Quiet Revival

Have you heard of the Quiet Revival?  Of course not!  …it’s quiet.

New England is famous for a few things.  The Red Sox, clam chowdah, and being a graveyard for church leaders. The statistics can, indeed, be grim.  Until recently, 85% of church plants failed, according to the North American Mission Board (that’s Southern Baptist for all y’all below the Mason-Dixon line out there).  According to Pew Forum, only 11% of New Englanders identify as Evangelical.  The Barna Group determined that the 5 least religious states in America are all in New England.

But this is not the full story.  According to research done by the Emmanuel Gospel Center (EGC), a Boston based research and community organization, the number of churches in Boston has doubled since 1965.  The number of people attending a church has gone from 3% of the city to 14% of the city.  In addition, according to Jeff Bass of EGC, there is a growing unity observed among the churches, and increase in prayer movements, a maturing of church systems, and an increase in the development of church leaders.

So how has all of this gone unnoticed?

1) There has been a dramatic move among immigrants and minority populations.  It is not uncommon for a pastor in a town to claim that there are only 6 churches in town, when in fact there are 13.  The pastor, unintentionally, is overlooking the numerous churches in strip malls and storefronts, or meeting in another church’s facilities, run by Filipinos or Hondurans or Brazilians.  Too often, the people counting churches don’t see what they’re not looking for.  At last count, there were 32 languages represented in the churches of Boston alone.

2) Old churches that were dying are coming back to life.  My church is 171 years old, and we’re the new kids.  The oldest church in my town was founded 138 years before the United States became a nation.  Many pastors are choosing to invest in the revitalization of the historic New England churches.  These churches, once large, dwindled to a shell of their former selves (often down to attendance figures in the teens), usually as a result of abandoning the Gospel and the authority of Scripture – I am simplifying but that is the core of it.  With tremendous effort and long-suffering faithfulness many of these churches are growing again, often to the chagrin of their denominational leaders.  The churches who have not returned to the Gospel are still dying at a steady clip.

3) Churches are being planted.  But unlike in other areas of the country, these church plants are not flashy.  They tend not to grow explosively, but rather methodically.  Due to the restrictions on space (a high commodity in the densely developed New England states), most church plants reach a few hundred attendees before they multiply locations.  This keeps any single church from reaching the numbers of a mega-church; they never reach the numbers that attract national attention.

There are no Saddleback churches here.  There are no Northpoints here.  There are no world-famous preachers in Boston or Hartford or Portland (no, not that other one – think Maine).  The revival is happening among small churches, often obscured by a foreign language, an old building, or a small beginning.

Things are looking up, but the work has only begun.  In my town of 25,000 people, only about 4% are attending a church on any given weekend, as best I can discern. Of those, fewer attend a church that regularly teaches the Scripture and clearly declares the Gospel.  Jesus’ words have never been more true.

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

Please pray for the Lord to send more workers for the harvest.

How Social Media Kills Context

I love technology.  I love the internet.  I am very attracted to social media (read: possibly addicted…like everyone else I know).  But technology and media are not neutral.  They have both positive and negative impacts on the world we live in, and impact how we engage that world.

One challenge of social media and the information rich era in which we live is that  context is virtually destroyed (and yes, that is a pun).

Rule #1 of biblical interpretation.

Every good preacher and teacher of the Bible knows that context is king. When trying to interpret a verse of Scripture, it can only mean what the context allows it to mean. This is pretty much a mantra in many Christian circles.  But are we as careful about context on the other side?

The job of the preacher and teacher is not simply to understand the Bible.  The goal is not merely to interpret the meaning from the text.  It is also the job of the teacher to interpret the meaning back into the context of the listener.  In other words, we have to share that message in words that people can understand, in illustrations that they can relate to, and in images that they can receive.

So what does this have to do with social media?

Social media, and the information era, have made things near and far equally immediate.  There is some good in this.  I can read about or see images of situations that are happening on the other side of the globe almost in real time.  This access to information can enable us to respond positively and beautifully to needs and concerns that we might otherwise have been blind to.

But the other side of this is that we have the ability to speak into circumstances that we don’t understand, or react in ways that might make sense in our context but that provoke unexpected and undesirable responses in other contexts.  Not only do we have access to the events, but others have that same access to our response to these events.

I live in New England.  This region of the U.S. is well known to have significant pockets of anti-Christian bias.  Many people here find the Church either irrelevant or repugnant.  So when I speak about the Gospel or the Christian response to issues ranging from human dignity to sexuality, from intellectualism to poverty – pretty much any topic – I must speak differently than the way I did when I lived in the “Bible Belt” down South.  Pastors there preach in large part to the choir (yes, I know the South is not a monolithic Christian culture and I know that many are culturally Christian even if they do not follow Jesus, but the reality I’m pointing to remains).  It is often inward focused speech that I read and hear related to these volatile issues.  It is often strong on doctrine but weak on engagement.  Their goal is to speak prophetically to the insiders.

I must speak prophetically to outsiders in the culture in which I minister.  I must hold to doctrine but also have an approach the leaves the door open for further dialogue and discussion.  I must operate in a way that facilitates relationship.  I must speak truth in palatable terms, not to assuage an opposing viewpoint but rather to create space for that view to conform to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The best ministry is, therefore, always local.  The best ministry is always by the knowing and known person.  One cannot expect to import his successful methods and ideas into a new context without alteration.

The local voice must be loud to counteract the outside voices.

This new media obliterates the lines between the local and the non-local. The pastor on YouTube from Atlanta may have a greater voice in my community than I have, or than all the pastors in my area have combined. Not only that, there are hundreds of these pastors on YouTube, blogs, news articles, newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, and countless other venues.  I know I cannot reverse this.  I don’t even begrudge it.  But I have to work (almost) in spite of it.  I have to counteract it.  I have to speak over the outside voices. I have to lend nuance and grace and empathy to a topic where the outsider only puts forth “truth”, whatever that may mean.

Granted, some outside voices are more relevant than others to my context.  Some are wonderfully helpful and make my work easier.  But this still further reveals the reality that social media is destroying the sense of context.  Those voices that are most helpful for my context are inevitably less than helpful in another one.  In this way social media is like the Gospel.  Its seeds are flung far and wide on all types of soil, regardless of whether the seed was intended for that environment or not. Unlike the Gospel, this can have unintended negative effects.

Social media and the information age are here to stay for the unforeseeable future. We should utilize them to maximum effect.  Just remember that there are always trade offs.  Every positive brings with it a negative. Context-less engagement may be the new normal, but that doesn’t make it good.

What To Expect When You’re Expectant

No, this isn’t a post about pregnancy.  Although one could argue that there are pregnant moments when dealing with God. I’m talking about living a life of faith that expects God to actively engage with the believer.

Many times in our church services I speak about coming with expectation. Far too often Christians show up at church kind of tuned out. Maybe they come because they’ve always come. Maybe they come because they feel that they’re supposed to. But I believe that God wants us to show up to a church service expecting something. In fact, I think we should show up to life expecting something.

Assuming this is true, what are we to expect?

1. Christians should expect to encounter God.

This can mean many things. For some, it has to do with the manifestation of the Holy Spirit through the gifts given to believers for the edification of the body. For others, there is an emphasis on some special feeling that God is present and is often accompanied by an emotional outpouring. Others hope to see miracles, signs, and wonders.

All of these, and more, can certainly be seen or felt when God is present. But not always. The true expectation of the presence of God is the result of knowing that God is present, not that he might show up.

God is present when believers gather to worship. He inhabits the praises of his people. He is present in the Holy Supper. He is present in his Word. He is present in times of prayer.

God is present! When we gather with one another, and even as we live our daily lives, we must remain conscious of the presence of God.

2. Christians should expect to be blessed.

The focus of a church service and the focus of Christian living is not on us. We would be stunted spiritually if all that we did was about us. But as we live sacrificially and in service to God and others, we should expect to receive God’s blessings.

In the book of Joel, chapter 2, the people of God are on their knees repenting of their sins after God orchestrates the destruction of the land. Everyone is invited to rend their hearts in hopes that God might relent and leave a blessing behind. Even in the midst of national sin, God’s people can hope for and expect a blessing when they come to him. Hebrews 4 offers us the hope of blessing in our times of need. Jesus says that the Father knows how to give good gifts (including the Holy Spirit).

God blesses his people! We should expect to experience these blessings when we gather, as well as in our daily lives.

3. Christians should expect to be challenged.

The Christian life is not easy. Jesus actively discouraged people from following him when he perceived that they were not ready to do so fully. Men were sent back to bury their parents. Others were told to count the costs. Rich rulers were sent away sad and discounted.

Jesus specifically tells us that we will carry a cross daily. We will have to die to ourselves in order to live for him. We will lose fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters for his sake. We will be hated and persecuted.

Jesus didn’t come to make our lives easier, but he did come to make them better and to give them more meaning and purpose.

When we gather with God’s people and submit ourselves to his Word, we will be challenged to repent, to sacrifice, to die. Over and over. As living sacrifices, we’ll be asked to hand our bodies over to the flames as an offering to God daily.

Additionally, God disciplines those he loves. We must not expect to come to a church service simply to be encouraged, unless we allow the rightful sorrow over sin to be an encouragement to walk more faithfully with God.

God challenges his people! We should expect this to happen to us when we approach him alone or with the body.

4. Christians should expect to be used by God.

Our churches today do not generally make space for God’s people to actively give in a gathering. But we should come to church with something to offer. It may be a prayer for someone. It may be a word of encouragement. It may be a ministry in which you can serve. It could be more personal in a small group or Sunday school class.

Wherever you can, look for an opportunity to give. In 1 Corinthians 14 we’re reminded that everyone is supposed to bring a song or a word from God when Christians gather.  Whatever your gifts are, utilize them in the midst of God’s people.

God uses his people! When you gather, look for an opportunity to bless someone or serve someone.

Don’t go through life on autopilot. Be an expectant person. Keep your eyes open to see what God is up to. Where is he manifest? What blessings is he offering? What challenge is he presenting? How can you be used by him?

If we have these questions in mind, I believe we’ll experience a more fruitful life as believers. And this isn’t just for church services. This is a way of being and living that permeates all of our lives.

Who Knew? Lakewood’s $600,000 Theft

The (Offering) Dish Ran Away With The Spoon

I read today that Lakewood Church in Houston (Joel Osteen’s church) had their offering stolen Sunday, to the tune of $600,000 (story here).  This very sad event resulted in the revelation of two interesting (read: disconcerting) facts.  

Fact #1 – Lakewood receives in-person offerings on one weekend that are over 5 times our church’s offerings in a year.  I mention the in-person bit because the official statements make clear that this was not a data theft.  All online giving is safe.  It was only the cash, checks, and envelopes with credit card numbers.  I’ll leave the tithing-with-a-credit-card issue aside for now.

Let me first say that I don’t begrudge a church for having large offerings.  But this little fact highlights some interesting realities.  First of all, it is expensive to run a church.  It is really expensive to run a church the size of a stadium.  This kind of church model drains millions of dollars every year away from real ministry and siphons it into the upkeep of facilities.  Facilities aren’t wrong, per se.  But what does it tell us about our own values when we put so much money into them?  It seems we value our comfort over the work of the Gospel.

Secondly, we do well to remember that Lakewood teaches a prosperity vision of the Gospel (which many argue is no Gospel at all), and therefore the primary measure of God’s blessing on them is an increase is numbers, resources, and money.  I won’t join the chorus of people commenting that Lakewood has been stealing from people for decades by coercing them through false teachings into giving their money to the church, but I will say that the doctrines of prosperity are dangerous to Christians.  It turns us into manipulators of God, or at least attempted manipulators.  The basic premise is as follows – If we give God money, he must bless us by giving us more back.  Most of these preachers are wealthier than their congregants and many abuses have been noted over the years.  This is just another reminder of the kind of money that is involved in these types of movements.  At this rate of giving, excluding online contributions, the church’s income would be over $31,000,000 this year (yeah, that’s million folks).

Fact #2 – Lakewood has a “Customer Service Department”.  What?!?!  The church has been forced by our culture to operate more like a business than a community or family.  Legally, churches are incorporated.  Sometimes a church’s legal name is First Whatever Church, Inc.  O.K., there is no way around that sometimes.  I get it.  But to actually create a customer service department?

Who are the church’s customers, anyway?  Family members or community members are not customers.  People don’t go to church to purchase a product.  The church is not a business that provides a service.  Whatever the similarities are to businesses, churches cannot lose the notion that what they do is markedly different from what a business does.  Customers are, in the general business parlance, consumers.  But as Alan Hirsch has rightly pointed out, you cannot consume your way into the Kingdom of God.

As soon as we treat church participants as consumers, we lead them into a deficient form of discipleship.  We entice them to our church by offering a greater service than the church down the road, whether by our facilities or our programs or whatever.  We tickle their ears with encouraging words so we don’t scare off a prospect.  We’re put into the dilemma facing the used car salesman (not to offend car salesmen) – do I tell the whole story and maybe lose a sale or do I just tell enough to make them excited about a purchase?  No matter how principled we are when we begin, our temptation is to sell out in the end.

This is a stark contrast to Jesus, who told his followers to count the cost.  He discouraged followers by warning them of the great loss they would suffer.  He modeled what it truly meant to carry your cross and follow him.  He plainly stated that we must die if we want to truly live.  Real discipleship is about giving, sacrificing, and obeying – not consuming.

Since the church is not a business, the pastor is also not a CEO.  Pastors are not entitled to huge salaries.  They are not there to tell everyone else what to do.  Their purpose is not to gather as many bodies as possible under a roof.  Pastors are meant to be servants who labor for the spiritual growth of a body, and shepherds who protect the church by placing themselves between the flock and any danger.  Pastors are people who, like Jesus, are to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the Gospel (not in unhealthy ways, but out of strength and conviction).  This is lost in a church-business mentality.

But To Be Fair

I don’t mean to pick on Lakewood.  I understand that they do some things very well.  And there are countless others who fail in the above mentioned areas and more.  But this news story brings into focus the reality of the North American church, at least in part.  We have been far too willing to move away from the biblical foundations that the Church was built upon.  We have been too willing to look the other way while some use the church for their own ends (even if that is not happening at Lakewood, we know it is in countless other places).  Our way of being the church would be unrecognizable to the Apostles and early Christians, not merely because of our buildings and structure, but more so because of our attitudes and teachings.

What do you think?

God Loves Dedham – Part 3

4.  We must rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us and empower us to fulfill the mission of the Church.  When Zechariah was prophesying to the exiled nation of Israel about rebuilding the temple, he received a night revelation from God saying, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty” and “Who despises the day of small things?” Zechariah 4.6, 10  What Zechariah was calling us to do was to re-establish God’s throne (the Temple) on the earth.  What we’re called to do is not much different.  But we cannot do it by our own strength and our own wisdom.  We must be yielded to God’s vision and purposes.  If it seems like an impossible task, don’t worry.  It is!  But with God, nothing is impossible.  If it seems like we can’t do enough, don’t worry.  We can’t!  But God starts with humble beginnings.  The Lord will empower us, guide us, and make a way for us if we’ll only be faithful to step out and trust him.  “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him…” 2 Chronicles 16.9  Of course, in context, king Asa learned that those who are not fully committed to God will not receive that strengthening   He would be at war the rest of his days because he relied on his own ability and alliances instead of relying upon God.  Let us not fall into that trap!

5.  We must expand our vision to the size of the Kingdom.  Jesus was described in Isaiah 43 as a competent tool for God, the servant.  He was a sharpened sword and a polished arrow.  But he was ineffectual in his mission (Israel did not respond well to the servant in Isaiah, nor did they respond well to Jesus when he came).  He says, “I have labored to no purpose, I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.”  Isaiah 43.4  His mission was futile.  But God responded in verse 6, “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept.  I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”  Of course, it wasn’t that Jesus was a failure or that he didn’t anticipate the broader vision of restoring the whole world.  The point is that sometimes the vision is too small and the Spirit does not empower the vision.  God has a bigger vision.  Once we catch the larger vision, the power of God is infused into it.  Then, both the larger and the smaller vision are accomplished.  As Paul makes clear in Romans 11, it is the salvation of the Gentiles that leads to the salvation of the Jews.

Sometimes we are so focused on the smaller vision of our own churches.  Our labor can seem fruitless, or at best limited.  We must catch the larger vision of the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom vision is what makes the local church strong.  The reality of God’s will on earth as it is in heaven is what makes the reality of the church possible.  In the economy of God, anything spent on the Kingdom is repaid in the church.  Dream bigger dreams with God and the little dreams will come true.  God will empower the work that he calls us to, and he has called us to Kingdom work first (Matthew 6.33 “But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”).  As the Kingdom of God expands and grows, the churches will all be blessed.  At least those that are mindful of the Kingdom will be blessed.  From my perspective, if my church fails while the Kingdom succeeds, I have faithfully executed my calling.  My hunch is that the aforementioned scenario is all but impossible.  If I’m faithful to the Kingdom the church will stand, and stand strongly.

The Future of the (shrinking) American Church

I’m not hip.  I’m not cutting edge.  I’m not particularly technologically savvy.  Basically, I am OK at keeping up with trends.

In the case of the future of the American church, there seem to be two competing trajectories: emerging and missional.  Yes, I know that these trends started a long time ago (by today’s standards of time).  Yes, I know they’ve been discussed ad nauseum in thousands of other places.  But my point here is to give a picture of where I’m striving to go in my faith.

If you don’t know, the most simple defining characteristic of the emerging church, as I understand it, is that it is an attempt to readdress the structure of the Church (not limited to physical structure).  It typically expresses a disdain for the traditional organization of institutionalized Christianity, which encompasses areas like authority/hierarchy, structure of services, locations/buildings, and anything else that might be changed to provide perceived cultural relevancy.  These churches usually embrace the post-modern cultural influences.  Familiar voices in this movement have been Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, and Mark Driscoll, though not all continue to associate with it.

The basic characteristic of missional church seems to be its attempt to readdress the purpose of the Church.  It typically expresses a disdain for the passivity among believers and urges a “missionary attitude” of being a people sent for the purpose of ministering the Gospel.  These churches usually embrace the ideas of contextualization, using terms like “incarnational” to describe the process of being in relationship with the world in a way that encourages Gospel transformation.

These movements are not necessarily exclusive of one another, and they can overlap.  But most often you find one emphasized over the other.  While I personally find some benefits to the emerging “conversation”, I find the missional thrust much more compelling.  This speaks to the heart of what Jesus mandated in the the various commissions in Scripture, and takes seriously the need to be radical and totally devoted followers of Jesus (die to self, take up your cross, hate your father and mother for my sake).  The previous generation’s way of being Christian strikes many of my generation (I was born at the tail end of 1979, so I’m usually pegged a late Gen X-er or early Millennial) as passive and too inward focused.

The church in the U.S. is stagnant.  Some churches die while others grow.  If you take into account the fact that most of the growth of the church has come from “sheep shifting” and immigrants (largely worshiping within ethnic communities), you’re left with a shrinking remnant among non-immigrants.  Immigration is not a bad thing, but it can obscure the true decline the church is facing, unless we are content only to grow through immigration.

I believe that reconnecting the Church to its mission, calling people to a purpose greater than themselves, and igniting a movement of missionaries who are willing and able to engage with the cultures represented around them will be a key component of the renewal and even explosion of the Gospel movement in the U.S.  Regardless of how the church is structured (which may be a future post), we must be Living on Purpose.