Appetites
Over the last few weeks I’ve been in conversations with others about house churches. There are a lot of people who love the idea of spiritual families pursuing Jesus and living life together and will tell me so, but almost unconsciously they begin to rattle off why they aren’t part of a house church themselves. Frequently the answers center around two realities: worship and childcare.
I don’t want to spend any time belittling these reasons, but I do want to point out that these are desires, not needs. If a concert-like atmosphere where you can immerse yourself in song or freedom from your children were a necessary mark of the church, then we would have to write off most of the gatherings throughout the world as “not church.” In fact, that part of the church we would write off would most likely be that part of the global church that is most viral and reproducing.
Things can get sticky when we get beyond the basics of what we need. In real life, the man or woman who starts making considerably more than what they need to survive often suffers from a certain kind of “lifestyle creep.” Things that were once dreamed of as “the good life” can become identified as “needs.” For example, not having a cell phone, once thought of as a luxury item 20 years ago has now become a necessity in much of the Western world. #Firstworldpromblems.
This reminds me of a quote by Augustine of Hippo. In detailing his struggle against the lusts of the flesh, Augustine makes a profound statement about humanity: “By servitude to passion, habit is formed, and habit to which there is no resistance becomes necessity. By these links, as it were, connected one to another…, a harsh bondage held me under restraint,” (Augustine, Confessions 8.5.10).
Augustine was struggling with lust, but his insight into humanity in general is profound. Whatever we do repeatedly because of our passion becomes a habit. Habits not resisted become necessities and necessities are a form of bondage which are hard to escape. This is true in all areas of life, for good and for evil.
Now let’s bring the conversation back to how we started: Complex worship meetings and the freedom to worship without distraction from our kids come from a certain kind of passion. They are built on the idea of a pursuit of God that is individualistic. It really shouldn’t surprise us that these forms of Christianity have grown up in the West where individualism is prized.
But are they needs? I don’t believe so. I believe they are more likely passions that have been habitually satisfied and ritualized in a culture that prizes individuality. We’ve fed the desire to have a time of individualized singing to God that is unencumbered by those we are constantly giving care to. It’s not necessarily evil, but it’s definitely not a need. Again, the most fruitful churches in the Earth are the parts that lack these elements and we would do well to learn from them.
So what do we do? The best place to start is repentance. Repentance in its truest form is merely a changing of your mind. It means to think differently.
We start by thinking differently about gathering with a church and what its purpose is. Your time in the prayer closet is your time to meet with God individually. Your time gathered with your church is actually designed to build up the others around you. This certainly means that you will have to interact with those around you, possibly even stopping singing to actually talk, pray for, and serve the other believers right next to you.
It also means that gathering with your church is about your children learning and growing in Jesus, not just from the nursery workers, but from you. They get to see mom and dad worship. They get to see mom and dad serve others. They get to see mom and dad pray for others. Most importantly, they get to see mom and dad not make church about meeting their passions or “needs,” but about building up the body around them. This will build up your kids in their faith more than anything a nursery worker teaches them.
Friends, let’s bring church back to what Jesus wanted to make it–A body of believers of all ages that are learning to follow Christ and serve one another. Let’s free ourselves from the tyranny of desires that present themselves as needs. Let’s get back to a leaner, more cooperative form of Christianity that teaches dying to self and the needs of the self for the good of Christ and those around us.
It may even make us viral again.
Photo Credit: Kid Sitting Beside Round Cake Close-Up by Henley Design Studio
An Open Letter to Worship Leaders
I’ll admit, I’m probably the last guy who should be writing to worship leaders. So, full disclosure, I’ve never led a worship team. I’m a mediocre singer at best. You’re not going to get a list of the top 10 ways to get get your congregation to engage in singing from me.
But, as a person who loves the church, let me share with you the burden of my heart.
Your position, whether you are a paid worship leader who has albums available to stream or you are just a person brave enough to sing loudly in your house church, is important. Paul tells us in Colossians that part of the way we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly is to “[s]ing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts,” (Colossians 3:16). We need the whole body of Christ to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs so that God’s message can dwell in us deeply. You are important to helping us do that.
Now, here’s my admonition:
The days ahead for the church are going to be difficult. I’ll let you interpret what I mean by that, but let’s just say for now that I don’t foresee the job of the church becoming easier and I don’t foresee the church’s position in society becoming more revered. I actually see the church becoming less revered and our job becoming more difficult. Paul says “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution,” (2 Timothy 3:12) and I believe that will become more and more real in the days ahead.
Because of that, worship leaders, we will need you–yes you–to lead us in songs that prepare us for that season. What sort of songs prepare our hearts for that type of event? In my head, there are two emphases that will be important. We need to sing songs that tell of the greatness, glory, and beauty of Jesus and we need songs that emphasize the importance of faithfulness to Jesus in the midst of hard times.
Why songs that emphasize the greatness, glory, and beauty of Jesus? Well, we need to constantly remember that Jesus is the pearl of great price. No one lays down their life for things that aren’t of great value. It’s important for us remember over and over again what Jesus did and why he is worth our lives, whether that means a life lived for him in hardship or a life lost for him to physical persecution. Singing songs about the worth of Jesus doesn’t make him more worthy, it just causes us to remind ourselves that he is as great and glorious as we thought he was at first. If Jesus is more valuable than anything else we have, then laying our lives down for him is an easy thing.
What about songs that emphasize faithfulness to Jesus in the midst of hard times? I think its obvious why such songs are important. However, in our Western culture where very little physical persecution has happened, the theme isn’t often sung about and so we think about it less. In cultures where persecution is more prevalent, this isn’t the case. In fact, Paul quotes an early hymn when writing to Timothy in order to encourage him to be more faithful:
“If we die with him,
we will also live with him.
If we endure hardship,
we will reign with him.
If we deny him,
he will deny us.
If we are unfaithful,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny who he is.”
These were words that the early church used to sing to encourage each other to be faithful. We need to recover this ancient practice for ourselves today. Singing these types of songs won’t in and of themselves make us more faithful. There are plenty of people who sing songs about things they will never do. But as we sing them, we meditate on the importance of faithfulness in our walk with Christ and that will help us in the days ahead.
I never like writing without actionable advice, so before we close, let me list some songs that I find helpful in these two areas. You may not like their style, so I’m not saying you have to sing these songs, but these are examples of songs that make much of Jesus or stress the importance of faithfulness in times of trouble.
Songs About the Greatness of Jesus
When You Walk Into The Room by Bryan and Katie Torwalt
Jesus You’re Beautiful by Jon Thurlow
Songs About Faithfulness in the Midst of Trouble
Even Unto Death by Audrey Assad
The days ahead are going to be tough. My hope is you can become a part of strengthening the body of Christ for the days ahead. If we all do our part, we’ll all stand a little stronger and shine a little brighter when hard things come.
Photo Credit: Hands on the Keyboard by Puk Khantho
Skin in the Game: Leaders
This week I’ve been writing about the concept of “skin in the game” and how it relates to the Kingdom of God.
Today, I want to look at one of the most crucial areas for believers to have skin in the game: leaders.
Leaders are a funny thing in the body of Christ. Some people get angry that I acknowledge that they exist. Others get mad when I say that not everyone who calls themselves a leader is one. The truth comes down to skin in the game.
Yes, leaders exist. But not everyone who calls themselves a leader is one. Neither is everyone who is called a pastor, bishop, elder, or apostle a leader. Leadership is determined not by who has a title, but who is leading. The critical element to understand about leading is that it’s not primarily a title or a position. Leading is a verb.
Leading happens when people do something that others haven’t. Leaders are those who pave the way for others, allowing them to do what they couldn’t on their own. Because of this, only the people who have skin in the game are truly leading. It’s impossible to lead people in teaching the Bible if you have a weak understanding of what the Bible says. Only people with skin in the game can truly lead.
I could give a million examples of this, but let me start with one outside of the body of Christ.
Silicon Valley has been in the forefront of developing the technology that powers our smart phones, tablets, and the rest of our internet-connected world. These changes to society have particularly affected our children. However, when you poll those who are leading these changes to society and ask them whether they allow their children to have access to the technologies they develop, the answer is a resounding “no.” While these leaders profit from people being in front of “screens,” they know the harm that screens have on the development of children, and in a very real sense, they don’t have their “skin in the game.”
The opposite is true of every real leader in the body of Christ. In any way that a leader wants to make progress in the church, he or she must allow that work to be done in him or her prior to leading others. This costly process is the definition of skin in the game.
Christian leadership material abounds with admonitions to leaders that they must model the change they want to see. Leaders who want to see a group of people reach the lost must model the evangelistic heart they want to see others adopt. Pastors who teach submission to the body of Christ, must themselves submit, not just to a bishop or board, but to the body of Christ. Leaders cannot just tell the rest of body to serve. They need to serve and as they do, the body of Christ will respond and follow in their example of service.
Leaders can’t ask the body of Christ to do what they’re not willing to do themselves. Leaders can’t lead through slick speeches. That’s not leadership, it’s dictatorship. It lacks skin in the game. Skin in the game takes time, patience, and faith, and for those reasons, many make the mistake of pursuing other ways to lead. When they do, they step outside of God’s plan for His Kingdom.
Brothers and sisters, I leave this series the same way I started it:
“Have skin in the game.
Partner with others who have skin in the game.
Don’t waste a lot of time and energy on those who don’t.”
Photo Credit: Silhouette of People on Hill by Jehyun Sung
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 