3November2011

Purging Barren Prayer

Written By robfaircloth1 Comment on Purging Barren Prayer

Prayer for the Christian is one of those subjects about which discussion is akin to holding water with your hand. We are told in Scripture that we should pray, and without ceasing, and not to be seen by men, and with faith in God. We are not told, however, how often we should pray, how long we should sit there, what posture to assume, or what elements should be included in each prayer.

Teaching prayer, then, must be done while steering between the Scylla of legalism (requiring things that aren’t required) and the Charybdis of license (acting as if believers don’t need to pray).

In Mark 11:22-25 Jesus takes an occasion to tell his disciples something about prayer after he has cursed the fig tree, which is symbolic of the eventual withering of the Temple in Jewish life. Peter has expressed marvel that the fig tree is withered, and Jesus tells them that their faith should be in God, and that they should expect to receive anything they ask of God.

If we aren’t careful, this passage might lead us to a name-it-and-claim-it or believe-it-and-receive-it view of blessing, as if God were a cosmic bellhop waiting to fulfill our desire for a new Cadillac or high-paying job. That we know is not true. God didn’t rush to take the cup away from Christ, and he didn’t remove the thorn as Paul requested. He doesn’t promise to freshen your coffee and fetch your slippers.

Boldness. Prayer to a great God who sent a perfect Messiah to establish a radical kingdom should be bold. And by bold I don’t mean going one step further to ask for leather seats in our new Cadillac, but requesting of God that the kingdom come with even greater results. The immediate context of Jesus’ teaching is the withered fig tree and the promise of an obsolete Temple: pray accordingly.

Expectation. Prayer is informed by, permeated with, and reliant upon faith in God. When we pray boldly for great things to occur in the advancement of the kingdom, we should expect that God is able and willing to accomplish his glory.

Forgiveness. Even bold prayer to a great God with expectation that he will honor requests that advance his glory should be characterized by humility. And what better tool to increase our humility than to forgive those who have wronged us? We can’t well pray for the advancement of the kingdom — which brings reconciliation with God through Christ — while harboring our own warfare with our enemies.

Prayer, as we see in the rest of the New Testament, is more than these things, but it is certainly not less. How rich our prayer — and how glorified our God — when we follow Christ in his example of prayer.

2November2011

Unconditional Love and Male Girls

Written By robfaircloth

A boy living life as a girl has been given the green light to join the Girl Scouts in Colorado.

What this incident further illustrates is the boundary-less-ness so desired by the human heart. No one, we say, should put limits on another’s desire and behavior, and we go to great lengths to remove any such boundaries, often couching our efforts in terms of “unconditional love.”

The phenomenon looks something like this: I want to join the Boy Scouts. But you’re a girl. No I’m not. You look like a girl. Appearances of gender are the result of a social construct foisted on the masses by religious ignoramuses. But, you’re a girl. I desire, therefore, I am, and I desire not to be a girl, but to be a Boy Scout, and to play with those cool camp stoves. But you can’t do boy stuff. You’re supposed to love everyone unconditionally, and I desire to be a boy, so you should affirm and support me in all my desires. Oh, alright…here’s your compass.

Imagine if the same logic were applied to other areas: Come on, Saddam, we’re taking you to jail. But I don’t want to go to jail. You’ve committed crimes against humanity. I don’t feel like a criminal. Quit trying to escape. My desire is to be free, and captivity is the social construct of the imperialist oppressor. Oh, alright…here are your WMDs.

What’s worse than a boy living life as a girl and forcing an organization to redefine itself to permit his admission to it is the attitude of alleged grown-ups about the situation. One of the news shows hosted a debate between “experts” who held opposing views regarding the Girl Scouts’ decision. The pro-Scout expert suggested that the decision was a wonderful example of how-things-ought-to-be, because what children of this age need is not parents telling them what they can’t do — be a girl, if you’re a boy — but parents who affirm and support children in their desires, who love them “unconditionally”.

This posits a view of love that does not set boundaries. But parental love for children is nothing if not boundary-setting: you can’t eat poison; you can’t play with knives; you can’t run in traffic; you must defecate in the toilet; you must wear clothes in public.

Biblical love, also, necessarily involves the use of (gasp!) authority and the setting of boundaries. God certainly loved Adam and Eve, but also put boundaries on their behavior: don’t eat the fruit of one, particular tree. They rebelled against that authority — asserting their right to “unconditional love” — and believed that God should affirm their desires whatever they might be. They were wrong, and God’s love then required the exercise of his authority.

Parents are called to love children biblically, not unconditionally, and act as agents of God’s authority.

26October2011

Reasons to Avoid Church: Youth Ministry

Written By robfaircloth

One reason people give for avoiding organized church is that churches are full of hypocrites. Another reason is the children’s ministry.

Or, the lack thereof.

It is not difficult to notice that many churches — despite their size or resources — develop a “children’s ministry” as soon as possible. Usually “children’s ministry” means that there are activities for kids of all ages — or baby-sitting services — so that the adults can separate from their progeny as soon as they hit church grounds. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say.

Parents have become unabashed and unashamed to confess that what they look for in a church family is the “children’s ministry.” This automatically eliminates from their consideration those churches that are too small to have a gymnasium, or too frugal to schedule weekly field trips, or too healthy to serve pizza at every church function.

This parental mindset — and the corresponding marketing blitz by churches with youth programs — is customarily seen in only those parents who themselves are from the larger churches that fielded youth programs. But it is increasingly true that even smaller churches, and even more home-grown parents, are feeling the pressure to “youth-enize” their ministry.

I recently spoke to a father who, as a youth, had grown up in a small country church. As an adult he had attended a different, but still small, community church. Because of dissatisfaction with them, he and his family were “doing church” at home (the smallest congregation, as it were). I suggested that he attend services at our church plant (only 9 months old at the time), and his only query was to ask what we “do for the children.”

I said that we provide parents a spanking spoon, and show them how to use it.

Not really.

Yet here is the problem illustrated: rather than fellowship with other believers in worship and instruction without a “youth program,” he preferred to keep his family away from biblical fellowship.

This is neither a right view of the purpose of church or a right view of rearing children.

The church must do a better job of correcting this erroneous mentality. The man, as head of his family, is charged with leading in instruction and worship beginning in his home. He is then charged with ensuring that the family participate in corporate worship with other believers, making certain that the church they attend is doctrinally faithful, ethically responsible, and evangelistically healthy. The interest in entertaining children is usually at odds with all of these responsibilities.

What the church must teach, and what parents must realize, and what unbelievers must be shown, is that a church that properly trains adults to follow Christ generally produces children who receive the faith.

24October2011

Reasons to avoid Church: the Hypocrites

Written By robfaircloth

We’ve all heard it before. “Churches are full of hypocrites.”

Perhaps we’ve said it, too, and if not, we’ve certainly thought it — at least about certain people in the church.

To an extent, it’s true that there are hypocrites in church. But the point is whether we avoid church altogether because of it.

Many unbelievers cite as the reason they don’t consider church attendance in general or the claims of the gospel in particular is that those who attend and those who believe are hypocrites. Translated, this usually means that Mr. Jones claims to be a saint on Sunday and lives like the devil Monday through Saturday.

Many believers, too, avoid organized fellowship and worship because they don’t want to be around the “hypocrites.”

NEWS FLASH: If you manage to find yourself free of hypocrites, you are likely dead. I don’t say that you have likely died and gone to heaven, because I don’t think there are any hypocrites in hell, either, and it’s quite possible that you have gone there, instead.

Even the best of men, the most sincere Christ-followers, the holiest of saints will act with hypocrisy from time to time. And despite a congregation’s best efforts, it is quite likely that some among them are not even believers, Mr. Jones’ protestations to the contrary notwithstanding.

Those who have repented and believed in Christ are commanded in Scripture to regularly meet with others for fellowship, teaching and worship. We aren’t excused from this because some who participate live like the devil when they leave. And unbelievers, hypocrites in the church won’t keep you from meeting God. Jesus made the Temple obsolete in part so that men — even hypocritical men — can’t keep you from the Father (Mark 11:1-25).

The cure for hypocrisy is not to steer clear of hypocrites, but to come to the One who can make you true, in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

19October2011

101 Ways to Make Much of Yourself

Written By robfaircloth

Not that you should.

When we talk about the reorientation of attitude and behavior that Christ advocates with the coming of his kingdom (Mark 10:32-45), it’s easy to float on the surface of the waters instead of diving deep into the heart problem that is in view.

In this episode, Jesus has announced — in graphic detail — just exactly what he was going to do for his people. Two of those people — James and John — take the opportunity to ask for favors. Later in the exchange Jesus explains that his attitude, which led to his giving himself as a ransom, should govern theirs, as well.

When we attempt to apply this to our own attitude and behavior, we meet the same resistance in ourselves that Jesus likely faced with his immediate followers. Jesus was — through his crucifixion and ransom — making much of the people he was (and is) saving. He has already made much of us, and it is ours now to make much of others.

Yet their response to being told that Jesus himself was making much of them was to ask to made more of.

A shallow view of this teaching is simply to exhort ourselves to “think of others,” and as proof that we are doing so we think of helping an old lady across the street, giving a ride to a stranger, putting a dollar in the Salvation Army kettle. Those things are certainly aspects of what Jesus taught, but not entirely.

The essential problem is that we do these things and want to be recognized. We want to be thanked. We want to be approved. If the old lady doesn’t pinch our cheek and tell us what great people we are, we feel wronged and vow henceforth to steer clear of street crossings and nursing homes.

This is the attitude that Jesus confronted.

When your husband does NOT whisper sweet nothings in your ear, when your wife FORGETS to make your lunch, when your children DON’T heap accolades on you, when your friends make ANOTHER the center of attention at the party, when your church family FAILS to recognize your invaluable contribution, you are — like James and John — asking to be made more of despite the sacrifices already being made.

And note that the problem is not that we get our feelings hurt or grow angry when we are not made much of, but that we even notice that we are not made much of in the first place.

If you are making much of your husband, you don’t notice that he doesn’t write you poetry. If you are making much of your wife, you don’t notice that she put your razor in the wrong drawer. When you are making much of your children, you don’t care that they aren’t always praising your great parenting. When you make much of other church members, you don’t notice that they didn’t invite you to a party, ask you to teach a class, or comment on your lovely dress or new truck.

It is much easier to put others first when the others are further away from us — like the old lady, the stranger, the Salvation Army. It is much more difficult when those others are the ones closest to us.

17October2011

What do YOU want? Realigning our Position

Written By robfaircloth

Perhaps one of the best-known verses in Scripture is “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

What may not be so well-known is that Jesus announced this about himself while dealing with problematic attitudes of his disciples, and in part as a reason or grounds for the kingdom-oriented attitude of self-denial and service to others.

Jesus’ identification of himself as a ransom is certainly soteriological: giving his life to set free those men held captive by their sin and Satan is the essence of salvation. Yet the context is ethical: how do we live in light of this soteriological truth?

Jesus had announced his imminent suffering (Mark 10:32-34), and James and John responded by requesting to be “made much of” when Jesus came to power (10:35-45). Jesus taught them that his followers would join him in suffering, but that being “made much of” was God’s to give as he saw fit: it was for those “for whom it has been prepared” (10:40).

He then reminded them of the upside-down, back-to-front nature of kingdom living: the first will be last and the last first (10:42-45). As a primary indicator that this kingdom mentality was right and proper, he reminded them that his own back-to-front attitude led to his giving his own life to purchase the freedom of those who could not free themselves (10:45).

We still need this reminder. We still want to be made much of by our spouses, made much of by our children, made much of by our friends, and made much of by our churches.

We think and act as if everyone around us has been created to serve us; to make us feel good about ourselves, to affirm our existence and worth, to recognize how important we are. And when we expect others to make much of us, there is little will and energy left to actually do anything for anyone else, or even think of others before ourselves.

The reality is that God has already made much of us in the crucifixion, when Jesus “gave his life as a ransom for” you, and for me, and for everyone who repents and believes. It is now time for us to make much of others.

14October2011

Exploring Catechism

Written By robfaircloth

If you are interested in a tool for teaching that has been in use almost as long as the New Testament church has been, Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way (J.I. Packer and Gary Parrett) is a great resource.

As a member of a Southern Baptist church I once recommended that we explore the use of catechisms in teaching the church’s children. You would have thought that I had suggested shrinking the heads of our deceased members and putting them on poles in the tea parlor. Yes, we had a “tea parlor.” I know.

Since that time even Baptist catechisms have enjoyed a bit of resurgence in interest. Packer and Parrett point out that almost all Christian denominations have made use of the catechism — a series of questions and answers — to instruct both children and adults in the fundamental tenets of the faith.

Packer and Parrett propose a pyramid diagram to understand the teaching function in the church.

Four levels culminate in the One Focus of our teaching: the proclamation of Christ. The second level of the pyramid is what the authors refer to as the essentials of a teaching and catechetical ministry: the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed, and the two sacraments (ordinances). Most of the Christian church has used this four-fold method to devise their catechisms.

The authors suggest that though churches today might not use catechisms in an exact question-answer format, we should explore the possibility of grounding our teaching in those four essentials.

Part of this instruction would be to teach our members to distinguish the significance of various doctrines. Christian Consensus includes those doctrinal matters that make us Christian and others not. Evangelical Essentials further distinguish between evangelical Christians and others. Denominational Distinctives are those things that separate one denomination from another, such as the mode of baptism. And Congregational Commitments are those things that a particular congregation chooses for itself.

Part of the difficulty posed by contemporary methods of instruction in the church is that they are sporadic and are not unified to achieve a certain teaching goal. Employing a method like that suggested by Packer and Parrett — even if the catechism form is not used — might help to achieve better results in our instruction.