The Great Commission Resurgence

In my post of June 26th, 2009, titled “God Is Still Making a People for Himself,” I wrote of this year’s Southern Baptist Convention and the encouraging things that we see going on within the Convention itself. One of the more notable motions that was passed at the convention was the commissioning of what will be dubbed The Great Commission Task Force. Now this sounds so Southern Baptist, it’s not even funny. However, despite the humour that might be found in the label, the appointing of such a “task force” itself is no laughing matter.

In my other post, I made mention of the “Conservative Resurgence” that occured in the SBC between the 1970s and the new millennium, and which is still going on. During this period, several key leaders within the SBC saw the drift toward theological liberalism within the denomination and fought hard to bring the SBC back to its founding principles and doctrines. This fight proved fruitful and, today, the SBC can unabashedly stand firm in the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. This being the case, the stage is set for what many leaders within the SBC desire to see: mass evangelism. They are calling it the “Great Commission Resurgence.” This is wonderful to see because this is the task that all those who are disciples of Christ are charged with: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) This is the Great Commission. That the focus has shifted from “let’s get back to the Bible” to “let’s now see the harvest come in” is confirmation, in my opinion, that the Lord is at work here.

The reason that such a task force was deemed necessary was so that recommendations might be made regarding how the churches within the SBC could work together to overcome minor differences and best work together to carry the Gospel forth to the nations. Within the small denomination that I have been associated with for so long, there are not many issues that separate us. So, such a task force may be overkill. However, I must say that when it comes to our sister churches working as a unified body to move the Gospel forward, we are far from efficient. When one considers the enormous number of churches within the SBC, it makes some sense to establish a mechanism for being united in mind and spirit in order that souls be saved.

So what does all of this look like and mean? Dr. Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (and my former Dean of Theology at Southern) delivered a message to his student body on April 16th, 2009 titled Axioms for a Great Commission Resurgence (video, audio, manuscript). I would encourage all who are reading this and who are concerned about evangelism to have a listen (or a view). Of course, the message is aimed specifically at motivating those within the SBC since, as Dr. Akin sees it, they have not been fulfilling the Great Commission like they should be. Much of what Dr. Akin has to say, however, is universally applicable to all Christians. I know that, as I listened, I was encouraged and felt motivated to begin living a life more devoted to Christ’s Great Commission. I hope that the same is true for all of us.

Dr. Akin based his message on Acts 1:4-8. Let me briefly outline Dr. Akin’s axioms for a Great Commission Resurgence:

1. We must commit ourselves to the total and absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives. (Col. 3:16-17, 23-24) “Jesus must be our passion and priority.” We must desire to have him at the center of everything that we do and to have a deeper communion with him.
2. We must be gospel centered in all our endeavors for the glory of God. (Rom. 1:16) The lordship of Christ and his Gospel is why we exist. Being “gospel-centered” means loving all people and telling others about deliverance from sin through Christ’s work. It means being filled with the joy of the cross and people seeing that joy in us. It also means, preaching the Gospel, in season and out of season. “No Gospel, no Great Commission resurgence.”
3. We must take our stand on the firm foundation of the inerrant and infallible Word of God affirming it’s sufficiency in all matters. (Matt 5:17-18; John 10:35; 17:17; 2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21) Our understanding of Jesus Christ hinges on our understanding of the Word of God. We must hold fast to the inerrancy of the Bible and understand it to be the objective Truth of God himself. The battle for the Bible will never end and we must understand it to have authority over us, not vice-versa.
4. We must devote ourselves to a radical pursuit of the Great Commission in the context of obeying the Great Commandments. (Matt.28:16-20; 22:37-40) The Great Commission is God’s commission and we need a passion to be in mission with Him. A genuine love for God will result in a genuine love for people. “If we love Jesus as we should, we will love sinners as we ought and pursue them as He did.” This includes telling them of their need for salvation in Christ.
5. We must affirm the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as a healthy and sufficient guide for building a theological consensus for partnership in the gospel, refusing to be sidetracked by theological agendas that distract us from our Lord’s Commission. (1 Tim. 6:3-4) (*Note: Remember this aimed at SBC churches, but I will try to universalize what Dr. Akin is saying, applying it to Christians in general.) There are theological issues that are worth breaking fellowship over (e.g., salvation by faith alone, the Trinity, the deity of Jesus Christ, the reality of an eternal Hell, etc.) and there are issues that are not (e.g., should infants be baptized, Calvinist or not, continuationism vs. cessassionism, etc.). We must recognize that, if we hold to those doctrines that are essential, then our minor differences ought not to be magnified so much that it impedes our cooperation in being witnesses together for the Gospel.
6. We must dedicate ourselves to a passionate pursuit of the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus across our nation and to all nations answering the call to go, disciple, baptize and teach all that the Lord commanded. (Matt 28:16-20; Acts 1:8; Rom. 1:5; 15:20) Every institution except the local church has been largely successful with integrating at every level of community. This is a shame to the church. We must aim to see the local church like that which we will see in heaven–a collection of people from every nation, tribe and tongue. Heaven is not filled with mostly white, middle class people. Nor is it filled with only African-American people. Nor Asian. We must plant churches in every community and country and desire to see them filled with all kinds of people.
7. We must covenant to build gospel saturated homes that see children as a gift from God and as our first and primary mission field. (Deut. 6:1-9; Psalm 127; 128; Eph. 6:4) Even the Christian family has been affected by a worldly view of what family should look like. We must see the blessing in having children, and begin to start having more children and valuing them. This pleases God. We must honour the role of motherhood. We must also restore the role of father from the world’s picture of the lazy, bumbling male to the godly leader. And then we must work hard at raising families that live to serve and honour God.
8. We must recognize the need to rethink our Convention structure and identity so that we maximize our energy and resources for the fulfilling of the Great Commission. (1 Cor. 10:31) (*Note: Again, this is pretty SBC specific, but let me try to universalize it a bit.) Our churches are bloated with bureaucacy and committees. We must “streamline our structure, clarify our focus and maximize our resources” in order that we focus less on doing many good things well and do the most important things best. This means establishing believers with sound doctrine, doing evangelism and planting solid churches. Get rid of tradition and focus on what God tells us is important.
9. We must see the necessity for pastors to be faithful Bible preachers who teach us both the content of the Scriptures and the theology embedded in the Scriptures. (2 Tim. 4:1-5) Cultural Christianity is dying and there is a genuine hunger for strong preaching and good theology. We need a new army of well-trained Bible expositors who can expound the Bible “faithfully, theologically and practically.” The first mark of a healthy church is expository preaching. People do not need self-help gurus and spiritual guides, they need God’s word.
10. We must encourage pastors to see themselves as the head of a gospel missions agency who will lead the way in calling out the called for international assignments but also equip and train all their people to see themselves as missionaries for Jesus regardless of where they live. (Eph. 4:11-16) “Missions is not a ministry of the church, it is at the heart of the church’s identity and essence.” For the pastor, this involves helping people to get excited about their call to missions. It means working to revitalize existing, but struggling local congregations. It means training all those under their care to see that they are called by God to be missionaries wherever they may be.
11. We must pledge ourselves to a renewed cooperation that is gospel centered and built around a biblical and theological core and not methodological consensus or agreement. (Phil. 2:1-5; 4:2-9) Different cultural contexts require different ways of reaching people. So, theology needs to drive our cooperation with other Christians, not our traditional way of doing things.
12. We must accept our constant need to humble ourselves and repent of pride, arrogance, jealousy, hatred, contentions, lying, selfish ambitions, laziness, complacency, idolatries and other sins of the flesh; pleading with our Lord to do what only He can do in us and through us and all for His glory. (Gal. 5:22-26; James 4:1-10) *Pretty clear.

May God be glorified in the lives of others because we, as Christians, are motivated to work together as a body to see those who are lost won to Him through our words and our examples.

I Can Feel It In My Bones

Yesterday the Roman Catholic church announced that it had made a giant discovery as regards the remains of Paul, the first-century apostle to the Gentiles who proclaimed salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This announcement follows upon the finding, in 2006, of a large, white sarcophagus in an underground chamber at St. Paul beyond the Walls basilica in Rome. The sarcophagus was drilled into and bone fragments were removed and sent to a laboratory for carbon dating. The results, according to the Vatican, show that the bones are the remains of someone from the first-century. The Pope issued a statement saying, “This seems to confirm the unanimous and undisputed tradition that these are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul. This news is all the more astonishing since it coincides with other news which came only a couple of days earlier in the Vatican’s newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, of the finding of what appears to be a fourth century fresco of the Apostle. If all of this is not enough to cause every faithful Roman Catholic to celebrate, the timing should push them over the edge. Both of these astonishing finds come in what has been dubbed “The Year of Paul,” the supposed 2,000th birthday of the Apostle. In fact, the Pope announced these finds just as the year is coming to a close.

While it is indeed impressive that such a find happens to take place in the final days of the second millennium birthday of the Apostle, I want to spend some time thinking of the significance of all of this for Christians. Whether or not this is all a hoax by the Roman Catholic church–perhaps a way to bring the year to an extraordinary climax and, thus, increasing the monetary worth of such a find, is not important. I think what is important is to reflect on what intrinsic value that such a find has.

The Roman Catholic church has had a very long and sketchy history with both relics and icons. Relics are those articles and objects that the Roman Catholic church claims have significant spiritual value because of their connectedness to important historical figures in Church history. For example, the nails that held Jesus to the cross. Or, perhaps, the splintered wood from the cross. Or, in this case, the bones of the apostle Paul. The Catholic church has long made the claim that such relics have supernatural properties and, if touched, kissed or whatever, can impart some spiritual blessing. This is because the holy people, to whom they were connected, had earned such an enormous amount of God’s blessing, that it is able to flow over into whomever comes into contact with them. The blessing may be some sort of physical blessing, but usually has effects beyond this life.

Icons are those images to which Catholics have attached spiritual significance. Early icons portray such things as crosses and sheep with the Good Shepherd as well as other historical figures. As early as the Council of Nicea, there was discussion regarding the use of religious icons. Later during the Protestant Reformation and the iconoclasm (icon destroying) that took place at that time, Catholics were forced to redefine the use of icons as something that are not worshiped or prayed to, but as images of those who were prayed to and could dispense spiritual blessings.

With the announcement of both new relics and a new icon, from the Apostle Paul, no less–second in greatness to only Peter, in the eyes of the Catholic church, yesterday was certainly a good day. Coincidentally (or maybe not), the Catholic church has always found these items to be able to draw a crowd and, often times, turn a profit in order to see them or touch them.

But what about Protestants or those who are knowingly not Christian? What are the rest of us to make of such a find? Does it have any spiritual significance for us? To be sure, I would be lying if I said I would not go to see the bones of Paul if they were to come to the Royal Ontario Museum. (Unless I were to find that any of the monies were going to the Catholic church, at which point I would mutter something under my breath and be a bit disappointed.) Whether or not these are the indisputable bones of Paul is quite questionable, I would say. However, in the chance that they are, this is certainly an interesting find. As well, it would be something to be near those old bones when Christ returns, because you’d have first crack at talking to Paul after the judgment as long as he didn’t wander off while you were waiting. Other than that, I’m not so sure that there is any significance to them. Even my wanting to see them if they came to the ROM would, in reality, be pretty meaningless.

For those of us who are Christians, such things hold little value. I would go so far as to say that such things might only serve to remind of us of someone who was an extremely faithul follower of Jesus Christ. Guided by the inspiration of God, Paul could write, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” Certainly, then, this find may remind us of one so esteemed by God and cause us to want to follow Christ like he did. However, if we are really seeking to be encouraged by the remembrance of a spiritual giant, should we not turn to the pages of Scripture and the letters that Paul wrote? Should we not read of the life and adventures of Paul in the book of Acts? For bones just lie there, but the recorded stories of one who loved and served Christ come alive when we read of them. Moreover, the bones of a dead Christian are also a reminder of the disgusting sin nature that permeates each of us, including Paul. When we look at the corpse of anyone who has died, I, for one, feel uneasy, sickened and am reflective at the destruction which exists in the world and that has affected each one of us. So, I’m not so sure that, even if these are the bones of Paul, they are of much worth to us.

From a Catholic perspective, however, there is much more to be considered. Millions of pilgrims will now flock to this location to be near the bones of Paul hoping to receive some sort of reprieve from purgatory or the like. Many will want to look upon the face of Paul in the icon, praying to it in order that he might intercede for them. This is their hope.

The Bible presents us with a different hope, however. A hope that is far superior and one that comes with a promise. Of course, no where in God’s written Word do we ever find warrant for such notions as relics or icons. In fact, God’s opinion of such things throughout seems to be one of disdain. The most often cited objection to the icon is, of course, found in Exodus 20:4-6 and Deuteronomy 5:8-10, the second of the Ten Commandments, in which God commands Israel to never bow down before an image made my human hands. Elsewhere, we see God’s attitude to be negative toward such things (Deut. 29:17; Isaiah 44:9-11, etc.). It is true that at the Council of Trent, the Roman Catholic church declared that it is not the icon which is worshiped or prayed to, but the Saint or essence depicted therein. However, I have been to monasteries and basilicas where relics are contained and I’m quite certain that this distinction is not being observed from some of the behaviour I have seen. Where this vain hope exists in these relics or icons, the hope of the Christian is in something much more sure. Our hope is in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has, once and for all, conquered sin and death when he took it upon himself and suffered the wrath of God in the place of those whom the Father has given to him. And it is a hope in the One who will return one day to judge the world and to take his people with him into the new heavens and new earth. This is not a faith in things seen or touched, but is a faith in those things which are unseen and are, right now, working themselves out in the hearts of men and women and which will come to culmination at Jesus’ return.

As well, we do not look to the “treasures” that the saints have stored up and which we can tap into for merit. For Paul tells us that no one is good (Romans 3:10-18). Isaiah tells us that even our best deeds are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). There is no one who gains merit before God apart from the merit that is granted them through Christ. This is not a quantitative merit, but qualitative. It is not measured in amounts, but is simply noticed by God when he looks upon the believer. It is the merit of Christ’s own righteousness which the Father has given his children, not which the saints give to them. Paul could not make this clearer when he writes to the Ephesians saying that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.” Paul would be the first to count himself as a recipient of this grace and as one who did not merit God’s favour by his works. The quest for accumulating grace from any of these relics is a quest in futility and a vain hope which only leads to a future of eternal destruction in Hell. No, our real hope is to be found in the one great gift of salvation in which God sees us as righteous through Christ, because the Father makes us righteous in his sight once and for all.

What use have we for icons? Even if those who revered them were using them as the Catholic church claims they are to and pray to the saints, the book of Hebrews tells us that the mediator between God and man is not a saint. Paul tells us plainly that he himself is no mediator between God and anyone. In contrast, he writes to Timothy, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” If Paul knew today that so many people were praying to him, surely his response would be the same as that in Acts 15:15: “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God.”

The role of the priest throughout Israel’s history was as an intercessor between God and man. Now, however, Christ is our great and final high priest as well as our only high priest. No longer must inadequate intercession be made through a man, because God himself, in the person of the Son, has become the perfect priest interceding between God the Father and man.

What are we left with, then, when we think of these icons and relics? I would suggest a distraction, at best, and Satanic tools of deception at worst, and I would suggest that the latter is likely more accurate. Luther sensed the trouble with these things five hundred years ago and we must remain sensitive to this as well. But let us not ride on mere tradition for our repudiation of such things, but let us keep sharp by always understanding what God has to say of these things through his eternally relevant Word. Armed with this knowledge, we must make sure that we spread the news of where true hope for salvation is to be found, namely Jesus Christ alone, and let it be known that anything else only provides false hope. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

God Is Still Making a People for Himself

The last week has seen some wonderful events in Christianity take place. The world’s largest Evangelical denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, held its annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky and, no doubt, both celebrated the recent return of this denomination to the fundamentals of biblical Christianity as well as plotted the way ahead according to biblical wisdom and a zeal for seeing Christ glorified. As well, remarkable news came out of the Anglican sector with the forming of a new Anglican denomination in North America called The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA, for short). Both of these events are a testimony to the continuing work of God in this world and both are events which should encourage Christians in North America and around the world.

The Southern Baptist Convention

The Southern Baptist Convention is a remarkable body. Many will claim that I am speaking from a biased perspective, having done my first Masters degree at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, which is the denomination’s flagship school, but I (while acknowledging my own inability to be entirely objective) do believe that this is the denomination that is leading the way in reaching the world with the faith once for all delivered to the saints. The denomination has come through some very troublesome times in recent history with (even as late as) the ‘80s being a very shaky time with regard to views on authority and inerrancy of Scripture and all of the other issues that go along with a low view of these things (e.g., ordination of women for pastoral/church leadership roles, the acceptance of homosexual marriage, etc.). However, the Lord has preserved a remnant throughout the history of this denomination and by the mid-1990’s, the denomination was ruthlessly purging itself of those within its ranks who held liberal views of Scripture and God. Through the hard work of extremely gifted individuals who were able to hold up despite the kind of tremendous persecution that enemies of the Gospel are capable of, this denomination has made an incredible recovery. Those like W. A. Criswell, Adrian Rogers, Paul Pressler, Jimmy Draper, Paige Patterson, Jerry Vines, and others are men we ought to thank God for in helping to turn this enormously influential body around.

Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, on The Albert Mohler Program, a national Christian radio talk show, made note of the enormous amount of young men who were present at the convention this year. This is a wonderful sign since, most of those present at the convention are likely church leaders. For those SBC churches who would send their members to the convention, most are sure to be on board with the positions and beliefs that the SBC holds to in their excellent doctrinal statement of faith The Baptist Faith and Message. With so many of the attendees being young in age, I believe that we have exciting times to look forward to especially within the SBC. There is no doubt in my mind that God will use this body of churches as one of the most effective leaders in fighting to good fight of faith in the 21st-century.

Now, the reason that I am writing about this may not be entirely clear, so let me make it clear. In fact, there are more reasons that one. One reason may be as an encouragement of the wonderful things that are going on in the establishing of God’s kingdom. Where God’s Word is not preached, there is no establishing of his kingdom in the hearts of people. However, where the Word is preached, God promises that it will not return empty, but that a harvest will be reaped. Another reason that I write about the goings on in the SBC is because I feel that, particularly in Canada, “Southern Baptist” is viewed as some kind of denomination that we don’t want to be. I’m not entirely sure why, but I am fairly certain that a big part of it has to do with our arrogance as Canadians. When we look at this “American” denomination (although the SBC does have churches in Canada), and the enormity of it and the effectiveness of it throughout it’s almost 200-year history, it seems to me that we may be a bit jealous. In fact, this seems to be a hallmark of us Canadians whenever it comes to most things American. Like the rest of the world, we have this disdain toward America, but we want everything that she has. . . Jealousy perhaps. Secondly, I think the SBC has been given a bad rap because of ignorance. And this may be a willful ignorance based upon the arrogance I have just mentioned. No one I know can seem to tell me what is wrong with Southern Baptists, but they still seem to have a problem with them. Perhaps its our unbiblical animosity toward structure or authority. Because, to be sure, the SBC is structured and Southern Baptist churches have, historically, been churches that take church polity seriously. . . even practicing church discipline and taking the preaching of the Gospel seriously enough that they actually think that it might be in a person’s best interest to tell them about Hell! Can you imagine?! (Note my sarcasm, here.) Maybe this is what it is.

But are we to feel this way? First of all, we need to remember that, as Christians, we are one body. I have never met a Southern Baptist Christian who has any kind of hatred for his Christian brother who happens to be a Pentecostal or Wesleyan or what have you. I’m not saying that there aren’t those like this, but I find this a curious thing. So, we need to embrace our Christian brothers and sisters no matter what denomination they may be from, and especially those that we see as serious about living for the glory of God. Secondly, let it be known that this is a leading denomination of churches. By “leading” I mean that there is a remarkable reformation happening in Southern Baptist churches as well as an amazing amount of evangelism being done through the SBC. The denomination supports approximately 10,000 missionaries and sees over half a million people confess their faith in Jesus every year. In addition, there is no denomination that comes close to guarding the Christian faith against subversive heresy. With its seminaries and plethora of renowned Evangelical professors, there are few heresies that do not go unnoticed with a barrage of books being published in response.

I do not want to appear to be saying that the SBC is the only denomination or church body that is being faithful to the Word of God, but I do want to give them their “props.” As well, I want to encourage you to look into what has been going on over the past thirty years in the SBC and to follow what they are doing in preparation for the coming kingdom of God. I think we will not only be encouraged in seeing what is going on, but will come away very much sharpened ourselves.

The Anglican Church in North America

At the same time as SBC’s annual convention, from June 22nd to June 25th, 2009, a historic event took place with regard to the Church of England. A group of approximately 100,000 Anglicans broke away from the Church of England to form a new denomination, the Anglican Church in North America. During this the archbishop-elect, Robert Duncan, who was previously the Episcopalian Bishop of Pittsburgh sent a message to Dr. Johnny Hunt, President of the above-mentioned SBC, to announce this during the SBC’s convention and to ask for prayer. This makes my own heart leap for joy as I see two Christ-centered denominations coming together for the sake of the Gospel, while being able to differ on secondary doctrinal issues.

For those who are not familiar with what has been going on in the Church of England (aka the Anglican Church or the Episcopal Church), the last few years have been very rough. There has been a mass turning away, particularly in North America, from the historic biblical fidelity of the Church of England. To wit, there has been an embracing of homosexual marriage, the ordination of women to positions of authority in the church, etc. Of course, all of this is the result of, as mentioned above, a low view of Scripture (i.e., the abandoning of belief in inerrancy, infallibility, and authority). Every ten years, the Church of England has held their Lambeth Conference. In 2008, perhaps the final Lambeth Conference was held, at which the Church of England exhibited more than mere fractures as the Church was divided over these issues. A good many church leaders in Western nations fought for a rejection of homosexual unions while the majority were in favour. Interestingly enough, the most staunch defenders of an orthodox Christian position, as well as the most eloquent and learned, were from those nations that were not Western, particularly Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda who boycotted the conference, but others from South America and Asian countries as well. Coming away from the Lambeth Conference, these issues were not addressed, but sentiments were merely logged in the resulting diary-like publication.

As a result of the Church of England’s refusal to take a stand on homosexual marriage and ordinations and their apathy to remove those like Bishop Gene Robinsion, whose openly gay lifestyle and rhetoric are almost militant, 100,000 members of the Church of England in North America have gathered enough steam to break away and to form a new denomination. What will follow remains to be seen. For the majority of those who belong to the Church of England still hold the Church of England’s historic 13 Articles and a high view of Scripture.

What we are seeing is very encouraging. One look at the web page of the Anglican Church in North America leaves no ambiguities in anyone’s mind of their first priority: to remain true to the Word of God with full confidence in it’s truthfulness, completeness and absolute authority over the life of the Christian as well as the urgent message of the cross that we are called to take to the world.

These two denominations, the historically robust SBC and the fledgling ACNA (fledgling does not mean weak) are two models for faithfulness to our Lord Jesus Christ and ought to encourage us as we see God working through them to make a people for himself. These are our Christian brothers and sisters who have come through much and stand tall and very strong. If we are Christians, we stand along side them. But let us always remember that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who has authority over all men and it is only through his power that we can stand strong and overcome the adversities and sin that so easily entangles. So we must rely on him for all of our strength, but, in the fight, let us imitate those who imitate Christ, and I would suggest that a good number can be found in these groups of Christians I have mentioned.

2 Cents on the 20-Something (part 3)

*This is the third and final part to a post I started a few days ago. . .

What About Youth Pastors?

I was saved under the ministry of a great youth pastor. In fact, I’m still in touch with him regularly for advice on how to minister to the youth in our own church. He has provided faithful service to the Lord for many years and I am thankful for his ministry. However, as my life moves on, and perhaps its because I am getting further away from that age myself, the more I find myself questioning the legitimacy of the role of “Youth Pastor.” This partly ties in with what I have written above regarding the dissociation of the different church demographics.

Again in response to what was at this past conference about churches creating a specific ministry to reach a certain age group, I see the church that hires the youth pastor as, more often than not, the church which will soon have a real barrier between age groups. It is the rare youth pastor–a more thoughtful youth pastor–who will find a way to minister to the youth and, at the same time, bring the youth closer in their relationships with the older church members (likely still not including those of their parents’ age).

The youth pastor fills the role that all more mature Christians should be participating in with the youth (and without salary). As I have noted above, if we older Christians would invest more time with our youth, seeking to understand where they are at, the world that they live in, sharing our lives–struggles and praises–with them, earning their respect in order that they might come to us for guidance and be open to correction when we feel they need correction, there would be little need for the hiring of youth pastors.

Some may respond to this by saying, “But these are people who’ve been trained in Bible college or seminary to deal specifically with youth problems and issues.” Writing as one who has spent more than his fair share of time in Bible college and seminary, taking counseling courses, etc., this is not something that one needs a formal education to do. Any one of us, if we simply take the time to live a bit in our youth’s culture, can get it. Do our youth face different challenges than we did? Yes. Have social issues increased? I believe so. Do youth feel more pressure today? Absolutely. But if they can simply spend some time with people who have come through larger issues and have stood firm through reliance upon God, and if we are striving to understand what they have to deal with, even a bit (just watch YouTube for 5 or 10 minutes a day), we may be surprised at how able we are to relate to them, and they, in turn, to us.

In addition, many youth pastors that I know, are only slightly older than those they are leading. I remember, as a teenager, the way that I looked at some of those older Christians in the church, but never talked to because we had a youth pastor instead, thinking that they must have so much wisdom. On a few occasions I tapped into that wisdom, not remembering once ever being disappointed with what they imparted to me.

I very much respect the desire of so many who want to be youth pastors to serve God, but more and more I believe that this paid position is taking away the job that we older Christians are to be doing. Because of this, we see this increased dissociation between our youth and adults, so that when they get out of youth group, in their 20-somethings, they don’t know who to talk to, because the vital relationships with the older Christians in the church have just never been formed!

Besides that, I have seen too many instances in which there results a dysfunctional relationship between the church leadership/senior pastor(s) and youth pastor. Youth pastors seem often times to be the most burned out of pastors because they are trying to meet the expectations and deliver what the youth want while trying to meet the needs of what the rest of the church wants them to deliver to the youth. The problem is that those who are making the demands upon them have no idea of what the youth pastor faces on a daily basis because they have no familiarization themselves with the youth. This can result in a rather severe dysfunctionality, sometimes having gained enough momentum to split churches. The youth follow the youth pastor because he is their champion. The youth pastor is trying to please the parents and leadership. But the parents and leadership expect miracle results because they don’t understand what he must deal with and what he can or cannot deliver. A disillusioned and frustrated youth pastor may not be the sole lieutenant that a church wants leading their upcoming and impressionable troops. Many of us has seen the disastrous effects of this before in churches. Would we not be further ahead to invest our time and love in our youth instead of paying someone else to do it?

I understand that many of these prescriptions may seem outdated and old fashioned–hardly apropos to our troubled times in which we are told that we need specialized ministries and ministers to deal with specialized areas. But I think we can demonstrate fairly easily, in theory at least, and much more likely through practice that these simple solutions still work best. As one who is apparently just now leaving adolescence and entering into being an adult at age 34, I believe that ministry to 20-somethings is not answered with new ministries or programs. Rather, it still lay in the simplicity of a genuine love and applying of God’s Word.

2 Cents on the 20-Something (part 2)

*This is the second part to a post I started a couple of days ago. . .

The Necessity of Expository Preaching

Another hallmark of the postmodern church culture that we see all around us is the emphasis on the narrative and the abandonment of the metanarrative. First of all, what do these words mean? Postmodern church leaders seem to have a penchant for throwing around big words that no one else knows to make themselves sound smart. Listening to Doug Pagitt, an Emergent Church leader, on YouTube will reveal this pretty quickly. (In fact, for anyone who has studied something of the history of philosophy or its social ramifications you will quickly realize that even most of these Emergent leaders don’t seem to really know what the words mean, they just use them.) “Metanarrative” is just a fancy word for “grand story.” Metanarratives help us to explain our lives. So, for example, Christianity has a metanarrative in the Bible, telling us where we came from and where we are going and what our purpose in life is. The theory of evolution is another metanarrative (except that we don’t really know where we’re going and our purpose is just a step in the evolutionary chain). “Narrative” is just a word for story. In the postmodern context, usually a brief, punchy story.

The spirit of the age tells us that the metanarrative is passé. In fact, I think that it is not. I have yet to meet a person who does not have some kind of a concern for the metanarrative. Even Sartre’s existentialism is established on an already existing metanarrative (In his Being and Nothingness, Sartre starts by stating that God does not exist and we’re here on our own). People are still searching for the metanarrative that explains their lives. Postmodern church leaders (like the speaker I have noted above) insists that instead of concerning ourselves with metanarratives which try to answer all of the questions, we need to give people short, punchy narratives instead, which will help them unpack life for themselves.

One would think that this would be most effective at the secular university where the postmodern spirit of the age reigns. However, in my speaking in university venues to hundreds on numerous occasions, and, whether in disagreement with me or not, I have never encountered anyone resistant to the metanarrative. In fact, I have only ever experienced the opposite and with extraordinary focus on the part of most students. It has been my experience that they want to know the answers that explain their lives.

I do think that postmoderns are right in their esteeming the narrative, however, as a powerful means to reach people. People love short stories. They always have and this is not a new revelation nor is it something that the Church has not known since its origin. It seems that God knew this too. (One may even go so far as to say that he even planned it!) As it turns out, the Bible just happens to be full of short, powerful narratives. Given this, I think all that needs to be said, then, is “preach the Bible.” Or just get someone to read it! The key to this that we need to keep in mind, however, is that our preaching must be expository. Topical preaching (though useful on occasion) will not do. The power of the narrative is not something that we have just understood. Interestingly enough, all of these narratives, whether it be the narrative of creation, the flood, the conquest of Canaan, the establishing of Israel’s kingship, the exile and Babylonian captivity, the parables, the story of Jesus’ incarnation, life, death and resurrection, the growth of the church, etc.–all of these things, when preached in such a way that they are understood in their proper place of the Bible’s whole story line, lead to an understanding of a life-explaining metanarrative. They teach us the history of God’s plan, the end of it and where we fit into it all, namely, to glorify God.

The speaker I had listened to, whom I had made mention of in my last post (21 June 2009), stated that all of our quick little answers were not enough (e.g., the Four Spiritual Laws or the bridge). (Unfortunately, he went on to say that they only describe a transaction of double imputation, which had nothing to do with Christ’s vision.) These things do not interest people, he stated. While his prescription committed the same error, I would like to suggest that all that we need to do is to continue to preach expositorily while placing these narratives in their proper place in the history of God’s unfolding plan of, not only redemption, but his own glorification. This is nothing new. It’s not even novel. But it helps people of any age to understand their role in life. Once we understand our proper place in God’s metanarrative, we will no longer be unsure of what we are to be doing and we will begin to understand that this life is not about being a rock star or about being an emergency room doctor necessarily. Our 20-somethings will be less inclined to be disillusioned because they will not be aiming for all that this world says is the greatest thing to be and fail to achieve it. We will understand that the ultimate end is not for the world’s idea of what it is to be a success, but we will begin to aim for that in which we can best serve our Lord.

In addition, too often, churches tend have separate classes or sessions for our young people during the sermon. This should not be. Our youth must sit under the preaching of the Word. Firstly, they must simply learn to sit through a sermon. Emergent leader Doug Pagitt writes that the sermon is “a violence toward the will of the people who have to sit there and take it.” Elsewhere it has been cleverly put that preaching is nothing but a “monstrous monologue given by a moron to mutes.” What are we to expect our young people to think of preaching when they graduate from Sunday School, which is filled with games and quick little lessons, at the age of fourteen or sixteen and suddenly have to sit under 45 minutes of challenging preaching for their first time?

As well, we need to understand the impact that a parent has on their child as their child watches them listen to the Word preached. Who is it that children want to grow up to be just like? (This is supposed to be a rhetorical question, but if you don’t know the answer and you’re a mom or dad. . . IT”S YOU!) If our children never learn to sit with us quietly taking in, digesting and then collectively discussing the Word during the ride home or lunch time, they will see much less importance in this activity.  Obviously, then, it becomes clear that I think that children should sit with their parents during the message and that may be a bit old fashioned for some, but at least it’s something to think about. At the very least, it would be wise to not have them sitting alone with their friends until they are responsible enough to do so.

(to be continued. . .)

2 Cents on the 20-Something (part 1)

One of the perks of working with Compassion is that I get to travel around to Christian conferences across Canada. I consider it a perk, not because of the solid theological and biblical teaching that I find at such conferences, but because it provides the opportunity to observe and understand better the broad spectrum of teaching that Christians are sitting under today. While most of the conferences that I attend are aimed particularly at a younger audience, now and then I am invited to those aimed more at pastors or academics. Recently I attended one such conference which, unfortunately, was not unlike most others in the general message that it conveyed. Also, unfortunately, it took place at one of Canada’s most influential Bible college and certainly the largest. I listened to most of the keynote speaker’s sessions and heard (once again) a completely redefined Gospel, since we seem to have mistakenly understood it for so many years to be something that has to do with Christ atoning for sins. I watched as hundreds of church leaders take in what he had to say. (Not all approvingly, thankfully, according to my small sample survey afterward.) And, of course, I challenged some of his points, while noting in my peripheral vision some heads shaking at me. (No satisfactory response came forth, however.)

It occurred to me early on that this speaker, a well-known New Testament scholar, some of who’s essays on New Testament scholarship excited me when I was a younger Christian, was desperately seeking to keep up with the times and stay “cool” in the eyes of those he was speaking to. In one session he was addressing the importance of the Church’s ministry to “20-somethings.” He began with much good to say in his borrowed analysis of the extension of adolescence. To summarize this analysis, we are noticing a difference between the 20-somethings of our time, particularly those raised in the ‘80s and beyond, and those of generations past. A century ago it would have been the rare individual who had heard the word “adolescent.” There was only the transition from childhood to adulthood. In the mid-20th-century, however, a new demographic emerged to which we have given the name adolescent (basically, those in their teenage years). Geoffrey Arnett, in his book Emerging Adulthood, discusses this phenomenon of the extension of adolescence to the age of up to 35 years. Another volume to note is Diana West’s The Death of the Grown-Up, in which she analyzes the fact that people are no longer finding their “calling” or career path by 20 years of age, their quest to find a marriage partner does not come to fruition until their late 20’s or early 30’s (if they succeed in this at all) and other obvious delayed processes. Sociologists attribute part of this to the self-esteem of such persons brought about by their inability to find a career in which they can feel fulfilled and which, they feel, makes a positive contribution, as well as their lack of clarity in what it means to “find” one’s self, etc. Because of this, they experience a lack of personal identity and belonging in our culture. To bring this home to Christianity, when this is coupled with many of the large churches that many have been drawn to during their university and college years (those churches which appealed to them at that time) and the lack of “family” or community involvement which these churches have fostered, they are becoming disenchanted with the Church and are leaving. I agree with the speaker that this analysis is largely accurate, and I have seen this amongst my own acquaintances whom I have bumped into or stayed in touch with after graduating university. In fact, I can even relate to this myself.

The speaker’s proposal, then, is that churches need to frantically move toward building a ministry that is specifically aimed at 20-somethings. We need to take those monies which are put toward adult, youth and children ministries and start “pumping” it into 20-somethings ministries.

Apart from the obvious fact that this is a foolish idea simply because you have a very limited time to reach those who are already in the process of possibly leaving the church already, as well as the even more obvious fact that it pulls money away from what are, at least, just as important ministries, there are myriad problems this could create. In my experience with college and career ministries, and I have seem some that are very large, these ministries or groups often consist of gatherings of people who are all in the same predicament and state of life and who are “just like me.” Instead of solving the predicament of a prolonged adolescence, these groups result in a greater tolerance and acceptance of the epidemic, for it is merely the blind leading the blind.

My purpose here, however, is not to merely point out the problems with the above speaker’s thesis, but to think of a few solutions to the very real problem that he was addressing in that session–solutions that stand in stark contrast to the general mentality of the “Emergent” philosophy of church growth amongst this age bracket.

Addressing the Increasing Dissociation Between Young and Old

Something that we have all seen and which is not enough of a concern for us is the increasing dissociation between age groups in the church. In several churches that I have been to it is very obvious. (Usually the larger the church, the more obvious.) Again, this weekend, I was meeting with one of the leaders of a house church movement in a community slightly over 1000 people. For years the community has attended only one church. Now, it must be pointed out that the community is unique in that most of it is a student population, coming and going. So, in fact, the church’s true membership is likely slightly over a hundred or so. However, recently a house church movement begun among the students leaving this small community with two churches. Upon asking him, the house church leader told me that his church is the one the students go to. As a result, then, the original community church consists of, in his words, “mostly grey hair.” This is because the students felt they could not relate to the older members of the church and they did not fit in.

We must be fair, because it is easy to point the finger at the younger age group and blame them for not wanting to be social or not wanting to relate to the older group. However, I think that a big part of the reason for this feeling of non-connectedness is because the older church leadership in many churches have not seen the importance of its members making the investment into mentoring those who are younger. As I grow older, I know how comfortable it is to spend most of my time with others in the church just like me. I have found it interesting since I was a young teenager to watch how teens hang around with teens, young married couples without children hang around with other young married couples without children, then how, once those married couples have a child they only hang around with those who have children, and as people age they spend time with those who are their age. We face this in the church that I currently attend and I think that it is the rare church in which these distinctions are not the case. But this is certainly not the picture that we draw from the early church when looking at Acts 2:42-47. We do, however, see it present when we look at Paul’s encouragement to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:11-12 and the problems already present in Acts 6 between the Grecian and Hebraic Jews. In fact, the book of Romans would have a very different feel, if penned at all, if not for this problem.

The vital ministry of the older to the younger in our churches is something we must pay more attention to. When we look at the lack of direction and need for guidance among our teenagers, who will soon become our 20-somethings, it seems to me that what is necessary is the closing of the gap between those who have more life and faith experience with those who are to be leaving home soon and are trying to “finding themselves.”

My wife and I have been attending our current church for about a year and a half. When we had become members I took up a position of leadership with our young people. I soon found a severe lack of direction and identity amongst those between the ages of 18 and 25. Quickly I began to form close relations with some of these young people. I have found that the regular meeting with some of them on a weekly basis to pray with them, to share my own trials and how God has used them in my life to form me, to simply love them and let them know that they have someone who, 24 hours a day, they can rely on and call and feel comfortable meeting with on short notice has made a noticeable transformation in all of their lives. I have watched them not only begin to understand that someone older and “who’s been there,” is available for them, but have seen their willingness and hunger to soak up wisdom from older Christians who are willing to share it with them and, in turn, develop a desire for becoming contributing more to the church.

For those who are in church leadership, there must be a deliberate mechanism in place to foster those relationships between the older and the younger in the congregation, starting at an early age, when those who are teenagers will begin to confide and look for guidance from someone. If that someone is not found within the church, they will be found without. Of course, parents are central to all of this and it must begin in the home, but as the old adage goes “It takes a community to raise a child.” In our case it is the local church. In this way, by the time those teens reach their 20s, they will have had ample time to glean the wisdom and guidance necessary, not only from their parents, but from others in the church in whom they can find godly wisdom.

In addition to the mentoring that takes place under this kind of leadership, the development of these relationships between those more “advanced in years” and those younger lends to a bringing together of the church so that the picture of family with in the local church will be much more organic. No longer will it be the picture that we currently see and which I have illustrated above with such blatant distinctions between particular demographics, but such care and mentoring will form the kind of brotherly and sisterly kind of friendships that we in the church should exhibit. As well, in such a model, a more appropriate respect for those who have gone before will become apparent as those younger understand and appreciate the wisdom of an older and more mature Christian.

(to be continued. . .)

Raising Young Women of Dignity

Reviewing the news a few days ago, I came across an article stating that one prominent young actress is going to take the next step in her acting career and “bare it all.” It seems that this actress is seeking to make the transition from child star to more of a serious screen star. Unfortunately, this article does not describe what is an isolated incident. It was only a couple of months ago that I came across a similar article which described the same situation. In it, the actress stated that she needed to make the step to baring it all in order to secure “grittier roles.”

Increasingly we see this amongst female actresses. Recently I watched a movie that my wife and I picked, thinking it would be a light-hearted romantic comedy, based partly on the former movies that the child actress who was in it had played. Within minutes we decided to turn the movie off because of the sexually-gratuitous language that the young actress was scripted to play.

To be sure, there are many things that one could comment on in regard to all of this. However, I am compelled to note the double standard that we are seeing take place in all of this. I find it quite troubling that it is primarily female actresses who are feeling the pressure to flaunt their sexuality in order to secure a more lucrative career in Hollywood. I rarely see this amongst male actors. All they are required to do is to take advantage of these women on screen.

Again, making a quick trip to the grocery store this evening, I was standing in line behind three teenaged girls, all of whom were dressed quite scantily. The topic of their conversation? Unabashedly how they can look more sexy.

All of this brings us back to Genesis 3 and the fulfillment of God’s curse on the woman, in v16. “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” The fact of the matter is that the desire of many young women today is not even for a husband, but simply for some sort of “love” from some sort of male–and, unfortunately, that love has been confused with mere physical intimacy. (I don’t think this misses the point of the text.) Hollywood knows what men want, and I am afraid that these actresses also know too well what it is that men want. Furthermore, they know that by giving into what is demanded more and more on the big screen, they will secure some sort of decent living for themselves. On a less grand scale, the young women that I see walking the streets in cleverly-planned revealing clothing are seeking no less. Certainly we know that it is not because the clothes that they are wearing are comfortable. Females know well what it is that attracts the eyes of a male. So, who is it they are trying to entice and secure for themselves? Their desire will be for. . . unfortunately much less than a husband at this point. We may say that what they are looking for is some form of affirming worth and security from their male counterparts.

As for the second part of the verse, the man “will rule over you.” Well, he certainly is, and increasingly so as we see more and more skin and less modesty. There is no doubt that there are those who are hanging on to whatever is left of feminism and will say that women can legitimately use their bodies to control a man. Male rap star Ludacris is eager to feed that notion in his song “Shake Your Moneymaker.” However, it begs the question, what is left of a woman’s freedom when her own body is traded and used as a tool for some sense of love or security? What is she getting out of it? For, in truth, what is left of her is nothing more than a commodity to be paid for by the male, or employer, that she is selling herself to? If there is any dignity left with her, I am not sure where it is to be found.

So, the curse continues to bear itself out. However, the decreeing of such behaviour does not warrant it for us. We are commanded to be holy as God is holy. Women are commanded to conduct their behaviour in all modesty and to demonstrate true value through a passion for God’s glory (1Tm 2:9-10). And it is to be men who are the ultimate guardians of womens’ dignity through a concern for seeing God glorified by upholding the dignity of females of all ages. We certainly cannot expect men of unregenerate hearts to protect and esteem the great worth of a woman, for the curse is still being made manifest in all people. But for those in whom the kingdom of God has made a place in their hearts, there is to be an evidenced deliverance from this fallen world and, so, we must do what we can to ensure in our churches and in our relationships with those outside of the church that young women understand what it is to enjoy respectful and dignified relationships with men as they are raised up. This means raising our young boys to be men that find value in a woman with a heart after God’s own heart and who desire to be the protectors of the image of God that they portray. As well, it may sometimes mean women taking a young woman under their wings when there are indicators that she may be slipping into trying to lure the wrong kind of man in the wrong kind of way.

We live in a generation of gutless parents who are afraid to lay down the rules when necessary. As parents and as part of the church community, we will be held accountable for the way that we hold each other accountable and raise up our youth to continue the mirroring of the image of Christ in their behaviours.