Free to Serve

Georgia is Very Religious

Just a reminder, Georgia is very religious. Not long ago, the good folks at the Pew Forum ranked each state based upon answers to various questions ranging from, "How important is religion in your life?" to "Do you believe with absolute certainty there is a God?"

No surprise, Georgia ranked in the top ten on almost every question. What should we observe from these findings? A couple thoughts:

1) Many Christians are concentrated in a relatively small area. In that sense, Georgia has been "reached." We are, therefore, especially called to take the Gospel to places that would not crack the top 10,000 on this list!

2) To be "religious" is not necessarily to be "Christian." It's almost as if many have been inoculated to the Gospel without every knowing its life-changing power. The calling of Christians in states like ours is to make the Gospel clear even among those who may claim to know Christ personally.

Sunday Reflections

--We left the Gospel of John, for now. Sunday we thought about the royal official who came to Jesus thinking he was just a miracle-worker but left with faith he was the Messiah. After listening to Jesus' rebuke, the father continued to plead for his son's healing. Jesus declared his son would live and the father left, taking Jesus at his word. He trusted Jesus. So should we.

--I didn't speak much yesterday about miracles. We live in a post-Enlightenment world where faith in the miraculous seems primitive. Not so in Jesus' day. In fact, even the most skeptical Jews did not doubt that Jesus performed miracles--they just doubted he did them as the Son of God. They thought his miracles were satanic (see Mark 3:20-30). For those of us who remain skeptical about miracles, the real test is the resurrection. Did God the Father raise his Son from the grave? Certainly the earliest disciples thought Jesus was raised--and they were willing to die for this conviction. If the resurrection is true, then every other miracle recorded in the Bible is certainly credible. 

--We closed the day unusually with Dr. Bill Warren, a member of MVBC and the founder of the Good Samaritan Health Center. I interviewed Bill, but began by reading from the parable of the Good Samaritan. I love how Bill observed that in this parable we see the Savior. LIke the Samaritan, Jesus took pity on us, went to us, and bandaged our wounds by healing our sins. Then, as Christians who have known the mercy of Christ we can go and be merciful to others. Bill and others at Good Sam spend their days seeking to show the mercy of Christ. 

The End of James -- Sort Of

In June of 2008, when I first came to MVBC, I began to teach through the book of James. We finished last night. We thought about trials, about favoritism, about our words, about loving the world, about wisdom, and we even spent time talking about elders. For our last study, we looked at James 5:19-20:

My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

There are lots of ways to wander from the truth: holding to false beliefs, backsliding from the faith, ignoring God's Word even in seemingly small ways. If we remain wanderers, we are in jeopardy! That's why James says to turn the wanderer from the error of his way is to save him from death. If you wander, but never return, you prove to be an unbeliever. Serious stuff.

So as Christians, one of the most important things we can do is point people to Christ. But practically, how do we do this? So often in the church we hide our wandering. I posed this question to the group. They produced some great answers:

• Be willing to ask hard questions
• Ask someone if they have anyone speaking into their life (if they don't, find out why not)
• Be available to others
• Establish relationships/know others
• Be spiritually prepared to speak into someone's life/ask hard questions of yourself
• Be intentional with others in order to speak spiritually into their lives

When we gather together as a church, we can help set the tone for the rest of our week--a week where we will fight for the spiritual well-being of others. Then, as individuals, we have the personal challenge to have relationships with others where souls are bared and cared for. 

So that's the end of James--at least as far as this Bible study goes on. I pray that the time we spent in this text will bear much fruit in the years to come.

Sunday Reflections

--I had a great opportunity to begin the day in a Sunday school class with senior women from MVBC. They graciously accepted an offer I had made to discuss with them a constitution proposed by the deacons. We had a great conversation. I explained our current structure of leadership and why I thought it was a good idea to move from this to an elder/deacon model of leadership. At one point, someone said something like, "Change is hard, but I don't want to be someone who doesn't do something because it is not how we've always done it. If it is biblical, I want to do it." What a joy to shepherd those with this kind of heart.

--Then to the sermon about our responsibility to bear witness from Christ. Jesus told his disciples that the fields are ripe for harvest. Therefore, we should make the most of every day to make the gospel known. In God's providence, today was the day MVBC wanted to draw attention to a ministry we love, the Good Samaritan Health Center. There are numerous opportunities there for Christians willing to share their faith. I ended the sermon with four questions we should all ask ourselves when it comes to evangelism: 1) Do you believe that now is the time? 2) Do you believe the need is real? 3) Do you believe you must bear witness? 4) Do you know how to bear witness?

--Sunday afternoon, the deacons approved some amendments to the proposed Constitution. Those will be made available to the church soon. It has been fantastic working with these brothers!

--We ended the day with a deacon installation service. Seven men have stepped up to serve this congregation in a time of transition. They shared their testimonies and we had an extended time of prayer. Hearing how the Lord saved each of them from their sin was a huge encouragement and reminder that God is alive and at work.

Young People and Church

At Mount Vernon, we are beginning to see young people come to church. By "young" I mean late teens, early twenties. Why is this? Twenty-seven year old Brett McCracken, in an article he wrote for the Wall Street Journal, is willing to speak for his generation, "As a twentysomething, I can say with confidence that when it comes to the church, we don't cool as much as we want real." 

I think the young and old alike are looking for people who are trying to live the Christian life day in and day out in practical, tangible, powerful ways. It's not as much about the decor or the style of worship as it is about the tone of the people who gather. Are they caught up in matters of secondary importance or are they focused on the Word of God faithfully preached, sung, prayed, and ultimately lived? 

We aren't growing younger as a church because we are cool, but because the Word is central. Where the Word is, God works.

On Being Young and Needy

On more than one occasion, a senior member of MVBC has introduced me to a friend who goes to church elsewhere. They look at me for a moment, pause, and then say (as if I'm not there), "My, he's so young!" Oddly enough, I'm not the youngest pastor to serve the church. Not even close. The first pastor, Forrest Garrard, was younger when he began his ministry here as was the third, Jim Wood.

Recently, a member of the church gave me a great article by Collin Hansen entitled, "Tell Us Your Stories." Hansen noted that young leaders often suffer from delusions of grandeur:

Sometimes younger Christians give the impression that we have things figured out. We're the future. We've found the old methods wanting, so we've developed new ones. We're the generation that will strike the right balance where our forebears fell over to one side or the other.

To correct this tendency, young people need to hear the stories of senior saints. Hansen urges seniors, "Look underneath our confident exterior. You'll find that younger Christians actually want to hear from older believers about how God has demonstrated His faithfulness in their generation."

But here's the problem. Generations are not overlapping. The younger people are not hearing the stories of the older people. Hansen put it well:

Evangelicals suffer from self-inflicted amnesia. Our churches segregate age groups in order to foster relationships between peers. If you're not deliberate about developing intergenerational friendships, they will not happen. 

Exactly right. Even as MVBC gets younger--and it is--we need to be careful not to contribute to evangelical amnesia. Wherever possible, let's spend time with people who have been at the faith for a generation already. We have some things to learn. 

I mentioned yesterday that I had the privilege of officiating a graveside service. What I didn't mention is that I was able to drive to the cemetery with a senior saint who turns 90 in December. I'm thankful for him and his stories. 

Review of "Why Elders?"

I'm very thankful for a book on elders written by Ben Merkle. I've reviewed it here. We've been spending a lot of time as a church thinking about elders. If you want to know more, Why Elders? is a very good place to start. 

Confessing to Each Other

I had the privilege today of speaking at the graveside service of a man who recently died. I reflected on the fact that Paul warns us of a day when we will all stand before God and have our secrets judged through Jesus Christ (Romans 2:16). Our secrets reveal whether our profession of faith was genuine. We can feign obedience for a season, but not forever. One day the truth will be uncovered. How do we prepare for such a day?

James would have us confess our sins to each other. 

We should reveal our secrets to one another. "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed" (James 5:16). In the short-run our sin may actually cause a physical sickness that the Lord removes when that sin is dealt with. In the long run our sin--if not forgiven--will keep us from the Lord. One way to regularly check your heart is to confess sin not only in times of private prayer but with a trusted friend. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian and pastor, wrote on the value and necessity of this kind of "each other" confession:

Anybody who lives beneath the Cross and who has discerned in the Cross of Jesus the utter wickedness of all men and of his own heart will find there is no sin that can ever be alien to him. Anybody who has once been horrified by the dreadfulness of his own sin that nailed Jesus to the Cross will no longer be horrified by even the rankest sins of a brother. Looking at the Cross of Jesus, he knows the human heart. He knows how utterly lost it is in sin and weakness, how it goes astray in the ways of sin, and he also knows that it is accepted in grace and mercy. Only the brother under the Cross can hear a confession.

It is not experience of life but experience of the Cross that makes one a worthy hearer of confessions. The most experienced psychologist or observer of human nature knows infinitely less of the human heart than the simplest Christian who lives beneath the Cross of Jesus . . . In the presence of a psychiatrist I can only be a sick man; in the presence of a Christian brother I can dare to be a sinner.

Mixed-Faith Marriages

Southern Seminary President Al Mohler wrote a piece on the rise of mixed-faith marriages. He notes how sociologists are observing the heightened likelihood of divorce in such marriages. Statistics aside, Scripture is clear:

For Christians, the issue is not settled by sociological data, however. In 2 Corinthians 6:14, the Apostle Paul commands that Christians must “not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” This command reaches far beyond marriage, but it certainly includes the covenant of marriage within its span. Paul’s principle is clear: The Christian’s commitment to Christ is determinative of his or her other commitments. A believer must not marry an unbeliever, for this violates the very logic of the Gospel and the believer’s union with Christ.

Read the entire piece here. 

Marriage is for everyone

I just finished a marriage sermon I'm giving on Saturday for a young couple in the church. I'm reminded that marriage is for everyone. That does not mean everyone will be married! Paul was very clear that some will remain single and have the unique opportunity to serve Christ without the distraction of a spouse. But every Christian enjoys marriage to Christ. 

Christ is the head of the Church. We are united to Him. We are loved by Him. He served us by dying in our place, and he serves us by interceding on our behalf every day. With Christ as our husband we are never alone, never unwanted, never abandoned, never forgotten, never ignored, never taken advantage of, never overlooked, never slighted, never neglected, and never unloved. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" No one. "Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." I always have faith, but sometimes my faith is weak. I'm helped to remember that because of the Cross, Christ's love for me is never in doubt. I am regularly unfaithful. He is always faithful.

I'm looking forward to this wedding because it is another opportunity for souls burdened by the realities of a fallen world (souls like mine!) to be reminded that Christ, our Husband, reigns.