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Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Is 'The Church' in need of a change?
11:08 PM | Posted by
TeamUfa
Matthew 9:16-17 says 16"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." (NIV)
I would like for us to think about the necessity of radical change if we are really serious about seeing every people group represented in the kingdom of God (Rev. 7:9-12) in eternity. Many voices have been and are sounding warnings regarding the decline of the ‘Church’ in Europe and the USA and the need to wake up to reality (e.g., Stuart Murray, Philip Jenkins, Thom Wolfe, Alan Hirsch, Tony Jones, Neil Cole, Reggie McNeal, etc). Many churches and denominations, including the SBC, are being forced to sit up and take notice of the declining influence of the institutional church with its traditionalism and increasing irrelevancy in a society that has already moved way past the post-modern stage with the fading echoes of post-Christendom growing more difficult to hear.
In the verses above, Jesus makes it clear that it is not enough to keep trying to patch up or reuse the old forms of things when something radically new is called for. Trying to put a band-aid on a giant, gaping wound does nothing to heal the wound; it only makes it worse. In current-day application, we can’t address the seriousness of the decline of the Church’s influence by trying to merely retool, restructure, or revamp our programs and policies. Even with some of the quite limited ‘successes’ of different contemporary approaches (e.g., seeker-sensitive models etc), a rapidly increasing number of churches are in decline.
What comes to mind when you read the word ‘church’? Most of us automatically think of a building, structure, place, or location when we hear the word ‘church’ because just like Neo in the movie “The Matrix”, we are blind to reality and unknowingly trapped. In the book of Acts and the apostle Paul’s writings, the church is never identified as a place or an edifice. What kinds of images come to your mind when you think of the word ‘church’? Pews, pulpits, choirs, 11am on Sunday mornings, a set order of ‘service’, a certain type or style of preaching, hymnals, drama, PowerPoint presentations, budgets, one or two central pastoral figures, a steeple...etc? If those are the images that come to mind, then I would say that new wineskins are in order. And where else to find the example of new wineskins than from the early church itself?
In his book The Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch writes ‘I am now convinced that one of the major blockages to unleashing ‘Apostolic Genius’ is our adherence to an obsolete understanding of the ‘church’. He also says that prophetically consistent Christianity means that we must remain committed to a constant critique of the structures and rituals we set up and maintain. My point? We have confused our cultural traditionalism and cultural understandings of ‘church’ with the simple, organic nature of the New Testament understanding of the church. Too many of us, especially in the West, have been sucked into the ‘matrix’ of thinking that ‘church’ exists for our own selfish desires, comfort, and convenience. Contrary to the old Burger King commercial, following Jesus and being part of His church has absolutely nothing to do with ‘having it your way’. Whether intentionally or unwittingly, we have made church all about ‘us’ and very little about Jesus, therefore, we shouldn’t be surprised when books appear by such titles as “They Like Jesus but Not the Church”.
The movement that Jesus started was a very simple, organic people movement; it was never intended to be or become a religious institution. As Neil Cole has written, the church needs an upgrade to its operating system. We are still using the same ‘operating system’ from 1700 years ago. Restructuring the organization and leaving the operating system in place means there can be no critical changes within the organization. It’s foolish and vain to attempt revitalization of a local church, association, convention, or denomination without first upgrading the operating system. We need new wineskins, and that has to start with recapturing a biblical understanding of what it means to follow Jesus and what the word ‘church’ means. Until the pain of changing is outweighed by the pain of staying the same, we will keep tearing the old worn-out wineskins and getting nowhere fast. This has deep implications for us, no matter where we live.
I would like for us to think about the necessity of radical change if we are really serious about seeing every people group represented in the kingdom of God (Rev. 7:9-12) in eternity. Many voices have been and are sounding warnings regarding the decline of the ‘Church’ in Europe and the USA and the need to wake up to reality (e.g., Stuart Murray, Philip Jenkins, Thom Wolfe, Alan Hirsch, Tony Jones, Neil Cole, Reggie McNeal, etc). Many churches and denominations, including the SBC, are being forced to sit up and take notice of the declining influence of the institutional church with its traditionalism and increasing irrelevancy in a society that has already moved way past the post-modern stage with the fading echoes of post-Christendom growing more difficult to hear.
In the verses above, Jesus makes it clear that it is not enough to keep trying to patch up or reuse the old forms of things when something radically new is called for. Trying to put a band-aid on a giant, gaping wound does nothing to heal the wound; it only makes it worse. In current-day application, we can’t address the seriousness of the decline of the Church’s influence by trying to merely retool, restructure, or revamp our programs and policies. Even with some of the quite limited ‘successes’ of different contemporary approaches (e.g., seeker-sensitive models etc), a rapidly increasing number of churches are in decline.
What comes to mind when you read the word ‘church’? Most of us automatically think of a building, structure, place, or location when we hear the word ‘church’ because just like Neo in the movie “The Matrix”, we are blind to reality and unknowingly trapped. In the book of Acts and the apostle Paul’s writings, the church is never identified as a place or an edifice. What kinds of images come to your mind when you think of the word ‘church’? Pews, pulpits, choirs, 11am on Sunday mornings, a set order of ‘service’, a certain type or style of preaching, hymnals, drama, PowerPoint presentations, budgets, one or two central pastoral figures, a steeple...etc? If those are the images that come to mind, then I would say that new wineskins are in order. And where else to find the example of new wineskins than from the early church itself?
In his book The Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch writes ‘I am now convinced that one of the major blockages to unleashing ‘Apostolic Genius’ is our adherence to an obsolete understanding of the ‘church’. He also says that prophetically consistent Christianity means that we must remain committed to a constant critique of the structures and rituals we set up and maintain. My point? We have confused our cultural traditionalism and cultural understandings of ‘church’ with the simple, organic nature of the New Testament understanding of the church. Too many of us, especially in the West, have been sucked into the ‘matrix’ of thinking that ‘church’ exists for our own selfish desires, comfort, and convenience. Contrary to the old Burger King commercial, following Jesus and being part of His church has absolutely nothing to do with ‘having it your way’. Whether intentionally or unwittingly, we have made church all about ‘us’ and very little about Jesus, therefore, we shouldn’t be surprised when books appear by such titles as “They Like Jesus but Not the Church”.
The movement that Jesus started was a very simple, organic people movement; it was never intended to be or become a religious institution. As Neil Cole has written, the church needs an upgrade to its operating system. We are still using the same ‘operating system’ from 1700 years ago. Restructuring the organization and leaving the operating system in place means there can be no critical changes within the organization. It’s foolish and vain to attempt revitalization of a local church, association, convention, or denomination without first upgrading the operating system. We need new wineskins, and that has to start with recapturing a biblical understanding of what it means to follow Jesus and what the word ‘church’ means. Until the pain of changing is outweighed by the pain of staying the same, we will keep tearing the old worn-out wineskins and getting nowhere fast. This has deep implications for us, no matter where we live.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Easter in Ufa
Have you ever wondered how believers in Russia celebrate Easter? They lift up the name of Christ! Ufa Bible Church had a great Easter Sunday service. There were worship songs, skits and The Word of God was preached. God gave us good, sunny and not too cold, weather. I was able to take some pictures during the service so you could see the Body of Christ worshiping on the other side of the world.
The Russians have a greeting that they use around Easter. The first person says, "Christ is risen!" and the second replies, "He is risen indeed!" If you are on the streets and in the shops you will hear it repeated, no matter the actual beliefs of the person. This phrase can be heard from the lips of Tatars, Bashkirs, (who are traditionally of an Islamic heritage) and non-believing Russians alike. It is just a little humorous, yet tragic. They repeat the name of Christ as they would 'hello' on any other day. Please, pray that God will use believers to reach out to their non-believing neighbors, so that when they say "Christ is Risen!" they will be speaking from the heart.
Praise and Worship on Easter Sunday with Mihai, Tanya and Tatiana
A skit was performed by Sasha, Tatiana and Sergei
Mihai preached the message
Pastor Rustem gave a closing word
The Russians have a greeting that they use around Easter. The first person says, "Christ is risen!" and the second replies, "He is risen indeed!" If you are on the streets and in the shops you will hear it repeated, no matter the actual beliefs of the person. This phrase can be heard from the lips of Tatars, Bashkirs, (who are traditionally of an Islamic heritage) and non-believing Russians alike. It is just a little humorous, yet tragic. They repeat the name of Christ as they would 'hello' on any other day. Please, pray that God will use believers to reach out to their non-believing neighbors, so that when they say "Christ is Risen!" they will be speaking from the heart.
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