Tag: Jesus (Page 15 of 22)

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Why the Independent Christian doesn’t Exist

Independence  Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don’t need God as much.” – Joni Eareckson Tada, The God I Love: A Lifetime of Walking with Jesus

Nothing is more precious in our culture than independence. We see it in every part of our society. We tout it because, ‘Merica. We encourage our young people to find it and tell them that when they do they’ll have what they need to find their voice. We export it, like South America exports coffee, and we do it on the backs of the fighting young to third-world countries that may never understand the sweetness of it. When we talk about attaining the “American Dream” it’s founded on the idea that you must first achieve independence; from your personal freedom and ability to “decide for yourself” to financial freedom, it’s all grounded in finding independence. Author Marcelle Hinkson said it like this, “When you are independent you learn strategies of self empowerment.” And that’s what we learn to want; to give authority and power to MYSELF so that I can achieve the things I want. 

Independence isn’t a bad thing. I’m glad we won independence as a nation. When we help another country achieve their independence, it’s a good thing. If we desire our kids to have heathy lives, marriages and families, then they need to grow up, move away from their parents basement and become independent. So, independence in and of itself is a good thing. But, in America at least, it has seeped its way into Christianity.

There are a few areas where independence doesn’t work so great; one of those is marriage (that’s a whole other blog, but quick side note, individuality is important, independence is contrary to the actual purpose of marriage.) and another is Christianity. It amazes me how many people become Christians and attempt to live out their faith independent of others. It amazes me more that no other Christian tells them that that’s wrong. Independence is not only incompatible with a Christian life, it contradicts it. Christianity is the confession that you’ve tried to do life on your own and that it’s too much. It’s literally the surrender of self empowerment to the sweetness of divine power. Christianity is dependence. 

People don’t like to think they’re dependent on anyone else. It’s scary to not be in control. People let us down and aren’t to be trusted with our most vulnerable areas of life. Theirs a belief that if you can’t control your life then you’re weak. Because Christianity is surrendering control, society views it as the religion of the weak, as a “crutch” for the weak minded. John Piper has a great sermon where he talks about that. He talks about crutches generally being a good thing, except when used to describe Christianity and who eventually realizes they need a crutch. You can read or listen to it HERE. Regardless what your feelings are about becoming a Christian, if you’re already a Christian, you’re called to live a life of dependence, not independence.

Jesus said, of Himself, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father[a] does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.” He also said, “I and the Father are one.” If Jesus acknowledged His inability to operate outside of God the Father, where did we get the idea that we can operate outside of Him. I’ve heard lots of Christians say things like, “God and I have an understanding.” Uh, no you don’t. If your understanding is that you are weak and He is strong and apart from Him you can do nothing. Then ok, you have a pretty good understanding. If it’s that apart from Him you can do nothing, then I have the same understanding. Other than that, there is no, “I don’t go to church (or participate in Christian community) because God and I have an understanding.” or “I knows I believe in Him, so I don’t need to go to a building to prove it.” Any “understanding” that resembles anything close to those ideas, is not an understanding with God. Those are excuses; whether built out of the intent to not have to fully engage with God or the fear of full surrender, they’re still excuses.

If the excuses are fear based, I fully understand. Surrender isn’t usually viewed as a good thing and definitely not an easy thing. But surrender inside of Christianity isn’t about giving up whatever perceived “freedom” we think we have. Surrendering to Jesus is about giving up the need to try harder. We give up trying to be a “better” person. We give up the need to “fix” ourselves. Surrendering to Christ is the surrendering to rest, not the giving up of rights. Surrendering in Christianity doesn’t mean abandoning who you are; it’s entering into the fullness of who you’re meant to be. 


If you hold onto the notion that you’re an independent Christian and ideas like you don’t need community, going to church “just isn’t for you,” or you and God “have an understanding” then you’re not living the Christ following Christianity described in the Bible and that Jesus laid the foundation for. Independence and Christianity do not exist inside of the same space. There’s one body and one Spirit and we are called to interdependent unity within both. Jesus said, “…whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit…” The only way to interpret that is dependency. That’s my understanding with God.

The ONLY “right” way to do church.

Right WayThere’s only one way to do church. That’s right, you read that correctly; only one way. And, because I’m a nice guy, I’m going to tell you what that right way is. But first let me say, it is definitely NOT the way that “traditional” institutional Sunday service focused church is doing it. I’m talking about all those churches like Saddleback, Mars Hill, New Spring, National Community Church, The Village Church and all of those similar to that model; big or small. It is also definitely NOT all those small community based churches, and that includes organic home churches, like SOMA, 1Body, and all the ones that I can’t mention because they’re so small they don’t have a webpage to link. None of them are doing it the right way. On the other hand, all of them could be doing it the right way.

You may be asking, “So, what’s the “right” way then?” I’ll get to that in a second, but first I need to clarify something and establish something else.

Clarifying: This post is NOT intended to dig at or cut down how any church is “doing” church. The model doesn’t matter and I’ll make that point in a minute. This post is also NOT intended to say that institutional church is doing it wrong. I grew up and met Jesus in “big” church. If not for going on Sundays and hearing the word preached, I’m not sitting here typing this.

Establishing: I want to be honest about where this post is coming from. Let me start by saying that I recently, with my wife and two long-time friends, started a small gospel centered community, all volunteer based neighborhood church. There are anywhere between 10 and 15 attenders (and that includes a lot of kids). So, my heart is for small church with big celebration. With that said, over the last few weeks I’ve heard and read a number of “institutional” church leaders, some from fairly large churches with decent influence, speak out about the topic that there is no “right” way to do church. A few of those posts/videos seemed really defensive and some even a little abrasive. Again, to to be honest, I’m not sure where this defensiveness is coming from. I follow a number of bloggers (both in large and small church settings) and I rarely see posts from organic/small/house church leaders that suggest that they have the “right” way to do church and big church is wrong or bad. What I do see is small church leaders sharing the call and vision that God has placed in their heart. I see them beckoning to those that are not in gospel community to come and join. I see them trumpeting God’s vision for church, for them, the same way I see large church leaders do it every Sunday. This post is not meant to put those leaders on blast. It’s meant to shed some light, reframe perspective and hopefully show the ability and necessity to be unified in one body and one Spirit.

It’s easy to point out what others are doing wrong. We can look at an individual, program or organization and see the little flaws that may be hurting them, whether they know or acknowledge them or not. Sometimes that’s good. If you’re a part of that organization, have earned a trusted voice there and have a heart for the vision and mission, “fresh eyes” are often welcomed. But, if you’re outside of that organization, aren’t trusted or don’t care about the vision, then voicing what you see is likely not helpful and will typically be taken as criticism for the sake of being a jerk and will often be disregarded. It’s also easier to make it seem like what you’re doing is better or right, if you can point out others’ errors. If that’s what you’re doing, then chances are you don’t actually believe what you’re doing is right or good. That’s what’s been happening in the Church.

Lots of big and small church leaders have written books or blogs about the “right” way to “do” church. Some of them point out all of the “wrong” stuff that the other is doing. I haven’t spoken to most of those leaders, but I imagine that the ones that point out what other churches are doing wrong and then counter with how they’re way is right, don’t really believe, deep in their heart, that they are really called to it. Or at the least, they haven’t spent time allowing God to cultivate the call in them.

As I mentioned, I’m part of a team that just started a small neighborhood church. It’s the culminated call of years of God’s cultivation and the beginning of His pruning and harvesting. I have journals, upon journals with writings about what church could look like, outside of the larger institutional model and different than the organic house church model. The vision God has planted in my heart falls somewhere in between those two models. But, I believe in it. I believe in that call and vision. And because I believe in it, I write about it and I plan to write about it a lot more. In that writing I always try to take care to not say either side is doing church wrong. Like I said, without institutional church, I’m not here. It’s never been about anyone doing church “right” or “wrong”. It’s about doing church the way that you feel God calling YOU to do church. Ultimately I don’t care how you do church as long as you do church. Realistically I’d like every Christian to understand what it means that we are church, but I’ll settle for doing church together in the mean time. What I, and many others, write isn’t an accusation toward big church “doing it wrong.”

My articles like Rethinking the Churches Front Door and It’s Not Your Pastor’s Job are not indications that I think institutional/big church models are wrong in the model they’re using or the work they’re doing. What it does mean is that I’m pursuing Jesus in a way that honors the call and vision that God has placed in my heart. It means that I believe in what God has invited me, and many others, to be a part of. It means that God has shown me that it works; both through my life and in the lives of others that I’ve been a part of. It means that God has revealed to me that there are people that neither traditional Sunday service focused church, nor simple organic home church will ever reach, but that this model will. It means that I know there are people that we will never reach with this model of church and I thank God that there are traditional Sunday service focused churches and simple organic home churches to do that. It means that I’m writing for those that God may be prompting to do something different or fresh.

My writing, and likely many others that are writing about the vision God has given them for church, is not a call to abandon the way that God has called you to be a part of or “do” church. It isn’t the antithesis of your model of church; it’s complimentary to it. It’s intended to be a different part of the same body. When you act offended at the notion that God may have shown someone else another way, you’re telling that part that they’re unnecessary. But “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you…’” I’ve heard so many pastors and leaders in traditional Sunday service focused churches say something to the effect of, “Our way isn’t the best or only way to do church, it’s a way and it’s the way that God has called us to.” If that’s a true statement, then the words directed at other churches should be ones of encouragement and building up.

The only way to do church is to answer the call to the community that God has placed in you. As long as it’s biblical and Jesus centered, you’ve got THE way to do church. Chances are, all of us have some aspect of church wrong. But, as long as we’re in a community of believers who’s sole purpose it to glorify and worship God, then you’re doing church “right.” Your full “rock” style band leading worship is no more wrong than your single guitar and djembe. Jesus said, the world will know we are his by our love for each other. Maybe we start by not being defensive toward one another and recognizing that we’re all doing the same work, His.

What are some ways that we can be unified as one body?

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I’m so Fortunate.

PovertyMy son has recently decided to join a team going on a mission trip to Haiti this summer. I was pretty excited for him when he told me because this will be his first. After he told me I started thinking about what God might do to his heart through this trip. My prayer for him leading up to it, appropriately picked from the book of James (my son’s name is James), is that he would visit and help and care for widows and orphans in their affliction  and need and that through that he would remain unstained by the world. Haiti seems like a good place for that to happen.

Before I go any further, full disclosure, I’ve never been on a mission trip. I know I’m a bad Christian. But, I’m living on mission right now, so that works, right? With that confession out-of-the-way, I also thought about how I’ve heard people respond when they return from mission trips. I feel like one of the most common responses is, “I saw how little the people had and it really made me appreciate how much I have. It helped me realize how fortunate I am and how much God has blessed me.

WHAT? No, just no. On the surface, that’s a harmless, possibly even a good realization. But really what’s being said is, “Thank God I don’t have to go through what they are.” If a statement or realization like that isn’t followed up with something like, “So I decided to do something about that. Since then I’ve used the blessings that God has poured out on me to…fill in the blank” then the point of the entire mission trip is lost. I’m certain that the point of a mission trip to a country, like say Kenya, is not so that we can do them some big favor, like build a school and to remind us how fortunate we are so that we can go home and rest easy in our comfy bed knowing that we did our due diligence as a good Christian and that we’re well blessed for it.

I’m not saying that having stuff is bad. I’m not even saying that we ought to sell all we have and give it to the poor (Jesus said that, I didn’t). What I am saying is that if our response to seeing people hurting and in need is not to give out of our abundance, then maybe we missed the part of Jesus’ ministry where He said, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Maybe we don’t take serious the early churches example when they “were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” Maybe we’re so content in our blessing that we’ve forgotten that God’s abundant supply is intended for us to abound in every good work. That we are blessed to distribute freely to those in need.

I’m years into my walk with Jesus and I’m just learning to do this. I don’t pretend to have it figured out and I’m not pointing fingers at anyone, before I point it at me. We are so fortunate in our country. Many of us don’t go to bed hungry. We don’t have to walk to get our water. We feel safe in our homes. We have cars and money and flat screens and iPhones. And there’s nothing wrong with any of that. But our trips to third world countries or poor neighborhoods in our own cities shouldn’t draw us to relief, it should move us toward Jesus with an urgency to remedy those needs that God has enabled and equipped us for.

My wife and I recently decided to add a generosity line item into our budget. Our desire is simply to find opportunities to be generous and fill a need. I’d love for you to join us in that. Because I’m a Twitter and Instagram glutton I would love to see people tweets and instagrams of people being generous, but I don’t want to make this some crazy social media circus. Not that there’s anything wrong with sharing that stuff as testimony, with our community and close others that will be blessed and benefit from the word of it. In addition to that I want to honor Jesus’ instruction to “not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.” So, we’re not going to do that, but we can share ideas for generosity and blessing others out of our blessing in the comments, so…

How are some ways we/you can bless others? #FortunateForOthers

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