If anyone is wondering why I have been silent on this blog for the past two weeks or so, it is because my attentions have been demanded by a confusing time at my church.
I must explain that my church building holds two seemingly separate churches that are still part of one congregation. Strange? Yes, and a conversation with my father earlier this night provided me with more insight into the incredibly complicated relationships and dynamics of such a setup: when two bodies of worshipers with two differing styles of worship co-habit the same building with two independent leadership teams, there are bound to be disagreements and arguments and differences of vision for the future and the church's mission.
Because of this precarious balancing act of sharing space, the cooperation between the leaders of the church has become very strained. The pastor of one fellowship was asked to resign under the larger task of restructuring church governance and leadership, and as a result many of the new believers and recent members have been deeply shaken and saddened. Our departing pastor was a surrogate father to many of us and a dear friend during his time in ministry, and dealing with the sudden void in our spiritual lives has many of us asking whether God has abandoned us. Some members will undoubtedly leave the church following this event.
I wonder, however, if this may be a message from God for the smaller fellowship to finally leave the church building. For nearly thirteen years, a spirit of evangelism and mission has moved in our midst and if we are to be the church which God has called us to be, then might the time have finally arrived to truly GO as Jesus said to the disciples and make disciples of all men?
Understand that I am not advocating a church split. In fact, church splits seem to be the worst possible way for the church to grow; somehow, churches in the Anabaptist tradition seem to prefer this way of growing (masochistic, yes?) rather than by sending missionaries far and wide to tell people the Good News that Jesus has come to take away their sin and make them part of the Kingdom of God. Instead, I am pondering a new type of Mennonite church reaching out to a lost and hurting city in a lost and hurting nation in a lost and hurting world in the manner of the first missionaries: by calling everyone to join in the Great Commission to tell the whole world what Jesus has done for them in their own lives.
Many of the divisive and potentially explosive factors which can destroy a church seem to be in existence within our congregation: factions, attitudes of self-righteousness, comfortable numbness to the suffering of the world, and pride, which may be the most dangerous of all. If you can relate to any of these within your own congregation, reading through some of Paul's letters to the church in Corinth and to his friend Timothy may help you when you pray for your church. I might also suggest something incredibly gutsy: go to your pastor and tell she or he that the church is in danger of becoming divided against itself. Tell your pastor what you are observing. Tell your pastor that many of the same situations and factors worked to divide many First-Century churches (just read through the New Testament and a few church history books if you need citations). Beg for a united church which serves God by calling the lost to Christ both close to home and in places where the Gospel has never been heard of before.
I am writing this now to explain myself and warn others about the primary danger facing any congregation: losing sight of what God has called us to do here on Earth will destroy this family of brothers and sisters in Christ. I am passionate about this because I want to see lives changed by Christ and entire cities transformed by what He has done. I saw the beginnings of it in Costa Rica as a missionary several years ago, and I want to see it again.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The Screwtape Letters: Chapter 8
Greetings, everyone. Treat yourself to a decent history book sometime this month; I suggest a book which reads like a novel if nothing else. Now to continue with the Letters...
Screwtape's admonition of Wormwood regarding the patient's "current religious phase" is paired with a very important sentence for us as Christians: "Has no one ever told you about the law of Undulation?" Indeed, I should think that most of us (I am included in this, yes, for I am ever forgetful) have not fully understood this law, if it should be called a law. I am certain that Lewis regards Undulation as a law, and there is much sense in this as most human beings experience peaks and troughs of physical, emotional, and spiritual patterns in their life. Part of this, Screwtape mentions, is that humans are "disgusting hybrids" who are at once physical and inhabit time, and spiritual beings directed to an eternal object. Screwtape's vitriol aside, he is quite right: we as human beings inhabit both time and eternity. Peaks and troughs are now understood a little better now that we understand our dual nature, but Screwtape's next letter section should give a very solid idea as to what God wants to do with us as opposed to the demons' desire to consumer our souls. It is this:
God desires "a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct".
This is why the tempters work so hard, if we remember the previous chapters. This is why Screwtape is doing his best to give instruction to his nephew Wormwood on how to draw a human soul into sin throughout his life before finally dragging that soul down into Hell. This is why a war rages right now for every decision of every person in every moment. Ah, now that I have finished ranting, back to the chapter.
The troughs of the human experience are where the most work is done for God, Screwtape warns. Also to put to rest a question that newer believers may have, God does not make use of the Irresistable and the Indisputable to override the human will. God desires a relationship, not domination of ourselves. This is why he withdraws himself from our conscious experience and very quietly whispers to us in the midst of our greatest struggles that He is still with us and still loves us. In these times, He also asks us to continue to do His will on earth. Screwtape writes that "Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."
Thinking back to my readings of the gospels, I think that Jesus may have experienced troughs as well as peaks. Consider this: the gospel authors mention that Jesus withdrew frequently to remote settings and spent much time in prayer. During these times, Jesus drew on the strength and endurance of God for the coming day's ministry, and I believe that is because the previous day had drained his human self. Think too about his words on the cross (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?) and we get a picture of a Jesus who experienced the peaks of ministry through sermons, healing, and driving out demons along with the troughs of physical exhaustion, emotional distress, and spiritual longing for the Father. We are called to follow Jesus as Christians; can we follow in His footsteps through the troughs as well as the peaks?
Screwtape's admonition of Wormwood regarding the patient's "current religious phase" is paired with a very important sentence for us as Christians: "Has no one ever told you about the law of Undulation?" Indeed, I should think that most of us (I am included in this, yes, for I am ever forgetful) have not fully understood this law, if it should be called a law. I am certain that Lewis regards Undulation as a law, and there is much sense in this as most human beings experience peaks and troughs of physical, emotional, and spiritual patterns in their life. Part of this, Screwtape mentions, is that humans are "disgusting hybrids" who are at once physical and inhabit time, and spiritual beings directed to an eternal object. Screwtape's vitriol aside, he is quite right: we as human beings inhabit both time and eternity. Peaks and troughs are now understood a little better now that we understand our dual nature, but Screwtape's next letter section should give a very solid idea as to what God wants to do with us as opposed to the demons' desire to consumer our souls. It is this:
God desires "a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct".
This is why the tempters work so hard, if we remember the previous chapters. This is why Screwtape is doing his best to give instruction to his nephew Wormwood on how to draw a human soul into sin throughout his life before finally dragging that soul down into Hell. This is why a war rages right now for every decision of every person in every moment. Ah, now that I have finished ranting, back to the chapter.
The troughs of the human experience are where the most work is done for God, Screwtape warns. Also to put to rest a question that newer believers may have, God does not make use of the Irresistable and the Indisputable to override the human will. God desires a relationship, not domination of ourselves. This is why he withdraws himself from our conscious experience and very quietly whispers to us in the midst of our greatest struggles that He is still with us and still loves us. In these times, He also asks us to continue to do His will on earth. Screwtape writes that "Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."
Thinking back to my readings of the gospels, I think that Jesus may have experienced troughs as well as peaks. Consider this: the gospel authors mention that Jesus withdrew frequently to remote settings and spent much time in prayer. During these times, Jesus drew on the strength and endurance of God for the coming day's ministry, and I believe that is because the previous day had drained his human self. Think too about his words on the cross (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?) and we get a picture of a Jesus who experienced the peaks of ministry through sermons, healing, and driving out demons along with the troughs of physical exhaustion, emotional distress, and spiritual longing for the Father. We are called to follow Jesus as Christians; can we follow in His footsteps through the troughs as well as the peaks?
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The Screwtape Letters: Chapter 7
Greetings once again! As promised, here is chapter 7, and even better, on the day that I promised! Now, to work on the time of day (night) which I post...
Screwtape's opening sentence addresses an issue that perhaps far too many Christians have either forgotten or willingly dismissed: the ignorance of Wormwood's existence in the patient's mind (I am quite sure that to disbelieve that demons, fallen angels, and the powers of Hell itself which the Enemy commands is a near-fatal mistake for any Christian). Wormwood is given further reflections from Screwtape's own experience that concealment has not always been the case. He does mention that either belief or disbelief in demons by human beings takes away some of the courses which tempters can then guide their patients on. However, the perfect work that Screwtape mentions on page 31-the Materialist Magician-sounds all too similar to my ears of the many individuals who trumpet the near-mystical properties of technology to solve the problems of the world. Once that has been accomplished, Screwtape says that the end of the war will be in sight.
However, Wormwood must conceal himself and work with the common misconception of a cartoon demon to keep his patient from awakening to his predicament. In the meantime, Screwtape ponders the choice between guiding the patient into extreme patriotism or extreme pacifism. The primary reason for doing so is to blind the patient to the "Enemy", or God; admittedly, any mission or church-plant or outreach done for the sake of mission or church-plant or outreach blinds the participants to what God is doing. In the patient's case, extreme patriotism may make him vicious to 'enemies of the state' as much as the foreign aggressors. 'Enemies of the state' would include, funnily enough, extreme pacifists as well as spies and defectors. Extreme patriots would charge headlong into actions that may harm themselves as well as others. Extreme pacifists, on the other hand, may perhaps avoid anything that may be seen as aiding the war effort to the point where he or she refuses to invite the neighbors over for tea (or coffee, or wine, or any other drink that may accompany a social gathering of the sort) because the neighbors have donated their time, money, and resources to the war effort in some fashion.
The devil's overall mission with both groups of people is to create factions, which I have mentioned in some of my previous writings. The parties of Paul and Apollos in the church at Corinth are cited by Screwtape as examples of factions within the Church itself (not the Catholic Church, not the Church of England necessarily, but all churches worldwide) which have done considerable damage to the body of believers. With the patient, the idea is not necessarily to bring him into a faction, but rather to make one of the two extremes of patriotism or pacifism a part of his religion at first, then slowly twist the extreme so that the religion ends up being a means to the ultimate ideal of either patriotism or pacifism. Screwtape declares that once the movement matter more to the patient than prayers, the patient will be in the power of Hell. He wraps up his letter by mentioning that Wormwood might see a pretty cageful of falsely religious people who used Christianity as a means to gain the world, a rather chilling statement about the true state of some contemporary Christians in our own times.
Any thoughts?
Screwtape's opening sentence addresses an issue that perhaps far too many Christians have either forgotten or willingly dismissed: the ignorance of Wormwood's existence in the patient's mind (I am quite sure that to disbelieve that demons, fallen angels, and the powers of Hell itself which the Enemy commands is a near-fatal mistake for any Christian). Wormwood is given further reflections from Screwtape's own experience that concealment has not always been the case. He does mention that either belief or disbelief in demons by human beings takes away some of the courses which tempters can then guide their patients on. However, the perfect work that Screwtape mentions on page 31-the Materialist Magician-sounds all too similar to my ears of the many individuals who trumpet the near-mystical properties of technology to solve the problems of the world. Once that has been accomplished, Screwtape says that the end of the war will be in sight.
However, Wormwood must conceal himself and work with the common misconception of a cartoon demon to keep his patient from awakening to his predicament. In the meantime, Screwtape ponders the choice between guiding the patient into extreme patriotism or extreme pacifism. The primary reason for doing so is to blind the patient to the "Enemy", or God; admittedly, any mission or church-plant or outreach done for the sake of mission or church-plant or outreach blinds the participants to what God is doing. In the patient's case, extreme patriotism may make him vicious to 'enemies of the state' as much as the foreign aggressors. 'Enemies of the state' would include, funnily enough, extreme pacifists as well as spies and defectors. Extreme patriots would charge headlong into actions that may harm themselves as well as others. Extreme pacifists, on the other hand, may perhaps avoid anything that may be seen as aiding the war effort to the point where he or she refuses to invite the neighbors over for tea (or coffee, or wine, or any other drink that may accompany a social gathering of the sort) because the neighbors have donated their time, money, and resources to the war effort in some fashion.
The devil's overall mission with both groups of people is to create factions, which I have mentioned in some of my previous writings. The parties of Paul and Apollos in the church at Corinth are cited by Screwtape as examples of factions within the Church itself (not the Catholic Church, not the Church of England necessarily, but all churches worldwide) which have done considerable damage to the body of believers. With the patient, the idea is not necessarily to bring him into a faction, but rather to make one of the two extremes of patriotism or pacifism a part of his religion at first, then slowly twist the extreme so that the religion ends up being a means to the ultimate ideal of either patriotism or pacifism. Screwtape declares that once the movement matter more to the patient than prayers, the patient will be in the power of Hell. He wraps up his letter by mentioning that Wormwood might see a pretty cageful of falsely religious people who used Christianity as a means to gain the world, a rather chilling statement about the true state of some contemporary Christians in our own times.
Any thoughts?
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