A newly released biography of the life and times of Ernest Reisinger has been written for Banner of Truth publishers by Pastor Geoff Thomas of Wales. Though written in 2002, it has recently caught my attention through friends at Banner of Truth and Grace Baptist Church of Carlisle, PA. For the many who do not know Ernie Reisinger, or his history, Ernie was one of the founding fathers of Reformed Baptist history in the states, particularly in south central PA in Carlisle with the establishment of Grace Baptist Church.
Ernie was one of my early mentors and friends. He served for two years at a mission church of Grace Baptist Church in Mechanicsburg, PA, and I had the privilege of being a summer intern while a student at Westminster Theological Seminary in the early 1970s in Philadelphia. On a personal note, Ernie helped finance part of my education at Westminster and provided money to repair the transmission of an automobile we desperately needed in those years. The money was always "anonymously" given, but we knew where it came from. God used Ernie Reisinger in my life and formation as a minister of the gospel of God's grace. He could never sing very well, and those Sundays I led the small congregation in Mechanicsburg, he would "grunt" along behind me in leading worship hymns. He made a joyful "noise" to the Lord!
Ernie was always handing out books, especially Reformed Puritan literature, which he came to love and follow. The biography describes his business prowess in leading the Reisinger Brothers construction company and its many projects in those years, his friendship with the Irwin family in Carlisle and his massive influence in the establishment and theology of Grace Baptist Church. This church, like no other Baptist church in the area, held to the Reformed standards of theology and worship in the London (and then Philadelphia) confessions of faith, which followed much of the theology in the Westminster Standards (Confession of Faith and Catechisms). Ernie gained his theological knowledge as a layman, a very serious student of Scripture and theology. Wanting to be ordained as a legitimate professional pastor, he was so ordained by the Carlisle Church to minister in Mechanicsburg, at which place he stayed for two years.
I am not in the same place ecclesiastically in my present ministry assignments. In fact, I am a retired minister of the Brethren in Christ Church, a church that follows the Wesleyan-Arminian theological positions and its Anabaptist heritage. I have been a Reformed Baptist church planter, an Orthodox Presbyterian pastor and a Brethren in Christ pastor and church leader in my ministry history. I now work as a church health consultant in the Northeast for NCDAmerica out of Michigan. That is another story, but suffice to say, Ernie helped establish my Reformed roots but also soured my ecclesiastical associations with Reformed Baptists.
Like Ernie, I became enthralled with the Reformed faith and historic Puritanism as a student at Dickinson College while attending Grace Baptist Church in Carlisle. The minister then, Walter Chantry, took me and other students under his wing, and mentored us in the Reformed faith and life. Ernie was a historical part of that training and development. However, his theory of doctrinal purity and church purity became the foundation of Grace Baptist and other RB (Reformed Baptist) churches in the northeast. As stated in his biography, in Reisinger's pamphlet, Doctrine and Devotion, he wrote: "God must be worshipped in truth as well as in Spirit. Truth can be stated in real words, and when that is done there is Christian doctrine. To be a disciple of the Lord Jesus without knowing what Christ taught must be a vain quest. It is impossible to over-emphasize the importance of sound doctrine in the Christian life. Right thinking about all spiritual matters is imperative if we are to have right living. As men do not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles, so sound Christian character does not grow out of unsound doctrine. The church that neglects to teach sound biblical doctrine weakens church membership. It works against true unity. It invites instability in its fellowship. It lessens conviction and puts the brakes on vital progress in the congregation."
This thinking and the application of it framed the basis of Grace Baptist Church. While many would rejoice over its stance for historic orthodoxy after the likes of Calvin and others, others would have a less than stellar opinion. Other Christians and other churches in the Carlisle area, just as rooted in the fundamentals of biblical authority and inspiration, but avowedly non-Calvinistic would label Grace Baptist as cold, severe, judgmental and downright mean to those who do not come up to their "standards" of faith and life. While I do believe there was much heart warmth and devotion in Ernie and the other elders of Grace Baptist, their refusal to sponsor Billy Graham Crusades and other evangelistic endeavors in that area placed them outside of regular evangelical thought and practice. And to some extent, they revelled in their separateness and distinctiveness. I know this to unfortunately be the case, having served a Brethren in Christ Church in the town in the 1990s.
Ernie was foremost an evangelist. He loved to preach and teach the gospel and reach out to many in that area and beyond with the Good News of Jesus. I loved his passion for souls and that passion rubbed off on me. However, I found that his passion for Calvinism almost matched his passion for souls, thinking that true religion can only be found in true doctrine. The many non-Calvinists who love the Lord are therefore not merely in error, but following a false God. So, the heritage of Ernie and Grace Baptist Church is also joined with this isolation from other serious Christians and churches. The impression that has often been given is, "we have the truth, and you must come to our side to find it."
The biography is just as much a biography of of Grace Baptist Church in Carlisle as of Ernie Reisinger's life. I love the people my wife and I have known from Grace Baptist. I believe they are serious Christians who see Calvinism as the only way to think and live. I know they are earnest and passionate about that system of doctrine. But to judge others and almost make the claim that other Christians are almost "sub-Christians" is wrongheaded and damaging to the unity of the Church of Christ. The problem I have seen in Reformed circles, first as a Reformed Baptist and the as an Orthodox Presbyterian, is that such a faith becomes judgmental and cold-hearted to others in the Christian camp. It can become self-congratulating and self-consuming. It can blunt what Ernie spent much of his life in evangelizing others for the gospel of God's grace. It can forget about the love of God and replace that with the harshness of God's choice of those who believe. All of this I have also seen and witnessed in Reformed circles and churches.
I am still thoroughly Reformed in thought and doctrine, but much more open to other systems of Christian doctrine and life and thought. I believe when we all get to heaven we will have much to learn in how God has worked on this earth and among people. We may even be surprised that many of those we doctrinally fought against are there beside us praising God and singing with the angels. I do commend Geoff Thomas in his biography of Ernie Reisinger and praise God for the life of a great man of God.
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Reflecting On The Message of Simon & Garfunkel for Today
With more and more people quarantined at home due to the spread of the coronavirus, I have had time to do some reflecting on the songs of Simon and Garfunkel from the 1960s. For me, a Baby Boomer, these were the stirring upheaval years of the Vietnam War, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and folk artists like Simon and Garfunkel. To modern ears these mournful, folksy, haunting songs have little of the brashness and harshness of modern popular music. What they do contain, however, are reflective songs of a changing America and a changing society. They signaled a major shift from the swoon songs of the 1950s and the post-war dance songs that my parents enjoyed. What do they tell us for today's world and society?
They tell us that separation and aloneness can be both a boon and a sadness for people. Isolation can protect us, but leave us sad and lonely, prone to no one caring or even knowing our state — listen to "I Am A Rock" and "A Most Peculiar Man" —
I've built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain
I am a rock
I am an island
They tell us that separation and aloneness can be both a boon and a sadness for people. Isolation can protect us, but leave us sad and lonely, prone to no one caring or even knowing our state — listen to "I Am A Rock" and "A Most Peculiar Man" —
I've built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain
I am a rock
I am an island
I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me
I am a rock
I am an island
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me
I am a rock
I am an island
And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries.
And an island never cries.
------------------------------------------------
He was a most peculiar man.
He lived all alone within a house,
Within a room, within himself,
A most peculiar man.
Within a room, within himself,
A most peculiar man.
He had no friends, he seldom spoke
And no one in turn ever spoke to him,
'Cause he wasn't friendly and he didn't care
And he wasn't like them.
Oh, no! he was a most peculiar man.
And no one in turn ever spoke to him,
'Cause he wasn't friendly and he didn't care
And he wasn't like them.
Oh, no! he was a most peculiar man.
He died last Saturday.
He turned on the gas and he went to sleep
With the windows closed so he'd never wake up
To his silent world and his tiny room;
And Mrs. Riordan says he has a brother somewhere
Who should be notified soon.
And all the people said, "What a shame that he's dead,
But wasn't he a most peculiar man?"
He turned on the gas and he went to sleep
With the windows closed so he'd never wake up
To his silent world and his tiny room;
And Mrs. Riordan says he has a brother somewhere
Who should be notified soon.
And all the people said, "What a shame that he's dead,
But wasn't he a most peculiar man?"
They also tell us that class separation and a desire to be "top dog" and admired by all can end in bitterness and suicide — "Richard Cory"
They say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town,
With political connections to spread his wealth around.
Born into society, a banker's only child,
He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style.
With political connections to spread his wealth around.
Born into society, a banker's only child,
He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style.
But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch,
And they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much,
So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read:
"Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head."
And they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much,
So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read:
"Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head."
They haunt us with the desire to be "homeward bound" and feel rest from the frantic pace of work, popularity and busyness —
I'm sittin' in the railway station
Got a ticket to my destination
On a tour of one-night stands
My suitcase and guitar in hand
And every stop is neatly planned
For a poet and a one-man band
Got a ticket to my destination
On a tour of one-night stands
My suitcase and guitar in hand
And every stop is neatly planned
For a poet and a one-man band
Tonight I'll sing my songs again
I'll play the game and pretend
But all my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony
I need someone to comfort me
I'll play the game and pretend
But all my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony
I need someone to comfort me
Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home where my thought's escapin'
Home where my music's playin'
Home where my love lies waitin'
Silently for me
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home where my thought's escapin'
Home where my music's playin'
Home where my love lies waitin'
Silently for me
And finally they tell us that we all need to be like "bridges over troubled waters" for one another —
When you're weary, feeling small
When tears are in your eyes, I'll dry them all (all)
I'm on your side, oh, when times get rough
And friends just can't be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
When tears are in your eyes, I'll dry them all (all)
I'm on your side, oh, when times get rough
And friends just can't be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
When you're down and out
When you're on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you (ooo)
I'll take your part, oh, when darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
When you're on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you (ooo)
I'll take your part, oh, when darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
So take some of this "time out" and listen carefully to the messages that meant so much in the 1960s and beyond.
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Rights, the Constitution, and the Partisan Divide
In a recent issue of Imprimis newsletter put out by Hillsdale College, a privately funded conservative school, Christopher Caldwell talks about "The Roots of Our Partisan Divide." (https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/roots-partisan-divide/) In that speech and from his book, The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties, Caldwell, among others, traces the roots of the extreme political and social divide in America between the progressive left and the conservative right back to the vestiges of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Passed by Congress to seek to address the segregation of the Jim Crow southern states, it was slowly expanded to outlaw discrimination in every sector of society and every walk of public and private life. He notes, "They did so by giving birth to what was, in effect, a second constitution, which would eventually cause Americans to peel off into two different and incompatible constitutional cultures." This was done by taking a "lot of decisions that had been made in the democratic parts of American government and relocate them to the bureaucracy or the judiciary." Consequently, while Americans never voted for bilingual education, the office of civil rights simply established it. Sexism cases for women's rights have exploded to this day with the #metoo movement. Hate crimes are now against every form of anti-lesbian or homosexual or transgender speech or actions or legislation.
"Let's say you are a progressive gay man in a gay marriage with two adopted children. The civil rights version of the country means everything to you . . . Quite likely, your whole moral idea of yourself depends on it too. . .. You are on the side of the glorious marchers of Birmingham, and they are on the side of Bull Connor. To you, the other party is a party of bigots." "Gender fluidity" taught in the first grade in public schools cannot be defeated or even complained against. You are designated as a bigot, a hate monger. "To you, the other party is a party of totalitarians." So, indeed, the sky may be falling in the future for this American republic. Whether we agree with Caldwell or not, it is fairly evident there is a great divide in this country that never existed, even during the decade of the 1960s.
I went to college in the 1960s. We had sit-ins, marches, the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) who marched beside my ROTC cadet corp placing roses in the gun barrels that we carried. The Vietnam War was moving ahead, and truth be told, well-heeled students in colleges got deferments while garage mechanics out of high school were drafted. A two-tiered society resulted. The war was most unpopular and my wartime friends who came back from Nam were booed and hated or dismissed for their efforts. Many of them suffered PTSD effects. It took many years and much pain to honor these wounded veterans. However, that revolution of the sixties took place against a background of morality rooted in the Judea-Christian codes of the Bible. Little did we know then that "civil rights" meant a dismissal of those codes and the substitution of it for individual rights individually defined.
I trace this great divide today to spiritual and religious reasons. Leonard Sweet said way back in 2009 that we are living in a "cut flower society," where the flower of religious activity may exist, but there is no longer any rooting in the Scriptures or in any Judaeo-Christian law code. Young adults now dismiss any absolute truths, favoring whatever "truth" may seem to be in their favor for the moment. Thus, Bernie Sanders' promise of free education and universal health care especially for those with higher educational or health debts is most appealing. It doesn't matter how we pay for it, since the government becomes our mother and father, entitling us to these human freedoms and benefits. This is pure socialism and may indeed move into pure communism or Marxism as the anti-God trends travel down the road. Then we will be without God and without freedom rooted in a God-centered framework of morality. Individual freedom of whatever sort will be substituted for responsible social freedoms. And the sky will indeed fall.
"Let's say you are a progressive gay man in a gay marriage with two adopted children. The civil rights version of the country means everything to you . . . Quite likely, your whole moral idea of yourself depends on it too. . .. You are on the side of the glorious marchers of Birmingham, and they are on the side of Bull Connor. To you, the other party is a party of bigots." "Gender fluidity" taught in the first grade in public schools cannot be defeated or even complained against. You are designated as a bigot, a hate monger. "To you, the other party is a party of totalitarians." So, indeed, the sky may be falling in the future for this American republic. Whether we agree with Caldwell or not, it is fairly evident there is a great divide in this country that never existed, even during the decade of the 1960s.
I went to college in the 1960s. We had sit-ins, marches, the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) who marched beside my ROTC cadet corp placing roses in the gun barrels that we carried. The Vietnam War was moving ahead, and truth be told, well-heeled students in colleges got deferments while garage mechanics out of high school were drafted. A two-tiered society resulted. The war was most unpopular and my wartime friends who came back from Nam were booed and hated or dismissed for their efforts. Many of them suffered PTSD effects. It took many years and much pain to honor these wounded veterans. However, that revolution of the sixties took place against a background of morality rooted in the Judea-Christian codes of the Bible. Little did we know then that "civil rights" meant a dismissal of those codes and the substitution of it for individual rights individually defined.
I trace this great divide today to spiritual and religious reasons. Leonard Sweet said way back in 2009 that we are living in a "cut flower society," where the flower of religious activity may exist, but there is no longer any rooting in the Scriptures or in any Judaeo-Christian law code. Young adults now dismiss any absolute truths, favoring whatever "truth" may seem to be in their favor for the moment. Thus, Bernie Sanders' promise of free education and universal health care especially for those with higher educational or health debts is most appealing. It doesn't matter how we pay for it, since the government becomes our mother and father, entitling us to these human freedoms and benefits. This is pure socialism and may indeed move into pure communism or Marxism as the anti-God trends travel down the road. Then we will be without God and without freedom rooted in a God-centered framework of morality. Individual freedom of whatever sort will be substituted for responsible social freedoms. And the sky will indeed fall.
Thursday, February 20, 2020
Pro, Anti, Reluctant Trump Voters -- Is That All there Is?
Two recent articles that attempt to explain why evangelical Christians would vote for President Trump in the 2020 elections have caught my attention -- Andrew Walker's "Understanding Why Religious Conservatives Would Vote for Trump" and John Fea's response in "The Problem with the Reluctant Trump Voter: A Response to Andrew Walker's National Review Essay." Walker is from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Fea is from Messiah College. They are from different theological stripes, and see most every issue from those stripes. One is apparently a "reluctant Trump" voter and the latter is an anti-Trump voter. The arguments seem to be focused on the person of Trump and his morality (or lack thereof) and the extent of progressivism in the Democratic Party among the candidates now running. How about "in spite of" Trump voting?
I did not cast my vote in the 2016 election for Trump. Neither did I cast my vote for Hillary Clinton. Nor did I cast my vote for any Green Party candidate or any other write-ins. People would say I am a "disengaged" voter, that I wasted an opportunity to exercise my freedom as an American voter. Perhaps. I am also a white, evangelical male, who attends an Anabaptist-Wesleyan church (Brethren in Christ) but who has also been an orthodox Presbyterian as well as a Reformed Baptist in my personal and ministerial career. It wasn't that I could not make up my theological mind, but rather that I sought to follow God's direction in my life and ministry through the years, and that direction led me to seemingly diverse theological and ministerial positions as well as training. So, it would not be surprising to say that I disagree with Walker as well as with Fea on a number of points.
I seek to be a biblical Christian. That means that I do not blindly follow the Religious Right or the Moral Majority or the Anabaptist counter cultural "upside down" kingdom model either. I vote, when I vote, on informed moral, cosmological or world-and-life viewpoint grounds. I am first of all a citizen of heaven through allegiance to Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. I am an "alien" to the citizenry of any world order, including America. I love my country, no doubt, but I am not dependent on my country and its political woes or suppositions to determine my destiny. I obey my governmental leaders according to the precepts of Romans 13 in the Bible. I am not blind to their prideful, often ostentatious, lies and subterfuges and moral misgivings.
As with other evangelical believers, I believe abortion on demand is a horrific tragedy and a Holocaust of mega-proportions. But I also believe and know that no Supreme Court decision, nor a pro-life President, nor a Republican Congress can ultimately stop the practice or the inane thinking that the child in the womb is not a person in his or her own right. I remember the Christian Jimmy Carter as President as one of the most moral, yet probably most ineffective, President we ever had. Where are the Abraham Lincoln's of today? I have been part of an activist pro-life group in upstate New York when I pastored a church in Schenectady, NY, but also sought to pray for and discuss the issues with the Planned Parenthood president, a move that my pro-life brothers and sisters saw as tyranny of the worst sort. All people everywhere need the Lord, no matter their party or abortion affiliations.
So, I guess I am an "in spite of" Christian in America. Will I vote for Donald Trump in 2020? That will be up to prayerful direction sought from God and the Bible, not from the political ranker from either party. The bigger issue is not how moral or immoral a candidate for President is, but rather does his or her worldview comport with a biblically defined and crafted viewpoint? If neither does, then neither gets my vote. Many would disagree with me or say I am "compromised" in my thinking. So be it. The larger question always for me is the biblical salvation status of Donald Trump or the Democratic contenders for that party. At the end of the day, that is what will really matter, and should matter to us all.
I did not cast my vote in the 2016 election for Trump. Neither did I cast my vote for Hillary Clinton. Nor did I cast my vote for any Green Party candidate or any other write-ins. People would say I am a "disengaged" voter, that I wasted an opportunity to exercise my freedom as an American voter. Perhaps. I am also a white, evangelical male, who attends an Anabaptist-Wesleyan church (Brethren in Christ) but who has also been an orthodox Presbyterian as well as a Reformed Baptist in my personal and ministerial career. It wasn't that I could not make up my theological mind, but rather that I sought to follow God's direction in my life and ministry through the years, and that direction led me to seemingly diverse theological and ministerial positions as well as training. So, it would not be surprising to say that I disagree with Walker as well as with Fea on a number of points.
I seek to be a biblical Christian. That means that I do not blindly follow the Religious Right or the Moral Majority or the Anabaptist counter cultural "upside down" kingdom model either. I vote, when I vote, on informed moral, cosmological or world-and-life viewpoint grounds. I am first of all a citizen of heaven through allegiance to Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. I am an "alien" to the citizenry of any world order, including America. I love my country, no doubt, but I am not dependent on my country and its political woes or suppositions to determine my destiny. I obey my governmental leaders according to the precepts of Romans 13 in the Bible. I am not blind to their prideful, often ostentatious, lies and subterfuges and moral misgivings.
As with other evangelical believers, I believe abortion on demand is a horrific tragedy and a Holocaust of mega-proportions. But I also believe and know that no Supreme Court decision, nor a pro-life President, nor a Republican Congress can ultimately stop the practice or the inane thinking that the child in the womb is not a person in his or her own right. I remember the Christian Jimmy Carter as President as one of the most moral, yet probably most ineffective, President we ever had. Where are the Abraham Lincoln's of today? I have been part of an activist pro-life group in upstate New York when I pastored a church in Schenectady, NY, but also sought to pray for and discuss the issues with the Planned Parenthood president, a move that my pro-life brothers and sisters saw as tyranny of the worst sort. All people everywhere need the Lord, no matter their party or abortion affiliations.
So, I guess I am an "in spite of" Christian in America. Will I vote for Donald Trump in 2020? That will be up to prayerful direction sought from God and the Bible, not from the political ranker from either party. The bigger issue is not how moral or immoral a candidate for President is, but rather does his or her worldview comport with a biblically defined and crafted viewpoint? If neither does, then neither gets my vote. Many would disagree with me or say I am "compromised" in my thinking. So be it. The larger question always for me is the biblical salvation status of Donald Trump or the Democratic contenders for that party. At the end of the day, that is what will really matter, and should matter to us all.
Saturday, February 15, 2020
The Partisan Divide and Its Recovery
I am a subscriber to Imprimis, a conservative newsletter published by Hillsdale College, a privately funded college with traditional Christian values and insights. In the latest issue of Imprimis, Christopher Caldwell, Senior Fellow, The Claremont Institute Author, The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties, talks about the deepening partisan divide in this country (See https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/). In that article, Caldwell says that "American society today is divided by party and by ideology in a way it has perhaps not been since the Civil War." He then goes on to point to "strands" that have produced such a divide, including the Vietnam War, role of women, and the "emergency" Civil Rights Law of 1964 that has gone way off the original mark and is now used for every divide between Republican and Democrat, conservative and liberal, Christian and non-Christian that we see today. For me to even quote or refer to Imprimis puts me in the "bigot" category, seemingly unable to carry on a civil discussion with people of opposing viewpoints.
I must, however, take exception to this caricature (or even reality to some). In my ongoing role as a retired pastor and a current church health consultant (for NCDAmerica), I am fully aware of several realities in this partisan divide that Caldwell and other conservatives portray. It is always easier to critique and analyze the problems rather than to do the hard work of curing or alleviating the problems. It is not that I disagree with the analysis, but I am reminded of taking a graduate course in a highly recognized seminary where I raised the theological question -- "If our understanding of the Bible is so 'air tight' why don't those on the other side ever deal with these arguments?" The answer from our professor was simple--"They never read our journals, never digest our books and never engage with us in any way." That is part of our problem today, isn't it? We don't really read or talk with one another, especially on opposing sides of the aisle. Caldwell and others like him are hardly ever read, and when they are read, they are dismissed as bigots, hate mongers, and so forth. So, my first point is, Why can't we honestly read one another? Why can't we really "hear" one another, not merely listen?
I am a Baby Boomer, a child of the late 1940s, a teenager of the 1960s, having seen America transform from the values of the 1950s to the radical ideas and concepts and precepts of the 1960s and later years. I have ministered through the raucous 1970s, the "me" generation of the 1980s, the economic tensions of the 1990s and the "new age" of the 2000s. I have spoken to and with people from every generation in those years. While perspectives and assumptions have radically changed, people hardly ever change. Fears of the 1960s are fears of the 2000s. Technological advancements have separated, not united us, and the beast we have launched with the internet of the 1970s has become all consuming and threatens to devour its children. It is not that we should go backwards, but are we really prepared to go forwards? The greatest needs of economic and job security, fairness, safety for us and our children, peace at home and abroad are still there, still behind all the rhetoric. It is not a matter of "civil rights," but rather a matter of human rights, of Constitutional rights, of being able to live and speak and exist freely as a society, not merely as isolated individuals.
So, here's a radical thought--get to know and listen to your neighbors, especially the ones who disagree with you, but have the same needs as you do. Engage in civil discussion, even when it seems hopelessly insane to do so. Reject the anger, vitriol, hatred, narrowness that often defines people. Agree to disagree. Prove that you are no bigot, no hate monger, but rather a follower of Jesus Christ who believes in his principles. Take the admonition of Paul to Timothy seriously -- "Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God’s servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil’s trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands." ( 2 Timothy 2:23-26. The Message)
I must, however, take exception to this caricature (or even reality to some). In my ongoing role as a retired pastor and a current church health consultant (for NCDAmerica), I am fully aware of several realities in this partisan divide that Caldwell and other conservatives portray. It is always easier to critique and analyze the problems rather than to do the hard work of curing or alleviating the problems. It is not that I disagree with the analysis, but I am reminded of taking a graduate course in a highly recognized seminary where I raised the theological question -- "If our understanding of the Bible is so 'air tight' why don't those on the other side ever deal with these arguments?" The answer from our professor was simple--"They never read our journals, never digest our books and never engage with us in any way." That is part of our problem today, isn't it? We don't really read or talk with one another, especially on opposing sides of the aisle. Caldwell and others like him are hardly ever read, and when they are read, they are dismissed as bigots, hate mongers, and so forth. So, my first point is, Why can't we honestly read one another? Why can't we really "hear" one another, not merely listen?
I am a Baby Boomer, a child of the late 1940s, a teenager of the 1960s, having seen America transform from the values of the 1950s to the radical ideas and concepts and precepts of the 1960s and later years. I have ministered through the raucous 1970s, the "me" generation of the 1980s, the economic tensions of the 1990s and the "new age" of the 2000s. I have spoken to and with people from every generation in those years. While perspectives and assumptions have radically changed, people hardly ever change. Fears of the 1960s are fears of the 2000s. Technological advancements have separated, not united us, and the beast we have launched with the internet of the 1970s has become all consuming and threatens to devour its children. It is not that we should go backwards, but are we really prepared to go forwards? The greatest needs of economic and job security, fairness, safety for us and our children, peace at home and abroad are still there, still behind all the rhetoric. It is not a matter of "civil rights," but rather a matter of human rights, of Constitutional rights, of being able to live and speak and exist freely as a society, not merely as isolated individuals.
So, here's a radical thought--get to know and listen to your neighbors, especially the ones who disagree with you, but have the same needs as you do. Engage in civil discussion, even when it seems hopelessly insane to do so. Reject the anger, vitriol, hatred, narrowness that often defines people. Agree to disagree. Prove that you are no bigot, no hate monger, but rather a follower of Jesus Christ who believes in his principles. Take the admonition of Paul to Timothy seriously -- "Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God’s servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil’s trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands." ( 2 Timothy 2:23-26. The Message)
Saturday, December 28, 2019
Why Some Churches Make It and Others Don't: Observations from a Church Consultant
“And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles… . Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” (Acts 8.1, 4) A small church in our town, decreasing in numbers, was assigned to a larger church in the same denomination as a “satellite” of that larger church. Another small church in a nearby town fights for survival. A starter church in upstate New York wonders if it will make it. And a church in a nearby city is on the verge of closing its doors. These are usually the types of churches and ministries that I as a church consultant get called in to analyze, help and offer coaching advice. And there are thousands of them across the country. Instead of asking the question of what went wrong with these ministries, the better question is how does the Word of God and the gospel of God spread successfully and fruitfully? I find some principles here in Acts.
Churches and ministries get too content where they are doing what they do. It is not that the church in Jerusalem was sinning against God, or not witnessing for God, or going the wrong way with God. They had become “cocooned” in the city, growing and even prospering in their cloistered environment. The gospel of Christ was shut up to that place and was not being spread about, as the resurrected Jesus had told the early apostles — “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.“ (Acts1.8) Acts 8:1 became the fulfillment of Acts 1:8. In general, God many times has to “force” churches or ministries to break out of their comfort zones for the spread of his Word.
Persecution grows the Church of God. There are a number of downsides to persecution, no doubt, but the great upside is that God often uses persecution, even violent persecution, to spread and grow his church. Spurgeon once said that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” What persecuted ministries and churches need to see is the future for what they are suffering. God’s cause is often advanced through tragedy and trouble in one place so that his Word and gospel can thrive in another place. While many churches and ministries in trouble want to shore up the walls and try to survive, they rather need to look beyond themselves to what God really wants for a region, a city, a nation or the world. What is God really saying? That Is the question that they must really answer and honestly answer. This is hard but necessary.
Taking risks for God always costs. But they are necessary risks for the spread of the gospel. The leader Stephen was stoned to death because he took a risk in preaching the truth to jealous Jews wanting to destroy followers of the Way. Philip and others took a risk by spreading the gospel message to places that the Jews had regarded as “forbidden” territories, as “unclean” places filled with “sinners.” The message of the Cross is for ALL people everywhere, not just the receptive, the trained, the “clean” and the “deserving.” This is why God’s Word must go to prisons and prisoners, not merely those locked up, but those caught up in the prison houses of their addictions and fears and deviant lifestyles. Not everyone of these will be saved, no doubt, but God’s destiny and plan for the gospel will be secured. The hard question for the churches and ministries cited in the opening paragraph is, Are you willing to die so that others may succeed with the Word of God and the gospel of his grace?
There is no magic church growth pill. In working with over 130 churches of various sizes and denominational backgrounds and in different places, the conclusion I have reached is that there is no one "formula" for growth and church health. Some churches simply seem to have the right "mix" of people, place, vision and calling from God to succeed. Others do not. It is not that the others are sinning against God or making grievous errors in judgment or goal setting or vision casting. The right "mix" simply is not there. And, that does not necessarily mean they have failed or come short of what God wants for them. Most of the time the sense and definition of "church" forbids real growth and healthy change. Sometimes the way the church started and gathered people forbids their continual growth. Every church has its imperfections and needs, no doubt, but there are a lot of congregations where the "mix" of people and agendas and hopes and dreams simply do not favor healthy church growth. And I believe sometimes God has a certain calling and place and ministry for a church that prohibits what we would cite as "normal" growth and development patterns. There is no magic pill for church growth and development.
The Church in Acts grew and prospered, but not every local congregation had the same story of growth and health. Take a hard look at the churches cited in the opening chapters of Revelation. Most of these congregations did in fact disappear from the church scene. Indeed, they had different needs and problems and challenges to overcome. Many did not make it. That never means the Church (capital "C") has failed in its mission from God. The main or central question for your church or ministry is, What does God want from us? Taking a hard and close and biblically satisfying look at that question will tell you how to proceed from where you are now.
Monday, September 30, 2019
Three Decades Ago, America Lost Its Religion. Why? — A RESPONSE
"Three Decades Ago, America Lost Its Religion. Why?" is a recent (Sep 26, 2019) Atlantic article written by staff writer Derek Thompson on the rise of the "nones" (non-affiliated religious people) since the 1990s. He cites a sociology and religion professor, Christian Smith, from the University of Notre Dame for the reasons for this upward tick in this sector of society and religion. Professor Smith has come up with several reasons for the rise, with the three main ones being three historical events: the association of the Republican Party with the Christian right, the end of the Cold War, and 9/11.
Many "nones" are young adults disenchanted with the identification of organized, evangelical religion with the Republican Party. "Smith said it’s possible that young liberals and loosely affiliated Christians first registered their aversion to the Christian right in the early 1990s, after a decade of observing its powerful role in conservative politics." Additionally, the ending of the Cold War with atheistic Communism, adding fuel to the "nones" declaration of being unaffiliated with organized, evangelical Christianity and the Church. Finally, the attacks of 9/11 by radicalized Islamic terrorists made all fundamentalist religion suspect to the "nones." These and a few other incentives gave spectacular rise to the "nones" since the 1990s.
I find, however, this analysis wanting and shallow. It fails to recognize the inherently destructive tendencies of secular humanism in our American and Western European societies, societies that have discarded biblical religion and its standards for no religion and the moral decay of ethical standards. Abortion, same-sex marriage, the rise of the LGBTQ community, the rejection of ordained authority and the skepticism of the institutional Church have added fuel to the "nones" insistence of being "spiritual" but not institutionally religious. They have thrown out "the baby with the bathwater," so to speak.
To the post-modern, post-truth age, there is no absolute truth, no binding ethics, no unwavering morality that cannot be challenged and then discarded. This has been well documented by Christian theologians and philosophers for decades now. We live, as Leonard Sweet would say, in a "cut-flower society," with no rooting and only a dim residue of Christian values and morés. This drives the heart throb of many "nones." They can therefore be "spiritual" without being biblical. They can own God without knowing the biblical God. They can practice in-house religion without attending the community of religion.
The deeper problem has always been a failure of the conservative, evangelical Christian Church to offer a thoroughly thought out and biblically supported Christ centered world and life view on everything--from work to politics, from school to play. We have lost the truth that all vocations are God-callings to be served for God and under God's Word. Work has lost its foundational Christian ethos. Colleges have lost their Christian roots, opting for the secularism of an anti-God academic snobbery. Consequently, the "nones" have seen the Church fail them at defining and describing what real biblical Christianity is all about.
"Nones" cannot be reached by contemporary, hiphop music and Christian-light messages aimed to secure their interest in the Church once again. Many are finding their way back to solid, orthodox liturgy and biblical exposition where the Bible is studied, analyzed, explained and applied to their lives. The "old ways" are proving to be the "good ways" back to God and the Bible.
I know these factors to be true from having a forty plus year experience as a pastor and a church health consultant for the latter twenty of those years. Working with many churches, large and small, and many different kinds of people professing faith in Christ, including young adults, I have found the above factors to be more of an explanation than Smith has given in his analysis of the "nones."
However, there is always hope to recover the "nones." Real authentic Christianity preached and practiced in our churches will help. Ridding ourselves of cultural Christianity and the hypocrisy that it spawns will also help. This is more than staffing food kitchens or providing homeless shelters where they are needed. This is good, but not enough to capture the "nones." We must once again offer captivating, encompassing Christ centered Christianity for them, wherever they call "church." The way ahead is hard, but truly worthwhile, especially for a generation that want to know God, the real, authentic God of the Bible.
Many "nones" are young adults disenchanted with the identification of organized, evangelical religion with the Republican Party. "Smith said it’s possible that young liberals and loosely affiliated Christians first registered their aversion to the Christian right in the early 1990s, after a decade of observing its powerful role in conservative politics." Additionally, the ending of the Cold War with atheistic Communism, adding fuel to the "nones" declaration of being unaffiliated with organized, evangelical Christianity and the Church. Finally, the attacks of 9/11 by radicalized Islamic terrorists made all fundamentalist religion suspect to the "nones." These and a few other incentives gave spectacular rise to the "nones" since the 1990s.
I find, however, this analysis wanting and shallow. It fails to recognize the inherently destructive tendencies of secular humanism in our American and Western European societies, societies that have discarded biblical religion and its standards for no religion and the moral decay of ethical standards. Abortion, same-sex marriage, the rise of the LGBTQ community, the rejection of ordained authority and the skepticism of the institutional Church have added fuel to the "nones" insistence of being "spiritual" but not institutionally religious. They have thrown out "the baby with the bathwater," so to speak.
To the post-modern, post-truth age, there is no absolute truth, no binding ethics, no unwavering morality that cannot be challenged and then discarded. This has been well documented by Christian theologians and philosophers for decades now. We live, as Leonard Sweet would say, in a "cut-flower society," with no rooting and only a dim residue of Christian values and morés. This drives the heart throb of many "nones." They can therefore be "spiritual" without being biblical. They can own God without knowing the biblical God. They can practice in-house religion without attending the community of religion.
The deeper problem has always been a failure of the conservative, evangelical Christian Church to offer a thoroughly thought out and biblically supported Christ centered world and life view on everything--from work to politics, from school to play. We have lost the truth that all vocations are God-callings to be served for God and under God's Word. Work has lost its foundational Christian ethos. Colleges have lost their Christian roots, opting for the secularism of an anti-God academic snobbery. Consequently, the "nones" have seen the Church fail them at defining and describing what real biblical Christianity is all about.
"Nones" cannot be reached by contemporary, hiphop music and Christian-light messages aimed to secure their interest in the Church once again. Many are finding their way back to solid, orthodox liturgy and biblical exposition where the Bible is studied, analyzed, explained and applied to their lives. The "old ways" are proving to be the "good ways" back to God and the Bible.
I know these factors to be true from having a forty plus year experience as a pastor and a church health consultant for the latter twenty of those years. Working with many churches, large and small, and many different kinds of people professing faith in Christ, including young adults, I have found the above factors to be more of an explanation than Smith has given in his analysis of the "nones."
However, there is always hope to recover the "nones." Real authentic Christianity preached and practiced in our churches will help. Ridding ourselves of cultural Christianity and the hypocrisy that it spawns will also help. This is more than staffing food kitchens or providing homeless shelters where they are needed. This is good, but not enough to capture the "nones." We must once again offer captivating, encompassing Christ centered Christianity for them, wherever they call "church." The way ahead is hard, but truly worthwhile, especially for a generation that want to know God, the real, authentic God of the Bible.
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