by Mike Chong Perkinson
April 2007
“Christians in the postmodern world will succeed, not by watering down the faith, but by being a counter-cultural community that invites people to be shaped by the story of Israel and Jesus.” (Dr. Robert Webber)
Being counter-cultural is no easy matter. It is hard to be a person who loves those who are full of hate and evil. The choice of retreat and building a Christian culture that lives in protected isolation is much easier. After all, it’s so hard to keep pure in this world. How do we keep our children from engaging in evil without allowing them the safety of retreat? What does it mean to be in the world but not of it? Aren’t we supposed to hate sin? Hard questions and this article will not provide an adequate answer. Instead of providing an answer, I wish to pose some questions.
There is so much talk in our Christian culture about “avoiding the appearance of evil,” which translated often means staying away from anything and anyone that is evil. The definition of evil is subjective and interpreted individually by each believer and the verse is oddly utilized in situations that seem to be nothing more than a statement of preference.
Exactly what is evil? If we are applying the biblical definition, the entire world is. After all, it is anti-God, full of self and engaged in a conspiracy that is led by Lucifer himself. If we are going to avoid the appearance of evil, then maybe we should pack up and retreat? Maybe, this is the time to ask the U.S.S. Enterprise to beam us up?
Who do we boycott? What do we allow or not allow? Just how tight do we close our eyes and ears to the cries of the world? Is it wrong to have friends who do not know Christ? If we are to avoid everything that is evil, then should we stop reading the Bible because it contains scenes of rape, drunkenness, witchcraft, murder, lust and sex? How far do we take this? Are we even asking the right questions? If so, then Jesus violated this very command of Paul by associating with those who were evil. As a result, He was indicted as being a drunkard and a glutton (Matthew 11:19). I am grateful He hung out with sinners and loved them. As far as I recall, I am one of those evil sinners He was willing to sit with. The pure Son of God was so pure that He could love someone like me. Maybe that is the question we should be asking. Are we so pure with our lives that we look nothing like Jesus? We worry far too much about how much sin might get in and not enough about how much love might get out.
Maybe the question is not how do we avoid evil or how much evil do we avoid? Rather, how do we love and serve an evil and lost generation? Evangelical Christianity is far too concerned about power: how to get it and how to use it for personal gain. I somehow think that is the opposite of what Jesus is all about. The primary question believers should be asking is “What can I do to serve you?”
The gospel is not about getting “saved” and isolating. It is about a God who came to a sinful world. No matter how hard you try to be neat, changing diapers is a messy business. I suspect, dealing with sin and sinful people is no different. The wise sage of Proverbs tells us that “Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest” (Proverbs 14:4, NLT). There is no question that life is much more defined, predictable and even safe when we disallow sinners into the mix. Scripture does not tell us to keep the stable clean, but to keep our hearts pure. And one of the characteristics of a pure heart is its willingness to change diapers. We can’t transform culture until we find ourselves transformed. Jesus said it this way: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean” (Matthew 23:25-26, NIV).
The life of faith is not about judgment and withdrawal from an evil society. It is about engagement and sacrifice – something like taking up your cross and letting your light shine in such a way that all might see your good deeds and give praise to our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). As I write this article, I don’t hear too many people giving praise to God because of the good deeds of the church. God have mercy on us!
The revolution will come by way of incarnation, living out the reality of Jesus.
Tell me what you think. Let’s talk about it.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
There Is No Box
by Tom Johnston
April 2007
Quite often, when I discuss the spiritual revolution the Lord is fomenting in the West, people consider the ideas and concepts around the issue to be “outside-the-box” thinking. (Some have actually said “Tom, get back in the box!”) In reality, it is simply a journey of radical rediscovery of the basic, orthodox truths of the New Testament scriptures. The core principles of loving God, loving others and making disciples for Christ everywhere all the time are actually the simple heart of Jesus’ teaching. It just seems revolutionary to some, because of their framework, their worldview, their box.
In the 1999 smash movie hit The Matrix, the hero Neo, on one of his journeys into the computer-generated reality of the Matrix encounters a child who is, apparently, bending a spoon with his mind. Neo sees this, and knowing this is impossible, asks how the child is bending the spoon. The child replies – “there is no spoon” – the child knows that the spoon doesn’t really exist, as it is just part of the Matrix sim-world. He is not altering the spoon; having been freed from the superimposed reality of the Matrix, he is willfully altering his perception of reality. Neo, having been recently released from the machine imposed domination of the Matrix, is still having trouble comprehending his reality. In an earlier scene, another character explains the Matrix to Neo, as the “world having been pulled over our eyes.” (Sounds like the first couple chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans to me!)
Many in the Western Church live in a virtual reality, a sim-world of their own making, the First Church of the Matrix, if you will. Not a box of orthodoxy, but a self-imposed box of orthopraxy – how we apply right belief to life and ministry. We have so compartmentalized our Christian existence, so boxed it in, labeled it sacred and secular, right and wrong, proper and improper – that we have marginalized ourselves in the culture. Indeed, even the word orthodoxy used to mean “right worship” – not as an event, but as a way of life lived unto God. We have changed it to mean “right belief,” as doctrine has become our focus. Our doctrine and theology might be O.K. (we all know in part, no stream has it all right - sorry), but our ecclesiology – our understanding of what the Church is, is so fundamentally flawed in the West that we live ineffective lives inside our Matrix-like box.
But the truth is – there is no box. The cultural (and sometimes doctrinal) definitions of “Church” which we hold create the limitations on our worldview, preventing the fullness of the knowledge of Christ to come to us, and ultimately through us to others (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). For His eternal perspective, beyond time and space, God sees no limits on His Church. We are the ones inside the box, inside our Matrix. He only sees His people – He sees sons and daughters, not the programs, budgets, buildings, crusades, outreach events, services or revival meetings. Embracing the simplicity of the Gospel is freeing to the soul, embracing the Church being simply the people of God is freeing to the Gospel.
Unfortunately, for those who think such simplicity is too far outside the box, the only other alternative is to try to “bend the spoon,” or in our case bend the box. Drawing on Jesus’ metaphor, these people have a focus on embellishing the wineskin, rather than focusing on producing some really good, mature spiritual wine (Luke 5:37-39). It is the heart of American marketing and consumerism to accentuate the packaging to sell a marginal or inferior product. Tweak the box all you want – you're still trapped inside it.
Join us in the revolution. Be free from your box. Cast your religious inhibitions aside and pursue Christ and His mission with reckless abandon.
What are your thoughts?
April 2007
Quite often, when I discuss the spiritual revolution the Lord is fomenting in the West, people consider the ideas and concepts around the issue to be “outside-the-box” thinking. (Some have actually said “Tom, get back in the box!”) In reality, it is simply a journey of radical rediscovery of the basic, orthodox truths of the New Testament scriptures. The core principles of loving God, loving others and making disciples for Christ everywhere all the time are actually the simple heart of Jesus’ teaching. It just seems revolutionary to some, because of their framework, their worldview, their box.
In the 1999 smash movie hit The Matrix, the hero Neo, on one of his journeys into the computer-generated reality of the Matrix encounters a child who is, apparently, bending a spoon with his mind. Neo sees this, and knowing this is impossible, asks how the child is bending the spoon. The child replies – “there is no spoon” – the child knows that the spoon doesn’t really exist, as it is just part of the Matrix sim-world. He is not altering the spoon; having been freed from the superimposed reality of the Matrix, he is willfully altering his perception of reality. Neo, having been recently released from the machine imposed domination of the Matrix, is still having trouble comprehending his reality. In an earlier scene, another character explains the Matrix to Neo, as the “world having been pulled over our eyes.” (Sounds like the first couple chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans to me!)
Many in the Western Church live in a virtual reality, a sim-world of their own making, the First Church of the Matrix, if you will. Not a box of orthodoxy, but a self-imposed box of orthopraxy – how we apply right belief to life and ministry. We have so compartmentalized our Christian existence, so boxed it in, labeled it sacred and secular, right and wrong, proper and improper – that we have marginalized ourselves in the culture. Indeed, even the word orthodoxy used to mean “right worship” – not as an event, but as a way of life lived unto God. We have changed it to mean “right belief,” as doctrine has become our focus. Our doctrine and theology might be O.K. (we all know in part, no stream has it all right - sorry), but our ecclesiology – our understanding of what the Church is, is so fundamentally flawed in the West that we live ineffective lives inside our Matrix-like box.
But the truth is – there is no box. The cultural (and sometimes doctrinal) definitions of “Church” which we hold create the limitations on our worldview, preventing the fullness of the knowledge of Christ to come to us, and ultimately through us to others (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). For His eternal perspective, beyond time and space, God sees no limits on His Church. We are the ones inside the box, inside our Matrix. He only sees His people – He sees sons and daughters, not the programs, budgets, buildings, crusades, outreach events, services or revival meetings. Embracing the simplicity of the Gospel is freeing to the soul, embracing the Church being simply the people of God is freeing to the Gospel.
Unfortunately, for those who think such simplicity is too far outside the box, the only other alternative is to try to “bend the spoon,” or in our case bend the box. Drawing on Jesus’ metaphor, these people have a focus on embellishing the wineskin, rather than focusing on producing some really good, mature spiritual wine (Luke 5:37-39). It is the heart of American marketing and consumerism to accentuate the packaging to sell a marginal or inferior product. Tweak the box all you want – you're still trapped inside it.
Join us in the revolution. Be free from your box. Cast your religious inhibitions aside and pursue Christ and His mission with reckless abandon.
What are your thoughts?
Friday, March 16, 2007
285 Billion
by Tom Johnston
March 2007
285 Billion
That’s what the American Church spends on ministry each year, on average (Dr. David Barrett). That’s right – $285 BILLION, not thousand, or even million. Based on this, if the church in the America was a single corporation, it would be the THIRD LARGEST in the world, right behind ExxonMobil and General Electric and just ahead of Microsoft. And yet, Christians as a percentage of U.S. population continue to decline.
Living in New Hampshire, a state with the highest per capita household income (2005), and one of the lowest charitable giving rates (ranked 50 in 2005, 47 in 2006), we have 2.4% of the population attending an evangelical church in any given week (www.theamericanchurch.org). Not sure about where you live, but up here in New England, it looks like we are losing some serious ground. In fact, nationally, the Church is in serious decline as far as attendance goes. While Christianity seems to be holding it’s own in some regions of the country, the fact is, we aren’t even reaching the percentage of population equivalent to our own children.
So, what’s it all mean? Well first of all, what we are doing doesn’t seem to be bearing much fruit either in making more disciples or impacting culture. Secondly, it doesn’t seem like we need to spend more money on church stuff! (Granted, we may need to spend it differently.) If we keep on this track, we will continue to see the decline of the totality of Christian witness in the West. This is all hard to see from within the “belly of the beast” of ministry. But it is time for a wake-up call – and a revolution.
Christians in America by-and-large are not risk-takers. We are extremely conservative in behavior and often focused on trying to maintain a connection to a preferred past – an idealistic (and inaccurate) view of or nation’s religious history. What we need to do is focus on God’s preferred future for us, not the past. And we need some serious risk-takers (read: people of faith) who will step out of the normal Christian experience and do something truly profound – live a life of simple devotion to Jesus Christ – so that God’s hope for the people of our nation can be realized. We need people who will build their life and faith around the simple construct we often present – the “irreducible core” of our faith – namely, loving God, loving others, and making disciples everywhere we go. A simple Christian faith simply lived out in front of others, a way of life, not a life full of religious activities which costs $285B and seems to have little impact - on us or the society around us.
If we are spending all this money on programs, buildings, evangelistic events – and losing the battle – we need to do a serious re-think on our life and faith. Let’s talk about it.
March 2007
285 Billion
That’s what the American Church spends on ministry each year, on average (Dr. David Barrett). That’s right – $285 BILLION, not thousand, or even million. Based on this, if the church in the America was a single corporation, it would be the THIRD LARGEST in the world, right behind ExxonMobil and General Electric and just ahead of Microsoft. And yet, Christians as a percentage of U.S. population continue to decline.
Living in New Hampshire, a state with the highest per capita household income (2005), and one of the lowest charitable giving rates (ranked 50 in 2005, 47 in 2006), we have 2.4% of the population attending an evangelical church in any given week (www.theamericanchurch.org). Not sure about where you live, but up here in New England, it looks like we are losing some serious ground. In fact, nationally, the Church is in serious decline as far as attendance goes. While Christianity seems to be holding it’s own in some regions of the country, the fact is, we aren’t even reaching the percentage of population equivalent to our own children.
So, what’s it all mean? Well first of all, what we are doing doesn’t seem to be bearing much fruit either in making more disciples or impacting culture. Secondly, it doesn’t seem like we need to spend more money on church stuff! (Granted, we may need to spend it differently.) If we keep on this track, we will continue to see the decline of the totality of Christian witness in the West. This is all hard to see from within the “belly of the beast” of ministry. But it is time for a wake-up call – and a revolution.
Christians in America by-and-large are not risk-takers. We are extremely conservative in behavior and often focused on trying to maintain a connection to a preferred past – an idealistic (and inaccurate) view of or nation’s religious history. What we need to do is focus on God’s preferred future for us, not the past. And we need some serious risk-takers (read: people of faith) who will step out of the normal Christian experience and do something truly profound – live a life of simple devotion to Jesus Christ – so that God’s hope for the people of our nation can be realized. We need people who will build their life and faith around the simple construct we often present – the “irreducible core” of our faith – namely, loving God, loving others, and making disciples everywhere we go. A simple Christian faith simply lived out in front of others, a way of life, not a life full of religious activities which costs $285B and seems to have little impact - on us or the society around us.
If we are spending all this money on programs, buildings, evangelistic events – and losing the battle – we need to do a serious re-think on our life and faith. Let’s talk about it.
What Will It Cost?
by Mike Chong Perkinson
March 2007
Saving One’s Life Out of Fear – or – Losing One’s Life for Others
The Gospel of Mark paints a rather clear picture of two contrasting ways of life. Jesus sternly rebukes Peter at one point in the narrative for not thinking on the things of God but the things of men (8:33). Here we see the contrasting values set in opposition, two orientations of life: what God wills for people and what people want for themselves. I realize this is a rather blunt statement, but is no less the picture Mark paints.
At the beginning of the journey to Jerusalem (8:22-10:52), Jesus teaches these standards to His disciples. The disciples resist the teachings at every point, but eventually come to submit to them. The journey can then be pictured as a clash of values between Jesus who teaches what God wills for people and the disciples who exemplify what people want for themselves. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus prophecies three times to the disciples about his impending persecution and death (8:31-9:1; 9:30-50; 10:32-45). After each prophecy, the disciples demonstrate that they do not understand the nature and depth of the prophetic word or accept his teaching. After each of these prophetic moments, Jesus takes some time to teach the disciples the values of the rule of God that underlie his words and actions.
Kingdom Values
After the first prophecy, Jesus says: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (8:35). After the second prophecy, Jesus says: “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all” (9:35). After the third prophecy, Jesus says: “And whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:44-45).
Let me break them down for you:
· In order to save your life you must lose it
· The pursuit of status is not the standard for God’s people
· To have power one must be a servant and relinquish the pursuit of power for oneself
There is a sharp line of demarcation that Jesus is drawing between acquisition (saving) and relinquishing (losing). People who follow the world’s standards seek to acquire status and power for themselves. This way of life is motivated by fear resulting in self-protection and self-promotion. One wonders just how much of our current ministry practices are motivated by such.
In contrast, people who follow Jesus’ standards receive the blessings of the Kingdom and are willing to relinquish life, status, and power in order to bring the good news of the Kingdom to others. This way of life is only made possible by faith. It is through the empowering of the Holy Spirit that we find such a life possible.
Mark portrays in rather dramatic fashion that only two ways of life are possible: “saving one’s life out of fear” or “losing one’s life for others.” The characteristics for these two opposing modes of life are highlighted in one word - love. God’s way then involves risk – risking for others.
Let me illustrate, in the late 1980’s a volunteer approached a leader of the Sanctuary Movement in the United States serving refugees from Central America, and she asked to join in the work of the movement. The leader said to her, “Before you say whether you really wish to join us, let me pose some questions: Are you ready to have your telephone tapped by the government? Are you prepared to have your neighbors shun you? Are you strong enough to have your children ridiculed and harassed at school? Are you ready to be arrested and tried, with full media coverage? If you are not prepared for these things, you may not be ready to join the movement. For when push comes to shove, if you fear these things, you will not be ready to do what needs to be done for the refugees.” The woman decided to think it over.
In the same vein, if the followers of Jesus are not ready to abandon or relinquish their status and power over others, then they will not be ready to proclaim the good news to others and the potential of a revolution will pass us by.
Maybe this is precisely why the power of the Gospel has been rendered relatively powerless in the West. We have become more consumed with our kingdoms, our reputations, our success than serving the King Himself with our very lives. The revolution is not about power, status or position. It is about Jesus and how the Christ in me is incarnated to a hungry and searching world.
May we all abandon our egos, our ways, our rights, and our agendas so that the reign of the Kingdom might manifest in our daily lives! May pastors, churches, denominational leaders, and denominations gather around the Irreducible Core with one set agenda of seeing the Kingdom of God lived out in word and deed!
Tell me what you think. Let’s talk about it.
March 2007
Saving One’s Life Out of Fear – or – Losing One’s Life for Others
The Gospel of Mark paints a rather clear picture of two contrasting ways of life. Jesus sternly rebukes Peter at one point in the narrative for not thinking on the things of God but the things of men (8:33). Here we see the contrasting values set in opposition, two orientations of life: what God wills for people and what people want for themselves. I realize this is a rather blunt statement, but is no less the picture Mark paints.
At the beginning of the journey to Jerusalem (8:22-10:52), Jesus teaches these standards to His disciples. The disciples resist the teachings at every point, but eventually come to submit to them. The journey can then be pictured as a clash of values between Jesus who teaches what God wills for people and the disciples who exemplify what people want for themselves. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus prophecies three times to the disciples about his impending persecution and death (8:31-9:1; 9:30-50; 10:32-45). After each prophecy, the disciples demonstrate that they do not understand the nature and depth of the prophetic word or accept his teaching. After each of these prophetic moments, Jesus takes some time to teach the disciples the values of the rule of God that underlie his words and actions.
Kingdom Values
After the first prophecy, Jesus says: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (8:35). After the second prophecy, Jesus says: “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all” (9:35). After the third prophecy, Jesus says: “And whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:44-45).
Let me break them down for you:
· In order to save your life you must lose it
· The pursuit of status is not the standard for God’s people
· To have power one must be a servant and relinquish the pursuit of power for oneself
There is a sharp line of demarcation that Jesus is drawing between acquisition (saving) and relinquishing (losing). People who follow the world’s standards seek to acquire status and power for themselves. This way of life is motivated by fear resulting in self-protection and self-promotion. One wonders just how much of our current ministry practices are motivated by such.
In contrast, people who follow Jesus’ standards receive the blessings of the Kingdom and are willing to relinquish life, status, and power in order to bring the good news of the Kingdom to others. This way of life is only made possible by faith. It is through the empowering of the Holy Spirit that we find such a life possible.
Mark portrays in rather dramatic fashion that only two ways of life are possible: “saving one’s life out of fear” or “losing one’s life for others.” The characteristics for these two opposing modes of life are highlighted in one word - love. God’s way then involves risk – risking for others.
Let me illustrate, in the late 1980’s a volunteer approached a leader of the Sanctuary Movement in the United States serving refugees from Central America, and she asked to join in the work of the movement. The leader said to her, “Before you say whether you really wish to join us, let me pose some questions: Are you ready to have your telephone tapped by the government? Are you prepared to have your neighbors shun you? Are you strong enough to have your children ridiculed and harassed at school? Are you ready to be arrested and tried, with full media coverage? If you are not prepared for these things, you may not be ready to join the movement. For when push comes to shove, if you fear these things, you will not be ready to do what needs to be done for the refugees.” The woman decided to think it over.
In the same vein, if the followers of Jesus are not ready to abandon or relinquish their status and power over others, then they will not be ready to proclaim the good news to others and the potential of a revolution will pass us by.
Maybe this is precisely why the power of the Gospel has been rendered relatively powerless in the West. We have become more consumed with our kingdoms, our reputations, our success than serving the King Himself with our very lives. The revolution is not about power, status or position. It is about Jesus and how the Christ in me is incarnated to a hungry and searching world.
May we all abandon our egos, our ways, our rights, and our agendas so that the reign of the Kingdom might manifest in our daily lives! May pastors, churches, denominational leaders, and denominations gather around the Irreducible Core with one set agenda of seeing the Kingdom of God lived out in word and deed!
Tell me what you think. Let’s talk about it.
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