Leading a Horse to Water: Introduction

I am writing a book which I intend to publish in serial fashion here on my blog. What you have in this post is the chapter titles and the introduction. The first post of each chapter will be in the nature of a rough draft. I would love to have readers' comments, criticisms and suggestions on each post. If you would like to be certain to see each chapter as it is posted, please leave a comment to that effect and I will put you on an email list to see that you are kept up to date. If you would rather stay somewhat anonymous, you may find the posts by searching "Leading a Horse to Water" in the blog labels and making comments on the blog itself.

Leading a Horse to Water: The Great Commission in the 21^st Century

Alternate title

Leading a Horse to Water: Making Disciples in the 21^st Century

Introduction

Inviting pagans to church is not the best strategy; after leading the horse to water…

                Unbelievers won’t get anything if it’s real church

                Believers won’t get anything if it’s all evangelism

                Doing a little of both shortchanges everybody… and it has failed

Chapter One: Matthew 28:19-20

The Great Commission: Make Disciples

What is a disciple

How to make one follow

                Offer something they want/like

                                Deo Gloria: make God look good

Chapter Two: John 13:34-35

Do the obvious thing: love one another

                Do the less obvious thing: love the “enemy”

Chapter Three: 1 Corinthians 9:22

Package the Gospel for atheists and agnostics

                Philosophy 101: what works

                                Avoiding nihilism and utilitarianism

                Guarding against syncretism

Chapter Four: Matthew 9:17

New wine for new agers: God as ET

                Reading the enemy’s playbook: the sci-fi gospel

                What does it mean to be “extra-terrestrial”?

Chapter Five: Matthew 10:16

What not to do

                Don’t be so earthly-minded you’re no heavenly good     

Don’t promise wealth and health

                Don’t promise happiness

                Don’t expect holiness

                Don’t use church language

                Don’t be ostentatious

                

Chapter Six: Ephesians 2:10

epilogue: it’s all God’s doing ultimately

                “Not by [our] works, lest any should boast”

                “I do what I see my Father doing”

Introduction

I attend a pretty good little church. Actually, it’s not little; it’s on the high side of average statistically. We run about 100 on any given Sunday. According to the Christian pollster George Barna, the average Protestant church size in America is 89 adults. 60% of protestant churches have less than 100 adults in attendance. And anyway, size is not the most important statistic about a church.

I am very happy with just about everything we do as a congregation: we have vital praise and worship times; we hear Bible sermons every week; we have several Bible study opportunities going on all the time; we pray openly for one another; we help each other out as needs arise; we collect enough money to maintain church operations and make significant contributions to a number of local and foreign ministries. So far, that’s the portrait of a healthy church.

However, as I look over the group that gathers under our local banner each week, I discover that almost all of the attendees are refugees from churches elsewhere in the area. I am quite certain that less than ten percent were brought to Christ through the ministry of our church; possibly less than five percent. I assume that the majority attend my church because they, like the founders of this body, were not happy in their previous church. This may be fine; I believe in different strokes for different folks. No one church will be perfect for all believers. That too is healthy.

What is not healthy is the lack of new converts. Even a cursory reading of the New Testament makes one realize that evangelism, sharing the Gospel, reaching the lost is a major focus of the church. If new people are not being added to the church, an important purpose of the church is not being fulfilled. Because I know many of the people I share my Sundays with, I am certain that they would agree with what I have said. I am also certain that many of them would respond as one did recently when I expressed my dismay about our lack of new converts: we need to invite more people to church. That may be one answer, but I don’t think it is the best answer.

The idea of inviting people to “church” to convert them to Christ leads ultimately to the question: what is the Sunday service for. The answer is debatable. Some believe that Gospel proclamation or evangelism, is the primary purpose of the Sunday church meeting. Others believe that teaching the Scriptures primarily to believers is what it’s all about. Not a few modern churches attempt to balance both of these elements in every meeting, particularly on Sunday morning.

This confusion over the purpose of Sunday meetings may explain at least in part why the church has not experienced significant growth in the last couple generations. It may also explain why young people are not staying connected to any church when they reach adulthood. The bottom line of a study done by Lifeway recently seems to indicate that irrelevance played a role in the decision of young people to leave church. Young people don’t think church has anything for them. Although what’s-in-it-for-me may be a selfish motive, it is legitimate to ask the purpose of attending Sunday church. If the leaders are confused about purpose, is it any wonder the attenders are too?

The answer to the confusion may be to choose to be either fish or fowl. If the leadership of a local body believes that evangelism is the main reason to hold services on Sunday morning, they should swing whole-heartedly for that fence. Make everything about Sunday attractive to non-believers (more on this later). This is basically what the “seeker friendly” churches have been trying to do for the last couple decades. While this is a worthy goal, current research suggests the tactic has not been an unmitigated success. Perhaps the tactic needs rethinking.

If on the other hand, a church decides that Sunday morning is for believers, then they must find another path than the Sunday morning service to appeal to the unbelievers. Assuming good Bible teaching is part of the service, sooner or later the congregation will come to the realization that a significant command of Jesus is being ignored for all practical purposes. I am not suggesting that solid preaching of the Word cannot bring some unbelievers to repentance; nor am I disregarding the important work of the Holy Spirit in conversion (more on that in the last chapter). But delving into the intricate beauty of the Word of God will be lost on all but a few unchurched listeners. “Pearls before swine” may be an apt analogy. The challenge is to determine how to reach the not-swine.

The authors of Simple Church, xxx, have researched successful churches and found what they believe is the key to success: in a word, focus. According to xxx, growing, vital churches have one main goal, and every program they offer leads directly to that goal. Although the churches studied by xxx use different language, I will summarize what they are doing by calling it what the Bible calls it: discipleship. Successful churches are successful because they are making disciples. My purpose in this book is to offer suggestions to help less-than-successful churches become successful in this truly biblical sense. I will not answer the question of which type of Sunday meeting is best; perhaps either will work if done properly.

Because I believe that all the best ideas come from the Scripture itself (what a concept), the suggestions I will make rely primarily on at least one specific passage of Scripture. Hence what you hold in your hand is a series of exegetical sermons on the topic of church growth. Someone is saying at this point, “Oh goody! As if we haven’t had anything like that before.” I say with all humility that there are countless other books available which do what I am proposing, and they have been written by Christians with far more serious qualifications than I. However, I am a unique person with a unique way of looking at things (as are all persons), so I will nonetheless undertake this challenge. Besides, God seems to be prompting me to do this. Whether it is just for me or for others too is for you to decide.

The first chapter will explore just what Jesus was asking of His followers when he commanded them to “make disciples.” If we don’t know what the task at hand is, it is pretty hard to know if we are doing it. There is probably nothing startlingly unique in my exposition, but I feel it is necessary to lay the correct foundation for what follows. Subsequent chapters will offer conceptual understanding and practical applications of some very specific things which I believe flesh out the command: make disciples

                If you follow me to the end of this literary journey, you will find me saying in the last chapter that nothing we do, no matter how brilliant – how biblical, will result in anything eternal if the Holy Spirit is not in it. Some have heard this before and concluded that if it is “all God” anyway, there’s no use troubling ourselves about evangelism. Wrong. It is one of the great mysteries of God’s purpose that He does, in fact, want our participation in this greatest of endeavors. It is my prayer that this little book may contribute in some small way to that purpose. Having read it, I pray readers will be better able to fulfill Jesus’ last command to us all: make disciples.

(Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version.)

How Could a Christian Vote for Hillary?

After the recent election, a friend asked me if I could help her understand how any Christian could have voted for Hillary Clinton. What were they thinking? She wondered why they aligned with the Hollywood elite. She wondered what's wrong. I suspect there may be some others who are asking the same questions, so I am posting my response.

First let me say honestly that I don't know how anyone who is a committed follower of Christ could have voted for Hillary. But I know some did. The obvious answer to the question of what's wrong is sin; sinful humans don't make perfect decisions. I know that's not very satisfying, so I will suggest some things that may have influenced their behavior.

1. You want to understand what they were thinking. I suggest they did not think. People vote for a variety of reasons, and for some, thinking is not part of the process. 

2. Some Christians think that socialism is a more biblical type of government than our free market capitalism. I disagree heartily. I wrote about this in detail during an earlier election; follow the link if you want more on that.

3. I suspect that some Christians were so disgusted by the media portrayal of Trump that they voted for Hillary in protest. We believers often forget that God can use broken people... good thing since we are all broken.

4. Your comment about the Hollywood elite also hints at a possible reason people voted for Hillary: as a culture, we are way too impressed by what our icons (another word for idols) think and do. If God is not the center of one's life and thought, those replacement icons from sports or entertainment hold great power.

5. To be political about it, it might be that Trump simply did not put enough detail into how he would "make America great again" to convince folks to vote for him. I know that does not explain how a Christian could choose Hillary instead, but it may have played a part.

6. To be sexist about it, some women may have voted for Hillary simply because she is a woman. Wrong reason, but powerful among a certain group of women.

7. Maybe they really like Obama; he is so likable.... Hillary said she would be a third term of Obama's policies. Some Christians would be OK with that.

8. Maybe some are beneficiaries of the programs Hillary supports and fear losing the benefits.

9. If you didn't read my blog, Seeking Signs on Election Night, check it out; that too may give you some peace about our crazy situation.

Having said all that, none of those explanations is nearly enough to outweigh the negatives Hillary carries in my opinion. With the decades of scandals, her status as a pathological liar, the dozens of mysterious deaths of people who crossed the Clintons, the pitiful record as Secretary of State (think Benghazi, Iran, etc.), and if nothing else, her support of infanticide, I cannot imagine that anyone who claims to be Christian could vote for her. 

But some did. They may be just as confused about how any Christian could vote for Trump. This is the beauty and the danger of participatory democracy. One can never be certain that those who vote will see things the same way we do. But I stand by what I have said before: as believers, we have to vote. We won't always have the same feelings as our brothers and sisters about the outcome, but it is our responsibility to learn what we can about the candidates and then vote. After the election, it is our responsibility to get along with our brothers and sisters... even if they voted for Hillary.

Veteran’s Day 2016

I believe today is one of the most important national holidays we observe in America. Because of a lost sense of history in our culture, many citizens of this great country do not realize how uniquely blessed we are. The American experiment, as some have called it, was truly a new thing when it was undertaken in the 18^th century. Not since the days of ancient Athens or perhaps the Roman republic had it been suggested that “we the people” should play such a large part in their own government.

It should be noted that the British system at the time of the American Revolution was nominally democratic, but the monarchy still kept a tight hold on the reins of power; Parliament’s role was primarily advisory in nature, and it was strongly influenced by the upper house, the House of Lords, which was populated by the monarch’s peers. The people’s house, the House of Commons, could not unilaterally propose or enact policy. Thus the “democracy” was essentially a plutocracy, the rule of the rich and powerful. Against this, the Patriots revolted.

Beginning on a fateful April morning in 1776, a “shot heard around the world” created the first American veterans. Throughout most of the following decade, men who were largely militia, rather than professional soldiers, fought the most powerful army on earth at the time and won America’s independence from Britain. The 19^th century is peppered with conflicts, small and large, wherein American citizens took up arms to defend the American way. Most people don’t need to be reminded how the 20^th century looked: two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, and most recently, the Middle East. Each of these wars involved ordinary citizens who stood up for their country, and many laid down their lives in the greatest sacrifice. These are our veterans.

Sadly, the treatment of our veterans has a depressing history. Revolutionary War soldiers often went unpaid, and veterans’ benefits were few. Civil War vets had to fight an often losing battle to receive the benefits they had been promised. The GI Bill and housing benefits offered to WWII vets is one bright spot in an otherwise grim picture, but no one should be ignorant of the pitiful plight of our veterans today.  Mismanagement and outright malfeasance plague a system that is itself not sufficient to repay our veterans for what they have bought us.

The Presidential election of 2016 has put Republicans in control of all three branches of government. Philosophically, Republicans favor improving military and veteran benefits. I would like to suggest the we the people who wish to honor and respect our veterans properly press our representatives in the federal government to put their money where their mouths are. Pardon me: they need to put OUR money where OUR mouths are. Let’s really go to bat for our veterans and demand more equitable treatment for them. They have put their lives on the line for our freedom; let’s not squander the opportunity we have to repay them. Romans 13:7 says, “pay… honor to whom honor is owed.” If that’s not our vets, I don’t know who it might be.

Seeking Signs on Election Night

I have been casting about lately, looking for some sign that God is still active in human affairs. When you study Isaiah, as my Sunday School class just did, you can’t help but be impressed with the level of God’s working in history. I’m not referring to “religious” history, because Isaiah’s record makes it crystal clear that God directs all of human endeavor, not just that of his “chosen” people. Granted, the context of Isaiah reveals how God dealt with other people as they related to Israel, but the fact remains: the fate of entire nations rested squarely in the almighty hands of the Creator of the universe.

Having recently finished Almost a Miracle, by John E. Ferling, I am fresh from the thought that the success of the American Revolution and subsequent founding of this nation was either a case of multiple serendipities or divine intervention. The same conclusion can be drawn from events in more recent history such as weather “coincidences” at Dunkirk and D-day and countless more. The problem with all of these is that we don’t have an Isaiah predicting them hundreds of years in advance so we can read later how clearly they were God’s orchestration.

Jump to my present-day search for signs. A report on WND by Garth Kant points to a “coincidence” that occurred during the evening of our recent Presidential election. Kant reports the observation by former US Representative Michele Bachmann that at precisely the time when millions of Christians began to pray very specifically about the election, the tide turned. Clinton had appeared to be winning handily as the first returns came in; then a sudden, dramatic shift occurred in the post-election polls: Trump began rising as Clinton fell precipitously. That dual trend never changed. Significantly, the graphic you see here was created by the New York Times, not WND or Fox News.

Christians who are repulsed by the thought that God may have chosen Trump need to remember that the “apple of God’s eye,” David, was an adulterer and murderer. Cyrus the Persian who released the Jews from Babylonian captivity was a pagan. Peter insisted that the Jewish rulers who crucified their Messiah were doing God’s work. The ruler Paul declared to be “ordained by God” was the tyrant Nero. God doesn’t need perfect people to do his work; he doesn’t even need willing people. As the Psalmist once observed, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathens; I will be exalted in the earth!” End of line.

In light of all this, I ask myself if I am being too critical or cynical or just blind. I wish I could jump for joy with Bachmann and say, “Look what God did with our prayers.” I may be overthinking this, but I think if Trump was God’s man for this hour, Trump would have won whether we prayed or not. I cannot convince myself that America is God’s chosen nation. Theologically, I can’t conceive of any nation being chosen. According to Peter, the holy nation is believers, not Americans. “But you [believers] are… a holy nation, a people for his own possession.... Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people.”

So here is the irony. God will accomplish His purpose with or without us. Yet if we wish to be “God’s people” (aka believers), we must attempt to align ourselves with his purpose. Jesus said His followers would keep His commandments out of love. He also said that he counted certain ones as his “family” because they did the will of His Father. The only way we can know the commandments of Jesus or the will of His Father is to study God’s Word. And then pray.

I think C.S. Lewis summed up the need to pray best when he said, “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time – waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God – it changes me.” I don’t know whether Trump won because people prayed, but I am encouraged that people prayed. We should keep on praying. I should keep on praying, not to change election results, but to change my heart. That’s the sign I should be looking for.

Being a Disciple of Jesus Before a Watching World

"Danger, Will Robinson, Danger (Of a Digital Nature)" The robot “B-9” on the Lost in Space TV series was programmed to warn the Robinson family of impending danger. I wonder if in the real future that the Robinsons portrayed the real danger might just be technology itself. For example, is social media a boon or a bane? I recently had a little kerfuffle that caused me to do some thinking about my activity on Facebook. I enjoy keeping up with my distant kids and grandkids on Facebook, and I get daily chuckles from the posts shared by some of my “friends” on the site. I hate to admit it but I also get much of my national and regional news from pages I have “liked.” Admittedly, much of the “news” has to be put through a truth filter since some people post indiscriminately, but a little fact-checking usually weeds out the fluff.

One of the things that peeves me is people who violate the prohibition against posting things that are intended for “personal gain,” also known as advertising. Apparently some users either don’t read the Facebook agreement or choose to ignore it. So, not for the first time, I offended a “friend” by pointing out the indiscretion with a public post. My comment was too strongly worded, and the “friend” took umbrage with my approach. In hindsight I admit that I should have made a private remark instead of making a public comment, but I still feel that inappropriate public actions merit public remonstrance. Maybe, maybe not.

The incident precipitated some thinking about just how much of our lives we are putting in the public spotlight. Indiscriminate posting of our daily activities and unguarded opinions opens up a whole new realm of possible misuses and misunderstandings. Innocent pictures posted from recreation or vacation spots, for example, let a wide swath of users know what our idea of entertainment might be, and that our domicile is currently unattended. One hopes that friends and friends of friends does not include any house burglars and that our activities pass the WWJD test, but how can one be sure? Privacy settings can be adjusted to limit this kind of exposure, but how many users really know what their settings are? The Facebook default settings are pretty wide open.

While it is not generally considered social media, a person’s Internet browsing history also opens a window into the life of the user. Most people know that “cookies” placed on their computer by sites they visit remain as markers to both legitimate and illegitimate inspection. Google is famous (or infamous) for using this kind of data to create customer bases which they share with various other entities. Shop for a vacuum cleaner online and wait to see how many pop-up ads for vacuums begin to appear on your screen.

A few years ago I fell prey to this kind of unwelcome interest. I was working on a project that involved researching the types of families who sent their children to Christian schools. On the radio I heard of an interesting case in California where a single mother was working as an exotic dancer to help pay for her child to attend a Christian school. I learned that an interview of the mother had been printed in (gasp) Playboy magazine, so I searched for it online. I was fascinated (and somewhat appalled) by the mother’s story. Her motivation was pure enough, but her means disgusted me.

Almost immediately after linking to the Playboy article online, I began to receive pop-ups advertising other web sites and products of a prurient nature. Most shocking to me, I began to receive invitations to meet “hot babes” in Muskegon where I lived at the time. I still don’t know how my geographic location was ascertained; I assume it had to do with the browsing history that lay hidden in my computer. There may be another explanation, but in any case, my activity had been observed and recorded by entities with which I had no interest. Or maybe this was all a big coincidence… Right?

A recent Saturday Evening Post article held more disturbing food for thought. The author was imagining life in 2050 with a personal digital assistant implanted in his ear which used every piece of information about the man to help him make decisions, remember names of people he forgot, and generally place the entire digital universe at his disposal. The imaginary device did all this by brain wave communication, also known as mental telepathy. I know we are not there yet, but neuro-digital communication is in its infant stages, and with the relentless shift to a cashless society, stores recording our purchases, much of our correspondence being digital, and big brothers of every kind “reading our mail,” we are not far from every aspect of our lives being on display at some level.

So what has all this to do with heaven? The sermon at my church this Sunday was about being a disciple before a watching world. Pastor reminded us of Peter’s counsel to let our “good works” reveal to unbelievers God’s place in our lives. Paul also admonished us to avoid the appearance of evil. I may have violated that warning with my thoughtless Facebook post and my indiscriminate Internet foray. My intent was innocent enough, but the appearance may not have been blameless. Social media and Internet ministries may be a great way to share our faith, but it might also be a personal back door that lets our cyber neighbors see into our kitchen. What they see cooking there may not be our best dish to pass.

Here's Your Sign

Storming the Gates

I had something of an epiphany the other day. I have debated about sharing it because it is doubtless one of those “revelations” that many readers will answer with a resounding, “Duh! Everybody knows that.” One of the consequences of being a life-long Bible student is that some of the older teachings get shed to make room for additional information. That’s brain science. Or it is possible that I never heard this idea taught quite this way; so here it is.

I am reading Simple Church by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger. The authors’ premise is that churches can be more effective at making disciples with one simple process than with multiple, complex competing programs. I recommend the book, but there is one line of thought that I am really struck by. Rainer and Geiger bring up the question Jesus poses to his disciples in Matthew 16: “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus is pleased when Peter answers, ““You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Then comes the idea that struck me anew; Jesus tells the disciples that this proclamation will be the very foundation of His Church, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Rainer and Geiger point out that gates are defensive structures. The “gates of hell” are placed by the enemy around Christ’s Church in order to thwart its growth. The enemy uses his wiles to construct impediments that appear to confine the Church. Anyone who has read C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters is familiar with the concept. Yet Jesus told the original disciples that the enemy’s efforts would be fruitless. Those of us who are modern day disciples have the same promise, echoed by John, “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

So if the Church is the victorious force with superior strength, I have to wonder why we come across as such wimps when the enemy is engaged. Perhaps we fear failure. Failure is assured if we sally forth in the flesh instead of in the spirit as Paul counseled the Corinthians. Failure is assured if we have the wrong motives as James warned. Failure is assured if we twist the Scriptures to our own ends as Peter pointed out. Failure is assured if we hide the light under a basket. There are many ways to fail.

There is one sure way to win: The Church must storm the gates. Remember, Jesus promised the gates of hell will not prevail. What does it mean to “storm the gates?” Sitting in church on Sunday, no matter how good the church is, does not qualify. If the Allied troops had stayed safely aboard their ships on June 6, 1944, Hitler would not have been defeated. If they had simply listened to their leaders telling how big their guns were and how effective their strategies were but never stormed the beaches, the enemy would not have been overcome. Action is required to accomplish just about anything worthwhile. When Jesus described how his disciples should act, he talked about taking up one’s cross daily. He did not recommend sitting around in comfy circles singing songs about him.

Besides largely ignoring the call to action, the Church has done something else that can be illustrated with the gate metaphor: the gate keeps getting moved. To illustrate, when I was in high school, girls who would sleep with a guy were considered tramps – bad girls. If the polling is to be believed, an alarming number of today’s Christian young people are sexually active in high school. Satan has somehow tricked an entire generation into thinking that promiscuity is not that bad. Instead of standing firm on a Biblical principle when “free love” became fashionable in the 1960’s, the Church seems to have moved the boundaries. The same thing can be said of women’s fashion, popular entertainment and a host of other cultural markers.

To continue with the metaphor, the Church seems to have left the light behind and wandered through the gates into enemy territory without realizing they left the truth behind. I don’t mean to suggest that the Amish are right to remain stuck in the 19^th century, but face it: we are fighting battles on ground that already belongs to the enemy. How much sex is acceptable in a TV show or movie? How much cleavage is acceptable in a Christian woman’s style? How bad is homosexual marriage as long as the couple is monogamous?

I am beginning to think that the Church is in a similar position to God’s people who were taken captive to Babylon. We haven’t lost our Temple, but we have lost what it means to be the temple. We haven’t transgressed God’s law by erecting idols, but we have run after the “idols” of our culture. We are not an ethnic people taken captive by a foreign ruler, but we are a chosen people captivated by the enemy of our King.

The often quoted verse from Chronicles spoken to ancient Israel may be appropriate for this generation: “If my people [believers], which are called by my name [Jesus], shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land [church].” At that point, the Church will be in a position to storm the gates of hell and win.