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Ethnicity and The Soul

Over the next couple of weeks J.D. Will be traveling so I, Ike Miller, will be posting a smattering of his greatest hits, thoughts on Church Philosophy and possibly some guest blogs.  J.D. also will be posting intermittently with thoughts and updates from his trip so be sure to check in for those. 

Here is a thought on faith and race relations that J.D. took note of from D.A. Carson:

D.A. Carson gave one the best explanations of ethnicity I’ve ever heard in his talk on 1 Corinthians 9 at the Gospel Coalition, 2009. Paul says that to the Jew he had to become a Jew, and likewise to the Gentile, he had to become a Gentile. What is striking about this is that with Jewness and Gentileness you had to be one OR the other... i.e., not being a Jew automatically made you a Gentile. Yet Paul saw himself, in Christ, as something altogether different, a "tertium quid." All Christians are in Christ, which is supra-race (Galatians 3:28). Paul now knows no one according to the flesh, which includes being black or white. So, to the Jews, he must become a Jew, even though ethnically, he already is a Jew. 

In the same way, to the white people, I must become a white person, even though my skin is already white—in Christ, I am not white any longer. I am only Christian. In other words, blackness and whiteness are not part of our soul. They are merely passing characteristics of our bodies. In the same way, black people in Christ must so embrace their new identity in Christ, that they must feel they must “become” black to other black people. Black people and white people are really part of a new identity altogether, a new race, which supercedes ALL characteristics of their human flesh.

Mark Driscoll and the NYT

Here's an article about Mark Driscoll today in the New York Times. Pretty brutal... a few compliments mixed with a general cyanide. Much of what they say about Mark in this article is untrue (mainly in how they spin it). It's also one of the most confused, one-sided depictions of Calvinism I've seen in print... totally out of character, of course, for the normally fair, balanced NYT.

Mark has become a friend in the last couple of years. To any one who knows us at the Summit, it is clear that we do some things differently here at the Summit than they do at out at Mars Hill (while others, such as trying to deconstruct the profile of what a Christian is "supposed to look like," espousing the "free, radical grace of God," we try and do exactly the same!) Still, Mark is a man who loves Jesus and believes in the forgiving, humbling, transforming power of the cross. He loves to see people of all kinds finds Jesus, and truly believes that no one who ever comes to Christ is more screwed up than Mark himself was when Jesus saved him.

This article will probably both challenge, inspire, and anger you--on all levels.

"Why John Piper is on the Planet"

I thought this was a concise, well articulated definition of what one of the most influential theologians alive right now thinks about what God has most put in his heart to say.

Piper has been one of the biggest influences on my own ministry to this point.

It also is a good example of what I blogged about Tuesday, i.e. knowing what God has made known to you for the body of Christ.

I would encourage all pastors, worship leaders, and serious-minded believers to take a look!

Random Quotes and Insights from Mark Driscoll, et al

Continued from yesterday. (I got to spend the last 3 days in a small group with 3 great church leaders--Mark Driscoll, Greg Surratt [of Seacoast Church and one of the multi-site pioneers] and Larry Osborne [an ex-hippie of the Jesus movement, now pastor of 8000 attender North Coast Church of San Diego and truly one of the most insightful thinkers I've ever been around]. My time with them left me swimming with new ideas about innovation in ministry.

• The American idea to "achieve your potential" is a tyrannical goddess. It tells us that whatever we are doing is not good enough, because we have "more potential." We should be living higher with more power. Potential is not a biblical concept, but an American one. "Calling" is the biblical concept, and often "calling" is simply taking the form of a servant (Phil 2:6-11) and not achieving your potential. 

• Most pastors turn ministry into a functional savior. When the ministry is going well, they feel closer to God; when it is going poorly, they feel farther away from God.
• To pastors who say: "I don't count people." Do you count money? Is money more important to you than someone's soul? 

• In a rapidly multiplying church, we often have to settle for "good enough" rather than perfect. While we realize that we should do all things excellently to the glory of God, excellence can become an inhibiter to real ministry when it monopolizes our resources and keeps them from doing things that would increase our capacity to multiply. As we learn on the mission field, reproducibility is a crucial dimension of church planting. 

• The pastoral office includes "prophet, priest and king." Kings are leaders. Prophets are guys who think about what the Bible says and it burns inside them to tell others. Priests care about people." Whichever you're not the strongest on, hire someone to do. (Mark Driscoll). (p.s. He asked me what each of us was... he then looked at me and said, "I know what you are. You're freakin' 'open the Bible and yell at everyone' guy." Exact quote. He meant this as a compliment.) 

• Larry Osborne to me: "I've been at North Coast (a congregation of about 8000) for 28 years. The thing I am most grateful for is EVERY child of staff member has grown up to follow Jesus." He went on to explain to me some things he's learned about that. Of particular interest was his statement that one of the most important lessons to learn was that exuberance in the faith in the parent often works against the kid. What he meant was that often the ministry parent wanted their kid to feel the passion that they did for Jesus, evangelism, etc, and they often forced the child into situations hoping that would grow. Instead, it embarrassed the child and turned them off. The passions of the heart for Jesus must develop 'naturally,' by faith, and not be imposed from outside on the child. We expect our kids to grow up too quickly."

• "In Seattle we have a 'Canadian arsonist nudist colony.' I'm going to go ahead and tell you, unless they repent, they're going to hell, but what a fun way to go. Getting naked and burning stuff down." (Mark Driscoll)
• To note: comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions of jdgreear.com or its affiliates. Opinions are solely those of the ones being quoted). :)

OK. I am ON VACATION for the next 3 days so this blog is going on vacation too. I'll see you after Thanksgiving, or just encounter something too good to keep my mouth shut.

The economic crisis, Mark Driscoll, and etc.

Here are some thoughts about the economic crisis. Some were inspired by some time I got to spend the last 3 days in a small group with 3 great church leaders--Mark Driscoll, Greg Surratt (of Seacoast Church and one of the multi-site pioneers) and Larry Osborne (an ex-hippie of the Jesus movement, now pastor of 8000 attender North Coast Church of San Diego and truly one of the most insightful thinkers I've ever been around). Tomorrow I'll give some of their thoughts on ministry and innovation that had me brimming with new ideas.

On the economic crisis:

• The economic downturn is a great opportunity of Christians for evangelism. For many people, money is their god and their god just got crucified, and shows no signs of resurrection. This is the time to point people to the only real Savior who did get resurrected.   

• Christians respond differently in times of crisis. In the early church, when disease swept the urban centers and everyone fled, Christians remained to help the sick and dying. In the same way, when many are now panicking because of financial crunch, shoring up their own interests, and turning to new hopes that ultimately will also disappoint, Christians should be asking, "How can we sacrifice personally to help people in need?" 

• I've given faithfully to both the Summit Church and my 401K now for 6 years. Every penny invested in the Summit Church is showing 100-fold gain, while that put into my 401K would have been stronger had I invested it in bubble gum. Put your treasure where "moth and rust" can't touch it.

• As I explained on Sunday, we all tend to compare ourselves to our vocational peers (i.e., those who make about as much as we do), and see if we're living as well as them. If not, we are bothered. But studies consistently show the average American is living in significant debt, which means that if you choose to not live on debt, then you are going to be living 1 step behind your peers. And, if you choose to give generously and to save, (both biblical admonitions as well), that is going to put you 2-3 steps behind your peers. Living 2-3 steps behind someone is a NOTICEABLE difference. It is not simply going out to eat one less time or not getting dessert; rather, it affects where you live and the kind of car you drive. You should be prepared for this and at peace with it, resolved that living 2-3 steps behind your peers is worth it to stay out of debt and give generously.

More tomorrow.

Staying one place for a long time in ministry

I am grateful for friends who have modeled staying in one place for the duration of their lives in ministry. While I realize we can never tell God where we're going to stay or go, I think the mentality of planting your life permanently some place is a good thing for most of us pastors and our churches. I've heard that pastors consistently OVERESTIMATE what they can accomplish at a church in 5 years, and consistently UNDERESTIMATE what they can accomplish in 20 years. Both of the men I'm going to mention have been in ministry at Providence long enough that they have established deep patterns of ministry that are really effective. I've been at the Summit for about 6 years, which means I'm over the hard part now and that I've got 14 more sweet years ahead of me!

The two friends that I'm talking about are David Horner and Steve Wright, senior pastor and student pastor of Providence Baptist here in Raleigh. Both have also recently released a "magnum opus" of sorts I wanted to commend to you. Baker books just released David Horner's A Practical Guide to Life and Ministry, which is a theological reflection on what it means to be a pastor. Steve Wright came out with ReThink, which is a new approach to student ministry. Steve's book was recently used by the staffs of both C. J. Mahaney and John Piper's churches.

Good stuff.

The WEEK OF HOPE for RDU is THIS week! We still need volunteers for our public school projects and for all our church-wide projects on Friday and Saturday afternoons! Click here to signup.

Audio Interview with Voddie Baucham

Recently a good friend of mine, Pastor, Theologian, Author and Family-man Voddie Baucham (Bio) guest-preached in our Sunday morning services (Sermons here and here).

He was gracious enough to sit down with one of our pastors for the purpose of recording a 10 minute interview on some issues facing our church and the Christian church as a whole.

Take a few minutes to listen to the interview (Here).

Yoda

At the Summit you've heard me say that Tim Keller is a lot like Yoda to me (to borrow from Mark Driscoll)... well, this week I got to go to "the Dagobah system" (thanks, Zeke, for the correction--you are a nerd for knowing that!) and spend a little time with him. It was the first time I'd met him in person and I told him my primary goal was to be able to say from now on, "My friend Tim Keller says..." He said that was fine.

Charlie Dunn embarrassed the heck out of both of us when he asked Tim to sign his A Reason for God and claimed it was for his wife, Abby. That was not nearly as embarrassing, however, as when I asked to take this picture:

I always thought Yoda was shorter.

Also, I got to spend a little time again with Mark Driscoll, and I was really pleased that he brought up how much he thinks of Danny Akin and Southeastern Seminary. I know Dr. Akin as taken some heat about his "acceptance" of Driscoll, but I am grateful that this relationship exists. I think it is a healthy development. I know that we all don't agree on everything, but the centrality of the Gospel is something we do agree on.

At any rate, it was great to connect with these guys and the talks Tim gave the next couple of days at the Acts 29 Urban Conference were phenomenal. Here are a couple of tidbits from them:

• Paul had a gospel for the "circumcised" and the "uncircumcised." It was the same Gospel in essence, but how he expressed it was very different. In the same way, we have to preach the Gospel in a way that makes sense to the traditional religious person (the circumcised) and, at other times, in a way that makes sense to the secular person (the uncircumcised.) The circumcised understand the concepts of "the laws of God," and "sin", whereas the "uncircumcised"  may not grasp these concepts as well, and may better understand sin as idolatry (i.e. finding in other things what we should be finding in God). For the "uncircumcised," we may be more effective beginning our presentation of the Gospel showing how Jesus is God become man to bring restoration and justice to a fallen world, and then moving to His confrontation of our individual sin.
• "A church that truly dwells in the Biblical gospel will look quite unusual. Because of the 'inside-out' kingdom/substitutionary atonement aspect, the church will put great emphasis on personal conversion, experiental grace renewal, evangelism, outreach, and church planting.  This makes it look like an evangelical-charismatic church.  Because of the 'upside-down' kingdom/incarnation aspect, the church will put great emphasis on deep community, cell groups or house churches, and will emphasize radical giving and sharing of resources, spiritual disciplines, racial reconciliation, and living with the poor.  This makes it look like an Anabaptist 'peace' church.  Because of the 'forward-back' kingdom/restoration aspect, the church will put great emphasis on seeking the welfare of the city, neighborhood and civic involvement, cultural engagement, and training people to work in 'secular' vocations out of a Christian world-view.  This makes it look like mainline church or perhaps a Kuyperian Reformed church. Very few church movements are able to integrate and inter-relate these ministries and emphases because of a comprehensive view of the Biblical gospel."

Pastor's Round Table: Texas

Sorry to not have kept the blog up the latter part of this week. I was in a pastor's round table forum in Texas, and was slammed morning until evening. Plus, I came down with something pretty bad the night before I was leaving, so my energy level was zilch. I know, I'm such a whiner.

Anyway, the forum was incredible and I learned a ton. I've heard a Pastor I look up to say that at some point a Pastor will get a whole lot more out of sitting around with other Pastors discussing ministry than he will going to yet another conference. That has definitely been my experience.

Here are just a handful of things:

• Never say "This is how we do it." Say, "This is how we do it today." As your church grows and changes, the methodology you use will have to change. This is why you have to be very cautious at tying every method to a Bible verse, because when you change your methodology people think you are abandoning Scripture.
• It was affirmed to me that prayer is best done in the context of small groups. Pastor Larry Osborne, who pastors a church in California that runs over 7000, said, "What church is most known for prayer in the U.S.?" The answer, of course, is Brooklyn Tabernacle. "How many people do they have at a prayer meeting?" About 2000. He said, "Each week, we have over 4000 people seriously engaged in believing prayer--not listening to someone else pray, but actually praying." This is not, of course, to take away from the Brooklyn Tabernacle (what an awesome place!)... but to say that the best context for prayer is the Summit Life Group.
• THE thing that "connects" people to church is friendships. Not discipleship programs. Ever talk to someone who says, "Well... my church was really bad but it took me over a year to leave"? Why did they stay? Almost always the answer is "Because all my friends are there." If you connect people to your church through relationships, chances are they will grow in the things your church is about. Everyone was a "growth" moment, and you can't program it. What you need to do is make sure they are connected to the church so that when they are ripe for growth, they are in the scope of the influence of your church.
• For that reason and many others, the traditional way of just "splitting" a small group really stinks (i.e. your group gets to 16 and so you just split 8 and 8). If your small group is "working," why would you want to split it? And, if people are really growing together... why take away that from them? I pitched the idea our Summit Life Group pastor, Spence Shelton, had about small groups "planting" other groups (training up a gifted couple who will go out and start their own group." Larry Osborne really liked that idea, and said that's what they were seeing work, too.
• I am grateful for our Summit Life staff, who was already doing both of the above!
  
• Average small group attendance compared to Sunday attenders is between 20 and 40%. Summit, I believe you are between 50 and 60, so good job again.
• Average giving in large churches per adult attending=$20/per person. Summit, you are at about $40!
• As a leader, you have to be present, on location, involved in the processes of the church, to make good decisions. The wisdom of Solomon + bad information = a foolish decision. And unless you see things firsthand, you are getting interpretation of things... interpretations which may not always be correct.
• The question to keep forefront in the use of technology is not technological excellence but EFFECTIVENESS. Anything else is a bad stewardship of resources.
• Many pastors of large churches cease to be "real" people... they so isolate themselves from people and life that they become hollow. Sure, in a larger church you have to guard your time, on which there is never-ending demands. But you have to remain in real, accountable, accessible relationships.
• Many pastors develop a sense of entitlement, which is a poison of the heart. The question is not "what privileges do you have?" but "which privileges have you?" i.e. which ones do you require, think you deserve, about which you get angry if they aren't given to you?

Anyway, sorry if those didn't make sense. Just a quick digest.

A Real Life Legend: Henry Blackaby

This past weekend I had a chance to spend some time with a guy who for years has been more like a legend to me than a real person, Henry Blackaby, author of the Bible study Experiencing God that was so popular years ago. I went through it in college, and it had a huge impact on me. It was part of what sent me into ministry.

He and I were both speaking at a conference on Prayer and Spiritual Awakening. Of course, that was a more than a little intimidating by itself... he had over 30 books he had authored there for sell. Someone asked me, "Where are your books?" I stammered and stuttered and finally offered to sign some of Dr. Blackaby's books.

He is an older man now, and has that sage-like quality of someone who has walked with God for years. He drips with wisdom and the anointing of God. He has devoted himself now to seeing a prayer awakening in the church. We got to spend time together talking and praying. I kept catching myself peeking at him during prayer times thinking maybe he slipped into some kind of trance wherein he pulled an Enoch and walked with God. I kept expecting to look up and see him vanish. But no, he prays just like you and me. His prayers are simple and childlike, and with great intimacy. I even saw him writing stuff down while other people were praying... made me feel better about the times I do that.

I'm always impressed when I meet some of these older giants of the faith at how "normal" they are. Normal dudes, awesome God.

He lamented that prayer is the one thing that seems to be absent from most of the "new and current" movements in Christianity (many of which he is grateful for)--which means that all of our reforms may end up crumbling much as we have seen the reforms of our ancestors crumble. The prayer of faith in the Gospel is what makes the foundations of our ministry solid, period.

I asked him what he was most concerned with in the "newer" generation of Christian leaders. He said, "Praise and worship." I said, "Praise and worship?" He said, "Yes. By and large praise and worship is a huge problem for the church. Today's praise and worship rarely calls people to repentance. It attempts to lay a foundation of spirituality on top of idolatrous and sin-tolerating hearts. There can be no move of God until God's people really repent, and our religiosity, which is most seen in our music, keeps us from real repentance. We need a John the Baptist who can cut through our religiosity and call us to really deal with our sin." (that is my summary of his words, so I may have messed it up a little bit.)

But I was floored. What incredible insight.

He then said, "The second thing is drums." I said, "Drums?" He said, "Yes. That is the world's music and it has no business in the church." OK, so obviously I didn't agree with everything that he had to say. Drums are a huge part of our worship at our church, and I don't believe there is a biblical distinction in some music that is God's and other that is Satan's. While the Old Testament is full of instructions about the specifics of worship, the New Testament is silent, because (I believe) the intent is for each culture to find the appropriate ways, musically, to express praise to God.

But even though I may not agree with everything the generation in front of me believes, I am grateful for their faithfulness to God and for the Gospel they taught me. I imagine that there are a few things I believe which time will show have more to do with my cultural trappings and not real Biblical values. I hope God and my children will be gracious to me where I fail. Sometimes I think the greatest fault of my "younger" generation of leaders is we have a self-righteous scorn for older people who we think got some things wrong. Big news flash: we will get some things wrong, too. If we can't be gracious even to our own "fathers," what kind of Gospel do we have to preach to the world?

I am grateful for Dr. Blackaby, and for taking time to invest in the next generation. We neglect their wisdom at our own peril.