We want more hymns.

We want fewer hymns.

The music is too loud.

The music wasn’t loud enough.

I don’t agree with…

… and the list goes on. For every variable in a church, there is always a possible critique to be leveled at a pastor.  So, I can understand that for the pastor, there does need to be some cushion, or insulation, against flippant complaints against non-essential variables in a church.

However, something that bothers me is the opposing stance that pastors and leaders are not to be questioned.  How biblical is this attitude?  Is it God’s best for His church?  What about situations where we, as believers, have a legitimate concern that should be brought forth in the church?  Are we unable to voice it?  Should we not be allowed to voice it?  I have heard responses from pastors that range from the fairly respectable (although still a bit brusque) “if you don’t agree with me then go to another church” to this post from Apprising.org detailing Steven Furtick’s view on dissension from the rank.  In particular, the video is pretty chilling.

So, what should we as laity do?  Now, I’m all for giving the man of God all due respect, but the essential phrase there is “man of God.”  I do believe that as a pastor, you should be able to discern between the wisdom of the advice of laity given in love for the body of Christ and a heart for both the saved and the lost, and the foolishness of the lay person who is complaining solely based off of their own desires.  However, I would like for pastors to consider the following:

Where exactly did Jesus respond to sincere questions with the attitude of “don’t question me you fool!”

Where exactly did God establish that a pastor is an unquestioned dictator of his flock?

Where did God establish that it is ok to treat your flock worse than you treat the unsaved?

When God asks you to give account to Him for the way you tended His sheep, are you really going to be okay with the account you have to give Him?

It’s particularly interesting to note that in his video in the link above, Furtick sounds more hateful than any of the people I have heard whom he condemns.  Odd, isn’t it, that the pastor preaching “love” is very unloving?

If it seems that I am lately attacking Steven Furtick, it is only because he is a dangerous part of a larger disease that is attacking the church from within.  There is a whole generation of pastors who are beginning to emerge that feel that part of being a pastor is a lack of accountability to the flocks whom they serve. I’m not meaning this to be an attack on anyone, but it is a call to the body of Christ to be wary of these wolves in sheep’s clothing.  They remind me very much of the foolish shepherd of Zechariah 11, who does not care about their flock, but tear it apart for their own glory and honor.

As a pastor, you have a duty to be a loving leader of the people you are shepherding.  You do not have the duty to “entertain,” whether for yourself or others, you do not have the duty to be “hip” or “cool” or “cutting-edge.”  Look, there’s nothing cutting edge about the truth.  It’s eternal.  It’s the same now as it was at the dawn of time.  And you know what?  It has worked this entire time.  I’ve seen everything used to get people into church: Starbuck’s cards, turkey legs for Father’s Day, free gas for your car, and while I don’t condone these methods (I think Truth should be the big draw at church and the power of the truly transformed life), I definitely DO NOT condone the beating of the Lord’s sheep and I definitely DO NOT condone a singular focus on the wishes and desires of the new, young, and hip crowd which includes being rude and ruthless for entertainment sake to throw a steak to the pit bulls.  I think that when it comes to love, Paul said it much better than Furtick (and without the weird movie intro):

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

(1 Corinthians 13 ESV)

Look, pastors, if you read this, you need to think:  Is your attitude truly based on love as modeled by Paul formed with the concern and guidelines of the pastoral epistles, or is your attitude based on a love of self that can’t allow you to be humble, open, and inviting, loving to your flock, and caring for those who have concerns or wisdom?  If your heart for pastoring is not shaped by those things, then you need to have a heart to heart with God.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
(Psalm 51:5 ESV)

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

(Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV)

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
(Romans 3:9-12 ESV)

But now the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
(Romans 3:22-25 ESV)

So in essence the scripture declares that we have all fallen short of God’s ultimate and perfect holiness in our own lives.  While that is not cause for utter self-flagellation and abuse at our wickedness (too many people have a view of the doctrine of the depravity of man as some type of horrid guilt complex.  The late Chris Hitchens loosely referred to our depravity before God as being a “Celestial dictatorship.”), it is cause for us to pause and rethink our positions before God.  I know of many people (I used to be one) that felt that if my good deeds adequately outweighed my bad deeds, my salvation should be in the bag.  After all, I wasn’t as bad as Adolf Hitler or Jeffrey Dahmer (who amazingly enough, gave his life to God in prison.  A stunning testament to the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit), so I should be okay.

The problem with this theory is that there’s no such thing as good.  You see, our first fault in our understanding of salvation, if we continue to hold onto a works-based salvation or a humanistic understanding of the ultimate goodness and morality of man, is that we can never truly BE good. When approached by the rich young man, Jesus replied to his calling of Jesus “Good Teacher” was this:

And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
(Matthew 19:17 ESV)

The importance of Jesus’ words are that He essentially pointed to the truth of the depravity of mankind.  So while yes, He was in essence pointing out to the young man that if he is willing to call Jesus good, then it must be attached to an understanding to the nature of Jesus as Creator God, He also is calling us to understand the wide chasm between that which is good (God) and that which is base (us). This can be a difficult thing to understand in the day of the social gospel, where the good deeds of such people as Oprah Winfrey, who often perform great acts of service, are regarded as a statement of that person’s own self-worth.  I would direct anyone who believes that they can ultimately stand on their own righteousness two verses.  The first one:

We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
(Isaiah 64:6 ESV)

While this verse speaks to the Israelites, we have all been unclean, and all are unclean.  Paul affirms in the NT that we gentiles are just as guilty as the Israelites.  So, as they have been unclean, so are we all.  The second verse is this:

Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
(Matthew 22:9-10 ESV)

The king in Jesus’ parable did not tell his servants to go out and find only the best people, whose meritorious behavior earned them a place at the king’s banquet.  Instead, they invited everyone they could… both bad and good! The importance of this cannot be overstated:  we are sinful, and our being invited to God’s table is not based on our “good” deeds or “good” works, but instead is rooted entirely of our acceptance of the invitation to gather through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  Without that, there is no salvation for man.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
(John 1:1-3 ESV)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

(Colossians 1:15-20 ESV)

But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
And,
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment,
like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will have no end.”
And to which of the angels has he ever said,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
(Hebrews 1:8-13 ESV)

In addition to scriptural claims from outside source, Jesus Himself made claims to deity (Mark 14:61, 62; John 8:58).  In addition to these scriptural claims, Jesus demonstrated power over nature, over sickness and death, and most powerfully in His own resurrection from the dead.  The importance of this doctrine cannot be overstated, as most cultic offshoots of Christianity start with a misunderstanding of the nature of Jesus.  Shortly after the nascent church began developing, there were already debates as to the essential nature of Jesus.  Some teachers, such as Arian, taught that Jesus was only a created being, somewhat at the level of the angels.  Nestorius taught that Jesus was two persons. Other heretical beliefs are modalism (Jesus is a manifestation of God, as are the Holy Spirit and the Father, none of which exist at the same time) and docetism (Jesus only seemed to be human). By far, the two most common beliefs that are still prevalent among aberrant groups is modalism (taught by the United Pentecostal and United Apostolic churches, popularized by T.D. Jakes) and arianism (still taught by Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints).

Now, the question is, “Why does any of this matter?  I mean, we can’t know EVERYTHING about God, so how can we be totally sure of any of this?  And does it really matter if we get everything right about how we believe in Jesus?  Doesn’t sincerity count?”  For a short answer, no, it doesn’t.  Here, let me explain.

We believe that we are saved by faith in Christ’s work on the cross.  Put another way, we are saved because we believe that Jesus died on a cross to save us from our sins. But faith in and of itself is meaningless.  It’s not actually a substance or a work in and of itself.  It is only as good as the entity to which we attach it to.  Therefore, to believe in a false Christ is to accept a false savior, or in essence, a false god.  If you are trusting your salvation with a false god, you’re in trouble, because a false god saves no one.  Only by having faith in the true God, and believing in His Son Jesus and His death on the cross can we experience true salvation.

1. Knowing what you believe.
2. Knowing why you believe it.
3. Walking the walk.

So, if you have those three parts, the final part is being able to talk the talk.  By talking the talk, I mean, being able to articulate and share your faith that is firmly rooted with others.  This is the final step in becoming a replicating Christian that is now able to disciple as well as continue to be discipled by elder members of the brotherhood.

The importance of being well-developed in the other three areas cannot be underemphasized.  If I were to tell a person they should try a new restaurant, but I knew nothing or little about it, and didn’t regularly eat there, am I really in a position to speak authoritatively about it?  Of course not. By extension, if a person shares Christ with another, but has no grounding in why he believes in Jesus, or what he believes about Jesus, and has no or little experience in living a life submitted to God, why would someone buy what that person is selling?  It makes no sense. So, while I’m all for the new young believer who is so on fire for God that they can’t help but share Him with others, I believe that it is a good idea for any believer to begin developing as a witness through continued obedience to Jesus.

Conversely, it’s not enough either to declare oneself a follower of Christ without being willing and/or able to share one’s faith with others.  While I have rightly heard it said that a person’s life should be a witness to Christ, it is important to make sure that we don’t only rely on our life, but are willing to share our hearts and minds, as well.  While living a life sold out to Christ is crucial to being an effective witness, it should be lived that way with the goal of demonstrating that the truths we proclaim as Christians are lived out in our lives, as well.

The balanced life of a disciple of Christ is one that is filled with the knowledge of the Savior, lived with God as the overarching centerpiece of everything we do, and proclaimed from the hilltops as a life that has been pledged to God.  In our walk with God, we must not neglect some of the final words that our Lord spoke to us:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

(Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)

In order to fill that call, we must be able to effectively speak the cross into the void where there is no truth, to proclaim Jesus as salvation to others, and live our lives in such a way that they speak as definitive proof that we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit; both of which we are only able to do by having a healthy knowledge of who we serve, and why we can know that His word is truth.

Over the coming time, I would like to continue to introduce more pieces of these concepts, and to speak of such things as basic Christian doctrine, and why we have these doctrines.  I also want to share ways to share Christ with others, and the essentials of walking the Christian life.

I’ve been bothered by a blog post for quite some time by Steven Furtick (which can be read here).  Now, some clarification is in order.  This blog post was from 2007, and while it doesn’t seem like Steven has changed in his adoration of Joel Osteen (Osteen’s worship pastor Israel Houghton recently spoke at Elevation Church’s Code Orange Revival), I could be wrong.  However, that being said, I would like to lay out my issues with the post, and why it matters almost five years after being posted.

Essentially the message one can receive from this post is that we need to stop picking on Joel Osteen because he is preaching to and “reaching” 40,000 weekly at the Compaq Center in Houston.  In addition, those of us who are criticizing Joel Osteen are either inexperienced seminary students, or they are pastors who are jealous of Joel Osteen’s success.  Those of us who are not happy with Osteen should preach ourselves instead of criticizing Osteen.  Finally, criticism against Osteen essentially boils down to tearing down the church.

My first problem is this:  measuring a church’s success by the number of members, or the number of baptisms, or the number of (insert important stat here) is WRONG.  Let me say that again:  MEASURING A CHURCH’S SUCCESS BY THE NUMBER OF MEMBERS, OR THE NUMBER OF BAPTISMS, OR THE NUMBER OF (INSERT IMPORTANT STAT HERE) IS WRONG.  I am not saying that we should strive to reach as many people as possible.  What I am saying is this:  when we turn Christianity into a numbers game, are we appealing to the measure of success in the eyes of God, or the eyes of Man?  I say this because Jesus said in His parables of the coins and the sheep

Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Luke 15:10

Jesus didn’t say “there will be extreme amounts of celebration over any pastor or church or parachurch organization meeting their quota of saved souls, and an extra bonus celebration for levels over those minimum levels.”  I feel like when a pastor or organization needs to point out the number of people they have reached, the glory being grabbed there is their own, and they appeal to the same measurements of success that we appeal to as humans, not necessarily a transformed life. So, whether Joel Osteen is preaching to 10 or 100,000, God’s concern is that we are faithful with what we have been given, which I think is the argument many have against Pastor Joel (more on that in a minute.).  Another problem with the numerical measurement of a church’s success is this:  Islam is the fastest growing religion worldwide.  Does this mean they have it right?  Jehovah’s Witnesses and the LDS have been reporting increases in membership.  Are they right?  Or worse, the number of people who claim to be atheist has risen from 7% to 15% in America over the past fifteen years.  ARE THEY RIGHT?  Of course, no one would begin to assert that in a church, but by appealing to numerical success as a measurement of God’s blessing, you are doing JUST THAT.

My second problem is the argument that people who criticize Osteen’s teachings are either inexperienced seminary students, or jealous pastors.  I could paraphrase, but I’ll let Mr. Furtick’s words speak for him:

Yep, I hear it all the time. Guys take one systematic theology class, a semester of Greek, and all of a sudden they’re self appointed theological traffic cops.
And their favorite preacher to burn at the stake is none other than the smiling preacher and best selling author who packs the freaking Compaq Center 2 times every freaking Sunday.

Now, for those jealous pastors:

Osteen preaches to 40,000 people weekly…
You couldn’t get 40,000 people to come hear you preach if you gave away free Escalades at the door.

And:

Don’t hurl insults at someone with a big church simply because you can’t make your church grow, and although you’d never admit it, you’re jealous.
That’s right… most of the time the motive isn’t defense of the Gospel… it’s jealousy and presumption.

Well Mr. Furtick, perhaps the reason why first year seminarians are finding flaws in Joel Osteen’s message and teaching is this:  After having one semester of biblical training, they already have one more semester of biblical training than Joel Osteen has, which makes it far easier to poke holes in his sermons, messages, and theology.  Now, this is not to say that having an MDiv is necessary to be an effective pastor.  Matt Chandler is an incredible pastor and has no seminary training.  However, Chandler has also put it on himself to learn, to understand, and to glean truth from the Word.  I believe that Pastor Joel has a responsibility to study the word, and to show himself approved, whether it be in a seminary situation or personal bible study led by reputable sources.  In addition, I believe that at the point it becomes obvious that you have severe doctrinal shortcomings (not knowing the theological differences between Mormonism and Christianity qualifies as a MAJOR doctrinal shortcoming), it is a responsibility as a pastor to  study the word, and to become sound in what you are preaching.  And some may feel that this is unreasonable to hold a pastor to that level, but James himself said that teachers of the Word will be held more accountable.  If this is so, then I think at that point someone who criticizes Osteen’s message from a sound theological perspective is a necessary action.

I feel that it is a responsibility to other brothers and sisters to be willing to create controversy for the sake of truth.  You may disagree, but I ask you this:  If the cool, cute kid down the street were selling lemonade that they spilled battery acid in it, would you let them sell it?  OF COURSE NOT!!!  You would stop them because of a social responsibility to others who may not be aware of the truth that there is acid in the lemonade.  I would hazard to say that even if the child did not maliciously put the acid in the lemonade, but it was merely accidental, you would still intervene to stop him from giving it to others. Even though the poison may be there without malice, the fact that the child knows that it’s there makes them responsible for the lives they may affect, and you would be responsible from the standpoint of not stopping them.  No matter how great the lemonade tastes, you aren’t going to let them sell it, are you?

Now, you may say “but this isn’t battery acid in lemonade.”  Really?  Look, the message of unlimited positivity mixed with an absolute lack of reinforcement of God as judge of unrighteousness, with a healthy dose of prosperity and wellness gospel, is as dangerous a mix as you can create in America, because it blends all of Satan’s greatest lies:  ”You are great, you should have what you want, and there are no consequences for you because… YOU… ARE… AWESOME!”  If you can’t see the dangers in this theology, I have to question your ability to discern truth from lie.

In addition to trashing the young seminarian, Furtick trashes the pastor of churches smaller than Osteen’s (this would be every other pastor in America). First, I think it sophomoric to assume that every pastor is out to have the biggest church in America, and childish to make the “Escalade” comment.  Maybe some pastors just want to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.  And yes, I’m sure there are some pastors who may be jealous of Osteen, but I think most people are more afraid of the dangers of his espoused theology and lack of discernment. Regardless, I find it pretentious and presumptuous (is that the word you used there, Pastor Steve) to assume that anyone who disagrees with Osteen and goes so far as to say it is jealous and presumptuous.

Now, as critic of Joel Osteen’s message (and, I guess, Steven Furtick’s message, as well), I’m not a pastor, and while I do believe God has called me for His purpose, I do not feel that He has decided at this point for me to become a pastor.  I can certainly share my faith boldly, and I can speak the cross into the voids where there is no truth, but God has not called me into a place to be a fulltime pastor of a church.  He has at this point called me into a position of being a teacher to my children, protector of my home, and one willing to speak truth, regardless of the venue.  I think most people are called into ministry as a pastor; they don’t just decide to be a pastor.  So, while I agree with Steven that people who are openly critical should preach themselves, I do not admire the spirit in which it was offered, and would say that it is ignorant of others and the Will of God in the operation of another’s life to assume that they can just simply begin preaching out of a rejection of Joel Osteen’s prosperity and positivity gospel.

Finally, let’s set the record straight.  If you aren’t preaching the gospel that Jesus came to save us wretched creatures from our own foolish and depraved selves and to save us from our sins, you aren’t preaching the Gospel, and as such, we AREN’T wearing the same jersey.  Joel Osteen’s version of Jesus, the atonement, God’s will for us, and our salvation are markedly different.  While we always can celebrate and debate one another’s differences as long as the differences do not result in a different Christ, it is impossible to mingle false doctrine with true doctrine and emerge with anything resembling the truth.  Or what does light have to do with darkness?  Failure to accept and teach doctrine that is in line with what is presented in scripture is a failure to present Jesus and the cross as it truly is, and results in a blurred line that sends countless Christians streaming over a cliff of battery acid flavored lemonade.

Now, why do I bring this up?  Well, Elevation Church just finished a 12 day revival called Code Orange.  Now, there were at least two teachers there for the revival that are doctrinally sound and good for educating and edifying the brethren (Jonathan Martin and Matt Chandler).  However, when combined with men like T.D. Jakes (modalist and prosperity gospel), Jentezen Franklin (prosperity gospel), Israel Houghton (prosperity), Ed Young Jr. (prosperity and word-faith), and Stovall Weems (prosperity gospel), an astonishing lack of discernment and lack of concern for his flock becomes apparent.  I quote from Pastor Steve:

You know, I think it’s absolutely essential that Christians think critically about what is being taught in Christian pulpits. We must preserve sound doctrine. We must guard against erroneous theologies.

Really?  But, you have just brought five men into your building and affirmed their teachings as blessings to your congregation, yet all five espouse false doctrine and scripture twisting.  Can you honestly say that you believe that we must preserve sound doctrine?  You are bringing aberrant theology and heresy into your building and are ok with it!  In fact, you affirmed T.D. Jakes as one of your favorite pastors.  How can this be, when a cursory glance at the teachings of T.D. Jakes reveals heresy after heresy? When combined with the defense of Joel Osteen in 2007, what we see is apparent.  Rather than being concerned for the well-being of his flock, Steven Furtick has placed his seal of approval on men who are decidedly unscriptural in their approach to teaching the word, and as such, has placed his stamp of approval on a brand of Christianity that has been weighed and found wanting.

This is NOT an attack on anyone.  I’m saying this because as believers we have a solemn duty to defend and speak truth, and when we fail to do so, we do so at the harm of our own brothers and sisters.  I believe in the grace necessary to be accepting towards those who make mistakes; I also believe in the truth necessary to point toward and impress change upon situations that are dangerous to other believers.

An authentic faith is… well… authentic.  I know that’s a weak opener for this post, but it’s a great way to look at discipleship.  How can you profess love and devotion to God without being authentically involved in a daily and deliberate walk with God?  How can you actually claim the name of Christ if you aren’t walking the walk?

Relationship with God is based not just on a head acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  That knowledge should be a driving force behind you as you propel yourself into discipleship by living the life of a disciple.  What does that look like?  What does it mean to “walk with the Lord?”  There are many aspects of a walk with God and discipleship under Jesus, but here are a few of the most elementary ones:

• Reading the Scriptures
• Living life according to Scripture
• Praying and communicating with God
• Being plugged into a church
• Finding somewhere to serve others
• Committing to growth with a group of fellow believers

These are just a few of the actions and activities that go into being a follower of Christ, but it’s important that we get that a live faith is an active faith.  It pursues God, it doesn’t wait for God to show up!  It’s authentic, and real.  We don’t just learn the “Christianese” and buy a few worship CDs.  It’s a daily commitment to pick up our cross and follow after Jesus:

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
(Luke 14:27-33 ESV)

Following Jesus is NOT an easy road, and it’s not an easy ticket to success and well-being.  There are certainly pastors in the world who will teach that Jesus came to give us salvation AND a big wallet, but I would be happy to let them know that they would be wrong.  If following Jesus were easy, He could have left out the whole cross affair, but He didn’t.  He didn’t withhold Himself from the cross, so why should we?  God wants to conform us to the image of His Son, and it starts out by walking the walk of discipleship, the result of which is a life conformed to Christ and a completed good work in you:

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
(Philippians 1:6 ESV)

I remember being in the position of having a very fake faith that was built on basically riding the coat tails of my parents’ relationship with God.  I didn’t know why I believed that Jesus was the Son of God, I had no idea why I believed that we would live forever with God, and I didn’t know why so many other religions were based on falsehoods.  I went to church and just went through the motions of being a Christian.

The dangers in this should be apparent.  Without having a clear map in your head as to why you believe something, your conviction in your beliefs becomes weaker and weaker.  Eventually, a more novel idea can and will hold sway in your mind because the root of your beliefs was so shallow.  If we are not grounded in why we believe that Christianity is true, we are simply waiting to be blown by every wind of unsound doctrine that pleases our ears.

The solution to this is to dig deeper into our faith.  The proof that serves as the bedrock for our foundation is easily found.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

(Romans 1:19-20 ESV)

A great start is to realize that God has made Himself perceivable.  As I continue in this blog, I will discuss ways and reasons to cement our faith and make sure that we as Christians, disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, stand firm in our beliefs and run well.  It is my hope that all people who love the Lord can safely agree with Paul and view their lives at the end like so:

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
(2 Timothy 4:6-8 ESV)

The answers to those questions lie in knowing what you believe.  It is impossible to fully internalize your faith, grow in your walk, and share/defend your faith with others if you do not even know WHAT you believe. Likewise, if we are not careful in our discernment of what is essential, we may end up dividing with the brethren over things that are not essential, or failing to differentiate and defend essentials to someone falling into an aberrant faith.

While it may be in vogue to be unsure of what you believe (Brian McLaren and other emergents would definitely maybe agree that you probably shouldn’t be too sure), I would question the wisdom behind that.  While it is, in fact true, that we cannot know many of the intimate mysteries of our God and King, it is also true that there are things we can reasonably be sure of that have been laid before us in scripture.  Therefore, as Christians, it should be our DUTY to ply through the scriptures that have been given to us by God and make sure that we separate the knowable from the unknowable, commit the knowable to mind, and share/formulate opinions on the peripherals that can be shared in loving discussion with fellow brothers.  One of the verses that I heard over and over in my years working at CRI was 1 Peter 3:14-15:

But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect
(1 Peter 3:14-15 ESV)

We are called to be able to defend the reason for the hope within us.  If you want to grow in faith with God and grow closer to Him, you absolutely CANNOT do so without opening the Bible, studying the Word, and knowing what you believe.

I have had something on my heart that I’m going to really try to do.  As I have sat in church for years now and watched as people come, go, and rarely get truly plugged into what God has to offer, I have been brought to a place where I believe that discipleship is of the utmost importance in the church.  I feel like as a result of this, I want to take every opportunity I can to create and offer resources for people to use in order grow deeper in their relationship with God.

Discipleship is not a complicated thing, but it is difficult.  It seems that there are really only four parts to discipleship:

1. What you believe.
2. Why you believe what you believe.
3. Walking the Walk.
4. Talking the Talk.

Over the next few days, I will try to take each of these and break them down further.  My goal is to launch a website that I am creating that will have resources for each of these four areas of discipleship and how to grow closer to the Lord.  If you are reading this, please pray for this ministry that it may be used to grow men into strong disciples of God that are able to share their faith, live their faith, and instill their faith in their families.

I don’t know about you, but I have an issue with the kingdom of God being usurped by the kingdom of man and being used and abused as a person platform for unabashed ego strokes.  My heart gets sick when I can no longer worship my God with an open and soft heart because it’s being hardened by the knuckleheads on stage (when does a church need a stage?) who act like they are trying to be cast on American Idol or were the rejects off of School of Rock.  I’m tired of smoke machines and pretty lights, and I’m sick of love songs to Jesus, the bestest prom date ever. I’m tired of walking into churches and when asked to differentiate between it and Amos’s South End here in Charlotte, being able to only respond with “there’s no beer. And the music is not as cool.” I’m tired of the Rob Bells of the world who place being an orthodox Christian a distant second to being cool and well-spoken of.  I’m tired of pastors whose egos are only eclipsed by the size of their megachurch buildings.  I’m sick of a Christianity that looks so much like the secular world, that if I were a skeptic I would find no attraction to it.  I spend most of my day feeling like Charlie Brown on “A Charlie Brown Christmas” screaming “Does anyone know the true meaning of Christianity???”

I realize my words are pretty scathing, and that’s good.  They should be.  I’m kind of disgusted by Christendom right now.  I’m not saying I doubt Christianity to be true, quite the opposite.  However, I find church to be leaving me fairly wanting spiritually at this point.  It may help to understand my point better by breaking a few things down one by one.

I have had what I feel to be a burden from God placed on my heart.  There are several areas of life that I don’t feel that our current way of “doing church” is cutting it as a genuine expression of Christianity.  I feel that God is calling His church to be less than what it is, and in doing so, becoming MORE than it is.  I hope that, as I use my blog to flesh out the ideas that I think God is giving me, that everyone who reads this (all three or four people) will also provide feedback if they are so led by God.