Created for Community

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone…”  Genesis 2:18 

“I can worship God better out here in the woods. I love God, but I can’t stand people. So, church is not for me.” Maybe you’ve heard that. Maybe you’ve said that. It sounds logical; but it’s not scriptural. It’s also not true. First John 4:20 is clear that we cannot fully love God until we learn how to love our Christian brothers and sisters. The God who created us told us that it is not good for us to be alone. That means He designed us with an internal growth chip that is only activated in fellowship with other believers. When we isolate ourselves from our Christian family, we forfeit that area of growth. Here’s why:

When God created Eve for Adam, He already knew she would lead him into trouble. God could have wadded her up into a ball of clay and started over. But He didn’t. He let her stay, because He knew that she would challenge Adam to grow in ways that would be impossible if it was only Adam and God. Because of Eve, Adam learned some things about himself that forced him to depend upon God. And in our relationships, it is often the frustrating aspects that become the tools God uses to shape our character. Relationships challenge us to grow in ways that we cannot when it is just us and God. Our relationships reveal selfish motives, prideful attitudes, or errors in thinking that we would never address without our equally-flawed brothers and sisters bumping into those places. Communing with God in nature is wonderful, but we need each other to become like Jesus.
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On This Rock...

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church…”  Matthew 16:18

“All churches want is your money.” 

“I’m not good enough for those church people.” 

“Church is for women and sissies.” 

Misconceptions about the word “church” are everywhere. Unfortunately, many people have reasons to think the way they do. They had a bad experience. They saw something on TV. They heard something at the beauty shop. They read it on the internet (so it must be true!). When we let experiences or culture define “church” for us, we get a distorted image—like wearing someone else’s prescription glasses. But when Jesus defines “church,” it looks a lot different.

 

According to Jesus, the church is made up of every human being who has repented of sin and confessed Him as Lord and Savior. The rock that this church is built upon is the truth that Jesus is who He says He is. And if He is God, then He has the right to lead us, command us, discipline us, and make us more like Him. Every person who chooses to follow His way is adopted into His family. So that means that the real church is filled with imperfect human beings in various stages of spiritual growth—just like any family is. That dynamic leads to disagreements, frustrations, and hurt feelings—just like with other families. But even radically different people can march in the same direction when they choose to follow the same Leader.

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Teamwork

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority…  

Luke 9:1 

Coach whistled for the team and the 10-year-old Chargers gathered around. “OK guys,” he said, then, “Where’s Wilson?” Colby Wilson, Number 11, slouched by the dugout watching a plane in the sky. “Wilson!” shouted the coach. “Get over here!” Colby shrugged. “You can give me my instructions when you’re done there,” he called back. The coach’s face reddened and he marched to his third baseman. “You get over there! You’re part of this team. We learn together, we play together, we win or lose together. I’m coaching a team, not a bunch of Lone Rangers. Get over there, or you’re hurting the team!”

When Jesus was ready to spread His message to the world, He created a team. He handpicked twelve rough-around-the-edges men and poured His life into them—as a team. He taught them, coached them, and then He called them together as a team to give instructions. He expected this team to carry on His work, even after He was gone. He still expects that of us. Lone Rangers are fooling themselves. Some stay away from Christian community because they expect special treatment, others because their teammates are imperfect. But when we do, we hurt the team. We hurt Jesus. It’s hard to be other-focused in a selfie-world, but that is the heart of Christianity. When we gather as a team, Jesus gives us power and authority to do His work. 

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Encourage Each Other

 So encourage each other with these words. 

1 Thessalonians 4:18

By the time the two Dorley brothers were finally rescued by the Coast Guard, they had been floating in the Atlantic Ocean for 6 days. Their family’s boat had capsized during a sudden storm, and both parents were lost. The boys managed to crawl onto a life raft and bailed out rainwater with their caps until the storm subsided. Making the situation even more treacherous, Colt, the younger brother, was blind. “How did you keep going?” one reporter asked. With a protective arm around his little brother, Calvin, age 12, answered, “When I felt like giving up, I would look at him. I couldn’t let him give up, so I told him I could see a boat coming. I described it so well I really could almost see it myself. I just kept saying it until it came true.”

That’s what this verse is talking about. The believers in Thessalonica were growing weary of daily persecution, trouble, and loss, so Paul wrote to them in glorious detail about the second coming of Jesus. They’d adopted some erroneous teaching about death and were in danger of losing sight of their purpose. Rather than rebuke them, the letter encouraged them to refocus on the promise that would soon come true. Jesus was coming back! It would all be worth it. They were to encourage each other with those words, and in doing so, encourage themselves. Our minds start to believe what our ears hear and when we speak truth in love, our thinking changes. Like Calvin, when we encourage our weary brothers, we encourage ourselves.

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A Case of Neglect

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another…  Hebrews 10:25

“My wife and I have a great marriage,” Dave said as he lined up his next golf shot. “She does her thing and I do mine. We text occasionally and I Facetimed her on her birthday. I don’t like her ongoing affairs, and she doesn’t know about my spending habits, but other than that, we’re great.” Jeff whistled and shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. “Those sound like red flags to me. Maybe those affairs are your wife’s way of crying out for attention. And maybe your overspending is a clue that you need her financial wisdom. In my family, I’ve found that neglect can do more damage than abuse. Just a suggestion.”

It was a good suggestion, because when we neglect significant relationships, everyone suffers. A church is a group of believers who meet together. But when we abandon the “meeting” part in favor of Youtube sermons in our jammies, we lose sight of its purpose. Jesus did not create His church for the sermons. He also never intended “church” to mean the Sunday morning version of “America’s Got Talent.” 

Jesus created His church as a fellowship of people from all backgrounds joined by a common bond: His transforming work in our lives. He molds us into a family, and family members need time, accountability, encouragement, and the opportunity to know and be known. We can’t get that through a computer screen or a phone app. Real church cannot be accessed with a click of the mouse. We experience real church when we do it together.

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Rejection

  “The stone that the builders rejected 

has now become the cornerstone.”  

1 Peter 2:7  

Reject—to dismiss as inadequate. Rejected stones would never become part of an important structure. They remained gravel on the ground, useful for others to walk on but nothing more. Builders rejected stones for a variety of reasons: not big enough, strong enough, or smooth enough. Not flat, pretty, or the right color. In order to fit into a project, a stone had to be just right. The rest were rejected because they were just not enough.

Sometimes we’re rejected for the same reasons. We’re often told that we are not enough: not smart enough, tall enough, handsome enough. Not the right pedigree, race, or gender. Sometimes we assume that since we weren't enough for family, a spouse, or a boss, then we're probably not enough for God either. But He wants us to know that Jesus was also rejected as “not enough.” Jesus did not fit the image the Jews had created for their Messiah. He was not aggressive enough, holy enough, religious enough, or of the right pedigree. But He was exactly the way God wanted Him. Simply because those who didn’t know any better rejected Him did not mean that He was not enough. He became the cornerstone for His church.

In what ways have you felt that you were not enough? 

What if you let Jesus use your rejection for His glory? 

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Bear the Load

 

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

An exhausted soldier in battle tries to climb over a wall, but the pack he carries pulls him backward. He is desperate to scale the wall, but his wounds and exhaustion threaten to defeat him. Then a buddy comes along, lifts the pack for a few moments, and the grateful soldier makes it over the top. When he retrieves his pack, he has renewed energy to carry it once more.

We have burdens that threaten to topple us. Burdens can be heavy life situations or even besetting temptations. Storms hit. Tragedy strikes. Heartaches overwhelm. We can despair unless a buddy comes along and helps lift that burden for a while. Our friends can’t carry it all for us, but often their presence and support give us strength to keep going. Those who come along to “lift the packs” of struggling soldiers are actually fulfilling the law of Christ. 

To fulfill means to complete. In other words, selflessly carrying the burdens of others is exactly what Jesus wants us to do. This doesn’t mean becoming an enabler or a fixer. It means giving a hand-up to someone struggling to move toward God and falling backward. When we choose to walk with someone who is suffering, extend patience to someone who wrongs us, or hold friends accountable as they struggle to overcome sin, we are fulfilling God’s desire for His family. 

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Teamwork

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3

In every sport, certain elements bind a team together. Coaches, fields, matching uniforms, and rulebooks ensure that everyone is playing the same game. Before a group of individuals can work together in unity, there must be a common denominator. Every player must understand the rules, the boundary lines, and the necessity of the other players. When a team is unified, success is within reach. However, when every person is looking out only for himself, chaos erupts. If you shouted “Fire!” in a crowded theater or “Sale!” in Wal-Mart on Black Friday, you would see this principal in action.

The church is no different. We are groups of individuals, selfish to the core, who are trying to work together for a common goal. But if we don’t identify that goal and purpose to reach it together, we become like those shoppers in Wal-Mart, everyone trying to get the best deal. The bond that must tie us together is the “bond of peace,” given by the Holy Spirit to churches who desire it. That bond must supersede personal agendas and opinions. Otherwise, Jesus’ goal to evangelize the world takes a backseat to divisions and ego-trips. The early church knew they needed each other and were on a unified mission to spread the Good News about Jesus. This verse encourages them—and us—to make whatever sacrifices necessary to keep that “unity of the Spirit” the strongest bond in our churches. When the Holy Spirit is the winner in every dispute, unity rules and a church thrives. 

What sacrifices have you made to keep the bond of unity with your brothers and sisters in Christ?

Lone Sheep Don't Make It

 

A wolf paces at the edge of the woods, eyeing the flock of sheep grazing just out of reach. He’s in no hurry. He knows that to attack the whole flock would be suicide. The shepherd and the angry ram would defend them. He’d been on the receiving end of those horns and that shotgun and had no intention of tangling with them again. So he waits and watches as a lamb inches away from the flock, enticed by the tender blades of grass near the woods. As the flock moves slowly away, the lone sheep pays no attention. When the flock is too far away to interfere, the wolf makes his move. The poor lamb never saw it coming.

The Bible often compares us to sheep (Is. 53:6; Ez. 34:32). We are vulnerable to attack and often defenseless without our Good Shepherd and our “flock.” Satan, the wolf, prowls at the edges of the flock, waiting for the one who wanders away. He’s ready with his false doctrine, false promises, and false confidence to entice that lone sheep into his lair. “You don’t need them. They hurt your feelings. You’re too good a Christian for that bunch. No church is spiritual enough for you.” He has an endless supply of traps that a lone Christian will fall for without others to pull him to safety. Just as the sheep need the flock, we need each other. God has given us His church, His family, to keep us safe from predators. Only foolish lambs wander away.

Have you fallen for one of your enemy’s traps? Stay with the flock so the Shepherd can protect you (John 10:11).

Family Fights

If you grew up with siblings, somebody at some point heard a variation of these words: "You're not really in our family. Mom and Dad found you and they're gonna take you back pretty soon." Depending upon the age of the victim, this news resulted in a tearful race to Mom or a fist fight.

Unfortunately, the family of God hurls similar accusations at each other. The availability of the Internet seems to provoke an insatiable desire to take these family fights embarrassingly public. It doesn't matter whose name you Google. From world-renowned Bible scholar to up-and-coming preacher, everyone is under attack by someone. The word "heretic" is tossed as liberally as confetti on New Year's Eve, often by a young seminary student with a short-sleeved dress shirt and a big Adam's Apple, holding court in a musty church basement with a camcorder. However, bigger names are now joining the mudslinging, as though any one person holds the patent on every truth. Doesn't the Bible call that pride? No matter how minuscule the doctrinal difference, disagreements are seen as grounds for name-calling and the childish taunt: "You're not in our family!"

Heretics and false teachers do exist. In abundance. They should be called out because they are preaching "another gospel." Any teachings that directly contradict scripture, such as universalism or questioning the divinity of Jesus, should be rejected because they are touted by those who are merely neighbors and not brothers. But much of the inner-family conflict is just that--inner family. We are brothers and sisters in Christ, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, headed to the same eternal home. We are going to disagree. All families do. It's healthy. It means everyone has a voice and everyone is thinking about what matters.

Big Brother Jesus knew this was coming. It is rather telling that the theme of His longest recorder prayer in John 17 was unity. Of all the requests He could have made of His Father in those hours before the crucifixion, He asked "that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me..." (v. 23) Isn't it interesting that the way the world will believe in Jesus is when it sees our unity?

Is being "right "on some non-essential issue more important than loving our brothers? Is proving our point before a scoffing world more important than demonstrating the humility and kindness that should characterize the family of God? Jesus didn't think so. If unity among His family is that important to Jesus, why is it not more important to us?

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Too Salty?

Jesus left us with a powerful challenge: we are to be salt and light. 

We hear a lot about the light. Everybody likes light. It's warm and glowy and helps us see. Not a lot of negative things to say about light. But notice how we don't hear a lot today about being salt. Jesus warned us not to lose our saltiness or we are no good to anyone. So what does it look like when we lose our saltiness?

Salt is a necessity of life. Remove it and nothing tastes right. Food rots. Bodies stop functioning properly. Animals go crazy to get a taste of salt when they've been without it. But salt isn't always wanted. No one wants it on their chocolate cake. Or in their hot tea. And too much on anything makes it unpleasant. It is also an irritant. Get it near a wound or open sore and it feels like the enemy. The salt never changes its properties. The difference is in how it is received.

And therein lies the problem. We shy away from being salt because above all, we fear not being received. We avoid any possibility that we may be misunderstood, disliked, or unwanted. We claim it is for the Gospel's sake, but we're not fooling God. In order to be true representatives of Christ, we cannot base our saltiness on how we think our message will be received. Jesus certainly didn't and His saltiness got him crucified. Was He wrong?

When the salty message of Jesus gets too near sin, it becomes an irritant. Most people don't want to hear that they are sinners in need of saving. That's irritating. They don't want to hear about hell, judgement, and absolutes. There is danger of being rejected in proclaiming such truth. So we become bland, insipid, watered down, and inoffensive. We call it positivity, encouragement, or love. But when the whole counsel of God has been reduced to a Bible-tainted religiosity designed to make people feel good about themselves, we have lost our saltiness.

Who Has the Strange Fire?

 
Satan never tires of finding ways to divide and conquer the members in the body of Christ. Jesus' greatest desire for His followers was that we be one. Unified. As He and the Father are unified. Yet, within Christianity there is a never-ending drive to divide. Right-fighting has often replaced sound teaching. Mud-slinging and insistence that one ideology is the ONLY correct understanding of God's Word is drawing more attention from the world than our real message of hope and salvation.

The most recent enlisted man in this flesh-induced battle for supremacy is none other than well-respected Bible scholar John MacArthur. It grieves my heart, as it must grieve the heart of our Lord, that he is so driven to demolish what he believes are wrong teachings that he loads a sawed-off shotgun and fires without aiming. His intended target may be the radical wingnuts who claim to represent a different ideology. But with his self-named "Strangefire Conference,"  Dr. MacArthur mows down some pretty stellar brothers and sisters such as R. A. Torrey, A. W. Tozer, D. L. Moody, Dr. John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Dr. Jack Hayford and thousands more. Strangefire seems an odd name for his conference, since thousands who disagree with his stance see the strange fire as coming from his camp, aimed at taking out millions whom he professes to love.

I discovered the following article and found it to be a respectful challenge to Dr. MacArthur's conference. It also includes some facts the distinguished doctor wants to overlook in his zeal to defend his position.  While we are all disheartened at the extremes that some take in the name of the Holy Spirit, there have always been extremists in every camp. That doesn't mean that anyone who agrees with them on any point is as wrong as they are. I'm surprised a man like Dr. MacArthur doesn't know that and it makes me wonder:Has spiritual arrogance replaced a teachable heart?

Try this article and see if you agree: Is John MacArthur Right?

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Grow or Build

 

Talk to any pastor or full-time church worker and they will immediately discuss with either pride or shame how well their church is "growing." But what does that really mean?

Francis Chan points out that any group of talented people can grow a church. Give people the religious flavor they love and they will come. But it takes the power of the Holy Spirit to build a church. Jesus said, "On this rock I will build my church. " He didn't say he would "grow" it. He was talking about something else.

You can grow a church on the picked-over message of Positivity (God loves you, thinks you're awesome, wants to help you with your stuff, and give you the dreams of your heart.) You don't need the Holy Spirit for that because it appeals to our self-centered flesh. People come because they feel better when they leave. They get charged up on some awesome music, toss a tip in the offering bucket, get fed on a fattening diet of encouragement and religious hype about a cool Jesus who wants to use His powers to help their business succeed and their self-image inflate. They feel terrific when they leave for the game that afternoon and the casino that night.

Is that the kind of growth Jesus was talking about? The Holy Spirit builds His church on the foundation Jesus taught: total surrender, sacrifice, Lordship, and dying to self. A church is built in the hearts of each member and is based on the greatest commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength."

Growth churches have subtly replaced that message with: Love Myself with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and find out how to use God to do it. We have a world full of growth churches, but very few built ones. Which one is yours?

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Which One?

He strode through the bright morning sunshine. A car or two rolled past, but the town mostly slept.

It was Sunday, after all. It had been a hard week. The coffee pots were timed for three hours later than usual.

The steeple soared from the vaulted roof of First Baptist Church. "Where is God?" boasted the crooked letters on the marquee.

He shook his head. Good question. Did they really not know?

Jay's Hardware was opening for business, and beside it Chloe's Cafe fed a record breakfast crowd. Truckers and farmers bent over morning papers while sweating waitresses kept everyone's coffee filled.

He paused to look at them through the speckled window. A few looked back with suspicion, then returned to their papers.

Across the street, First United Methodist looked closed until further notice. One car sat deserted in the shade of the children's wing. The pastor had been arrested for propositioning an undercover officer. The flock was trying to decide between an openly gay interim or a female transsexual. The vote was dividing the congregation.

A stone's throw away, Antioch Full Gospel needed a paint job. Two windows were boarded over. Didn't matter. No one went there anyway.

He kept walking, eying the stilled bells in St. Matthew's Catholic belfry. He used to love the sound of those bells. Last year the city council voted to stop the bell ringing except on Easter. Disturbed the peace or something.

He kicked an empty beer bottle against the curb. A used condom rolled with it. Peace?

On he walked. Church after church dotted corner after corner. Mid-American Christianity at its finest. In a couple of hours, the churches would begin to fill. Everyone would be at his or her best, smiles properly adjusted, masks in place. Songs would be sung while stomachs growled. Pages would be colored in Sunday School classes, Bible lessons taught with all the enthusiasm of a study on peat moss.

In the livelier churches, guitars would shriek, hands would wave in the air, and moods would lift in direct proportion to the performance of the band. The gray hairs would complain about the volume and the young would leave as sin-encrusted as they arrived. No one brought a Bible. Everyone left just as they had come in.

He stood at the edge of town and looked back. The sun bounced off the peaks and steeples of two dozen empty buildings. Emptier than they knew.

The Son of God had come to worship with his people and he had nowhere to go.

God Is Not Cool

They were the coolest church in town--most active youth group, best worship team, service projects every week. Everyone knew and loved Friends Church.

They were in the schools, holding fundraisers for good causes, running to camps and retreats every few weeks. Membership rose weekly as word got out and the inferior churches in town pulled in their belts a notch and tried not to be jealous.

One Saturday afternoon, the other pastors got together. "What are they doing over there? Since we've all lost a significant number of attenders to Friends Church, maybe we should we be learning from them? Clearly God is blessing them."

So every week one pastor from a neighboring church visited Friends Church services. Six months later, they met again.

"They're sure booming," said one.

"Wow! What a praise team! Sounded professional."

"They've gone to three services, and still I could hardly get a seat."

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A short, freckled minister cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, I agree they are astounding. But did you all notice it? There was one thing missing."

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The other pastors waited.

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He swallowed hard. "The Holy Spirit never showed up."

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"What do you mean? That music was loud enough to shake the Heavens open!"

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"Yeah, you're just jealous."

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The nervous pastor of Calvary Bible Assembly wiped sweaty palms. "No, I'm not jealous. The sermon was uplifting all right, and the pastor referred to the Bible. But did any of you ever hear the plan of salvation clearly outlined? Did you hear the words sin or repentance ever mentioned? Does any of their literature describe their doctrine or what they really believe?"

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The other ministers looked at each other.

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Emboldened, the red-faced preacher went on. "I talked with J.T., their pastor. He says he believes everything we do, but he's working to build up the membership. Trying not to scare people away with the old-time hellfire and brimstone kind of thing. He wants it to be a place where everyone is comfortable."

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He shifted in his seat and studied the floor. "I'm not their judge, but it seems to me that those people are attracted to a fun God who doesn't exist. They were worshipping a cool Jesus of their own making. The Gospel of Christ has been exchanged for a modern, more palatable version of Christianity that says you can have all this and God too. Isn't that a religious version of the old bait-and-switch?"

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A long moment of silence followed as the other ministers considered his words.

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Then the tall, lanky pastor of Trinity Fellowship stood and smoothed out his slacks. "You know, George, you're right. It's so attractive it nearly fooled us, too. It's the new brand of Christianity that is not Christianity at all. It's a travesty. All those people...well, some of 'em used to be mine..."

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He shook his head. "They've been pulled away from the Truth by a gold-plated lie--all in the name of loving people."

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An older man nodded. "What about taking up your cross daily and following Jesus? What about seeking God's will, not mine? Where's the teaching on suffering for the Gospel's sake? Where's the definition of sin?"

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George stood and the others followed suit. "As for me, I'm gonna start praying for them instead of envying them, because there is nothing there to envy. They're not much more than a civic club with better music. I'd rather have my two hundred members and the Holy Spirit than three thousand without Him."

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He gazed across the parking lot at the flashing neon sign advertising Friends Church. "Sorry, J.T.," he whispered. "But God is not cool."

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