The Bible vs. Culture

One of my hero’s of the Bible is a rough and ready character named Paul who was just as comfortable dropping the gloves with you as he was to talk with you. He was scrappy, knew when to pick his fights, and could pick himself up after receiving vicious beatings of his own. What he did not do was curl up in the fetal position like a baby and cry himself to sleep. He was stoned to the point of death, shipwrecked, abandoned by friends, beaten, starved, and yet continued to contend for the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In all of this, Paul did what so many Christians and churches do not: he told the timeless story of Jesus in the language, culture, and traditions that people understood and responded to.

Paul was a master communicator who knew both the Gospel story and the stories, symbols, and languages of his particular time and culture. He understood the need to fight and contend for the truth of the Bible while at the same time making the Gospel potent for the people and culture who heard its message. Sadly, in today’s church climate, especially in the Abbotsford Bible Belt, we have churches who will do one or the other – but rarely both.

For example; one church highly values and studies Scripture, conjugates Greek verbs, and fights for the rightness of doctrine like a pack of angry stray dogs fighting over who gets to eat that annoying cat from next door. These churches often pride themselves on being ‘separated from the world’ and will go to great length to ensure that their moral value is placed on you. Additionally, these people drink excessive amounts of peach drink and horrible church coffee which only goes to show how disillusioned and depraved they really are.

On the other extreme, we find the church that is very much ‘in the world’ who hold cultural values and notions in highest value over and above Scripture. What tends to happen with these churches is that they will jump on the cool, hip, and trendy bandwagon in an attempt to attract you to their version of church, sadly, often at the expense of Scripture. These churches, if they’ll fight for anything, fight for tolerance and culturally accepted practices that offend no one but a few strays from the other church. Thankfully, what these guys do have going for them are apple computers, indie rock, yerba mate, and well mixed hops.

The problem that often polarizes these churches is the question of “What do we do with Bible and Culture?” One group responds with heavy handed Biblical arguments while being about as culturally savvy as a redneck in a suit. The other group reacts by being so indwelt by culture that there is little room left for the indwelling of Scripture in their lives. It is to this question that I think the church can learn much from Paul.

Paul, repeatedly throughout the New Testament Scriptures, speaks to particular language, cultural, and people groups in ways that make the story of Jesus both accessible and understandable. What Paul does not do, however, is make the message ‘seeker-sensitive;’ instead, he maintains the weighty content of the gospel while making it ‘seeker-intelligent’ so that non-Christians can wrestle with the full significance of the gospel in the metaphors, language, stories, and experiences that are most familiar to them. This is the task of the missionary whether it be to Punjabi Indians, suburban Abbotsford families, or the hip kids who hangout at EA. As Christians, we must take on the mindset of ‘missionary,’ learning both the language, culture, custom, and traditions of the Bible as well as those of our particular culture. We do this so that we can most effectively communicate the timeless and unchanging story of Jesus in ways that are culturally appropriate and Biblically accurate.

Fight well my friends.

Interviewing Well

Dear Jeff, Jayme, Jabin, Jannah, and Bryce,

The following is a rather long article that I’ve written for you re: the interview process and applying for ministry positions, particularly of those in the church. Dozens of pastor’s from multiple denominations and across the nation responded to five questions that I asked them; we have collated their answers and summarized them for you here. Each one of you have been a great joy to work with and, in all honesty, you will be greatly missed. I have every hope for you in your future ministry and know that you will do well. We love you guys and hope this is beneficial for you.

Question #1 - As a pastor or ministry leader, what questions do you expect the interviewee to ask you?

Four major themes emerged out of this question:

1. Direction and Vision

Of the many answers that ministry leaders gave, what they most want you to ask them is “What is their vision and direction for the church?” Words like vision, values, direction, and calling were all used to find out what the preferred future of the church was and, often, what is the preferred future of the pastor. Simply this; they want to know that you care about where they are going.

Interestingly, there was no one ministry leader who would like you to ask about their theology or the theology of their church. My understanding is that our theology informs our philosophy of ministry which then directs our vision and methodology. That said, when you ask ministry leaders about their vision, values, and direction you are inadvertently asking about their philosophy and theology. However, do not assume anything; remember that interview’s are given to clarify.

2. Practice

Ministry leaders also want you to ask as many questions as possible about how the church and the position you are applying for actually operates. They want you to ask questions about job descriptions, church governance, church budget, office and work hours, staff accountability, vacation time, staff policies, schedules, decision process, staff environment and relationships, dress code, etc. One issue, one that I am sure you are wondering about, is the question of money, salary, and benefits. We will address the topic in greater detail later but, to ease your curiosity now, the general consensus of ministry leaders was to not ask. Allow the church to broach the topic in their timing; not yours.

3. Expectations

Of great concern to ministry leaders when interviewing potential staff was that the interviewee finds out the written and unwritten expectations of staff, their spouse, and their families. This has much to do with the practice of the church but is actually deeper seeded into the culture of the church. As such, it is absolutely vital that you become very aware of the church culture and the ministry expectations that it actually practices; the last thing you want to get into in your new church is a culture war! Policies are relatively easy to change or work within; cultures are far harder.

4. Evaluation

Ministry leaders also would like you to ask them to give an evaluation of where the church is at currently. What is the spiritual climate of the church? What success are you currently celebrating? What is the most difficult issue that your church is currently dealing with? How does the church see itself in the city? How does the city see it? These questions, and many others, are not only helpful for you but actually help the pastor make clear and accurate statements about the realities of his church. When you humbly ask thoughtful and provocative questions of the state of the church that force the pastor to self-evaluate, you are doing him a great service as well as showing that you can do the difficult work of asking the right questions.

Question #2 – As a pastor or ministry leader, what questions should potential staff ask that you don’t want them to ask?

This question we posed to pastors not so that you could terrorize them but rather so you could be aware of appropriate questions that should be asked within a spirit of humility and wisdom. Two main issues arose:

1. Staff Relationships

Multi-staff churches can be a very rewarding, encouraging, and fulfilling place to work when the staff operates well together as a team and are involved in each other’s lives. Conversely, there is not much to be gained and much to be lost when a multi-staff church is actually a collection of superstar individuals. Churches with mediocre people building extraordinary teams are far better off then churches with superstar players who never pass the ball. That said, staff alignment, healthy relationships, and well checked ego’s are vital to every team atmosphere.

So why are pastor’s afraid of you asking about inter-staff relationship dynamics? Though the reasons vary widely, I’ll give you a few ideas why this may be: (1) The inter-personal stuff is so bad that they want to hide it from you as long as possible, (2) There may be an existing paradigm of boss/employee mentality, (3) Possible difficulties in talking about current relational dynamics within the staff to someone unknown, (4) Fear of ‘over promising and under delivering’ on things like accountability, mentoring, team atmosphere, and discipleship, and (5) You might be the first additional staff which would make you the (un)lucky guinea pig.

Fearful or not, the question and discussion of staff relationship dynamics must be dialogued for the simple reason that you will spend many many hours a week in staff/team settings praying, brainstorming, problem solving, caring, and ministering. The following quote is from a college prof in the Midwest that states it well: “I want them to ask all the questions – even the tough ones. Better now then get surprised later. In my opinion – some ‘old school’ types – will not want too many pointed questions relating to employee relationship. To them, team ministry is a foreign concept. But you are better off discovering this now – than regretting this later. So I would ask specifically about the nature of the relationship between you and the lead pastor.” My advice? Ask and watch.

2. Church Struggles

Once you have completed the honeymoon at your new church with your new computer, new cell phone, and new jokes, you will be faced with the ugly side of church. And, even though a Forbes Magazine survey found that clergy is among the best jobs anywhere, there is still a dark side that haunts every church. And this, my friends, is what you should ask, even though they don’t want you to ask it; “What are the historic, current, and on-going struggles of the church?” This is like sticking a hot probe into a fresh wound for some pastors while, for others, is a refreshing chance to share struggles and concerns. Upon hearing church struggles you would do well to ask yourself if you would be an asset or liability to the ongoing health of the church. For some, even though you may be very talented and cutting edge with oodles of leadership potential, you will not be a good fit for the church if you add to the problems rather then alleviate them!

Question #3 – What questions should the interviewee simply not ask?

There are a myriad of questions that pastor’s recommend you don’t ask including things like moral/cultural issues such as positions on alcohol and other areas of Christian conscience (1 Cor. 8 & 10; Romans 14 & 15). Additionally, I would recommend that you don’t ask if you can move into the Lead Pastor’s office, if you can take weekends off, or ask how old their daughter is. Beyond these, the major ‘do not ask’ issue revolved around your pay check.

Over and over again, pastor’s clearly and emphatically said, “Do not ask about the money.” One pastor commented, “I once asked what a position paid just ballpark and they ended the interview right there, so approach that one carefully.” Before a church wants to get into salary package, vacation time, stat holiday’s, health benefits, pension, salary review process, moving expenses, housing allowance, book and meal allowance, mileage, continuing education and conference budget, general budgets, etc., they would like to get a feel and sense for who you are, your heart, and what calling you have. While the details of church finances and personal finances are important details that do need to be clarified before accepting a position, they are not the primary issue. Primarily, churches are looking for the right pastor/leader for their church’s particular culture, vision, and community; they want a pastor who loves Jesus, has a clear call to generous and sacrificial ministry, and who recognizes the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit to direct his ministry steps.

Question #4 – What should the interviewee expect from the church when interviewing?

Two subjects’ surface in this question; one minor, one major. The first, though minor in comparison, is the question of who covers the cost of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the interviewee. It is generally accepted that the church will cover all related travel, accommodation, and food expenses to and from the interview. Keep in mind, however, that this is not an all-inclusive paid holiday to the other side of the country…church budgets are generally meager and it is some sacrifice to them to bring you out. Please do not waste kingdom resources in airline tickets and hotels for churches or cities you never intend to pastor in.

The second expectation that you should take into an interview with you is that the church and its leadership be honest with you. This is huge! Honesty and frank openness in all matters of church life including all of the touchy issues of money, process, finance, morality, standards of holiness, etc., are of elevated importance. Additionally, you should expect that there be full disclosure of church/community demographics, vision, values, mission, and philosophies of biblical leadership and ministry. What you should not expect is that all of this information be made available to you in a first or even second interview. What this requires of you is that you spend plenty of time listening, asking honest questions in a spirit of humility, and then listening some more.

Question #5 – What should the church expect from the interviewee?

Every pastor who responded to this question said the same two things: the interviewee should 1) be honest, as we are honest with them, and 2) be prepared. When you go into an interview you should expect that a church should hold your confidence and, in return, that you should be fully honest about who you are, what you struggle with, how you operate and function, etc. This should go without saying, but when you are applying to work in a church, don’t lie! Sadly, often is the case where churches are deceived by what the interviewee has not said or who has somehow led the church leadership to believe something that wasn’t all-together accurate. It will go far better for you and your church if honesty and forthrightness begin at the very beginning of your relationship.

Second, when you go into an interview, prepare yourself. How prepared (or ill-prepared) you are often gives a good indication of how prepared you will be in ministry and, as is often the case, how effective you will be. Blaine Bartel wrote, “If you sweat in preparation, you will not bleed in battle.” You will inadvertently hijack the entire interview process if you have not already done the difficult and time consuming work of self-reflection and evaluation, are unable to articulate your philosophy of Biblical leadership and ministry, or have inaccurate knowledge about yourself, the church, or the city and culture the church finds itself in. Additionally, you should be polite, prompt, quick to provide additional references, hold the churches confidence, and be respectful of the church, its culture, and its leadership.

Conclusion:

As you graduate from Bible College and begin to look for ministry positions in churches or other ministry organizations, keep in mind that the interview is both a ‘business-as-usual’ event as well as a spiritual exercise in listening to what God would have for you and your potential church. You would do well to spend much time in prayer and reflection regarding the things you believe about the Church, its role and mission, its leadership, its practice and influence, and how you fit. The clearer you can articulate and communicate these things to prospective churches the better it will go for both you and them. It has been an honor to serve with you these last few years and I will miss each one of you deeply. We pray for you regularly and are looking forward to many more years of ministry together in churches and ministry settings across BC, Canada, and the world. If there is anything that I or any of the team here at CLCC can do to help you along your ministry journey, we’ll gladly step up to bat. We love you guys.

Grace and Peace,

-Jer

Emergent leaders call for ‘missional re-understanding of Jesus-followership and Christ-focus imbued with passionate creativity and emotional authentic

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — At a recent conference-like "gathering" of emergent church leaders, various factions sparred over competing visions for the future of the movement.
Leaders on one side called for "deepening and continuously beautiful efforts toward emotionally true self-divulgence and confession." Other leaders countered with a call for "a theological re-purposing of our objective and subjective missionality within a framework of God-love." Because few in attendance actually understood what either side meant, both ideas were tabled.
The sides did agree that emergent leaders should continue to take every opportunity to make casual, cool cultural references to popular television shows, movies and Internet phenomena to introduce quasi-intellectual spiritual points about the state of the American church.
They also pledged to maintain their reputation for being "more spiritually honest than the millions of people who attend institutionalized churches every week and blindly go along with the programs, sermons and mindset that make American Christianity the colossal failure it is today."
After toasting themselves with various hyper-cool micro-brews, the audience adjourned to begin 7- and 8-hour theological bull sessions in their hotel rooms and local bars.
Conference organizers say they will meet again to do the same thing next year. •

*story from Lark News

Why Young Adult Ministry is Just Like Pre-Teen Ministry

Young adult ministry is one of those things that takes a large stick, eyes in the back of your head, and enough Red Bull to fuel a small planet. Why? Because the only difference between young adult ministry and junior high ministry is that young adults generally keep their email address longer then 3-weeks. That, and young adults can drive (though that is debatable in most cases). Take a look at just three of the similarities:

1. Identity Exploration
Young adults, like most kids going into grade 6 or 7 facing a new school with a new set of friends and a new set of body parts, are likewise facing many new situations in life. Their identity, like their younger counter-parts, is being re-shaped by moving away from the major identity shapers of their past. Whereas junior high’s begin to explore an identity apart from their family-of-origin, young adults begin to explore their identity apart from their friends of influence. There seems to be a general struggle for identity shaping during the junior high years, quarter-life crises, mid-life crises, and retirement; the years between being the stable identity years. This, in my observation, is one of a number of reasons why many churched teenagers exit the church during the first few years following their graduation.

2. Instability
Yes…instability. For example; watch the emotional needs of a junior high girl and a twenty year old girl. Need another? Try to imagine a young adult sticking with one job, career aspiration, university program, or girlfriend/boyfriend. It’s tough isn’t it? It seems very much like the junior high kid who is trying out different sports, clothing, music, friend groups, sexual orientation, and any other mask or fit of choice. There seems to be an unparalleled sense of opportunity and hope that creates a need to try it all before settling for one or the other. Possibility, hope, and opportunity along with a new and yet unmatched access to information, education, travel, and finances creates endless paths to walk down, discover, and build vacation homes on. Opportunity, for all its virtues, has put young adult stability in a submission hold.

3. Feeling In Between
The obvious result off all this is of being in a place of neither here nor there. Limbo – and not the good kind of limbo that is found on a Mexican beach – is the confusing place of inbetweenness. The tween years. The adult-lescent years. This is the time of transition of being not really a youth but not really an adult; not really a kid but not really a youth, not a girl but not yet a woman. Just like every junior high kid needs a parent to sit them down and talk through really big questions of “Where do babies come from? Where do I come from? What’s happening to me? Why? What about girls and relationships?” so do young adults need people around them to direct them through the same really big questions. Additionally, just like anyone who has been ‘in between’ relationships, the inbetweenness that young adults feel are the formative feeling, thoughts, and actions that always paint the next picture. Obviously a significant time.

The list of similarities actually goes on and on but, I gave myself a half hour to write this and, my half hour is up. I’ve certainly not given this enough thought to actually post it online, however, given that I am also an instable twenty-something transient loving neo-hippie on a quest for personal identity, it would be totally appropriate that I do.

-Jer

Bookshelves and iPods

I'd like to pass on two bits of goodness to you:
1) an album, and
2) a book.

This week saw the release of the brand new Killers album which, in my opinion, is killa. It is a collection of mostly 'b-cuts' that never quite made it to other albums but that are still quite good. Thrown in for good measure are some re-mixes and live recordings that should keep any Killers fan happy. My favorite cuts so far are 'Tranquilize' and 'Where the White Boys Dance.' Go grab some finger gloves, tight pants, and your favorite Euro tabloid in order listen to this album for all its worth.

Second, and at a wee bit more intellectual expense, is the short book by N.T. Write called The Last Word published in 2005. The books thesis, as far as I could tell, is simply that the authority of Scripture rests in that Scripture is the word of God and so then becomes authoritative. Of particular importance for Write is the role of Scripture in dictating the now and future of the church as the continuing story of a much larger story which we honor and respect, but do not repeat and, in many cases, actually leave behind. This is a compelling and easy read that is directed at preachers, teachers, and church leaders in general. 4 stars out of 5.

-Jer

In Definition of: The Wrath of God

As we get into this important second section of Romans 1 we will deal with the very controversial topic of God’s anger and wrath against evil and those who do evil. There are multiple perspectives on the wrath of God including those who would tell you that God does not get angry and is only a God of love. These people point to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and Paul’s teaching on human anger to persuade some that anger and wrath are incongruent with an all-holy God. There are others who, in their attempt to make God like man, argue that God’s anger is no different then sinful human anger that is uncontrolled, malicious, and full of rage.

Holding to either view is incoherent with Scripture and nullifies the need for a savior. The first makes God out to be a tolerant all-accepting push-over who only loves; this God is a post-modern hippie in a dress who accepts all views, opinions, and lifestyles condemning none and taking the neutral position on everything. Many people like this God because they do not like authority, responsibility, judgment, or accountability. Additionally, Jesus is no longer the central message of the Bible or even needed at all because, from this perspective, God does not judge and therefore will not send anyone to Hell. We can not accept this view.

The second view turns God into nothing more then an angry old man who loses his temper, fights his friends, beats his wife, and uses all kinds of deceitful actions to get back at his kids for missing curfew. This view turns God’s ‘holy-indignation’ into unrighteous sinful human behavior corrupted by evil and selfish desires. We can not hold to such a view because it would mean that God, like man, needs a savior to save him from his own sinfulness. God is holy, perfect, and without sin meaning that He provides a savior, Jesus, and does not need one.

Following is a third view that I believe must not only be reclaimed, but also must be taught always if we are to accurately present the whole truth of the gospel.

What is the wrath of God?

The wrath of God comes directly out of His holy nature which is completely hostile towards evil. God’s wrath is His refusal to accept, come to terms with, or condone sin and sinful people; it is His unchanging reaction to all unrighteousness.

Against what is God’s wrath revealed?

Simply put, evil is the object of God’s wrath. There is nothing that awakens God’s wrath except evil…and evil always does it. This text gives a twofold description of what and who God’s anger is directed.

1) Godlessness – is a lack of reverence for God that places man against God in not only neglect, but in open rebellion leading to all types of sinful perversions. This is man’s attempt to get rid of God.

2) Wickedness – meaning injustice towards fellow man. Whereas ‘godlessness’ is open rebellion against God, ‘wickedness’ is open rebellion against other people resulting in all forms of anti-social behavior including but not limited to sexual immorality, homosexuality, lesbianism, greed, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, rudeness, arrogance, boastfulness, ruthlessness, faithlessness, heartlessness, and disobedience against ones own parents. Man in his rebellion not only condones these things but openly celebrates them encouraging others to do likewise.

God’s righteous anger then is directed at sin and sinful people because both godlessness and wickedness are the outworking of godless and wicked people who are totally morally and ethically bankrupt. Further, and not surprisingly, when the truth of man’s wickedness is brought to light and the devastating consequence of his actions are known, he strangles the disturbing voice of truth, suppress’ it, and holds it down by his own wickedness.

How is God’s wrath revealed?

In three ways:

1) The Future Eschatological Tense - which is the cause of much debate by End-Times nuts who think Kurt Cameron is a star and the Left Behind series is the Bible. However, God’s wrath will be revealed in the future which Paul calls the ‘coming wrath’ and ‘Judgment Day, the day of God’s wrath’ which is eternal punishment for the unrepentant. We can only speculate what that day will hold.

2) The Present Judicial Tense – God’s wrath on sinful human behavior through the use of government law, police force, and justice in the court room. Paul deals with this subject specifically in Romans 13:4 and is not what he has in mind here.

3) The Present Abandonment Tense – In this, God reveals his wrath by simply handing sinners over to themselves. John Ziesler writes that God’s anger “operates not by God’s intervention but precisely by his NOT intervening, by letting men and women go their own way.” God, in his wrath, separates himself and abandons stubborn sinners to their own unruly selfishness. In the following chapter Paul gives two reasons why God abandons the unrighteous: one, to allow sin and its consequences to accelerate as part of His judgment on them, and two, to make them realize their need for salvation.

How is God’s wrath averted?

Many, like the drunk who won’t admit to having a problem, will do their best to suppress the truth of God’s wrath. Others will do their best to try and appease God’s wrath through their own methods. Often times these methods take on the convenient disguise of playing church complete with playing pieces, a board, and an instructions booklet that lists all of the rules and regulations that will help them win the game. Unfortunately, pressed slacks and all of the other trappings of legalistic religion do nothing in appeasing God’s anger; in fact, it very well heightens it.

Divine wrath means that there must also be a divine solution. This solution is found in the salvation work of Jesus Christ to endure God’s wrath in our place thus freeing us from the guilt and sin that God is so angry about. The way of escape is provided by God through repentance of sin and faith in His son Jesus Christ. Jesus, instead of man, has stood in the place of God’s wrath accepting the punishment and paying the ransom that was owed. To this end, we love and serve and obey God giving Him all honor and glory and praise because in Jesus, by faith, we have been saved from ourselves, from God’s eternal wrath, and have been made a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come!

In Definition of: Reclamation

This is a restorative process which, like any first year plumber knows, is dirty business. It involves wading knee deep into the grime and filth of overuse, abuse, misuse, and disuse. Much of what we know and believe has been tarnished and polluted again and again by well meaning liars who, in their best effort to make a word and its idea relevant, have softened, corrupted, and/or thrown a thick soupy haze over its rich meaning. In this process of reclamation we will reclaim those words, ideas, and doctrines from their weak and useless conditions. People so readily exchange the truth of God for a lie and, in so doing, downward spiral into all forms and methods of contamination. It is to this issue that the Church must engage in a Reclamation reclaiming truth, sound doctrine, and correct theology through prayerful Biblical study and in humble submission to our eternal God and King, Jesus Christ.