged sword and to remove one of the blades is to handicap the greatest weapon the world has ever known.  So, I do not intend to complain but rather I do have every intention of removing stumbling blocks from the path that leads to life.