It’s such a taboo in society to be irrelevant. To not be counted. To not be noticed. To not be heard or seen. To be irrelevant. I’m reading a new book. It’s not a “hot off the press” book, but, it’s new to me and my library. “In the Name of Jesus” by Henri Nouwen. I’ve never read any of his work. I’m discovering that it’s because of my Southern Baptist background. (Aside: I can say that and anything else about the Southern Baptists because I spent roughly 20 years in the denomination. I’ve earned it.) Anyway, I look around at the world of church and I see how every “expert” in the ministry is telling ministers and pastors to be caught up with what is hot. “You’ve got to be relevant to reach people.”
What if “relevant” is not what people want? How do we define this in the church? Don’t get me wrong – as a worship pastor I understand the importance of having various mediums such as video, presentation software, screens and a band pumping through a hot sound system. I understand the importance of the newest office of the church – the coffee shop. I am not against integrating these things into ministry. What I don’t get is the mindset that says – “without this stuff, your church will sink. No one will come.” It’s almost as if we’ve taken the “Field of Dreams” approach. “If you build it, they will come”. I don’t have a problem with building “it”. What I do question is the attitude that without “it”, people won’t come and the church will become irrelevant to society. I wonder what Jesus would say to ministers and pastors that put programs above people. I wonder what He thinks about the church.tv movement. Was Jesus emergent or was He content to stay behind the scenes? Based upon the miracle at the wedding at Cana, I would say He is content to stay behind the scenes. He certainly didn’t make a show about it. He didn’t produce a tv spot on the miracle. I doubt He would show up on Daystar, INSP, or TBN to brag about His miracle. I just don’t see Him being interviewed by Paul Crouch. Mike Murdock might ask Him to sow a $58 seed for 12 months to see His miracles increase. I think that being irrelevant is a concept I’m really going to need to ponder. I’m a performer. I LOVE to be seen and heard. My inner-performer wants to be relevant. As I enter back into full time church ministry, my new prayer is that I become irrelevant in order to make Christ relevant. I think that’s the message Paul was trying to convey when he said “for to me, living is Christ and to die is gain”.
Being Irrelevant
This week has been devastating for our country. I don’t need to spend anytime commenting on the Virginia Tech massacre. My heart breaks for parents who are going to outlive their children. My heart breaks for the educational community of VT. My heart breaks for people who now have no roommate. My heart breaks for the parents of Cho Seung-Hui. This is the gunman. The 23 year old kid who brutally murdered 32 people and then killed himself. My heart breaks for Cho Seung-Hui. I know many people will live to HATE this name. At some level, I can’t blame those people. But, at another level I hurt. Cho Seung-Hui was a hurting young adult. This kid was lonely. This kid had no friends. This kid had no one to talk to that he felt he could trust. “You have vandalized my heart, raped my soul and torched my conscience,” he said into the camera, looking down occasionally to read from his manifesto. “You thought it was one pathetic boy’s life you were extinguishing. Thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ, to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people.” This was his life. These were his daily thoughts. He woke up with this mess and went to bed with this mess. I have determined that this young man could be the poster child for Young Life. Why? Because he is why I volunteer with such a ministry. I volunteer so I can have a chance to reach kids that need to hear the Gospel and aren’t going to go to church to hear it. For those of you out there in ANY type of student ministry, don’t miss out on an opportunity to reach the kid that sits by his or herself at lunch. Be looking for the “Question Mark Kid”, as Cho was called at VT. Make them your mission. Make them the goal of your day. Who knows where we would be today if someone had taken the time to reach out to him. Everyone is blaming everyone. Democrats blaming Republicans on gun control, Rosie O’Donnell blames the NRA and George Bush, the press blames the VT security system, people are blaming VT’s president. I’m not trying to cast blame, but, what about the local church, the on-campus ministries, Christian students on campus? Where were they? Maybe they tried and they just couldn’t get through. Maybe they didn’t try because they thought there was no way he would listen. WHO KNOWS!!!!!!!!! DID ANYONE TRY????????? All I know is that the Great Commission is more than a great way to end a book. It is a message that will literally SAVE THE LIVES OF PEOPLE. Let him who has ears let him hear.
I have taught at a private Christian school for 8 years. It’s a great school. I just got word that one of the students I have close contact with has been sent to some type of boarding school because he struggles at home and at school. My heart is hurting. I love this kid. Funny guy. He always has something to say. I love his parents. Great people. For those of you who do ANY type of work with students, invest your time. Invest your knowledge of the Word. Let them know that they are valued. Let them know that they are important and that we really do care about their well-being. Let the parents know that we are walking with them – partnering with them in raising kids. Let the students know that God’s love for them is NOT BASED UPON PERFORMANCE. I know that comes as a shock to many denominations, but, it’s true. Let the kids know there is nothing they can do to earn the love of God. Let them know that God doesn’t base His love on income brackets, church rules and bylaws, or any other standard made by man. God loves them because THAT IS WHAT HE DOES. HE LOVES. HE IS LOVE. For God not to love is totally against His entire character. Let them know that God loves them simply because they exist. Let them know.
This new photo is from the last season at Ray Winder Field – one of the oldest minor league ballparks to be retired. It was the home of the Arkansas Travelers AA Baseball Club from 1932 until May of 2006. I love baseball. I can’t wait until opening day. April 12 for the hometown team. Play ball!
I had a conversation with my sister today. She is wanting to buy an iPod, but, her dilema was to get the 2gb Nano or the 4gb Nano. I’m a gadget junkie so she calls me with this problem. I asked her how much each one cost and she told me the 2gb was $150 and the 4gb was $200. She was content on staying with the 2gb Nano. It holds something like 3 songs. I asked her about getting the 30gb iPod video. She said it’s $50 more than the 4gb Nano. I advised her to spring 50 more bucks for the 30gb. She still wasn’t sure. I got to thinking that there is a blog somewhere in this conversation. Here it is…I think that sometimes we as believers settle for 2gb worship when 30gb is there. Yes, it takes a little more sacrifice. We ask ourselves can we afford it? Can I go to something better? What is the cost? The cost for better personal worship lies in making the following sacrifices: surrendering a grudge we’ve enjoyed hanging on to, admitting to our spouse “I was wrong”, getting up a few minutes earlier to meet with God (that’s my tough one). I’m sure there are other areas. The point is we have to ask ourselves this: “Is it worth the extra sacrifice to enhance our personal worship?” To use the iPod upgrade analogy once more – is the 30gb better than the 2 or 4gb? Definitely.
I’m sitting in my office at Grace Church. I’m the only one here. The quiet is broken only by the sound of my fingers tapping on a computer keyboard. Outside – it’s still. Only a few cars moving down Highway 10. The next few minutes of quiet are precious. My mind is clear. My heart is ready. I’ll soon be in sound check getting ready for Sunday worship. Wait…here comes a thought. What if….what if we had a worship service built completely on silence? What if the entire time of musical, singing worship was silent? No sounds. No guitars. No drums. No keyboards. No vocals. Nothing. What would that be like? What would that look like? What would that sound like. Coughs and shuffles of intimidation from the congregation? How would we react? Where would our minds go? Lunch? The fight with our spouse last night trying to justify our words? Our job? The yardwork that waits on us after lunch because football is sadly done for the year? Would we think about the movie we saw this weekend or a song we heard? Or, would we sit and rest? Rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Would we sit in application of Psalm 46:10? “Be still and know that I am God.”
Last night I watched a some of the Joel Osteen show. I am not a fan. I watch it every now and then to see what is going on. It’s really a production or circus – whichever you prefer. As I turned it on, his wife was preaching. Here is what she said: “God is not interested in your performance or what you can do. He just wants a relationship.” Wow! They finally said something I agree with. I keep watching. Joel takes the stand. Here is what he says: “You just have to put a smile on your face, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and show God what you are made of.” What? Show God what we are made of? Doesn’t God know that since, well, He created us? Isn’t that why we need a savior – because of what we are made of? This got me to thinking…how should I approach worship? Do I approach it with a false sense of who I am and who I have been during the week or do I show up with “what I am made of” so that the cleansing blood of Christ can wash over me? I decided that I am going to bring “what I am made of ” to worship. It’s kinda like what Jesus said – “come unto Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” Rest. I really like that idea.
Last night I had the incredible opportunity to do a live recording of my brother-in-law, Stephen, while he lead worship for the last time at his youth group. Steve has served the student ministry at Cornerstone Bible Fellowship since around the age of 13. He is now a sophomore at the University of Central Arkansas. His passion all this time has been worship. Because of last night, I have to tell you what I saw and experienced.
I have a music degree from East Texas Baptist University. I have been playing piano since I was 5; guitar since 1997. I have worked with some fantastic musicians as a session player, been a band director for 8 years, led worship for 17 years. I have experience. Therefore, I want to start this piece with a technical critique to set up what this article is all about. Just bear with me. Steve, if you are reading this, keep reading. The focus of this article is not technical. First, the guitar tuning was a little off. I heard some notes, especially when the bass played high on the fretboard, that were less than in tune. The drummer, Ben, a little loud. That kid is hard to mic. The lead guitar, it was OK. There were some missed notes. Steve had some strings that went out of tune. The whole rhythm pattern of one song didn’t quite get there. Read on for the point of this article.
The one thing that made last night absolutely incredible was based on two things: passion and spiritual maturity. These were the “X Factors” if you will, in the success of last night. Passion and maturity performed an override on skill. If this were just a concert, I would say it lacked. It was not. It was encounter with the God of the universe. It was a meeting with the Almighty. The Holy Spirit had control, not Stephen. His passion and spiritual maturity were the gateway. Along with worship, we experienced prayer. Prayer for missions and our country. Prayer that our lives as believers would spark a revolution in the spiritual realms. I could see the passion in his facial expressions. It seemed at times that he was struggling with the song. Not struggling in a musical sense, but, struggling because the lyrics were speaking to him. At times, paining him deep in his soul. Other times, celebrating being overwhelmed by Christ. When he led us in “You Are My King”, it was better than any man preaching the Gospel. Why? Because passion to see people come to know Christ was the key ingredient. I saw students of our current culture experience God. I saw a young man leave his spiritual legacy with a group of students. I saw a young man turn into a man. I saw Jesus with skin on playing a guitar.
I am very proud of my brother-in-law. I am proud to be associated with him. I am proud to sit at the dinner table with him. I am proud of him. He has stood boldly in the face of our society and declared “no more will I allow you to conquer my generation”. He stands boldly in the name of Jesus declaring His name with a black guitar. Keep on, bro.
John Calvin would be sick. Sick at what? Us. The way we twisted his teaching. Disclaimer – John Calvin is a man and man only. My dad, who is a teaching pastor, recently ran into hyper-calvinism at his church. A seemingly regular couple decided that God has created some people only to condemn them to hell for all eternity. What a perverted view of God. I think of my son in this: God created Gabriel only to condemn him to hell. Poppycock! (That word is funny.) I can’t believe this teaching. It’s wrong and it’s from the pit. You can’t tell me that when Christ was on the cross He was thinking of us and saying to Himself, “eeny-meeny-miney-mo” and deciding for whom His blood was going to be shed. Why do we have to decide if we are “armenian” or “calvin”? Paul talks specifically against debates like this in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17:
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
I love the last sentence: “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” The point of what we do and believe and teach is not human wisdom, but the Gospel. Anything less than the Gospel of Jesus Christ is pointless and void.
The great debate of predestination has been waged for years. Paul couldn’t even fully explain it. What makes us think that we can and will? Do these “hyper-calvinists” know if they are chosen? It’s rediculous how we think we can explain God. Scientists say most of use use only 10% of our brain. I’m convinced we don’t use that much. That’s why Jesus calls us His “sheep”.
I am avoiding the evening news right now. The headlines creep me out. Is North Korea man enough to use a nuke? Does our government really care about our safety or are they too concerned with politics? Here in Pulaski County, the news is that there is no money for a new jail. Criminals run free because there aren’t enough police and there’s no where to house them. Pretty creepy.
I ask myself these questions: Was it smart to bring my son, Gabriel, into this world right now? Is it fair that he will inherit a planet that is bent on destroying itself? Here is where I land on the answer to what I think are great questions.
1. I did not bring Gabriel into this world. God gave him to me as a gift. What a precious gift.
2. I have a wonderful opportunity to teach Gabe the Word of the Lord and to raise him in the admonition of the Lord. He is to be raised to change his world, to bring a Christian worldview to everything he is going to do.
3. Gabe was created for two reasons: 1. God’ glory, 2. My pleasure. It is my prayer and desire that everything Gabe will do will be an act of worship to God the Father and everything he does will bring glory to El Ohim. I have the pleasure of watching this happen. I also have the duty to teach him such things.
We live in a crazy, sick, depraved, lost world. It is our duty to spread the Light of the world to those who live in darkness. Welcome to a fallen planet created by a God who longs to redeem it.
