Evangelical Fear: Recovering our Faith in Justification by Faith

This series of posts is a reflection on a lack of innovation in the evangelical church.  A reflection which has led me to the uncomfortable thought that we lack innovation not because it is not needed but because we fear it!   The presence of fear, in this context, reveals the absence of faith.  Not the type of faith which means you know the right answers but the type of faith that means you shape your life, desires and ambitions around the right answers.  It is a faith that informs the head, warms the heart and moves the feet.

In the last post I suggested we needed to recover our faith in the sovereignty of God.  In this post I want to suggest that a recovery of our faith in justification by faith will lead to more risk-taking and greater innovation for the church.

Many of us shy away from risk or innovation because we are averse to the consequences.  If we fail – are we a failure?  If we succeed are we a heretic?  If we try something new are we a trouble-maker?  If we don’t follow the same path as everyone else are we arrogant?

For many of us we doggedly hold to the doctrine of justification by faith as that which will save us on the last day but we do not apply this great truth to today (Tim Chester).  Instead we desperately look to our ministry effectiveness, church size, busyness of ministry, recognition by our peers, methodological orthodoxy or church attendance to make us feel significant, important or justified to others or most often to ourselves.

We need to hear Jesus say “It is finished!” BEFORE we begin our work, our ministry or get up in the morning.  There is no longer any need to prove yourself, outperform anyone else or justify ourself.  You are a beloved child of the Most High God- and nothing can change that.  Even if it were possible for you to mess it all up and fail every time – “It is finished!” you cannot change your status before God, cannot un-justify yourself, cannot make God love you more or less through your achievements or lack thereof.  This is, in part, what it means to live as one whose heart is captured by justification by faith and the cross of Christ.

If my reputation is secure…

• Perhaps it is not necessary to have a thriving youth ministry to be a successful church.
• Perhaps the mark of a growing church is not adding a 2nd or 3rd service.
• Perhaps you don’t need that university recognised theological degree to be legit.
• Perhaps it is not the books you read or the committees you sit on or your seating capacity of your church.
• Perhaps it is not even necessary to be a self-sustaining church?

If it is the gospel that has captured our hearts rather than the “worship of the bitch-goddess success” (William James- love that turn of phrase) then might we see more Homeless Pastors (as in pastors to the homeless not domicile-ly challenged pastors).  Or what about releasing some of your key people to go and live among the “night people” of our city (i.e. probably not going to make Sunday morning)- chefs, waiters, street vendors and pimps.  Walk the streets, meet them for a drink when they get off shift at 2pm, find ways to bless the homeless sleeping rough, attend late night gigs, befriend car guards, bouncers and taxi drivers.  This probably won’t grow your church, nor will you be recognised or even liked honoured for releasing people to do this.

Reaching out to those who are far from the church – the broken, messed-up, sinful, angry and disinterested will get messy.  You will lose control, credibility, comfort and conformity. It will not be a job that can be quantified in office hours, job descriptions or five-year plans.  It will be confusing, full of dead ends and about turns.  It will test your wisdom, your creativity and your credibility.  It will not be pretty, nor glamorous and probably not anything that could look legit or successful.  This will break your idealism and your heart, drive you to cynicism, alcohol or prayer.

Only one who daily rests in Christ’s finished work on their behalf will be able to stay the course in this vocation.

Evangelical Fear: Recovering Faith in the Sovereignty of God

Yesterday I suggested that methodologically us evangelicals are people of fear not of faith.  When I talk about faith I am not talking about the answers you could quite easily and correctly write down on a theological exam – our cognitive beliefs.  I am talking about our functional beliefs - those things which our lives, choices and desires show to be our actual beliefs.  Perhaps here I am already treading on some hallowed evangelical toes but it is not what you say you believe (i.e. being able to recite and discuss good theology) that makes you orthodox but what you show you believe (what is the fruit of a life that loves good theology) that counts.

So what do our methodological fears say about our deepest held desires and the corresponding lack of faith.

Our innate fear of failure, risk or innovation displays our lack of faith in the sovereignty of God.  A robust belief in the sovereignty of God means we cannot fail.  Romans 8 reminds us that he is working all things together for his good.  Even our perceived failures, wrong turns or unwise ideas are being worked together for our good, His mission and His glory.

We, however, are scared to risk or be out of control.  We desire to keep things ordered, safe, controllable.  Overstatement?  Why then are we so innately suspicious of any methodology that does not contain an a priori decision to hold a corporate gathering on a Sunday or engage in a 30 minute teaching monologue.  Why does every new church plant look suspiciously like a slightly tweaked version of every other church out there – no matter how different the context is ethnically, geographically or economically?  Where are the radical, new inventive, risk-taking gospel endeavour being funded by the established or (crazy thought this) the mega-churches?

We need to recover a robust faith in the sovereignty of God.  A faith that says I can risk it all because ultimately he will save the day.  Ultimately the victory is his.  A faith that says Jesus has done it all on the cross I cannot lose it or mess it up.  Not only can we not mess it up but he uses our failures and foolish ideas to extend his Kingdom and bring him glory.  We are set free from a paralysing fear of failure, of getting it wrong, or of doing it the wrong way.  We are set free to throw it all up in the air, to put it all on the line for the gospel.  To risk, to try, to dare, to dream.

We are free to question every methodology, every tradition, every innovation, every guru and every past wisdom.  We are free to throw every past success in the air and risk it all again on some crazy venture to share the love of Jesus with a lost world.  We are free to wisely or unwisely throw out every “but we’ve always done it this way” and reinvent it all again in the hope of bringing just one sinner home again.  We need our pastors to stop keeping the sheep safe from the world and start setting us free to risk it all for His gospel and His glory!

Next: Recovering our faith in Justification by Faith.

Is your church plant gospel-centred?

If you are wondering what it could look like for a church to be gospel-centred this is a great post by Steve Timmis from the Acts 29 Western Europe blog.

“It takes the whole Bible to expound the gospel, so reducing it to three sentences is inadequate. But this summary provides a necessary reference point for considering the question of this post: Jesus, God’s promised Rescuer and Ruler, lived our life and died our death. He rose again in triumphant vindication as the first fruits of the age to come. He brings forgiven sinners together by the Holy Spirit to live as his people, under his gracious reign, as we point to and wait for the New Creation.

To be gospel-centred means that the gospel is not only to be the focal point but also that which sets and sustains the culture of our churches.

Our preaching must be the gospel, the whole gospel, and nothing but the gospel. We don’t preach moralism, sentimentalism, emotionalism, behaviourism, abstentionism, antinomianism or legalism. Whether we’re preaching from a podium or teaching in a living room, to whomever, wherever, whatever the issue – we preach the good news that is Christ.

Prayer and singing are opportunities to rehearse the gospel. It is through both that our affections are excited and we’re reorientated around the gospel, which renews, shapes and directs our hearts.

Don’t let business meetings get hi-jacked into being about protocol or procedure. Meeting times, Bible translations, instruments and coffee brands are all gospel issues.

If the gospel isn’t central, don’t be surprised when our youth jump ship. No matter how “sexy” our meetings, we can’t compete with the world’s sizzle. Youth ministry must faithfully bring the gospel to young people.

What will keep a couple together in 10 years’ time is not a compatibility test, but the gospel. Rehearse the gospel in your marriage preparation; massage it deep into the hearts of your men and women.

Train people in, with and for the gospel. The gospel enables them to disciple others, engage with non-Christians, answer critics, respond to hard questions and cope with disappointment & failure, joy & success.

In pastoral care, take people to the compelling truth of a God who, in Christ, justly forgives sinners. It tells me of my sin and of my Saviour. I no longer have to justify myself. Lying becomes unnecessary, forgiveness a reality, reconciliation a certainty.

Our mission is the gospel! We’re not here for our comfort or renown. The gospel is the unique contribution we make to a fallen world. So whatever other legitimate activities we support (relief, infrastructures, emergency aid), the gospel is that which sets us apart.

To be gospel-centred means that the gospel shapes and defines everything we are and do as God’s people. Which, like so many good and vital things, is a lot easier said than done. But, since when has ease of implementation ever been a necessary criterion.”

I stuck it to the man!

After thinking I was selling my soul to the man I am happy to report that I repented of my previous compromise and instead “stuck it to the man!” After only one day of training!

Hard core I am?  Ok so I confess I got the details all wrong, it was not data capturing but fieldwork that they were asking me to do.  And rather than a dull drudgery of 9-5 data crunching it was  going to be more like working crazy hours 6-7 days a week for about a month and a half.  Plus 2 weeks of training, for no pay of course, “cos we all know that is how the man rolls”.

The cost of earning the extra cash we decided was going to be too high for our existing ministry and relationships.  And for our family after what has been a really tough year for us.

We took the decision to rather enter the year refreshed, excited and full of energy for the mission God has called us to.  Rather than drained, worn out and needing a break. When it seemed like this opportunity for work was going to support our ministry it was a good option when it became obvious that it was going to detract from it – it was a bad option.  We believe that as followers of Jesus the ministry he has given us to do is the primary criteria for our decision-making.   Of course that does not exclude the possibility of working full-time in a regular job – as most Jesus followers must do.  What it does mean is that employment - the when, where, how, how much – is not our primary criteria for our decision-making.

So what about the money?  It is not our abilities or our employment which provides for our needs, it our Father in Heaven who is our great and gracious provider… even when the means He uses is regular employment.

So I am still hard-core right?

Working for the Man

I have been saying for a while now that getting paid to do ministry is a privilege and not a right.  Now I have to put my money where my theology is – I have a temporary job, working for the man.  If we are honest most of us missional types have a bit of a non-conformist streak in us, which God graciously uses for his glory.  So we like the idea of being funky baristas, photographers, consultants, web-designers, writers, basically anything that allows us to be a bit alternative in lifestyle and life-choices.

But as I was not seeming to cut it in any of these more acceptable missional practioner, alternate jobs, while still being cool I have been forced to actually believe my own rhetoric and get a real, real (repetition intended) job working for the Census 2011 doing data capturing.  Yes be aghast not only am I working for the man, but it will be mind numbingly boring in all likelihood with precious little redeeming “sexy” factor.

So if this blog falls eerily quiet over the next month and a half (yes I know it has been rather quiet of late anyhow) you now know that I have sold my soul to the man.

But on the less cynical side the extra cash I earn will hopefully help to consolidate us financially and set us up for ministry next year.

And it won’t hurt to experience the dullness and low job satisfaction that the majority of people in our country experience on a daily basis… and now how do I glorify God in all this?

Good News to our City: Economic Inequality

On the radio station I used to listen to growing up – Friday was “old skool” day.  So I thought I might continue that trend for a while (maybe even sporadically) and on an “old skool” Friday I will re-post an old post of mine that I think might still have some value.  So if you have read this before maybe ask yourself – has anything changed?  If this is new to you, I would love to hear your thoughts and reactions.

Good News to our City: Economic Inequality

Let us begin with a statement of fact – whites (including Christians) are (present tense intended) the benefactors of the apartheid system.  Yes, we all know that “all that discrimination” is in the past and that now we are all even (?!)  But to imagine that 40 years of institutionalized (that is even to ignore the fact that racial discrimination was crippling black people long before apartheid was on the statute books) can simply disappear overnight and that previous privileged and disadvantages are no longer valid is simply naive or ungodly.

Let us try an analogy: It is as if we whites and blacks have been playing a game of football and for the first half all the black players have one arm and one leg tied behind their back.  Predictably the score at half time is 28-0.  At half time the whites realize the error of their ways (best case motives allowed) and untie the blacks for the second half but do nothing about the score.  And when the black players, understandably, protest – the white response is anger, whilst pointing out the only now even (?) playing field.

That is Cape Town/South Africa today, we may be 14 years into our new democracy but whites have conveniently forgotten that blacks started this era of democracy 28-0 behind. In order for South Africa to work towards significant economic equality white people have to be prepared to give something up.  The question for Christians in Cape Town today is – where does the Kingdom of God fit into all of this?

Martin Luther once said: “If you preach the gospel in all aspects with the exception of the issues which deal specifically with your time you are not preaching the Gospel at all.” (quoted in Ron Sider p52).

If you have any doubt as to whether this is one of the issues of our time here are some statistics:

According to the 2007 statistics on the City of Cape Town website results:

• Unemployment in Cape Town is at 16,9% (2007)
• 58.4% of people aged 20+ have an education level less  than grade 12. (2007) whilst a further 23,6% have Grade 12 as their highest education level.  Leaving only 16,8% of people aged 20+ with a tertiary qualification.
• 8.4% of people 20+ have less than Grade 5 (2007)
• 38.8% of households are living below the poverty line (2005)
• 6.7% of households have no access to safe drinking water (2007), and 5.8%  no access to adequate sanitation (2007) and 2.8% no access to electricity for lighting (2007)
• 108 889 – informal dwellings were serviced by the city in 2007 (this obviously does not include those that were not serviced)

According to the 2004 Study on Informal settlements:

• Amongst those living in informal settlements only 16% have Grade 12 and this drops to as low as 2% among the unemployed.
• 25% of those living in informal settlements are regarded as functionally illiterate.
• 98% of these were Xhosa speaking with 92% having been born in the Eastern Cape.
• 39,5% of adult residents were unemployed (34% men and 66% women)
• 52% of the unemployed had never worked in paid jobs before
• Average household income was R1315 per month (inclusive of state grants received by 41% of households). At the time of the survey the Household Subsistence Level was R1900.  More than 80% of households fell below this level.
• 54% of households spoke of times when they had no food for the day.  Whilst 61% did not always have enough to eat.
• On average 30 people were sharing one toilet cubicle
• 83% of residents experienced serious problems with flooding around or in their shacks.

According to the Informal Dwelling Count for Cape Town 1993 – 2005 (June 2006),

• The city had a backlog of housing of 260 000.
• The 50 informal settlements in 1993 had grown to over 200 by 2005.  Khayalitsha for instance has a total of 13 informal settlements containing  42 170 shacks.  And Philippi with a total of 23 informal settlements containing 15114 shacks.
• Since 1993 informal dwellings have grown from 28 300 to 98 031 in 2005.
• Impacting the lives of approximately 400 000 people, almost 13% of the Cape Town population.

According to the City of Cape Town’s Employment Status of Potential Labour Force (those aged 15-64):

• The total unemployment levels in Cape Town are 19,4%
• Of those Black Africans have a 34,8% (225473 people) unemployment rate, comprising 31% of the population
• Coloureds have a  15,8% (147250 people) unemployment rate, comprising 48,13% of the population
• Asians and Indians a  7,1 % (2072 people)  unemployment rate comprising 1,43% of the population
• And Whites a 3,1 %  (11987 people) unemployment rate comprising 18,75% of the population

Thoughts:

1. In SA this is largely a black-white issue and this is how it is at best perceived and at worst intended.  We cannot get away from the reality that white people including Christians are the major beneficiaries of apartheid.  If we are serious about racial reconciliation (see part 1 of this series) then we must ask questions about an economic system that entrenches the divide not only between rich and poor, but often also between white and black.  If the gospel is to be good news that works to our city then it must be seen to overcoming these divides, uplifting the poor, changing the priorities of the wealthy etc.

2. White Christians (this is a generalization) need to give up their love affair with Western capitalism.  Out of the West and particularly the United States comes a form of Christianity which is often too closely wed to capitalism. Capitalism as an economic system is about the maximum profit for the minimum expenses.  As Christians in business, running businesses, endorsing and using businesses, this “raw capitalism” is most often at odds with the people-centred, looking after the vulnerable, type economics of the Bible.

We have to practice and endorse and look to encourage whatever form of economic system (in one sense that is irrelevant) best looks after “the poor and the widows”, the vulnerable, those who are without means and resources.  Whatever system best allows the greatest number of people to rise above poverty, unemployment, unsanitary living conditions, lack of access to proper healthcare and education is the system/policy/party which we ought to be endorsing.

The sad reality is that most of our decision-making and values are played out not by reading the for instance the Old Testament prophets but by the values which we inherit and endorse as those who are the (continuing) beneficiaries of an unjust economic system.  White Christians fail to critique or even see anything wrong with our capitalist economy mainly because we are the beneficiaries and propagators of an unjust system which continues to make the (white) rich richer and the (black) poor poorer

3. White Christians need to consider their living standards and priorities in the light not of first world countries but in light of Africa.  In a city where hundreds of our brothers (if we limit it to Christians alone for the point of illustration) regularly go to bed hungry how is it that rich Christians so easily justify the luxury motors, holiday homes, bigger and better homes, gadgets, television screens etc?  How is it that rich Christians have wardrobes full of clothes they never wear whilst their brothers and sisters have no shoes or warm top?

How can it be that those who claim to disciples of  Jesus and citizens of the Kingdom of God, have the same lifestyle as unbelievers just without the smoking, sex and foul language?  How is it that whilst are values are supposedly radically different yet our lifestyles are exactly the same?

4. Reformed theology has traditionally  had a defective theology of the Kingdom: we are obsessed with saving souls for heaven,whilst God is busy calling us to join with him in reconciling all things to himself.   While we are busy preaching a message which inadvertently has lowered expectations of life now (what is called under-realized eschatology), God is calling us to live now as citizens of his Kingdom of justice, peace, mercy, compassion, and self-denial.  We are exclusively concerned with personal holiness while God is calling us to lay down our rights, give away our excess, feed the poor and join with God in demonstrating the in-breaking effects of the new life of the resurrection now.

“For the first Christians, the ultimate ‘salvation’ was all about God’s new world; and the point of what Jesus and the apostles were doing when they were healing people, or being rescued from shipwreck, or whatever, was that this was a proper anticipation of that ultimate ‘salvation’, that healing transformation of space, time and matter.   The future rescue which God had planned and promised was starting to come true in the present.  We are saved, not as souls, but as wholes.” Tom Wright: Surprised by Hope p211

5. As I alluded to earlier reformed theology has traditionally had a deficient theology of the church.  We are all about me and my personal salvation.  At best church is a collection of individuals who share common interests and values and who help each other out occasionally.  The biblical picture has at the centre of God’s working, not the individual but the people of God, the church.  We need a far more communal identity than we often practice.  The biblical picture is that of a family, a body, a building, a people belonging to one another, one new humanity.

A more biblical picture of church cannot accept a situation where we buy a new car, or a bigger house, or more shoes whilst our brothers and sisters go to bed hungry or homeless – and we don’t even care enough to pause and consider what we are doing!   “Our understanding of the poor, it seems reveals a lot about our understanding of God’s grace.” Tim Chester p29

6. This is not a call to give money to poor people.  That may come in time but what white and black, rich and poor need more than anything else in South Africa and Cape Town today is to meet and connect with one another.  As Christians we have to stop giving money to appeals or projects (to ease our guilty conscience) and we need to start giving ourselves.  Ask yourself this question, where would you find Jesus if he was living in Cape Town today?  Among the poor, in the townships, on the gang-ravaged Cape Flats, among the HIV positive crisis?  Where do you think he is calling you to be today?

Stop fearing the consequences. Stop worrying about the future.  Stop thinking about all the logical reasons why you should maintain your comfortable middle-class white bubble.  If you know where Jesus is calling you then why aren’t you following?  That is the only question worth answering!

“It is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we are all invited to devote our lives to the subversive cause of the mustard seed that is destined to redeem a people and transform a world.” Tom Sine: Mustard Seed vs McWorld p27

 

Good News to Our Schools

This is a slightly edited repost of an old blog post from my old blog.  I found myself talking about some similar things with a few others lately, which prompted me to go look this post up.  And after reading it again thought it might be worth re-posting.  I would value your input:

I was in conversation recently on the state of education in South Africa and the pros and cons of homeschooling and what was apparent is that most of us think that the education system in South Africa has some real problems, challenges and difficulties. And as Christians there are some real issues we need to work through, think through and make decisions about, concerning the education of our (in my case future) children. They are not easy decisions and light answers will not suffice.

But as we spoke it suddenly occurred to me that there we were debating the issues and criticising the current malaise of the education system but what would it mean to be a missional church in this situation. To be missional in our culture/educational system should mean that:

1. We find ways to support, encourage and pray for teachers and educators in our communities (especially Christian teachers who are trying to be salt and light in a difficult and dark world).

2. There is a lack in our education system of passionate and qualified teachers; as well as a motivation for those teachers to be there. With the result that many good teachers leaving the profession on a monthly basis (so the word on the street goes?). If we Christians really love our city, and want to bring and embody the “good news” of the kingdom for our city, then perhaps we need to be encouraging Christians to consider teaching as a profession. It is a desperate need in our country and city, it is a way to love the city, to serve the city and that is not to mention the potential impact that could be had on the young lives being taught.

3. Given that many teachers are underpaid and under-resourced, perhaps we ought to find ways to finance, resource and support those we encourage to consider being “missionaries” in our educational system. I use the word deliberately because I think this kind of thinking must be accompanied by a gospel intentionality. Any push for educators must be accompanied by an envisioning that these men and women would not simply see themselves as teachers or doing a good thing, but that they are on a gospel mission to shape and serve the city with and through and because of the gospel.

4. A further realisation might also be that this would require a reduction in time that they could give to “church ministry”. This must not be frowned upon but we ought to release and commission them for an unconventional ministry outside of the usual structures.

Now that I think about it what about government and health care…

The most important thing I learnt from John Stott

I have read many of John Stott’s books and been greatly encouraged and helped my his ministry.  But this little anecdote from Tim Chester probably had more influence on me than any of his writing (over-statement?)  I first heard Tim tell this story a while back and it is somehow fitting that he has re-told it on his blog on the occasion of Stott’s death.

“When I was nineteen I attended a day conference in Newcastle at which John Stott was the speaker. When we arrived, the friend with whom I’d come went off to the toilet and I was left alone, feeling out of place. An older man came over and began talking to me, asking me about myself. After a few moments my friend returned and the man introduced himself, ‘Hello, I’m John Stott.’ My jaw nearly hit the floor. I’d been speaking to the great John Stott without realizing it. That moment made a big impression on me. John – who was the only speaker that day – had seen an awkward looking teenager on his own and taken it upon himself to make him feel welcome. I met him a few times subsequently and he always remembered my name. The private John Stott was just as impressive as the public persona: gracious, humble, without affectation. I’m sure it was this humility that meant God could entrust him with the influence and success he received. It is hard to underestimate the impact he has had across the world.”

Related:  A similar story I posted recently about Francis Schaeffer

PS. I think this is the jacket that TSK was talking about?

Captured by a better vision

Yesterday I had an occasion to recommend Tim Chester’s book “You Can Change” to someone again.  It really is an excellent resource on gospel-centred change.  Change that is more about seeing Jesus’ glory than in seeing our own glory.

Tim has also published Captured by a Better Vision, which is in some senses a working (and much needed) model of the principles found in You Can Change in the area of a battle with pornography.

“Captured by a Better Vision is not just about saying no to porn it is about saying yes to the glory of God.  About being captured by a better vision”

That one thing?

You know how there are activities that you never do but every time you do them you feel so good you wonder why don’t you do that more.  And then you make all sorts of resolutions to yourself about how you are going to do this again tomorrow or next week or the next month… Ah I see you do!  Sort of like going to gym but only a thousand times better.

Well today I went up the mountain! On the mountain is where I feel alive! All those things that worry me, confuse me, weigh on me – somehow I climb a mountain and well I gain perspective.  Inevitably at some point I stop for a quick breather and as I muse, mumble, meditate and pray out loud, all of a sudden I realise that I have been sitting for far longer than I planned.  I kind of get a bit lost in prayer & reflection on the mountain.

Today I decided to read through 1 Peter as I climbed and explored the mountain.  Sitting among the fynbos, on top of the mountain, the Bible was alive.  I clearly heard God speak to me.  The words I had been reading many times over the past few weeks suddenly took on new life and new meaning.  Suddenly the text which in the “flatlands” was a uni-dimensional entity on a page was alive, moving, restless – convicting, challenging, encouraging, rejoicing.

Am I closer to God on the mountaintop?  No probably not.  But it is where I stop, where I breathe, where I actually listen.  What is that one thing that you need to do?  That thing that you always want to do, that you know you should do, kind of hope you could do but actually never do?  What is that one thing you do where you feel alive, where you stop, you breathe?  When is it that you actually listen?

Do that this week!