Church Planting Series, Part sixteen
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has decided to make it possible “for people in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, clergy, deaconesses and diaconal ministers” (quote from ELCA website).
This decision is sending waves of emotion and debate throughout the Church. But what does it all mean for the way we serve God and seek to grow His Kingdom? One takeaway is this: it requires us to ask the question, “What vantage point do you use for making decisions?”
The ELCA is using the vantage point of human observation and reasoning. To the decision makers, it makes sense to take this step. Society is changing. People have needs.
But is that a sound vantage point? What if we were to ask a few follow-up questions regarding that vantage point and human sexuality? Here goes:
-Have we managed sexuality well as a culture?
-Have we cherished women or demeaned them?
-Have we honored children or injured them?
-Have we veered into more trouble or less trouble in the area of sexuality?
You don’t have to think very long and hard to see that we’ve really messed up human sexuality. We do a terrible job! Trouble is at a high point. Women are treated as objects. Children are injured and abused. Sexual corruption is viral—-spreading as fast as the Internet allows, and as quickly as our sin-stained souls latch on to the immoral.
So, how can anyone really believe that we can get the question of same-gender relationships right when we use the vantage point of human observation and reasoning? It’s the wrong standard. It is flawed.
The only vantage point that brings workable, healthy, and life-giving results is God’s vantage point. God’s Word is His blessing that forms our lives, practices, and very souls. God’s Word is the objective vantage point that will never lead us astray. It rescues us from relying on our corrupt perspective of life. It gives us the mind of Christ. It will lead us home.
The question to ask about every issue in ministry is: What is God’s vantage point?
And the question to ask about human sexuality is: What is God’s vantage point? He’s made it crystal clear: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24 and Ephesians 5:31). The gift of human sexuality is meant to reflect the love of God, the groom, for His bride, the Church. It is about self-sacrificial love. It is about creating new life (procreation). It is good. It is healthy.
The Bible isn’t cryptic about this. Sexual sin has been a destructive point of stumbling for humanity for thousands of years. God doesn’t keep us in the dark about what His intentions are, what is good, and what works.
How can a denomination lose its bearings? The same way we all do. We forsake the vantage point of God and His Word. We substitute our own twisted, darkened vantage point of human observation and reasoning.
Let’s learn from this. If you’re really about God’s Kingdom, choose your vantage point carefully and wisely.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Developing a Prayer Reflex
Church Planting Series, Part fifteen
A number of years ago I stood in my little mission church waiting for wedding rehearsal participants to arrive. A groomsman arrived early. He looked like a football player—tall, strong, and a bit menacing. I was surprised when he asked me this question: “Do you mind if I pray?” I told him that I didn’t mind at all. He immediately walked to the front of the worship area, knelt down, bowed his head, and began to pray in earnest.
This was unusual. Strangely enough, not many people used our little church to pray during “off” hours.
After about 20 minutes, he got up and joined some other members of the wedding party. I told him that I really admired the fact that he took time to pray. He replied, “My pastor is a man of prayer. That’s the kind of man I want to be, too. He says that prayer is the foundation of our lives. I want that in my life.”
How many times do you talk about prayer, teach about prayer, assure people of your prayers, laud the power of prayer, create prayer strategies and prayer chains, and add items to your prayer list, but never really get around to praying?
I heard a speaker say recently, “We have lots of strategic planning meetings for mission, but how many prayer meetings do we have?”
The praying man who walked into my church inspired me. I wanted to be a man of prayer—-an example for people I served. I also wanted our church to be a church of prayer—-using the gracious gift God gave us. You can’t read the Bible and not see the precious gift of prayer—and its powerful impact. Pray is the way Jesus started His day. Prayer is what Jesus did before His most intense life and ministry challenges. Do you want workers for the Kingdom harvest? Jesus said to pray for it!
After the wedding rehearsal, I prayed. I asked God to lead us to a foundational and priority ministry of prayer. He answered. He sent eager and dedicated pray-ers to saturate the church with prayer and to lift up an active prayer life to all. Our mission became founded on and laced with prayer. People routinely filled our worship area in “off hours” to pray.
The result? Many were reached with the life-saving message of Christ. Many, many lives were transformed.
I learned to pray first.
You know how it goes. People say, “When all else fails, pray.” “I tried everything I could think of; then I finally prayed.”
What if you practiced and taught a “prayer reflex”? What if prayer was the first action, the default, the automatic response to every mission idea and ministry effort? What if prayer came first? What if prayer happened immediately? What if prayer gatherings and prayers prayed consumed more time than planning meetings? What if you helped cultivate a vibrant ongoing dialog with God that shaped your actions and your decisions?
What if you did this first—-right now—-before anything else? What might God change?
A number of years ago I stood in my little mission church waiting for wedding rehearsal participants to arrive. A groomsman arrived early. He looked like a football player—tall, strong, and a bit menacing. I was surprised when he asked me this question: “Do you mind if I pray?” I told him that I didn’t mind at all. He immediately walked to the front of the worship area, knelt down, bowed his head, and began to pray in earnest.
This was unusual. Strangely enough, not many people used our little church to pray during “off” hours.
After about 20 minutes, he got up and joined some other members of the wedding party. I told him that I really admired the fact that he took time to pray. He replied, “My pastor is a man of prayer. That’s the kind of man I want to be, too. He says that prayer is the foundation of our lives. I want that in my life.”
How many times do you talk about prayer, teach about prayer, assure people of your prayers, laud the power of prayer, create prayer strategies and prayer chains, and add items to your prayer list, but never really get around to praying?
I heard a speaker say recently, “We have lots of strategic planning meetings for mission, but how many prayer meetings do we have?”
The praying man who walked into my church inspired me. I wanted to be a man of prayer—-an example for people I served. I also wanted our church to be a church of prayer—-using the gracious gift God gave us. You can’t read the Bible and not see the precious gift of prayer—and its powerful impact. Pray is the way Jesus started His day. Prayer is what Jesus did before His most intense life and ministry challenges. Do you want workers for the Kingdom harvest? Jesus said to pray for it!
After the wedding rehearsal, I prayed. I asked God to lead us to a foundational and priority ministry of prayer. He answered. He sent eager and dedicated pray-ers to saturate the church with prayer and to lift up an active prayer life to all. Our mission became founded on and laced with prayer. People routinely filled our worship area in “off hours” to pray.
The result? Many were reached with the life-saving message of Christ. Many, many lives were transformed.
I learned to pray first.
You know how it goes. People say, “When all else fails, pray.” “I tried everything I could think of; then I finally prayed.”
What if you practiced and taught a “prayer reflex”? What if prayer was the first action, the default, the automatic response to every mission idea and ministry effort? What if prayer came first? What if prayer happened immediately? What if prayer gatherings and prayers prayed consumed more time than planning meetings? What if you helped cultivate a vibrant ongoing dialog with God that shaped your actions and your decisions?
What if you did this first—-right now—-before anything else? What might God change?
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